Darkseid removed Granny Goodness from the chessboard.
“The clock is counting down to its final moments,” he declared. “Our game draws near its end, as does reality as we know it.”
Solomon glowered at Darkseid from the other side of the board. “The death of the Fourth World does not concern you?”
“Unlike you, Monitor, my vision extends beyond the fifty-two realities.” Darkseid repositioned Jimmy Olsen upon the board. “All things must end, true, but they will do so on my terms.” He stepped back to take a look at the larger picture. “Take consolation in the fact that you never stood a chance against me.”
“Your arrogance betrays you,” Solomon accused. He reached for the Atom. “I still have pieces in play.”
Ouch! the Atom thought as the Monitor’s giant fingers squeezed his ribs. He clenched his teeth to keep from crying out as Solomon moved him across the board. The doll-sized hero tried not to move a muscle; the last thing he wanted was for Darkseid to realize that he wasn’t just a playing piece but the genuine article. All the better to spy on you, you monster.
He still hadn’t forgiven Solomon for murdering Barry Allen, but, where Darkseid was concerned, it wasn’t hard to figure out who the greater of the two evils was here. If the fearsome master of Apokolips had some nefarious new master plan in the works, the Atom wanted to know all about it.
Good thing I kept a miniaturized version of my costume in my belt buckle!
“You fool,” Darkseid mocked the Monitor, seemingly oblivious to the deception going on right beneath his granite nose. “Don’t you see? I have controlled both sides of the board from the beginning. What does it matter to me if the Fourth World ends in flame and fire? As long as the Fifth World is bom in my own image!”
The Fifth World? The Atom resisted an urge to gulp. His tiny heart was pounding so hard he couldn't believe Darkseid couldn’t hear it. Darkseid wants to reshape all of reality?
“We shall see, God of Deceit.” Solomon plucked the Atom from the board and activated his transporter beam. A cascade of flickering quantum particles cast a veil between the Atom and the cavernous war room. “This game is not yet over.”
Darkseid made no effort to prevent his opponent’s departure. “Very well, Monitor. Make your final move.” A glow appeared in his hand and he placed a figure of Solomon himself upon the board. “The end is finally upon us, and, as was inevitable, Darkseid shall triumph over all!”
The New God’s merciless laughter rang in the Atom’s ears as the Monitor teleported him away.
Of all the beings she had expected to encounter in the fetid alleyways of the Armagetto, Wonder Woman’s foster sister was nowhere on the list. Mary had fought beside Donna and the other Teen Titans before, and knew she could trust her, but what in heaven’s name was Donna doing on Apokolips?
And who was that masked youth she was carrying? “Okay,” he cracked, “this isn’t quite what I was expecting.”
Tell ?ne about it, Mary thought.
“Let’s skip the pleasantries,” Holly said. She lowered her bow, apparently recognizing the world-famous Titan «as well. “Please tell me you have a Boom Tube!”
Harley waved at their fellow Earthlings. “Hi there!” She sounded positively starstruck by Donna’s unexpected appearance. “Can I tell you how much I’ve always loved that outfit? The sparklies are sooo cool! Are they actual stars?” Donna looked nonplussed by Harley’s reaction. She descended to the pavement and put down her male companion. “Mary, who exactly are these people you’re with?” A hasty round of introductions followed as the two teams compared notes. Mary was surprised to learn that Jason Todd was alive again, but had to admit that he hardly looked like a corpse. More discouraging was the discovery that Donna and Jason were just as stranded on Apokolips as Holly and Harley were. No way can I fly this entire gang back home, Mary realized, not even with my new powers.
“Women’s shelter and we fought each other,” Harley babbled at Donna, telling the perplexed heroine more than she ever wanted to know about the other women’s various misadventures, “and then we took this boat ride and fought these sea serpent things, and then we hit Paradise Island and we were Amazons, only Athena wasn’t really Athena; she was this old bag who was, like, totally evil....”
Holly cut to the chase. “So we’re stuck here? Still?” “Join the club!”
A new voice entered the discussion. Mary looked up in surprise to see ... Jimmy Olsen?
At first she thought the towheaded reporter had been captured by a Parademon, but then she realized that the armored figure carrying Jimmy down from the sky looked slightly different from Darkseid’s loyal shock troops. Filmy wings and twin antennae gave the flying woman a distinctly insectoid appearance. Her segmented armor was made of a glossy, shell-like material, as opposed to steel. A helmet concealed her features, so Mary couldn’t tell if she was human or not. But she definitely seemed to be on Jimmy’s side.
'• “Watch your step, my Olsenbug,” the stranger buzzed as she carefully lowered him to the pavement. Her own boots touched down lightly beside him. Overlapping wings folded into the back of her thorax. “Do you know these humans?”
“You bet!” Jimmy said. A soiled set of coveralls, of the sort worn by many of Darkseid’s slave laborers, suggested that he had been on Apokolips for a while. “Some of them, at least.” He introduced his new girlfriend. “Forager, meet Mary Marvel and Donna Troy.” He grinned at Mary. “Let me guess, that was your thunderbolt that ripped the roof off Granny’s place?”
“Guilty as charged,” she admitted, hoping that was all she would have to confess to. Has he heard anything about my recent excesses back on Earth ? Has Donna ? She took stock of the motley collection of characters assembled in the alley: Superman’s buddy, Catwoman’s protegee, the Joker’s ex, the original Wonder Girl, the second Robin, some sort of alien bug-lady, and me.
“Holy Moley!” she exclaimed. “It’s like a sidekicks convention ... on Apokolips, no less!”
Donna arched an eyebrow. “That’s one way to look at it, I guess.”
“Watch who you’re calling a sidekick,” Jason grumbled. Holly’s hackles rose. “Never mind all that!” Feline claws extended from her fingertips. “How the hell are we getting out of here?” She fixed her slitted eyes on Jimmy. “Can’t you whistle up a ride from Superman?”
“Sony,” Jimmy said, instinctively backing away from the agitated catwoman. “I lost my signal-watch a while back.”
“Terrific,” Holly growled. “Just great.” Her whiskers twitched irritably. “You’d think the gods would’ve offered us a ticket home along with the new duds and powers.” “The gods have larger matters to attend to,” a booming voice rang out from above. A flash of shimmering energy caught Mary’s eye, drawing her attention to a rusty fire essape overlooking the alley. A large alien figure materialized upon the metal landing, which creaked beneath his weight. Mary recognized the bearded entity from the original Crisis.
“Holy Moley! It’s the Monitor!”
Donna and Jason immediately tensed for battle. “On your toes, people!” Jason warned. To Mary’s surprise, he drew an automatic pistol from beneath his leather jacket. “Trust me, you don’t want to turn your back on this creep!” “Huh?” Holly blurted. Following Jason’s lead, she fitted a silver arrow to her bow and took aim at the Monitor. Harley hefted her clown-sized mallet. “What the hell is a Monitor?”
Donna didn’t bother to explain. She raised her silver bracelets defensively. “If you’re here to spill any more blood, Solomon, we’re ready for you!”
Blood, Mary thought? Whose blood is Donna talking about? She gave Donna a puzzled look. I thought the Monitor was a good guy.
“Spare me your hostile posturings,” he said impatiently. “You humans think violence solves everything.”
“You’re the one who went berserk on Earth-51,” Donna accused him, “then abandoned Jason and me here!” “Your recriminations no longer bear any relevance,” Solomon insisted. He gazed down on the misplaced mortals as though judging them from on high. His foreboding tone and expression raised goose bumps on Mary’s skin. “Darkseid’s insidious plans near fruition and drastic action is required if we are to prevent him from conquering all.” A tiny figure, unnoticed by Mary before, stirred upon the Monitor’s shoulder. The inch-high human sprang from his perch, increasing in size with every second. By the time the brightly costumed hero landed nimbly on the ground among them, Mary realized that the Monitor’s miniature passenger was none other than the Atom.
“He’s telling the truth!” he confirmed. Glowing atomic orbitals whirled around him as he rapidly assumed his ‘normal stature. ‘The entire universe is in terrible danger!” A look of relief came over Donna’s face. “Ray! You have no idea how glad I am to see that you’re still okay.” She rushed to see him. “But where did Solomon take you? What did you learn?”
“You may trade tales of your exploits later,” the Monitor interrupted. “For now, there is nothing more to be accomplished here. It is time to return you to Earth for the final chapter of this cosmic drama.”
‘Thank God!” Holly exclaimed. “I have no idea who you are or what you’re talking about, but, boy, am I ready to get off this stinking planet!”
“Are you sure?” Harley asked. “We haven’t really seen all the sights yet....”
Holly kicked the other girl in the shins.
“Wait a second,” Jimmy protested. “I’m not going anywhere.” His freckled face took on a more serious expression. “Forager and I came here for a reason. I’m not going anywhere until I find out what’s happening to me—even if that means confronting Darkseid himself.”
Donna stared at him in shock. “Confront Darkseid?
You can’t be serious!” She was obviously horrified by the very idea. “That’s suicide, Jimmy!”
“No one is asking you to join me, Donna.” His mind seemed made up. “I have to do this.”
“But, Jimmy,” Donna persisted, “you ... against Darkseid? That’s madness. You can’t face him alone!”
“He shall not be alone!” Forager stood beside Jimmy defiantly. “Go your own way if you must. We have a war to finish and a god to kill!”
Mary was impressed by the insect-woman’s loyalty, but couldn’t help thinking that Donna had a point. “Think about what you’re doing, Jimmy.”
“You haven’t been around,” he replied. “You don’t know what I’ve been through.” His arms were crossed over his chest. “Darkseid is the answer.... I know it.” “You are correct, James Olsen,” Solomon declared. •“But Darkseid is not the only one who knows what part you play in his plans.” Lifting off from the fire escape, he floated down to the floor of the alley to join the humans, who backed away apprehensively. Jason and Holly kept the dour alien in their sights. Forager shielded Jimmy with her body. “I too have the answers you are searching for.” Donna stepped forward to confront the Monitor. There was obviously bad blood between them. “Talk fast, Solomon.”
“I have no reason to do otherwise.” He pointed at Jimmy. “Olsen is the reservoir, the one place in the Multi-verse, where Darkseid knew he could store certain... energies.”
“The souls of the New Gods,” Jimmy guessed. “Darkseid put them in me?”
The Monitor nodded. “He allowed them to be hidden inside you ... until a time of his choosing when he will reclaim the souls for his own purposes.”
“And my powers?” Jimmy asked.
“A precaution,” Solomon explained, “to preserve your existence until Darkseid has need of you. Activated only when your life is in immediate jeopardy.”
emglEKTDOt'HI 218
Jimmy ran his hand through his hair, overwhelmed by everything the Monitor was telling him. “Okay. I guess that makes sense—in a freaky sort of way. But why me?” The Monitor frowned irritably. “Think, dolt! You are Superman’s best friend. What better guarantee of protection against random dangers or the interference of other celestial entities? No doubt Darkseid took perverse amusement in the fact that Superman himself w'ould be the unwitting guardian of his most precious pawn.”
Jimmy’s face paled as the truth sank in. “Because he knew Superman wouldn’t let anything happen to me?” “Indeed,” the Monitor confirmed. “And when the New Gods are dead, and all their power resides in a single vessel, then Darkseid shall confiscate the power—and leave you lifeless!”
That sounds like Darkseid, all right, Mary thought.
' She took a certain comfort from finding out that she and the would-be Amazons on Paradise Island weren’t the only ones who had been manipulated by Darkseid and his duplicitous minions lately. Apokolips’s scheming ruler seemed to have a lot of irons in the fire these days. All part of one vast master plan?
She looked at Jimmy. “So, you still want to take on Darkseid, tough guy?”
“Confronting him is no longer an option,” Solomon declared. “He is too close to his goal.” He glowered at Jimmy. “If you try, I will personally destroy you to deprive Darkseid of the power contained within your pathetic mortal frame.”
“You mean you’ll try!” Jason snapped. He tried to rally the other heroes. “All right, folks. We’ve got the info we wanted. Let’s off this backstabbing son of a bitch!” “Okay!” Harley said cheerfully. She ran toward the Monitor, swinging her mallet. “Dibs on his skull!”
Donna yanked the hammer from Harley’s grip. “Everybody, back off!” She appealed to reason. “I don’t like Solomon any more than the rest of you, but we need to think this through!”
“Since when, Wonder Clone?” Harley grappled with Donna, like a kid groping for a favorite toy. “Gimme back my mallet!”
“You shortsighted apes!” the Monitor railed in exasperation. “The Fourth World is dying and Olsen is Darkseid’s key to survival, to total domination.” He shook his fist at Jimmy. “I cannot allow him to have you!”
Jimmy gulped. “Now, hold on a second,...”
“Gimme! Gimme!” Harley squealed.
The Monitor lost his temper completely, “Damnable humans! Extinction looms and still you bicker endlessly! Exactly like my fellow Monitors, who dither while the Multiverse trembles on the brink of annihilation. Do you not see? Inaction is death!” His gauntlets flared brightly and golden spheres formed around Mary and the others. “You deserve extinction, in my view, but you shall have one last chance to avoid that fate.” He shouted at the fearsome citadel towering in the distance. “Darkseid, bear witness to my final move!”
“Wait!” Mary shouted. “What are you doing?”
“Ooh!” Harley momentarily forgot about her purloined hammer. “Pretty lights!”
The humans disappeared from sight.
“Dhmigosh!” Jimmy blurted. “We’re home!”
He and his new companions suddenly found themselves atop the Daily Planet Building, right back where he and Forager had started out weeks ago. They scrambled to keep their footing atop the huge, slowly spinning bronze globe. Forager grabbed on to Jimmy’s hand to keep him from slipping on the inclined surface beneath their feet. A magnificent view of Metropolis was spread out before them beneath a clear blue sky. A crisp winter breeze rustled Jimmy’s hair. Compared to the fetid alleys and smoggy miasma of Apokolips, the sunlit city looked like heaven on Earth.
“That all-knowing bastard!” Jason Todd cursed the Monitor. “Who does that guy think he is, just zapping us around the Multiverse like this?” He braced himself against the back of the huge steel I in the Daily Planet logo girding the globe. “I’m sick of this crap!”
Jimmy barely knew Jason, but he had already figured out that the embittered vigilante had a real chip on his shoulder. Still, he wasn’t sure he disagreed with Jason on this point. “I don’t understand,” Jimmy said. “Why explain what’s happened to me, what I’ve become, only to dump us right back at the beginning?”
“Lesson I’ve learned in this show,” Donna advised him. “Never trust a Monitor.”
“Or a goddess!” Harley griped. She looked back and forth between herself and Holly in dismay. Her jester’s helmet had disappeared, along with her monster-sized hammer. Both women were now clad in armored breastplates and leather skirts straight out of ancient Greece, so that they looked like extras from some cheesy female gladiator movie. “Those sneaky Olympians took our powers back!”
“Looks like it,” Holly agreed. No longer feline in appearance, she was now just a tough-looking redhead with a thick Gotham accent. She balanced nimbly atop the rotating globe. “Guess the gods figure they got what they wanted.”
Harley scowled. “Drag. That giganto hammer they gave me made me look totally cool.”
“It was a mallet,” Holly corrected her. “And it made you look like a melon-squashing comedian.”
Harley shrugged her shoulders like she didn’t think that was such a bad thing. “You say tomato; I say giganto....” Mary Marvel ignored the other girls’ banter. She looked worriedly at the Atom, who was gazing dolefully out at the familiar skyline before them. His troubled expression was obvious even through his blue cowl. He didn’t seem all that happy to be home. “Ray ... are you gonna be okay?” “How about I get back to you on that?” he replied. Jason seemed unconcerned with the Atom’s state of mind, “So, is that it? Is this stupid wild-goose chase over yet?” He peeled his domino mask from his face. “We can start getting back to our lives now, right?”
“Um, hello?” Jimmy tapped his own chest. “Did we all forget the Darkseid bait dangling inside me?”
“Holy Moley!” Mary exclaimed. “That’s right.” She pouted, sounding almost as fed up as Jason. Although he didn’t know the details, Jimmy got the impression that this adventure had been unusually hard on her. “Is this nightmare ever going to end?”
“Gods, I hope so,” Donna said.
The Atom shook himself out of his dolor. “Okay, if we’re going to do something about Jimmy, standing around on top of the Daily Planet all day won’t be much help. I say we take him straight to the Justice League.” He looked over the motley crew of sidekicks and hangers-on. “No offense to anyone here, but, from what I heard on Apokolips, we’re in the big leagues now.”
“None taken,” Donna assured him. “Sounds like a plan to me.” She turned toward Holly and Harley. “If you girls want to opt out of this, no one will fault you.”
“Thanks,” Holly replied. “To be honest, I’m not sure how much help we’d be now that the gods have revoked our powers. This whole thing is getting way too cosmic for me.” She grabbed Harley by the hand and led her toward a maintenance hatch hidden behind the P in Planet. “C’mon, Harley. We’re outta here.”
Jimmy was kind of glad to see them go. He hadn’t forgotten, although Harley apparently had, that the pigtailed blonde had once stalked him back during her loopy super-villain days. I’ll bet she doesn’t want to get anywhere near Batman and the rest of the Justice League.
“Tootle-loo, kiddies!” Harley waved good-bye as she and Holly disappeared down the hatch. “Don’t forget to write!”
Good riddance, Jimmy thought.
“You know,” Mary said, somewhat sheepishly, “I hope you don’t think I’m deserting you too, but I desperately need to know what happened after I left Paradise Island.” She lifted off the roof and floated upward into the sky. “Plus, I really want to check in with my family.”
It dawned on Jimmy that nobody had seen Captain Marvel or Captain Marvel Jr. since that big fight with
Black Adam several months ago. He wondered what had become of them. “Yeah, of course,” he called out to Mary. “Don’t sweat it.”
“Thanks, Jimmy!” Mary said. “Catch up with you later!”
She zipped away, quickly disappearing from sight. Funny, he mused, I thought Paradise Island was the other direction.
In any event, he hoped she found what she was looking for.
Mary Batson, she scolded herself. You are such a liar.
The rent on the small apartment had been paid forward for at least a year. Billy’s doing, no doubt. Mary pulled on a clean sweater as she headed to the fridge and helped herself to a can of soda. A hot bubble bath had helped put the stench of Apokolips behind her. A pop album played softly on her stereo.
Paradise Island. Yeah, right. The way she figured it, Hippolyta surely had everything under control on Themy-scira now that Granny Goodness was dead meat. She didn’t need Mary’s help to straighten out a bunch of confused, powerless Amazon wannabes. But I couldn’t exactly tell Jimmy and the rest that I just needed a break from everyone else’s problems.
A twinge of guilt pricked her conscience. Is this some leftover Eclipso or something? she fretted. Am I being selfish?
“Nah,” she assured herself. As far as she was concerned, she had paid her dues, and atoned for her dip into the dark side, by freeing the gods, helping to liberate Paradise Island, and getting Holly and Harley back to Earth alive. Let the Justice League deal with Darkseid from now on. “I just need a little ‘me time’ to relax and recharge my batteries.”
countdown m
“Is that what you call it?” an impossibly deep voice said in amusement.
Mary recognized the voice at once. The can of soda slipped from her fingertips, falling unnoticed onto the kitchen floor, as she turned in shock toward the open doorway behind her. Beyond the threshold, a startling sight greeted her eyes.
Darkseid w'as sitting in her living room, reclining comfortably in the comfy faux-leather easy chair she had picked up at Goodwill a few years back. The TV remote was sitting on the coffee table in front of him, as though he had just settled in to watch something on cable. The sheer incongruity of the image left her flabbergasted.
“Hello, Mary,” he said calmly. “You didn’t think I had forgotten about you, did you?”
Overcoming her shock, she reacted quickly. “Shazam!” Thunder boomed and a mystic lightning bolt smashed through the window. Arms akimbo, Mary Marvel faced her unwelcome visitor defiantly. Smoke rose from the scorched carpet at her feet.
“In my home? How dare you?”
Her dramatic transformation did not rattle him one bit. “Darkseid dares all.”
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“A simple matter, really.” He leaned forward. “In your final battle with Eclipso, you left a little something behind.” He held out his hand, and Mary braced herself for an attack, but then she spied the tiny black sphere, no larger than a pearl, gripped between his thick fingers. A pulsating dark radiance emanated from the sphere, which appeared to be composed entirely of roiling black energy. The presence of the sphere made Mary’s skin tingle. She felt drawn to it.
“W-what’s that?” she gulped. Her clenched fists dropped limply to her sides.
“I believe you know very well what this is,” Darkseid said. “It’s your power.”
“No ... I have my power.” Tearing her gaze away from
the glowing pearl, she turned her back on Darkseid. She crossed her arms over her chest. A quaver in her voice undermined the determination she tried so hard to project. “The gods gave it back to me!”
“They gave you a degree of power,” he conceded, “but not what you possessed when last we met. You are diminished. The gods no longer fully trust you. They have lost their faith in you.” He chuckled mercilessly. “You know I’m right. You can feel it, can’t you?”
A mirror on the opposite wall offered Mary a glimpse of her reflection. The dark gray thunderbolt on her chest, no longer shining brightly golden as before, seemed to confirm the gods’ altered opinion of her, that she was now tainted in their eyes. Who’s to say they won’t withdraw their power from me again? she worried. Like they did with Holly and Harley?
She could feel the power of the black pearl tugging at her. Her heart pounded at the thought of claiming that power once more. Her face flushed with both shame and excitement.
“No! I don’t care!” She glared back at Darkseid over her shoulder, while carefully averting her gaze from the alluring poison in his hand. “That little ball of evil is ... well, it’s evil! And that’s not me!”
“So you say, Mary.” He rose from the chair. The floorboards creaked beneath his heavy tread as he came up behind her, still holding out the miniature sphere. “But let me ask: When you held this power, did you feel evil?” Not exactly, she thought. Maybe a little reckless sometimes, but was that really so bad? She couldn’t resist sneaking a peek at the pearl, then discovered that she couldn’t look away. Slowly, almost against her will, she turned around to face Darkseid. The tempting sphere hovered above his outstretched palm, only a few inches away from her face. All she had to was reach out and take it....
“Remember, Mary,” Darkseid urged her. “Remember how you really felt.”
A tear leaked down Mary’s cheek. She couldn’t deny the yearning deep within her. “I felt... strong,” she admitted hoarsely, her voice barely more than a whisper. “I felt stronger and more confident than I ever had before.”
Or since.
Darkseid smiled in approval. “You see, evil is a mere abstraction. A matter of perception.” He stepped forward, bringing the tantalizing sphere even closer. “Do you hear it, Mary? How it sings to you? Calls to you? Take it. Be complete. Be strong once more.”
Mary’s hand reached tentatively for his gift, even as she wrestled painfully with her conscience. She remembered how the gods had cruelly “tested” her before, how the Monitor had effortlessly transported her across the cosmos without even asking her permission. Would he have been able to do that if she had still possessed the power Darkseid now offered her? Even with her original powers re-'stored, it seemed that she remained at the mercy of powerful entities who treated her like a pawn in their cosmic games. A sob tore itself from her throat as she faced the awful truth.
I'm still just as helpless as before....
Her fingers hesitated above the shimmering sphere. Her heart ached for the strength and confidence it promised her. She had never wanted anything so much in her life, not even all those enticing magical talismans back at Zatanna’s mansion weeks ago. I’m so sorry’, she thought. I can’t help myself. ...
Swallowing hard, she stretched her fingers toward the pearl, only to have Darkseid withdraw it slightly. She experienced a moment of panic as he closed his fingers around the sphere, hiding it from her sight. No, she thought frantically. Don’t take it away!
“All I require is one tiny favor,” he insisted.
Mary didn’t care anymore. I resisted Eclipso in the end, she rationalized. I can turn the tables on Darkseid too, when the time is right.
But first she had to have her power back.
“All right,” she consented. “Whatever you say.”
He opened his hand and Mary eagerly seized her prize.
Yes! ' '
Thunder boomed once more. Lightning flashed.
Black clouds gathered over the city.
Mippsiift®, adorned in all her queenly raiment, watched from atop a rocky outcropping in the harbor as her new subjects labored to remove the last remnants of Granny Goodness’s harsh regime from Themyscira’s sacred shores. Teams of eager young women, singing merrily as they worked, tore down the false goddess’s ugly barracks, watchtowers, and barbed wire fences while their sisters helped restore the island’s marble temples and palaces. Waves lapped gently against the slick stone pedestal beneath her sandals. Seabirds circled overhead beneath Apollo’s heavenly chariot. The fresh air held an invigorating salty tang.
The work goes well, she thought. After driving the pretender from her realm, she had been pleased to discover that the homeless young women left behind were more confused than corrupted. Although they were not true Amazons, they had readily embraced the ideals and values of the Sisterhood once Hippolyta had shown them the truth. Even Granny’s favored ones, her newly christened “Female Furies,” had seen the light after the pretender’s true nature was exposed. Indeed, there had proved to be much dissatisfaction with Granny’s brutal discipline hiding within the hearts of her misguided followers. None mourned her departure.
Hippolyta was not certain how many of the girls would ultimately choose to remain on Themyscira, but for now she was happy to offer them sanctuary. As far as she was concerned, they were her responsibility now.
Let it be as the gods will.. . .
A cloud passed before the sun, casting an unexpected shadow over the hopeful scene. Thunder rambled in the distance and a sudden chill fell over her soul. Deep in her heart, she sensed the gods’ displeasure—and the seduction of a heroine. Her sorrowful eyes turned toward the distant horizon.
“Oh, Mary,” she whispered sadly. “What have you done?” ' ' '
TUB Hall of Justice occupied the grassy Mall in the middle of the nation’s capital, not far from the Smithsonian and the Lincoln Memorial. A gleaming steel and glass structure, flanked by twin rectangular towers, the world-famous headquarters of the Justice League of America, Earth’s premier super-hero team, was an impressive sight that drew visitors from all over the world. An angular piece of modern art, evoking Superman’s crystalline fortress in the Arctic, rose from the center of the pellucid reflecting pool in front of the Hall. Three-story-high bas-reliefs of Justice herself, complete with blindfold and scales, embossed the bronze facades of the twin towers, while the central building, whose shape resembled a rising sun, arched gracefully before the horizon, like a shining steel rainbow promising hope for the future. Throngs of tourists were lined up in front of the main entrance of the Hall, which, besides being the JLA’s official meeting place, also served as a museum showcasing the League’s myriad trophies and accomplishments.
The design of the elegant building, Donna knew, had
CSijNTBOllH lit
been a collaboration between Wonder Woman and the JLA’s resident architect, John Stewart, aka Green Lantern. As she and her allies descended toward the Hall, she couldn’t help admiring her foster sister’s work. Let’s hope that Diana and the rest of the League are in attendance today, she thought, and not defending an alien planet on the other side of the galaxy.
“Here we are,” the Atom muttered. Only two inches tall, he held on to her raven locks as he perched upon her shoulder. “Oh boy.”
She couldn’t miss the apprehension in his voice. “Something the matter, Ray?”
“Just a little nervous about seeing the rest of the League again,” he admitted. Before disappearing two years ago, the Atom had been a longtime member of the team. “I just vanished before, never told them I was leaving or... Well, there’s a lot I need to explain.”
I’m sure nobody blames you, Donna thought. After everything Ray Palmer had endured, thanks to his lunatic ex, she felt confident that his former teammates would understand and sympathize with his desire to seek a new life elsewhere. I’ve felt the same way at times.
She opened her mouth to say as much, but Jason spoke up first. “Yeah, I get that and feel for ya, but you’re going to have to be angsty some other time.” Jason was cradled in Donna’s arms as they flew toward the Hall. His domino mask was once more affixed to his face. A few yards away, Forager transported Jimmy through the air. “Darkseid, man. Remember?”
“I know,” the Atom said solemnly. They touched down on the Mall, before a mob of gaping tourists, who hurried to snap photos of the newly arrived heroes with their cell phones and portable cameras. “Okay ... let’s yank the Band-Aid off and get this over with already.”
“Oh, it’s over all right!”
Without warning, thunder boomed and a sizzling lightning bolt struck the ground at the Challengers’ feet. The jolt knocked Donna off her feet, causing her to lose her grip on Jason, who swore loudly as he tumbled onto the shattered pavement. The Atom was flung from her shoulder. Jimmy Olsen yelped a few feet away, while Forager buzzed in alarm.
What in Hera’s name? Dazed, Donna scrambled to her feet. The sudden glare of the thunderbolt left blue spots dancing before her vision. Her ears rang with the echo of the deafening thunderclap, which had seemingly burst from a clear blue sky. A chill fell over her as dark clouds abruptly obscured the sun. Frightened tourists fled in panic. Donna looked up in amazement at the source of the disturbance. “You?!”
Mary Marvel hovered in the air above the reflecting pool, but the teenage heroine looked very different than she had only hours ago. Her traditional white and gold uniform had been replaced by a slinky black number that struck 'Donna as better suited to a villainous femme fatale than the virginal young sidekick she remembered. Her long brown hair blew wildly in the wind. A cruel smirk transformed her formerly girlish features. Lightning slashed through the suddenly stormy sky above her.
Donna blinked in disbelief, almost at a loss for words “But... ?”
“But nothing!” Mary said arrogantly. “Mary Marvel’s back in black... and better than ever!”
“I don’t understand,” Donna protested. What could have happened to Mary in the short time they had been apart? “You’ve faced evil before and won. Why this? Why now?”
Mary flew toward her. “You’re right. I was tempted by evil, not too long ago, but that was all Eclipso’s influence. She was evil, not this power. The power’s what I make of it!” Her malevolent glee belied her words. “I’m not evil, Donna. I’m driven!”
She fired another lightning bolt, but this time Donna dodged the blast. An unlucky patch of lawn was seared to a crisp.
“Oh, honey.” Donna raised her Amazonian bracelets
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defensively. “Listen to yourself! Can’t you tell that you’re making a terrible mistake?”
“I haven’t done anything wrong!” Mary insisted. “I’ve just taken back what’s mine. This power belongs to me. Darkseid understands that. And all he wants in return is”—she pointed her finger at Jimmy—“him!”
Darkseid? Donna thought. Her heart sank at the realization that the evil New God had somehow seduced Mary Marvel over to his side. I should have realized he was behind this.
“Me?” Jimmy flinched as Mary targeted him. “Aw, come on!”
Forager stepped in front of Jimmy. “You will not hurt the Olsenbug! You will not even touch him!” Her wings vibrated indignantly. She shook an armored fist at Mary. “You shall have to kill me first!”
' > “Not a problem!” Mary slammed feetfirst into the pavement, only inches away from the fierce insect-woman. The impact shattered the concrete and sent both Forager and Jimmy flying backward across the plaza. Chunks of pulverized cement exploded across the open area like shrapnel. Heavy fragments splashed down into the reflecting pool. Tepid water sprayed everywhere. Clouds of gritty dust billowed upward.
Donna realized that there was no reasoning with Mary. “Jason!” she called out as she reluctantly rushed to battle. “We can’t let her get Jimmy!”
“Yeah!” Gun in hand, he charged after her across the wreckage. “I’m on it!”
Forager was way ahead of them, though. Already recovered from Mary’s initial assault, she lunged at their former ally. “Do not underestimate me!” The two women traded blows amidst the debris, while Jimmy looked on in dismay. “I’ve faced a thousand Parademons, and yet I live to fight on!”
Mary was unimpressed. She blocked Forager’s punch with her left arm, then delivered a titanic right cross that propelled Forager straight into the nearby Washington
Monument. The insect-woman’s chitinous armor smacked loudly against the towering marble obelisk. “In case you haven’t noticed, bugsy,” Mary gloated, “you’re way out of your league!”
Donna feared Mary was not exaggerating, at least where Forager was concerned. Mary never used to be able to fling lightning from, her fingertips, she thought. What other new powers has Darkseid endowed her with ?
“I don’t want to hurt you, Mary!” Donna shouted as she slammed her own super-strong fist into Mary’s jaw, staggering the out-of-control heroine. Distracted by her victory over Forager, Mary hadn’t even seen the blow coming. “But we can’t let you have Jimmy!”
A few yards away, Jason took up a defensive position in front of Jimmy. Brandishing his Glock semiautomatic, he tried to get a clean shot at Mary. “Get the lead out, Olsen!” he barked. “Power up already!”
“I can’t!” Jimmy cried out. “It only works when my life’s in danger... and I don’t think she means to kill me!” He watched helplessly as an angry Mary grappled with Donna high above the trashed plaza. Fury contorted Mary's face. Grabbing on to Donna’s throat, she savagely attempted to throtde the other heroine with her gloved hands. Jimmy gulped at Mary’s crazed expression. “Not sure she feels the same way about you guys, though ...” “Let go of her!” Jason yelled. Gunfire blared as he emptied the Glock at the back of Mary’s head. The bullets bounced harmlessly off her glossy scalp, but the distraction allowed Donna to break free of the other woman’s stranglehold. Twisting from Mary’s grip, she retreated to catch her breath. Ugly bruises mottled her smooth neck.
“Please, Mary!” Her fingers gently massaged her injured throat. “Let us help you!”
“I don’t need your help!” Mary snarled, outraged by the mere suggestion. Shrugging off the blistering fusillade of bullets, she dived at Jason, even as the trigger-happy vigilante slammed a fresh cartridge into his gun. “I’m sick of you, my brother, Zatanna, Klarion, and all your condescending attitudes!” She was only seconds away from smashing into Jason like a missile in a miniskirt. “Well, look who’s helpless now!”
Right before she hit him, however, the jagged iron sculpture from the center of the reflecting pool came plowing into her from the side. The massive projectile knocked her off course, sparing Jason by a matter of inches, and rammed her into the base of the Hall’s western tower. Iron crashed against the reinforced bronze plating, crushing Mary between them. The clang of crumpled metal rang out across the Mall.
Donna heaved a sigh of relief. Standing atop the sculpture’s star-shaped pedestal, she lowered her arms, grateful that she had managed to hurl the one-ton piece of artwork at Mary in time. “Well, I suppose that bought us a few seconds.”
» “Thanks!” Jason hollered. He glanced irritably at the Hall of Justice. Metal barricades had descended over the exterior glass windows, to protect both the building and any visitors trapped inside, but there was no sign of any reinforcements coming to their aid. “Hey, Donna, how is it we’re having a knock-down, drag-out right on the JLA’s doorstep and they’re nowhere to be found?”
“Guess they’re busy elsewhere,” Donna said. She wondered if maybe Mary—or Darkseid—was using some sort of arcane magic or super-science to block any alarm signals coming from the headquarters. Thankfully, any innocent bystanders had already fled the Mall, although Donna heard the sirens of emergency vehicles converging on the scene. A news helicopter arrived to capture the breaking story' from above. Donna guessed that neither the police nor the media were likely to intimidate Mary. “I think we’re on our own.”
Jason spat in disgust. “Typical.” Holding on tightly to his gun, he hurried to Jimmy’s side. “Screw the League, then! I’m grabbing Olsen and getting him as far away from her as I can.”
Good idea, Donna thought. She doubted that one big chunk of metal would be enough to put Mary Marvel down for the count, especially now that Darkseid had supersized her powers somehow. “Speaking of MIA, where’d the Atom run off to?” She quickly scanned the debris-strewn battleground, but failed to spot the miniature hero. Was he lying unconscious somewhere, too tiny to be seen readily, or had his nerve failed him in the end? The Ray Palmer of old, the stalwart member of the Justice League, would have never deserted his allies like this, and yet... was it possible that the tragic events of recent years had broken his spirit more than any of them had realized? “I hope he didn’t desert us,” she murmured.
She didn’t want to think so, but then again, she had never expected Mary Marvel to go bad either....
The screams of twisted metal seized her attention. Electricity crackled over the surface of the mangled iron sculpture as Mary brusquely tossed Donna’s improvised missile aside. She rose from the battered base of the tower, brushed off her skirt, and ascended into the sky above the plaza. Her hair was a trifle mussed, but otherwise she looked alarmingly unscathed. Pissed-off blue eyes glared down at Donna and the others.
“Enough’s enough!” she said testily. “I have a promise to keep, and I intend to keep it.”
“A promise to Darkseid?” Donna challenged her. “A promise that could cost Jimmy his life?”
Mary shrugged off Donna's accusations. “Heru!” she called out, imploring the ancient Egyptian deity better known to the West as Horns. “Lend me your speed!” Donna glanced anxiously at Jimmy. Jason was tugging on the towheaded reporter’s arm, trying to hustle him away from the Mall, but Jimmy appeared understandably reluctant to abandon Forager, who was sprawled upon the chipped pavement surrounding the Washington Monument. “Here,” Jimmy urged the groggy insect-woman as he crouched beside her, assisting her to a sitting position. “Let me help you.”
“Come on!” Jason said impatiently. “Get a move on!”
But not even Donna was fast enough to stop Mary Marvel. Moving so swiftly that she was nothing more than a satiny black blur, she whooshed down from the sky and snatched Jimmy away from his guardians before Donna or anyone else could even catch a breath. She zoomed away at lightning speed, leaving the thunderstruck Challengers behind. Within a heartbeat, both Mary and her captive were completely out of sight.
“Nooo!” Forager shrieked. She reached out desperately, but Jimmy was long gone.
Jason kicked the pavement. “Dammit!”
Donna shared their frustration. Flying over to join her remaining companions, she vented aloud. “I don’t believe this! After everything we’ve been through, just to lose him to Darkseid like this ...!’*
“No ” Forager climbed to her feet. Her armor was cracked and scuffed, but her resolve was apparently still intact. Twin antennae quivered passionately. “I shall track the Olsenbug,” she vowed, shaking her fist at the heavens. “And I will find where that black-hearted witch and Darkseid have taken him ... even if it leads us to the very end of Creation!”
Donna was impressed by her courage and determination, which would have done an Amazon proud.
“All right,” Donna said. “But first we need some serious backup.”
“DIsen,” Darkseid greeted him. “How nice to see you again.”
Jimmy was backed up against the wall of a rocky gorge somewhere in the Blue Mountains northwest of Metropolis. Darkseid gazed down at Jimmy from a ledge overlooking the narrow ravine, while Mary Marvel stood by on a lower ridge. She didn’t look at all guilty about delivering the frightened reporter into Darkseid’s clutches.
I don't understand, Jimmy thought. She wasn’t like this on Apokolips!
“Darkseid,” Jimmy replied, trying hard not to tremble. “I—I’m not afraid of you.”
His show of defiance provoked a laugh from the archvillain. “Ha! I admit you’ve been a source of great amusement to me these past months, James Olsen, but now the time has come to take back that which 1 have given you: the souls of the New Gods.” He extended his hand, which glowed ominously. “Don’t worry. It will be very painful.”
Jimmy could just imagine. Vivid memories of Light-ray’s and Sleez’s butchered corpses, with smoking holes in their chests, flashed before his mind’s eye. But he wasn’t about to beg for mercy. If this was truly the end, he was going down fighting—-just like Superman would.
“Yeah? Good luck with that,” he challenged Darkseid. “Or did you forget that I’ve got powers now too?”
He threw out his arms, and pictured a volley of razor-sharp quills piercing Darkseid’s stony gray flesh. He visualized his legs stretching like taffy, carrying him up and away from the lonely ravine. He tried to call upon the astounding speed he had tapped into once upon a time in Metropolis. Heck, he was even willing to dissolve into jelly again.
But nothing happened.
“Indeed, you have great power,” Darkseid conceded, “so long as I permit it.”
Twin beams shot from his eyes, blasting apart the rug-< ged terrain beneath Jimmy’s feet. Reeling backward, Jimmy threw up his hands to protect his eyes as granite splinters pelted his face. His butt landed hard on the uneven floor of the gorge.
“Give it up, red,” Mary' advised him. She sounded like she thought she had his best interests at heart. “Why drag this out when you don’t stand a hell of a chance?”
“I’m disappointed to hear such language coming from you, Mary,” a familiar voice scolded her. Hope flared brightly in Jimmy’s heart as he spotted Superman flying down from the sky, faster than a speeding bullet. The Man of Steel’s powerful right fist collided with Darkseid’s chin, sending the startled villain flying from his rocky perch, while Mary Marvel nearly jumped out of her high black boots in surprise. Superman cast a disapproving glance in her direction. “You could really use a better role model!”
Forager came bounding into the gorge after Superman. “Olsenbug!” Her eyes and antennae anxiously searched his face for injuries as she hugged him so hard his ribs hurt. Her armored helmet failed to conceal her relief at finding him again. Fluttery wings retracted into her back.
“Superman!” Jimmy exclaimed. “Boy, am I glad to see you! But how ... ?” .
“Donna contacted me via the Hall of Justice,” he explained. “Darkseid blocked my telescopic vision somehow, but, thanks to Forager, we were able to track you down.” Landing in the gorge between Jimmy and Darkseid, who was even now rising ponderously back onto his feet, Superman stood ready to do battle with the sinister New God. “The rest of you should back away and find someplace safe.” The bright red S on his chest contrasted sharply with the sinister darkness of Darkseid’s and Mary’s attire. His scarlet cape rustled in the cold mountain breeze. “This is about to get ugly.”
Less than fifty yards away, amidst a pile of fresh rabble, Darkseid faced his foe. “Kryptonian,” he snarled. “Do you mean to confront me alone?” He sneered mockingly. “I’m a touch insulted. I’d have expected the entire Justice League to rain down upon me at once.”
“They’re tied up right now with a living tsunami on the planet Rann,” Superman said. “But there’s no need to wait for them. This is between you and me. You had the New Gods murdered, didn’t you? And now you’re going after Jimmy.” Superman didn’t often lose his temper, but Jimmy could tell from his tone that the hero was genuinely angry. “The way I see it, it’s past time for me to put you down for good.”
“You’re mistaken, Kryptonian,” Darkseid answered. “The end of the New Gods is the Source’s doing, not my own, but I alone shall survive to rale over the Fifth World to come, and nothing you can do shall stop me!”
His Omega Beams struck the ground, triggering a massive earthquake that caused the wall of the gorge to crumble. An avalanche of shattered stone came roaring down the side of the mountain. “Jimmy!” Superman shouted, momentarily looking away from Darkseid. He looked tom between rescuing Jimmy and guarding him from Darkseid and Mary. “Your defensive powers?”
Jimmy tried to stretch to safety, but to no avail; his fragile limbs remained stubbornly inelastic. “Darkseid turned them off! I can’t... !”
“Fear not!” Forager threw herself atop Jimmy, shielding him with her armored form. Heavy boulders bounced off her back and shoulders. “I will get the Olsenbug to safety!”
“Aww, that’s sweet,” Mary Marvel jeered sarcastically. Heedless of the falling debris, she launched herself at Jimmy and Forager, even as Superman struck back against her malevolent master. “But who’s gonna save you?”
Hi8 ground shook as Superman waded forward against the full force of Darkseid’s fearsome Omega Beams until he was right up in the villain’s face. The searing radiation hurt almost as much as kryptonite, but Superman kept on 'coming. “If that’s your best shot, Darkseid, you might as well give up right now.”
“Oh, you needn’t concern yourself with that.” Darkseid blocked Superman’s strong right fist with his beefy arm. Seizing the hero’s shoulders, he shoved Superman down onto his back. “I only wished to bring you close enough to—”
Superman’s eyes flashed crimson. A brilliant burst of heat vision struck the villain’s face, blinding him. “Close enough to what?” Springing to his feet, Superman grabbed on to Darkseid’s craggy face with his bare hand and flung him halfway across the ravine. The capsized New God crashed upside down into a granite cliff face. A landslide buried Darkseid beneath a heap of rubble. Seismic meters all over the state jumped in alarm.
I have to admit that felt good, Superman thought. He had foiled Darkseid’s nefarious schemes, and battled his vicious minions, numerous times over the years, but Darkseid himself had usually refrained from getting his own hands dirty, preferring to manipulate events rather than engage in hand-to-hand combat with “lesser” beings. Too many of their past encounters had ended in frustrating stalemates, with Darkseid grudgingly returning to Apokolips to plot anew. Not this time, Superman resolved. It’s about time we finally went to head-to-head. If Darkseid wants Jimmy, he's going to have to take me on personally.
An explosion of cosmic energy blew apart the mountain of debris on top of Darkseid. The cataclysmic shock wave hurled Superman into the air, rocketing him into the side of the mountain. Stunned by the force of the blast, he rolled downhill into the battle-scarred ravine, where Darkseid waited at the center of a newly carved crater. Fury had replaced hauteur upon the villain’s features as he glowered wrathfully at the Man of Steel. Incarnadine energy crackled around his clenched fists. “You dare lay hands on mighty Darkseid?” he roared. “YOU DARE?!”
“Yeah, I do dare.” Shaking off the effects of the explosion, Superman flew at Darkseid. His tattered red cape 'flapped behind him. His knuckles pounded into Darkseid’s face. Black blood sprayed from the villain’s lips as his head was knocked to one side. “Guess I’m just not a big fan of murderous tyrants!”
With no thought for his own safety, Superman hammered away at his foe.
i.sss than ten yards away, Forager sprang as nimbly as a grasshopper, deftly evading Mary Marvel’s angry fists, while Jimmy Olsen looked on desperately, wishing there was something he could do to help. “Keep still, dammit!” Mary cursed in frustration. Her swinging fist took a chunk out of a large gray boulder, but missed Forager completely. Mary looked like a frustrated exterminator chasing after an annoying cockroach. All she needed was a giant flyswatter.
“Never!” Forager replied. She used Mary’s own shoulder as a brace to flip over the frustrated ex-heroine while delivering a savage kick to Mary’s rear as she landed nimbly behind the other female. “Only when the last breath of life leaves me will I—”
“Fair enough!” Mary interrupted. Running out of patience, she unleashed a blast of bright blue electricity that jolted Forager like the world’s biggest bug-zapper. The insect-woman convulsed in shock before dropping limply to the ground. Her body twitched spasmodically amidst the dust and rocks.
“Wow.” Mary grinned at her victim. Her electrified hair settled back down over her shoulders. The azure sparks surrounding her svelte form slowly flickered away. “What an annoying pest!”
Jimmy stared in horror at Forager’s collapsed body. She was moving, at least, which meant she was still alive, but just how badly had Mary hurt her? Worse than Bernadeth back on Apokolips?
He couldn’t believe that it was really Mary Marvel who had done this. She’s Captain Marvel ’.v sister for Pete’s sake! he thought. It’s like Supergirl going bad!
“You’ve become a monster!” he accused her.
“Oh, whatever, Jimbo.” Turning her back on Forager, she strode calmly toward Jimmy. “It’s not like I’m going to kill you.” There was no trace of mercy in her eyes or voice. “Just hang tight until Darkseid finishes up with your pal, so he can kill you. Cool?”
Jimmy backed away fearfully.
“Not cool!”Donna Troy declared as she leapt down into the gorge. Her boots slammed into Mary’s back, smacking her facedown into the ground. Looking up in relief, Jimmy saw Jason Todd standing on the ridge above him. Jimmy guessed that Donna had flown him here. “Sorry not to get here sooner,” she apologized. “But you try keeping up with Superman!”
Mary threw Donna off her and clambered to her feet. She shook the grit from her hair as she faced off against Jimmy and his latest defenders. Her irate face was caked with powdered stone, but wasn’t even bruised. “You should’ve stayed out of this, Donna!”
“No way, Mary.” Donna raised her fists as she got between Mary and Jimmy. Jason scrambled down the side of the ridge to join them. “This is it. We tried to talk sense into you, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“Yeah, you’ve got this coming, bitch!” Jason added. Mary snickered. “You think you and the Boy Wonder there can take me down?” She wiped off her face and clapped the dust from her hands. “Okay, prove it!”
She charged at them with murder in her eyes.
Another punch got past Darkseid’s defenses. Superman smiled grimly as the vainglorious New God went flying into a mountaintop several miles away. Solid granite shattered like glass, sending thunderous echoes through the wooded valley below. Superman’s super-hearing detected a stampede of panicked wildlife racing madly away from the hillside. Good, he thought. There’s no need for any innocent animals to get hurt by this conflict.
Darkseid slid down the side of the peak before rising to face Superman again. Despite the hero’s best efforts, his foe seemed as arrogantly confident as ever. “That’s it,” Superman taunted him as he flew at Darkseid. “Get up. Keep fighting.” The wind whooshed past his ears as he aimed his bare fists at the villain’s skull. “I’m not ready to call it quits yet either!”
“I won’t deny I’ve found your moralistic petulance amusing,” Darkseid replied, his arms crossed boldly across his barrel chest. “But, frankly, this sort of rank barbarism is beneath me. I grow weary of it.” He yawned theatrically. ‘Time to put your interference to an end.”
Twin Omega Beams shot from his eyes. Soaring toward Darkseid, Superman braced himself for the agonizing touch of the death rays, but, at the last minute, the parallel beams suddenly executed a sharp turn, veering around Superman and heading back toward ... Jimmy!
Jimmy gently eased Forager’s helmet off as he knelt beside her. To his relief, he found her breathing steadily.
Her multifaceted eyes fixed on his as she gradually regained consciousness. A trickle of turquoise blood escaped her lips. He placed his hand against her neck and tried to take her pulse. It seemed a bit rapid, but how was he supposed to know what was normal for her? She wasn’t exactly human after all....
/ don’t care, he thought. She’s the only good thing that’s happened to me since this whole mess began.
The blare of gunfire, as well as angry grunts and curses, rang out behind him. Despite his concern for Forager, he couldn’t resist glancing back over his shoulder at the heated battle going on only a few yards away, as Donna and Jason fought furiously to keep Mar}' away from him. Unfortunately, even though they outnumbered her two to one, they seemed to be losing ground at the moment; whatever Darkseid had done to Mary' had obviously amped up her powers to a frightening degree. Jason fired round after round of ammo into the indestructible super-vixen, while Mary grabbed on to Donna’s throat and yanked her off her feet, just like Captain Vyle had done to Jimmy in the slave pits of the Armagetto. He winced in sympathy. “Jeez. They don’t have a prayer, do they?”
“Jimmy?”
“Forager!” He temporarily forgot the fight as he turned back to his alien sweetheart. “You’re awake!” Placing one arm beneath her, he tenderly lifted her head from the ground. He felt a nasty bump beneath her silky purple hair. “Great, ’cause we gotta—”
“Jimmy!” she exclaimed. Her golden eyes looked past him at something above them. “Coming for you ...!’* His head pivoted in time to see Darkseid’s Omega Beams zipping toward him. Hoping to lure them away from Forager, he jumped to his feet and ran away from the sizzling scarlet rays as fast as he could. He zigzagged madly across the uneven terrain, trying to shake the beams, but they copied his every turn. “Yikes!” he shouted. “They’re following me!”
Forager tried to get up, but, lacking the strength, collapsed weakly back onto the ground. “Forgive me, my Olsenbug! There is no escape for you!”
A jagged stone cliff blocked his path. He frantically tried to scramble up the side of the ridge, but the loose gravel kept sliding out from beneath his feet. He fell, scraping his knee on a sharp-edged boulder. Blood soaked through the knee of his grimy coverall. “Ouch,” he yelped, but the pain was nothing compared to the excruciating agony that transfixed his body as the Omega Beams struck him from behind.
“No!” Forager cried out in despair. “JIMMY!”
He expected the souls of the New Gods to explode from his chest, leaving a smoking corpse behind, and yet, to his surprise, the intense pain was over in an instant. Jimmy stared down at himself in confusion, wondering why on Earth he was still alive. His skin tingled all over.
' “Huh?” ”
A Boom Tube heralded the return of Darkseid, who teleported back into the gorge, only a few paces away from Jimmy. A moment later, Superman came flying back onto the scene. He looked equally baffled by Jimmy’s survival. His X-ray vision checked his friend out from head to toe.
“What have you done to him?” Superman demanded. “Nothing, really,” Darkseid said smugly. “I’ve merely unlocked the fail-safe I installed in him when I made him into my cosmic vessel.” He waved his hand at Jimmy, and a queasy feeling came over the perplexed reporter. “Say good-bye to your super friend, Olsen!”
Jimmy’s joints locked up. His pink skin took on a bright emerald hue, and a luminous green aura suddenly enveloped his body.
No! he thought. What are you doing to me now? Superman gasped out loud and crashed to the earth, as though he had suddenly lost the ability to defy gravity. A sickly green pallor came over his face. Bulging veins protruded from beneath his skin as he writhed in torment on the rocky floor of the gorge.
Ohmigod! Jimmy realized. I’ve turned into kryptonite!
Superman tried to crawl away, but Darkseid casually zapped him in the back with his searing eye-beams. “Oh no, Kryptonian. You aren’t going anywhere.” He turned to smirk at Jimmy. “And neither are you, Olsen.”
His emerald brow furrowed in concentration, Jimmy strained to reverse the transformation, but without any success. Waves of killing radiation spilled from his body, making Superman weaker and weaker. He tried to get away from his friend, only to find himself frozen in place. An anguished grunt escaped his lips, but otherwise he couldn’t move a muscle.
“It’s useless to struggle,” Darkseid informed him. “I control you now.” His arms clasped behind his back, he strolled over to where Superman lay dying. “Besides, don’t you want to be at your dear friend’s side as he breathes his final breath?”
This is a nightmare, Jimmy thought. Paralyzed, he could do nothing but stand by while Darkseid used him to execute the greatest hero on Earth. Jimmy didn’t want to die, but, at the moment, he would have gladly traded his own life, not to mention all his newfound superpowers, just for a chance to save his best friend. Please, don’t let this happen!
Darkseid savored Jimmy’s misery. “There is nothing you can do, Olsen. Darkseid pilots you now and the controls are embedded deep within your very core....”
The cerebellum, the “little brain,” was tucked away in the hindbrain, below the much larger cerebrum. Synapses sparked between clusters of neurons linked by branching dendrites and axons. Fatty layers of myelin protected the neural fibers, while pulsing veins and capillaries throbbed with every heartbeat. An eerie green radiance lit up a convoluted maze of grooves and folds leading through the cerebellum’s twin hemispheres. Overlapping lobes quivered like jelly. Dripping neurotransmitters smelled like brine. The temperature inside the brain was hot and feverish.
“Ow,” the Atom moaned, slowly stirring to consciousness. He found himself sprawled atop a bed of damp, sticky glial cells, where he must have collapsed when zapped by a sudden burst of intense brain activity. His own microscopic nerves still felt fried from the jolt. Would it have killed whoever rewired this brain to properly insulate it, he thought crankily, so that minuscule people like me don’t get electrocuted when it fires up?
He had taken refuge inside Jimmy’s brain during Mary Marvel’s sneak attack outside the Hall of Justice, hoping to get to the bottom of Jimmy’s on-again, off-again powers. Exploring carefully, he had made his way through the cerebral cortex down to the hindbrain before being knocked out cold by ... what?
Something happened to Jimmy; that’s for sure.
Lifting himself from the gooey brain matter, the Atom took a moment to get his bearings. Jimmy was obviously still alive, although his blood was pumping at an alarming rate. He could hear the posterior inferior cerebellar artery beating loudly deep beneath his feet, like a subway car shaking the pavement above. The synapses were still firing like they were supposed to, creating a strobe effect inside the brain’s muggy interior, but how come everything was so ... green?
Contrary to popular wisdom, the “gray matter” of a living brain was usually flushed red with blood. Ordinar-iiy, hiking through the brain on foot was like spelunking through caves of spongy red jello, but now everything around him was suffused with a strangely familiar emerald effulgence that seemed to emanate from every cell and fiber of Jimmy’s brain. Looking around in confusion, it took the Atom a second to recognize the distinctive green tint.
It’s kryptonite, he realized in shock. Jimmy’s radiating kryptonite?
The Atom didn’t know how that was possible, but he guessed that Superman was somewhere nearby—and in serious trouble. All the more reason for me to figure out what Darkseid’s done to Jimmy’s brain and shut it down, pronto!
The bouncy glia beneath his boots felt like a children’s moonwalk ride as he investigated a network of metallic filaments intertwined with Jimmy’s own ganglia. The Atom had been tracing the path of the artificial-looking circuitry right before he had been shocked unconscious. Crystalline flecks glinted amidst the filaments, which were intricately wedded to the pulsing brain matter. Ray was a physicist, not a neurosurgeon, but he had shut down enough evil telepaths’ brains to know his way around, and this bizarre biological circuitry was like nothing he had ever seen before.
It’s like H. R. Giger meets RadioShack, he thought. How in the world am I supposed to get a handle on this?
The cerebellum played a crucial part in controlling the human body’s senses and motor controls, so he knew he had to be careful what he did here. One mistake could render Jimmy blind or paralyzed or worse. Yet he knew he had to do something about the alien apparatus infiltrating Jimmy’s brain. Beneath the toxic glow of the kryptonite, he cautiously reached for an array of blinking crystals that looked like they might be a transformer of some sort.
Maybe if he cut the current... ?
ZZAKT! He yanked back his hand as emerald sparks stung his fingertips. “Okay, so much for that plan,” he muttered. Getting electrocuted again wasn’t going to help Jimmy any, let alone save the universe from Darkseid’s malignant designs. The Atom paced back and forth before the baffling technology. Even though he had no idea what was going on outside Jimmy’s skull, he couldn’t help sensing that time was running out. He remembered Darkseid gloating over his master plan back in his fortress on Apokolips. Who knew how much longer they had before the arch-villain turned the entire Multiverse into a living hell?
Think, Palmer! He concentrated with all his might on the insidious improvements to Jimmy’s “green matter.” Gritting his teeth, he scrutinized every nanometer of the corrupted neurons, looking for some clue as to how to disable the arcane circuitry without killing or crippling Jimmy. He would have killed for an instruction book written in any earthly language. You’re supposed to be a genius, so figure this out!
“fire you enjoying your last moments, Kryptonian?” Darkseid gloated. “I know I am, although I admit my attention’s been usurped by young Mary.” He turned away from Jimmy and Superman to admire Mary’s lopsided battle against Donna and Jason. “Look at her fight. Such power. Such vigor. Such angerP* He chuckled in approval. “When the Fifth World dawns, I just might let her live.”
Her opponents, on the other hand, were unlikely to last that long. Running out of ammo, Jason holstered his gun and tackled Mary head-on. A twelve-inch knife appeared in his hands and he jabbed it straight at the golden thunderbolt emblazoned on her chest. Darkseid admired his ruthlessness, but not his lack of common sense. The tip of the blade shattered against Mary’s insignia, leaving him defenseless before her superior speed and strength. A backhanded slap dropped him like a sack of potatoes. He landed flat on his back amidst the rubble and didn’t get back up again. Blood seeped out from beneath his skull, staining the floor of the gorge.
“Jason!” Donna cried out. She flew at Mary with her fists stretched out before her. Sunlight flashed off her silver belt and bracelets. Her outraged face no longer held the slightest bit of sympathy for the other woman. “I swear by the gods, Mary... !”
Mary laughed at Donna’s approach. “You want your boyfriend so badly?” She grabbed Jason by one ankle and swung him like a club at the oncoming heroine. Jason’s head smacked against Donna’s face, knocking her out of the sky. She crashed to the ground at Mary’s feet, providing an easy target for Mary, who clobbered her over and over with Jason’s limp body. She looked like she was playing a grotesquely brutal game of Whac-A-Mole, using the former Robin as her hammer. Donna tried to fight back, but every time she lifted her battered face from the debris, Mary pounded her back down into the dirt... until Donna finally stopped moving. Only her labored breathing revealed that the super-powerful Amazon still possessed a spark of life.
“Heh,” Mary casually tossed Jason aside as she stood triumphantly over Donna’s prone body. “How about that? Looks like I’m the last girl standing!”
Indeed, Darkseid thought. It seems Eclipso was right to see potential in you. A pity she did not live to see her efforts bear such delicious fruit. . .
The unnatural green light flooded the inner corridors of Jimmy’s brain, serving as a constant reminder that something was terribly wrong. The Atom realized that there was no time to conduct an exhaustive analysis of the artificial implants infesting the cerebellum. I can’t stall any longer, he realized. I have to do something.
His eyes zeroed in on the blinking array before him. At a loss, he wondered how his fellow League members would handle a situation like this. I know what Hawkman would do, he thought. The avian avenger, who was probably Ray’s closest friend in the League, had a fondness for medieval weapons like maces and battle-axes. What did Carter say once? His teammate’s words of wisdom came back to him:
“When in doubt, break things.”
The Atom took a deep breath, then grabbed on to the crystalline array with all his strength. Hostile electrical impulses shot up his arms, numbing him, but he didn’t let go. The alien gizmo resisted his efforts to wrench it free, but, using the white-star technology embedded in his costume, he increased his strength disproportionately to his size. Sparks flew from the infected synapses as the entire array came free at last. Jumping backward from the unleashed energy, he let the crystalline lattice slip from his stinging fingers.
The kryptonite glow flickered all around him, then went out entirely. The emerald brain matter took on a more natural reddish hue. Only the strobe-like glare of flashing synapses allowed him to see his way around the murky cortical folds. Bright arterial blood pulsed warmly beneath his feet. He could only pray that meant Jimmy wasn’t brain-dead yet.
I did it! he exulted. I think....
His triumph was short-lived, however, as a loud scut-ding noise suddenly echoed through the winding convolutions, growing louder by the second as the source of the uproar grew ever nearer. To his alarm, a horde of silvery alien insects came rushing toward him. Vaguely resembling beetles, they clattered over and under each other in their eagerness to tear the Atom apart. Although the size of fleas, they looked as large as king crabs to the tiny Atom. Their scaly shells bore the same alien circuit patterns as the array he had just dislodged. Angiy pincers snapped at him.
“Uh-oh,” he blurted. What were these things? Apoko-liptian antibodies?
His only consolation as they swarmed over him, biting and clawing at his flesh, was the realization that he must have done something right to stimulate this kind of attack.
He could only hope that it wasn’t too little, too late.
“Mack!” Jimmy gasped.
He felt a sudden shock at the back of his skull, then realized that he could move again. The bright green glow of the kryptonite evaporated, and he stared down at his hands in wonder, watching his flesh turn pink again. Thank goodness! He had no idea what had broken Darkseid’s spell, but he couldn’t have been happier. He glanced anxiously at Superman and was relieved to see the Man of Steel recovering as well. The greenish pallor retreated from Superman’s complexion as Earth’s yellow sun restored his strength. His swollen veins constricted. Yes! Jimmy rejoiced. It’s a miracle!
Darkseid was taken aback by this unexpected turn of events. “This can’t be!” he objected. “You’re mine to control!”
Oh yeah? Jimmy thought. We’ll see about that. He sensed instinctively that something had changed fundamentally inside his brain, freeing him from all of Darkseid’s fiendish constraints. He could feel the stolen power of the New Gods surging through him, merging with the unique abilities Darkseid himself had endowed him with. He was in command of the power now, not the other way around. Now he just needed to take it to the max—and buy Superman the time he needed to recover fully.
Jimmy clenched his fists and concentrated. A hoarse grunt erupted from his throat as yet another freakish transformation racked his body. The soiled coverall came apart at the seams as his size and mass increased at an exponential rate. Thick, olive green scales spread across his exposed skin. Webbing formed between his fingers and toes. Bony claws sprouted from his nails. Darkseid, Superman, and the entire gorge seemed to shrink beneath his gaze as his head ascended toward the clouds.
“Holy Moley!” Mary exclaimed. She craned her head back to take in the entire mind-boggling sight. “Now, that’s freaking sweet!”
Jimmy Olsen, helpless cub reporter, was gone. Towering in his place was a colossal turtle-man standing over fifty feet tall. Bulging reptilian eyes sported beady black pupils. Overlapping layers of homy scutes, each the size of parking spaces, armored his mammoth body. Only his flame red hair and freckles rendered him recognizable as he loomed above the startled villains like a prehistoric behemoth.
“You want the power inside me, Darkseid?” Jimmy reached for the smaller-looking New God with his giant claws. “Come and get it!”