“Come on, JoJo. We gotta get those Bliss chips out of here before the
Hard-shells show up,” Maverick whispered. He eased his massive 7’6″ frame out
of the shattered CyberShack window and easily hauled the large crate he carried
through after him. He carefully glanced in all four directions before shoving
the crate onto the truck they had jacked earlier.
Seconds behind him, a much smaller man with definite rodent like features
stepped through the window with a much smaller crate. His long, furry ears
twitched nervously and his snout constantly sniffed the air as if he was
looking for something. He handed the crate to Maverick and looked around
again. “Man, I tell you this is a bad idea. Techno says that the Bat is
back.”
Maverick laughed and slapped the smaller man on the back. JoJo twitched in
pain and his long tail curled in a tight spiral. “Man, Techno has taken one
too many rides into Virtual. He has more brain cells in Cyberspace than he
does in his brain. The Bat’s been gone for a hundred years. There ain’t no
heroes anymore.”
“That’s a double negative,” came a quiet voice from directly above them. Both
men turned to see the source of the voice and a dark shadow fell over them. A
form, less a solid figure and more a part of the night dropped slowly down from
the sky and landed on the roof of the truck. “The state of the public school
system is terrible these days.” The figure rose from its crouch, revealing a
man shrouded in folds of dark cloak. The only things clearly visible were his
eyes. Peering out from a midnight black cowl, they seemed to glow with unholy
radiance.
JoJo screamed, “It’s the Bat! I told you!”
Maverick, much calmer, pulled a Maser from his coat and fired a beam of
amplified microwaves at the intruder. He fully expected to see the figure
explode as his bodily fluids were suddenly pushed past the boiling point.
Instead, he was shocked to see him leap gracefully over the nearly invisible
beam and somersault over their heads.
This proved to be all that JoJo could take. The terrified man started running
down the street, screaming at the top of his lungs. Maverick swore that he saw
the figure gesture with one gauntleted hand. The next thing he knew, there was
a whirring sound and JoJo folded to the street in a tangled heap. Despite the
fact that he towered over the masked man, Maverick felt a twinge of fear as he
turned back to face the truck. “Who the Farg are you, Man?”
The costumed figure strode calmly up to him. There was no rush to his stride
or fear in his movements. He stopped no more than a foot away from the giant
and stared up at him with glowing white eyes. “I’m Batman and I have a message
for you and all of your friends. As of tonight, I’m taking back the streets.”
Maverick was just gathering his nerve to punch the man when a right hook came
out of nowhere. A gauntleted hand struck his jaw with a force akin to a
boulder and he folded neatly to the ground to join his friend.
The cloaked figure studied the two unconscious men for a moment, a quiet smile
playing across his mouth. The smile vanished when the radio in his cowl fed
him information. With a swirl of cloak and shadow, he vanished just as three
police Floaters appeared in the sky. Within minutes, GCPD officers in full
riot armor had the two unfortunates tranked and bagged. They were just placing
them in a van when a much smaller, personal flyer landed. Elderly man in
common street clothes stepped out and studied the situation. The officer in
charge walked over and saluted. “Two perps, Commissioner. Got em with about
60K of Bliss chips.” He paused and looked over his shoulder at the departing
van. “That’s the third bunch tonight, Sir. Do you think it is possible that
he is –”
Commissioner James Gordon looked sternly at the patrol officer, silencing him.
“Sergeant, You will not spread that rumor. I don’t know who is catching these
punks, but Batman is dead. I want a full report on my desk by 0530 hours.”
From a dark rooftop nearby, the shrouded figure watched the men work. He saw
the elderly man and shook his head sadly.
“Times change, don’t they?”
Startled that anyone could sneak up on him, the figure whirled around. A
razor sharp throwing bat appeared almost magically in one hand. He stopped
when he saw the plain, nondescript man standing in front of him. Clad in a
brown suit well over a century out of style and wearing a very battered looking
fedora, the man studied him with brown eyes underneath thick eyebrows. “Nice
to see your reflexes haven’t changed, old friend.”
Batman restored the batarang to its hiding place and gathered his cape around
him again, blending into the shadows. “It’s been a long time.”
“It’s time.”
Batman turned in a rustling of cloak and midnight. “Count me out. This is a
bad idea.”
“It’s the only chance we all have.”
The cloak slumps slightly as if a great weight is pressing down on shoulders
to weak to hold it. “Then God help us all.”
Aquarius Research Platform: Pacific Ocean
Jenna Marcus pulled her tanned body out of the cool ocean waters and lay
sprawled on the diving dock. The dark cocoa color of her skin hinted at more
than just a bit of Africa in her blood, but her long blonde hair announced to
any one curious enough to notice of some Norwegian back ground too. She
reached back over the edge of the platform to gather her diving gear. A shrill
scream had barely enough time to escape her throat before something latched
onto her hand and pulled her back into the water. She broke the surface,
sputtering and cursing in at least six different languages.
The water in front of her rippled and a pale skinned girl, barely more than a
child, rose until her shoulders were just out of the water. Twinkling blue
eyes shone out of an oval face framed by dark green hair as she smiled at the
woman. “Better be careful, Jenna. A mean old shark might grab you,” she said
with a voice as quiet as the sea.
Without warning, the older woman grabbed the girl. “Like I have to worry
about sharks when you are around, Rini.” She pulled the girl into a tight hug
and kissed her nose. The nose kiss seemed to naturally extend to the girl’s
lips and the two spent several minutes kissing passionately. Jenna suppressed
a moan when she felt the girl’s hand come up to cup one of her breasts. She
could feel herself becoming moist for different reasons than the seawater and
decided to call a stop before she was accused of child molesting.
The girl pouted as her lover broke the embrace. “Don’t know about sharks.
They not to bright and always hungry. One might not listen to me. Come and
eat you all up,” she said and ducked beneath the waves. Before Jenna could
even begin to protest, she felt her bikini bottoms pulled to one side and a
small, warm mouth pressed against her sex. She clutched the dock and moaned
loudly as a tongue licked up and down her nether lips, toying with the thick
hair that framed her sex. Just as suddenly, the oral attention ceased and the
girl broke the surface again. “Love Jenna’s pussy. All hairy and salty. Play
now?”
Resisting the urge to let the girl continue, Jenna shook her head. “Play
later. I have to get these new readings into the mainframe. If what we found
is accurate, the entire ecosystem of the ocean could be making a major come
back.” With one final kiss, Jenna pulled herself back out of the water and
headed towards the research center.
Left to her own devices as usual, the girl nimbly climbed out of the water and
knelt down on the dock. Her eyes closed in concentration for a moment, and
then she opened them with a smile. A few minutes later, a large dolphin broke
the surface near the dock. The girl clapped her hands together and dived back
into the water. The dolphin swam close enough for her to grasp its dorsal fin,
then took off like a rocket. Seconds later, the two were speeding along through
the waves.
The girl and dolphin played together for hours, totally unconcerned with time.
She had just noticed that the sun was setting and was considering returning to
her friend when her dolphin friend stopped. She returned her gaze to the water
to see what had startled it and was amazed to see a man standing on the water.
Immediately cautious because she did not know him, she ducked down until only
her hair and eyes were above the water. The dolphin interposed itself between
the two of them. “Who you?” Despite the fact that her mouth was underwater,
the words were clearly audible to the man.
The man tilted back the odd covering on his head and smiled at her. Trying to
be polite as Jenna had taught her, she smiled back. “I am a friend. You can
call me John.”
Rini immediately decided she liked his voice. It rolled like heavy tides and
made her feel protected. She could also sense little thoughts darting just out
of her reach like tiny fish. These too made her feel safe. “I Rini. Rini
Curry. I Princess,” she said in her best surface speech.
The man bowed deeply and smiled again. Idly, Rini wondered why his feet
coverings weren’t getting wet. “I am honored, Princess Rini. I knew your
father.”
“Father dead. Died in big boom. Everybody died in big boom.”
“I know and I am sorry.” He paused as if unsure how to continue. “Rini, I
need your help. A lot of people need your help.”
“Jenna need help?”
“Yes, she needs help too. Your father used to help people. Will you help me
now?”
Rini floated in the comforting grip of the waters. She remembered all the
stories her father had told her about how the people on the surface had
poisoned everything. She remembered all of his hate and anger. Then she
pictured Jenna. Jenna hurt and alone. Jenna needing her help. “Rini help!
Rini help Jenna!”
The man nodded and smiled. “Well, it’s a start.”
Part two
A gathering of Heroes
The place was a dump. That was Eric Jordan’s first thought as he stepped
through the rusty door. Dust and cobwebs covered every inch of the area he
could see and there was a distinct smell of mildew in the air. He shifted his
pack to his right shoulder and pulled the metallic looking invitation he had
received from his pocket. “Well, the address checks out, but this sure doesn’t
look like any place a self respecting artist would hang out,” he muttered to
himself. He pushed the worst of the dust off a section of the large table in
the center of the room and dropped his pack there. “I just wish the place was
a little cleaner.”
Suddenly, a massive gust of wind whirled him around. Dust and cobwebs seemed
to disappear like magic as the wind struck every corner of the room. As the
dust and grime vanished, more details were visible. On one wall, Eric could
see an old style 2D picture. Although terribly faded, he could make out
several colorfully clad figures standing around a much taller figure clad only
in green and blue. By the time he had finished studying the picture, the wind
had ceased and the room practically gleamed.
“Whoa, did I suddenly pick up a genie or something? I asked for it and it
happened,” he said. “I gotta try this out! I wish I had a cold Nova Cola.”
Seconds later, the wind deposited a frosty can with the familiar starburst logo
on it directly in front of him. “This is way too Phenom!”
“Wow, Fargin cool place.” The cheerful and definitely feminine voice made
Eric spin around. In the door stood his libido’s wet dream. At least six feet
tall with a bosom that was bigger than he had dreamed possible was a black
haired girl clad in SynthaFlesh shorts and a tube top. She too carried a pack,
but hers was much larger. The only thing that detracted from her beauty was a
thin scar that ran from just below her left eye to the left side of her lip.
It caused the skin to pull upwards slightly, giving her an eternal smirk. She
turned to face Eric and tossed a card identical to his onto the table. “You
send me this?”
“Nope, I got one too,” Eric said, flashing his. He walked over and held out
his hand. “Eric Jordan, at your service. Here let me take your bag.”
The girl’s smirk grew even more pronounced as she handed the pack to him.
Jordan groaned as the pack’s weight dragged his hand, arm and shoulder to the
floor. It hit the concrete floor with a loud clank. “Ifni, what do you have
in that thing?” He gingerly checked his arm to make sure no damage was done.
“Oh, the usual girl stuff. Makeup, clothes, 745 pounds of free weights and a
few feminine pads for that time of the month.” She walked over to the chairs
and plopped down in one. “My name is Artemis. I wonder who sent those cards.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly on any mailing lists.”
“Rini get mail sometimes. Jenna friend send it to her.” Rini stepped into
the room and had to immediately resist the urge to run. The two occupants
focussed in on her like she was bait for a great white shark. She pulled
herself up to her full for feet of height and carefully adjusted the surface
clothes that she had borrowed from Jenna for her trip to the surface dwellers
city.
Both Eric and Artemis found themselves staring at a tiny girl clad only in a
very thin negligee. She looked very much like some ten-year-old kid that had
tried to play dress up in her mother’s clothes. There were no curves to her
body and her face radiated innocence. Her eyes seemed way to big for her small
head and her long green hair looked like it had never seen a brush before.
“I bet she does,” Eric said. “Hi, I’m –”
“You Eric. You paint and draw pretty pictures. You want to have sex with
Rini,” the girl said and pointed to Artemis. “She Artemis. She Amazon. She
want to have sex too.”
Eric found himself actually blushing and Artemis burst out laughing. “Well,
looks like we have a baby Teep running around here,” she said.
A girl with close-cropped blonde hair suddenly appeared beside Artemis’
shoulder. “What’s a Teep?”
Everyone except for Rini jumped and Artemis was embarrassed to hear herself
give a small yelp of fear. Quickly regaining her composure, she turned face
the girl. She immediately sensed an almost palpable force radiating from the
girl. A quick glance told her that the girl had a runner’s build and really
nice legs. The blue running suit she wore was skin tight and what Artemis saw,
she liked. “A Teep is a telepath. Someone who can read other people’s
thoughts. She knew who we were because she heard it in our minds.”
“Not completely accurate, but close enough,” came a deep voice from a corner
of the room that Eric could have sworn was empty a minute before. Rini let
loose a series of squeals and clicks when the man she had met before walked
into the light. He flashed her a warm smile and slipped the fedora back on his
head. “Rini is what is best described as a receptive telepath. She can
perceive the thoughts and emotions that every person constantly emits from
their minds. She can’t go into your mind and scan your thoughts or memories.
We all carry a strong sense of self about us. Who and what we are is essential
to our well being, so Rini can pick that up and since both Eric and Artemis
were both thinking similar thoughts, she received those as well.”
“Great! She probably thinks I am some sort of Pervo,” Eric muttered.
The man reached out and stroked Rini’s hair, making her giggle. “I can assure
you that she took no offense at your thoughts. Were there enough time, she
would probably be very receptive to Artemis’ desires. Rini has no concept of
human morality. To her, sex is simply an extension of being.”
“Wait, you said ‘Artemis’ desires.’ Does that mean she doesn’t like men?”
The blonde haired girl, blushing bright red raised her hand. “Do you think
that this is something we should be talking about?”
The man turned and smiled at her. “I’m sorry, Jane. You are quite correct.
If you will all please sit around the table please.” Rini quickly took a seat
close to Artemis and the others followed suit. The man pulled off his trench
coat and tossed his hat onto the table. “In case you are all wondering, I am
the one that sent invitations to Eric, Artemis and Jane. Despite her
proclaimed reception of mail, Rini required a more personal approach.”
“Hey, that’s Cryo. I just want to know what was so important that you would
pay me ten thousand Creds just to fly from New Coast City to Chicago,” Jordan
said.
“I am curious too. You went to a great deal of trouble to reach me. The
invitation was a big surprise.”
“When you have the right resources, anything can be accomplished.” He paused
and studied them all for a moment. “My name is John Johns. I am a Detective
of sorts. That is how I found each and everyone of you.”
“Okay, well now that you found us, what are you going to do with us,” Jane
asked.
“Each one of you carries a special legacy. Something that sets you apart
from the rest of humanity. All of you have gifts and talents that I need.”
Eric held up his hands. “Hold it, Jones. Unless you are talking about
painting, sculpting or etching then you have got the wrong guy.” He held up
his right hand where a bright green ring shone from his middle finger. “If you
came hunting this then you are farged.”
Artemis felt her breath catch in her chest when she saw the large ring with
the still familiar shape carved in the front of it. “By Hera, is that what I
think it is?”
Eric buffed the ring on his shirt for a moment and held it back up again.
“Yup, a genuine Green Lantern ring. If you believe my Mom, my great Granddad
was Hal Jordan. The ring is supposed to have belonged to him”
John nodded. “Your mother is right. Hal Jordan was the greatest of all the
legendary Green Lanterns. The ring you wear belonged to him.”
Eric snorted. “Yeah, ‘greatest GL ever.’ Was that before or after he tried
to destroy the universe?”
John looked slightly embarrassed and crossed his hands behind his back. “Be
that as it may, each of you is somehow connected with one of the great heroes
of the past. Eric Jordan is indeed the great grandson of Hal Jordan, the first
Green Lantern of Earth.” He turned his gaze to Artemis. “Artemis is one of
the few remaining Amazons in the Earth Dimension. Hypolyta, Diana and the
other Amazons departed to other realms after the Great Tribulations of the
early ’20s.”
Artemis nodded. “Except for a few rogues down in Brazil, I am it. You can
bet your ass that I wasn’t expected FedEx to deliver to Themyscria.”
At Eric’s blank look, John explained, “The ancestral home of the Amazons. It
is located, most of the time, somewhere near the center of what we call the
Bermuda Triangle.” He moved on to the blonde girl. “Jane Garrick is a direct
descendant of Wally West, the third person to bear the title of Flash. She was
born with a link to the Speed Force which is an extradimensional energy source
that grants her incredible speed and reflexes.”
Jane blushed again. “Not nearly as fast as Wally was. On a good day, I go
move about three times the speed of sound.”
“And also channel some of the speed energy into potent bolts of electricity,”
John said, patting her on the shoulder.
“So who is our little Teep? I think the way she talks is adorable,” Artemis
said, patting Rini on the knee under the table. She was somewhat surprised to
feel the small girl’s hand cover hers and slide it between her legs. Not one
to resist opportunity, Artemis pressed her fingers against the girl’s mound
softly while smiling at her.
“She is Rini Curry. Her father was Arthur Curry, also known as the underwater
hero Aquaman. Her talents include being able to survive indefinitely on either
land or in the water, although she prefers the water. Be warned she is much
stronger and tougher than she looks because her body is bred to resist the
crushing pressures of the ocean bottom. She can also communicate with most
forms of animal life, but prefers aquatic life such as fish and Dolphins.”
“Why does talk so farged up? Is she mental or something,” Eric asked.
Artemis shot him a cold look and rubbed a little harder to reassure the girl.
Rini shuddered slightly in appreciation and spread her legs ever more.
“English or any surface language does not come easy to Rini. Atlanteans spoke
a much simpler tongue composed mostly of clicks, squeals and such, much like
dolphins or whales. That she speaks any surface language at all should be
attributed to her long friendship with a Marine Biologist named Jenna Marcus.”
Rini jumped excitedly in her chair, causing Artemis’ fingers to press even
harder against her sex. “Jenna is Rini’s friend. Rini love Jenna and her
hairy pussy!”
This brought a startled laugh from Artemis and a bright crimson blush to
Jane’s face. Eric looked like he wasn’t sure how to react. John barely
managed to suppress a chuckle as he continued. “Yes, Far from being mentally
challenged, Rini is actually very bright. She has been on her own for almost
half of her ten years of life.”
Artemis quickly jerked her hand away, causing a hurt expression to cross
Rini’s Face. “Farging Hades, are you trying to tell me that she is only ten
years old?”
“Yes, I am. So please keep that in mind when you are dealing with her.”
“Okay, so you got us all here for what? Are we supposed to sign autographs,
open a supermarket or something?” Eric had caught Artemis’ actions and was
feeling pretty grumpy.
“No, I have called you all here to ask you to be the founding members of a new
Justice League.”
The entire room got deathly silent. Artemis felt Rini’s hand creep between
her legs and could only think, “Oh Farg!”
Freedom is not a priviledge, it is an honor.
