"Mine's faster." Adam quipped.
"So?" Diana retorted. "You'll never see mine until it's too late."
"What's this about?" Batman asked, stopping as he walked past the table.
"We're discussing aircraft." Diana replied.
"Not again." Batman sighed, and turned away.
"Don't worry about him, he's just got aircraft envy." Diana grinned.
"I don't." Batman grunted, and started to stalk out.
"Care to put your money where your mouth is?" Came the challenge.
"Against who?"
"Any hero willing to put his aircraft up to the challenge. The prize is the winner doesn't have tower duty for the next three months." Adam offered.
"Deal..." Batman nodded, and walked out.
"Why do I think I just signed a deal with the devil?" Adam asked Diana.
"What, didn't you see the ears?"
It was not an even collection of aircraft. On one end of the field, say the Bat jet, black skin polished to a finish. Diana sat next to it, in mid air, adjusting the controls of the Invisible Jet. Adam was next in line sleeping under the shadow of the swept wing fighter, that appeared to have come straight from a war zone. According to the contest rules, it had to be a hero specific aircraft, or one of a kind, so a single javelin sat next in line, to be piloted by Hawkgirl. The surprising entrant, was the 'Flash Plane', piloted by none other than, Flash himself. Pedal powered, no one thought he had a chance.
Weapons were strictly forbidden, which meant the entire group was armed, aside from Flash, and flying superheros, and heroines had been settled along the course as markers, and observers. Supergirl swept upwards to mark the five minute warning of the race starting. The planes were manned, or womaned as the case was, and the engines ignited. The race was a linear run around the world, and back across the finish line. Supergirl dropped the flags and plummeted, and the planes were off. Flash was the first plane off the ground. Diana was second, and the three VTOL aircraft were dead even off the ground. Flash rapidly fell out of the race, as the other four aircraft went supersonic. The Bat Jet, and the Invisible jet topped out near Mach 3.5, though the IJ out manuevered the BatJet without difficulty, the two higher tech aircraft were pushing into the Hypersonic speeds, before the real competition began. The forward swept wings of Adam's jet swung backwards, the wingtip engines suddenly going from pulling a large high lift mass, to pushing a still large, but now more aerodynamic dart. The Javelin matched the move without appearent effort. Then the engines dropped from the dart, as a massive intake on the nose of Adam's plane opened, and an exhaust at the tail end. The huge scram jet exploded with power, driving the plane up beyond the mach 10 mark. The Javelin engaged it's afterburners. The two planes pushed the envelope of stability, and speed.
Halfway along the course, Green Lantern and Amazo, who was interested in learning about human entertainment floated, as the half point marker. The conversation was light, and Lantern was explaining the fascination with a certain team that never seemed to succeed. "Everyone loves for one reason or another, a team that always looses, but always keeps trying. They could have stopped any time now, but they keep at it, year after year."
"Why? Should they not have figured out, that it is a lost cause?" Amazo asked. Lantern shook his head.
"But it's not, every year, the other players, the other teams, they're all different. I mean, they're the same names, the same management, but the way they play is subtly different each year, and it's impossible to know until the season is being played, who is going to win."
"Could it not be determined statistically?" Amazo queried. Lantern nodded.
"To some extent, but most people not only can't do that, but also wouldn't want to. Half the entertainment is watching to see what happens. And there are always factors that are unpredictable. A player could get injured, either by a strain, or being hit with a ball. Usually accidentally, but not always. Or a team could have an off day, and lose when they should have won, or the other team is unable to play. And they win, and change the entire dynamic of the game." Lantern shrugged. "Or..."
He didn't finish the sentence. A wave of air washed across him, followed a few moments later by the sight of two aircraft exploding past. He opened his mouth to speak, when he and Amazo were caught in the Sonic Booms of two aircraft moving at Mach 20.0+.
"Damn." He whispered.
"Truly." Amazo agreed.
"Ready to quit yet Shayera?" Adam taunted.
"Only when I win." She answered.
"Then you'll never quit." Adam answered, and exploded forwards, pushing past to Mach 22.0. The Javelin couldn't keep pace. Adam exploded across the finish line, and came around decelerating down through the hypersonic in a massively steep climb. He swung around and touched down picture perfect, as the Javelin swept in, and landed. "So, I win?" Adam asked Supergirl.
"No, you came in second." Several jaws dropped.
"What..." He was speechless for a moment. "Who won?"
"Flash." She answered.
"How?"
"He was the first across the finish line." Supergirl shrugged. "While you two were racing about, he ran up to the pole, and went around, then crossed the line. The rules only said he had to go around the world, it didn't say where he had to do it." She grinned. Hawkgirl laughed, while Adam proceeded to bang his head against the still very hot skin of the aircraft, ignoring the sizzling noise that accompanied each impact.
Fate's Tower
October, Salem
"Nooo..." Amazo sat in an armchair, hands gripping the edge, as he watched the baseball play offs. "NOOOOOOO..." He was decked out from head to toe in Chicago Cubs, hat, uniform, shoes, and official giant foam finger.
Kent Nelson winced at the scream, and stalked out of his laboratory. Inza glanced up, as he crossed the room to pick up his helmet.
"Trouble?"
"Not yet." Kent replied, putting on the helmet, and becoming Dr. Fate. "But I'm going to kill John Stewart."
"What about the balance?" Kent Nelson replied with a series of curse words, and a few actual curses that cannot be repeated here... (Or spelled for that matter.)
"I'll talk to Amazo." Inza offered. Calmed, Nelson returned to himself, and then to his lab. Less than half an hour later...
"NOOOOO..."
"NOOOOO..."Kent simply sighed.