116 Justice League Convergence
Mary Marvel leaned into Captain Marvel Jr.'s ear, "Try to smile. After all, your girlfriend is watching."
Junior blushed and whispered back," Donna isn't my girlfriend."
"Yet," Mary insisted, "She's got that look in her eye when you're around. Even more so than she did with Don Hall."
Part of Junior felt like he was betraying the original Dove's memory yet an even larger portion of himself was delighted to hear it, "Well, we'll see."
Mary rolled her eyes out of exasperation, "Men."
The Mayor had noticed that the Marvel Family members standing behind Captain Marvel were whispering while the Captain gave his acceptance speech. The three Marvels were accepting Civil Service Awards. The city was giving them out to citizens that had made an impact in the lives of Fawcett City's populace.
Police officers and firefighters were represented but the lion's share of recipients were volunteers, day care workers, social services providers, teachers, and emergency medical technicians. The award achievers had been selected through a written poll mailed to every address and a corresponding online equivalent. Partakers were encouraged to vote in both but steps were taken to insure they could only double dip once.
The poll had specifically excluded the Marvel Family but since names were chosen by the poll taker, there was still a massive flood of write-ins squeezed between the margins and the comment fields. So the Marvels were receiving honorary awards. They also made good press.
Uncle Dudley had left Tawky Tawny at the Day Center Academy and attended the ceremony. The tiger had been offered a chance to go by the center's employees but he preferred to stay around. He sensed trouble was afoot. So despite the presence of the Black Marvel Family, Tawky Tawny remained on guard.
His primary focus was on Alexandra Kent, Osiris, and Alyssa Dibney. They were the targets of whatever foul madness was headed the center's way. Black Adam and Isis wisely listened to Tawky Tawny and stayed. Black Adam had direct experience and knowledge of Tawky Tawny. He wouldn't lightly disregard the tiger's warnings.
Captain Marvel had just concluded his speech to much applause when a blue streak slammed into him. Marvel and the unknown assailant went hurtling across the park. Mary and Junior looked up to find Superwoman and Power Ring flying in. That meant that the Crime Syndicate was probably here in force and that would make Captain Marvel's foe Ultraman.
Mary flew up to meet Superwoman in mid-air. The Amazon caught her in the jaw with a sweeping kick. Mary went plummeting towards the park's central fountain. Superwoman landed and confidently strode towards Mary.
"There's no tent stakes here, bitch. It's going to be a fair fight which also means I'm going to hand you your ass," Superwoman boasted.
Mary surged up onto her feet and threw a punch. Superwoman caught her arm and twisted it behind Mary's back as the Marvel's momentum propelled her past the Amazon. Superwoman grabbed Mary's other wrist and yanked that hand behind her back as well.
Superwoman began shoving Mary towards the fountain. Kicking the back of Mary's knees Superwoman drove her into a kneeling position. Superwoman began to chuckle.
"I've already learned I can't break your neck but the question remains over whether or not you can drown," Superwoman revealed, "I guess we're going to find out. Hold your breath!"
Superwoman rammed Mary's head underwater and held it there. Mary frantically struggled for several minutes. And then her resistance slowly faded. Superwoman exulted in her apparent victory but she didn't risk pulling Mary's head out of the water. Not yet anyway.
Power Ring hit Junior with a cascading wave of constructs. Finally he focused a force beam and hit Captain Marvel Jr. in the gut. Junior opened his mouth wide as he exhaled.
Power Ring projected a construct inside of Junior. Junior felt his body start to distend as the emerald energy expanded within him. And the beam was solid enough he couldn't shut his mouth.
"Let's see how much you can take before you burst," Power Ring maliciously suggested.
Ultraman pounded on Captain Marvel. The Captain barely had time to register the blows before Ultraman let up for a half second. Then Ultraman landed a phoenix punch into Captain Marvel's throat.
Captain Marvel clutched at his throat as it closed and he couldn't breathe or speak. Ultraman laughed, "Now you can't say that stupid word and heal yourself with the lightning. So now I can beat you to death."
Captain Marvel was already getting woozy from the lack of oxygen so he realized Ultraman's boast might prove to be correct.
Donna Troy watched in horror as the Crime Syndicate attacked the Marvel Family. The crowd scattered and stampeded over one another. Donna sheltered some kids and got them off to the side of the restrooms and then flagged down the obviously panicking parents.
The parents tried to profusely thank Donna but she ushered them aside. Screams became louder and a roar of rage lifted. Standing almost a head higher than everyone else, Blockbuster waded through the stampede and swatted aside civilian after civilian.
"Stand over there and get ready to run," Donna instructed the two sets of parents.
She pulled her lasso out of her handbag and formed a loop. Twirling up and over herself, her clothes transformed into her Troia armor as it descended. The kids suddenly cheered. Troia had forgotten what it was like to have the crowd on your side.
"Head east and get out of the park," Troia instructed.
"But our car…" the female pair of parents began to protest.
"Head east," Troia stressed more strongly, "Blockbuster is coming from the north and the Crime Syndicate is battling the Marvel Family to the south. The western route is clogged with fleeing civilians. That leaves the eastern route and it's still pretty clear. Got it?"
One of the mothers reached out for Troia, "You're going to tackle that…brute aren't you?"
"He'll kill someone if I don't," Troia said grimly.
"He has before, hasn't he?" the woman asked.
"He killed my last boyfriend," Troia revealed, "So, I'd say he'd do it again."
Troia flew off and the woman's partner reached around her waist, "Boyfriend? She hardly seemed the type."
The woman smirked, "Let's just take her advice and get the hell out of here."
Troia sailed into Blockbuster, leading with a right cross. She continued her motion and spun around to land a left handed backhand as Blockbuster came upright. A high kick to the jaw snapped his head back and he stumbled.
Blockbuster roared his displeasure and threw a right at Troia. She caught it and deflected it so that his arm slid by her ribs. Keeping her hand locked onto his wrist she took hold of his bicep with her left. Flexing the arm, she broke his elbow.
Blockbuster turned faster than she would have imagined and drove his left fist into her gut. Troia lost her wind and was vulnerable to his head butt. She staggered back.
Troia watched transfixed as Blockbuster relocated his arm below the elbow. She could swear she could see the bones mend. Within seconds, he was flexing his arm as though nothing had ever happened. His eyes told a different story though.
Blockbuster's eyes had lost all of their intelligence. Only a menacing animal cunning remain. They radiated unbridled rage. Hawk had described Blockbuster being in this state when he killed Dove. Troia braced herself for the inevitable attack and hoped she'd do better than poor Don had.
Dr. Sivana rubbed his hands together and cackled, "You see, Mr. Mind? Things are going far better than we expected."
"Still, it is best if we prepare," Mr. Mind's vocoder provided the caterpillar a voice, "The damnable Marvels have an unfortunate tendency to pull the mythical rabbit out of their metaphorical hats. There's no need to mention the treacherous Amazon aiding them."
"Agreed," Sivana chuckled, "The moment of achievement is upon us."
Mr. Mind was still subdued, "And if not, we have a back up in place to deliver the hammer blow."
"Too true!" Sivana snickered as he strolled away to collect their failsafe weapon. Mr. Mind rode on his shoulder as Sivana created a boom tube and set course for the Rock of Eternity. They had an unscheduled appointment with the wizard, Shazam.
Tawky Tawny ushered along workers carrying Alexandra, Osiris, and Alyssa into a safe room and then he sealed it. Rushing to his private office, which was equipped as a playroom so he could work with misbehavinbg individuals, Tawky Tawny pulled out the keyboard drawer at his desk and depressed a finger to the biosensors mounted underneath the desktop. It registered his unique biosigns and sent a burst transmission through the transceiver in the roof. It simply said, "Help!"
Aboard the Watchtower, Sue was overseeing the different departments. Hula Hula oversaw the Monitor Section. Hula Hula was a veteran Agency and ISA agent. He'd been partnered with Plastic Man for nearly a decade now so when he approached and looked deathly frightened, Sue knew there was definite trouble brewing.
"What is it, Hula?" she asked.
"The Daycare Center Academy is squawking for help," Hula Hula said gently.
"What?" Sue's heart clutched within her chest. Her daughter was at the facility, "Did they say what's wrong?"
"No, it's the auto distress beacon," Hula Hula explained, "But reports just started coming in that the Marvel Family is under attack in Center Park. It doesn't take a genius to assume that other forces could be active in Fawcett City at the same time."
"Is the C Team still prepped to go?" Sue suddenly asked sharply.
"J'onn has them on standby," Hula confirmed for her.
"Tell him he's a 'go' and then get their asses down there!" Sue insisted.
"Righty-O," Hula Hula turned and then faced her again, "It's gonna be all right, Sue."
"It'll be okay faster if you'd haul it to your post and tell J'onn to get going," Sue snapped.
Hula Hula grinned, "You got it."
"Get the children to safety," Black Adam urged Isis as the Brotherhood of Evil shattered the wall and burst into the daycare facility. Mammoth spotted Black Adam and charged forward. His first punch sailed Black Adam through another wall. Mammoth loomed over Isis but she'd didn't back down.
Black Adam's reply to the opening blow sent Mammoth back out onto the street. Black Adam flew through the crowd and engaged Mammoth. They exchanged blow after blow and Black Adam quickly deduced that Mammoth wasn't going down easily. But Adam vowed he would go down.
Shimmer was the next to approach Isis directly. Isis summoned a wind that threatened to blow the Australian back towards her brother Mammoth's location. Shimmer transmuted a wall of iron and sheltered behind it while the rest of the Brotherhood fanned out. While Isis was distracted by their movement, Shimmer ran from behind her wall to reach Isis' position. This time she transmuted the air around Isis into titanium. Isis was caught in a surprised repose by the skin tight metal casing and the shock shone through even on the expression captured in the metal mask that was now upon her.
The JLU arrived in a massive teleport. J'onn waved everyone off of the battle between Black Adam and Mammoth. J'onn knew Black Adam's pride would suffer if they intervened. Besides, the greater threat was presented by those near the children. So the Justice League entered the daycare center with the intent to remove the Brotherhood.
Mr. Terrific's T-Sphere's spread out and teleported the Brotherhood and the JLU out into the parking lot and street beyond. Gizmo opened fire and began destroying the T-Spheres. In turn they opened fire on him. Gizmo ignited his jet pack and he flew evasive patterns around the spheres while firing on them.
He didn't see Mr. Terrific position himself in a spot to intercept Gizmo. Mr. Terrific leapt up and grabbed hold of Gizmo's utility belt. Letting gravity drop him back to the ground, he dragged Gizmo down. Trying to slow the Brotherhood's technical genius, he canted Gizmo towards the ground and his jet pack rocketed him into it.
A very stunned Gizmo cycled down his flight pack. Mr. Terrific stood over him, poised for action. What he didn't expect was Gizmo to rise up onto his knees and present his hands in surrender. Mr. Terrific eased up a bit. That's when Gizmo's palm blasters blasted Mr. Terrific into a car.
Gizmo rose and strolled over to the wreckage of the car. He began assembling a device from his parts kit. He'd just thought of how to dispatch Mr. Terrific into the afterlife and he chuckled to himself as he built the means to get him there.
Waves of fear washed over J'onn. His focus was shattered and he came down to the ground in a hard landing. Houngan tried scanning him with his biosensor doll but the device couldn't even remotely get a bearing on a Martian's physiology.
J'onn could feel the barriers in his mind break down as Phobia continued her onslaught. J'onn desperately sought a way out. The foolish woman had no idea of what she was about to unleash.
Finally, the unrelenting psychic pressure got to J'onn and he was plunged into the cold reality of fear. And that fear provoked something within him. Something carnal.
J'onn form shifted back to his natural state and Phobia and Houngan were both surprised. That was when they got a good look into J'onn's crazed, red eyes. Now they felt fear as J'onn came tearing after them with one response in mind: kill or be killed!
Plasmus chuckled as he confronted Sand, "You are about to die, little man. Are you not afraid of Plasmus?"
"Not really, no," Sand quipped. He opened a fissure in the ground and Plasmus sank into it. Sand then sealed the fissure. But a crack still remained.
Sand turned to see how his comrades were doing. What he saw alarmed him. He never saw Plasmus ooze out of the fissure and come up behind him.
Just as Sand decided on his next course of action, Plasmus grabbed Sand and pulled him into Plasmus' body. Sand disappeared with a sucking sound. Then the sizzling began.
Dr. Mid-Nite faced Goldilocks. He could see she was disappointed, "Is there a problem?"
"Where is Sir Justin? Why didn't he come to me?" Goldilocks wanted to know.
"He has other things on his mind," Dr. Mid-Nite replied honestly.
"But he's my one true love!" Goldilocks snapped, "I should be the only thing on his mind."
Dr. Mid-Nite instantly realized that Goldilocks wasn't tripping on the same plane of reality as he was, "Well, I'm certain we can arrange for him to visit you in jail."
Goldilocks smirked, "I'm not going to jail."
"Oh really?" Dr. Mid-Nite asked dryly, "And why is that?"
"Because there won't be anyone left alive to take me there," Goldilocks said matter-of-factly. Her hair came alive and grew to swarm Dr. Mid-Nite.
Dr. Mid-Nite threw a blackout bomb and Goldilocks yelped, "Hey!"
He managed to get free of her hair and came in on her. Although he hated to do it, he leveled her with a right cross. Goldilocks folded like a limp noodle.
Dr. Mid-Nite hesitated as he stood over her. As a fully trained and certified physician he wanted to make certain that sad little creature was all right. He never noticed her hair stretch forth and come up behind him.
One strand ripped his mask off, exposing his eyes to the daylight and causing him to go blind. The other tendril wrapped around his throat and lifted him off the ground. Dr. Mid-Nite futilely kicked out trying to get leverage but there was nothing to stand upon.
Goldilocks rose to her feet and began to titter. Now the game was being played her way.
Elongated Man was surprised to see Isis walking about, "Weren't you a statue a minute ago?"
"I was," Isis flashed him a seductive smile, "I got better."
The first thing that crossed Ralph's mind was that he was a happily married man. The second was the Sue would find a way to kill him if he even entertained the slightest fancy. The third was that Isis was also happily married to Black Adam. Even if he survived Sue, which he doubted he would, Black Adam would surely find a way to kill him. That and his damned nose started twitching. So he decked her.
Isis spat out her outrage in French. Which was kind of odd since Isis was Egyptian. And then her features began to morph and he had his answer.
Gemini de Mille was revealed and she wasn't happy, "How did an idiot like you discern my deception?"
"Hey, I'm a detective," Ralph replied, "World famous even."
"Hah! The defective detective," Gemini snorted.
"Like I haven't heard that before," Ralph said drolly.
"It should make you realize something then," Gemini asserted.
"Hey! Just who are you?" Ralph wondered.
"Have you ever heard of Madame Rouge?" Gemini asked.
"Uh…maybe. Wasn't she a founding member of the Brotherhood of Evil?" Ralph guessed.
Gemini was pleased, "Indeed. I am her daughter."
"How could she have a kid?" Ralph blurted, "Didn't the Doom Patrol off her?"
"No, you idiot! The Brotherhood destroyed the Doom Patrol. That fool Robotman was the only survivor from the Doom Patrol. He reported my mother's death because she faked it. She left the Brotherhood and forged a new life for herself. But she never forgot where she came from," Gemini boasted.
"And so she popped you out and now you're a little groupie," Ralph summarized.
Gemini almost screamed, "No! I am a fully fledged member of the Brotherhood. And I shall prove my worthiness for that position to you by killing you."
"Trust me, I already believe in you," Ralph insisted.
"I really don't think so," Gemini smiled cruelly.
"Um…why are you smiling?" Ralph inquired nervously.
"Can you guess what my power is?" Gemini asked.
"You're a shape shifter!" Ralph shot out.
"That is one of my abilities," Gemini confirmed, "I share another with my mother."
"You're a really good liar?" Ralph supposed.
Gemini's arm stretched out and she punched Ralph in the nose, "Any guesses now?"
"Oh, this is gonna get messy," Ralph moaned.
Inside of sixty seconds they were so entwined that they couldn't break free of one another. Gemini used the opportunity to start squeezing Ralph while she was coiled around him. His vision began to blur and he wondered how he was going to save his daughter.
The Ray was confronted by Warp. Every time Ray fired a solar bolt at Warp, Warp redirected it to strike out at the daycare employees. Ray decided just to fly straight at Warp and beat him to death with his fists. Warp created a spatial rift that hurtled Ray into near Earth orbit. Warp then closed the conduit and left Ray to die.
Hector Hammond had accompanied the Brotherhood. He found himself confronting an infernal Green Lantern. Or at least a former Green Lantern.
"Oh, Hector!" Guy Gardner sing songed, "Yoo hoo!"
Cease your prattling, Gardner, Hector thoughtcast into Guy's mind; You are hardly a Green Lantern anymore. I can see the Guardians' dismissal in your mind. Such as it is.
"Well, I'm still a ringslinger, bud. So watch it," Guy warned.
Yes, but your vaunted willpower is useless with Sinestro's ring. You must master your fear in order to wield it. And your heart and mind are full of fear, Hector warned him.
"Fear of what, you cripple?" Guy inquired.
You know what you're afraid of. Most of all you're afraid of being alone. Dela Pheron rejected you. Just like every other woman. You are condemned to a life of being along now and forever more, Hector taunted him.
"Shut up!" Guy projected a fist construct but it evaporated as it struck Hector. Hammond chuckled in Guy's mind; Fear has eroded your mastery. Now taste the full weight of your fears!
Guy screamed as all of his fears manifested in his heart all at once. Hector relished every second of it.
The Brain rolled through the daycare with Mallah striding beside him. The employees and the older children parted as though being cleft with a knife. They searched through the center until they reached the safe room's entrance. Tawky Tawny confronted them.
"You're not supposed to be here," Tawky Tawny accused them.
"Kill him," Brain's synthesized voice commanded.
Mallah emptied a full magazine from his submachine gun into Tawky Tawny. The tiger went down and the ape exuded happiness, "I have done it, my love."
"Now stand aside, dear Mallah. I shall access the door and then we can slay the children," Brain declared.
Mallah slapped in a fresh magazine and pulled the bolt to chamber the first round, "Yes, my darling. They are as good as dead."
The Brain went to work.