Chapter 4
By Carycomic
Our first stop was the home of Professor Raymond Palmer in Ivytown, Connecticut. Nuclear physicist; science teacher at Ivytown University; but, perhaps best known as that semi-retired superhero, "The Atom."
As anticipated, we found him in his living room, watching TV news coverage concerning the escaped super-villainess Giganta.
"Professor Palmer? You are needed."
Naturally, he was startled by my sudden interruption of his thoughts. Reflexively jumping in his easy chair, accordingly. But, he calmed down enough, after recognizing me, that he was willing to hear my explanation for Catwoman and I invading his privacy. And I could not blame him for being aghast at what he had been told!
"Giganta attacking the Goddess' Ivory Palace? An elaborate diversion?!"
I nodded. "One that will hopefully last long enough to allow you to accomplish your mission. That is, if you decide to accept it!"
He grinned. "Just give me two minutes to put on my old costume, Mr. Phelps."
Catwoman looked at me with bemused curiosity.
"You're familiar with the old MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE series?"
"I helped guide some of its original cast members' spirits into the afterlife."
As I was perfectly straight-faced when I made that reply, she could not tell if I was being serious or not. Nor did I choose to confirm or deny her suspicions. Suffice it to say that, when Ray Palmer came back downstairs, dressed as the Atom, I next teleported all three of us to his laboratory at the local university. There he introduced Catwoman and I to an artificially-created miniature wormhole shaped like a six-pointed star in red-white-and-blue. The Alpheus Hyatt Memorial Timepool!
"I had a lot of amazing adventures, in various time periods of the past, thanks to this little teleportal. But, that was before the 'Goddess' took over... and condemned science teachers like me to spouting anti-technology propaganda to our students. So, if you want my help to change things back the way they should be, you got it! Just tell me the specific when-and-where."
I paused so that I might clairvoyantly glimpse Dr. Fate's scrying crystal. And, by that means, I beheld "Giganta" being assaulted by the Mig-Dolls! Female mercenaries, from the Amazonian colony of Bana-Migdahl, wearing Rocket Red battle suits. Flying back and forth as they fired upon "Giganta" with all the ordnance carried within their exo-skeletal armor.
Yet, naturally, to no avail!
"Set your controls for the underside of Zatanna's bed. Exactly one minute after the fight began."
He did so. Whereupon he shrank both himself and Catwoman to a height of six inches! I then picked them up with my white-gloved hands. Catwoman, on my left palm. The Atom, on my right. Following which, they each transferred to the stainless-steel wire of a toy crane similar to the coin-operated ones usually found in video game arcades.
"Remember," I cautioned them before I used that crane to lower them into the time pool. "The size disparity spell on the White House will automatically make both of you ten times smaller than you are now. One-sixth of an inch tall, to be precise!"
They nodded in understanding. Whereupon I completed the lowering. The two of them subsequently emerged right where I hoped they would. But, with the time pool now above their heads (from their perspective). Whereupon they jumped off the stainless steel wire to the deep shag carpeting below them. Catwoman decelerating her descent by grabbing the top of one of the carpet strands; and the Atom doing likewise. When they reunited, the Atom re-enlarged the both of them to six inches in height.
"If the Phantom Stranger's math was correct, we're at the equivalent of six feet tall outside the Ivory Pal- - -I mean, White House."
So strong was the geas cast upon the rest of the world, that even those mortals who knew the truth (like Jason Todd and the Outsiders) still had a difficult time referring to this residence of Presidents by its proper name. But, Catwoman considered that detail irrelevant compared to their main purpose.
"If you had a ring, with a magic lamp for a center piece, where would you keep it?" she semi-rhetorically asked him.
"I'd hide it in plain sight. In a jewelry box, amongst her costume jewelry."
"Then, let's get out from underneath here and climb up on top of this bed. So, we can a better lay of the land!"
They chose to make their ascent using the left leg of the headboard. With the Atom sensibly allowing Catwoman, through her greater experience at stealthily scaling vertical surfaces, to take the lead. Naturally, they both assumed that Zatanna had been attracted to a vantage point, elsewhere within the White House, to witness the battle being waged in her own front yard. Unfortunately, that did not turn out to be the case!
Instead, they found the self-styled "goddess" still abed. Ardently embracing and kissing... the Bat-genie.
"I'm sorry to break this up, my love," she said to the latter. "But, we really do have to see what all that commotion is about. So, I wish you to teleport us outside, at once. Fully clothed, of course!"
"Yes, Mistress."
Ten seconds later, the amorous duo were gone. Leaving Catwoman and the Atom wondering what to do, next.
tbc