Author's Note: The time has come for a first for Glimpses; a chapter set on a new, DC Comics derived world!
Earth-11
Ivy Town, Massachusetts
It was a beautiful, almost picturesque afternoon in Ivy Town. The sun was out, but a nice cool breeze in the air kept it from being too hot of a day. Ivy Town wasn't a huge city, but that didn't mean it lacked anything to offer to an outsider. In fact, the town was a home to exceptional people from even nations away. This was thanks to the presence of Ivy University, one of the most celebrated colleges in all of New England. Normally, a nice looking day such as this one would be enjoyed by the people who lived in Ivy Town.
"Help us! Somebody help us!" a man screamed.
"What the hell is happening?!" a woman cried.
Unfortunately, the events transpiring on Barker Lane, the heart of the town's primary business hub, were far from ideal; The windows of several stores and businesses were being shattered by moving plant vines, which then ensnared the helpless people inside.
"Get these off me! I got things to do!" another woman protested.
"Where's a hero when you need her?!" a man cried.
"Or him." another entangled man added.
No matter how hard they struggled, they couldn't break the grip of the animated plants, which proceeded to drag them all to an ornate public water fountain displayed at the center of a small local park. The plant vines pinned all the people to the ground around the fountain, and gagged them all with leaves so none of them could scream a word at the one controlling the plants, a strange man who was standing atop the fountain in a flamboyant pose.
"People of Ivy Town, prepare to meet your demise!" the man dramatically roared.
The people could all recognize the man threatening them. He was a super villain who they had seen be reported about many times before. They couldn't exclaim his name though, because of the plants covering their mouths. Instead, all they could do was stare up at him. He was a white man, but in more ways than one; his skin was an unnatural shade of inhuman white, with some sections possessing a texture that looked more like leaves or flower petals. While his facial features could be considered delicate and attractive in theory, his unusual features made him look disturbing at the same time. His mostly white hair towered up high and resembled trumpet shaped flower petals, even having some faint green and purple highlights in it. He wore no shirt, showing off his slender but athletic build, while his form fitting pants appeared to be woven from green leaves. Around his waist was a makeshift belt made of roots and spiky round seed capsules. The man glared down at his captives with a sadistic grin on his face.
"Bask in the beauty of nature, human scum!" the menace on the fountain bayed. "For you are now at the mercy of Jimson Weed, the viceroy of all vegetation!"
The people on the ground were frightened. The pleasure Jimson Weed took in this was apparent on his face, but that soon changed. He could feel something on him that hadn't been there before, on his left ear. Not only that, he could hear something in it too.
"I didn't expect to be fighting a villain from Gotham today."
A voice. The voice of a woman. Jimson Weed's eyes widened, realizing what was happening. A woman small enough to land on his ear like a speck of dust or a common fly. That's what he had just heard. Before he could attempt to make a move to defend himself, he was sent flying off the fountain, having been hit in the head. He landed on the ground next to some of his captives. The plant vines began to unravel, allowing the people to throw them off their bodies and get back to their feet before running away. Jimson Weed hopped up and frantically tried to grab onto some of them, but they were too fast for him.
"This was supposed to be easy!" the plant manipulating man loudly complained.
A figure behind Jimson then got a hold of him by his hair, and spun him around so he could see her. It was much easier now, as she had returned to her natural size. She was a comely woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties. She was identifiably East Asian, with long black hair and dark brown eyes. She was clad in a lightly armored superhero outfit. The torso and legs were mostly a rich blue color, but with red sections that broke it up, forming a stylized letter 'A'. The arms of the outfit were red, as were the boots, while her gloves and the mask around her eyes were the same rich blue. Across her waist was a metallic yellow belt with a symbol on it; a ball in the center of three ovals.
"The Atom!" Jimson Weed exclaimed. "I should have known you would show up here!"
"Just because Batwoman isn't here doesn't mean you can do whatever you want! I am plenty enough to stop you!" the Atom assertively proclaimed.
Jimson smirked as he wrestled out of the costumed heroine's grasp. Some strands of his hair came off in the Atom's hair, but he didn't care.
"Once I stick my tongue down your lovely mouth, you'll be my slave!" Jimson shouted.
He lunged face first at her, with his tongue hanging out like he was a dog. The Atom quickly shrunk down, causing Jimson to miss her completely. She then grew back to her normal height just a fast.
"You probably could get folks to kiss you if you weren't so gross." the Atom quipped.
The Atom then leapt forward and kicked her opponent directly in the back with great force, sending the evildoer straight into the pool of the fountain. Jimson got up on his feet, now drenched in water that made his hair fall in his face and obscure his vision significantly.
"Grrr! You'll pay for that, you twat!" he snarled.
"Just try to land a hit, creep!" the Atom taunted him.
Jimson attempted to run forward, but tripped and landed face first onto a part of the fountain. He groaned in pain as the Atom dashed up. She returned two pairs of hinged handcuffs she had shrunken down and stored in her belt, and used them to restrain Jimson while he was incapacitated.
"Looks like I won." the Atom chuckled. "So much for the 'viceroy of all vegetation'."
The Atom then noticed something strange. Up in the sky, in the distance was a glowing green light. As it came closer, it soon became apparent that it was an aura surrounding a flying woman.
"Is that one of the Green Lanterns?" the Atom wondered to herself.
It wouldn't take long for the Atom to find out for sure. Within less than two minutes, the flying woman could be seen clearly as she landed right in front of the Atom. She was a woman of Lebanese heritage wearing a personalized Green Lantern suit and a shiny black hijab. She also wore a full cowl mask that left only her eyes and the lower half of her face exposed. It was mostly black, but the segments surrounding her eyes and chin were green. The rest of the one piece suit was mostly black in color, but had two green segments outlined in white positioned on her shoulders and chest, with the standard Green Lantern Corps emblem set right in the center. It was also short sleeved, which left her strong, impressive arms exposed to intimidate her enemies. Her knee high footwear was also green with some white lining. She also had on fingerless black gloves and, as to be expected of a Green Lantern, a glowing emerald ring that glowed brightly even during daylight. The Atom looked at her with a friendly smile.
"Oh, I thought that was you, Green Lantern. Not that I mind seeing you, but why are you here? A Justice Guild mission?" the slightly confused Atom inquired.
"I was in the area looking for him." Green Lantern answered.
Green Lantern pointed down at the subdued Jimson Weed, who silently glowered at the two masked superheroines.
"Why are you handling this?" Atom asked.
Several vehicles then pulled to the scene. They were all black in color, with the acronym A.R.G.U.S. emblazoned on their sides in white letters. Green Lantern took the Atom by the hand. A green aura enveloped them both and they began to float up from the ground, just as several people in uniforms came out from the vehicles. They watched as they surrounded Jimson.
"I can explain, but I think we should go somewhere a little more private." Green Lantern said.
"Alright. I'll bite." the Atom said back. "I was just gonna give Jimson to the local authorities, but I guess ARGUS works too. He'll be sent back to Arkham either way."
"Unless Waller wants him for his black ops team." Green Lantern said
Green Lantern flew herself and the Atom to the outskirts of Ivy Town. They landed on a grassy hill that had three huge trees on it, which overlooked a good section of the town. The Atom then started laughing as she placed a hand on one of the sturdy trees, much to Green Lantern's bewilderment.
"Uhhh...what's so funny, Rhiannon?" Green Lantern asked, apparently comfortable with calling the Atom by her real name when they were alone.
The Atom, aka Rhiannon, pulled down her mask and giggled a little bit more while motioning at the tree. Green Lantern looked at the three more closely and looked dumbfounded when she saw that several names and cartoon hearts were carved into the bark.
"I brought you to the place where local teens come to make out and carve their names into trees and all that junk?" Green Lantern asked.
"Yup." Rhiannon answered. "Just thought it was a little amusing. A guy I dated for a while ago tried to carve 'Rhiannon Choi is a Smokeshow' on here for laughs, but I put a stop to that so fast that you'd think I was the Flash. Also, he wasn't Gigantar, so don't even ask!"
Green Lantern couldn't help but to chuckle at that, if only for a brief moment.
"I had no clue." Green Lantern then insisted.
"Whatever, girl." Rhiannon shrugged. "So...what's going on? Why were you on the hunt for one of Batwoman's regulars here in the Bay State?"
Green Lantern held up her hand and began to project small green holograms with her power ring.
"Jimson Weed isn't the only baddie from Gotham City who has been turning up in unexpected places. Some of the big names and even more low tier ones are popping up in places all over." Green Lantern started to explain.
The green holograms took proper form. They depicted a long haired, muscular, possibly Mediterranean man using a long chain whip to tie up a huge brute with monstrous reptilian features.
"Just yesterday, Kween Croc appeared in Gateway City. Wonder Warrior took her down before she could eat some homeless people." Green Lantern exposited.
The projection then shifted to depict a different battle, this one between a leather jacket and utility belt wearing woman with the letter T painted on her face commanding several small, levitating orbs to shoot energy blasts at a scythe wielding woman in a frightening suit of spike covered armor, cloak, and a skull mask.
"Late last night, Ms. Terrific found Reaper hunting for targets halfway across the country. They escaped while Ms. Terrific had to fend off some of the gang members Reaper had been trying to cut up." Green Lantern continued.
"Wow. What a great display of gratitude." Rhiannon sarcastically remarked.
"I know. Reminds me of some punks I had to deal with during my street racing days." Green Lantern recalled. "But let's not get sidetracked…"
Green Lantern then showed three more depictions of battles between costumed heroes and villains in quick succession.
"It just keeps going on like that from there, Rhiannon; the Hawks caught the Joker and her boytoy causing trouble in Midway City earlier, Maverick took down Quakemistress when she turned up in New York, and Scarecrow tried to set off a huge fear gas bomb in Fawcett City, but Bulletboy took care of that one. There's also this Texas-based vigilante called La Angel who got in a tussle with Woman-Bat. She thinks she was trying to cross the border into Mexico." Green Lantern listed off.
Rhiannon rubbed her chin, thinking to herself.
"...and now Jimson Weed here in Ivy Town." she added. "Okay, this wouldn't be that alarming if it were just a few cases, but all of this happening within a span of a few days suggests that something bigger is going on. Batwoman and her crew must be looking into this, right?"
"Of course, but there's apparently a brutal gang war brewing over there. Not a good time for them to leave Gotham, so Stewart 'volunteered' us Lanterns to help out on that front." Green Lantern explained.
Rhiannon looked down at the town. She was obviously recalling something in her mind. Something that troubled her.
"...Could it be that it may be connected to...the incident?" Rhiannon openly pondered.
"We've got no reason to think that." Green Lantern answered. "Not that I know of anyway."
Rhiannon pulled her mask back up over her face.
"Forget I asked. We've moved on since then. It's more likely the gang war you mentioned has something to do with it. Anyway, I'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious, GL." she told her fellow superhero.
Green Lantern's ring then started flashing and making a series of weird sounds. She seemed to be able to understand what it meant.
"It's an alert; Jesse and I are needed on Oa." Green Lantern stated. "Gotta go."
Green Lantern's emerald aura returned to her. The Atom watched her as she soared off into the bright sky, until she was completely out of view. She then walked down the hill and headed back into Ivy Town. On her way, she noticed the ARGUS vehicles driving down the street, in the direction of a nearby highway. Inside one of them was a heavyset black man with a graying black goatee. He was dressed in some expensive looking, dark blue business wear, along with a badge. From a one way window in the vehicle he looked at the Atom as she walked into town.
"Unlike some, I still remember the previous Atom. Someday, I'll find out how this new one got her hands on that tech." the man spoke. "But until then…"
The man looked over at Jimson Weed, who was still in the same restraints from before, along with a power inhibitor strapped around his neck and two ARGUS agents holding him in place in his seat. Even though far from an ideal situation for him, Jimson had a smirky grin on his face.
"...I've got to deal with you." the man finished.
"Oh please, Armando." Jimson Weed scoffed. "We both know I'll never join your task force or whatever it is."
Armando Waller cupped the self-declared Viceroy of Vegetation's face in his large hands. His stare was so intense that it completely unnerved Jimson, his smug smirk fading away into a look of extreme unease.
"I can assure you that that is not the way I want you, Mr. Isley. No, I'm afraid that we have something much, much less pleasant for you to do for us." Waller coldly notified his prisoner.
Weed's eyes widened in horror. Whatever Waller was referring to, the plant commanding Gothamite seemingly knew what exactly it was.
"No...not that!" Jimson snapped at Waller. "I've heard the stories! I won't let you do to me what you did to…"
Waller pulled back and then decked his prisoner across the face. Green blood dripped out from Jimson's nose, and he and the ARGUS agents watched on as Waller casually sat back down across from the others. He then pulled out a metal briefcase, opened it up on his lap, and reached inside of it.
"No tears, please..." Armando Waller started to say as he began to lift up an item from the case.
Waller then held the item out for Weed to finally see. It was black and gold in color. It looked ancient. It was a box. A puzzle box.
"...It's a waste of good suffering."
*Dark Dramatic Music Sting*
Anyway...yeah, in case you couldn't guess, Earth-11 is the "DC Gender Swap" universe. Someone had to do it, and I figured it could be me. Even though this is one of the shorter installments of Glimpses (Especially if you don't count the Prelude), it honestly took me a while to figure out which characters to use and mention in it. After all, I wanted to get this right. Because of that, allow me to break things down below, including the characters who were only just mentioned (I'll freely admit that some of this is me stating the obvious).
Some Notes:
- Earth-11 is based on the multiple "Gender Swap" stories and continuities from DC Comics.
- Rhiannon Choi/The Atom is the female version of Ryan Choi. I knew I wanted her in this from the very beginning.
- Green Lantern, as she is simply called here, is the female version of Simon Baz. Her appearance is based on a piece of Green Lantern fan art by one Anna Rettberg. Look her up.
- Jimson Weed is the male version of Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy.
- Armando Waller is the male version of Amanda Waller. He is the leader of this universe's ARGUS.
- The Atom before Rhiannon was Rachel Palmer, the female version of Ray Palmer. She's currently missing, and Rhiannon secretly suspects that the Snap (They call it "the Incident" on Earth-11) may somehow lead to finding her.
- Batwoman is the female version of Batman (And because of that, Batman must be the male Batwoman). Her secret identity is Bryce Wayne, which is taken from The Drowned from Dark Nights: Metal.
- Gigantar is the male version of Giganta. Rhiannon and him do date, but they've decided to take a break for the time being.
- Wonder Warrior is the male version of Wonder Woman. His name comes from Turnabout Trap, a Superman story where Mr. Mxyzpzlk sent Superman into a fabricated world where the genders were all switched around. Look, I honestly just think it's a better option than "Wonder Man" or "Wondrous Man", mostly thanks to the alliteration being preserved.
- Kween Croc is the female version of Killer Croc. If she had a minion, they'd often go "Slay, Kween, Slay!" and "Yaaaas Kween!".
- Ms. Terrific is the female version of Mr. Terrific (Not the Golden Age one, obviously). Her name is probably Michelle Holt. That's easier than trying to find a woman's name that sounds like "Curtis".
- Reaper is the female version of...Reaper. Clearly. The same applies to the Joker and Scare...ugh, OK, I'm sure you get it.
- "The Hawks" are Hawkman and Hawkwoman's counterparts.
- Okay, finally back to one that isn't super obvious! Maverick is the male version of Vixen. Sure, I could've gone with Tod...but C'mon.
- Quakemistress is a female version of the obscure villain Quakemaster.
- Bulletboy is a sort of composited/combined male version of the original Bulletgirl and Bulleteer.
- La Angel is a female version of Rafael Sandoval, the second El Diablo, who is a character who I've wanted to introduce to Infinity Crisis for a long time now, but...well...I feel I should address something here; the character's creator, Gerard Jones, is a convicted pedophile (for porn, not assault, but a pedophile nonetheless). I was honestly so disgusted when I learned of this that I gave away all of my El Diablo comics that I got off eBay. HOWEVER...I figured I'd already have to change the character for Earth-11 anyway, so I figured I'd go for it after learning "TDK" from The Suicide Squad was essentially a heavily altered Arm-Fall-Off-Boy (who was also created by Jones). So now you can expect La Angel of Earth-11 to eventually make a proper appearance someday, in another story.
- Woman-Bat is the female version of Man-Bat. Let's say her real name is Kira Langstrom.
- Jesse is Jesse Cruz, the male version of Jessica Cruz.
- Finally, let's address the sudden reveal at the end; What Waller has is indeed the Lament Configuration from Hellraiser. That final line from him was a quote from Pinhead. Let's just say he's made an "arrangement" with the Cenobites.
- The mention of "Barker Lane" was a reference to the man himself, Clive Barker.
Well, unless I'm forgetting anything else, I think that should be it for this chapter. Again, I hope this proved to be an interesting addition to Infinity Crisis. Thanks for reading!