DC Comics Presents: Killing Roy Harper
Chapter 3: Dial "H" for Hero and Black Canary
By Christopher W. Blaine
e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com
DISCLAIMER: Dial "H" for Hero™, Black Canary™ and all other related characters and situations used in this story are ©2002 by DC Comics Inc. and are used without permission for non-profit, fan-related entertainment purposes only. This original work of fiction is ©2002 by Christopher W. Blaine and may not be reproduced in any form, in part or as a whole, without the express permission of the author.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story was originally published to the internet under the title DC Comics Presents: Dial "H" for Hero and Black Canary. It has been revised and updated by the author.
The black armored man sat in the lawn chair of the estate of Lord Roy Harper, Constable-General of Her Majesty's Colonies in the America's. He gazed not at the rotting bodies of the Constable-General and his family, but through the mists of time and space.
He stroked the light red hairs on his chin, cursing that he had never been able to grow a real beard that he could rub when in thought. He could see any point in time, but he couldn't grow a moustache. Such was his fate, stuck in the body of a sixteen-year-old boy, but having lived until the end of time.
He wished he could share his thoughts with a friend, but he didn't have any anymore. His exploits into the past had cost him what few allies he had. Many of them told him that it was impossible to change time in the prime universe, that every action he took was countered with a new Hypertime reality being created.
He didn't care, so long as he cleansed reality.
How many times in his short life, before he had "died", had he put his life on the line not only for innocent people, but also for the universe itself? In fact, had he not "died" saving the universe? Was he ever given credit? Was he mourned?
No, he was forgotten and then replaced by a pretender.
Dinah Drake Lance was a very beautiful woman who didn't look a day over 35. That was no small feat considering she was over 70 years of age. She smiled and again looked at herself in the mirror, clad in the costume of the Black Canary. Not only did it still fit, but she had actually had to adjust it because she had lost some weight.
Why she had lost the weight, she didn't know and she had this nagging feeling in the back of her head she should go see a doctor, but like many things in her life, she kept putting it off.
Realizing that they had extended youth, both she and her husband Larry had put off having children for a long time…decades in fact. At the time, she didn't think much of it. Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle had waited to have children, even longer than Dinah and Larry had. It wasn't like it had been a sin or anything.
No, she thought, that had not been the sin; but there sure had been plenty of others.
Her daughter, Dinah, was now growing up without a father, poor Larry having been killed a few years back and every day the senior Dinah wrestled with the compulsion to come clean with her daughter about what their marriage had been like. Because they had waited so long to have children they seemed to have drifted apart. Larry had found solace in his work as a private detective, while Dinah had found it in the arms of a fellow super-hero.
Ted Knight was a noble hero, if not a little strange. Her daughter had grown up having the members of the world famous Justice Society of America baby-sit her and they were members of the family. In fact, he was called "Uncle Ted" in this household. How do you explain that "Uncle Ted" was doing more than coming by for tea all of those years?
The affair had only ended because of Ted's desire to be alone. His research into the stars was his true passion and sometimes Dinah wondered what she ever saw in that man.
She coughed and felt a slight pain in her lungs. She was getting older and she knew it. Soon she would look forty and it would take more than a fancy costume to hold up her…assets! It would be time to go back to working out with Ted Grant and the other JSA members.
The costume still fit and that was what was important, because it was time for Black Canary to go back on "active" duty. The idea had been suggested not by any member of the illustrious Society, but by an outsider, the famous Johnny Quick.
Johnny Quick was a dedicated and selfless hero, who had remained active even after most of the heroes of the "Golden Age", had retired. After the war, it just didn't seem like the super-heroes were needed, but Johnny always argued that logic. "Heroes are always needed," he would tell them.
When terrorists began bombing passenger planes and taking hostages in foreign lands, Johnny had been the one to point out that the oath the Squadron members had made to fight the Axis powers applied in these situations as well. Most of the JSA members were not really interested in coming out of retirement. Many felt that the world had become too cynical and not one member felt that they were the right person to inspire the general public. "That would take a super man," Alan Scott, the Green Lantern had said a few weeks before, " and I don't think any of us feel that way. We don't fit in anymore; our time has passed."
Johnny would just shake his head, grinning. "If people need our help, do we really care if we fit in?" Nobody had denied the logic of his argument and soon, costumes were being pulled out of trunks and the power was turned back on in the JSA mansion in New York.
The Black Canary had never really been a member of prominence in the JSA, but she was still willing to do her part. There was also a nagging fear in the back of her mind that her hero-worshipping daughter would try to take up the mantle of the Canary. She couldn't do that while her mother was still wearing the costume. Who would want two Black Canary's? Two Flashes? Two Green Lanterns? The idea was ridiculous.
No, Dinah was convinced that she needed to make sure her daughter avoided the super-hero life no matter what. Go to college. Get married. Have babies.
Don't get killed.
Robby Reed stood outside the Justice Society mansion in New York City, contemplating whether or not he should actually go in. He didn't really know where else to go with his particular "situation".
Several weeks before, he had found himself being thrown off of a cliff, headed into Death's cold embrace. A criminal organization called Thunderbolt had infiltrated his hometown and Robby just had to get involved, half-emulating the heroes of his father's generation. Now he stood before the headquarters of those very same heroes, clutching the mysterious alien dial that had saved his life.
He had a mental link with the dial, though he couldn't explain why, and when he dialed the letters "H-E-R-O", he transformed into a super-hero.
The problem was that he had no control over what he turned into, as he became a different super-hero every single time he used the alien device. There appeared to be no set limit on the amount of time he stayed in the hero's form and he was able to retain his memories, but it was still unnerving because each time he felt like he was actually in someone else's body.
None of the heroes he transformed into had ever been seen previously. That wouldn't have bothered him normally; he could always say that the alien device was reading his mind and pulling super-heroes from his imagination. Lord knew he had read enough comic books as a kid!
What had bothered him was that the last hero he had transformed into came with a picture identification hidden in a pouch. The name meant nothing but the birth date had shocked him. It had read for some time two years from now.
That had convinced him that maybe he needed to talk to someone with real experience in the field, but there really hadn't been anyone around for years of any worth. Then Robby had read in his local paper an interview with the Flash who spoke that the Justice Society was going to begin holding semi-regular meetings again to discuss the status of the metahuman community.
He didn't know how to approach the members of the JSA for they were living legends. That thought was enough to cause the young man to want to turn around and walk away.
Then he remembered that birth date. It meant that it was possible he was actually pulling innocent people from the future. How was that affecting the world of tomorrow? Was he yanking a hero from out of the time stream at a time the world needed them the most?
Robby Reed sighed and stepped from the sidewalk onto the small walkway leading to the front of the mansion.
"Going somewhere, sonny-boy?" came a female voice.
Robby sheepishly turned around, images of black-clad security agents danced in his head. The woman was clad in black, but if that was a security uniform, then he definitely was going to be considering a career in property surveillance. "Black Canary!" he said in a cracked voice. He immediately began to blush.
Black Canary regarded the young man. Blonde hair and glasses, not bad looking, but in need of some time in the sun. He appeared awkward and embarrassed. Probably just lost. "That's me, the original Blonde Bombshell. Did you know you're heading towards the JSA headquarters?"
He pushed his falling glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. "Yes, ma'am…I'm wanting to speak with the Society."
She folded her arms over her chest. "Little young to be a reporter, aren't you?"
He grinned at the jibe. "I actually came to ask a favor…"
"Bully taking your lunch money?" she said with a smile. The kid seemed to be able to take a little ribbing, which definitely improved his status with her. He was going to be disappointed, though, seeing as the regular membership of the team had left an hour before, with a promise to meet again in two months after reviewing the status of affairs in their home cities.
"I don't eat lunch, but I do have to deal with a few bullies here and there. If you guys would like to take care of it, that would be great!"
Black Canary was about to explain that the JSA normally did not take requests when the sound of wood shattering ended their conversation. The sound had definitely originated from inside the JSA mansion. "Stay here!" Black Canary said, running off in the direction of the sounds of destruction.
Robby found himself once again at a crossroads. While he knew that the Black Canary was a competent super-hero, with more years of experience than he had of life, letting her go off into battle alone when he knew he could do something made his stomach turn. His concerns about dragging heroes from the future was valid, but he suddenly realized that he had to be concerned with the here and now. If he did not guard the present, then how could there be a future?
He turned and ran towards some high bushes, just as Black Canary reached the porch. Hidden away from public view he pulled out the alien dialer and spelled out the word "hero".
In a flash, he felt his physical form change and the knowledge of his abilities became like just another old, comfortable thought. His street clothes had disappeared, to be replaced by a costume composed of a black, leathery material. A name popped into his mind immediately…Foxbat.
Almost at the same time, a world of knowledge: chemistry, forensics, history and temporal physics. As it had so many times before, the origin of his new identity was voiced in his head.
"My father and mother were both heroes born into a world of violence, trained to defend the weak from the oppressive by a Dark Knight. The world I was raised in required more than a passing knowledge of the new wave of technology that man had begun to embrace. When my parents were taken from me by those who would pervert that technology, I swore an oath that I would never allow such a thing to happen again. With my vast fortune and the training I had received while growing up, I took up the cowl of my grandfather, the courage of my father and the compassion of my mother…"
"I have to wonder why anyone with the abilities and power that my benefactor has would even bother with an example of poor breeding such as yourself," the yellow and red garbed man said, a sinister sneer on his face. He looked perpetually angry, his demeanor that of someone who actually enjoyed experiencing the darker emotions of life. "You realize, of course, that you are about to die."
Black Canary regarded them man who had somehow broke through the back wall of the mansion. He didn't look particularly strong, his form more like that of a runner. A weekend marathon runner; not like Jay Garrick, the Flash, who also took the time to develop his upper body as well. "Do you know how many times I've heard that over the years?"
"Do you know how little I care?" the man said. "Though it will mean absolutely nothing to you, cow," he said with a leer, "my name is Professor Zoom, I am the Reverse-Flash."
"There's an original name," she said, a little put-off by the 'cow' comment. "I figured something more like the Bleeding Banana."
"Charming. How I wish I could savor this moment, but it will be over far too quick for me. Had it not been for these accused walls…just what the hell are they made of? No matter," he said, taking a step towards her. In a fraction of a second, he moved faster than light, so that his image remained in front of the Black Canary even as he was moving towards her. His hand began to vibrate, preparing for the lethal strike that would literally separate the molecules of her brain.
One thousandth of a second before he could strike her, he simply stopped. Zoom felt his connection to the Speed Force, the energy dimension from which he drew his power from, cut off. In fact, he felt the speed he had generated flowing away from him and he ended up "appearing" almost instantly in front of Black Canary. Decades of fighting had honed her reflexes, but the past few years of inactivity had slowed her down. She got a forearm up to block the strike to her head, but was only able to deflect it slightly.
Zoom stumbled back, as did Black Canary. The yellow-clad speedster ended up falling into a glass bookcase. Strong arms caught Black Canary, and helped her back to her feet. She turned to see a black clad man, a cowl with little points, like a rat, standing there. He seemed to radiate both light and darkness at the same time, determination and humility. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice a deep rich tenor.
"I am now. We're not having a membership drive, but I would be more than happy to give you a personal interview," she said, tossing back a lock of blonde hair.
"I don't believe this…how the hell did you get here?" Zoom asked as he stood up, brushing the particles of glass from his uniform. "Where did you get a Speed Force inhibitor?" he asked, pointing to a small device on the other man's belt.
"Got it from a friend of yours," Foxbat said. "Never thought I would have to use it, but call me paranoid."
"That won't last very long; even now, I'm sensing its frequency and I'll simply redirect my connection."
"What is he talking about?" Black Canary asked. "Do you guys know each other?"
"Only from the historical records," the two men said at the same time. Inside the mind of Foxbat, Robby Reed frantically went over the information that was pouring in from that of the hero he now possessed. Professor Zoom was originally from the 25th century, but had traveled to the late 20th to battle Barry Allen, the man who would eventually become the second Flash in Robby's future. Zoom would die there, but not after he had spent years as super-villain, including at least one foray into Foxbat's time period.
"Why are you here? You haven't even been born yet," Zoom asked, obviously fishing for time.
Black Canary pushed past Foxbat. "If you two want to have a conversation, do it outside…after sunshine here tells me who wanted me dead and why."
"Ha! Like crap I'm going to tell you, old lady…"
A roundhouse kick sent the criminal flying back again, this time into an empty aquarium. "You need to learn some respect for women!"
Foxbat was about to intervene when he noticed a red flashing light on his gauntlet. He knew that it was indicating that his microwave internet connection was severed, meaning that he could not update the frequency motivator. Robby desperately wanted to know what an internet was.
Black Canary reached down and grabbed two handfuls of yellow costume. Hauling the Reverse-Flash up, she got nose to nose with him. "Now listen very closely, Doctor Speed…"
"It's Professor Zoom," he said slowly from behind loose and bloodied teeth. "You really don't understand what is going on here…"
Black Canary head-butted Zoom and let him drop to the floor. She then turned back to Foxbat, who looked like he was examining his wristwatch. "Hey, tall, dark and handsome…would you mind helping out here?"
Foxbat was about to reply when a feminine, yet mechanical voice spoke to him through his cowl speakers. "Warning…spatial distortion detected on person…Speed Force inhibitor shutting down…" Immediately, Foxbat's keen mind worked alongside Robby's and he realized that his alien dialer was somehow causing the shutdown of the device that was keeping the Reverse-Flash from using his powers. "Canary, you have to get out of here right now! He's going to get his powers back very soon and neither one of us is going to be able to stop him."
Canary looked down at the villain, as he struggled to get back up to his feet. He seemed weak, as if actual physical combat was new to him. "This guy is a push-over! My God, Per Degaton would have given me a harder time."
"That would-be Adolf Hitler? Barely a footnote in the history books, just like you," Zoom said, his voice suddenly full of confidence. Foxbat saw that there was a solid red light glowing on his gauntlet and immediately reached out and pulled the Black Canary to his side. "Come with me if you want to live."
A blinding force struck Foxbat in the chest and he flew through the air and the far wall. Black Canary stared in horror as the Reverse-Flash, seemingly basking in his own glory. "I guess you're pretty mad now, aren't you?" she said with a wink.
"Tachyon leakage detected…Speed Force energy spike…"
The voice seemed to be distant in the mind of Robby Reed and he realized as the intelligence of Foxbat began to disappear that the Speed Force was disrupting whatever energy it was that allowed Robby to inhabit the bodies of super-heroes.
As he returned to the form of Robby Reed, he became aware of a throbbing pain in the back of his head and he reached to feel that his blonde hair was moist with blood. He was sure it wasn't too serious, but didn't have the time to worry about it. Though he hated using the dialer again so soon, and especially with the Reverse-Flash throwing Speed Force energy everywhere, he knew that he only had moments to act before the Black Canary was dead.
"You have irritated me to a point I did not think possible by anyone that did not have the name Allen," Zoom said, picking up a piece of wood. "There are many ways to use the power of speed to kill, ways you can't even imagine…but I think that this one time I will go 'hands-on'."
Black Canary saw the makeshift stake and put two and two together. This Reverse-Flash was obviously not from the local group of villains. He seemed to actually desire to shed blood for no other reason than for the sheer pleasure; a far cry from the thugs and mobsters she had normally faced in her career.
The Foxbat guy though cute, didn't seem too reliable. Brave, but not smart, and now he was probably dead, laying in pieces in another room. He seemed to have meant well, but she now realized that while he was built like one of the professionals, his moves were totally amateur.
Under her blonde wig, Dinah Drake's mind began to go over the various moves she would need to make before the Reverse-Flash could strike her with his weapon. The problem was that he seemed to have powers like her speedster teammate, which meant that her greatest weapon was going to have to be her wits and not her fists.
In a fight, she knew that there was no way that the Black Canary was going to take down the Flash, unless she could get him to make a mistake. Again, there was a problem with that logic because when a speedster made a mistake, they normally corrected it within the space of a heartbeat.
She threw out a heart punch and her hand seemed to pass through him and she realized immediately that he was vibrating at super-speed, allowing her hand to physically pass between his molecules. In frustration, she cursed and hopped back, just missing a thrust to her abdomen. Catching herself, she brought her foot down hard on top of his as he advanced with the thrust. The spike of her three-inch heel penetrated the material of his boot and dug deep into his flesh.
"Forgot to keep vibrating, eh?" she said, again moving back to put some distance between them.
Zoom screamed in both pain and rage. "You bitch!"
Black Canary threw him a common one-fingered gesture and exited the room at a run. Her only hope was to activate the magical signal device that Dr. Fate had recently put in the meeting room. The foot strike had been lucky, a target of opportunity, and possibly may have saved her life. She was not going to kid herself into thinking that it was going to stop Zoom; but it might slow him down long enough for one of the big guns to come to her rescue.
As she entered the meeting room, she slammed hard into the chest of the Reverse-Flash. Before she could even gasp, she felt the stake pierce her chest and white-hot lightning flashes of pain raced through her body. She jerked back and saw her own blood spurt forward, and Zoom laughed aloud. "I hope it hurts, little birdie. It is still too quick, and that's saying a lot coming from me."
Black Canary sank unceremoniously to her knees and clutched at the piece of wood stuck in her chest. Without another word, the Reverse-Flash was gone.
Dr. Miracle, the Physician of Wonder, stood among the wreckage of the room that Robby Reed had occupied in the body of Foxbat, taking in the carnage. His refined sense of taste regarded the cherry wood bookshelves with interest, but was more impressed with the collection of rare paintings hanging on the walls.
Activating the sensors in his Clean Suit, the Robby Reed influenced mind of the doctor began to scan the immediate area for signs of life. He knew that someone called the Reverse-Flash was attacking a woman named Black Canary, but the details were fuzzy. He moved towards the hole in the wall and peered through to the next room, finding it in similar disarray.
"Why aren't there any alarms going off?" he asked aloud, then a voice in his mind told him that the mansion was undergoing some renovations and that the security system may have been disabled. "Bloody stupid," he said, stepping through the hole.
Immediately, his sensors alerted him to a fading life force a few rooms away. The doctor headed in that direction and soon found himself confronted by a terrible sight. Kneeling down, he felt for a pulse and found a very weak one. The Black Canary opened her eyes. "Who?"
"Rest easy, darling…the doctor is in," he said coolly.
Dr. Mid-Nite pulled the stethoscope away from the bare chest of Dinah Lance. She pulled her shirt down, not before taking another glance at where she expected at least some sort of scar. "Well, can I go home yet?" she asked.
The blind super-hero closed his little black bag and then stepped back. They were inside a private room at the estate of Ted Knight. It had been three days since an unknown person had activated the Justice Society mansion alarm system; a system that had been deactivated. It had to have been someone with extensive electrical knowledge to do so.
When Green Lantern and Hawkman had arrived at the mansion, they had found it wrecked and a bandaged Black Canary awaiting them. Fearing the worst, they had spirited her away to Ted Knight's mansion where they knew Dr. Mid-Nite was staying temporarily. While she had lost a lot of blood, she otherwise appeared to be in good condition. Hawkman had found a bloodied wooden stake next to her, but when the bandage had been removed, there was nothing but tender pink skin.
"I don't know why you're in such a hurry to leave; Dinah is having a very good time."
"My daughter is easily impressed by all of you old men doting on her; I think she's looking for a surrogate father." There was a pause. "Why can't I remember what happened?"
Dr. Mid-Nite shrugged and smiled. "I don't know; I'm afraid that's outside my specialty. However, there is something we need to talk about. You know I ordered X-rays of your chest…"
"It's cancer, isn't it?" she said, her lip trembling slightly.
"I think so, but we won't know until we run some more tests, which I can't do here. I want you to come and see me next week and…"
She sat up. "No…you want me to give it up, don't you?"
"Think about Dinah; think about your daughter," Dr. Mid-Nite said, heading towards the door. "She's a young woman now and soon she'll be heading out into the world. When she becomes Black Canary…"
"No! Absolutely not!"
Dr. Mid-Nite opened the door and looked over at his patient. "Dinah, you have to be realistic. We are not going to be around forever…do you think the bad guys are going to quit when we do? Why do you think we're starting to meet again?"
A tear started down Dinah Drake's cheek as her friend and teammate closed the door, leaving her alone with an unknown future.
"She survived your attempts to kill her and, in fact, because of you, she realized that she was dying and then made an extra effort to be close to her daughter. That was not only well received, but reciprocated when Roy Harper needed help," Extant said, holding back the urge to laugh in the armored man's face.
"I don't want to hear it…the inclusion of Hypertime transferal system could not have been predicted. You know that neither your powers or mine can see items like that," the armored man said, suppressing the urge to choke the other time lord.
"Oh, yes, those awful dialers. I always wondered what would happened if you dialed 'H-O-H-O'," Extant quipped. "Do you think they would turn into Santa Claus or a snack cake?"
The armored man refused to answer, but instead fumed silently over his latest failure. He had conquered entire realities, destroyed alternate versions of the Justice League and the Justice Society, yet his attempts to destroy one man…and he used that term loosely…were thwarted constantly.
Zoom had managed to complete his part of the mission. By all accounts, the mother of Dinah Lance should have died that day. Instead, a chance encounter with the possessor of the original Hero Dial had allowed the intervention of persons that the armored man could not have predicted.
It would do no good to go back and try again, since the temporal barriers, like a welded joint, had become stronger with his meddling. His only solace was that he knew that Robby Reed would eventually be split into two beings and his dialer would end up in the hands of incompetent teenagers. Robby Reed would never really know happiness.
And Dinah Drake would die a slow death from cancer.
"Did you come her to gloat, or do you have something useful to contribute?" the armored man asked.
"Hmmmm, let me think about that. Maybe if you told me more about yourself…I must confess, when I try to look at your past, I'm not able to. I mean, looking at you, I'd say you're Roy Harper, but then again, Harper never had the guts to do what you have done."
The armored man looked at Extant. "So, you want to know the story of my life, eh? I've never revealed the full story to anyone, but then nobody could ever appreciate my situation. You were a hero once, weren't you?"
"In my idealistic days," Extant confessed. "I've matured since then."
"Indeed…so have I." The armored man stepped a little closer to Extant. "If you have the time…"
"Oh, I always have the time," Extant smiled. "Time is all I have."