Slow Burn 2

Chapter 2

"What is your name?" Orion demanded.

"I am nameless." Darkseid stepped forward, looking at nothing but the space directly in front of him. His skin was almost black, giving off a dark, smoky glow. He was clothed in red and yellow armor that spoke of blood and violence.

"What is your purpose?"

"To find and retrieve the anti-life equation."

"Where will you achieve this?"

"On Earth."

Desaad stepped out of Orion's shadow and explained. "We have imprinted him with the knowledge and ability to track down the equation. It is very precise, and he should be able to determine if it exists within a single mind."

"He is amazing!" Orion said proudly.

"Yes, Lord Orion, and," Desaad cowered, "if you would forgive my treachery, he is better than the original! While we were unable to duplicate the all- powerful Omega Force that your father possessed, we did, however, imbue him with power beyond belief. He can lift mountains, bake entire cities in an instant and create energies that do not even exist in our spectrum. In addition, he will adapt and learn new abilities. Combined with his awesome speed, my creation is a force to be reckoned with. For the heroes on Earth, this is certain to be their doomsday!"

"That is a fitting name, Desaad," Orion said. "Nameless one, you are to be called Doomsday. Repeat your name."

"Doomsday." A smile lurked behind the blank façade.

"Lord Orion, allow me to demonstrate his abilities. Doomsday, on the far side of the planet, I have placed a child in an energy prison 600 feet in the air. When the prison has been breached, the child will be killed exactly one second later by an explosive neck restraint, made from the strongest materials on this, or any, planet. Go and bring me the child unharmed."

Doomsday stood still.

"Lord Orion, if you would . . ." Desaad waited.

"Follow Desaad's instructions." Orion's voice boomed.

To Orion and his generals, it appeared as if Doomsday had simply disappeared, with a slight red and yellow blur in his wake. Before anyone could breathe or speak, the creature appeared again, holding a small boy in one giant hand.

"Now, Doomsday, kill the child." Desaad said, looking intently at Orion.

Doomsday did not hesitate. A white glow emanated from his hand. There was a flash, and soot poured to the ground. The child was gone.

"You see, Lord Orion," Desaad exclaimed, "there is no pause, no thought, but still he exhibits logic and rational behavior. He can still strategize. I must say that he is perfect."

"Desaad, I think you spoke too soon, too full of arrogance." Orion's voice shook with a cold anger as he pointed to the creature.

Doomsday was on his knees, shaking. His frame grew rigid, and his skin charred and peeled off. Underneath, a pure white skin gleamed, and a chalky dust rose from his body. The shaking slowly ceased as Doomsday struggled to retain his previous posture.

"You fool!" Orion raged. "What is this bizarre creature? This is an utter failure that I should destroy right now!" His eyes glowed.

"Wait, Lord Orion," Desaad pleaded. "He may have only been undergoing a further mutation. He is unique, and we cannot replace him. The specimen we used as a template was unique in its ability to undergo this change. My readings show that his physical strength is still as before, maybe stronger. It does, however, look like Doomsday's mental faculties are a little clouded. This should prove no obstacle in our goal, however."

"Creature," Orion's voice thundered. "What is your name?"

"DOOOOMMMMSDAY." The voice that was commanding came out more like a feral growl.

"What is your purpose?"

"ANTI-LIFE."

"Where is the anti-life equation?"

'EARTH."

******

"I'm sorry we can't make it, J'onn," Dick Grayson said via monitor, "but, ever since Jim Gordon's face was scarred at the carnival, he's been playing judge, jury, and executioner. He's fascinated with the number 2 now, and I think he's developed a split personality."

"We? Us?" J'onn inquired, confused.

"Holy Marvin the Martian!" A young face in a yellow and red mask filled the screen. "You must be J'onn! I'm Robin the Boing Wonder!" With that, he disappeared from the screen and could be seen bouncing around in the background, saying "Boing! Boing!"

"Dick, you're using a child?" J'onn asked incredulously.

"It's complicated. I'll explain more when I can. It looks like Jim's holding the Olsen twins hostage unless McDonald's brings back 2 Big Macs for $2." The monitor blinked off.

In the next room, J'onn heard the snap-hiss of the transporter as members of the Justice League began arriving.

" . . . Episode Two was better? How could you defend that movie compared to the originals?" Wally West entered the room, arguing with Barry Allen, Jr. The two, better known to the public as the Flash and Superman, respectively, had grown up like brothers and were best friends. Wally was dressed in a scarlet suit similar to that of his uncle and idol, Barry Allen, Senior. The only difference was a red headpiece that covered his eyes with custom Oakley lenses and gold lightning earpieces that extended as antennas to his cowl radio.

"Are you kidding? Yoda kicked ass and that five minutes was worth the whole movie by far!" Barry Junior, aka BJ, had fashioned a costume that merged his two identities - his initial adopted identity as a Flash and member of the Allen family, and his newly-discovered heritage as Kal of the House of El from the planet Krypton. With a combination of red, gold, and blue, marked with lightning bolts interspersed with the El family crest, the costume had sparked a fashion trend in popular society. "Abin, saber me!"

Abin Sur, Earth's protector as a member of the Green Lantern Corps, sighed and generated a lightsaber in Barry's hands. He started swinging and thrusting at Wally, who motioned at Abin and got his own saber in turn. The two engaged in a mock battle, performing "Jedi" tricks. BJ did triple and quadruple backflips and Wally ran up the walls while fighting. As Wally was advancing, readying his saber, Barry charged, blowing Wally down with his breath while swinging. Startled, Wally pushed out with his hands, as if to protect himself. BJ flew backwards across the room, smacking the far wall.

"How'd you do that, Wally?" BJ asked.

Wally looked shocked. "You mean you didn't just fly backwards? I guess I am a Jedi!"

"As long as you don't keep using my husband as a guinea pig, you can be anything you want." Diana, the beauty known as Wonder Woman, entered the main conference room. Her traditional outfit had been foregone for the Amazonian maternal robes, as Diana was visibly pregnant. Her distended stomach shone like a small sun. "Little Kara is going to need a super- powered father to keep up with her."

"Joel, not Kara," Barry said, "Remember, sweetie, we are keeping it unknown on purpose. Unless you peeked?" he teased.

"Never." Diana smiled. Her mere presence radiated over the room with a quiet glow.

As everyone settled in their seats, the monitor indicated an incoming message. J'onn turned it on to see an extreme closeup of a face. "I'll be right there," the face said, and a moment later, a figure grew quickly from the ground in front of the monitor. "Boy, riding the video stream is always so much easier than a phone line." Ray Palmer strode to his seat, a floating, miniaturized chair that hovered over the table. He was dressed in his trademark outfit, a dark red suit and tie adorned with a simple atom symbol. With a quick jump, he shrunk to the perfect size to sit comfortably.

"Now that Ray's here, can we start the meeting?" Abin asked.

"Yes." J'onn recounted his recent psychic attack in great detail. He had since done research and explored psychically. The Martian hero had not yet found any trouble, nor encountered the mind that warned him.

"So, what should we do? I mean, we already monitor the entire world on a moment-to-moment basis. Other than keeping us all active 24 hours a day, I don't see what else we could do." BJ spoke up, from his position at the head of the table.

"True." J'onn said solemnly. "However, if you had felt the pain and force of this message, you would have felt the same sense of urgency. I think that this warning was of impending trouble, not some anomalous future conflict that we could never possibly predict or prepare for."

His words rang true. An alarm sounded at that exact moment.

"I don't recognize that alarm," Ray said. "What is it?"

"It means a Boom Tube has deposited someone or something on Earth. This alarm was created by our knowledge of Apokoliptian technology to prevent anyone from doing what they did to Barry and Jay five years prior." Diana said gravely.

"It's in Gotham," Wally stood by the console. "What should we do, Mr. Chairman?"

"Diana, you and Ray remain here to coordinate. Abin, you take point and head down there directly. The rest of us will follow by teleporter." BJ strode around the room, almost enjoying his role. "Contact Dick and let him know, too, if he doesn't already."

******

Batman and his new sidekick, Robin, did indeed know what was going on. From the rafters, they were watching and planning as Jim Gordon threatened hostages and cohorts alike. When the Boom Tube opened in the middle of the warehouse floor, everyone was surprised.

"Who the hell are you?" The ugly scarred mouth uttered these words with a guttural growl as Jim Gordon turned his face towards the creature who had just appeared. "You're ruining a perfectly good hostage situation!"

Doomsday stepped forward, looking a little disoriented. He had mutated further, with juts of bone sticking out from his extended brow. He raised his nose to the air and sniffed. "ANTI-LIFE." He growled, and with that statement, began to head for the exit.

The sound of gunfire erupted as Gordon, wearing a half-black, half-white suit, shot at Doomsday with a large silver .45 in one hand and a black Glock 9mm in the other. "My pair beats your full house, bonehead!" he cackled as he charged.

Doomsday merely glared at him as if he were a small ant. A blast shot from his hands, freezing Gordon in a block of ice. With one quick movement, Doomsday was upon him, shattering the would-be villain into a thousand minute pieces.

"Holy Walt Disney, Batman!" Robin exclaimed. "Can we beat this guy?"

"We don't have a choice," Dick said grimly, activating a Justice League distress beacon on his belt. "Let's do our best to keep him occupied until the big guns come."

******

Abin Sur was a green blur as he arced towards Gotham. The distress beacon began going off as he neared the town limits, so he headed directly for the signal. Although he didn't know what to expect, Abin remained calm. He had been a Green Lantern for almost thirty years, now, and had never yet faced a challenge that he couldn't overcome. His ring was nigh-omnipotent, and could only fail when faced with a lack of willpower, or the color yellow. He was a member of the powerful Green Lantern Corps, and each member had a ring, with the same abilities and weaknesses. When a Green Lantern died, the ring was designed to seek out the closest worthy successor, in order to preserve and maintain the legacy.

As he grew closer to the signal, he could rely on his sight and hearing to find the best location. Smoke spiraled from several buildings, and police and ambulance sirens filled the air. One clearing had only recently held a building, as evidenced by the debris and bodies on the ground. The dust had settled mere moments before. Abin dove to the ground as he recognized Dick's costumed body lying unnaturally across a concrete beam, next to a small red and yellow bundle that looked like it used to be human. His ring informed him that Batman was still alive, however, as was the boy next to him. How much longer they lived was another question altogether.

In an instant, the perpetrator of these horrible actions stood before him. Before Abin could even react, the creature hit him with a lightning-fast uppercut. Abin flew into the atmosphere before he could gain his bearings. His ring protected him from mortal injuries, but that blow would have killed anyone else, except maybe Superman. As Abin charged to the ground, his ring gave him information about the creature. "Name: Doomsday. Origin: Apokolips. Known weakness: None."

Doomsday stood looking at the red and green figure approaching. Everything seemed in slow motion to him as the figure grew closer. Doomsday's vision was murky, and the aura he was instructed to look for was appearing in blotches in several places, not in one solid image or sensation, as he was told. Confused, Doomsday shook his head. It seemed like his concentration was waning with every moment and he just wanted the pain and noise in his head to stop.

Abin slowed as he faced Doomsday. Looking for a quick solution, he encased the monster in a giant green bubble. If he couldn't hit anything, he couldn't harm anything, Abin thought, only to be horrified as Doomsday used his red and yellow gloves to punch viciously at the bubble, causing cracks and bending Abin's will. The bubble shattered, depositing Doomsday to the ground.

With a roar, Doomsday began to advance on Abin. Abin prepared himself for quite a fight, to be shocked as Doomsday disappeared. No, not disappeared, Abin thought frantically, he just moved fast. Almost as fast as . . .

******

Wally, BJ, and J'onn teleported to the cave - Bat-cave, as Dick jokingly calls it, BJ thought - in Gotham and headed directly for the source of Dick's distress beeper. The three were a blur through the streets and they arrived just in time to see an albino-skinned, red and yellow garbed Doomsday crush the skull of a helpless Abin Sur.