Slow Burn II

Chapter 5

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Author's Note:

I'm sorry it's taken so long to finish this. I had extreme writer's block, compounded with an extremely demanding job, and I just couldn't write this the way that I wanted. This still has a few problems, but I think it covers the ending that I really wanted for this story. You may want to re-read the entire story, and even Slow Burn I, because some of this won't make any sense. I'd really like to hear your thoughts and reviews.

I'll be writing an Annotation shortly, too.

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"Run." J'onn's voice echoed in Wally's head. "Don't worry about us. Just run."

"But, J'onn," Wally started to protest.

"DO IT." J'onn roared in his head. Almost subconsciously, Wally began to run. And run fast. Instantly, his friends and enemies were frozen in mid-step, in mid-breath as he kicked into full speed. This was the part he relished. If it wasn't for the homicidal maniac behind him who wanted to empty his brain, Wally would almost enjoy the rush – the feeling of speed.

Over his shoulder, Wally saw Doomsday start after him. "That's Uncle Barry," Wally thought, "I have to get through to him". Almost in response, Doomsday growled and began to catch up.

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Wally and Doomsday disappeared in a blink of an eye. Once this fact registered, the hordes of parademons roared en masse and charged.

"We can do this," BJ said. "Just stick together. J'onn and I alone should be able to . . ." His words cut off as giant lamps on the horizon turned on, and the air turned red. Simultaneously, the Apokoliptian firepits began spewing flames into the air, filling the atmosphere with red hot embers and ash. J'onn's face went as pale as a green face could possibly turn, and BJ felt his strength slowly ebbing.

"Ok," he said, "We can still do this, but we just have to do it really fast."

"Okey dokey, you're the boss," Plastic Man said as he changed into Wally. "We can do fast!"

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3, 4, 5 times Wally crossed the planet of Apokolips with Doomsday in tow. Neither of them gained or lost any ground, and both were as evenly-paced as when they started. "It's time to show him what real speed is," Wally thought. He began to sidestep as he ran faster, hopping and stepping in a rhythm that he had been perfecting.

To Doomsday, Wally appeared to split, forming image after image of himself across the horizon until each image danced and shimmered. The pain grew fiercer in Doomsday's head, and he knew that if he caught this annoying creature, the pain might stop.

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Desaad watched the monitors as the parademons thronged around the heroes. "I must congratulate myself on the red sun filters – I knew that would ebb away at the Kryptonian's powers! Turning up the firepits' output was pure genius as well, Granny."

Granny Goodness beamed. "The Martian was in my care for long enough that I knew this would knock him down very easily. This is going easier than we expected. Once Doomsday captures the human, we will have the anti-life equation, and we can rule the universe. The only remaining step is to dispatch Orion, who is half the leader that his father, Lord Darkseid, was."

The rest of the cabal applauded and shouted their approval. They were mainly comprised of members of Orion's cabinet, who had been on his father's cabinet as well. With their own special talents and abilities, they had certain merits, but none had the backbone to lead the rebellion like Desaad.

"Is there any chance of the heroes defeating our army?" One of the members, Virman Vundabar, asked.

"With the two strongest weakened, they are only a rubber man and a mere human. What else could they do?" Desaad stated, watching the monitors intensely.

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Dick Grayson Garrick watched BJ and J'onn struggle to keep their attackers at bay. Plastic Man had transformed into a large beast and he was swinging parademons around gleefully. The army's weapons passed through him, the holes repairing seamlessly. However, the sheer numbers were still overwhelming. Using all of his available skills, Dick was busy dodging shots and pummeling opponents, but the attack seemed endless. "Eel," he shouted. "The wall! Breach the prison wall!" He pointed to the building housing all of the imprisoned heroes.

Plastic Man loved it when he was on top of his game. It was times like this that he didn't mind being the clown. Superduperman and the Martian were having trouble keeping up, and he was in charge! "I love this hero stuff," he thought. When Bat-man told him to hit the wall, it was a simple task. He created a large claw and picked up ten parademons. Quickly, he swung them into the prison wall. The wall buckled and crumbled, and he re-formed himself into a giant trampoline. The bricks and debris from the hole he just created bounced harmlessly to the ground, and the heroes entered the prison.

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"It's working," Wally thought as he watched Doomsday reel and close his eyes in response to the afterimages Wally created. "Maybe I can stop him now and get Uncle Barry back."

Without missing a step, Wally circled around Doomsday and approached him from behind. He built up speed and charged, intending to hit him with a thousand blows a second. Hopefully, the impact would cause Doomsday to cartwheel out of control and slow him down long enough to give Wally the chance to talk to him.

Doomsday was still closing his eyes and shaking his head as Wally approached at the speed of light, fist raised. A nanosecond before impact, Doomsday noticed the motion out of the corner of his eye and tried to move out of the way. It was a little too late, however.

Instead, Wally's fist became embedded in the back of Doomsday's head. Instead of being solid, Doomsday had become pliable and had absorbed Wally's fist like quicksand. Doomsday reached around and swung Wally to the ground with all of his might.

The last though Wally had before blacking out was that at this speed, he'd be lucky if he didn't careen into space from the impact.

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Enjoying their brief respite from the red solar light and the fiery air, BJ and J'onn zipped throughout the prison, releasing prisoners from top to bottom. Plastic Man and Bat-man formed a makeshift barrier to keep the parademons for entering for a few moments.

The released heroes gathered together for a quick reunion and introductions all around. Dick and Jay embraced tearfully. Sentinel introduced himself to J'onn and apologized for invading his mind earlier. Ted Knight and Roy Lincoln stood to one side quietly. Captain Nathaniel Adam introduced himself to BJ, and offered his assistance in military planning, which was accepted readily. The remainder, including Ice, Ray, Vic Stone, Garfield Logan, Jon Osterman, and Rocky Davis, among others, waited for instructions. They were tired and angry and ready to seek retribution on their captors for the last five years.

"Uncle Jay, is it true about my dad?" BJ asked. "They made him into that monster?"

"I'm sorry, Barry," Jay said. "Maybe he's still inside that creature somewhere."

"We need to help Wally, and we need to get through the thousands of parademons stationed outside," BJ said to the group. "Captain Atom, J'onn and I are the powerhouses, so we will be at the forefront of the battle. Those of you with the ability to fight from a distance should stand back and use your powers to strike the fliers down. Anyone who may be unable to fight must stay inside the building here."

"This is going to be the hardest thing any of us has every done." BJ continued. "We are little more than 20 people with special abilities and powers against thousands of vicious creatures bred to fight and wreak havoc. There will be casualties, and we may not survive the rest of the day, but we'll take as many of them with us as we can!!"

The group roared as one, and began to charge to the exit.

"Wait," Alan Scott spoke up, hovering shakily in the air. "Between myself and the Human Bomb," he pointed at Roy Lincoln, "we have a plan for a good exit. I have enough power left for us to give those bastards one hell of a present!"

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Kyle Rayner headed towards Apokolips in a green spaceship of his own design. He couldn't believe that only a day earlier he was struggling to finish art school and pay his credit card bills. Now he was in charge of the Earth and other planets in the same sector, as a Green Lantern, part of a galaxy-wide police force known as the Green Lantern Corps. In fact, Kyle was searching for this sector's GL in order to get some help on Apokolips.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Kyle asked his ring as he approached a small moon, feeling foolish for talking to a piece of garish jewelry.

"The Czarnian is on that planet." The ring said inside Kyle's head. He continued to descend into the moon's atmosphere, where the ship dissipated over a small town. Kyle, surrounded by a green aura, floated to the ground, where he could hear explosions and large booms coming from a building on the edge of the town. As he got closer, he could tell it was a bar or tavern of some sort. The sounds of a fight became clearer as he landed on the ground.

"Yer fraggin' dead," a voice roared from inside. "That wuz my fav'rit shirt!"

"Tough luck, bub. What are you going to do about it?" A quieter, voice said, closer to the door than Kyle realized. He instinctively took a step back as he heard a loud "SKLUTCH" sound, and the door slammed open.

A wild-haired, white-skinned giant of a humanoid, standing about 8 feet tall strolled out. He was wearing a large green jacket and smoking a giant cigar. The black around his eyes made him look very mean, and this was compounded by the fact that he was dragging a small, short man with claws for his hands. Kyle couldn't tell what the man looked like, because there was a large hook imbedded in his face.

"This can't be a Green Lantern," Kyle whispered to his ring. "He's too vicious."

"Actually, you little bastich, this sector requires a different temperament than most areas. I'm fearless and the fraggin' Guardians say that I'm honorable, so blow that out yer ass." The Czarnian stopped where he was and turned to look at Kyle. "This guy wuz one of the ten top terrorists on this side of the moon, and it wuz my job to stop him. Lobo 1, Logan 0. Ha!"

He walked over to a vehicle that was a cross between a motorcycle and a ship and straddled the seat. As the engine rumbled to life, he yelled, "So, you got bizness in my part of the galaxy?"

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Wally skipped across the planet, covering miles between landings. His body tumbled lifelessly to a stop at the edge of a firepit, costume smoldering and skin blistering from the intense heat. As Doomsday approached and picked him up, his eyes fluttered. "Uncle Barry, please." was all he could muster before returning to unconsciousness.

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The throngs of parademons surrounded the prison, waiting impatiently for the heroes to exit. Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and the walls of the prison buckled, then exploded with immense force. The resulting debris killed or injured almost a full third of the attacking force, and as the rest charged the building, Alan held his green shield that had protected them from the force for as long as he could.

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As Kyle and Lobo neared the planet, they could see clouds of dust and flames belching from its surface. "Yeehaw!" Lobo growled in glee. "Looks like there's some fragging to be done!" He gunned his motorcycle toward the planet.

"What did you say?" Kyle asked from within his ship. "Don't you know that sound doesn't travel in a vacuum? I can't hear a damn word you just said. Wait up!"

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Wally awoke slowly and gasped in pain as he realized the full extent of his injuries. He tried to take a deep breath, and winced as he felt his ribs trying to heal themselves. Wally was restrained to a table, laying down and strapped in. As he tried to vibrate out of the straps, Desaad stepped up. "Don't even try to struggle, little human. These restraints would even stop Scott Free. Doomsday, come over here. I need you one last time to extract the anti-life equation from this insect's brain."

Doomsday loomed over Wally. "Uncle Barry," Wally began. "I know you can hear me in there. I'm sorry – we didn't mean to abandon you. We thought you were dead."

"Silence!" Desaad shrieked. "Doomsday, I need your services now. Retrieve the equation from his consciousness. Be very careful."

Doomsday grunted and spread his fingers around Wally's head. Instantly, Wally began to feel his strength diminish. "Barry, don't do this," he pleaded. "We love you – BJ, your son, needs you. Iris, your wife, needs you. She misses you, Barry."

Doomsday merely squeezed harder, causing bright flashes of pain to appear before Wally's eyes.

"Yes! It's working!" Desaad crowed triumphantly.

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The heroes fought as if they had been a team for their entire lives. J'onn, BJ, and Capt. Adam moved lightning-fast, knocking parademons down, going for the quick kill for each of them. There were too many to fight for them to spend more than one or two seconds each.

Ted Knight used his cosmic rod to clear the air and protect J'onn from the fire and BJ from the red light. Ice used her power indiscriminately, freezing every enemy in sight. Plastic Man turned into a slingshot, and Dick and a now-powerless Alan shot debris into the oncoming hordes. Ray used his power intermittently, blinding the oncoming soldiers one at a time. The Human Bomb walked slowly through the crowd, touching one soldier after another, causing explosion after explosion.

Slowly, with every downed parademon, the heroes advanced. "We're winning!" Plastic Man said, forming a giant foam hand with a #1 on it. "It's actually working!"

At that moment, a well placed blaster shot hit Ted Knight directly in the center of this chest, killing him instantly. So intent on protecting BJ and J'onn, he had neglected to shield himself at all.

The fire flared up again, and the red sunlight hit BJ full force. He staggered, as did J'onn, leaving Captain Adam to fight the onslaught. Just as quickly, the advantage was lost, and the heroes found themselves completely surrounded once again.

"We're losing." Plastic Man said, changing into a sad clown. "I think we're all going to die. Dick, I'm sorry for using your toothbrush to clean the toilet."

Dick didn't answer as he steeled himself for a fight to the death.

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From above, Kyle and Lobo floated gently, having left their transportation behind. They could see the thousands of warriors surrounding a small circle of 20 or so people. "I think we need a plan," Kyle said.

"No need for a plan, kid – we need an army! Yer lucky that I got one though – ready for this type o' occasion." Lobo growled with satisfaction.

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As Doomsday searched through his consciousness, Wally could feel his life drifting away. Suddenly, he had an insight. "I'll show you what to come back to," he thought, and began to daydream at top speed. Image after image appeared in his head – meeting his wife Linda, running for the very first time at top speed, his first kiss, his first ice cream, working at Flashco . . . Doomsday reacted visibly to these images, shaking his head and growling.

"Doomsday, concentrate on the equation. Do not allow yourself to be distracted." Desaad commanded.

Wally concentrated harder. Watching a great movie, seeing a sunset, swimming at the beach, watching a lightning storm from far away . . . Doomsday roared and his face contorted in pain. "RRRGGGGGHH NOOOOOOO," the creature screamed.

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Kyle looked around for this so-called army, only to watch Lobo take his large hook and slice his own arm open to the bone. Blood splashed down the battlefield. Kyle's horror turned to amazement as he watched the droplets of blood slowly enlarge as they fell. They sprouted arms and legs, black manes of hair, and pasty white bodies, until they were indistinguishable from Lobo. The army of Lobos, in freefall, roared in unison, causing the entire battlefield to stop and look skyward in shock.

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Wally thought it had worked as Doomsday reeled in pain, but he continued to think happy thoughts. The taste of a ripe apple plucked from a tree in his parents' orchard in Blue Valley, his first paycheck from his first job at Big Belly Burger, his first day of high school, and sitting next to the prettiest girl in school, Mary Batson, his first time flying . .

Doomsday fell to the ground and ripped his hand away from Wally's head. The table that Wally lay on fell to the floor, and his releases shattered. Doomsday grabbed Wally by his neck and held him into the air. "Uncle Barry, no!! You can do it, I believe in you!" Wally shouted as Doomsday began to squeeze.

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The battle was over in minutes. The several hundred naked Lobos swarmed through the warriors, using teeth, claws and pure strength to destroy the warriors viciously. The heroes, ready to die defending themselves, looked on in shock, except for Ice, who looked at Lobo with a knowing smile.

Kyle and the original Lobo used their rings to destroy the red lights and put a lid on the firepits. The heroes, feeling much better, began to gather their wounded and dead.

"We need to find Wally!" BJ said, approaching the two Green Lanterns. "If Desaad gets the anti-life equation, none of this would have mattered! And I need to get to my father!" His eyes set with a grim determination, he began searching the area with his telescopic vision.

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"No, Doomsday, you'll ruin everything!" Desaad shrieked. "Put the boy down!"

"Go ahead, Uncle Barry," Wally gasped as his vision turned black around the edges. "Just don't let them get it. They'll enslave everyone."

Instead of squeezing further, Doomsday let go, dropping Wally to the ground. He looked around in confusion and saw his reflection in a window. With terror in his eyes, he swung around to face Desaad. Hhe knocked Desaad into the cabal standing back against the wall with a vicious blow. Doomsday left them there in an undignified heap, walked over to Wally, and said a single word.

"Shazam."

And a little boy was in the place where Doomsday had stood, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

As Wally began to get up, Desaad stood and withdrew a vicious looking weapon from his robe. "Earthling, I will kill the boy if you move a muscle. That disturbs you, doesn't it? We'll get the equation from you somehow."

Before Wally could react, a large BOOM! announced a boom tube opening. Orion appeared, and without hesitating, directed his eyes towards Desaad and the entire cabal. The room grew red for an instant, and when Wally could see again, Desaad and his traitors were nothing more than dust in the wind.

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"I never intended for Desaad's nefarious plans to get this far," Orion said to the entire gathering of heroes. It had been a simple matter to collect all of them in his palace, where Wally was recuperating. "It has ended, however, and you shall now leave my home."

"Orion," BJ said, "I can't understand how you could condone their actions that kept people captive for more than five years, away from their family and friends. Little Billy Batson may never recover from the psychological and physical strain of his ordeal. Are you the same monster that your father was?" His eyes flared with indignance.

"How dare you question Orion, Lord of Apokolips! I do not have to answer your ridiculous questioning, but I will, to show that I am not devoid of intellect and reason. The anti-life equation is not something to be taken lightly, and if I was to eliminate this cancer of treachery from my planet, I needed to know how far it reached. This was necessary, and I will apologize for nothing! Your visit has tried my patience, and I will offer you safe transport to your planet." He pointed towards the wall with a hand, and a Boom Tube opened up. "Now leave my presence before my charitable nature leaves me."

The heroes moved quickly into the Boom Tube, eager to return home to their loved ones. BJ paused before stepping in. "Orion, if I can ask one more question – do you know where my father is?"

Orion's eyes softened a little. "Little Superman, I do not know. He was taken away to be executed, but I had two guards loyal to me take him so that I could send him home. Instead, however, he broke away and disappeared in a flash of light. Where he ended up is anyone's guess."

BJ's eyes misted over as he turned and entered the Boom Tube. As it closed, Orion was left alone (except for the hundreds of naked Lobos, of course).

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EPILOGUE:

Barry ran faster and faster until he was running in a tunnel of white light, bent around him with no end in sight. Still, he kept running, and suddenly, he heard footsteps beside him. Jesse and Johnny Quick, Max Mercury, and Don and Dawn Mercury, ran beside him, keeping up pace, pale versions of themselves. "Come, Barry," Max said, "We've saved a seat for you." Barry cried as he became one with the light.