(Two hours later, neomage is chomping loudly on the last of the fast food as Zoom watches from a distance)
NEOMAGE: Ahhh...me happy now...
(Darkseid is just now regaining consciousness)
DARKSEID: Uhhh...did y'all get the number of the train that ran me over...?
ZOOM: Dumbass.
NEOMAGE: (gently) Hey, Zoom, do the disclaimer for me, would you?
ZOOM: (whining) Aw, do I have to?
NEOMAGE: :( (death glare of doom) Do it now...or else I'll tell everyone the name you gave your stuffed rabbit.
ZOOM: I did not name Lucy! – OO;;; Uh, I mean –
DARKSEID: OO LUCY?! WA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!
ZOOM: (defeated) Oh, fine... "neomage does not own Justice League. Justice League is the property of Cartoon Network and DC Comics."
NEOMAGE: And to think you could've done it without the torture...now who's the dumbass?
DARKSEID: (still laughing his guts out)
ZOOM: --;;;
CHAPTER 02TIME: 10: 49 p.m.
PLACE: The Wayne Manor, just outside Gotham City
"Master Bruce?"
Alfred carefully stepped into the gloomy-looking cave as he searched for his employer. "Master Bruce, are you down here?"
After a moment of silence, a reply came. "I'm here, Alfred. What is it?"
Alfred walked down the steps toward the giant super-computer, before which his master, Bruce Wayne, was seated. All around them were various costumes and weapons, sealed in quartz cubes. One of those suits was the suit that belonged to the Batman...the darker personality of the man Alfred called Master.
"I thought you'd want to know, sir, dinner will soon be ready. Also, Miss Barbara phoned just a while ago – she said to tell you hello and to call her back as soon as you have a free opportunity."
"Thank you. I'll be up in a moment. And as for free opportunities – you, better than anybody else, should know that for a man like me, those are rare and short periods of time." Bruce still sat in front of the computer, not turning to face his butler.
"Very good, sir." Alfred paused and looked at the computer screen. "If I may, sir...just what ARE you doing?"
"You may...and to answer you, I'm looking at some articles I've been collecting over the last few weeks. Take a look."
Alfred looked at the articles on the monitor. "Sightings of winged people, sir?"
"Not people, Alfred...one person." Bruce's tone was firm. "They've mostly been three-second sighting reports, but there is one in particular that caught my interest when I saw it." He pointed it out on the screen. "A few months ago, some thieves tried to break into the Midway City museum and came face-to-face with this winged figure."
"Were the men able to give the police a description of the person, sir?"
"That's just it – their various descriptions were rather sketchy. Besides, all of the thieves were known crack-heads, so the police didn't take their story too seriously. What the official report says is that one of the winged statues at the entrance of the museum was pushed onto the thieves by someone, and they only thought that it was a literal person with wings that attacked them."
"What do you think, sir?" Alfred pressed.
"To be perfectly honest, Alfred, I just am not sure. The description that the thieves gave was mixed, at best."
Alfred gave Bruce a knowing look. "Sir...you do miss her, don't you?"
Bruce breathed deep, then let out a long, low sigh. "There's never getting anything past you, is there?"
"Believe me, sir, I understand perfectly," said Alfred. "Even after what happened...you can't change the fact that she was invaluable to the team. And don't forget, she did help to repel the invasion, and became an outcast from her people for it."
"I know." Bruce nodded slowly. "You know, Alfred...I really would have wished to vote for her to remain on the team, but I had to take the risks into consideration. I think Wonder Woman's the only one who would have agreed with me."
"You did what you had to, sir," Alfred assured him. "But had Miss Shayera not handed you her resignation, I think your overall vote would have been for her to remain, no?"
"Perhaps." Bruce shrugged, then changed the topic. "Let's go now, Alfred. Dinner will get cold if we don't hurry."
"Of course, sir."
TIME: 10:50 p.m.
PLACE: A castle outside Metropolis
"C'mon, Zoom, show me that trick you do when you vibrate through things," Killer Frost pleaded.
Zoom grinned. "Okay, okay. Make an ice sculpture for me – something ten feet tall and eight feet wide."
With that Frost gathered as much cold energy as she could into her hands, then blasted a wave of ice at the designated spot. As she worked, the ice gradually settled to form a sculpture of the Empire State Building. "How's that?" she asked.
Zoom examined the ice sculpture. "Perfect."
Stepping back a few feet to give himself the needed boost, he took a deep breath – and then one second later, he emerged on the other side of the sculpture, his molecules passing through harmlessly.
"All right!" Frost clapped her hands together. "That's really something!"
Floating nearby, Sinestro didn't seem impressed in the least. "How d'you know he didn't just run around it?" he sneered.
"All right, wise guy," said Zoom. "I'll show you something else." Then, tapping his foot on the ground, he streaked toward the sculpture again, passing through it – but this time, as he did, the speed at which he was running created a sonic boom so powerful that it shattered the ice tower into small fragments. The force of the boom itself knocked Sinestro slightly off-balance, but he managed to right himself in his hovering position.
"You were saying?" Zoom demanded.
"All right, I take it back," Sinestro relented gruffly.
"Never mind him – it truly is impressive, Mr. Zoom," the Ultra-Humanite declared. "I always did consider the Empire State Building a major eyesore, anyway. The day you do that to the real thing, I'll give you a prize."
A few feet away, Volcana and Savage were regarding the four super-villains. "Quite a nice team you've got here, Mr. Savage," Volcana had to admit. "But how long do you think it'll be before it disintegrates?"
"What makes you say that, my dear?" Savage asked, a smile on his face.
"You can't fool me. You obviously bought these guys for a price," Volcana challenged. "Just looking at you, I can tell you're loaded – but suppose somebody were to come along and give them a better offer than what you've got? What then?"
Still smiling, Savage shook his head. "Not exactly, Volcana. You see, none of them are here for money, but for other reasons that are actually more long-lasting and more – shall I say – fulfilling."
"Such as?"
Savage pointed out each of the villains in turn. "Sinestro swore a blood oath against all Green Lanterns years ago, and he is determined to see it through no matter how long it takes him. Zoom simply hates the Flash. The Ultra-Humanite, like me, wants to overthrow the current governmental system, plus he needs a way to exercise his talent for technology without being ostracized, and this group gives him that freedom. As for Killer Frost – well, she simply enjoys killing."
Volcana looked up at him. "And me? Why did you pick me?"
"I had a special reason for choosing you," Savage answered. "In choosing the various members for this group, I did a thorough background check on each of them. In your case...for several years now you've been treated as nothing more than a tool. This so-called Democratic government wanted to take you and use you as a living weapon, all because of your extraordinary gift. I know that you've always wanted others to see you as a normal person, regardless of your powers...and if you join us, you will get the freedom and respect you've always deserved. My intent is for all of us to be as a family – and I want for you to be part of this family."
Volcana lowered her head and averted her gaze, for she knew that everything Savage had just said about her – her past, her needs, and her desires – everything he'd said was true. "You really do know how to do your homework, don't you, Mr. Savage?" she asked quietly, the arrogance in her voice gone now.
"I make it my business to know as much as is needed to know about my associates, my dear," he assured her. "The others have already made their decision – what will your answer be?"
Volcana hesitated, uncertain. Savage's voice reached her again, reassuringly: "If you decide not to join us, then I won't force you; you will be free to go wherever you want to go. If, on the other hand, you choose to remain here, to join our group, then I personally assure you that you will never regret it. For this team has only one rule: that we all work together as a family unit to achieve the means to an end. After that, nothing else should matter."
She considered for a moment, walking away from Savage. Then she made her decision. "I'll do it. I'll join up with you. I don't have anyplace else left to go, anyway."
"That's a good girl." Savage patted her encouragingly on the shoulder, then beckoned to the others. "She has decided to stay with us," he announced.
"All right!" Frost beamed. "Now I have somebody who I can have good girl-talk with!"
Savage chuckled, then beckoned to Humanite to follow him. While the others remained behind to talk with Volcana, the two made their way into another room, which was filled with various technological devices and computers. "How much longer before it is ready?" Savage asked.
"I should have it finished by tomorrow afternoon, the latest," Humanite informed him. "It'll boost your powers quite considerably."
"Good." Savage nodded. "If it works, your pay will be well worth it."
"You forget, Mr. Savage, that I didn't partner with you for the money," Humanite remarked. "Just being able to make my inventions freely is payment enough for me."
"Of course...and you'll continue at that for as long as you desire. Take my word for it." Savage nodded again, then turned and exited the room. Smiling, Humanite turned and picked up two ray-blasters on the table behind him. Pulling out a set of tools from his belt, he sat down and began to work on the weapons with fresh energy.
TIME: 1:45 a.m.
PLACE: John Stewart's apartment, Brooklyn
John Stewart sat at the window of his small, yet comfortable apartment and looked up at the night sky. "So beautiful," he murmured. "Just like her..."
He sighed and involuntarily glanced down at the ring on his finger. The ring appointed to all Green Lanterns. Holding up his hand, he used the ring's power to create an image, one created from his thoughts. The green image that appeared before him took a moment to form completely, but when it did, a small flutter of happiness filled his heart.
The image showed a beautiful woman, with long hair reaching down to her back, and angelic wings. Shayera Hol, alias Hawkgirl. "Yes, so beautiful," he whispered as a small tear ran down his cheek. Reluctantly, he relinquished the ring's power, and the figure before him disappeared, leaving him alone once more.
Stewart sighed again. He would never forget that day, last year, when she formally dropped out of the Justice League. He knew why she did – it was the shame she felt at betraying her teammates by choosing her own people, the Thanagarians, over the people of Earth, which had been her adopted home for the previous five years. But what made her leaving hurt so much was that it happened just when the two of them were beginning to discover a fact that would now hurt Stewart more than any physical pain he could ever endure: they loved each other.
Since Shayera left, things never were the same. It was almost as if she'd been blotted out of the memories of the entire Justice League except for Stewart himself. No, he corrected himself. The Flash was now, perhaps, the only person he could talk to about her without stirring up antagonism. While the others treated the subject with a certain coolness, it was Wonder Woman who remained hostile toward her. Stewart knew he couldn't blame the princess for feeling the way she did – he'd felt that way himself, initially. But to treat Shayera as though she'd never even been on the team – he couldn't handle that.
Of course, there were other changes, as well. When the Thanagarians were on Earth, they'd built that huge gravitational weapon right in the middle of the desert; but Batman had destroyed it by crashing the League's headquarters, the Watchtower, into the device, manually piloting it from space straight down to Earth. As a result, both the Watchtower and the Javelin-7, the League's personal vehicle, had been destroyed. Now, a year later, construction plans were underway to build the team a new headquarters and vehicle, meant to be better than the ones before them. But as Stewart thought about this, he sighed, for he knew that one of the things – or rather, one of the people he'd gotten used to seeing around the Watchtower would no longer be there.
"Couldn't there have been another way, Shayera?" he wondered aloud. "Wasn't there something I could have done?"
Finally, he went back to bed, but sleep refused to come. Indeed, ever since she'd left, his sleep had become quite fitful because every time he closed his eyes for long periods, he kept on having the same dream. Actually, it was more of a recollection of the last few moments when he and she were together.
"So, where will you go?" he would always hear himself saying.
"I don't know," she would reply. "Somewhere where there's no more lying."
"What about...your feelings for me? Was that all a lie, too?"
And every time she would look at him with eyes filled with pain. "John...I love you. I never lied to you about that."
And then he would watch while she flew off into the sunrise. "I love you, too," he would reply. And then the dream would end and he would wake up, crying uncontrollably. And John Stewart was not a man known to cry easily.
Reluctantly, he laid his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. "Try to get some sleep...try to get some sleep," he repeated to himself. It had almost become a ritual for him to say this to himself every time he was going to go to sleep. As his head unconsciously lolled to the side, his line of sight was parallel to the window and the sky outside. The stars seemed so mystical that, for a moment, he was tempted to make a wish. He almost did, too – then he caught himself and chuckled.
"Stupid fool," he chided himself. "Face it – she's never coming back."
But even as he told this to his subconscious, he felt himself about to break down yet again. "Oh, who're you kiddin'? Just admit it...you do miss her real bad."
Then suddenly he bolted upright, wondering if his brain had been playing tricks on him just now. He could have sworn that he just saw someone fly past his window – someone with beautiful angel wings. Could it be? Rushing to the window, he shoved it open and stuck his head out, looking for the figure – and saw nothing. He looked from side to side, and even looked heavenward, but still nothing.
"Okay, I must really be losing it now," Stewart muttered to himself. "I need help...fast!"
Sitting back on the bed, he left the window open, and he sighed as a cool breeze blew in from outside and swept his naked torso with its blessing. Eyes closed, he concentrated his thoughts as he attempted to make contact with his teammate, J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, a telepath. "J'onn, you there?" he thought as hard as he could, hoping that the Martian would sense his call.
After a few minutes a reply entered his mind. "I am here, G.L. Is something the matter? It's rather late."
"I...I'm not sure," Stewart admitted. "I just...I need somebody to talk to, that's all. I think I'm going crazy!"
"All right," the Martian responded. "Where can I meet you?"
Stewart thought for a moment. "Okay, listen. I know an all-night diner in Central City – it's the Shining Light Café. I can be there in half an hour."
"Very well," said J'onn. "I'll see you there, then."
As the mental connection ended, Stewart activated the ring's power and transformed into the Green Lantern. Quietly, he flew through the window and headed for Central City, always keeping a sharp eye out should he see the mysterious winged figure again. "Could it have been...her?" he kept wondering.
NEOMAGE: Sigh...well, what d'you guys think of this one?
DARKSEID: Sniff, sniff...that last bit was SO beautiful! (blows his nose)
ZOOM: Yeah...aw, damn, I'm gonna cry again... (he starts to bawl)
NEOMAGE: Yeah...sniffle...I came close to crying myself when I first saw G.L. and Hawkgirl separated in that episode. Why'd it have to end like this? DAMN YOU CARTOON NETWORK!!!!!!!
(Wonder Woman emerges at that moment)
WONDER WOMAN: What're you guys crying for?
(At the sound of her voice, all three of them look up)
DARKSEID: YOU!!! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU BITCH!!!
ZOOM: How could you treat Hawkgirl like that?! When I get my hands on you, I'm gonna skin you alive!
NEOMAGE: GET HER, BOYS!!!
WONDER WOMAN: OO;; Oh, crap... (she turns and flies off, while the trio stampedes after her)