"This is gonna be neat," said Leroy Freeman, fingering the vaguely unfamiliar weapon in his hands.
"Shut yer yap," barked Stony Ott. He looked expectantly at the building to his right. It was newer and better constructed than the surrounding structures. Most banks are, mused Stony. "Is it time yet?"
Parker Webb glanced at his watch. "Let's roll," he said. The three men exited the car they had been sitting in for two hours. Wearing long black trench coats and sunglasses, the trio strolled into the Star City Commerce Bank.
Leroy walked up to the main teller, whipped his handgun out of his coat, and stuck it in the surprised woman's face. "Yo, take me to the vault," said Leroy. The color drained out of the teller's face, and she took in a great gasp of air. Parker and Stony fanned out behind him, covering the rest of the lobby with exotic looking weapons. Customers and employees alike froze at the sight of the shiny metal guns, and the grim faces that held them. Leroy leaned over the counter and slapped the teller hard across the face. "Now," he said. "I won't tell you again." The woman gathered herself and mechanically walked back to the vault area. Leroy and Stony followed. Parker stayed out front to keep an eye on things.
"Open it," said Leroy. The vault door was locked, and appeared to be sealed tight.
"I can't," said the woman, a tremor making her voice break. "It's on a time lock."
"One side," said Stony. He placed a glob of putty-like material over the lock, and touched it with a flame from a cigarette lighter. The substance immediately began to sizzle through the metal around the locking mechanism.
"How long will this take?" asked Leroy.
"Should be a few seconds," replied Stony. The goop took only moments to eat through the door. The criminals yanked the heavy door open, and put three employees to stuffing sacks full of money. When the robbers had all the loot they could carry, the bailed out of the bank the way they had entered. Stony and Parker made a beeline for the car. Leroy stopped and turned at the door, drew his weapon and fired. The gun belched a thin stream of liquid which ignited everything touched, including people. The bank lobby became a sea of flame. Leroy slipped out the door to a chorus of screams.
"What did you do that for?" asked Stony as he watched fire lick its way through the building.
"Our mysterious benefactor told us to treat this like a video game, and have some fun," said Leroy as he settled into the car. "That's what I'm doing." He paused with a faraway look in his eye. "Man, it was just like Doom."
"Heh. Boys will be boys," said Prometheus with a crooked smile, listening from the warehouse. He had placed surveillance bugs, unknown to the bank robbers, on both their vehicle and their persons, so he would know exactly what was going on at all times.
The small gang of thieves whipped around in their car, and headed for the rendezvous point. Stony pushed the accelerator to the floor. They were driving a convertible, and Leroy and Parker both stood up in the back and unleashed a torrent of destruction. Liquid fire and high explosives cleared a swath of carnage through the city streets. Leroy used his weapon until it ran dry, then picked a long barreled gun that shot bursts of low yield plasma. Parker fired a modified grenade launcher with maniacal glee, blasting cars, buildings and shooting at anything that moved.
The trio fish-tailed up beside the warehouse. The thieves escaped the car and hurried inside. The street behind them was aflame, a visibly clear trail of destruction . Stony was the last one to enter, and he slammed the door behind him. All three sagged as the tension leaked from their bodies.
Prometheus materialized out of the darkness, the lights on his helmet dancing in the gloom. "Bravo," he said., twirling his nightstick. "Just like we planned. Everything went okay, I assume?"
"Yeah, great," said Stony, who wiped a line of sweat off his face. "What do we do now?"
"Yeah," said Parker. "The cops are sure to be here soon. How do we get out?"
"Unfortunately boys," said Prometheus, "your part in this little drama is finished. I don't do sidekicks, and I can't allow idiots to run around with my technology." He grinned, and under the strobing helmet lights, his face appeared ghastly.
"What's that mean?" asked Leroy.
"It means thanks for playing our game," said Prometheus, "and here is a parting gift for each of you." He lunged forward and struck Stony in the face with the end of his nightstick. The blow crushed the man's skull like papier-mâché. Stony and his pulped face were dead before he hit the ground. Almost simultaneously, Prometheus reached out with his other arm and fired a tazer-like weapon from his gauntlet. Hundred of thousands electrical volts destroyed Parker's nervous system and traveled up to fry his brain. Smoke poured out of his ears, and his cell phone exploded in his pocket as Parker's corpse drooped to the floor.
Before Leroy could react to the sudden violence, Prometheus spun and kicked the weapon out of his hands. "Wait," stammered Leroy.
"Sorry," said Prometheus. "Nothing personal, but I can't have loose ends. You understand." Leroy's eyes glanced toward his gun which was far out of reach on the floor, then snapped back as Prometheus raised his arm.
"Wait," whispered Leroy. Prometheus shot him through the forehead with a Teflon-coated polymer projectile. It fragmented inside Leroy's brain, killing him instantly.
"Well, that was fun," said Prometheus, turning away from the bodies. "Not satisfying, but fun." He switched on his camouflage cloaking and waited for Green Lantern to arrive, drawn like a moth to a flame.
It didn't take long. Strategically placed sensors placed along the blazing trail of mayhem soon alerted Prometheus to the rapid approach of a man-sized object. Energy readings indicated it was indeed, Green Lantern. The villain sighed, stretched, popped his neck, and gazed up at the roof. An emerald streak crossed the skylight, followed moments later by a giant green fist that shattered the glass.
Hal Jordan floated down through the hole in the top of the building. He saw the three bodies lying near the entrance. A quick scan with his power ring told him they were dead. He quickly assessed the situation and turned his ring on the rest of the building. It had no trouble in picking out the heat and energy sources of a cloaked figure off to one side.
"Damn, that thing is handy," said Prometheus as he turned off his cloaking device. "How many boxes of Cracker Jacks do I have to eat to get one?"
"You killed those men," said Jordan.
"I did, I admit," said Prometheus, thumbing a switch on a round object in his hand. "But it was more out of necessity than malice. Mostly. Surely you understand that."
Green Lantern dropped gently to the floor. "The League told me about you," he said. "You're the one who killed Ollie."
"Ah, I was hoping you would make the connection," said Prometheus. "It makes this that much more fun. Yeah, I killed your friend. He came back from the dead just like you did, and I can't abide a hero that won't stay in the grave."
"You'll pay for your crimes," said Green Lantern, stretching forth his ringed hand.
"Probably," said Prometheus, "but not today." He stood there smiling. Nothing happened for a moment, then Hal Jordan dropped to his knees, a thin line of blood running from his right nostril. Prometheus walked over and kicked him in the head, sending the hero sprawling to the ground. The villain squatted on his heels, as Jordan clawed the dirt. "And that is only a mid-level setting." Prometheus held up the round object he was holding. "Fascinating, isn't it," he said. "I was building this elaborate plan for you, which consisted of, among other things, brutalizing Carol Ferris, and your friend Tom. By the way, Jordan, calling him Pieface? Not very p.c. of you is it?" The ring on Jordan's hand began to emit a weak glow. Prometheus raised an eyebrow and turned up his device another notch. Green Lantern convulsed on the ground. The ring died.
"As I was saying, I hacked into the DEO computer system, just looking around, and found the most amazing things," said Prometheus. "One of which was a neural scrambler, designed specifically to take out Green Lanterns. Your tax dollars at work, eh?" He stood, stepped on Jordan's hand , and bent down to slide the power ring off his finger. "I improved the design a bit with my own ideas. Boosted its power and range." He tapped the side of his helmet. "I am protected, of course." He bent down again. "I know you can't even form a coherent thought right now, but really, I'm surprised no one came up with this before. You use a thought-based weapon. All it takes to ground you is a disruption of your brainwaves, one that severs your will from the ring. It's so simple."
"Anyway," said Prometheus, "before we wrap this up, I just want to know why you came back." Jordan made a mewling sound in the back of his throat. "I know," said Prometheus, "you can't answer that, but still, I wonder." He set the scrambler off to one side. "Rayner was doing a good job. The black Green Lantern is working out well with the League. It's not like there was a huge void that needed to be filled by your return." He paused. "Some things I guess we'll never know." Prometheus smiled as he placed his hand underneath Jordan's chin and pushed his head back. "It's not like back in the day, is it? Who were your villains? Tattoo Man, Dr. Polaris when he had to carry around that stupid magnet gun, Goldface? Losers," said Prometheus. "There's a whole new breed today. You should have stayed dead."
Prometheus popped a long, thin needle from his gauntlet. "I was just going to kill you," he said. "But you worked so hard to get back, it seemed cruel to end your life so soon. So, I thought of another solution." Jordan's eyes went wide with terror as Prometheus slid the point of the needle toward his nose. "Do you know what fear is now, big man?" asked Prometheus as he pushed the tip home.
Epilogue:
Three days later, the most powerful members of the Justice League met one the moon. One by one, they assembled inside the JLA Watchtower. The mood was somber.
"What is the prognosis?" asked Superman.
"Permanent brain damage," replied J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. "He'll never regain anything near his old self again."
"This has gone on for far too long," said Wonder Woman. She smashed a fist into the meeting table, cracking the surface. "Prometheus needs to be dealt with. He's killed Ollie and Kendra, attacked and maimed others, and now he's given Hal a lobotomy."
"I agree," said Batman, who seemed to gather shadows to him, even in the brightly lit room. "Prometheus is a menace, and we need to make him out highest priority."
"And when we catch him," asked Superman. "What then?"
Wonder Woman drew her sword. "Then he should receive the punishment he deserves." Both Batman and Superman started to protest, but Diana waved them silent. "If you want to save his miserable life, you had better pray you get to him before I do." She stormed out of the room. The World's Finest watched her go, then spoke quietly for awhile, before they too left. J'onn stayed, and looking out over the landscape of the moon, wondered what would come, and how the League would handle it.
DA END