The New Super Friends
Volume 2, Issue 2 (January, 2005)
Story by: Christopher W. Blaine )
DISCLAIMER: The New Super Friends is an original concept of Christopher W. Blaine that incorporates characters, situations and ideas published by DC Comics Inc. and are used without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. This original work is ©2004 by Christopher W. Blaine.
In an attempt to recreate the universe, the Time-Guardian murdered an innocent man. From the ashes of that crime rose a group of heroes from ages that never were to ensure there was justice for all. Now, those heroes protect their new world, banded together as comrades and as a family. They are the Super Friends!
"Crisis Before the Camera!"
Inside the WGBS newsroom, within the building that was highlighted with the station logo, Harley Quinn was doing her best to keep her viewing audience entertained while her partner busied himself working on something in the control room. Most of the staff was safely secured in a corner, and two union workers were moving over to help the "injured" Linda Danvers up to her feet after Harley had attacked her with a bowling pin.
Unknown to the workmen, Linda was secretly the Darling of Metropolis, Super-Woman, and was completely uninjured as a result of the attack. Behind Harley, on the floor under the news desk, Lana Lang, the lead anchor for the news station, nursed her minor injuries and was anxiously awaiting the signal from Linda to bust Harley upside the chin.
In her younger days, Lana had been a super-hero as well. As Insect Queen, she had not only pursued the criminals of Smallville, but also the heart of Superboy. Those were long years and fifteen pounds in the past; her days of heroics long behind her. She knew that Linda was Super-Woman and she considered it her mission as a friend to help protect her secret identity. That meant when it was time to start swinging, Lana was going to apply her own brand of justice.
The man in the control room, Lana noted, was tall and good-looking, with the features that made him look more like an international businessman than that of a criminal terrorist. That told Lana volumes since she knew that in the past Harley normally surrounded herself with mildly intelligent thugs. The suit that the man was wearing was worth more than two weeks of Lana's salary, and, since the loss of Clark Kent, that was not a small amount.
Someone or some group with money was financing Harley and that meant the Legion of Doom. Under the iron-fisted rule of Lex Luthor, the Legion of Doom had been striving to become the most powerful force for evil outside the gates of Hell.
For the past year, Luthor had been using the identity of Dominus and had been haphazardly running the Legion. The group had been more of a joke than the harbinger of doom for decency as Luthor tried to maintain a fragile peace with the Wardens. When other members of the Legion finally called him to task about his leadership, Luthor's personality reverted back to that of a criminal mastermind.
The new Legion of Doom had declared war on humanity and the only thing standing between it and its goals was the Super Friends, under the leadership of the beautiful winged mutant, Dawnstar.
Lana was in a position to watch the man in the control room while Harley continued to babble and laugh at the camera. She turned towards Linda, who was assuring the burly workmen that she was fine. Linda gave a small shake of her head, again telling Lana to refrain from violence. Whatever Harley's plan was, it was obvious that Super-Woman wanted to learn more.
The former Insect Queen did not agree with that philosophy. As far as she was concerned, it was time to kick ass and take names, but she also knew that Super-Woman was not a crime fighter at heart. Originally from Krypton, Shyla (Linda Danver's real Kryptonian name) had been a scientist and scientists preferred to do things slowly.i
It was an unfair statement and she knew it because at least Shyla was still in costume, trying to make a difference on a planet that had seen so much death and violence. Van Zee, the former Nightwing, possessed powers just like Super-Woman, but he had lost the desire to use them. He had become a scientist once again, leaving behind a heroic legacy that included his cousin Superman.
The man in the control room gave her a thumb's-up and Harley giggled with glee. She pulled a real automatic pistol from her belt and aimed it at the cameraman for Camera #2. "You, tech type! It's time for my close-up!"
The cameraman obeyed, moving over to comply with Harley's demands. Her henchman did something in the control room and the lights dimmed slightly and then Harley cleared her throat. Nearly everyone in the room focused on the television monitors located throughout the studio, including Linda Danvers. Lana, on the other hand, kept her eyes on Harley, waiting to see if an opportunity arose that could change the situation.
"Hello, Metropolis!" Harley called into the camera, oblivious to the fact that millions had been watching her for the last few minutes. "I'm Harley Quinn," she again stated.
"Many of you probably know me from time as the better part of the Dynamic Duo, Puddin' and the Nympho," she said with joy. Then she leaned into the camera. "I was the nympho! And, boy, did I love being covered in Puddin'!" Someone played a sound effect of a drum roll, the kind often found in comedy acts to punctuate a punch line.
"My Puddin' died about a year or two back and I didn't have the money to buy him no flowers," she said, tears starting to flow from her eyes. She pulled out a handkerchief embroidered with the Joker's picture. Lana shook her head and then noticed something strange.
All around her she started to hear sniffling. One burly lighting technician, covered in tattoos and wearing a goatee, began bawling like a baby, saying, "it ain't fair". Harley went on and on, complaining how she had lost her money at the racetrack and then how she was mugged and finally, she added with a scripted swoon, she had been fooled onto giving her money to a gigolo that had promised her the world.
Linda was also crying, looking at the monitor and shaking her head. The scene was the same through out the studio and probably throughout the city if their ratings were true and accurate. Lana avoided looking at any of the television screens, but she did her best to look as if she were affected. Now they were in real trouble!
Even if only ten percent of the city were under Harley's influence, it would spell disaster for local law enforcement. People could start becoming overly depressed, perhaps even start contemplating suicide. Was that Harley's game?
"So, I was hoping, actually…I'm sort of demanding, that all of you give me some money to buy my Puddin' some flowers for his grave," she told her audience. She finished her speech with directions on where to send the money. Then the transmission was cut to be replaced by a weird cartoon of two cats that hallucinated because they refused to take their special medicine.
People in the studio were begging to be set free so they could get their wallets and pocketbooks out, but Harley ignored them, actually seeming to bask in their wails of despair. Lana, needing to stick with her act, pretended to cry and moved over to where her purse was. Harley saw her and made some snide comment about how better Lana was now that she was docile.
Linda brought over her own purse and dug through it to get her pocketbook. She handed Harley all of the money she had, plus a credit card. The former partner of the Joker shook her head at the paltry sum and told Linda to just go sit down. "I think, you airhead, that if you just did what you did best, we would all be happy." Then she paused and grabbed Linda by the arm. "You are kinda cute, though."
She let Linda go, not realizing that she had complete control over one of the most powerful beings on the planet and then turned her attention to the good-looking man, whom she referred to as Gunther. "Once ten million dollars has been deposited into the account, my orders are to get you out of here," he said.
Harley clapped her hands. "Goody! Then do we get to hubba-hubba?"
A look of disgust washed over Gunther's face. "I told you, leave me alone! My job is to help you through the initiation process," he told her. Lana realized that what she was observing, what she was caught up in the middle of, was nothing more than a test to get Harley onto the Legion of Doom. Ten million dollars and a show-stopping crime were what was required.
That got Lana thinking. How many other former super-villains were waiting out there in the world to get their second chance? So many people had been focusing on what had happened to all of the super-heroes that many forgot about their foes. Certainly several were killed, being seen as direct competition to the Legion of Doom. Some, like the Joker, had betrayed their criminal roots and had paid a price for their heroism.
Lana reached into her purse, her hand searching for something in particular as she let loose with a deep sob. Harley looked over at her and told her to go sit back down. Lana complied, her finger just managing to press the emergency signal button of her Super Friends Trouble Call.
Far away in Central Cityii, the huge monitors within the Hall of Justice suddenly changed from scenes of various parts of the world to black screens with the words "Trouble Alert" flashing red on them. A warning signal blared in the background as the three heroes on duty scrambled to determine the source of the alert.
The leader of the team, Dawnstar, floated high above, her wings allowing her to reach the fine tuning adjustments that had been installed. The equipment was relatively new and untested and still needed to be calibrated. A woman of exotic beauty and Native American heritage, she had once been a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century. That was long behind her now as she was doing her best to settle into a world that had been ancient history to her.
Luckily, she had always been fascinated with the late 20th and early 21st centuries and had become something of an amateur historian. Living in this time period wasn't all bad, though she did miss the expertise of Brainiac 5. She was a tracker by training, not a technician and she, like her friends, was "winging" it as they went along.
Below her, clad in a green bikini-like costume was Tsunami, the former Aquagirl. She cursed and smacked the console as she tried to figure out where the audible alarm silencer was. "Is there something wrong with great big large labels?" she asked out loud.
Racing around the room, looking like nothing more than a red ghost, the Flash checked and rechecked every item that seemed to be a button until finally he found the right one, next to his wife's hand. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "You tried," he offered.
"Put the damn thing underwater and we'll see how fast I find it. It's so stifling trying to listen through something as nonconductive as air," she said with a grin. Dawnstar landed beside her and tried to hide her expression. The one person she had been able to relate to, romantically, had been Hawkman, but that was someone she purposely tried not to think about.
Every time she looked at the Flash and Tsunami, it tore at her heart just a little more. All Dawnstar had now was her duty.
A face appeared on the monitor and a small line of text revealed it was the police chief of Metropolis. "Super Friends! Thank the stars I found you!"
"That's why we installed Trouble Alert monitors in every precinct, Chief," the Flash said, folding his arms over his chest. He was very quick with the wit these days and Dawnstar suspected that his upbeat mood had to do with the child Tsunami was expecting.
"Yes," the officer replied dryly. "Anyway, we have a bad situation here. Harley Quinn has come out of hiding and has taken over the WGBS news room." Suddenly the situation did not call for jokes.
"Have you tried getting a hold of Super-Woman?" Dawnstar asked. "She does routinely patrol your city."
"It isn't like we have an 'S' signal we can light up in the sky when we need her and besides," the chief said, "She's a member of your team!"
"Has she demanded anything?" Tsunami asked as she moved to a secondary monitor and pulled up the file on Harley Quinn. It was full of information retrieved from the Batcave by the Huntress.
The police chief removed his hat and patted his balding head with a cloth. "She's done something to the cameras. Whoever watches her program starts going to the bank and withdrawing their money, then they go and deposit it into the Legion of Doom's account!" He was asked why no effort was being made to stop it and he responded that most of the bank tellers and half of the police force were under the Legion's influence. "We can't get the wire transfers to their off-shore accounts to stop!"
"Cut the power," the Flash suggested.
"We're afraid if we do, Harley may kill the hostages," the chief confessed. "That's why we need your help. We tried to enter the studio but they've got it sealed up tight, plus we found several bombs hidden in teddy bears throughout the lower part of the building."
The Flash rubbed his chin. "I could probably disarm the bombs, maybe collect them and take them out to the desert," he offered.
"I suggest we call in Huntress and Robin as well," Dawnstar added. The two Gotham City heroes were close enough and would be best suited for dealing with the threat of Harley Quinn. What was bothering her, though, is the seemingly non-existence of Super-Woman throughout the entire ordeal.
Tsunami moved over to the membership alert board while Dawnstar tried to sooth the chief's fears. She selected the buttons with the hero's icons and pressed them, immediately sending a signal to the communicators that they were required to carry. Moments later, the voice of Helena Wayne, the Huntress, came out over the small speaker built into the console.
"Huntress, here; we're on our way to Metropolis," she said. There was a slight humming in the background and Tsunami guessed she was in the Batmobile. After the Batman had died, Helena Wayne had inherited the entire Wayne Fortune after she had passed a DNA test that proved she was related to Bruce Wayne, the alter ego of the Dark Knight. Nobody suspected that Nightwing had used Kryptonian science to alter the DNA enough to prevent any questions concerning the exact manner of that relationship.
Helena had taken custody of both Jason (Robin) Todd and Bruce (Flying Fox) Wayne, claiming the latter had been Bruce's illegitimate son. The Flying Fox was no more, however; after an adventure in which he had fallen in love with an alternate Batgirl, young Bruce Wayne had decided to pursue justice in another fashion. Now he was in college, working on his law degree.
Taking control of the Wayne Fortune had also given her access to the Batcave and all of the gadgets, tools, gizmos and technological creations therein. Tsunami knew that she had wanted to change the name of the Batmobile, but hadn't come up with a suitable title yet. Huntress-racer sounded stupid.
"It would be great if you could swing it with the local cops to let me pour on the speed," the Huntress said.
Tsunami relayed the request to Dawnstar who put it forth to the chief. "I'll handle it, Super Friends," he said before winking out.
Hundreds of miles away, a racing wisp of green energy was darting here and there, doing its best to complete its mission.
Hal Jordan was a super-hero, or at least he had been. His cousin, whom he shared his name with, had been a hero as well, the greatest one of all if you asked anyone from Coast City. He had been the second out of four Green Lanterns, but he had been the one most people had admired.
The younger Hal had been the third Air-Wave, following in the footsteps of his father and his mother. He had been reasonably successful until his cousin had come to Dallas and told him he was being granted an opportunity to join the Justice League of America. The youthful hero had jumped at the chance and putting his complete trust with his cousin, he had gone to the Justice League headquarters to be interviewed.
The first hint that something was wrong was when he entered the meeting room and Speedy of the Justice Society had been seated there with Superman and Batman flanking him. Then it was Speedy who had begun conducting the interview and immediately Air-Wave had protested.
Then it was all a blur, but he distinctly remembered feeling like someone or something was trying to probe his mind. He resisted, of course, and then there was darkness. When he awoke, he was on a deserted highway in New Mexico and his powers were gone.
That had been three years before and he had since come to the conclusion that Speedy, whoever he was, had been something far more than he had appeared. He had somehow taken control of the super-heroes, including his cousin Hal. As time passed, he had born witness to the tragic death of the super-heroes and the rise of the Legion of Doom, until he felt a change within him.
It was not rage, though he was sure he should have felt it. Instead it was determination; he had become convinced that something had to be done to prevent the Legion of Doom from taking over the world.
Two years after he had been dropped in the desert, Hal Jordan had joined the FBI, using his unique knowledge of the heroic/villain community to fight the good battle from the outside.
Stepping out of his small home he took a deep breath and caught sight of the green lance of light coming at him. He recognized it immediately and in the depths of his mind he feared that somehow his possessed cousin had managed to escape death and was after him.
It was not that he was scared of his cousin; he just did not want to face him. He honestly believed that something had taken over his mind. It was impossible for him to accept that the great Hal Jordan would ever hurt an innocent.
The moment before the green light enveloped him he had reached for his pistol, but before he could wrap his hand around the grip, it was far too late. He was whisked into the air, high above the city and was traveling at an accelerated pace. He felt none of the uneasiness that he should have; the wind did not cut into him. There was no doubt he was inside an energy bubble of a Green Lantern.
He gritted his teeth and mentally prepared himself. He was positive that his uncle was dead; he had looked at the official federal investigation files on the matter. Green Lantern had been killed in a battle with the Legion of Doom; his ring flung into the depths of the ocean. However, there had been four Green Lanterns on Earth at that time and the Legion of Doom had been pursuing all of them, trying to get their power rings.
The only other confirmed death had been Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, who had died of an apparent suicide, his ring destroyed. What had happened to John Stewart or Guy Gardner was still being investigated.
Hal slowly reached into his coat and pulled out his weapon and flipped the safety off. He wasn't going down without a fight.
i You can read more about Super-Woman's past in Chapter 16 of DC Comics Presents: Killing Roy Harper entitled "Shyla and Green Lantern".
ii Located in Missouri, it was the home of Barry Allen, the second Flash.
