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Tragedies of the Past, chapter 8

Danube smiled. She was going to have her revenge against Match. She looked over her squad, checking that they were ready.

"You're going down," she whispered, smiling in anticipation.

The monitor started buzzing. That was never a good sign. The Martian Manhunter looked over the situation. A group of commandoes had taken over a dam in New York and were threatening to blow it up unless their demands were met. They wanted Match.

J'onn blinked in surprise. That was an unusual demand; most of the world was unaware of his existence. He telepathically updated the JLA.

'What are our options?' he asked.

'I could take them out before they blink,' the Flash offered.

'Without knowing what they're capable of, it's too dangerous,' Batman replied. 'We need to know more about them.'

'Then we should consult our only source that may know,' J'onn sent.

'I don't like it,' Wonder Woman declared. 'There's no guarantee that he'll tell the truth. I don't trust him.'

'J'onn can monitor him,' Superman offered. 'He hasn't shown any reason for distrusting him; he's proven himself trustworthy.'

'Get Match to the Watchtower,' Batman ordered. 'We'll see if he knows anything about them.'

Superboy and Match joined the assembled JLA at the Watchtower. They were briefed on the situation.

"Put me in contact with them," Match said. "We don't have any visuals, and I have too many possible candidates to consider."

"You know a lot of commandoes?" Wonder Woman asked.

"They could be ex-agents of the Agenda or the Groups. It's also possible that they're from organizations I helped bring down when I worked with the Groups. They could be mercenaries hired by any of the previously mentioned list. Those are only the most likely possibilities."

Match went over to the communication monitor. "This is Match."

A short-haired woman with an athletic build appeared on the monitor. "Hello, Tin Man. I know it must be you because no one else could manage that emotionless voice during a crisis like this."

"Danube," Match greeted her. "What is it you want?"

"I want my life back, but you took that, didn't you? I know that the JLA is listening, do they know that you destroyed my life?"

"I hadn't discussed you with them."

"I'm not surprised. Gloating was never your thing, was it Tin Man?"

"What is it you want that I can give you?"

"I want a trade, just a simple trade."

"You must be offering to abandon the dam, correct?"

"That's correct. In return, I want a duel with you. I want to crush you with my own hands."

Match ignored any looks from Superboy or the JLA. "I believe we can come to an arrangement. One hour from now at your location?"

"I'm looking forward to it."

Match turned off the connection and turned to those assembled. "She's a former agent of the Groups named Danube. She was their top field agent. She's also a metahuman with the ability to mimic the powers of those in close proximity to her. She's highly dangerous, more so if she were to get near of any of you."

"Do you think we can rush in and stop her?" Green Lantern asked.

"No, she would have prepared for that."

"What did you do to her?" Superman asked. "Why does she hate you?"

"I was given her job."

"What are her talents outside of her powers?" Batman asked.

"She can do almost anything. She's one of the finest hand-to-hand combatants on the planet. She's an expert at infiltration. She knows how to use any weapon on the planet and is an expert with most of them."

"It's too dangerous for you to fight her," Superman objected. "It sounds like she'll kill you."

"It's the only way we can be sure that she won't blow the dam."

"Can you beat her?" Superboy asked.

Match gazed expressionlessly at him for a moment. "I'm going to get ready."

He left without another word.

Match was wearing a plain black jumpsuit and carrying a pda. He handed the pda to the Martian Manhunter.

"Here's what needs to be done while I'm fighting Danube," he said. "I need all of you to stay away from the fight. If you don't, there will be too many variables involved."

"Why aren't you wearing your costume?" Superman asked.

"That costume is about the future," Match replied. "This is about the past. She's going to destroy whatever I'm wearing anyway to make sure I'm not concealing a weapon in it."

Superboy was worried as they were walking to the teleporter. Something didn't seem right.

"How can you take her?" he asked. "It sounds like she's too dangerous."

"The Groups implanted most of her skills into me," Match replied. "We're on even-footing, except that I have better control of my powers than she will. I expect she's prepared something to neutralize that advantage."

"Why's she call you 'Tin Man?'"

Match smiled bitterly. "She's trying to demean me. It's something she did when we briefly worked together. She knew I was chosen to be her replacement and didn't like it."

"I'm not sure I get the reference."

"It's from 'The Wizard of Oz.'"

"I haven't read that."

"I'll tell you about it after I'm back," Match said as they arrived at the teleporter.

Match teleported down to Danube's location. A few of her men were there as well.

"Tin Man," she sneered. "You came. I'm surprised."

"Danube," he greeted her.

"Search him," she ordered her men.

Match held out his arms and didn't resist their search. They stripped him down to his underwear. Match didn't seem bothered.

"I've come in good faith," he said. "Please release the hostages."

Danube smiled. "Not quite yet. They'll be released at the conclusion of our duel. Would you like to guess the terms?"

"Unarmed combat's your specialty. I would expect it would be that."

"It will start out that way, but there are boxes with weapons that will open after a random amount of time. Some will have guns, some will have melee weapons. It'll be random."

"How are you going to neutralize my powers?"

"We've already put a chemical in the air. You should have lost the ability to access your powers by now. In the unlikely event that you survive, they'll return in a couple hours."

"Your men will abide by the results of the duel?"

"Of course."

"Then, I'm ready."

Superboy was left to observe the fight from the Watchtower's monitor. He had a feeling that Match requested he fill that role because he knew that Kon would feel the urge to intervene.

Kon certainly wished he could help his brother. The start of the duel was slow with the two trying to take the updated measure of each other, but it quickly escalated with Danube slamming her fist into Match's stomach. It didn't slow him down too much, and he retaliated with a backhand to her temple. Their techniques were identical, and they both moved so gracefully that Kon was having a hard time keeping up with the action.

Match was breathing heavily. It had been quite some time since he faced an opponent with skills as advanced as Danube's. He was a touch quicker than her, but without his powers, she was slightly stronger. She also had a slightly longer reach since she was taller than him. He took comfort in the fact that she was breathing heavily too.

Their fight was quiet except for the breathing and occasional grunt. Neither talked to each other; there was nothing to say. Their expressions said everything. Match's face was a picture of concentration, Danube's was a mask of rage.

The two of them had both taken some hits and bruises were already starting to form. They seemed evenly matched and the fight could continue for some time.

Seine and Rhine were on an overlooking mountain sharing a pair of high-powered binoculars.

"Quite an impressive fight," Rhine commented.

"Yes, it is," Seine said, frowning. "I didn't think he'd do so well against Danube."

A figure rose out of the ground from behind them.

"Hello, gentlemen," the Martian Manhunter intoned. "We've been looking forward to seeing the Groups' leadership again."

Seine's hand that went for his gun was restrained by J'onn. Rhine gave him a smile.

"Very nicely played," he said with admiration in his voice. "This was quite neat. Would you permit me to finish watching the duel? I believe it's going to conclude soon."

Batman and the Flash were making sure that the bombs were disarmed and the hostages freed. Flash would transport him from location to location while Batman neutralized the bombs.

"I wonder how the fight's going," the Flash asked.

"I wouldn't bet against Match," Batman said.

"Are you actually saying something nice about him?"

"He's good. That's why I'm keeping an eye on him."

Match took a hit on his chin, but managed to land a kick on Danube's temple. They were both looking worse for the wear and breathing heavily. Still, looks of determination were on both of their faces.

A beep sounded and a case slightly closer to Match opened, revealing a sword. He dashed for it. As he was running for it, another beep sounded and a case opened that Danube ran towards.

It contained a gun.

Kon stood up and shouted at the monitor. "Max!"
Elation surged through Danube as she picked up the gun. As tired as he was, there was no way that Match could dodge all her shots. Victory was hers!
Match was dashing across the room as he noticed Danube's weapon.

That was bad.

Danube swung around, bringing the gun up when she felt a pain in her chest, and her strength slipped away. She tried to keep the gun up to shoot Match, but she couldn't find the strength in her arms. She looked down to see that a sword was sticking into her chest with blood flowing out of the wound.

"No," she mouthed as she collapsed.

Match walked over and looked down at her. She was still trying to point the gun at him. He took it out of her trembling fingers.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't want to do that. If it helps, the wound is merely serious, not critical."

Danube glared at him with hate clearly in her eyes.

Match smiled sadly at her. "You never realized, did you? My taking your position was a reward for you. You were too valuable to continue risking in the field. I was expendable."

Confusion crossed over her face.

"Please, rest. You'll need to recover your strength."

Back at the Watchtower, Match had his wounds tended and dressed back into his costume.

"Don't scare me like that again!" Kon scolded him. "When I saw she had a gun, I thought..."

"We need to talk about what you did," Superman said. "You could have killed her!"

"I threw the sword to disable, not kill her," Match said as if that explained everything.

"You were lucky."

"If my intention was to kill her or to be sure to disable her before she could shoot, I would have aimed at her throat instead of her chest."

"You're saying you knew exactly what you were doing?"

"Yes. I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Did you apprehend the Groups' leaders?"

"Yes. They were where you guessed they would be."

"I'd like to talk to them."

Superman gave him a quizzical look. Match had an expression on his face that Kon couldn't decipher. Finally, Superman shrugged his shoulders.

"They're being held in the conference room," Superman said. "The older one said that he had to pay his respects to you."

Match nodded his thanks and went to the conference room. Kon was curious and followed him.

In the room, Rhine and Seine looked at Match when he entered the room. Seine looked away, but Rhine and Match examined each other silently for a while.

Match broke the silence. "You're a little older than I thought you'd be."

"With age comes wisdom," Rhine replied. "Or, so they claim. I must congratulate you on a well-fought duel. You did quite well, and you figured I'd be watching."

"It was unfortunate that it had to come to this, but you indicated that you weren't going to move on to other things."

"What do you mean?" Kon asked. "What indications?"

"The giant robot in Wichita was the first," Match explained. "They set up a situation where you would likely be the first responder. That was to see if I was still associating with you. The second was the group that assaulted Titan's Tower. That was for confirmation and to establish a sighting."

Rhine smiled. "You're good. You're very good. It's not all that surprising, but it bears repeating."

"What do you mean 'it's not surprising?'" Kon asked.

"I'm considered one of the best strategists alive," Rhine admitted. "A large chunk of my strategic knowledge and experiences was implanted into Match."

"Goodbye, Rhine," Match said.

As Kon and Match were leaving, Rhine called out, "They weren't my orders, you know. Thames was the one who assessed the threat and issued the orders to kill Superboy."

Match stopped and didn't turn around. "Do you think that changes anything?"

"No, it doesn't. However, you've seen what's out there in the world. You know that underneath the trappings of civilization lies an unseemly humanity. Do you think that they can safeguard humanity from this tower on the moon? I'm charging you to keep civilization intact. Think of it as the last request of an old man."

Match walked off without saying another word.

That night, the two were in their beds when Conner asked, "What was your code name?"

"What are you talking about?" Max asked.

"What river were you? Mississippi? Rhone? Potomac?"

"They didn't give me a river codename. Those were only for the top ranks. I was just Match."

"What was the Wizard of Oz reference? You said you'd tell me later."

There was a pause before Max answered. "Three characters in the Wizard of Oz were each missing a trait. The Scarecrow didn't have a brain. The Lion didn't have courage. The Tin Man was the third character."

"What was his deal?"

"He didn't have a heart."

Conner paused. That was so unfair to Max! He wasn't very open with his feelings, but he did have them!

"That's not true of you, you know," he said.

"Maybe not now, but then? I wonder..."

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This concludes Tragedies of the Past. I hope you enjoyed it!

I'm currently working on a 4-part story tentatively titled "Meltdown Redux" before launching into a much longer one called "Sins of the Future."

Any and all comments welcome!