"I'm going to enjoy this," said Hawkman. "I'm going to enjoy this very much." He nodded at the others and gestured in my direction.
Green Arrow let fly with his bow. I swatted the incoming arrow away with my nightstick, then broke another feathered shaft the same way.
Black Canary stepped forward and cut loose with her vaunted "canary cry". The sonic attack did nothing to me because of the automatic sound dampeners installed in my helmet. When noise levels reached dangerous levels, they immediately filter them down to a manageable level.
I shook my finger at the assembled heroes. "Not nearly good enough, losers," I said. "And with him," I added, pointing upward to Dr. Fate, "busy with keeping the area sealed, you don't have enough power to stop me." If Fate dropped his concentration for even a second, the Key would whisk me back to the Ghost Zone.
A large green fist slammed into my side. The force of the blow knocked me to the ground. Nothng was broken, but I was going to be sore in the morning. Guy Gardner flew over to me.
"Let me show you something about power," he said. "I'm not sure how you took out Jordan, but I'm going to peel you like a grape."
I struggled to me feet. "You could ask him yourself," I said, "but I don't think he will be in any shape to answer you." The brief verbal exchange gave me the opportunity to slip my hand into another inner pocket. I withdrew it just as a green sledgehammer plowed into my chest. I was hurled backward almost twenty-five feet. The armor woven into my costume took the brunt of the hit, but it still hurt. I looked up and saw Gardner begin to come forward. I smiled weakly and sat up. The device I had taken out of my pocket was still in my hand. For that, I breathed a sigh of relief to the gods of Chaos. It didn't last long.
An emerald hangman's noose cinched tight around my neck. I was yanked up into the air, my feet dangling about three feet off the ground. I looked down out of the corner of one eye to see Gardner standing on the ground with a smug look on his face.
"You're done, punk," he said.
Not quite yet, I thought. I had once stolen and studied an Oan power ring when I was member of the Injustice Gang. Using that information, Luthor had devised a way of severing the ring from it's power source, and used it against Kyle Rayner. The kid eventually overcame the stoppage, and the Gang was disbanded. As a member of the Society, I had access to all kinds of bad guy ideas and technology, although I had to hack into Lex's personal files to get the nullification plans. Modified by my own tech and some plundered Apocalyptian gear owned by the Society, I had rigged this neat little device together. I just hoped it worked. With at least half a dozen Green Lanterns hovering around the Earth at any one time, a body could not be too careful.
I pressed a button on the device in my hand. Suddenly free, I dropped to the ground. Gardner stared at me, then looked at his ring. It didn't even spark.
"How? How did you…?
"Aw, Guy, an idiot like you wouldn't even begin to understand." I took one step and side kicked him in the gut. He bent over in a whoosh of air, and I executed a perfect roundhouse kick to the temple. Guy Gardner dropped like a bag of rocks.
I glanced up at the remaining heroes. "Now your strongest is down," I said. "How can you hope to prevail?" In answer to mostly rhetorical question, they bum-rushed me. Green Arrow and Black Canary on the ground, while Hawkman took to the air. I smiled a crooked smile as my combat programs fed me possible vectors of attack and appropriate countermeasures.
Arrow and Canary reached me first. Both of them are elite martial artists at the peak of human conditioning. However, they are still confined to basic human strength and stamina. I tagged Connor to be the better fighter, but Canary to be more experienced. I swung the nightstick in a mid-level horizontal arc. Canary dipped below it, while Arrow jumped back out of range. I snapped a kick at Canary, but she rolled away. Connor charged in from the side with a flurry of punches. I blocked them, and jumped over an attempted foot sweep by Canary. Richard Dragon is one hell of a fighter, I thought. We battled back and forth, each a blur of kicks and punches, strikes and counterstrikes.
"Go for his helmet," yelled Black Canary.
A sound strategy, I thought, but I was not stupid. My helmet would always be a target. When both heroes went for head strikes, I ducked, and went to a knee. Striking outward, I forced them both to back up, Canary the farthest because of the nightstick. I rolled toward her, and raised my gauntlet toward Green Arrow. I fired a polymer-coated projectile at center mass. He dodged the fatal blow, but just barely. The bullet impacted Green Arrow's chest, and I saw blood blossom before he was flung backwards. To his credit, he did not scream.
Not slowing to savor my triumph, because I knew Hawkman would come barreling down as soon as he saw what happened, I faced Black Canary. She spared a single glance at Connor, which gave me the opening I needed. I lunged forward with the 'stick, which she barely dodged. That move was only a distraction as I immediately followed the feint with a punishing uppercut to the liver. I reversed the nightstick, and busted her across the chops with the butt end. Canary staggered, and I cracked across the back of the skull with the 'stick. She fell face first onto the earth.
I heard the heavy whoosh of wings, and turned. Hawkman slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. I rolled as he settled down a few feet away. He looked at Green Arrow and Canary to see if they were still alive.
"I haven't killed them yet, Carter," I said. "My plan is to cripple you and then to kill them. I want to see just how much grief and guilt you can take." He growled at me. I had fought Hawkman before. This was not going to be easy. If I shot him, it would probably just piss him off even more.
He launched himself at me. I popped along, thin blade out of my gauntlet. Timing was everything. If he connected solid with that big fucking mace, I might be done. The Nth metal Hawkman used gave him enhanced strength. His mace probably weighed a hundred pounds or more. He swung, and I dodged, plunging the knife into his side as he passed. First blood to me, but it wouldn't be nearly enough.
Carter did not even acknowledge the wound. He turned and came back around. I let him come closer. I cycled up a tranquilizer dart from my gauntlet, a good one with some powerful and fast acting drugs in it. Hawkman swung again, and missed. I shot him with the dart.
A massive blow hit me in the back. Carter had caught me with a backswing. The nature of the move was not as forceful as a frontal technique, but it was enough to send me sprawling and rattle my teeth. I picked myself up, as Hawkman drew out the tranq dart and pitched it away. That mace had to go.
He came forward again. Screw it, I thought. I brought up another polymer bullet and shot him in the shoulder. The Nth metal would heal him quickly, so I had to end this faster. I went to club him in the head with the nightstick. He blocked it with the mace. The weapons met in a shower of sparks. I kicked him in the leg, and he went down to a knee.
I felt a sudden pain in my side, and looked down to see Hawkman twist a dagger. His strength and the sharpness of the blade had been enough to penetrate my armor.
I whacked him in the head with my club. He fell forward, shook his head and struggled to rise.
"Hector is about to become an orphan," I said. I raised the nightstick again to deliver the killing stroke.
A sonic boom jangled my eardrums. Cold realization cut through my pain and bloodlust. In my business, a sonic boom usually means a heavy hitter has entered the fray. I whirled and scanned the area. I made visual contact while she was still a dot in the sky.
"Oh, no," I whispered. On the ground, Carter began to laugh.
She came so fast, I had no time to react. Even if I did, I don't know what I could have done. She plucked me from the ground and hauled me into the air so quickly I could hardly keep my breath.
Mary Marvel. This was Hawkman's ace. The Marvels were Superman-class powerhouses, and Mary had been a friend and teammate of Booster, Fire, and Guy. She didn't look happy to see me. I thumbed the nightstick to full power and swung as hard as I could. It hit her full in the face. I like to think she may have felt it.
She stopped flying and simply tore my helmet from my head. She crushed it in her fist and let it fall to the ground. Her next blow chopped down on my wrist, breaking the bones, shattering a gauntlet and forcing me to drop my weapon. I bit back a scream, and raised my other arm. I shot her in the head with one of the polymer bullets. It had no effect, except to make her really mad.
The last thing I remember is seeing stars as her fist connected with the side of my head.
Epilogue:
I awoke in a place I had seen before, the medical infirmary at the Slab, a prison exclusively for metas or guys like me. Once I had healed enough, they placed me in an isolation cell. In the few times I was let out, I was always trussed up like Hannibal Lector.
The Slab is a stressful place to work, and guards regularly took out their frustrations on the prisoners. I was often beaten, and not a day went by that someone didn't hit me. They were being much more diligent about my confinement than the last time. The warden didn't take well to escapes, I guess. I dreamed almost every night of black ravens with fiery eyes and old souls.
One day, a guard stood outside my cell. He stared at me. "You don't look so tough," he said. I just lay there and counted dots on the ceiling . The guard started to walk away. "Hey dirtbag," he said. "You dropped something."
I looked over, because I didn't have anything to drop. A piece of paper lay on the floor. I quickly went over to pick it up and returned to my bunk. I carefully opened it. It read:
P-
Be ready to move, We will be coming soon. Hope you had a nice time.
L.
"Ass," I whispered, then ate the note. I would be glad to get out of here, but owing Luthor may not be worth the price. I lay back again and whistled a happy tune.
DA END