Fear the Unknown
Chapter 15: Setting the Board
"Damn them!!!"
The doctor pounded his fist against the desk and hurled the antiquated typewriter against the wall. He'd had them. He'd had the most perfect specimens of metagenetic mutation in his fingers and he'd lost them.
"If I had only been able to finish my work, I might have finally put a stop to this menace... and the alien... what I could learn from him... he is almost divine in his potential."
He looked again at the footage from the security tapes, footage of that damnable armored intruder.
"Why, god damn you? I could make everything perfect, put all the wrongs to right and you... you simply refuse to understand it!"
With a growl he flung a stack of papers at the monitor.
"Temper, temper, doctor."
Dominic Bliss seemed to glide into the room, rather than walk, his presence at once angelic and profoundly unsettling.
"Such displays will not return the demons to our hands." He turned his eyes to the security monitor and pondered the subject for a moment. "I have often wondered, Doctor, why you never tended to this problem before it became so untenable. I have often wondered, as well, why he never came around to our way of thinking. Why, do you suppose, has the apple fallen so far from the tree?"
The doctor turned his eyes downward, his face taking on a very somber expression.
"I have prayed over that question many a night, Reverend, but to no avail. I hope upon hope that his soul can be saved, but he continues to subvert our efforts to cleanse this world of the evil that... of the evil that..."
"I know, Doctor. I know." He looked again at the monitor and then put a fatherly hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "I will leave you to your prayers then. Consider that perhaps, if he cannot come to the light in this life, that the good Lord may still have mercy upon him in the next. Good night, Doctor."
**********************
Reverence, District of Columbia
Hal, Barry and Clark all stood near the train station's exit and looked out over the sprawling majestic creation that was the nation's capitol. Reverence had the look of a city conceived by the Romans, built by the Egyptians, and retrofitted by H.G. Wells. Towering spires were connected by glass corridors, interlacing among monuments to the great heroes of the country. Chief among all the monuments though, was something that made Clark's blood boil.
The newest monument showed a victorious soldier in Romanesque armor standing over the prone body of a woman whose face seemed to be cracked and wrinkled with evil, her claw-like hand clutching a spear.
"In memoriam and remembrance of those who valiantly fought to rid the world of evil. To the Veterans of the Themyscrian War, we salute you."
Barry put a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on pal. Not the time or place. We've got work to do."
"Yes. You do."
A deep, rumbling baritone had come from behind them and when they turned, they were met with the grim visage of one of the largest men Clark had ever laid eyes on, himself included.
John Henry Irons had been a weapons designer for the government, until he had the misfortune to be assigned to a division reporting directly to Dominic Bliss. He had been working on an experimental armor, supposedly to give America's troops an edge against the growing "Demon Menace". He had been an avid believer, having been educated at Reverence National Seminary, until he gained access to the classified data on captured "demons". The scientist in John Henry had immediately recognized what he was seeing as something not of the supernatural, but of nature. Once he'd seen that, he had run. He wouldn't have made it ten steps if not for the intervention of the three heroes he now greeted.
"Good afternoon, my friends, and God bless. Come on, I think I know why you're here."
He took them to a seemingly abandoned steel mill just outside the city limits, "seemingly" being the operative word, for as they approached, Clark heard the telltale sounds of laser cannons arming and rocket launchers queuing up.
"Some place you've got here, John."
"It's home."
A set of massive steel doors parted and they drove inside. As they stopped, hundreds of banks of lights flashed on and there was a collective gasp by the assembled heroes. Everywhere there was weaponry. From particle weapons to what seemed to be a series of armored suits, each more advanced than the next. John Henry had been busy.
"What is all this?"
"Tools of war, gentlemen. Are you prepared to fight?"
Standing behind them was the unmistakable figure of the armored avenger who had rescued them at Area 51. The eyes of his helmet glowed red as he stepped from the shadows.
"Who are you?" Hal asked.
"Who I am is not important. What is important is this. We have to bring down Bliss. Is there any argument on that fact?"
There was none.
"Very well. Then let us make our plans."
The five moved off into the complex, never aware that above them, a set of eyes watched intently. Dick Grayson had never needed glasses.
Chapter 15: Setting the Board
"Damn them!!!"
The doctor pounded his fist against the desk and hurled the antiquated typewriter against the wall. He'd had them. He'd had the most perfect specimens of metagenetic mutation in his fingers and he'd lost them.
"If I had only been able to finish my work, I might have finally put a stop to this menace... and the alien... what I could learn from him... he is almost divine in his potential."
He looked again at the footage from the security tapes, footage of that damnable armored intruder.
"Why, god damn you? I could make everything perfect, put all the wrongs to right and you... you simply refuse to understand it!"
With a growl he flung a stack of papers at the monitor.
"Temper, temper, doctor."
Dominic Bliss seemed to glide into the room, rather than walk, his presence at once angelic and profoundly unsettling.
"Such displays will not return the demons to our hands." He turned his eyes to the security monitor and pondered the subject for a moment. "I have often wondered, Doctor, why you never tended to this problem before it became so untenable. I have often wondered, as well, why he never came around to our way of thinking. Why, do you suppose, has the apple fallen so far from the tree?"
The doctor turned his eyes downward, his face taking on a very somber expression.
"I have prayed over that question many a night, Reverend, but to no avail. I hope upon hope that his soul can be saved, but he continues to subvert our efforts to cleanse this world of the evil that... of the evil that..."
"I know, Doctor. I know." He looked again at the monitor and then put a fatherly hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "I will leave you to your prayers then. Consider that perhaps, if he cannot come to the light in this life, that the good Lord may still have mercy upon him in the next. Good night, Doctor."
**********************
Reverence, District of Columbia
Hal, Barry and Clark all stood near the train station's exit and looked out over the sprawling majestic creation that was the nation's capitol. Reverence had the look of a city conceived by the Romans, built by the Egyptians, and retrofitted by H.G. Wells. Towering spires were connected by glass corridors, interlacing among monuments to the great heroes of the country. Chief among all the monuments though, was something that made Clark's blood boil.
The newest monument showed a victorious soldier in Romanesque armor standing over the prone body of a woman whose face seemed to be cracked and wrinkled with evil, her claw-like hand clutching a spear.
"In memoriam and remembrance of those who valiantly fought to rid the world of evil. To the Veterans of the Themyscrian War, we salute you."
Barry put a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on pal. Not the time or place. We've got work to do."
"Yes. You do."
A deep, rumbling baritone had come from behind them and when they turned, they were met with the grim visage of one of the largest men Clark had ever laid eyes on, himself included.
John Henry Irons had been a weapons designer for the government, until he had the misfortune to be assigned to a division reporting directly to Dominic Bliss. He had been working on an experimental armor, supposedly to give America's troops an edge against the growing "Demon Menace". He had been an avid believer, having been educated at Reverence National Seminary, until he gained access to the classified data on captured "demons". The scientist in John Henry had immediately recognized what he was seeing as something not of the supernatural, but of nature. Once he'd seen that, he had run. He wouldn't have made it ten steps if not for the intervention of the three heroes he now greeted.
"Good afternoon, my friends, and God bless. Come on, I think I know why you're here."
He took them to a seemingly abandoned steel mill just outside the city limits, "seemingly" being the operative word, for as they approached, Clark heard the telltale sounds of laser cannons arming and rocket launchers queuing up.
"Some place you've got here, John."
"It's home."
A set of massive steel doors parted and they drove inside. As they stopped, hundreds of banks of lights flashed on and there was a collective gasp by the assembled heroes. Everywhere there was weaponry. From particle weapons to what seemed to be a series of armored suits, each more advanced than the next. John Henry had been busy.
"What is all this?"
"Tools of war, gentlemen. Are you prepared to fight?"
Standing behind them was the unmistakable figure of the armored avenger who had rescued them at Area 51. The eyes of his helmet glowed red as he stepped from the shadows.
"Who are you?" Hal asked.
"Who I am is not important. What is important is this. We have to bring down Bliss. Is there any argument on that fact?"
There was none.
"Very well. Then let us make our plans."
The five moved off into the complex, never aware that above them, a set of eyes watched intently. Dick Grayson had never needed glasses.