Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League Unlimited.
Complicated Simplicity
Chapter Three: Changing
Green Arrow closed the door as fast as he could and backed up, falling through the other door behind him.
His eyes widened as he saw the same empty blackness there as well. With a yelp, he scrambled to grab the doorframe, and latched on with the very tips of his fingers.
After a grunt of effort, he managed to pull himself into the small room. He took a few deep breaths before looking over at the third and final door.
Oh, what the hell.
He walked forward and opened the door, only to be confronted with the same black nothingness as behind the other doors. He sighed.
"I'll just go back, then…"
He turned and opened the door through which he had first entered the room.
And ended up once more scrambling to get away from the same blackness.
A low growl escaped his lips, and Arrow put his fingers to his earpiece, only to get nothing.
"Flash? Orion? T?"
Nothing. Not even static.
He sighed and sat down cross-legged in the middle of the room.
Now, it wasn't that he was afraid of heights per se – his line of work sort of dictated that he couldn't be – but he drew the line at falling blindly into nothing. Of course, it wasn't heights that were his problem here. It was magic.
Stupid.
Freaking.
Magic.
Green Arrow didn't like magic. He didn't like the majority of magic users, truth be told. They always spoke in such a grandiose and 'I understand things that are far beyond your comprehension' way he couldn't help but dislike them. Except for Zatanna, of course, but Arrow didn't know many male Leaguers who didn't enjoy her company.
It gave him and Clark something to talk about, at least.
The Emerald Archer brought his head up and looked at the four doors that surrounded him. Curious, he opened them all, one after the other, being sure to leave them all open.
Now on all fours, he slowly crawled to the edge of the doorway in front of him and poked his head through. There was no noise to accompany the blackness, nor anything physically different than the room he was in already. No drop in temperature or air.
Cautiously, he leaned his head down so he could see 'underneath' the room he was now stood in. He half expected his head to collide with a disguised floor, and so was surprised when his head went all the way down. What was strange was that he couldn't see the bottom of the small box shaped room.
He tried the other doors in a similar fashion. All exactly the same, except he couldn't find any evidence of the room existing from the outside looking in. Arrow got to his feet and crossed his arms, bowing his head in thought. He didn't have many options. Only two sprang to mind, in fact; either wait here, or step out into the nothingness.
A sigh escaped his lips. It wasn't really much of a choice. Arrow pinched his nose, scrunched his eyes shut, and bombed out the doorway in front of him.
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He ran up and down the corridor over and over again. The doors were still moving away from him no matter how he tried to approach them. He tried running towards them backwards, sideways… even one failed attempt upside down with his head between his legs, and still nothing.
"Oh, come on… now it's getting stupid…"
With a sigh, he tried to call the others once again. Still no response. Not that he expected any; when it came to magic, Flash never really knew what to do. He just did the best he could, which usually didn't amount to much because said magic would fool him into thinking he was covered in snakes or something.
Flash rested his hands in front of him on the wall of the corridor. Well, the corridor was still there. And relatively real, from what he could tell.
A familiar smirk crossed his features.
And if it was real, he could probably have some kind of effect on it.
He stepped back from the wall and took a deep breath. Usually, he didn't enjoy vibrating his molecules through solid objects, and saved it for when he really had to. Firstly, it had the nasty habit of making things explode once he had passed through them. Secondly, it took a lot of concentration and effort to get through anything without making it explode. Thirdly, because of said concentration, it took him a long time to do. And fourthly, and perhaps most importantly, it gave him one mother of a headache afterwards.
His friends and colleagues didn't quite understand what he was complaining about until he explained the symptoms to them. At which point, they compared it to a hangover and stopped scolding him for being 'whiny'. Of course, that was now. Way back when, he used to be able to get through objects with little to no complaint. Those who knew about his powers attributed the new side effects to his getting older and more powerful, though Wally wasn't sure. He just figured it was God or Fate or whatever having a laugh at his expense.
He shook his hands to loosen up his wrists, and hopped from foot to foot to warm up. With that done, he moved on to the main event. Crimson gloved hands pressed against the corridor wall, and he began to move them back forth across the surface in quick, short movements. He built up the speed until the wall began to crumble to dust beneath his ministrations. Wally smiled. Hopefully the wall would fall apart before he'd even have to vibrate through.
The small puffs of dust became an overpowering cloud, and Flash instinctively scrunched his eyes shut and held his breath. He kept on pushing forward.
He was definitely making headway. The wall was old and practically dissolving away in front of him. Hopefully it wasn't supporting the ceiling.
Wally thought he heard someone coughing and quickly stopped himself in mid-vibrate. His feet continued forward, however, and tripped on a small piece of wall that had fallen to the floor. Flash fell face forward into Green Arrow, the two tumbling around each other into a huge embarrassing pile.
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A blue gloved fist smashed through yet another wall, and Orion halted in his advance to take a breath. Several, actually, though he wouldn't admit it, even to himself. It was the magic draining his strength… yes, that was it. He shouldn't be this tired just from smashing through thirty-four walls.
Why, he had taken down five air-tanks from Apokolips by himself. He could handle some walls, magic induced or not.
But then again, that fight was a long time ago… many years…
Could it be possible? Could it be possible that he was simply… getting old?
Orion shook his head, the movement jarring loose a bead of sweat that had been gathering on his forehead. It trickled down between his eyebrows and over his nose. He irritably wiped it away and cracked his knuckles, ignoring the pain from his hands as he did so.
He cricked his neck and punched through another wall with a single blow. A grim smile crossed his face as he saw another wall behind that one.
The son of Highfather continued on.
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"I don't believe this. All you had to do was knock down a wall? I had to jump out into God knows what. And I ended up landed on my ass. Do you know how hard these floors are?"
Flash shrugged, looking around the office they had wandered into. "Hey, it's not my fault I got the easy one."
"That's another thing that's bothering me," Arrow said, scowling, "I'm getting sick and tired of this guy-"
"-or gal-"
"-or gal," he corrected, "not showing his-"
"-or her-"
"-or her face. I mean, if they meant business, they wouldn't hide behind illusions, would they?" He looked around and leaned closer to Flash. "And thanks for the corrections."
"We've gotta be PC in times like these. Especially for the guys-"
"-or gals-"
"I was gonna!" Flash protested. "Or gals," he emphasised, giving Arrow a look, "that hide from us while they shake in their little booties."
A blinding flash of light stopped any further berating of their hidden enemy as Dreamslayer came forward.
"Enough! Afraid, am I? Shaking in my little booties, am I?"
He paused.
"What are booties?"
Flash and Green Arrow exchanged a glance. The archer pointed to Dreamslayer's boots.
"They're what you're wearing on your feet."
"Oh." He took a moment to look down at his boots before whipping his gaze back up to them. "Well, I am not the one who is shaking in my booties! You will be the ones who-"
Flash raised a hand. "You changed tenses, dude."
"What?"
"Oh yeah," Arrow said, nodding, "you can't just change from present to future tense in one speech."
"It's not proper," Flash added.
"I…" Dreamslayer's head-flame flared up violently. "SILENCE!"
The speedster folded his arms. "Dude, who the heck are you, anyway?"
Dreamslayer struck a pose. "Think back. I am sure that your comrade, Green Lantern, told you of me."
"Um…" he looked over at Arrow, who just shrugged. The two had a murmured conference before turning back to Dreamslayer.
Flash shrugged and shook his head. "Nope. Sorry."
"Are you sure?" the villain asked smugly, dramatically grabbing his cape and holding it around in him in a Batman-esque movement. "He didn't tell you of how I almost defeated him in battle?"
Arrow stepped forward. "Buddy, trust me. I think we'd remember you."
"Ah HA!" Dreamslayer yelled, pointing a triumphant finger at Green Arrow.
The two heroes glanced at each other, equally confused. Arrow turned back to their would-be opponent.
"Ah ha… what?"
"I… you admit that I… that I am a villain to remember!"
"…well, you're certainly… unique."
"Then surely you must know who I am?"
Both Leaguers gave him blank stares.
"No? Nothing?" They shook their heads. Dreamslayer scowled at them imperceptibly beneath his flaming head. "Come, come…" He rotated his hand. "Drrr?… Drrr? Drrr?"
Flash cocked an eyebrow. "Your name's 'Drrr Drrr Drrr?"
"I- NO! I am… guiding you to my name."
"Oh, okay… so it begins with like a 'Drrr' sound."
"Exactly."
"Right, right. Uh… 'Drink Problem'?"
Arrow took his turn. "'Drama Queen'?"
"'Drummer'"?
"'Drak-?"
"ENOUGH! Dreamslayer! Dreamslayer, my name is Dreamslayer!"
The pair looked at each other.
"Oh, Dreamslayer…" Flash said, nodding.
"Ah, so you have heard of me," he replied smugly.
"No. Dude, sorry, but… you're kinda low key."
"You… you're lying! Dreamslayer!"
The two shook their heads.
"Lord of… the Dimension of… Terrors?"
"Sorry," they said simultaneously.
"But… but I am Dreamslayer!"
Flash groaned and rubbed his forehead. "Why can't we ever, ever get any hot babe supervillains? Why do we always get…" He gestured to Dreamslayer irritably. "…this?"
Green Arrow grinned, and Dreamslayer's flame grew to epic proportions.
"Stop it! Enough! No-one mocks Dreamslayer, the Lord of the Dimension of Terrors!"
Faster than either of them could react, a burst of flame energy lashed out and knocked Flash back and into a wall, cracking the notice board hung there in half. Arrow reached back for an arrow but was knocked back onto a desk, breaking it in half and sending various office supplies into the air.
Dreamslayer put his hands on his hips. "Ha! Who's laughing now?" He laughed. "Me! That's who's laughing!"
He was laughing so hard, he didn't notice that Orion had broken down the wall behind him and was making his way over to him. A heavy hand tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned in mid-laugh to be greeted by Orion's waiting fist and sent flying through the air.
Flash groaned and looked up in time to see Dreamslayer as he sailed through the air towards him. He quickly moved out of the way and winced as Dreamslayer slammed into the wall with a thud. The flame headed villain looked up to see Orion charging at him, his gloved hands worn and bloody from smashing through imaginary wall after imaginary wall. The New God jumped at him, knocking them both through the wall and into the adjacent corridor.
The speedster bent over, resting his hands on his knees as he looked through the hole created by his colleague. All he could hear was the various noises of an angry Orion wailing on Dreamslayer. Green Arrow made his way over to him, his hand on his sore back. Flash glanced over at him.
"I don't think we have to worry about Mr Dragon Slacker anymore."
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Captain Cold winced. Boomerang was practically slobbering through the door at their new visitor. Not that Cold could blame him; it had been a while since any of them had seen a woman in the flesh, not to mention one so damned… alluring.
But for God's sake, he expected Boomer to have a little bit more self control (and respect) than that.
"So," Boomer enquired, using his 'husky' voice. "If I was gonna join up, what kind of… perks would I get?"
Volcana leaned against the door and moved her head forward so that their noses were practically touching.
"Well…" she replied quietly, "that would depend on the… effort… you'd put in."
Cold smirked. It was somewhat entertaining to see someone who could give as good as she got when it came to Boomer's sleazy advances.
The entire cell block suddenly shook, and Cold looked to the ceiling.
"Well. Seems the Justice League is causing more trouble than your friend thought, hmm?" the Top said smugly. For once, Cold shared his sentiments.
Volcana's previously seductive expression turned to a surprisingly frightening scowl, and she ran out of the room, heading for the door.
"Must have been your breath, Digger," Weather Wizard said, smirking.
"Oh, blow it out your arsehole."
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The red haired villainess' scowl deepened as she saw what was going on through the surveillance cameras. Flash and Green Arrow were wandering the corridors while Orion continued to knock Dreamslayer around (and occasionally through) the entire building, the flame headed villains' blasts having seemingly no effect on him. Faster than a speeding locomotive as Superman may be, it seemed that Orion was as unstoppable as a juggernaut.
She checked on the location on the other two Leaguers. They weren't close to the hostages yet. Good. She searched the control panel in front of her, looking for some sort of mass cell door release. Finding nothing, she shrugged.
"What the hell."
She grabbed the microphone for the intercom and switched it on.
"Mr Lord of the Dimension of Terrors blew it, boys! Time for plan B!"
Volcana took a few steps back and fried the security console, hoping it would have the desired effect. From what she could hear, the inmates certainly weren't looking their gift horse in the mouth.
She ran out of the door and to Warden Wolfe's office. If she was going to do anything today, she was going to make it out of here, no matter what methods she had to use.
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The lights flickered for a moment, and Flash and Green Arrow heard a loud series of clanging noises echo down the corridor they were exploring.
"That's never a good noise," Arrow observed, and Flash nodded silently, keeping his ear pointed forward to check for noise.
A faint roaring noise came from what seemed like below them, and Flash's eyes widened slightly beneath his mask.
"I'm guessing Drunken Singer wasn't alone."
"Why?"
"Because somebody just released all the inmates."
Flash disappeared in a blur, and Arrow instantly put his fingers to his earpiece. "Hey, T?"
"Watchtower here."
"Somebody's released all the inmates. Flash is heading down there now, but he'll need some backup."
"Understood. They're on their way."
"Gotcha. Thanks, T."
He continued on, increasing his pace to a sprint as he headed for the nearest window overlooking the courtyard.
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Flash skidded to a halt at the armoury door, hoping to find some tear gas or something he could use against the escaping inmates. He knocked lightly on it and let out a grunt of annoyance as he saw the door was made of solid steel, or some other metal that was just as strong.
A control panel next to the door caught his eye and he started punching away on buttons. About five seconds into his attempt, he noticed a card slot above the number pad and scowled. He turned and shot off to Warden Wolfe's office, hoping to find the Warden, or better yet, just his security card.
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The inmates moved through the courtyard to the gates like a swarm of ants towards a picnic.
Three shafts of blue light appeared on the other side of the gate, signifying the arrival of more members of the Justice League. The inmates kept on going, prepared for whatever no-name superheroes the League had decided to send their way.
A familiar blue costume and a red cape made them practically fall over each other as they stopped in their tracks.
"You might want to think about what you do next."
Superman floated above them from behind the gate, his arms crossed before him and his eyes lit up with the threat of heat vision. Vigilante smiled behind the Kryptonian, having seen him use that same scare technique many a time on some hapless criminal. He even remembered one incident when a bank robber was so scared, the poor guy wet himself. A quick glance in Ice's direction indicated that she wasn't particularly interested in the Man of Steel's scare tactics, and was focused on the situation at hand.
Noticing the inmates gathering their courage, he decided he should do the same, and whipped out his pistols and whirled them around his fingers, getting ready for the brawl that was to come.
A blast of ice came through the crowd and nailed Superman dead center in the chest, knocking him back before he regained his ground. Ice took control of the blast and redirected it down into the ground, eliciting a smile and nod of gratitude from the Man of Steel.
The inmates parted to reveal the escaped and re-armed Rogues making their way towards the Justice Leaguers.
Superman looked to his two compatriots before charging over the gates and into the crowd.
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Flash stopped in the corridor when he noticed that Warden Wolfe's door was ajar. He cautiously made his way forward, his back to the wall.
Suddenly, Volcana emerged and quickly spotted him, although one arm remained inside the office.
The speedster grinned and nodded. "Now, y'see, that's what I'm talking about; hot babe super villain."
A smirk was her only response, and she pulled her missing arm into view.
Flash's grin disappeared, replaced by a shocked gape.
Linda struggled against the much stronger woman's grip, but quickly settled down when Volcana flared up her hands menacingly, bathing the entire corridor in a devilish orange light.
"Back off, speedy."
He grit his teeth. "Let her go."
"You're kidding, right? Yeah. I'm going to give up my only ticket out of this mess. Right."
"I said. Let. Her. Go."
"Kiss my ass. Now, you're going to leave me alone, and your buddies out there are going to do the same thing, or she…" Volcana's smirk intensified with the flame coming from her hand, "But I don't really have to explain it, do I?"
The sweat was dripping from Linda's chin now, and she almost seemed mesmerised by the small flickering inferno being held so close to her face. She glanced out of the corner of her eye into Wolfe's office, hoping that at least one of the three people inside had regained consciousness by now.
Hunter Zolomon groaned once, but didn't move.
Flash, meanwhile, was clenching his fists so tightly he was surprised his fingernails hadn't broken through his gloves.
"Last chance. Let her go. NOW."
She tilted her head mockingly. "What're you gonna do? Even you can't-"
He blasted forward, and Linda heard a crunch as his fist collided with Volcana's chin and sent her hurtling back, smashing into the wall behind her face first. Flash was on her again in a second, pinning her to the wall with one hand while bringing back the other, intent on finishing the job.
A scowl creased his mask as he saw that Volcana was smiling, seemingly indifferent about her bruised and bleeding face.
His eyes narrowed. "What's so funny? Huh?"
She just continued smiling, her shoulders bobbing up and down weakly as she began laughing.
Anger overriding all his judgement, Flash brought back his fist. He swung it forward-
"Flash!"
He stopped his hand a hair's breadth from Volcana's face upon hearing Arrow's voice.
"Think about it, Flash."
Gentle hands wrapped around his shaking fist, and Flash lowered his arm and unclenched his fist. He turned to Linda, who was still holding on to his arm. He sighed and closed his eyes.
"…sorry…" he muttered quietly. Without another word, he dashed into Wolfe's office, took his security card, and shot off down the corridor, heading to the armoury.
Linda looked over at the brutalised Volcana as Arrow cuffed her, shock written on her features.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded blankly to Arrow's inquiry, and he went into the Warden's office to check on the other hostages.
"They're okay," she said, tearing her eyes away from Volcana. "She just knocked them over the head."
He nodded mutely, preoccupied.
"That wasn't normal, was it?"
Arrow sighed and shook his head, looking at anything else in the room except her. "I hope not."
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(A/N:
A few notes:
One: For those of you who have noticed (and those who haven't), yes, Dreamslayer and Volcana's characterisations are somewhat based on Dr Drakken and Shego from Kim Possible. Dreamslayer and Drakken are voiced by the same guy, so… you can understand why the temptation was great. ;)
Two: Flash doesn't have much trouble vibrating through things in the comics, but I wanted him powered down to a more reasonable level, much like was done to Superman in his show.
Three: In the more recent comics, Captain Cold is usually perceived as the leader of the Rogues (and not married to a wife that would have him 'bagging groceries for a living' to repay the mortgage :)), while Captain Boomerang (just before he died, that is), was shown as being a little bit of a loser in the supervillain community, showing up to ask his ex-colleagues for loans and so on. So I wanted to put some 'starting points' for those developments here. I'm not saying I'll go there (and certainly not in this story), but I like putting little elements from the comics in my stories, hence, for example, Weather Wizard calling Boomerang Digger (his real name).
Anyway, review!)