DC: New Age Volume I IC Thread

[The Question]

Two orderlies stand over The Joker's bed. Their names are Hank and William. However, as we will probably never see either of them again, I wouldn't bother commiting their names to memory if I were you.

"So" says Hank, "this is him, huh?"

"Sure is" responds William.

"You know" says Hank, "my dad used to tell stories about this guy. Sacred the **** out of me when I was a kid. But it never seemed completely real to me."

"Kind of eerie having him right in front of you?"

"Exactly. And, you know, it's also kind of sad."

"Sad?"

"Yeah. I mean, he used to be this big scary criminal. Now he's just a vegitable."

"Listen" says William, "this guy's got one of the highest body counts in this place. He's done **** that anyone else would get the chair for. He's luckly to still be alive. Hell, if I thought I could get away with it, I would've killed him years ago."

"I guess you're right. Hey...."

Hank leans over to look at the right side of The Joker's face.

"...has he been crying?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" asks William.

"Just take a look at this."

William looks at The Joker's face closely, and sees recently dried wetmarks on his face that do in fact make it look like The Joker had recently been crying.

"Dude, Hank, we should tell somebody about this."

"Like who?"

"Like Doctor Arkham."

The two stand there uneasily for a moment, and then hurry off. As they do, they tell themselves that it's probably nothing, and they're worrying too much. They are right, by the way. It is nothing.


But what comes next is most definately something.

 

[Eddie Brock]

Sometime Ago:

"I can't take it in here, Kara," Boomer tells me. He's in the one place I never thought I'd find him - prison. A pane of glass separates us, and he's speaking through the phone. He was arrested for vigilantism.

"We'll get you out of there, Boomer," I promise him, assuring him with false hopes. To be quite honest, I don't know if there's any way he'll get out of there. The government is cracking down.

He sighs, rubbing his forehead. "How's Allura?"

"She's fine. I dropped her off with the Kents," I tell him. Raising a daughter was hard enough. Raising one alone seems near impossible.

"God, she looks just like you, you know," Boomer says with a smile. "Is she the world's next Supergirl?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," I explain. Truth be told, I dread the idea of my daughter following in my footsteps. The world is not a safe place for crime-fighters. If Allura was ever arrested, I don't know what I'd do...

"Mercer, your time's up," the guard tells Boomer.

He looks at me, and I fill up with sorrow looking at this shell of a man. "Give my love to Allura." He stands up and walks off with the guard.

I sit quietly in the chair for a moment. I had no idea of knowing that those would be the last words I would ever hear him say. A month or so later, I would be informed that Boomer had died of self-starvation. He truly couldn't handle it in there. I only wish I could've helped him somehow.

"Miss? Ready to go?" the other guard asks me. I am shaken out of my day-dreaming state.

"Yes," I reply softly. I press a hand to the glass before getting up and walking away.
​

 

[Karem-Knight]

Edit.

 

[Karem-Knight]

SUPERMAN: ISOLATION.

Earth’s Solar System.

I’m here, it took me a while, But the radiation from the yellow sun helped me get here.

Kal-El said before landing near the moon.

So quiet up here, No sound in space.

No sound for the majority of 20 years.

20 years……….

Clark thought to himself, he walked up the moon’s surface, For the past 20 years he had been going to several sectors of the universe, exploring it’s inaptness and history.

But he studied Krypton the most, To truly understand his past and origins of course avoiding the Kryptonite, it didn’t affect him as much due to how much yellow sun is consumed but it could still affect him.

Clark looked around floating up looking up above the earth, He looked at all the satellites, This is the one day they would expect him to come to earth so Luthor can capture him, But the best they ever got was an “interference” that was so quick all they got was a black and silver blur now.

Clark put his long black and white hair back, He wore the black and silver suit he wore shortly after his revival, his old costume was somewhere in the Kent’s old home.

He missed the old suit, maybe he would check up on it, plus he needed a haircut.

He closed his eyes, before re-opening them again, He flew as fast as he could, the satellites didn’t pick up anything.

Wow, I can see the ocean again, that old ocean.

He said spiralling down before heading straight towards the South Pole.

He landed on his feet to see a sight he hadn’t seen in years,

The Fortress.

He smiled, before entering in the doors, the crystals were everywhere, It was just like he left it.

Few knew where it was; the anartic was such a big place though no one could find it.

Kal-El went towards the main room, He heard a familiar voice.

“HELLO MY SON.”

The loudness of his voice sparked the room; Kal-El saw his father’s face again.

“Hello Father, I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long.”

“I UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE BEEN GONE A LONG, NEARLY 20 YEARS.”

“Yes father, I have, I’ve tried to make my yearly vistis to earth, I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you when I was in here last time, I stopped coming here ten years ago. I mostly came to visit my adopted parents, And my wife’s grave.”

“THE PEOPLE HAVE GIVEN UP HOPE KAL-EL.”

Kal-El looked down on the floor.

“I…I know Father,I-I failed your…..wish…”


Kal-El said clenching his fist, all the time in the world couldn’t let him sink in what he had failed to do. All those people.

“MY SON, YOU DID NOT FAIL, DARKSEID WAS A TYRANT, PLANETS WERE DESTROYED AT HIS MERCY, YES LIVES WERE LOST, BUT IT WASN’T YOUR FAULT, IT WAS TO MUCH FOR YOU AND YOUR ALLIES TO HANDLE.”

Kal-El looked at his father.

“I realise that father, But the world counted on me, Those people counted on me and I-I failed THEM!”

Kal said in grief.

“MY SON, I UNDERSTAND YOUR LOSS, BUT IF YOU DON’T LET THIS GO AND LIVE WITH THIS GUILT THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, THEN YOU HAVE FAILED.”
Kal-El looked at his father, It was a great achievement in A.I. that Krypton made, his father was a genius.

“KAL-EL, SAVE THESE PEOPLE, THEY ARE WITHOUT HOPE, NOW IS TIME FOR A NEW GENERATION, NOW IS THE TIME FOR HEROES……….”

Kal nodded.

“Thank you father, But I’m not a hero anymore.”

Jor-El’s disappointment was shown on his face, his hologram disappeared.

Kal-El then took off his space uniform and put on a black shirt and brown jeans, Typical Kansas wear.



Kal sat down on a chair in the computer’s main hub; He started it and checked all the news of the last year.

“The Shade, Arrested January 5th.”
“War in Zimbabwe has taken 800 U.N. Soliders.”
“New World Order plan to initiate in 2030 headed by President. Lex Luthor.”

Kal-El kept watching and watching, After about an hour something not as depressing came up.

“A Batman impostor has been spotted in Gotham City.”

Kal smiled it was good that someone was setting the example Bruce set for Gotham, It was a shame, Kal lost a friend the day The Joker finally killed Batman.

“D-Day 20th anniversary.”


After that it stopped, He stood up.

He slowly walked outside the fortress; He would be back there after his normal visits.

Kal then put one foot behind the rest of his body and took off like a speeding bullet, flying towards a very special house.

He stopped a mile away from the place he was supposed to be going to, No one saw him, it was another isolated area, plus he enjoyed the walk.
Kal made his way towards the house; He saw all the sights that he loved, the sights he grew up with.

After a while he saw a very familiar sign.

Kent family farm.

Kal smiled, he walked towards the house and rang the doorbell.

A frail old woman answered it, She was expecting him, she expected him every year, but each time it was always a surprise.

Kal smiled with all his heart.

“Hi Mum……………..”

 

[The Question]

A man appears in Arkham Asylum. A man who, unitl moments before, ahdn't been there. He walks down the halls of the building, going unnoticed by the guards. He makes his way to the minimum security ward. There, he finds the man he's been looking over. Standing over the once infamous Clown Prince of Crime, then man looks at him for a moment, as if to pity him. He then places his hand on The Joker's forehead.


The Joker sits in a chair in a dimly lit room. There is a table before him, and on the other side of the table another chair. Besides this, the room is empty. Outside there is a sunny, grassy view, with the beach visible in the far off distance. The Joker sits alone in this room very far from Gotham City, until the mysterious man suddenly apears in the chair in front of him.

"Hello there, Mr. Jay" says the man.

"Hello" says The Joker.

As he says this, he realizes that they are no longer inside. They are now seated outside at a beachside resturaunt, late in the afternoon, on a slightly chilly and overcast day (this is all going on inside The Joker's mind, you see).

The man before him takes a sip of his glass of Bayerøl, and then speaks.

"Mr. Jay, I must say that I am a big fan of your work."

"Why, thank you."

"Now, I am an independant director. And I have a part for you."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested."

The man looks somewhat shocked and dissapointed.

"Why not?"

"Well, I've had my moment of fame. My best work is behind me. The Joker is, I am afraid, dead. I'm retired now."

The man begins to smile. Only slightly, but it is a smile none the less. And hardly a friendly one.

"Oh, but Mr. Jay, you're best work is hardly behind you. I have a part for you in mind greater than anything you've done before."

"But I'm well past my prime."

"As long as an actor has a brain in his head and a toung in his mouth, he is never past his prime. All that is required is the making of the proper arangements."

The Joker remains silent. He gives what has been said much consideration, and then speaks.

"What is the part, exactly?"

"Ah. It is like everything you've done before, but at the same time like nothing yopu've done before. It takes all of your skills and your talants and experiences, and kicks them up to eleven."

"I don't know...."

"Trust me, Mr. Jay. This part is Oscar worthy."

The Joker is silent for some time. He barely moves, in fact. Then, finally, he does something he hasn't done in ages.


He smiles.


And it is hardly a friendly smile.




The next morning, the orderlies will discover The Joker missing from his bed. The guards will search the entirety of the hospital grounds, and finde absolutely no trace of him. They will, naturally, imagine the worse.


But what is to come is far worse than anything they could possibly imagine.

 

[Keyser Soze]

"Batman is back!"

In his luxurious manor in Gotham Heights, Edward Nigma watched the morning news report, his mouth gaping open in shock. All the evidence seemed to be pointing to it. The Dark Knight had returned to Gotham City.

Of course, Nigma knew something that most wouldn't. That this wasn't the real Batman. Bruce Wayne was dead. This new Batman was obviously an imposter, a pretender. Unmasking him, revealing his true identity. Now, there's a riddle...

"And news just in," the anchorwoman said, "Notorious mass-murderer and criminal mastermind The Joker has gone missing..."

This news hit Nigma like a sucker-punch. He dropped his cup of coffee, letting it fall and shatter on the floor.

"As of now, it can't be confirmed if The Joker escaped, or if somebody broke in and moved his body. It would seem that the latter is the likely option, since The Joker has reportedly been in a catatonic state for over 10 years..."

No. He had escaped. He had woken up and escaped. Nigma didn't know the medical reason for it, he didn't care. He knew why he'd really woken up. He'd woken up, after all these years, because The Batman had returned.

After all, you can't have one without the other...

 

[Watchman]

"If anybody gets to listen to this is the last testament of Dr. Nick Binder, one of the head scientist of the superhuman replication of Project Cadmus and I have unleashed something terrible on this world. First, guess some history on the project...." A loud bang came from the outside.

"Goodbye! Goodbye! No one out there?" The banging stopped as whatever was out there limbered off.

"God help me. We start after the ban of all metahuman activity. Fearing that Earth was left open for an attack we were commissioned to create an army for the United States government. Soldiers with unquestionable loyalty and one that didn't think for themselves. What happen was much worst."

*******

The giant halls were once filled with the buzz of human life has now been replaced with something else. A bearded man with long red hair ran down a long hall. The man turns around to see where his attackers have gone too.

"You can catch me because no am Bizarro Luthor world's dumbest man."

"Not so slow Bizarro Luthor. It's not me Bizarro, world's worst hero."

"It's too early Bizarro me no call Legion of Hope. No come Bizarro Gorilla Grodd later." A small mechanical monkey steps out of the shadows banging two cymbals. "And no come Bizarro Riddler!"

"Time to get a new fence!" Bizarro Riddler shouts.

"Me am scared and me brought the Unjustice League!" A man clad in all red slowly makes his way down the hall where Bizarro came from. "Here come Bizarro Flash, fastest man in Bizarro World! And no come Wonder Woman!" Bizarro leans closer to the villains and whispers, "Really no am man but no likes to dress up like that. Hurh? Where is Bizarro Batman?"

"Bizarro Batman no am scared of everything. No leave house." Bizarro Wonder Woman said in a very deep voice. Right before the two groups were going to fight a man steps in between them.

"No stop nonsense. Bizarro, daughter, no need to see you right now!"

 

[Batman]

MISSION LOG: Week 4, Month 1, Day 23.

It finally happened.

After all the months and plans and numerous bouts of indecision, I finally managed to man up and make the mission a real reality. Part of me can already see that there's going to be some real hell to pay... but I just don't care, anymore. Because last night... I felt like for once, this city wasn't looking down upon it's own troubles anymore. For once, they looked to the skies. And they saw the shadow of a hero.

Well, they didn't. But in time, they'll know where to look.

I guess I should explain what, exactly, I'm talking about, before I go any further. I'm not actually sure I'm going to live through the rest of my life, so maybe someday, someone else will be reading this. Because, as Dinah Lance once put it to me... "History is the only true immortality."

For a good part of my life, I didn't even know this life even existed. And... part of me thinks, looking back, that was more or less of the point. I was never meant to discover this part of my ancestry. I was just filled in on the vague parts... the parts that were supposed to keep me alive, I assume. But I always knew there was more to it than what I was being told. Even when I was a kid, I knew that the man I thought was my father was holding more back than he let on. But this... I just could've never imagined in a million years.

Until about five years ago, I believed my father was a man named Timothy Drake. That was a lie. Really, I'm not bitter about it more than I am sympathetic over the fact that he had to take on the burden of carrying that lie onwards... but it was still a lie. Another lie I was led to believe was that Tim had always worked on one side of the law. The good kind. The kind where you stayed out of trouble, and more importantly, out of jail.

But Tim worked on a different side entirely. Granted, he still served for the same morality... the same purpose, in the long run. To protect, and to serve those who couldn't rightly, or logically do it themselves. He just did it without a badge. Without a gun. In their place lied a mask. It would prove to be a symbol of which I would learn many people wore as a sign of heroism.

Including my parents.

My father, as well as I can put it, was only about twelve when he entered this life. But he grew to become one of the greats... one of the people that the innocent and guilty alike still talk about, to this day. His name was Richard "Dick" Grayson. But that's not the name Gotham City knew him by. And it's definately not the name a city called Bludhaven knew him by. No, to them, he was "Robin". But he died as "Nightwing".

My mother was different. She wasn't forced into this line of work by a set of circumstances that forced her life on a path to ultimate servitude, like all the others. She actually made her way in. She knew she had a calling. And she followed it until she actually fufilled that destiny. It's a part of her story that really made me wish I had known her... someone who was actually willing to help people, from the very beginning. Her real name, like my father, wasn't what the people of this city knew her by. Her name was Barbara Gordon. But the city knew her as "Batgirl". And she died as "Oracle".

It was all pretty strange to take in. It still is, even though I've started following their lead. But each day brings a clearer understanding in why they had to do what they did with their lives. And each day makes what I've done all the more harder to comtemplate, oddly enough.

Why am I doing this? Why did I decide that an age of heroes, long since dead, shouldn't be living in the past anymore?

I still don't know. And it's not as if I didn't have a choice. Sure, my parents had been steeped within this legacy with little to no choice, by the time they died. But I'm sure that, if they had really wanted me to follow that path, they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to keep it from me. So needless to say, when I left the Drake houseold and finally decided to seek something of my own... I was a bit confused at what, exactly, I was seeking.

But that was years ago. Now, it's all so clear, yet so unclear to me at the same time. My parents... their mentor... they had all done this for selfless gain, but nothing is left to honor that nobility. No one took the time to ever give their thanks to the brave men and women that kept Gotham from tearing itself apart, night after night, when they could've very well lived their own normal lives. No one honored Batgirl. No one honored Robin. No one honored Oracle. No one honored Nightwing.

No one honored... Batman.

It's that name that I found myself coming back to, every time I sought out a new link to my past. It took some digging, and piecing together alot of puzzles that no one else probably even made the effort to look for, but I finally realised that Batman was the one and constant thread of which every, truly great crimefighter in this city had ever been attached to. He was an inspiration to thousands. A hero to millions. And a mythic, fantastical work of legend to even more than that.

And what was left to show for his, and his follower's efforts?

A city plagued by crime and corruption. Of course, when I started out on this mission I had made for myself, I didn't really realise how bad it was. I mean, I had lived my entire life around it. I had never really known any other lifestyle. Crime was just a regular, and a bit of a sad occurance, to me. But there was a time when Gotham didn't have to tolerate that sort of terrany. There was a time when this city had heroes. And I guess... well, that's really what I'm trying to do, now. Is to show the people of this city... the people of this world, even... that it doesn't have to go without them anymore.

My name's John. I'm the son of Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, and one of the last descendants of an age of fearless protectors to Gotham City. But in time, I'm hoping that the city itself will learn to call me by another name...


John Richard Gordon pauses typing, as he re-reads the entirety of what he had just completed. A slight smile comes to his face, as he presses the 'Save' icon on the keyboard, and sits back, looking up at the vast inner Clocktower that surrounds him. A couple of Bats chitter above his head, as he looks to them, but leaves them be, thinking that it couldn't be more fitting if they stayed. Behind him, a tall, crimsonly skinned figure approaches, carrying a tray of refreshments, and laying them on the console next to John.

"Your requested beverage, Master Gordon.", it speaks, in an usually mechanical british accent.

John looks back, a bit uneasy at what The Red Tornado had just said, before taking the drink.

"Please, Reddy... don't call me that. It's bad enough that I was the only one willing to re-program you... but for you to act like my slave is really..."

"But I am programmed to primarily mimick the functions of Alfred Pennyworth, aide to Bruce Wayne, Sir. Is that not acceptable?"

"Look, it's fine, but...", John begins, taking a drink and placing it over the computer console, before turning back around. "...I'm pretty sure the relationship extended a bit farther than dusting nick-nacks and sweeping up floors. The Alfred I was told about was a mentor to Wayne, not a machine."

"But I, Master Gordon, am a machine."

John rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well, you don't have to act like it.", John stated, turning back to the computer. "Just call me John, alright? It'll make me feel alot better about this."

The Red Tornado nodded.

"Very well, Master Gordon."

John sighed, heavily, as The Red Tornado left the room. Taking back to his keyboard, John began typing another bit of a message beneath his already finished mission log.

PS: Also, if anyone else ever enters this line of work, just remember to NEVER get an aide. Especially one with a british accent.

 

[Byrd Man]

​

It's during third period I decide what I have to do. The only problem is getting past the cameras.


"Jason, are you deranged? How are you going to get past the cameras to leave school?"

I toss Reggie a confident smirk as the bell rings.

"Don't worry. I can."

I grab my backpack as I leave the biology class.
​

**************
​

The camera's are always focused on the side door, which has an alarm on it which locks the other exits in the school. Making would be invaders and escapers trapped. I can only do this once.

I cast a few looks around to make sure I'm alone. Cost looks clear, everyone's in class by now. I dig into my pack and pull out a small protractor, it's metal and has a nice sharp edge.

"Let's just hope dad's training was worth half a damn."

I sprint full out towards the door. Using my momentum, I leap in the air and push off the wall. I bring the protractor's edge down and it slices through the camera's power cord. I roll on the ground and flick the protractor through the air. It flys through the air and splits the wire that goes to the alarm in half.

"Boo-yah."

I stand up and walk right out the side door.

​

***************
​

It's been a little over an hour since I broke out of school. I have no idea where John is, Gotham is a huge town even if I had a good idea of where he'd be. My mind goes back to one night right before John left..He was talking to dad right after I went to bed.....

"So, she ran her own team?"

"The Bird of Prey, now there was some badass women. She did a lot for the superhuman community after her accident, all of it out of her clocktower."

....Clocktower...clocktower. That old clocktower on Finger Avenue.

A smile graces my lips as I start to walk uptown.

"Pretty smart, bro."

An hour and a bus uptown later. I'm standing infront of the old clocktower, my eyes looking up at the rotting hunk of wood.

"God I hope I'm right."

I walk into the dark building with nothing to go on but my gut.
​

 

[Batman]

SECURITY BREACH DETECTED! SECURITY BREACH DETECTED!

John nearly spat up his coffee when the loud alarm throughout The Clocktower's cybernetically linked system began blaring. Sitting upright, before eventually standing up, John looked around, confused as to what had set them off.

"Good christ, I didn't even know we had alarms!", He exclaimed to himself, frustrated, as he ran up the steps that lead into the above hallways.

Caught off guard by The Red Tornado's descent from a lower level, John slipped and fell on his back, hard, as the alarms continued blaring.

"May I be of assistance, Master Gordon?"

Rubbing the back of his head, as he quickly pressed himself up, John looked up at the machine, a bit unamused.

"Hell yes, you can! Find out whatever's setting off those alarms, grab it, and bring it to me immediately!", John yelled, over the volume of the alarms, as he made his way towards the costume chamber.

"Very well, sir. Request noted. But if I may... what exactly are you doing?", Reddy asked, his Artificial Intelligence beginning to kick in as he began to think with a mind of his own, for a short moment.

"If we have a guest, it's better that I slip into something more comfortable...", John stated, pressing a button as a tube slid open, revealing the iconic, if not slightly mimicked and replicated figure of the Batsuit.

As The Red Tornado turned, and flew down the hallway to comply with John's request, John paused, realising something.

"AND STOP CALLING ME 'MASTER'!"

Below the Clocktower's reinforced quarters, Jason Drake began typing numerous different codes into a displayed keypad on a steel door. It had been covered in dust, slightly, due to it's years of underusage, but it all but confirmed Jason's suspicisons.

Now, however, was the tricky task of finding out the code.

"Damn... He really went to town with this. I've tried everything I can think of!", Jason exclaimed, before mulling it over.

Finally, Jason seemed to perk up, at a certain code.

"Except..."

Typing in a code, Jason gleefully watched as the door slid open, and walked inside.

"Heh. 'Hotpants'. Bro, you really kill me someti-"

However, before Jason could go any further, he seemed to be plucked into the darkness above, by an unseen and unpredicted whirlwind of power. By the time Jason stopped, he was met with a most unusual greeting.

"You should not have come."

At the top of The Clocktower, in the main center, the lights were turned off. It added to the effect, the figure in the darkness thought, as The Red Tornado entered, his cape covering a wiggling, and short, figure of a man. The figure in the darkness stepped forward, his cape clasps dropping on the ground with a rustle of leather, as The Batman stepped forward, dimly lit to face whoever had breached his security.

"I'll handle it from here.", He commanded, his raspy barritone almost equalling Bruce Wayne's, as a result of intensive study of video footage required and collected by his mother over the years.

As The Red Tornado nodded, pulling his cape from the figure it was covering, Batman's eyes seemed to widen, as his jaw silmiltaneously dropped.

"...Jason?!"

 

[MST3K 4ever]

Luthor walks into the Oval Office with the assistance of a cane. He nods to his secretary Brenda and she smiles at him as he walks by.

Amanda Waller head of the A-V-A task force in North America is already in the Oval Office waiting for him as he sits down at his desk.

He says, "Good morning Amanda, what seems to be such an issue that I had to cancel my physical therapy session this morning? The doctors say 4 more good sessions and I should be able to play nine holes by Thanksgiving."

Amanda Waller hands him a folder and says, "This came in this morning from one of our agents in Gotham."

He opens the folder and begins reading. After he is done he takes a deep breath. Luthor closes his eyes and shakes his head slowly.

Luthor asks, "How reliable is this intel?"

Amanda replies, "100% it has been confirmed by three sources."

Luthor says, "Should've known that it was too good to last."

Amanda says, "Now that a new Batman has appeared, and the Joker has escaped we can be looking a significant rise in meta-human activity and many copy-cats of the Joker maybe some older ones coming out hiding. Our prisions are already over-crowded even with some of the executions being stepped up. The super prison off of East Laserna won't be ready for another 6 months and that is with crews working around the clock."

Luthor says, "Priority one shut down Batman. If he is gone then the Joker will more than likely go away as well. Use whatever means you have to. I want his pointed cowl out of circulation once and for all. If there are civilian losses, so be it."

He begins to sweat and opens a bottle of pills taking 2 of them he says, "I don't care what congress says I have dealt with their soft-touch tactics long enough. I am so close to have most of them arrested they will go along with whatever I say this time."

 

[Byrd Man]

​

SECURITY BREACH DETECTED! SECURITY BREACH DETECTED!

John nearly spat up his coffee when the loud alarm throughout The Clocktower's cybernetically linked system began blaring. Sitting upright, before eventually standing up, John looked around, confused as to what had set them off.

"Good christ, I didn't even know we had alarms!", He exclaimed to himself, frustrated, as he ran up the steps that lead into the above hallways.

Caught off guard by The Red Tornado's descent from a lower level, John slipped and fell on his back, hard, as the alarms continued blaring.

"May I be of assistance, Master Gordon?"

Rubbing the back of his head, as he quickly pressed himself up, John looked up at the machine, a bit unamused.

"Hell yes, you can! Find out whatever's setting off those alarms, grab it, and bring it to me immediately!", John yelled, over the volume of the alarms, as he made his way towards the costume chamber.

"Very well, sir. Request noted. But if I may... what exactly are you doing?", Reddy asked, his Artificial Intelligence beginning to kick in as he began to think with a mind of his own, for a short moment.

"If we have a guest, it's better that I slip into something more comfortable...", John stated, pressing a button as a tube slid open, revealing the iconic, if not slightly mimicked and replicated figure of the Batsuit.

As The Red Tornado turned, and flew down the hallway to comply with John's request, John paused, realising something.

"AND STOP CALLING ME 'MASTER'!"

Below the Clocktower's reinforced quarters, Jason Drake began typing numerous different codes into a displayed keypad on a steel door. It had been covered in dust, slightly, due to it's years of underusage, but it all but confirmed Jason's suspicisons.

Now, however, was the tricky task of finding out the code.

"Damn... He really went to town with this. I've tried everything I can think of!", Jason exclaimed, before mulling it over.

Finally, Jason seemed to perk up, at a certain code.

"Except..."

Typing in a code, Jason gleefully watched as the door slid open, and walked inside.

"Heh. 'Hotpants'. Bro, you really kill me someti-"

However, before Jason could go any further, he seemed to be plucked into the darkness above, by an unseen and unpredicted whirlwind of power. By the time Jason stopped, he was met with a most unusual greeting.

"You should not have come."

At the top of The Clocktower, in the main center, the lights were turned off. It added to the effect, the figure in the darkness thought, as The Red Tornado entered, his cape covering a wiggling, and short, figure of a man. The figure in the darkness stepped forward, his cape clasps dropping on the ground with a rustle of leather, as The Batman stepped forward, dimly lit to face whoever had breached his security.

"I'll handle it from here.", He commanded, his raspy barritone almost equalling Bruce Wayne's, as a result of intensive study of video footage required and collected by his mother over the years.

As The Red Tornado nodded, pulling his cape from the figure it was covering, Batman's eyes seemed to widen, as his jaw silmiltaneously dropped.

"...Jason?!"

I smile as I stand up.

"Haha! I knew it! I knew it! Wow, this is so cool."

I look around the darkend room, there's some serious tech in the room, aswell as the bot that's standing over there with his arms crossed.

"How did you do all this? It's incredible..."

I turn around. The look of wonderment fades as I look back at John.

"How have you been? You know, Dad's been worried sick about you..M-....mom ran away a few weeks after you left. She went chasing after that weirdo who was our...um, my grandfather."

 

[Batman]

I smile as I stand up.

"Haha! I knew it! I knew it! Wow, this is so cool."

I look around the darkend room, there's some serious tech in the room, aswell as the bot that's standing over there with his arms crossed.

"How did you do all this? It's incredible..."

I turn around. The look of wonderment fades as I look back at John.

"How have you been? You know, Dad's been worried sick about you..M-....mom ran away a few weeks after you left. She went chasing after that weirdo who was our...um, my grandfather."

Batman simply stood, silent for a moment, as Jason continued to survey the equipment that surrounded him. But what he was really doing was quietly contemplating the situation, as he had been taught to by both Helena Bertinelli and Dinah Lance. It wasn't the method either of them had ever used... but they knew it to be Batman's method. And that method, perhaps, signified more importance to John's quest than anything they had taught him.

But now, he had a problem. Jason was here. And from what he had been saying, he knew. Everything. Though in the long run, it probably shouldn't have been much of a surprise, given that he was the son of Tim Drake, who both Dinah and Helena had praised as being "just as good, if not more" of a detective than Wayne had been.

There were still questions, however, as Batman signaled for Red Tornado to leave the room with a silent nod. And they were questions that John intended to get answered, before the night was through. By any means.

Sighing to himself, realising that preserving his identity was all but useless, by this point, Batman pulled back his cowl, and looked down at Jason with a frustrated sigh.

"Jason, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school, right now?"

 

[Byrd Man]

Batman simply stood, silent for a moment, as Jason continued to survey the equipment that surrounded him. But what he was really doing was quietly contemplating the situation, as he had been taught to by both Helena Bertinelli and Dinah Lance. It wasn't the method either of them had ever used... but they knew it to be Batman's method. And that method, perhaps, signified more importance to John's quest than anything they had taught him.

But now, he had a problem. Jason was here. And from what he had been saying, he knew. Everything. Though in the long run, it probably shouldn't have been much of a surprise, given that he was the son of Tim Drake, who both Dinah and Helena had praised as being "just as good, if not more" of a detective than Wayne had been.

There were still questions, however, as Batman signaled for Red Tornado to leave the room with a silent nod. And they were questions that John intended to get answered, before the night was through. By any means.

Sighing to himself, realising that preserving his identity was all but useless, by this point, Batman pulled back his cowl, and looked down at Jason with a frustrated sigh.

"Jason, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school, right now?"

"Yeah, about the whole 'school' thing. I kinda sorta ditched school after I seen the paper. I knew it had to be you they were talking about. I mean, who else is there to carry on the 'family' buisness?. I came because....because I missed my brother. It's been five years, John. I know we're not blood kin, but that doesn't change a thing. You'll always be my brother."

I walk across the room and sit down at a plush leather chair, kicking my feet up on a control panel.

"There's also another reason I came here today, a proposition if you will."

He arches his eyebrow as I manage a sheephish smile.

"Every Batman needs a Robin."

 

[Charlie No-One]

(IC: Oracle)

OOC: Trying Third Person for a post

James typed furiously into his keyboard. One of his agents was in an area laced with motion sensors. If she were to be caught on one of them, that place would be swarming with anti-Metas in seconds.

“Huntress, I am having troubles shutting down the sensor grid. Whoever installed them is a master in the art of encryption. Don’t move or you might activate them,” he said into his commlink. Huntress was sent out to collect a rare rose that could be extracted to make a powerful remedy for one of Poison Ivy’s deadly herbal gases. The only problem: it was in Pamela Isley’s lair.

“Access Isley’s Power Grid layout,” James said to his computer. Instantly, a map of electrical layouts blinked onto his screen. This was the easy way to shut down the grids, but it was also the most dangerous. It was risky and unpredictable and it killed James to do this to one of his agents. He moved his cursors over the grid that was operating the basement area where Poison Ivy’s lair was set up. Clicking it, a small red box popped up.

​

Password:​

​

“****,” Oracle mumbled. What the hell would the password be? Wait…what was that one rose that she was famous for saving…that one that was one the verge of extinction? James clicked out of the grids and brought up on of the most wonderful tools that was ever invented: Wikipedia.com. He quickly searched for Pamela Isley.

“Aha!”

Password:​

Rosa Mortis​

​

He paused for a second. If this was the wrong password, who knows what could happen. Knowing security today, he wouldn’t be surprised if some kind of booby trap was set off and in moments the police would be at his door. James, expelling those thoughts, hit enter.

CONFIRMED​

The computer buzzed for a moment before bringing up the grid layouts automatically. The grid that he clicked on was now grayed out.

“Ok, Huntress, in a few seconds, the power is going to cut out in that area. During this time, the sensors will turn off and the lock down doors will start to shut. Once the doors shut, you will have exactly 5 minutes to get in the lab where the rose is being held. Here is the catch-“

“Wait, the catch isn’t that I only have five minutes?”

“No. The catch is that by turning off the power, I have alerted the police of your presence. This shows you how important it is that I get that rose. You should be able to get out way you came in fairly quickly and with minimal contact with the police. It takes longer for the anti-Metas to get there, so you should have no problems with the norms. Now, hurry. Time is something we don’t have,”

 

[Batman]

"Yeah, about the whole 'school' thing. I kinda sorta ditched school after I seen the paper. I knew it had to be you they were talking about. I mean, who else is there to carry on the 'family' buisness?. I came because....because I missed my brother. It's been five years, John. I know we're not blood kin, but that doesn't change a thing. You'll always be my brother."

John seemed to react to this, abiet subtley. It had been so long since he had left the Drake house... since he originally found about his true parentage, and what that meant, that he had forgotten what it was like to be able to acknowledge that he had a brother. Or even a family, in truth. John looked away, as soon as he caught a glimpse of Jason again. The last time he had seen him, he was only a boy. John himself, barely even a man. But here they were, five years grown. It was at that moment that it truly weighed upon John just how long it had been. And how much things had changed.

I walk across the room and sit down at a plush leather chair, kicking my feet up on a control panel.

"There's also another reason I came here today, a proposition if you will."

He arches his eyebrow as I manage a sheephish smile.

"Every Batman needs a Robin."

John blinked, once.

He had heard the stories, the myths... the legends of what people referred to as "The Dynamic Duo". Starting with his own father, and eventually ending with Jason's, as they fought proudly at Bruce Wayne's side in Gotham City's darkest hours. But the way Jason presented the idea was, truth be told... juivienile. And more importantly, not at all convincing that Jason really knew what he was asking.

John walked past him, taking to the computer console as he activated some live feeds to Gotham's main streets.

"Jason, what do you see on the screen?"

Before Jason could answer, John interrupted him.

"-No. What you see is my life, now.", John answered, before activating some recorded camera work he had done over the past few months, in preparation and study for taking on the mantle of the Batman.

In the recordings, it displayed various acts of criminality. Rapings, muggings, murders... things that caused many people looked the other way, right down to the city's police force. It was Gotham City, past and present. And with any luck, John's efforts would eventually cease that grim reality.

But he wasn't about to let Jason become one of those casualties. Because even if Jason didn't know it... John had never stopped considering him a brother, even if they weren't blood tied, as he had been led to believe over the years.

"My point is, I don't really think you know what you're asking. What I've been doing over the past few years led exactly to what you saw in this morning's paper. It took alot of work, alot of training, and alot of self descipline for me to actually even get this far...", John explained, before turning back to Jason. "What I've chosen to do is dangerous, Jason. That's why I never chose to come back home. Because if you, or d... Tim, had ever known I was still alive, he would've tried to stop me from becoming Batman. That's what my parents wanted of him."

John turned around, fully facing Jason, as he gave him a serious expression.

"So imagine what he'd think if he found out his real son was out there doing the same thing with me? I'm sorry, Jason, but it's out of the question. I can't afford to have you as a Robin."

 

[Byrd Man]

John seemed to react to this, abiet subtley. It had been so long since he had left the Drake house... since he originally found about his true parentage, and what that meant, that he had forgotten what it was like to be able to acknowledge that he had a brother. Or even a family, in truth. John looked away, as soon as he caught a glimpse of Jason again. The last time he had seen him, he was only a boy. John himself, barely even a man. But here they were, five years grown. It was at that moment that it truly weighed upon John just how long it had been. And how much things had changed.



John blinked, once.

He had heard the stories, the myths... the legends of what people referred to as "The Dynamic Duo". Starting with his own father, and eventually ending with Jason's, as they fought proudly at Bruce Wayne's side in Gotham City's darkest hours. But the way Jason presented the idea was, truth be told... juivienile. And more importantly, not at all convincing that Jason really knew what he was asking.

John walked past him, taking to the computer console as he activated some live feeds to Gotham's main streets.

"Jason, what do you see on the screen?"

Before Jason could answer, John interrupted him.

"-No. What you see is my life, now.", John answered, before activating some recorded camera work he had done over the past few months, in preparation and study for taking on the mantle of the Batman.

In the recordings, it displayed various acts of criminality. Rapings, muggings, murders... things that caused many people looked the other way, right down to the city's police force. It was Gotham City, past and present. And with any luck, John's efforts would eventually cease that grim reality.

But he wasn't about to let Jason become one of those casualties. Because even if Jason didn't know it... John had never stopped considering him a brother, even if they weren't blood tied, as he had been led to believe over the years.

"My point is, I don't really think you know what you're asking. What I've been doing over the past few years led exactly to what you saw in this morning's paper. It took alot of work, alot of training, and alot of self descipline for me to actually even get this far...", John explained, before turning back to Jason. "What I've chosen to do is dangerous, Jason. That's why I never chose to come back home. Because if you, or d... Tim, had ever known I was still alive, he would've tried to stop me from becoming Batman. That's what my parents wanted of him."

John turned around, fully facing Jason, as he gave him a serious expression.

"So imagine what he'd think if he found out his real son was out there doing the same thing with me? I'm sorry, Jason, but it's out of the question. I can't afford to have you as a Robin."

"I'm not asking you if I can be Robin. I'm saying it, I'll become Robin. I have the training. As soon as you left, dad taught me everything he knew in self-defense. I have the skills, plus I have an added bonus from mom's side."

I put my finger on my temple.

"They say the average human uses 10% of their brain potential, Deathstroke used 90%. I use 50%."

I look into John's eyes with firey determenation.

"I'm carrying on the family the name. Your dad was Robin, my dad was Robin. I'm becoming Robin too."

 

[Batman]

"I'm carrying on the family the name. Your dad was Robin, my dad was Robin. I'm becoming Robin too."

John stared at Jason, a blank look on his face. From what Jason was saying, it seemed as if he was preparing to be Robin almost as long as John had been training to become Batman. And as much as John hated to admit it, he knew how stubborn Jason could get. Their entire childhood was an example of that. John feared that if he argued any further, they'd be reduced to the childlike bickering that had practically driven Tim Drake insane over the first few years of their life.

Rubbing his forehead in frustration, John leaned against one of the computer consoles, and sighed. If Jason went out and starting fighting on the streets by himself, as Robin, John knew it would only be a matter of time before he managed to get himself hurt. Or far, far worse. But if he allowed Jason to join his crusade, and watch over him, like the original Batman had done with the Robin's past...

John lowered his head, and closed his eyes.

"If, and probably when, your dad finds out about this... this is entirely your own fault. I take no responsibility, Jason. Is that perfectly clear?", He asked, regretting even considering the possibility.

 

[Byrd Man]

​

John stared at Jason, a blank look on his face. From what Jason was saying, it seemed as if he was preparing to be Robin almost as long as John had been training to become Batman. And as much as John hated to admit it, he knew how stubborn Jason could get. Their entire childhood was an example of that. John feared that if he argued any further, they'd be reduced to the childlike bickering that had practically driven Tim Drake insane over the first few years of their life.

Rubbing his forehead in frustration, John leaned against one of the computer consoles, and sighed. If Jason went out and starting fighting on the streets by himself, as Robin, John knew it would only be a matter of time before he managed to get himself hurt. Or far, far worse. But if he allowed Jason to join his crusade, and watch over him, like the original Batman had done with the Robin's past...

John lowered his head, and closed his eyes.

"If, and probably when, your dad finds out about this... this is entirely your own fault. I take no responsibility, Jason. Is that perfectly clear?", He asked, regretting even considering the possibility.

I do my best to hide the smile. Knew that would get him.

"Crystal clear, Batman. Hey I like the sound of that. Batman and Robin, The Dynamic Duo! Don't worry, I'll take responsibility. We can say I tied you up until you decided to take me on as your sidekick. Jokes aside, I'm really serious about this. This isn't a game to me, you have my word. Not as Robin, but as your brother."

 

[Batman]

I do my best to hide the smile. Knew that would get him.

"Crystal clear, Batman. Hey I like the sound of that. Batman and Robin, The Dynamic Duo! Don't worry, I'll take responsibility. We can say I tied you up until you decided to take me on as your sidekick. Jokes aside, I'm really serious about this. This isn't a game to me, you have my word. Not as Robin, but as your brother."

"Then if you're going to join me, we need to lay down some ground rules.", John stated, trying his absolute best to hide the coming smirk that was forming onto his face, as he realised that it was payback time for getting him to agree to this.

"First rule, you follow my rules. My instructions, my calculations... everything. And never argue them. If we're going to be a team, and if I'm going to keep you out of trouble... and especially if you're going to be running around in a set of red and green tights... I expect to be able to have full control over what we're doing, and how we're doing it. It's how Batman worked with my father, and how Batman worked with your's. Understood?"

He could already see the look of horror and unease on Jason's face, which brought out the smirk, as John placed a hand on his shoulder, passing him.

"Good. I'll make up some more rules and guidelines later. Let's begin."

John hated to admit it... but he felt like he was starting to enjoy taking up the mantle of Batman. Maybe even a bit too much than he should've.

 

[Byrd Man]

"Then if you're going to join me, we need to lay down some ground rules.", John stated, trying his absolute best to hide the coming smirk that was forming onto his face, as he realised that it was payback time for getting him to agree to this.

"First rule, you follow my rules. My instructions, my calculations... everything. And never argue them. If we're going to be a team, and if I'm going to keep you out of trouble... and especially if you're going to be running around in a set of red and green tights... I expect to be able to have full control over what we're doing, and how we're doing it. It's how Batman worked with my father, and how Batman worked with your's. Understood?"

He could already see the look of horror and unease on Jason's face, which brought out the smirk, as John placed a hand on his shoulder, passing him.

"Good. I'll make up some more rules and guidelines later. Let's begin."

John hated to admit it... but he felt like he was starting to enjoy taking up the mantle of Batman. Maybe even a bit too much than he should've.

"Damn, you're a tough taskmaster. But, from what little dad's told me, you're nowhere near Bruce."

I look around the darkened room.

"Say, where's that robot at? Think he could make me a dry martini?"

 

[Kaboom]

Christopher Kent

It was a hop skip and a second later I was in Smallville.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your graduation Christopher," Ma kent said from her bed. "I was with you in spirit."

"I know grandma," I replied. "Its okay. Its just sometimes I feel so...alone. Like I dont belong."

"When Clark felt like that, he would go to the Fortress talk to Jor-El, gave him a sense of belonging. You should try it."

"I don't even know what it means to be a Kryptonian."

"When Clark was your age. He didn't either. But what's important is not being human, or kryptonian, of fitting in. What's important is doing the right thing. Always."

"I guess you're right."

"I guess you better get moving then. Now come and give your grandmother a kiss good bye."

 

[Karem-Knight]

Smallville, Kansas USA:

“C-Clark!”

She said embracing him and giving him a kiss, he gave her a kiss back.

“I’ve missed you!”

She closed the door letting Clark in, It was the usual yearly round, She was his only human contact in the world. Clark now saw himself as a failure and nothing else, But that wasn’t true.

The first year Martha and Jonathan tried to convince him to stay, the second year, the tried again and again. By the fifth year they agreed to his yearly visits.

“How have you been?”

“Well, the same not much has changed.”

Clark said just checking out the house, It was the same.

He walked over to something, a picture of his father Jonathan Kent. It had been five years since he died, Clark didn’t attend the funereal, although he did pay his respects to his father one last time.

“Do you want something to drink?”

“Just a glass of water please Ma.”

Clark walked into the kitchen.

“I’ll get for you.”

“No that’s all right, I can get it myself.”

She opened the tap getting his glass of water, All of a sudden the water started leaking.

Martha sighed, it had been leaking for a while and she obviously wanted it fixed, But she let it go, All of a sudden Clark bent down and used his heat vision to stop bring the metal together.

“There you go.”

Martha smiled, he hadn’t changed a bit, still the kind-sharing individual he was 20 years ago, Only with grey hair.

Clark felt it.

“Er Ma do you mind if I use your mirror?”

“Go ahead.”

She said, she was calm, Clark got out a mirror and started using his heat vision, the reflection hit his hair, with accuracy he managed to get it all to the length he wanted.

“Thanks Mum.”

“You look beautiful sweetie!”

Clark then walked into the living room watching the TV.

“Preparations begin for the 20th anniversary of D-Day, possibly the defining moment of the 21st century, Over 10 millions candles will be lit and sent through various rivers around the world commentating all the victims, world leaders are set to arrive on this occasion at Metropolis Square, including former presidents, Bill Clinton, Geroge W Bush, Barrack Obama and current Preisdent Lex Luthor, along with other world leaders.”

Clark closed his eyes and lowered his head, His failure kept on reminding him, He turned around.

“Hey Ma, do you mind if I just go to the back of the old shed to check out a few things?”

“Of course dear.”

Clark walked out to the back of the house, and went into the old shed, It brought a smile to his face the times he spent here.

He went to his first box, seeing pictures of child hood years, Him and Pete Ross playing in the back yard, His prom with Lana Lang.

Then he caught something else, His marriage with Lois Lane, The photo cracked as he pressed to hard, he lowered his head again.

He put that box down to open the next one, When he opened it it hit him right in the face.

His old suit.

“Hope!”

He said, the nostalgia of those times hit him.
He grabbed the suit looking at its layout, it gave him a smile.

He inspired an entire generation to be brave, he brought the generations of heroes, and Even the JSA didn’t inspire as many people as Superman did.

Clark then put the suit back into the box thinking to him, Those days are over.

As he walked out the shed, Literally as soon as he went on the doorstep, He thought of everything that’s happened during the years, wars, deaths, the digital age, the A.V.A., Luthor’s leadership it all hit him like a bolt of lighting.

Clark went towards the suit, He grabbed it friskily tightening his grip on it, thinking of what is father said to him.

The world needs a hero.


His old suit.

“Hope!”

He said, the nostalgia of those times hit him.
He grabbed the suit looking at its layout, it gave him a smile.

He inspired an entire generation to be brave, he brought the generations of heroes, and Even the JSA didn’t inspire as many people as Superman did.

Clark then put the suit back into the box thinking to him, Those days are over.

As he walked out the shed, Literally as soon as he went on the doorstep, He thought of everything that’s happened during the years, wars, deaths, the digital age, the A.V.A., Luthor’s leadership it all hit him like a bolt of lighting.

Clark went towards the suit, He grabbed it friskily tightening his grip on it, and thinking of what is father said to him.

The world needs a hero.

Thinking to himself, he put the suit back into the box and reassembled everything.

He then went over back to the house.

“Oh Clark!”

His mother said.

“Your old bedroom is set up.”

Kal smiled, she had obviously had it prepared for a year.

“Thanks mom.”

He said walking towards the kitchen.

“So, When are you planning on going to Metropolis?”

Clark turned around.

“In about three days, I want to get round the place a bit more, I’ve often just seen a bit of it, Just take a look around.”

Martha turned around to Clark.

“What about Christopher?”

Clark closed his eyes.

It turned silent for a minute.

“I’m sorry I haven’t seen him grow up Ma. He…..he turned out ok didn’t he?”

“Yes he did, He turned out to be a very good young man, He graduated from University a few days ago.”

Clark shook his head.

“I’ve missed so much, I checked up what I’ve missed during the last 20 years, Luthor is back as President!”

Clark’s fist became clenched.

“What’s for dinner?”

“Meatloaf, Listen Clark.”

She put her hand on his shoulder.

“Why don’t you stay here and catch up with everyone, You’ve been gone so long, I’m not asking you to put on the suit. Superman doesn’t need to come back but maybe, Maybe Clark Kent does.”

Clark smiled hugging his mother.

“I’m going up stairs, Just to see the old room I’ll come back down when you’re ready.”

She shook her head as went up the stairs.

Clark went up his old room, He then noticed the roof, It made him smile.

When he was a kid he would fly onto the roof and sit down thinking to himself, without thinking he gently floated in the air making a way for him to sit down on top.

When Clark managed he stood up looking round his hometown of Smallville. Thinking of what his mother said, how maybe Superman doesn’t need to come back but maybe Clark does.

Maybe she was right and wrong; maybe the world needed both Clark Kent and Superman.

The world needs a hero………………..

 

[Johnny Blaze]

MEMORIES ~ Part 1

The figure zoomed through the Keystone City streets, coming to a stop at the rebuilt Flash Museum. It had been destroyed during the cities occupation all those years ago, but, when the war was over, it was one of the first structures to be rebuilt.
Standing outside the building on either side were two gigantic bronze statues, one depicting Jay Garrick, the original Flash, and the other one a tribute another of the cities greatest heroes, Wally West, the Flash.

Gazing at the statues smiling faces, tears began to well up in the eyes of the man in the scarlet uniform.

My name is Barry West...I'm the Flash, the Fastest Man Alive. But it didn't always be this way...

My dad, Wally, was the greatest hero I've ever known. Despite being a full time member of the Justice League and a night time mechanic for the KCPD, he always had time for his family. He was always there for Iris and me. When our powers manifested, he taught us how to use them properly. Iris was a quick learner. Unfortunately, I wasn't.

I was a cocky sixteen year old who thought of the hero business as one big game instead of the serious life and death struggle it really is. Luckily, dad and Iris were always there to help keep me grounded and my mind focused. Dad used to always say I reminded him too much like Bart when he was my age...and he didn't say it like it was a good thing. I was thick headed though and just shrugged it all off. I lived in the moment, carefree and always trusting that dad and Iris would be there to catch me if I fell.

That all changed on D-Day, the day Darkseid came...

The war he made on the planet was terrible. It was the most frightening thing I had ever seen, and I hope to God that nobody ever has to witness destruction and cruelty on that level ever again, anywhere. For months we battled against the forces of Apokolips. Many heroes, those with powers and those regular folks who took up arms to defend their homes, died in the war. My moral began to crumble, the once arrogant Barry was being taken apart piece by piece. I forced to grow up during those months and the horrors I witnessed. But none so horrible as the day we returned to the Twin Cities to liberate them from Darkseid's forces who had taken control of them a week earlier.

Already small seeds that would grow into fire pits were being planted, and most of the surviving populace had been enslaved with collars designed by Granny Goodness, and were forced to build monument and war machines for Darkseid. There were a dozen of us heroes along with two battalions of Marines who attacked that day. I remember my father leading the heroes into battle...Jay was there, along with my sister and me...Bart and his Titan friends, Cyborg and Beast Boy joined up...Katana, Jesse Quick, Animal Man, Faith, and Hourman also jumped at the chance to pay back Darkseid's minions for what they've done.

Those of us who ride the lightning, we made our way throughout the city destroying the slave collars and freeing the minds of the remaining populace. They immediately grabbed what they could and began to fight back against their oppressors. Even the Rogues, who had gone into hiding when the Twin Cities fell to the invaders, appeared and fought along side the heroes. Seeing all this transpire around me, that's when I realized it. We weren't just fighting to liberate Keystone and Central, we were fighting for our right to survive, to exist. And if you give the human race proper motivation to defend itself, it's a scary, awe-inspiring thing to witness.

The battle was fierce. Many heroes, both metas and Marines, died that day, but, for every one that fell, two parademons fell with them. It was clear we were pushing them back. Then he showed up. I remember seeing Katana incinerated before my eyes by the man Darkseid placed in charge of the Twin Cities, Mantis. He was terror to see. So much power in such an evil creature - he could level the entire city if he wanted to - we knew we had to take him down and do it quickly. Us heroes and a few of the Rogues converged on him, but Mantis just laughed us off. He tore the Trickster in half and used his legs to beat Hourman to a pulp. It took all I had to keep from throwing up at the sight of it. Eventually my dad had seen enough.

I had been knocked a few blocks away from one of Mantis' backhands, and Iris was tending to me when my dad and Jay ran up. The look in his eyes as he looked at us...I'll never forget that. As if all the love in all the universe was focused in his eyes and it was radiating out on to us. Corny, I know, but that's how it felt. But, hidden behind the love was sadness. I didn't understand it at the time - especially after having my bell rung - but, my father looked at the two of us, put his arms around us and hugged us as tighter as he ever had before.

"I love you guys", he said as he tried to keep his voice from cracking, "You two have been the greatest part of my life, and I'm so proud of you two. No matter what happens, I'll always and forever love you. I want you to remember that."

Then he held us in the embrace for a second more, which to us speedster seemed like an eternity, and then stood back up and turned to Jay, his face a mask of determination.

"Let's do it."

Jay nodded, and turned to us and smiled the classic, warm-hearted smile Grandpa Jay still wore, despite Joan's death weeks before in the initial stages of the war, "Goodbye, Barry, Iris. You two have been one of the things that have kept me going since Joan died, and I'll miss you. I want you to know that I love you two, and I know that you'll do your father proud."

And, in a flash, they were gone...

 

[Cyrusbales]

A whirring device mixes and blends various fluids and samples, Victor watches patiently while looking through notes.

BEEP BEEP

“Now then, what have we got for me today…”

The monitor in front of him shows what he’s been waiting for.

“Positive. It would seem my theory was right. Now I may begin phase two.”

With the newest concoction of liquid, Freeze made his way down into the basement of the complex, he was the only one to have set foot there since it’s construction. In the centre stood a pod, of crystal like ice, almost like glass.

Within the pod, frozen in a poise of terror, was a person. No one important, someone who meant nothing to anyone. Flicking on the main light for the basement, something horrid became clear.

Tens of pods, possibly over a hundred littered the corners and walls, some with people similar to the central pod, others filled with the rotten and disfigured remnants of failed experiments.

“Look’s like things are about to change around here little one…”