The "World of Heroes" DC RPG Season IV

[Franklin Richards]

Noise stupid. Clown says something. Noise stupid.

"Born on a Monday,"

Pretty Eyes. Clown talking again. Noise stupid.


"GAHHHHH"

Solomon Grundy punches a hole through the top of the Ice Cream truck.

<KRUNCH>

The Van sways but keeps it's course. The Joker's maniacal laugh hanging in the air.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA"

What?

Noise stop. Good. Noise stupid. What am that?

Mmmmm. Ice Cream.

"Grundy like Ice Cream."

Grundy wonder what brain ice cream taste like.

 

[Keyser Soze]

The Joker, Solomon Grundy and Harley Quinn had not taken long to get out of Gotham City in their little ice-cream van. They had quickly stopped off at one of his hideouts, and The Joker had taken a shower and changed his clothes to get rid of the excremental sewer-stink that had been clinging to him. He was now dressed in a black tuxedo, and sat by his side was a new cane to replace the one he'd lost in the sewer. They had just arrived in Bludhaven when an...unforseen disturbance took place:

"Grundy like ice cream."



Grundy began to snack, when he grabbed his ears in pain.

"Gaaaah! Loud noise. Making Grundy mad. Clown will make it stop. Noise hurt."

The Joker nearly jumped out his skin when Grundy screamed. As the hulking monster writhed back and forth in pain, the whole van rocked from side to side. The Joker needed to calm him down.

"Don't worry, Solly," he said soothingly, "Your old pal Joker will make it stop. Here, I'll...I'll just put on some music."

The Joker flicked a switch, and the ice-cream van began to play a cheery jingle. He had no idea what Grundy could hear, but hopefully this drowned it out.

As they got deeper into Bludhaven, The Joker began to spot the decaying corpses littered all over the place. He grinned as he admired his handywork. Hundreds of rotting faces smiling back at him. He'd turned the whole city into a work of art!

The Joker brought the van to a halt by a bus-shelter, where an old lady was slouched back lifelessly on the bench.

"You look like a happy old hag," The Joker cackled, "How would you like an ice-cream, free of charge? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Harley made him a vanilla ice-cream cone. The Joker turned it upside down and stuck it on the old lady's greyish forehead. Then, he drove off, laughing all the way through the rest of their journey, right until they stopped at the given address on 52nd Street. The three of them got out the van and made their way up the building to Apartment 15.

"It's time to meet a new friend, Solly," The Joker said to Grundy, before knocking on the door, "Hey, Crane, open up! It's Batman! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

 

[Watchman]

Scarecrow opened the door and there stood the three of them.

"Ah Joker, Ms. Quinn, and..." he looks up at Solomen Grundy "and you you got my message very good well come in out of the cold". The three of them entered the apartment where Agent Stone spotted all three of them.

"Joker this is my friend Agent Stone with the F.B.I he is really excited to meet you but be careful he's alitte frighten and after you had your little chat with him we have matters to discuss". Agent Stone's face was frozen in terror as the group gathered around him.

 

[Spider-Man9X17]

"What a mess."

Natalie sighed, sweeping up some broken glass into a dust pan. The club was going to be closed for nearly a month for repairs, so until then the girls had to earn a livivng helping with the clean up. At least she could keep her clothes on. No sweaty old men eyeing her up and down.

She shuddered. This job had seemed like it would be so fun and exciting. Right outta high school, looking for good money, seeking a thrill or two. And she had enjoyed it, kinda, at first. Young girl, barley 18, showing off her body, all the cutest guys after her...

Never would she have thought she'd be doing it 5 years later. But, it paid the bills. And she would be graduating next year. Until then, this was the only job she qualified for.

"Need a hand?"

Nattie jumped, spilling the content of the dust pan and falling over a nearby chair. Trying to catch her breath, she looked up to see a green gloved hand reaching out, offering to help her up.

"After all, I kinda helped make the mess."

Green Lantern smiled. Nattie reached out and took his hand. She could feel it tremble as he pulled her up. He was nervous as some little high school geek asking out the head cheerleader. She found that kinda cute. She was intimdating the one of the most powerful people in the universe.

"Yeah, well, if it wasn't for you, things could gotten a lot worse than just a smashed up building and some spilled alcohol."

Kyle chuckled, a shy little laugh. Trying to avoid eye contact, he reached out with his ring and enclosed a larger area of rubble. Concentrating, he made the green bubble smaller and smaller, until a good chucnk of the debris was compressed down to the size of a baseball.

"So, is cleaning up the only reason you came back?"

"Yeah, uh, well, just wanted to make sure everybody was ok. Left in kinda a hurry yesterday."

"Uh huh."

Nattie watched as Green Lantern cleaned up most of the bigger debris in just around five minutes.

"Well, there ya go. Save you a lot of trouble. Don't wanna be cutting yourself or anything. Gotta kepp that body looking, ummm, gotta stay in shape."

"Nice one, dumbass," he told himself.

"So, still no name?"

"We'll see," Kyle turned and walked for the door.

"So, how does a girl get in touch with you?"

Kyle smiled one more time before leaving without an answer.

"Smooth, Romeo," he told himself once he was airborne. "I mean, what were you even thinking, going back there?"

Before he could answer himself, his ring began to hum. Incoming message.

"Ganthet, what's the word."

"We have detected a new green energy source on Earth, much like Lantern power, but yet distinctly unique. All communication attempts have failed."

"Right. I'll try and check it out. Any cooridinates."

"It was last detected heading toward the city of Metropolis."

"Gotcha. Rayner out."

Kyle switched courses and headed towards Metropolis. Some kind of new Lantern? Someone stealing the power?

"Guy?"

 

[Johnny Blaze]

Vertigo: Part VIII
Vertigo Castle

“Same to you.” Deadshot said as he quickly got up and pointed his wrist magnums at the Mirror Master. There was a certain honour amongst thieves, but only between the Rogues, and if there was one outfit Deadshot would never join, it’d be the Rogues.

The Rogues was a good idea in concept, but too many possibilities for waking up with your throat slit. The bastards wouldn’t even let you die in your sleep. They’d wake you up before doing it. Mirror Master had to be the most annoying one of the lot, with his bleeding Scottish accent.

After an awkward silence, McCulloch opened up the conversation again.
"So, I take it that you must be here for th' same reason as me?"

McCulloch moved ever so slightly to the left to a small spot on the floor that held a small puddle of water. Moving quickly, McCulloch's gun flashed a bright blast of light meant to temporarily blind the assassin for a few seconds. Just long enough for him to disappear into the puddle and to create a hard light dupelicate of himself that ran back and took cover behind a suit of old knight's armor, firing blasts of light energy as it did so.

 

[Spike_x1]

At the very moment that his bodyguard was giving and receiving blows from Superman, Lex Luthor was in a board meeting in the floor directly below his office. The usual attendees arrived and after the customary pleasantries were exchanged, they all sat in their seats and gazed upon Luthor, who was at the head of the massive table with the setting sun beaming back at them through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making the silhouette of their boss all the more ominous.

"So Lex, why'd you call all of us up here?" asked one of the men in attendance.

"Yeah, Luthor," said a woman. "I had to cancel a meeting with Keystone Motors to get here on time. What's the big deal?"

"My friends and colleagues, I have great news!"

************
Superman forced his knee into the Bodyguard's midsection, doubling him over. Recovering from the blow, the Bodyguard glanced upward and could've sworn he saw a red streak coming towards them from across the Metropolis skyline. Before he could focus his eyes more, Superman punched him in the side of the head, sending him staggering a few steps away.

************
"The U.S. Government has finally decided to renew our defense contracts! We've been given another chance to help defend our country." Lex stood up and moved out of the sun's beams and began circling the board table, his face glowing with excitement. He may pretend to be happy for merely the opportunity to contribute to his fellow Americans, but each and every one of the board members at hand knew that he was only happy for the impending funding to develop more weapons and technology to add to his resume (not to mention his stockpile). They all knew that the Parasite's masquerade as Luthor had completely severed the government's trust in them, and that it really was a miracle and a leap of faith that those contracts had now been restored.

"Well, that is great news Lex, but couldn't you have told us this over the phone?" The woman leaned forward onto the table inquisitively.

"Ah, but Sheryl," Luthor waved a finger teasingly. "Over the phone, I would not have been able to show all of you our newest toys for the troops:" As if on cue, the center of the board table opened up and a small platform rose from beneath. On top of the platform was an apparatus that resembled a high-tech homemade coffee maker, only it was missing the pitcher. "This is our newest model of the site-to-site teleporter: the TeleMatrix 6." A series of mumbling came from the board members. "Now, I know what you're all thinking; that the military and other similar organizations have had our previous line of teleporters in their armories for years now, but only the TeleMatrix 6 doesn't require any receiving pad for the transported matter to rematerialize on. All it needs is a set of predetermined coordinates to travel to, and a sufficient power supply."

************
Regaining his strength of muscle, plus his strength of will, the Bodyguard took Superman by surprise and laid a solid uppercut to the Man of Steel's chin, sending him soaring off of the parking garage and landing on the roof of the smaller neighboring building.

The exact position that Luthor had told him to lure Superman into.

As soon as the hero landed on the roof, the Bodyguard stood looking over him from the garage and pressed a button on his wristwatch to signal Lex that the target was in position.

************
Luthor had just finished presenting the teleporter to the board when he received the signal from Joseph. It came in the form of a small silently flashing red light emanating from Lex's computer console at the head of the table. Seeing the light out of the corner of his eye, Lex stopped orbiting the board members and walked over to the blinking light. Several of the other members saw the flashing light but dismissed it as Luthor switched it off. "Ignore that. It just means that I have mail." Lex flashed his shining white teeth and continued the meeting.

"Now, what I have to show you all next is another marvel of our engineering teams;" Lex reached into a compartment at his seat and revealed a small glass cylinder that appeared to be empty. "Inside of this container is a microscopic group of specialized nanites that can be teleported anywhere within range of the TeleMatrix 6. In this instance, they're simply going to go back to our R&D lab several hundred floors down, but imagine the uses that the United States Military could come up with if they ever wanted to teleport such things as nerve gas canisters or even explosives into an enemy camp. The possibilities are endless!"

With that, Luthor opened the little glass cylinder in his hand and poured its invisibly small contents into the opening of the TeleMatrix 6. Smiling pleasantly to his pawns, Lex pressed a sequence of buttons and the teleporter sparkled to life briefly and then calmed down. "And it&#8217;s just that simple!"

************
When Lex indicated that he had received the signal from his Bodyguard as he turned off the blinking light, it sent an automatic reply to the Bodyguard and meant that he was to retreat from the fight immediately. He was instructed to make his way into the sewers and eventually back to LexCorp. As he was about to do just that, he saw a familiar, if unexpected face show up: Captain Marvel!
Knowing that he couldn't successfully fight his way past both the Man of Steel and the Big Red Cheese, the Bodyguard grabbed a vacant car that was only a few feet away from him and, without a word, launched it at a large gathering of civilians in the streets below. Knowing that Marvel would sooner catch the car than stay and beat on him, the Bodyguard leapt from the parking garage and made his way into the lead-lined sewers.

************
Of course, little did the other board members suspect; the nanites that Lex Luthor had shown to them were NOT teleported to the LexCorp Research and Development labs. In fact, they were transported to a far more interesting locale.

 

[MST3K 4ever]

At the very moment that his bodyguard was giving and receiving blows from Superman, Lex Luthor was in a board meeting in the floor directly below his office. The usual attendees arrived and after the customary pleasantries were exchanged, they all sat in their seats and gazed upon Luthor, who was at the head of the massive table with the setting sun beaming back at them through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making the silhouette of their boss all the more ominous.

"So Lex, why'd you call all of us up here?" asked one of the men in attendance.

"Yeah, Luthor," said a woman. "I had to cancel a meeting with Keystone Motors to get here on time. What's the big deal?"

"My friends and colleagues, I have great news!"

************
Superman forced his knee into the Bodyguard's midsection, doubling him over. Recovering from the blow, the Bodyguard glanced upward and could've sworn he saw a red streak coming towards them from across the Metropolis skyline. Before he could focus his eyes more, Superman punched him in the side of the head, sending him staggering a few steps away.

************
"The U.S. Government has finally decided to renew our defense contracts! We've been given another chance to help defend our country." Lex stood up and moved out of the sun's beams and began circling the board table, his face glowing with excitement. He may pretend to be happy for merely the opportunity to contribute to his fellow Americans, but each and every one of the board members at hand knew that he was only happy for the impending funding to develop more weapons and technology to add to his resume (not to mention his stockpile). They all knew that the Parasite's masquerade as Luthor had completely severed the government's trust in them, and that it really was a miracle and a leap of faith that those contracts had now been restored.

"Well, that is great news Lex, but couldn't you have told us this over the phone?" The woman leaned forward onto the table inquisitively.

"Ah, but Sheryl," Luthor waved a finger teasingly. "Over the phone, I would not have been able to show all of you our newest toys for the troops:" As if on cue, the center of the board table opened up and a small platform rose from beneath. On top of the platform was an apparatus that resembled a high-tech homemade coffee maker, only it was missing the pitcher. "This is our newest model of the site-to-site teleporter: the TeleMatrix 6." A series of mumbling came from the board members. "Now, I know what you're all thinking; that the military and other similar organizations have had our previous line of teleporters in their armories for years now, but only the TeleMatrix 6 doesn't require any receiving pad for the transported matter to rematerialize on. All it needs is a set of predetermined coordinates to travel to, and a sufficient power supply."

************
Regaining his strength of muscle, plus his strength of will, the Bodyguard took Superman by surprise and laid a solid uppercut to the Man of Steel's chin, sending him soaring off of the parking garage and landing on the roof of the smaller neighboring building.

The exact position that Luthor had told him to lure Superman into.

As soon as the hero landed on the roof, the Bodyguard stood looking over him from the garage and pressed a button on his wristwatch to signal Lex that the target was in position.

************
Luthor had just finished presenting the teleporter to the board when he received the signal from Joseph. It came in the form of a small silently flashing red light emanating from Lex's computer console at the head of the table. Seeing the light out of the corner of his eye, Lex stopped orbiting the board members and walked over to the blinking light. Several of the other members saw the flashing light but dismissed it as Luthor switched it off. "Ignore that. It just means that I have mail." Lex flashed his shining white teeth and continued the meeting.

"Now, what I have to show you all next is another marvel of our engineering teams;" Lex reached into a compartment at his seat and revealed a small glass cylinder that appeared to be empty. "Inside of this container is a microscopic group of specialized nanites that can be teleported anywhere within range of the TeleMatrix 6. In this instance, they're simply going to go back to our R&D lab several hundred floors down, but imagine the uses that the United States Military could come up with if they ever wanted to teleport such things as nerve gas canisters or even explosives into an enemy camp. The possibilities are endless!"

With that, Luthor opened the little glass cylinder in his hand and poured its invisibly small contents into the opening of the TeleMatrix 6. Smiling pleasantly to his pawns, Lex pressed a sequence of buttons and the teleporter sparkled to life briefly and then calmed down. "And it’s just that simple!"

************
When Lex indicated that he had received the signal from his Bodyguard as he turned off the blinking light, it sent an automatic reply to the Bodyguard and meant that he was to retreat from the fight immediately. He was instructed to make his way into the sewers and eventually back to LexCorp. As he was about to do just that, he saw a familiar, if unexpected face show up: Captain Marvel!
Knowing that he couldn't successfully fight his way past both the Man of Steel and the Big Red Cheese, the Bodyguard grabbed a vacant car that was only a few feet away from him and, without a word, launched it at a large gathering of civilians in the streets below. Knowing that Marvel would sooner catch the car than stay and beat on him, the Bodyguard leapt from the parking garage and made his way into the lead-lined sewers.

************
Of course, little did the other board members suspect; the nanites that Lex Luthor had shown to them were NOT teleported to the LexCorp Research and Development labs. In fact, they were transported to a far more interesting locale.

Marvel waited for Superman to reply but then saw the car being hurled at the civilians. He exclamed " Holey Moley! I got to move now. Sorry Superman but those people come first!" Marvel flew with the speed of Mercury and caught the car. The crowd applauds and cheers as Marvel flies the car back into the garage.

He looks around and sees that whoever was here is now gone. He says, "Well that was brief. Probably should go check on Superman if he's still around." Marvel then flies to Superman's last location.

 

[LibrarianThorne]

Marvel waited for Superman to reply but then saw the car being hurled at the civilians. He exclamed " Holey Moley! I got to move now. Sorry Superman but those people come first!" Marvel flew with the speed of Mercury and caught the car. The crowd applauds and cheers as Marvel flies the car back into the garage.

He looks around and sees that whoever was here is now gone. He says, "Well that was brief. Probably should go check on Superman if he's still around." Marvel then flies to Superman's last location.

Captain Marvel. He'd always respected Marvel, even if he came off as naive. Marvel had a good heart, and when it was still around, a valued member of the Justice League.

Superman stood shakily to his feet. Something felt... off, but he couldn't quite place it. Probably just rattled from that fight with Luthor's bodyguard. The list of people that could hurt me is a short one, so all I have to do is figure out who Luthor could have hired.

Superman dusted himself off and peered into the sky, switching through bands with his super vision. The bodyguard was gone, where to Superman couldn't tell. Luthor, in his paranoia, had seen to it that much of Metropolis was lined with lead, including everything owned by LexCorp, rendering Superman's X-Ray Vision all but useless in certain areas of the city.

He then cast about. Marvel had the current situation under control, that much was readily apparent. His super-hearing picked up the crackle of a distant fire somewhere in the Hob's Bay district of Metropolis.

"Marvel! Thanks for the help, but there's an emergency I have to see to!"

With that, he was off, a red and blue rocket shooting into the sky. There would be time later to figure out what had transpired here, and what Luthor's plans were. Right now, there were people that needed the help of Superman.

 

[Harlekin]

Vertigo: Part IX
Vertigo Castle

After an awkward silence, McCulloch opened up the conversation again.
"So, I take it that you must be here for th' same reason as me?"

McCulloch moved ever so slightly to the left to a small spot on the floor that held a small puddle of water. Moving quickly, McCulloch's gun flashed a bright blast of light meant to temporarily blind the assassin for a few seconds. Just long enough for him to disappear into the puddle and to create a hard light dupelicate of himself that ran back and took cover behind a suit of old knight's armor, firing blasts of light energy as it did so.

As soon as Deadshot saw Mirror Master lift his gun, and the bright shining light began to appear, Deadshot reacted with lightning-fast reflexes as he shot a round of bullets at the castle walls at different angles. Thanks to his marksmanship, none of the bullets would turn to affect him.

It did however, hit the hard-light duplicate of the Mirror Master at different spots of his body, revealing the dupe for what it really was. As the light of McCulloch’s gun dissipated, Deadshot was seemingly left alone in the halls, with the Mirror Master not in sight. Quickly, he looked around for any reflective surfaces, and in doing so, pointed one gun at the small puddle he had spotted and the knight’s armour.

 

[MST3K 4ever]

Captain Marvel. He'd always respected Marvel, even if he came off as naive. Marvel had a good heart, and when it was still around, a valued member of the Justice League.

Superman stood shakily to his feet. Something felt... off, but he couldn't quite place it. Probably just rattled from that fight with Luthor's bodyguard. The list of people that could hurt me is a short one, so all I have to do is figure out who Luthor could have hired.

Superman dusted himself off and peered into the sky, switching through bands with his super vision. The bodyguard was gone, where to Superman couldn't tell. Luthor, in his paranoia, had seen to it that much of Metropolis was lined with lead, including everything owned by LexCorp, rendering Superman's X-Ray Vision all but useless in certain areas of the city.

He then cast about. Marvel had the current situation under control, that much was readily apparent. His super-hearing picked up the crackle of a distant fire somewhere in the Hob's Bay district of Metropolis.

"Marvel! Thanks for the help, but there's an emergency I have to see to!"

With that, he was off, a red and blue rocket shooting into the sky. There would be time later to figure out what had transpired here, and what Luthor's plans were. Right now, there were people that needed the help of Superman.

Marvel heard Superman express his thanks and take to the sky. Wow Jimmy Olsen was right he can't stay still for a second. I'm sure he and I will cross paths again. Well looks like things are under control here....might be time for a quick patrol around the city. Then again this is Superman's territory...I think it's time for Billy Batson to make a return appearance and for me to stay out of the way. If trouble comes up and Superman isn't around I hope he doesn't mind my pitching in.

Marvel around flew to find the right spot to change again. This is tougher than I thought it would be...with Superman around all the time everyone is looking at the sky. Finally he finds a spot near and lands. He says "Shazam!"

KABOOM!

Billy Batson walks out from the alley. I think I was planning on a cup of coffee...might be time for one. Billy walks into a dinner and enjoys a cup of coffee while listening to the news-reports about Superman & the sudden appearance of Captain Marvel. One thing I 've already learned news travels fast around here....back in Fawcett City I would've had time to write the story and scoop everyone...here the story isn't that old and already it's on the news...I guess I better learn to be as fast everyone else...or faster

 

[Sentry2005]

<GUY GARDNER>

I land in Metropolis. It's as busy as it ever was.

People doing stupid things because they have a guardian angel over head.

I almost laugh when I see an old lady just cross the street without looking.

I launch down and grab her, taking her to the other side of the street.

"Thank you Superma-"

She looks at me through her specticles..

"You're not Superman."

I smirk.

"Nope, I'm a Green Lantern. And you're welcome."

As I turn to take off, she grabs my arm.

"You don't look like a Green Lantern to me... they're all nice young boys... Apart from the red headed one with the silly hair cut. That thing's more old fashioned than me!"

I take a second to remember that my hair isn't red any more. But she's talking about me.

"Well maybe he's just misunderstood, and pre-judged by stupid old bats like you!"

I launch off and look around the city.

Someones got to save this city, but some people don't deserve saving.

 

[LibrarianThorne]

He soared away from the fire, flame licking at his heels, pausing only to wave to the firemen below. Superman had managed to get the people still trapped in the five story apartment building out, but feared using his ice breath to put out the fire. It had been a particularly old building, still with a brick and mortar structure, and he didn't want to risk the building collapsing. The Metropolis F.D. could handle the rest.

His mind returned again to Captain Marvel. Marvel's appearance had been sudden and unexpected. Just what did the hero from Fawcett want? More to the point, what was Marvel doing in Metropolis? The two questions were related, but would have to wait.

He smiled to himself. He loved his parents' home in Kansas. He loved the open sky and the freedom that existed there in Smallville, freedom that he didn't really have outside of that town. But he also loved his Fortress of Solitude. It was a testament to his accomplishments and failures as Superman, and served to remind him of the Kryptonian legacy he bore.

Yes, those two places were his houses, places he felt secure and safe, but now only one place was his home. Metropolis, and the apartment he shared with his amazing wife. Just the thought of spending more time with her tonight made him happy enough to smile.

He did one low patrol over Metropolis, and stopped three muggings, two burglaries, and one ill-timed bank break-in before heading home. As he landed on the balcony of their apartment, he let his mind wander.

The public may no longer approve of him. The government may distrust him. But he was still Superman, and he still had a responsibility to protect the people of Earth, and no amount of unpopularity would stop him.

 

[Johnny Blaze]

Vertigo: Part IX
Vertigo Castle



As soon as Deadshot saw Mirror Master lift his gun, and the bright shining light began to appear, Deadshot reacted with lightning-fast reflexes as he shot a round of bullets at the castle walls at different angles. Thanks to his marksmanship, none of the bullets would turn to affect him.

It did however, hit the hard-light duplicate of the Mirror Master at different spots of his body, revealing the dupe for what it really was. As the light of McCulloch&#8217;s gun dissipated, Deadshot was seemingly left alone in the halls, with the Mirror Master not in sight. Quickly, he looked around for any reflective surfaces, and in doing so, pointed one gun at the small puddle he had spotted and the knight&#8217;s armour.

"Oi", came the Mirror Master's voice from seemingly every where, "whoever the bleedin' idjit was to hire out two assassin's f'r the same hit, aught to get shot themselves."

Just then, the Mirror Master's face appeared in the armor...and the puddle of water, and in all the other things in the area with a reflective surface on them.
"Hullo, Alice", McCulloch said with a smile.
"I'm sorry it has ta come to this, Floyd me boy. I've always had a respect for you and your work. But, the treasure in the Count's vault is mine."

McCulloch's hand came out of every surface, each one holding a small ball. Only one of the hands, and glass grenades, was real. But, the chances of Lawton guessing the right one in time was slim to none.

 

[Harlekin]

Vertigo: Part X
Vertigo Castle

A dozen hands of the Mirror Master appeared before Deadshot, each holding a glass grenade, and Floyd had no hopes of guessing which one of the hands was the real one. It was close to being his kind of odds, although for added effect, he closed his eyes.

To the Mirror Master, Deadshot would be standing there for only a second, looking like he was concentrating, when in fact, Deadshot grinned and fired his two wrist magnums at random. If he got lucky, he&#8217;d actually hit McCulloch, if not, well, at least it was better than being killed by those guards.

Let the chips fall where they may&#8230;

 

[Johnny Blaze]

Vertigo: Part X
Vertigo Castle

A dozen hands of the Mirror Master appeared before Deadshot, each holding a glass grenade, and Floyd had no hopes of guessing which one of the hands was the real one. It was close to being his kind of odds, although for added effect, he closed his eyes.

To the Mirror Master, Deadshot would be standing there for only a second, looking like he was concentrating, when in fact, Deadshot grinned and fired his two wrist magnums at random. If he got lucky, he’d actually hit McCulloch, if not, well, at least it was better than being killed by those guards.

Let the chips fall where they may…

"God dammit!" McCulloch shouted as the bullet tore through the meat of his hand, causing a spray of blood to paint the nearby wall...and for him to drop the grenade.
As the weapon falls to the ground, it goes off with a boom. Not a loud one like a normal grenade, but loud enough to echo through the corridors of the castle...and to cause shards of glass to fly in every direction.

 

[Harlekin]

Vertigo: Part XI
Vertigo Castle

The glass shards of the grenade cut Deadshot at various points of his body, but Floyd didn&#8217;t mind, content to know that he at least hit the Mirror Master. The shards cut at his chest and at his arms and shoulders, but most importantly, one of the shards hit him straight across his nose, cutting open his mask.

Taking his mask off, Deadshot felt at the wound, it would probably leave a scar. Removing the mask, Deadshot looked around, trying to get his bearing and see where the Mirror Master was, before the inevitable guards would show up after the grenade blast.

 

[MaskedManJRK]

I land in Hub City.

Hub City. Gotham looks like a utopia compared to Hub City. I land the Batjet down on the roof where Victor Sage lives. I jump out and use the remote control I have for it so that it will hover high enough above so that no one will see something out of the ordinary.

I propell myself down to his apartment, break in through the window, and walk inside.

I've heard people say that The Question is a conspiracy theorist. Looking at his boards filled with maps, newspaper clippings, and God knows whatever, I know that this is a massive understatement.

I'll look around at these while waiting for him to come back.

...

Huh. So boy bands are responsible for the crop circles...

 

[The Question]

The Banshee.

A theif and a murderer. Last I saw the bastard was about five, mabey six years ago. We were fighting on a rooftop, and I shoved him off the roof. His cape got caught in the wind, and he got dragged out over lake michigan.

"You're dead."

He steps forward.

"Really? Because, I'm fairly certain I'm amung the land of the living."

"You were blown out to lake michigan."

"Quite true. But that doesn't equate my untimely passing. You see, as the winds dragging me died down, I fell to the waters below me. I was a few hundred feet up. My cape slowed my descent, but not enough to leave me completely unscathed. After that, a blur of darkness and nonsensical dreams. The next thing I knew, I was in a Canadian hospital. They told me a fishing boat had found me. And that I had been in a coma for four years."

He slashes my chest with his claws and kicks me to the ground. I would have tried to block it if I weren't wearing a vest.

"FOUR YEARS! Four years of my life STOLEN FROM ME! And it's all because of you! You arrogant, pompous, self rightious BASTARD!"

He pulls me to my feet and shoves me against the wall.

"It took me a while to get the supplies together. To get the money together. To build a new flight suit. Hell, to learn how to build a new flight suit, seeing as how I stole the old one. But it was all worth it. It was all worth it just for this moment."

He lets go of me and steps back.

"This time, things go down the way they ought to. We fight right here. Man to man. And then I kill you. And then I go back to making myself the ritchest bastard in Illinois. You took away four years of my life, you faceless peice of ****. I aim to settle the score. So, come on. Give me your best shot."

I reach into my pocket, pull out my gun, and shoot him in the kneecap. He falls over creaming and clutching his leg.

"****! ****! ****! MY LEG! YOU SHOT ME IN THE ****ING LEG!"

"Yeah, I noticed."

I grab him by the shoulders, slam him into the wall, and put my gun up to his face.

"I don't owe you anything. You murdered four people here. You murdered CHILDREN. And you think that I'm the bad guy? You are a horrible excuse for a human being. You deserve what you got and worse. The fact that you actually murdered CHILDREN just so you could get your petty revenge against me just proves how pathetic and sick you are."

He twists out of my grasp, by stumbkes slightly due to the pain in his leg. I twist his arm and strike him across the head with my gun. He falls over, unconscious. I take out my cell phone.

"911. Please state the nature of your emergency."

"Yeah. There was a quadruple homicide last night in the buisness district. I found the guy who did it. He's kind of bleeding and unconscious, so bring an ambulance. Also, I'm fairly certain he was the perp in the Banshee roberies a few years back."

I hang up, rush back to my car, and drive home, changing my clothes back to normal on the way.

*******

I pull up in front of my apartment building. I head inside, take the elevator up, and head to my apartment. Once I open the door, I hit the lights and see a very familiar psychotic billionare with a leather bat fetish waiting for me.

"Hi."

I then notice the broken window he's standing hear. I point to it.

"You're paying for that. And why is it that you seem to lack the ability to use doors?"

 

[wiegeabo]

I fly across this country they humans call United States. It appears little different from the other lands on this planet. Less diverse than some, more diverse than others.

And, I must admit, this planet isn't quite as ugly as I always though it to be. Granted, it is no Korugar. I have yet to witness a planet even close to the beauty and perfection of my world. Especially when I had established order on it. Such glorious days. This planet is not bad though. I certainly would not care to live here permanently, but there are worse places to visit, especially when one is establishing oneself as a hero.

As I make my way across the country, I dive lower to the land to watch it rush past me and feel the exhileration of speed which you can lose at high altitudes. But as I drop down through the sky, a bright light explodes infront of me followed by a loud boom. I am forced to create a visor over my face to protect my eyes from blindness. As it is, my eyes still need a few seconds to adjust.

"SINESTRO! Bearer of the yellow ring!" I hear a voice bellow from below. My eyes clear, and I finally see what has happened. Around me are half a dozen hovering craft carrying three men each, all heavily armed.

No...why now?!?

The voice continues, interrupting my thoughts. "You are hereby charged with attempting to bring order to this universe. Prepare yourself to face trial and judgement before the Council!"

I sigh and curse the hells that brought them here. I take up a defensive stance and whisper to myself in disgust...

"Qwardians..."

 

[MaskedManJRK]

I pull up in front of my apartment building. I head inside, take the elevator up, and head to my apartment. Once I open the door, I hit the lights and see a very familiar psychotic billionare with a leather bat fetish waiting for me.


"Hi."


I then notice the broken window he's standing hear. I point to it.


"You're paying for that. And why is it that you seem to lack the ability to use doors?"

"It would seem quite odd for a 'psycho with a leather freak fetish,' as you might call me, to ride up an elevator to your apartment. They'd either peg you as The Question or that you have some strange sexual appetites. By the way, don't worry about the glass, I'll mail you a check."

I walk over to him.

"Anyway, I take it you've heard about the Outsiders. What do you say? Are you in?"

 

[The Question]

....I never actually said the leather bat fetish crack. Now I'm quite certain he's psychic.

"Sure. Sounds interesting. Could do alot of good, I suppose. Who else have you got signed on?"

 

[MaskedManJRK]

....I never actually said the leather bat fetish crack. Now I'm quite certain he's psychic.


"Sure. Sounds interesting. Could do alot of good, I suppose. Who else have you got signed on?"

"I have most of...my group in, and I had word from Katana and Metamorpho on my way here. I'm also extending membership to Green Arrow, Black Lightning, Vera Black, and Blue Beetle. That reminds me, have you seen Kord lately? I was considering contacting him while I'm here."

 

[Ash Loomis]

I drop the kid off at the waiting room. Despite his wound, it looks like he&#8217;ll be OK. I say a littler prayer for him, and the soul of that little girl.

Outside, I do a little Q&A with the cops. I give them all the info they need, and they send a few units out to look for the Joker&#8217;s gang. For some reason, I feel as if the officers don&#8217;t seem to take me very seriously. It&#8217;s like I&#8217;m a pest.

&#8220;Have you attempted to make contact with Batman?&#8221; asks Commissioner Gordon.

&#8220;Yeah, I sent him a quick e-mail giving him all of the info I gave you. He has responded though.&#8221;
&#8220;I see, well, the Batsignal&#8217;s up so if he&#8217;s available, he should be there soon.&#8221;

&#8220;So Gordon, where are you and the other officers headed? After the Joker?&#8221;

&#8220;We&#8217;re going to branch out. There seems to be some gangs trashing churches, and Crane&#8217;s escaped from Arkhem. We&#8217;ve even got some reports of Two-Face running amok.&#8221;

&#8220;Alrighty. Where could I be the most help?&#8221;

&#8220;Um, thanks Beetle. But we&#8217;ve got a lot of men. I think you could do the most good&#8230;um, patrolling or something?&#8221;

Looks like I&#8217;m not paranoid. They really do want to get rid of me. I sigh and roll my eyes.

&#8220;Sure thing Gordon.&#8221;

I climb into the Bug and begin to fly towards a nearby church. It&#8217;s pretty quite so far, but given what&#8217;s been happening to other religious places, I&#8217;d better stay here and make sure none of those vandals attack. Well, maybe &#8220;vandal&#8221; is the wrong word. I mean, a bunch of punks just don&#8217;t run around smashing pictures of Mohammed, Buddha and Jesus for no reason. This is organized.

I wait a while. It&#8217;s pretty quiet. To kill time, I check my communicator&#8217;s e-mail to see if Batman got my message. There is an e-mail from Bats, but it&#8217;s not about that. Judging from the date, it came sometime earlier today. Batman seems to want to create a new band of Outsiders. I quickly shoot him an e-mail. It says that yes, I am interested. I tell him we should arrange a meeting to talk it over as soon as possible. I also remind him about the Joker and his new recruit. I also let him know that the boys in blue seem to be checking it out.

Bored, I flick on the news. Maybe I can pick up a clue from there.

 

[The Question]

"I have most of...my group in, and I had word from Katana and Metamorpho on my way here. I'm also extending membership to Green Arrow, Black Lightning, Vera Black, and Blue Beetle. That reminds me, have you seen Kord lately? I was considering contacting him while I'm here."

"Sorry. Haven't seen him in a while. I think he might have mentioned going to New Jersey to investigate some weird stuff there. Said he might head to Gotham."

 

[MST3K 4ever]

Once Billy finished his coffee he realizes that he is only a couple of blocks away from his new station WKLS. Hey might as well drop in and see how things are done here...get a lay of the land.

He walks through the station doors and he is almost run over by someone carrying tapes yelling, "Coming through!" The pace is frantic and Billy walks over to the receptionist. SHe looks at him as though he was a strange plant life and says very curtly, "May I help you young man?" Billy clears his throat and says, "My name is Billy Batson I am here from WHIZ in Fawcett City..." The receptionist immeadiatly perks up and says, "Oh really we've been trying to reach you. My name is Jennifer Quarters" She dials a number and says, "Mr. Perkins Billy Batson is here....right away sir." She hangs up the phone and says, "Take the elevator up to the 3rd floor his office is at the end of the hall and welcome to WKLS. Sorry if I was short with you it's just when there is a super-hero sighting everyone just goes nuts around here." Billy replies, "It's okay Miss Quarters I understand."

Billy takes the eleveator up to the 3rd floor and finds Mr. Perkins' office. He knocks on the door and Mr. Perkins answers. He says, "Batson" Billy starts to say, "Yes sir I..." Perkins interrupts and says, "Come on in have a seat. Sorry if I'm a bit blunt and straight forward but right now we are trying to put together a newscast that is set to air in 10 minutes and our lead anchor is held up in traffic." Billy replies, "Well I can fill in if you want me to sir." Perkins says, "Great! Now I realize that this going to be kind of short, but I've known your boss Jon Henderson for many years and he says you are just great. Especially when it comes to getting exclusives about Captain Marvel. Now here in Metropolis we got Superman, but somehow we always get scooped by the Daily Planet. Specifically by Lois Lane & Clark Kent. I mean they're newspaper reporters not like TV, Radio or Internet bloggers. How in the devil is the electronic media consistantly getting scooped by the print media?. But I digress. You're enthusiastic & very bright, best of all you respect those in authority. Those things will get you far here. Again you got about 6 minutes before you hit the air. Get down to the booth 2nd floor...you'll be introed by Dave Burton. I'll call and tell him you're on your way and to have your copy at the board. Have fun Billy and welcome to WKLS."

Billy & Perkins shaked hands, and Blly gets to the booth. He has less than 3 minutes to read his copy over. Before he hears Dave Burton give him his intro. Burton waves his hand to cue Billy and Billy says, "Thank you Dave in Metropolis today..." He reads a flawless newscast once he finishes he sees Mr. Perkins standing outside the booth. He gives Billy a thumbs-up Dave says, "Way to go Billy way to go. You did that like a pro." Billy replies, "Thank you" and leaves the booth.

Mr Perkins puts his arm around Billy and says, "I had no idea how good you were. You did great! Come on up to my office we'll get your paperwork taken care of and we may need you to cover for the next one which starts in about 20 minutes." Billy says, "Not a problem sir, but I have one question why am I here? I heard that it was because the usual reporter is going on special assignment?" Mr Perkins replies, "The less you know about that the better. It's very hush-hush. It's something from corperate we've heard rumors that Alex, our reporter, is going to Iraq with a special forces operations unit to he is now at Lexcorp looking for dirt on Lex Luthor. No one knows for certain and we aren't supposed to know." Billy says, "I understand Mr. Perkins. I understand a lot about keeping secrets"

The two men fill out the paperwork and once again Billy does another flawless newscast before the usual reporter arrives. Billy leaves the station with a smile on his face and heads back to his apartment.