The DCFutures FanFic group is aware that many of the names and concepts used in this work of fiction are the property of DC Comics. We use them WITHOUT PERMISSION for NO PROFIT, but rather a look into the future of some of our favorite characters. Some of the concepts and all of the story is, however ENTIRELY original, and property of the authors. So there. Infinity Inc.:DCF 4 "This Sucks (Everybody Hates Something)" Written by Oliver Kiemschies Black Lightning:DCF Created by Wayne Ligon Infinity Inc:DCF Created by Erik Burnham & Jason Tippitt Original Story Idea by Erik Burnham & Jason Tippitt Edited by Erik Burnham and/or Jason Tippitt Chapter 1: To Die and Live in Bludhaven *** 2113, Monday 3:00am La Hoya, Bludhaven Officer Reggie Wilcox hated being out of breath. He was painfully out of shape, and these foot chases always reminded him of that fact. "Gotta hit the Gym," he thought to himself as he scrambled over a pile of trash. "Damn it," he swore as he ripped his pants on the edge of an old bicycle. He stopped running for a second, and put his hand to the pain in his stomach. "Look, if you give me the money you owe me I won't hurt you." "Go to hell." returned the girl, as she ran into an abandoned shopping mall. "You filthy brat." He followed her into the building, but saw no sign of his prey. Using his flashlight he began to search the dilapidated structure. While in what had once been a discount shoe store, the stomach pain struck again. This time, it was enough to drive him to his knees. He removed a small vial from his shirt pocket and emptied the contents into his hand. Two pills left; he only had two pills left. Officer Wilcox cursed himself for letting the prescription run out. Shame prevented him from getting the pills he needed. Officer Reggie Wilcox was not ashamed of being out of shape or corrupt. He wasn't even ashamed of the subscriptions to five different cheerleading magazines. He was, however, ashamed of having stomach parasites. He told himself it was all the time he spent in places like this. The truth was the poor sanitation practices of his favorite hot dog vendor were to blame. A sharp pain struck his side again, causing him to wince. The pills flew from his hand, skittered across the floor, and fell down a small hole. "This Sucks!" Wilcox followed his pills. The small hole was actually an opening into a pit beneath the building. The pills landed on the edge of a wooden beam, which had kept them from falling any further. He reached into the hole, but his fingertips could only brush the pills. "I hear you been hassling my girlfriend, called a voice from the doorway." Officer Wilcox vaguely recognized the voice. He attempted to turn to identify the source, but was prevented by his arm. He pulled at it, but to no avail. He was wedged in the hole. "Nothing personal; she owes me money." "Well, Officer Reggie, she says she don't owe you nothing." "Ah, but that's a double negative." he stalled, while trying to pull his arm free. Wilcox could hear the floorboards creaking. The boyfriend walked around to Officer Wilcox's side and leveled a pistol at him. Wilcox recognized him, as one of the many nameless local kids he hassled for fun and profit. "What you talking about Wilcox?" Reggie pulled harder on his arm, and the floor began to creek more loudly. "You see, saying she *don't* owe me *nothing* is a double negative, meaning she *does* owe me *something*." The thug stared dumbly at Officer Wilcox. "It's a double..." "Shut-up" said the thug as he shot Wilcox in the gut. The ironic aspect of the wound was that it was in precisely the part of his stomach that had been hurting him the most. Reggie held his gut with his free hand. He had seen, and caused, enough belly wounds to know it was fatal. Furthermore, this was the kind that might take hours, long painful hours, to kill him. He hoped the punk would finish him off and end his misery. Instead, the young man just walked away. Selfish little prick... "This SUCKS!" exclaimed the dying man. Wilcox tried again to pull his arm free. He couldn't muster much of an effort though; the pain was unbearable. The floorboards continued to creak even after he stopped pulling. Reggie could feel the floor buckling, and, moments later... it gave way. The mortally wounded police officer tumbled into the darkness. "THIS SUCKS!" he screamed as he fell into the rancid chemicals below. *** Outside Kilborne Memorial Hospital Monday, 8:00am Dr. David Karns hated his new job. He seethed as he waited for his (late) ride to take him from one gawdawful excuse for a hospital to another. He loved to explain to anyone who listened why he hated his current job. He mulled the litany of complaints over in his head, in a staged argument with a pretend listener. "Yes, I am the boss now. And yes at my last job, I only reached the post of midlevel supervisor. But let me tell you, its better to be an assistant at the Playboy mansion than Grand Poobah at a manure factory. First off, my new job is in Bludhaven. BLUDHAVEN for Elvis' sake. I'm not even overseeing real research. I'm in charge of a lame health survey for some ridiculous Nor-Am government agency that has recently gotten some kind of bug up it's ass about the health of the citizens in it's urban-blighted cities. Like anyone really cares. Even more unlikely, is the possibility this will result in any real changes. I'm going to put the survey together, release some obvious conclusions, and move on to the next humiliating punishment that was going to be doled out due to my *perceived* failure in New York." Thus went his practiced argument. "The problems in New York were not my fault. I did not cause the synapse instabilities. I told them not to use titanium in the filaments. I knew that that would fail. Even with the titanium, a lithium coating might still stabilize the synaptic junctions. Of course, nobody would listen to me. The delays in the Artificial Intelligence program needed a scapegoat, and since nobody was going to miss me, nobody likes you when you're always right, just call me Billy. So, Dr. David Karns, top of his class at Northwestern Medical School, gets the boot from his dream job and lands in Bludhaven. Those jerks are probably going to use my ideas anyway." Dr. Karns bout of righteous self pity was interrupted by something slithering it's way toward him from the alley. "Heelp Mee." cried the creature. "Jesus and Elvis!" screamed Dr. Karns as the creature oozed toward him. He had seen some pitiful characters since he began this survey, but this creature hardly seemed human. Its skin was a pale gray and hung off of its bones, as if its muscles were turning into jelly. He reached toward Dr. Karns with its left arm, as its right arm uselessly hung lower than its knee. It had a hole in its gut, and a viscous black substance oozed out of it. "Heeelp. Huurtz," cried the pitiful wreck as it came closer to the terrified Dr. Karns. Karns was frozen with fear as the creature inched closer. Finally, it was upon him, and wrapped its one 'good' arm around him. Dr. Karns still didn't scream, as they both tumbled to the ground. His fingers dug into the soft, wet flesh of the creature. He opened his mouth to scream, but could not produce any sound. Some of the black ooze leaked from the creature's mouth into Dr. Karns' open mouth. His reflexes caused him quickly shut his lips tight, but it was already too late. Dr. Karns could taste the toxic ooze. "Don't swallow!" he thought, "Dear God, don't swallow." Before he could convince his mouth to spit out the poison, he experienced a sensation even worse than the taste of the ooze. Dr. David Karns felt... something... crawl... down... his... throat. Within seconds his, thought process became blurry. A rage built in him, displacing the fear. He pushed the slimy zombie away and stood. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his foggy brain, to no avail. The creature lurched toward him again. Dr. Karns grabbed a signpost and yanked it free from the concrete. He swung as the creature came into range, striking it and sending it careening into the side of the hospital. When it struck, the overtaxed skin finally gave way, and broke open, not entirely unlike a water balloon. Dr. Karns dropped the sign and backed toward the street, where he was surprised by the headlights of an approaching hovervan. "Dr. Karns?" yelled a voice from the NorAm Department of Health hovervan. "Yes ... Karns." replied the confused man. "Dr. Karns, I'm Kyle. I'm your ride," clarified the driver as he jumped out and quickly opened a door for the Doctor. "Sorry I'm late," he said as he hurried Dr. Karns into the van. As they pulled off the driver noted the black smear mark on the side of the building, and the pile of clothes beneath it. "What the hell was that?" "Garbage." "So the other side of town is it? The Fitzgerald Medical Center?" "No! New York! We go to New York!" "But I thought we were going to..." "NEW YORK OR DIE!" yelled Karns. "Alright, you're the boss. New York it is. You don't have to threaten me." *** Same Place 9:00am "I hate this," mumbled Detective Trey Mason as he rubbed petroleum jelly beneath his nose. Being a detective and having a sensitive sense of smell sometimes helped. Sometimes it didn't. This was a case of the latter. Mason stood behind the crime scene investigators as they analyzed the smear that had once been Officer Reggie Wilcox. The smear would not have been identifiable if not for the ID in the pile of tattered clothes beneath it. "So how hard would this Dr... Dr..." Detective Mason opened his notebook, and consulted it for the name, "Dr. Karns have to hit Wilcox to turn him into liquid?" "Impossible," explained one of the investigators. "Come again?" "If a normal human being were stuck hard enough to turn him into liquid, he'd have gone right through this wall... maybe a few others." "So what are you saying?" "I'm saying that to turn Officer Wilcox to liquid, black liquid I might add, he'd have to start out in a weakened state... something chemically incohesive. There appears to be massive cellular damage - it's hardly even identifiable as human tissue. "That's consistent with eye witnesses reports," he said, indicating the building across the street. The other investigator looked up in confusion. "Witnesses? In Bludhaven?" "Yeah, people actually *wanted* to talk about this. They were saying something about a 'creature' with gray skin, lurching around. Some were calling it a zombie. Can you imagine anything that weird?" To answer Detective Mason's question a familiar steak of ebon flashed past on the edge of his vision, and landed in a nearby alley. "Gimme a second, I gotta go talk to somebody." said Mason as he headed toward the flash. Black Lightning was waiting patiently at the back of the alley, scratching a stray cat behind the ears. "You like strays?" "I don't know why people call them strays. They have families. You didn't call me to talk about cats." "This is a weird one. Definite extra normal stuff." "Meta?" "Zombie." "Que?" Detective Mason consulted his notebook in stereotypical cop style. "According to eyewitness reports..." "Witnesses? In Bludhaven?" "Don't interrupt. A man waiting outside of the hospital, whom we've since identified as Dr. David Karns, was attacked by some sort of creature. Said creature was described as pasty and gray skinned. Furthermore, said skin was described as `hanging off its bones'. It moved slowly, and in a lurching manner. There were several gaping wounds, and it seemed to be oozing a black viscous liquid. The creature has since been identified as being, or having been Officer Reginald Wilcox, of the Bludhaven Police Department. "Si, that sounds like a zombie. Did it try to, I don't know, eat anybody's brains? I mean, isn't that what zombies do?" "Unknown, but at some point while it was accosting Dr. Karns, he was able to push it away. He then proceeded to dislodge a road sign from a secure cement block, and strike Officer Wilcox with the sign. He was struck forcefully enough to proceed into the exterior hospital wall, and was pulverized upon impact. This clearly indicates super-human strength, a trait never before associated with Dr. Karns." Detective Mason closed his notebook. "Pulverized?" "Liquefied is more accurate. There are some reports of cellular damage, which weakened his physical state." "What happened to Karns?" "He entered a Department of Health van and left. He was expected at the Fitzgerald Medical Center. The van never arrived." "Where did the van go?" "We've had reports it was spotted entering New York City." "New York you say?" Chapter 2: New York, New York; It's a hell of a town. Monday, Noon New York City One Block Away From Saint Evanger Memorial Hospital Kyle Hartman hated New York. "That's New York Traffic for you," he commented. Dr. Karns hadn't been a very talkative rider. They had arrived in New York hours ago, and he still hadn't reached their goal. To be fair, Dr. Karns' directions were not very helpful, or understandable. "Saint Eeevungeeer." repeated Karns. Kyle turned around to get a better look at his rude passenger. He didn't look very good. He was drenched with sweat, his eyes had receded into their sockets considerably, and he had noticeably grown in size since he had been picked up. "Hey doc, you don't look good. You didn't pick up some kind of weird bug at the hospital?" "Eeevungeer." "Look we're only a block away. If you got some kind of weird virus going, I don't want nothing to do with you. Why don't I just park here, and you can get out and walk." "LYYYFFF!!!!" screamed the enraged creature. Its fist shot out and stuck the door of the hover van, sending it careening into the distance. The mad beast shot out of the vehicle, and landed on a parked car. It ripped apart the vehicle, and began a slow, destructive, march toward its stated destination. *** Monday, 12:15pm Warrior's Bar Oliver Kismet Hawke dreaded the idea of this interview - and if it weren't for his Buddhist philosophy, he might even hate the idea of this interview, but he was too enlightened for that. Ollie didn't dislike the man they were going to interview. He disliked the need for him. His team, the adult team that is, needed new blood. Hourman was in custody. Batman was presently occupied in personal matters [not THAT personal - see Batman DCF #39! -E] and Manhunter was on a case of her own. At this rate, the team would wither before it ever bloomed. Not that that would be an issue, however, the group had had the stroke of misfortune to appear, assembled, in front of a half a dozen news crews in Gotham not long ago. [see Infinity Inc. #1-3! -E] And, after some fast talking by the Batman, the public became aware of the 'world's greatest force for justice.' Hah. Greatest force for justice. They didn't even have a name. ...Not that that stopped the masses from calling on them (thank you, Guy, for having a publicly known identity and residence.)Some problems were legitimate. Some weren't. But with the unavailability of near half the team, Guy felt they could use some known backup. Tim agreed and sent some ideas (where - and how - he got the information, Ollie didn't even want to know.) They found a likely candidate, and contacted him. And he was late. That did not aid Ollie's enthusiasm any. "Jean, is everyone here yet?" he asked the teen as he rushed into Warriors bar. "They're in Guy's office. Hey, be nice to him, he's got the sweetest kids." "You know him?" "I've babysat. His daughter is cute, but a handful, and they have an adorable baby boy." "Duly noted," he said as he rushed to the office. "Ask him to show you the pictures, he's got a million of them," she yelled after him, as Ollie continued past. "Maybe this won't be too bad," Ollie thought, "after everything I've been through with Abby lately*, maybe a boring family man is just the thing I need to be around." "Well that's one down, and one to go." Guy commented as Ollie entered the office. Ollie looked around, and saw Danny Parker, sitting on the couch watching television. He didn't seem to care much for the interview either. Guy was sitting at the desk, with the man in question sitting across from him. "Hey Ollie, you met Jack yet?" Jack Ordway stood and took Ollie's hand. "I've seen him in the Bar a couple of times. You're one of the few guys I've met who goes to a bar to drink coffee." "You guys brew a mean double cappuccino." "So, how does a family man, who doesn't even drink..." "...Much." Jack corrected. "Who doesn't drink, 'much,' get a name like Damage?" Ollie asked. Jack became obviously embarrassed. "I've, uh, been known to blow up a few things," he looked away from both Guy and Ollie, "...like buildings." "Pff! Big deal. Typical superhero stuff. I used to blow up buildings all the time, back in the day. Hell, this bar alone has had to go through major reconstruction twenty or thirty times." "Twenty seven!" shouted Jean from the bar. "She listens in?" Guy asked Ollie. Ollie shrugged. "All right, Star seems to be otherwise occupied, so I'll get down to brass tacks. Jack, we've got ourselves a little group here. It's a good team, y'know, but our ranks are a little thin right now... and we don't really care to be caught with out pants down. We've reviewed your file..." "I have... I have a file?" "Yeah," Guy grinned. "Don't sweat it, everybody has a file these days, or so I'm told. Anyways, we took a gander at yours, and you sure got the right stuff so far as I'm concerned. We could use the added muscle." "And money." Ollie said. Guy quickly added, "It's not like we're gonna stick out hands in your pocket for everything we can, we're just thinking it'd be nice to have an extra hand there when the hammer falls, if you know what I mean... collateral 'damage.' It's not a determining factor in membership, Jack. It's just you gotta think of this group as, like, a corporation... we could definitely use another investor, and we did hear that you came into some quick cash." "You could say that, sort of an inheritance from a man who was like a father to me." "Wow, another rich guy," Danny grinned. "I like him already." Jack ignored the comment. "I am intrigued by the idea of joining a real superhero team... not a police force like the League, but a real team. As you know, I've worked with a team before." "Yeah, we have heard rumors of this 'Horse' group," Guy added skeptically. "Aren't they some sort of mercenary corporate spies?" asked Ollie "Probably in the same way the Suicide Squad is some sort of Terrorist organization." Jack countered. "He does his homework." Guy responded. "I am a scientist." "Science geek? I reverse my judgement - this quack's back to lame," interrupted Danny. "Well, I wish at least one more of our people could be here for this," Guy shrugged. "The Bat has already signed off on you, Ollie doesn't seem to have any beef - and I like you - so I'd like to formally offer you a membership, if you're still interested after, y'know, after meeting Danny here." "We're defined by our response to adversity," Dan grumbled. "Mr. Gardner, I'd love to join your team. I accept." "It's Guy, Jack. Remember that. And I'm glad to have you onboard." "You know, it seems weird," Jack added. "Don't these offers usually come as the result of a chance meeting during or after a fight against a common threat?" "Hey yeah," said Danny, "there was no fight. Doesn't this break some kind of superhero standard?" Chapter 3: The Superhero Standard Monday, 12:20 New York City One Block Away From Saint Evanger Memorial Hospital Alisha Michaels hated being late. She was supposed to be at Warrior's twenty minutes ago. The meeting was important, too. With recent developments, her team would need to bring in some new blood if it was going to survive all the things their initial publicity had thrown their way. She was only three blocks from Warriors when she came across the marauding beast. It was tearing up everything in its path, and Alisha couldn't see her way clear to leave it alone just to make an appointment. "We really need to get communicators," she sighed as she arced her flight path towards the menace. The monster continued along its path through the park, on a route that Dr. Karns used to use on his way to work. During the last few months of his New York assignment, a construction site popped up in the way. To Dr. Karns it was an annoyance; to the Parasite, it was no more than a slight delay. The creature ripped a section of fence from the ground and threw it into the air. As he gripped it, it began to glow bright orange. Within seconds of landing on the ground, the section of fence exploded, leaving a crater in the street. Star landed directly in the Parasite's path. "Eyesore or not, you are still destroying private property." "Eeen wayee," it grunted. "I heard New York commuters were rude, but ... unff" Star's comment was cut short as the Parasite barreled into her, taking them both into the construction site's parking lot. The creature took advantage of Alisha's surprise, and began to repeatedly punch her in the midsection. A burst of Star's Energy separated the combatants and gave her a chance to regroup. Star raised her hands and unleashed a blast of her power, forcing her opponent into a pile of bricks. *** Warrior's Bar, Guy Gardner's Office Danny hated when the news interrupted a show he was watching. Rarely did he deem it important enough to interfere with his entertainment. Seeing Alisha Michaels taking on a marauding beast just three blocks away, however, was an exception. "Wake up, kids... I think I know why Star's late." *** One Block Away From Saint Evanger Memorial Hospital The creature was filled with hate. And the pile of bricks it collided with had hurt. To be fair, everything seemed to hurt, but landing in a pile of bricks, especially so. It leapt from the pile with a brick in each hand. Its rage seemed to transmit into the bricks as they began to glow orange. It threw the glowing bricks at Star. As the first projectile approached her she fired an energy blast to deflect it. The effects of the blast, however, were quite unintended. As Star's beam struck the glowing masonry, the resulting explosion forced them both to opposite ends of the construction site. Star skidded to a painful stop, in a pile of dirt in an open area of the construction site. Her enemy slid into the heart of the steel skeleton of the building. In a rage it reached out for the nearest weapon: the load-bearing girder it yanked loose was, perhaps, not the wisest choice. Within seconds of tearing the piece of metal from its place, the entire partially constructed building collapsed on the angry being. Star crawled from the dirt mound in which she had been embedded just as the final portions of the building fell. "And they call me Damage." Star wiped the dirt from her eyes and looked at the men standing around her. Plastic Man lit a cigarette as he surveyed the scene. "Way to limit the collateral damage there, doll." "That ... thing, it was just rampaging." "Yup," agreed her pliable teammate, "that's why they call 'em monsters." "No big deal," interjected Damage as he offered her a hand "I knock down buildings all the time. Name's Damage." "I'm Star. Sorry I'm late for our meeting. If you would have arrived a few minutes earlier you could have had a real audition." "Maybe I'll go through the wreckage to see if he's still in there." "Yep," Danny nodded. "Them monsters are tricky that way." "Be careful," Star yelled as Jack began to sift through the destruction. "So what was the M.O. on your friend?" Ollie inquired. "He was very strong. He could take abuse pretty well too. He seemed to be able to transfer energy into objects he touched, and turn them explosive. As to what his motivation, or even his name was, you've got me." "The name is, or was, Dr. David Karns. The motivation, on the other hand, I can't even guess." The team looked up the see a young Hispanic man surrounded by an aura of ebony electricity as he floating down beside them. He hunched over as he landed and strained to catch he breath. "You'll have to excuse me, I just flew in from Bludhaven, and man is my aura tired. Let me catch my breath." He took a few deep breaths, then continued. "His erratic behavior began in Bludhaven, my town, shortly after he was attacked by ... shortly after he was attacked." "Hey, you're that Black Lightning guy," Plastic Man noted. "You've heard of me?" questioned Luis "I heard of everybody, from the varsity to the second stringers, even guys from Bludhaven. Or Cleveland." "Don't pay any attention to Captain Condom over there," commented Guy as he offered a hand to Black Lightning. "Name's Guy Gardner." "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Gardner." Guy found such instances of heroic awe were still annoying. When he was younger he might have basked in the glory, but now all he wanted to do was get down to business. "You were saying something about an attack." Luis scratched his head as he tried to think of a way to word this that wouldn't sound like a cheep sci-fi vid. Before he could continue, a high pitched whine began to emanate from the wreckage. "That cannot be good," observed Plastic Man. Suddenly the pile of wreckage exploded outward in rain of orange glowing masonry and metal. Several of the orange energy bombs began to strike nearby and explode. Cars and buildings were bombarded, causing fire and destruction throughout the vicinity. An energized girder flew into a nearby building, and destroyed an entire side of it. The building was short, squat, and solidly build with no windows to the outside. It had an inner courtyard, and once it was exposed to the outside, several men in orange jump suits ran from the "yard" taking advantage of their new freedom. Several energy bombs shot high into the air and arced outward toward other parts of the city. Both the bombs in the air, and the breached prison were visible from the group's vantage point. "Star! Lightning! You're the best flyers here, go after the bombs." barked Guy. Star and Black Lightning shot into the air after the high flying bombs. "Ollie, Plas, you're with me. We take care of the local rescues, and try to round up the escaped criminals." "Me?" asked Damage. Guy pointed to the being standing in a crater at ground zero. "Is this some sort of test?" Jack attempted to ask Guy, but he was already gone. "Eeen wayee." grunted the creature. "Great, me against..." Damage's comment to himself was cut short as the marauder barreled into him. The pair shot through the construction zone fence. As they slowed a bit, Damage kicked the Parasite over his head, and into the air. Unfortunately, the Parasite's flight path took it into the fifth floor window of Saint Evanger Memorial Hospital. Jack rushed to the hospital and into the hole created by the beast. Frightened orderlies were rushing around cleaning up the mess. The room's door had been ripped off its hinges. "I take it he went thataway?" "Why don't you and Karns take your fight somewhere other than a hospital" chided one of the orderlies. "Tell that to... hey, how did you know his name." "That thing looked like Dr. Karns, on steroids that is. He used to work in the research division, top floor." "Top floor?" Damage barreled into the hallway. He rushed to the elevator and saw the controls had been smashed. He saw on the far side of the hall, that the door to the stairs had been ripped open. "Not much for elevators myself." Damage raced into the stairway, and began to rush upward. *** Luis hated being this exhausted. He had just flown from Bludhaven under his own power, and now he was rushing off after a plethora of energy bombs. His powers had provided him with all sorts of new abilities, including the ability to be exhausted in entirely new ways. He finally caught up to one of the bombs. "Now what." he thought as he reached the projectile "If I touch it, will it explode?" Luis had to risk finding out; he simply did not have the time to come up with other options. He reached out for the glowing orange debris. Luckily it did not explode when he touched it. It still left him with the problem of how to dispose of it. He maneuvered himself under the bomb, with his back to the ground. As he was forming ideas about throwing the bomb clear of the city, he noticed it stopped glowing. The formerly solid object turned to dust in his fingers. The oddest aspect of this occurrence was that he felt less tired. Confused, Black Lightning flew after another projectile. This item was a fragment of an energized metal girder. Luis touched the object, and it's orange glow dimmed. This time Luis could feel the energy pass from the girder into him. He felt much better. When the exchange was finished, the metal girder crumbled into dust as well. "I can absorb its energy. I'd better tell Star." Luis scanned the skies and found Star in the midst of a grouping of the orange threats. Beams were lancing out of her hands, detonating the bombs. He flew toward her field of vision. When he was in her sight he grabbed a projectile and drained it, demonstrating his new trick. Star caught on, and grabbed a chunk of glowing Masonry. It promptly exploded, sending her flying backwards. Luis flew out afterward, and caught her. She seemed no worse for the exchange. Luis on the other hand was embarrassed. He was not embarrassed as much for the bad advice he had just given her, as he was for the fact he was holding a beautiful, somewhat famous, older woman. "Looks like it only works for me." Star answered by sending out blasts of her power, destroying several more energy bombs. "We both have our ways of handling things." She flew from his arms and the two continued to eliminate the glowing projectiles. *** Guy hated this kind of complication. Sure, the bad guys always put innocent people at risk. That was a trick of the bad guy trade. The jail aspect was just plain annoying. He would rather be helping with the monster than rounding up these thugs. "Maybe one of them will be a meta," he hoped as he knocked the heads of a mugger and a thief together. "Nobody is taking Blockhead in again, pig!" Came a shout from behind. Guy turned to see an eight-foot tall, three hundred pound behemoth with no neck and an almost perfectly square head standing behind him. He looked to his right and saw Plastic Man happily wrapping himself around a small group of escaped prostitutes. To his left, he could see two men running at Dragon with makeshift clubs raised above their heads. Ollie drew two arrows, and placed them both in his bow. The two men soon both found their weapon wielding arms pierced by arrows. He looked back to his flat-headed antagonist. "You are talking to me right?" "I'm gonna kill you, pig." Guy smiled. *** Damage hated fighting this thing in a hospital. His history with buildings had him worried. When he finally caught up to the Parasite, he grabbed its ankle. The beast stopped, and turned toward Jack. "Hi?" Questioned Jack. "EEEN WAYEE!!!!" Screamed the Parasite. "Oh I get it, in way." The creature ripped a section of handrail from the wall. It began to glow orange immediately. He swung, and hit Damage with it. The makeshift club exploded on impact, sending Damage out of the building, and the Parasite farther into it. Jack began to fall, until he telekinetically grabbed onto the building to stop. As he was pulling himself back into the hole he came from, a window on the same floor blew open, and wreckage began to fly out. Jack noticed that amongst the wreckage falling from the window was a doll. It was a very realistic baby doll. Jack considered getting that kind for his daughter Lori, it was so lifelike... Luckily it didn't take Jack very long to realize that was no doll. Before the thought "I should go after it." Had formed in his head, Jack shot out after the baby. He reached out with his telekinesis, but the child was on the edge of his range. He used what he could of his power to support the baby's fragile body. "Support the neck, always support the neck," thought the experienced father. Jack divested a small portion of his power to push himself after the child. His speed increased. He had read that during a fall, most people have heart attacks long before they hit the ground. He wasn't sure if this would apply to an infant, but just to be safe, he gently reached his mind toward the child's, and gave it a subtle reset; just enough to keep the baby from ever realizing it was in danger. Finally he had a good enough telekinetic grip to pull the child to his arms. He grasped the child and attempted to slow his decent. Unfortunately, he was falling awfully fast. He'd never had success in pulling out from this rate of decent before. He clutched his precious cargo, and increased his grip on the building beside him. His power penetrated into building, and he could actually feel its iron frame. He could hear the metal groan as he pulled on it. It was difficult, but he slowed. He slowed just enough, that when he came into range of the street below, he was able to push on it and veer off parallel to the ground. He set down next to an ambulance that was working on a victim of the earlier explosions. "Here," he said as he handed the baby to a medic. He rushed back toward the building to prevent any more innocent lives from being put at risk. *** Star hated the way this fight had gone. The new guy was facing the enemy, because she failed to stop him. Even though she wanted to take the beast down herself, she couldn't fault Guy's allocation of resources. She had seen Damage's file, and knew his flight abilities were limited. There were only two good fliers available: it was up the two of them to stop the missiles. She let loose with a final volley, eliminating the last few of the bombs. She scanned the sky, and noticed Black Lightning approaching from the South. "I think we got them all. Want to head back to the fight?" "Yes, before he puts any more of those things in the air." *** Ollie hated being taken by surprise, Buddhist beliefs or not. A twelve- year-old had stuck him in the leg with a knife while he was digging him out of rubble. A quick blow to the sternum rendered the punk unconscious, but left Ollie hurt and embarrassed. Lucky for his dignity, neither Guy nor Plastic Man had seen the exchange. "Ollie," shouted Guy as he approached dragging a large, seemingly unconscious man with a square head behind him. "You okay?" "I'll be fine." "The local authorities are on the scene. I say one of us should go help Damage." Suddenly, the still conscious Blockhead reached out and grabbed Guy by the ankle, sending him to the ground. Guy twisted around, and his right arm reformed into a jackhammer. He began to hammer away at the man's square head." "You look busy; I'll send Plastic Man," answered Ollie *** Jack hated this monster. He did not care who it once was, or why it was doing this. It threw a baby out of a window. He had to get it out of the building, and put it down. Jack re-entered the building in pursuit of the Parasite. It had finally reached the top floor and was smashing past security guards, towards a vault. The Parasite ripped aside the vault door. Inside lay a bank of computers connected to a central glass tube. The tube was filled with liquid. Floating inside was a mass of brain-like organic material. "Lyyff." grumbled the creature. It approached the controls. A look of horror crossed its face. It peered at its enlarged fingers, and realized it could no longer work the controls. "Nooo," it bellowed. The yell gave way to a coughing fit that brought the creature to its knees. The Parasite realized this body did not have much time left. The annoyances forced it to expend too much energy. Damage made it into the room in enough time to see the creature on its knees. "Giving up?" The creature leapt at Jack. Damage did not try to fight the momentum this time. He added his power, and the two were carried through the building and back outside toward the construction site. Damage struck the Parasite with an optic blast to get it to release its grip. As they parted, the parasite kicked Damage in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Damage regained his senses moments before he stuck the ground. It was far too late for him to slow his fall. Before he struck the ground, he was caught in a large elastic net that hadn't been there before. The Parasite struck the ground with a thud beside the odd net. "You can go ahead and thank me now, new guy," said the net. "Thank you, Plastic Man." Plastic Man promptly dropped Damage, and reformed into his human shape. "Keeel Huuuu!" bellowed the Parasite from the hole in the ground it made. "Did that sound like `Kill you'?" asked Plastic Man. Damage never got a chance to respond. Plastic Man was grabbed from behind and thrown into Damage. Damage was down again, and Plastic Man went flying into the distance. The creature slowly lumbered toward Jack. Before it reached him it began another coughing fit. Damage pressed his temporary advantage and struck the Parasite in the stomach with an optic blast. "What's wrong," Damage said as he painfully pulled himself upright, "are you allergic to the dust?" The Parasite grabbed a large slab of concrete and marched toward Damage with it. As Jack braced himself for another onslaught, he noticed the Parasite falter, and then stop completely. A look of terror crossed the creature's face. At that moment Damage sensed something surprising about the being in front of him. "Two minds?" Though his accelerated senses allowed him to process the next series of events, they happened too quickly for Jack to respond. In an instant, Dr. Karns' knees snapped backwards. Had he been a cartoon, it would have been humorous. As soon as the knees hit the ground, his arms gave way, and the slab hit his head. First his neck disappeared, then his head split open. In this occurrence, popular belief was correct. It did look very much like a melon splitting open. His torso cracked inward, until finally... he was covered by the concrete. Jack stood for a moment, in shock, staring at the concrete. A human ball bounced off the top of the concrete, morphed into human form, and landed in front of Jack. "What'd I miss?" Jack pointed to the blood pouring out from under the concrete. "Looks like you smashed him." "I didn't do it." "Like hell, you smashed him good." Jack noticed an odd black object in the blood flow. It looked like a small centipede. On the surface, the bug did not seem odd. It wouldn't have caught Damage's attention at all, if it not have been for his ability to sense minds. Though it was quickly ebbing, Jack could sense an intelligence in the bug; one he had felt before. Jack could feel one of the minds he noticed just before Dr. Karns was crushed. Damage removed a pair of tweezers from a pouch on his belt, but before he could catch the bug, he was slapped on the back, and distracted. "Man! Squashed like a bug!" "Damn it! I didn't do it!" He looked down again, but the bug was gone. "Don't deny it ... killer!" Jack glared at Plastic Man. *** 2 minutes later Guy hated it when he missed the fight. Blockhead had only been an appetizer. Guy, still tattooed, and Ollie, with a pronounced limp, returned to the construction site. They were greeted by the confusing sight of Damage apparently analyzing a large slab of concrete and a jumble of knots which somewhat resembled Plastic Man. Before Ollie could open his mouth to ask where the monster was, he noticed a stream of red liquid originating from under the slab of concrete. "What happened here?" asked Guy, also noticing the blood. "The being, or beings as it now seems, were weakening throughout the fight. At one point they lifted this slab of concrete. Before they were able to get rid of it, they were crushed." Jack pressed a few more buttons on the PAD he had been using to analyze the remains. "Guy, could you help me move the slab, so I can get better readings." Guy morphed his body into it's armored mode. He and Jack lifted the rock, exposing the mess underneath. To the war hardened Guy, there was no visible effect. Jack had to hold his breath for a moment, and remind himself that he was a scientist. Ollie decided to check on Plastic Man. Once Jack got a hold of his stomach, he added a component from his utility pouch to his PAD, and continued his work. "What did you mean by beings?" "Sometimes I can sense minds. I can't really read thoughts, but I can tell when something is there. At the very end of the battle I could sense two distinct minds. Just after ... this," he said, indicating the corpse, "I noticed a strange insect. I'm no entomologist, but I do not recognize that bug." "This is New York, we got more strange bugs than in what's left of the Amazon Rain Forest." "Well, one of the strange things about this bug was that it had a conscious mind." "You mean like a human mind?" "Close. It was fading quickly, but it was similar to the mind I sensed when we were fighting." "Do you think it died?" "I don't think so, I think it just lost, what we would consider, its sentient mind. Looking at this brain tissue, I've got a working theory. It appears the bug was some sort of parasite." "Could it have caused Dr. Karns to go nuts?" "Certainly, there is cellular damage to the brain tissue. Mind you, biology isn't my field of expertise, but ever since I've discovered certain unique facts about my own biology, I've been studying up. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that it was behind Dr. Karns' manifestation of Meta-Powers. The way he weakened, however, and the damage to the brain cells, leads me to believe that the host gets rapidly `used up'. Furthermore, the eventual separation of minds, followed by the bleeding away of parasite's consciousness, leads me to believe, the Parasite gets some kind of heightened sentience out of the relationship, as where the host gets a degraded level of cognition." "You were right Guy, we need a science geek," commented Plas as Ollie helped him untangle himself. Guy smiled. "Can you build a radio out of a coconut Professor?" he asked. Jack cocked his head in confusion. "Just a reference to 20th century television. Hang around me long enough, and you get used to it." "How the hell did you get yourself so badly tangled?" asked Ollie as he helped with the last knots in Plas' left arm. Before either Jack or Plastic Man was forced to answer the question, both Star and Black Lightning zoomed in next to the group. "The bombs are taken care of, thanks to Black Lightning." commented Star. "I only helped." "Don't sell yourself short." she chided. "Listen to her kid, she's a professional. I don't want to speak outta turn here, but we've been looking for new members. Both you and Damage did well today. We've already offered him a membership, and I think you would make a strong addition as well." said Guy. "Yeah, the kid seems pretty cool to me." added Plastic Man. The other members nodded in agreement. Luis was shocked. He came to New York because somehow he felt responsible for a Bludhaven spawned Monster. He never expected to be offered a membership to a super team. Especially one including such famous people as Guy Gardner and Star. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted. The idea of working with you guys would be like a dream come true. But I have responsibilities in Bludhaven. I don't think I can really divide my time at this point. Who knows, maybe someday." "I understand kid. Let us know if you change your mind though." "Okay. One new member it is then, glad to meet you. My name is Alisha Michaels," she said, extending her hand. Jack happily accepted her handshake. "Wow, Star! My daughter has one of your dolls." "I used to have one too," added Plastic Man "Actually, it was more of a blow up doll. Did I say that out loud?" Star closed her eyes and counted to ten. Damage considered tying Plastic Man in smaller knots the next time. Epilogue: Monday, 6pm New York City One Block Away From Saint Evanger Memorial Hospital There was so little mind, but, perhaps, enough left to hate being just a bug again. It had no thought, but it did have need. It needed to think again. It carried Dr. Karns' knowledge, but it did not have the consciousness to process it. What it did have was the ability to sense the homeless man two feet away sleeping in the garbage bin. Slowly, the parasite began its crawl towards a new host... The End Well, here it is, finally. This story has a convoluted origin. Originally there was the idea of Jason and Erik including Damage in the story. Later, since they were both very busy, they suggested I write it. I was sent the basic idea of the Parasite being actual parasite, and Damage feeling the two minds just before the end. They may have included more of an outline, but I lost my hard drive, and that was all I remembered. After a reader poll showed a lot of support for Black Lightning joining on the team, I decide to throw him in the mix. I think in this case, bowing to reader demand helped the story. I talked with Wayne about it, and though he bowed out of the writing, he was okay with the use of the character. So there you have it. This is the baby of several fathers. If you'll excuse me now I have to go and purge the imagery conjured up by that last sentence. Suggested Music It's 2:30am on Christmas Eve and I have a four year old who will be up in a few hours. I'll leave the suggested music up to the readers. Something with a 'hate' theme would be good. Maybe something Nine Inch Nails.