Countdown. Part 12

Solomon mulled the other Monitor's words, then shook his head. "That remains to be seen."

"You will not come willingly?"

"I shall not," Solomon declared.

Nix Uotan sighed. "Then you leave me no choice." He stretched out his hand toward the Challengers. His gauntlet hummed loudly as it powered up. Crackling pink energies erupted from his upraised palm.

An identical blast issued from Solomon's palm, blocking Uotan's attack. The rival volleys flared brightly as they crashed together between the two Monitors, casting a ruddy pink radiance over the deserted park. Startled pigeons abandoned their roosts and flapped wildly away. "Get back!" Solomon instructed Donna and Jason.

"Not on your life!" Jason charged forward to join the fight, until a sudden shock wave sent both him and Donna tumbling backward across the plaza. Donna winced as she slammed into a metal park bench. Jason splashed down into the fountain. "Then again . . ."

The dueling Monitors appeared evenly matched. They faced off against each other, grappling head-to-head as unleashed cosmic energy flashed and sparked all around them. Their faces were contorted from the strain of their combat. The glare was so bright that Donna could barely tell them apart.

"This is futile!" Uotan shouted over the thunderous clash of their battle. "Wherever you flee, we will find you. Give up this madness!"

"What of you?" Solomon challenged him. "Would you kill me to preserve your precious rules?"

"You cannot defy our sacred code with impunity!" Gaining a momentary advantage, Uotan got past Solomon's defenses. A glowing hand, trailing energy like a comet, smacked Solomon across the face. "We are brothers! We must act as one!"

Solomon staggered backward. "Then we are brothers no more!" He spit a mouthful of blood onto the pavement and raised his palms once more. His gauntlets still seemed to have plenty of juice in them. "Dogma has blinded you all to the peril we face!"

This could go on all night, Donna realized. Launching herself into the fray, she struck Uotan like a missile. Her fists slammed into the other Monitor's chest, knocking him off his feet. He fired back at her with an energy-blast, but she deflected the bursts with her Amazonian bracelets. "Enough, Solomon!" she shouted at her ally. "Aren't you the one who is always going on about wasting time in pointless battles?"

"This is not your fight, Donna Troy!" he protested.

Donna disagreed. She was still p.i.s.sed off at the Monitor for callously judging her expendable, but that didn't mean he wasn't right about the importance of finding Ray Palmer. "One for all, all for one, Solomon. This is our quest too."

"Right," Jason chimed in. Still dripping from his splashdown in the fountain, he drew a Glock from beneath his leather jacket and opened fire on the other Monitor. "Count us in."

The bullets bounced off Nix Uotan's personal force field. "Pathetic," he said as he lumbered to his feet and took aim at the gun-wielding human. "And hopeless!"

"Jason!" Donna zoomed toward the Monitor's target, shoving Jason out of harm's way only seconds before Uotan's blast struck the Revolutionary War statue behind him. The marble effigy exploded into a cascade of dust and shards. Pulverized stone rained down on Donna as she s.h.i.+elded Jason with her body.

"Thanks, babe!" he smirked. "I didn't know you cared."

"Don't get any ideas," she told him.

Solomon took advantage of the distraction created by Jason to nail Uotan with a powerful blast of his own. The other Monitor slammed into the trunk of a st.u.r.dy oak, cracking it in two. The top of the tree crashed down on top of him, momentarily trapping him beneath its weight.

Donna helped Jason to his feet, lifting him as easily as she might a rag doll. She called out to Solomon. "Time to go?"

"Decidedly," he agreed. He activated the controls on his gauntlet and a s.h.i.+mmering, transparent sphere appeared behind them. A portal opened in the side of the globe and he herded them toward the opening. "Quickly-before my brother recovers."

"Yeah, yeah." Jason sprinted into the sphere with Donna right behind him. "We know the drill."

Solomon joined them inside the vessel. The portal closed automatically.

"Halt!" Nix Uotan commanded. He heaved the fallen timber to one side and fired at the sphere. "This is futile. You cannot escape us!"

The energy-blast jolted the sphere, throwing its pa.s.sengers off balance, but the desperate Monitor was too late. Outside the glowing walls of the globe, Earth-15 s.h.i.+mmered and faded like a mirage. Within seconds, the skyline of Gotham City vanished from sight.

Here we go again, Donna thought. She brushed the powdered stone from her star-flecked black leotard. But to where?

21 AND COUNTING.

APOKOLIPS.

Enormous Fire Pits, each hundreds of miles in diameter, belched flames into the sky above a sprawling megalopolis. Thick black smoke darkened the sky, making it impossible to tell whether it was day or night. Only the incarnadine glow of the pits lit up the forbidding alien landscape. A thunderous peal resounded over the roar of the fires as the Boom Tube deposited Jimmy and Forager into the midst of a vast industrial wasteland. Transported here straight from the roof of the Daily Planet Building, Jimmy choked on the acrid fumes as he hastily took stock of his new surroundings. The scorching heat of the Fire Pits gave him an instant tan.

"Oh no!" he exclaimed. "Please don't tell me this is-"

"Apokolips," Forager confirmed. "Home of dread Darkseid."

That's what I was afraid of, Jimmy thought. He had visited this h.e.l.lhole of a planet before-and barely escaped with his life. Looking up, he spied an entire squadron of flying Parademons zooming toward them. The vicious soldiers were Darkseid's shock troops, used to enforce his despotic rule over Apokolips. Antigravity glider-wings extended from their metallic green and yellow armor. Clenched steel gauntlets gripped futuristic lances and rifles. "Here comes the welcome wagon."

Forager braced herself for the attack. "Less talk and more fight, Earth-bug!"

Acid sprayed from her gauntlets as the first wave of Parademons a.s.sailed them. She nimbly dodged the jabs and blasts of snarling soldiers, bouncing across the sooty terrain like a gymnastic gra.s.shopper, her overlapping wings flaring out behind her.

"Wait!" Jimmy hollered at the hostile troopers. "I don't want to fight you!" His body, however, had other ideas; overriding his conscious will, his superpowers kicked in automatically, striking back at the Parademons. Elastic limbs lashed the soldiers like swinging maces. A volley of needle-sharp quills elicited cries of pain as they penetrated minute cracks in the creatures' armor. A th.o.r.n.y fist slammed into a brutish face, shattering a mouthful of jagged fangs. Blood and saliva sprayed from the soldier's jaws. "Stop attacking!" Jimmy pleaded desperately. "I can't control myself!"

Forager, on the other hand, seemed more than happy to tear into Darkseid's troops. "That's it!" she cheered him on, while enthusiastically slas.h.i.+ng and kicking at their foes. A growling Parademon lunged at her from behind, but she deftly flipped him over her shoulder so that he collided with a phalanx of oncoming soldiers. "Scrag them limb from limb! They are but soulless extensions of the Dark Lord's evil!"

"No! This is wrong!" Jimmy insisted. As monstrous as they were, the Parademons were just defending their own turf. We're the intruders here. Against his will, his rebellious fingers netted entire handfuls of Parademons and flung them into the air. His pliable flesh absorbed the impact of the aliens' blasts and blows, rebounding back into place after every strike. A fresh salvo of porcupine quills exploded from his skin. "I'm not like you, Forager. I'm not a warrior!"

She turned her antennae toward him. "That's not what it looks like from here," she buzzed back at him with what sounded like admiration in her voice. Despite her formidable fighting skills, however, the sheer number of their foes was taking its toll on the courageous insect-woman. Her glossy carapace was scratched and scorched in places. Turquoise blood ran down her side from an ugly wound in her shoulder. One of her wings was frayed and shredded. She was breathing hard.

There seemed to be no end to the savage Parademons; they kept on coming, wave after wave. Jimmy wondered how much longer they could hold Darkseid's storm troopers at bay. His ragged s.h.i.+rt and jeans hung in tatters upon his distorted frame. Perspiration dripped into his eyes, stinging them. His rubbery flesh began to feel the strain of absorbing too many a.s.saults. Bruises blossomed across his aching torso; each new attack jarred his bones. The b.u.t.t end of a metal lance smacked into his chin and he yelped in pain. A laser beam zipped past his skull, singeing his scalp. He smelled his own hair burning. What was Forager thinking, bringing us here? We don't stand a chance!

The relentless crush of enemy soldiers abated suddenly. The ma.s.sed Parademons withdrew to several yards away, granting Jimmy and Forager a momentary respite. Grateful for the break, he dared to hope that maybe the worst was over. His elongated arms retreated back toward their sockets even as he wondered what had brought about this inexplicable cease-fire. His eyes searched the smoggy skies overhead, half expecting to see Superman flying to the rescue. Who else could chase the bloodthirsty Parademons away?

The rumble of heavy machinery crushed his hopes. Turning toward the noise, he saw a gigantic energy-cannon being wheeled into place. "Uh-oh." Jimmy stared down the barrel of the enormous weapon. An ominous hum rapidly increased in volume as the cannon charged up, and he shared an anxious glance with Forager. "This can't be good. . . ."

No wonder the foot soldiers had cleared out!

A smirking Parademon fired the cannon, and Jimmy's world disappeared in a blast of scalding energy.

EPHESUS, TURKEY.

The Temple of Artemis had been one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, famed throughout Western civilization, but that was millennia ago. Generations of conquest, vandalism, and neglect had all but obliterated the once-magnificent structure, so that nothing remained but crumbling marble ruins falling to pieces in the middle of a marshy field, about fifty miles south of the nearest city. Truncated columns tilted precariously at odd angles, or else lay across the ground like fallen logs. Weeds sprouted between uneven stone tiles. A sculpted female torso, lacking both arms and a head, looked more like the Venus de Milo than Artemis of the Hunt. Vines strangled the broken pillars and lintels. A crescent moon cast mournful shadows across the site.

Descending from above, Mary Marvel was unimpressed by the forlorn remains of the temple. Turkey was a long way from Gotham City. Scowling, she wondered if it had been worth the trip.

It is, Mary, a voice a.s.sured her. We're going to be good friends, you and I.

"Uh-huh," Mary said dubiously. She was still trying to get used to the idea that the mysterious voice inside her head wasn't actually her own. For the longest time, she had confused the voice with her own thoughts, but she had finally realized that there was a separate intelligence at work here, insinuating itself into her mind, calling to her from somewhere both far away and disturbingly close. Intent on getting to the bottom of the mystery, and perhaps teaching the invasive speaker a lesson, she had followed the voice across the Atlantic to this desolate locale. "Friends, sure, a.s.suming I don't kill you first."

Ooh. The voice sounded more amused than intimidated by Mary's threat. You mean that. I like that.

Mary touched down onto the ground. She glanced around at the scattered debris. Time and the elements had eroded a nearby frieze until it was almost illegible. Doric columns lay upon their sides like fallen redwoods; only a handful of terra-cotta roof tiles remained. "Why this place?"

"Artemis is the G.o.ddess of the moon," the voice replied. It took Mary a second to realize that she could now hear the voice with her ears as well as her mind. "Her temple seemed like a fitting place for us to meet face-to-face at last." The feminine voice spoke with an American accent. "You don't know how long I've been looking forward to this moment. We have so much in common after all."

"What do you mean?" Mary said warily. Klarion's trickery had left her wary of the nameless speaker's intentions. She peered into the shadows cloaking the ruins, searching for the source of the invasive voice. "Who are you . . . really?"

"Just an ordinary girl, granted ancient, G.o.dlike power, betrayed by those closest to her." A low chuckle escaped the shadows. "Sound familiar?"

A little, Mary admitted. She walked beneath a decrepit stone archway into the remains of an open plaza. A shaft of moonlight fell like a spotlight onto an outre figure perched upon a weathered marble pedestal that had once served as the base of a towering stone column. Intricate purple designs were embroidered on the woman's tight black costume. Polished silver crescents clasped the front of the outfit together. A cloak of purple feathers fanned out behind her head and shoulders, then trailed down behind her like a train. Her purple boots dangled above the cracked and uneven pavement. The skintight outfit flattered her voluptuous figure.

The flamboyant getup, which made Mary's costume look positively austere in comparison, seemed better suited to a Mardi Gras celebration than a midnight rendezvous in an historical ruin, but it was the woman's striking countenance that truly captured Mary's attention. Her bone white skin was partially eclipsed by a dark purple shadow that covered fully half of the woman's face. Some sort of birthmark or tattoo, Mary wondered, or just a dramatic makeup job? Spiky black hair crowned the woman's scalp, while gleaming violet eyes regarded Mary playfully. A sardonic grin lifted the corners of the stranger's plum-colored lips. Tapered ears and fangs gave her a distinctly vampiric appearance. Slender white fingers fondled a glittering black diamond about the size of a large fig. The translucent gem sparkled darkly in the moonlight.

Mary didn't recognize the stranger. "And you are . . . ?"

"My name used to be Jean, but now?" She rose sinuously from her seat upon the decapitated base. "You can call me . . . Eclipso."

Eclipso! Mary was familiar with a notorious super-villain by that name, a vengeful demon who derived his power from a cursed black gem, just like the one in this woman's possession. But that Eclipso had been a brutishlooking male, not a weirdly glamorous woman. Maybe they're related somehow, like me and Billy?

"You don't look like Eclipso," she accused the other woman.

"You're thinking of my fiendish predecessor." She held up the sparkling gemstone. "The mystic power of the black diamond has pa.s.sed on to me."

Just like I inherited Black Adam's power, Mary thought. "Good for you. But what's that got to do with me?"

Eclipso seemed untroubled by Mary's suspicious tone. She smiled invitingly at the younger woman. "Do you know how much potential you have, Mary?" She gestured at the murky ruins surrounding them. "Throughout history, other sorceresses have stood upon this sacred ground. Circe. Medea. Morgaine Le Fey. Each of them a woman of great strength, ability, and pa.s.sion, much like yourself. Each of them misunderstood and, like you, betrayed by those they loved."

A pang stabbed Mary's heart as she recalled waking up alone in that hospital, and Billy's harsh reaction to her new powers. And I don't even know where Freddy is anymore. They both forgot about me.

Eclipso nodded knowingly. "Yes, Mary. I'm aware that your family has turned their backs on you, leaving you on your own to be preyed upon by so-called mentors."

"You mean Zatanna, Klarion, and Madame Xanadu," Mary realized. She frowned as she recalled how the magical trio had attempted to undermine her. If they had their way, I'd still be weak and helpless.

"None of them truly wanted to help you, Mary." Eclipso came closer to Mary, until they were only a few inches apart. The lady in purple stood at least a head taller than the younger heroine. A heavy perfume, redolent of rare black orchids, accompanied Eclipso. "They were jealous of your power and sought to keep you from surpa.s.sing them."

Mary eyed Eclipso guardedly. "And how are you any different?"

"You think I want your power?" Eclipso laughed out loud. "How cute. Trust me, as impressive as you are, your might is trivial next to mine."

Mary bristled. "Is that right? Then what do you want from me?"

"I thought I'd found a kindred spirit in you, Mary." She sighed regretfully. "But I can see now that you're not ready to trust again so soon, that you'd prefer to go it alone." Eclipso shrugged and retreated from the moonlight, fading into the shadows. "Fair enough, Mary Marvel. I leave you in peace."

"No, wait!" Mary panicked at the prospect of being abandoned once more; this was like getting banished from Shadowcrest all over again. I never said I wanted her to go away. I was just being a little more cautious this time. What if Eclipso is just the person I need to understand these new powers of mine? "Eclipso! Jean!"

A rough male voice shouted at her from behind. "You there!"

Mary spun around to find herself confronted by three armed guards in military uniforms. Their leader, an ugly gorilla with a greasy mustache, bellowed in Turkish, but the wisdom of Zehuti allowed her to comprehend his words.

"What are you doing here? This a protected landmark." He drew his pistol from its holster and waved it in her face. "You must go!"

"But I'm not hurting anything," she insisted in the guard's own tongue. "I'm not doing anything wrong." The soldiers' surly att.i.tude got on her nerves; these jerks had chosen the worst possible moment to give her a hard time. "What's it to you if I choose to be here?"

"Shut your mouth!" the soldier barked, glaring spitefully at the young woman. "We've had enough of you rich Americans and your arrogance. You think our rules don't apply to you? Well, maybe you'll feel differently after a few nights in jail." He unhooked a set of handcuffs from his belt and tossed them over to one of his men, who snickered and made a rude remark about Mary's legs. "Place her under arrest!"

What? Mary couldn't believe the men's nerve. They had no idea whom they were dealing with here. The cuffs jangling in his grip, the leering soldier stepped forward to take Mary prisoner, but he didn't get far. Mary threw out her open palm and a blinding flash of lightning froze the men in their tracks. "There!" she retorted. "Try and arrest me now!"

The color drained from the guards' flesh and uniforms, turning chalky gray. The spontaneous burst of magic had done more than just bedazzle the hostile guards; they had literally been transformed into marble, like the strewn remains of the bygone temple. The petrified men stood like statues amidst the fallen columns and archways. Only their modern uniforms and weapons demonstrated that they hadn't been resting here for thousands of years.

Mary gulped. Did I really do that? She had acted without thinking, but maybe her reaction had been a little extreme? The men had been pigs and bullies, who probably deserved everything they got, but still . . .

"Hah!" Eclipso chuckled softly in her ear. Distracted by her confrontation with the obnoxious soldiers, Mary hadn't even heard the other woman glide up behind her. "They wanted to guard these ruins so badly, now they can do so forever." She hurled a bolt of purple energy at the men's leader, reducing his stone pistol to gravel. "Very nicely done."

"Y-you think so?" Mary asked uncertainly. She was relieved-and grateful-that Eclipso hadn't condemned her like Billy and Zatanna had. Perhaps Jean really was on her side?

"Of course," Eclipso a.s.sured her. She laid a comforting hand on Mary's shoulder. Her violet eyes probed Mary's face. "How did it feel?"

Mary contemplated the stationary figures of the transformed guards. The men's bellicose expressions were stamped forever onto their petrified faces. Aside from their badges and uniforms, were they really all that different from, say, those muggers who had terrorized her back in Gotham City? Mary wondered how many other innocent tourists the men had threatened and brutalized over the years. I was just minding my own business, she recalled resentfully, but they were going to throw me into some filthy Turkish prison anyway. Real tough guys, picking on one helpless-looking girl . . .

"Actually," she admitted, "it felt pretty good."

Eclipso smiled. "I'm glad to hear that, Mary. It means you're on the right path."

That was just what Mary wanted to hear. Take that, Zatanna!

"It's weird, though," she confessed. "I didn't even know I could do that."

"This is just the beginning," Eclipso promised. She lifted off from the rubble, ascending into the cool night sky. The waxing moon, s.h.i.+ning brightly above them, matched the silver crescents upon her throat and bodice. "Come with me, Mary. Let me help you explore your new abilities . . . and guide you to your ultimate destiny."

Which is? Mary wondered anxiously. She hesitated amidst the ruins, unsure if she should accept the other woman's offer or not. The old Eclipso had been a villain to be sure, but then again, so had Black Adam. Maybe this new Eclipso was different . . . and truly understood what Mary was going through. Just because I have Adam's powers, that doesn't make me evil too, so it would be unfair to judge Jean on the basis of the old Eclipso's crimes.

Besides, n.o.body else seems to believe in me anymore....

Mary launched herself into the air after Eclipso. "Wait for me!"

20 AND COUNTING.

THE BLEED.

Roiling clouds of radioactive vapor churned outside the Monitor's energy-sphere. Crimson lightning lit up the billowing mists. A bloodred radiance suffused the stormy atmosphere, which seemed to stretch on endlessly in all directions. Turbulence rocked the globe beneath the Challengers' feet, making it difficult to stand upright. Donna braced herself against the curved wall of the sphere to keep from falling. Talk about a b.u.mpy ride, she thought. This thing needs seat belts.

"So where are we now?" Jason asked. He scowled at the daunting scenery outside. "We taking a detour through h.e.l.l or something?"

Donna had to admit this unnamed cosmos had a distinctly infernal appearance. If she didn't know better, she'd think they were traversing Tartarus itself. Minus the three-headed dog, of course.

"My people call this realm The Bleed," Solomon informed them. "It is the formless void between the fifty-two universes." Unlike Donna and Jason, he seemed to have no difficulty maintaining his balance. He tracked their progress on a holographic display screen. "The Bleed's chaotic energies render it all but impossible to monitor, which should hide us from my brethren for the time being."

Donna was grateful for the respite. "But they're definitely after us, aren't they?"

"Yes," Solomon admitted. "The other Monitors refuse to accept my interpretation of recent events. They deny all evidence of the catastrophe to come. We can expect them to oppose us at every turn."