Countdown. Part 21

"You fool," Darkseid mocked the Monitor, seemingly oblivious to the deception going on right beneath his granite nose. "Don't you see? I have controlled both sides of the board from the beginning. What does it matter to me if the Fourth World ends in flame and fire? As long as the Fifth World is born in my own image!"

The Fifth World? The Atom resisted an urge to gulp. His tiny heart was pounding so hard he couldn't believe Darkseid couldn't hear it. Darkseid wants to reshape all of reality?

"We shall see, G.o.d of Deceit." Solomon plucked the Atom from the board and activated his transporter beam. A cascade of flickering quantum particles cast a veil between the Atom and the cavernous war room. "This game is not yet over."

Darkseid made no effort to prevent his opponent's departure. "Very well, Monitor. Make your final move." A glow appeared in his hand and he placed a figure of Solomon himself upon the board. "The end is finally upon us, and, as was inevitable, Darkseid shall triumph over all!"

The New G.o.d's merciless laughter rang in the Atom's ears as the Monitor teleported him away.

APOKOLIPS.

"Donna Troy?" Mary gasped.

Of all the beings she had expected to encounter in the fetid alleyways of the Armagetto, Wonder Woman's foster sister was nowhere on the list. Mary had fought beside Donna and the other Teen t.i.tans before, and knew she could trust her, but what in heaven's name was Donna doing on Apokolips?

And who was that masked youth she was carrying?

"Okay," he cracked, "this isn't quite what I was expecting."

Tell me about it, Mary thought.

"Let's skip the pleasantries," Holly said. She lowered her bow, apparently recognizing the world-famous t.i.tan as well. "Please tell me you have a Boom Tube!"

Harley waved at their fellow Earthlings. "Hi there!" She sounded positively starstruck by Donna's unexpected appearance. "Can I tell you how much I've always loved that outfit? The sparklies are sooo cool! Are they actual stars?"

Donna looked nonplussed by Harley's reaction. She descended to the pavement and put down her male companion. "Mary, who exactly are these people you're with?"

A hasty round of introductions followed as the two teams compared notes. Mary was surprised to learn that Jason Todd was alive again, but had to admit that he hardly looked like a corpse. More discouraging was the discovery that Donna and Jason were just as stranded on Apokolips as Holly and Harley were. No way can I fly this entire gang back home, Mary realized, not even with my new powers.

"Women's shelter and we fought each other," Harley babbled at Donna, telling the perplexed heroine more than she ever wanted to know about the other women's various misadventures, "and then we took this boat ride and fought these sea serpent things, and then we hit Paradise Island and we were Amazons, only Athena wasn't really Athena; she was this old bag who was, like, totally evil...."

Holly cut to the chase. "So we're stuck here? Still?"

"Join the club!"

A new voice entered the discussion. Mary looked up in surprise to see . . . Jimmy Olsen?

At first she thought the towheaded reporter had been captured by a Parademon, but then she realized that the armored figure carrying Jimmy down from the sky looked slightly different from Darkseid's loyal shock troops. Filmy wings and twin antennae gave the flying woman a distinctly insectoid appearance. Her segmented armor was made of a glossy, sh.e.l.l-like material, as opposed to steel. A helmet concealed her features, so Mary couldn't tell if she was human or not. But she definitely seemed to be on Jimmy's side.

"Watch your step, my Olsenbug," the stranger buzzed as she carefully lowered him to the pavement. Her own boots touched down lightly beside him. Overlapping wings folded into the back of her thorax. "Do you know these humans?"

"You bet!" Jimmy said. A soiled set of coveralls, of the sort worn by many of Darkseid's slave laborers, suggested that he had been on Apokolips for a while. "Some of them, at least." He introduced his new girlfriend. "Forager, meet Mary Marvel and Donna Troy." He grinned at Mary. "Let me guess, that was your thunderbolt that ripped the roof off Granny's place?"

"Guilty as charged," she admitted, hoping that was all she would have to confess to. Has he heard anything about my recent excesses back on Earth? Has Donna? She took stock of the motley collection of characters a.s.sembled in the alley: Superman's buddy, Catwoman's protegee, the Joker's ex, the original Wonder Girl, the second Robin, some sort of alien bug-lady, and me.

"Holy Moley!" she exclaimed. "It's like a sidekicks convention . . . on Apokolips, no less!"

Donna arched an eyebrow. "That's one way to look at it, I guess."

"Watch who you're calling a sidekick," Jason grumbled.

Holly's hackles rose. "Never mind all that!" Feline claws extended from her fingertips. "How the h.e.l.l are we getting out of here?" She fixed her slitted eyes on Jimmy. "Can't you whistle up a ride from Superman?"

"Sorry," Jimmy said, instinctively backing away from the agitated catwoman. "I lost my signal-watch a while back."

"Terrific," Holly growled. "Just great." Her whiskers twitched irritably. "You'd think the G.o.ds would've offered us a ticket home along with the new duds and powers."

"The G.o.ds have larger matters to attend to," a booming voice rang out from above. A flash of s.h.i.+mmering energy caught Mary's eye, drawing her attention to a rusty fire escape overlooking the alley. A large alien figure materialized upon the metal landing, which creaked beneath his weight. Mary recognized the bearded ent.i.ty from the original Crisis.

"Holy Moley! It's the Monitor!"

Donna and Jason immediately tensed for battle. "On your toes, people!" Jason warned. To Mary's surprise, he drew an automatic pistol from beneath his leather jacket. "Trust me, you don't want to turn your back on this creep!"

"Huh?" Holly blurted. Following Jason's lead, she fitted a silver arrow to her bow and took aim at the Monitor. Harley hefted her clown-sized mallet. "What the h.e.l.l is a Monitor?"

Donna didn't bother to explain. She raised her silver bracelets defensively. "If you're here to spill any more blood, Solomon, we're ready for you!"

Blood, Mary thought? Whose blood is Donna talking about? She gave Donna a puzzled look. I thought the Monitor was a good guy.

"Spare me your hostile posturings," he said impatiently. "You humans think violence solves everything."

"You're the one who went berserk on Earth-51," Donna accused him, "then abandoned Jason and me here!"

"Your recriminations no longer bear any relevance," Solomon insisted. He gazed down on the misplaced mortals as though judging them from on high. His foreboding tone and expression raised goose b.u.mps on Mary's skin. "Darkseid's insidious plans near fruition and drastic action is required if we are to prevent him from conquering all."

A tiny figure, unnoticed by Mary before, stirred upon the Monitor's shoulder. The inch-high human sprang from his perch, increasing in size with every second. By the time the brightly costumed hero landed nimbly on the ground among them, Mary realized that the Monitor's miniature pa.s.senger was none other than the Atom.

"He's telling the truth!" he confirmed. Glowing atomic orbitals whirled around him as he rapidly a.s.sumed his normal stature. "The entire universe is in terrible danger!"

A look of relief came over Donna's face. "Ray! You have no idea how glad I am to see that you're still okay." She rushed to see him. "But where did Solomon take you? What did you learn?"

"You may trade tales of your exploits later," the Monitor interrupted. "For now, there is nothing more to be accomplished here. It is time to return you to Earth for the final chapter of this cosmic drama."

"Thank G.o.d!" Holly exclaimed. "I have no idea who you are or what you're talking about, but, boy, am I ready to get off this stinking planet!"

"Are you sure?" Harley asked. "We haven't really seen all the sights yet...."

Holly kicked the other girl in the s.h.i.+ns.

"Wait a second," Jimmy protested. "I'm not going anywhere." His freckled face took on a more serious expression. "Forager and I came here for a reason. I'm not going anywhere until I find out what's happening to me-even if that means confronting Darkseid himself."

Donna stared at him in shock. "Confront Darkseid? You can't be serious!" She was obviously horrified by the very idea. "That's suicide, Jimmy!"

"No one is asking you to join me, Donna." His mind seemed made up. "I have to do this."

"But, Jimmy," Donna persisted, "you . . . against Darkseid? That's madness. You can't face him alone!"

"He shall not be alone!" Forager stood beside Jimmy defiantly. "Go your own way if you must. We have a war to finish and a G.o.d to kill!"

Mary was impressed by the insect-woman's loyalty, but couldn't help thinking that Donna had a point. "Think about what you're doing, Jimmy."

"You haven't been around," he replied. "You don't know what I've been through." His arms were crossed over his chest. "Darkseid is the answer.... I know it."

"You are correct, James Olsen," Solomon declared. "But Darkseid is not the only one who knows what part you play in his plans." Lifting off from the fire escape, he floated down to the floor of the alley to join the humans, who backed away apprehensively. Jason and Holly kept the dour alien in their sights. Forager s.h.i.+elded Jimmy with her body. "I too have the answers you are searching for."

Donna stepped forward to confront the Monitor. There was obviously bad blood between them. "Talk fast, Solomon."

"I have no reason to do otherwise." He pointed at Jimmy. "Olsen is the reservoir, the one place in the Multiverse, where Darkseid knew he could store certain . . . energies."

"The souls of the New G.o.ds," Jimmy guessed. "Darkseid put them in me?"

The Monitor nodded. "He allowed them to be hidden inside you . . . until a time of his choosing when he will reclaim the souls for his own purposes."

"And my powers?" Jimmy asked.

"A precaution," Solomon explained, "to preserve your existence until Darkseid has need of you. Activated only when your life is in immediate jeopardy."

Jimmy ran his hand through his hair, overwhelmed by everything the Monitor was telling him. "Okay. I guess that makes sense-in a freaky sort of way. But why me?"

The Monitor frowned irritably. "Think, dolt! You are Superman's best friend. What better guarantee of protection against random dangers or the interference of other celestial ent.i.ties? No doubt Darkseid took perverse amus.e.m.e.nt in the fact that Superman himself would be the unwitting guardian of his most precious p.a.w.n."

Jimmy's face paled as the truth sank in. "Because he knew Superman wouldn't let anything happen to me?"

"Indeed," the Monitor confirmed. "And when the New G.o.ds are dead, and all their power resides in a single vessel, then Darkseid shall confiscate the power-and leave you lifeless!"

That sounds like Darkseid, all right, Mary thought. She took a certain comfort from finding out that she and the would-be Amazons on Paradise Island weren't the only ones who had been manipulated by Darkseid and his duplicitous minions lately. Apokolips's scheming ruler seemed to have a lot of irons in the fire these days. All part of one vast master plan?

She looked at Jimmy. "So, you still want to take on Darkseid, tough guy?"

"Confronting him is no longer an option," Solomon declared. "He is too close to his goal." He glowered at Jimmy. "If you try, I will personally destroy you to deprive Darkseid of the power contained within your pathetic mortal frame."

"You mean you'll try!" Jason snapped. He tried to rally the other heroes. "All right, folks. We've got the info we wanted. Let's off this backstabbing son of a b.i.t.c.h!"

"Okay!" Harley said cheerfully. She ran toward the Monitor, swinging her mallet. "Dibs on his skull!"

Donna yanked the hammer from Harley's grip. "Everybody, back off!" She appealed to reason. "I don't like Solomon any more than the rest of you, but we need to think this through!"

"Since when, Wonder Clone?" Harley grappled with Donna, like a kid groping for a favorite toy. "Gimme back my mallet!"

"You shortsighted apes!" the Monitor railed in exasperation. "The Fourth World is dying and Olsen is Darkseid's key to survival, to total domination." He shook his fist at Jimmy. "I cannot allow him to have you!"

Jimmy gulped. "Now, hold on a second...."

"Gimme! Gimme!" Harley squealed.

The Monitor lost his temper completely. "d.a.m.nable humans! Extinction looms and still you bicker endlessly! Exactly like my fellow Monitors, who dither while the Multiverse trembles on the brink of annihilation. Do you not see? Inaction is death!" His gauntlets flared brightly and golden spheres formed around Mary and the others. "You deserve extinction, in my view, but you shall have one last chance to avoid that fate." He shouted at the fearsome citadel towering in the distance. "Darkseid, bear witness to my final move!"

"Wait!" Mary shouted. "What are you doing?"

"Ooh!" Harley momentarily forgot about her purloined hammer. "Pretty lights!"

The humans disappeared from sight.

8 AND COUNTING.

METROPOLIS. EARTH-ONE.

"Ohmigos.h.!.+" Jimmy blurted. "We're home!"

He and his new companions suddenly found themselves atop the Daily Planet Building, right back where he and Forager had started out weeks ago. They scrambled to keep their footing atop the huge, slowly spinning bronze globe. Forager grabbed on to Jimmy's hand to keep him from slipping on the inclined surface beneath their feet. A magnificent view of Metropolis was spread out before them beneath a clear blue sky. A crisp winter breeze rustled Jimmy's hair. Compared to the fetid alleys and smoggy miasma of Apokolips, the sunlit city looked like heaven on Earth.

"That all-knowing b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" Jason Todd cursed the Monitor. "Who does that guy think he is, just zapping us around the Multiverse like this?" He braced himself against the back of the huge steel I in the Daily Planet logo girding the globe. "I'm sick of this c.r.a.p!"

Jimmy barely knew Jason, but he had already figured out that the embittered vigilante had a real chip on his shoulder. Still, he wasn't sure he disagreed with Jason on this point. "I don't understand," Jimmy said. "Why explain what's happened to me, what I've become, only to dump us right back at the beginning?"

"Lesson I've learned in this show," Donna advised him. "Never trust a Monitor."

"Or a G.o.ddess!" Harley griped. She looked back and forth between herself and Holly in dismay. Her jester's helmet had disappeared, along with her monster-sized hammer. Both women were now clad in armored breastplates and leather skirts straight out of ancient Greece, so that they looked like extras from some cheesy female gladiator movie. "Those sneaky Olympians took our powers back!"

"Looks like it," Holly agreed. No longer feline in appearance, she was now just a tough-looking redhead with a thick Gotham accent. She balanced nimbly atop the rotating globe. "Guess the G.o.ds figure they got what they wanted."

Harley scowled. "Drag. That giganto hammer they gave me made me look totally cool."

"It was a mallet," Holly corrected her. "And it made you look like a melon-squas.h.i.+ng comedian."

Harley shrugged her shoulders like she didn't think that was such a bad thing. "You say tomato; I say giganto...."

Mary Marvel ignored the other girls' banter. She looked worriedly at the Atom, who was gazing dolefully out at the familiar skyline before them. His troubled expression was obvious even through his blue cowl. He didn't seem all that happy to be home. "Ray . . . are you gonna be okay?"

"How about I get back to you on that?" he replied.

Jason seemed unconcerned with the Atom's state of mind. "So, is that it? Is this stupid wild-goose chase over yet?" He peeled his domino mask from his face. "We can start getting back to our lives now, right?"

"Um, h.e.l.lo?" Jimmy tapped his own chest. "Did we all forget the Darkseid bait dangling inside me?"

"Holy Moley!" Mary exclaimed. "That's right." She pouted, sounding almost as fed up as Jason. Although he didn't know the details, Jimmy got the impression that this adventure had been unusually hard on her. "Is this nightmare ever going to end?"

"G.o.ds, I hope so," Donna said.

The Atom shook himself out of his dolor. "Okay, if we're going to do something about Jimmy, standing around on top of the Daily Planet all day won't be much help. I say we take him straight to the Justice League." He looked over the motley crew of sidekicks and hangers-on. "No offense to anyone here, but, from what I heard on Apokolips, we're in the big leagues now."

"None taken," Donna a.s.sured him. "Sounds like a plan to me." She turned toward Holly and Harley. "If you girls want to opt out of this, no one will fault you."

"Thanks," Holly replied. "To be honest, I'm not sure how much help we'd be now that the G.o.ds have revoked our powers. This whole thing is getting way too cosmic for me." She grabbed Harley by the hand and led her toward a maintenance hatch hidden behind the P in Planet. "C'mon, Harley. We're outta here."

Jimmy was kind of glad to see them go. He hadn't forgotten, although Harley apparently had, that the pigtailed blonde had once stalked him back during her loopy super-villain days. I'll bet she doesn't want to get anywhere near Batman and the rest of the Justice League.

"Tootle-loo, kiddies!" Harley waved good-bye as she and Holly disappeared down the hatch. "Don't forget to write!"