The Atom
Size Matters
by Libbylawrence
Just outside of Ivy Town an RV was parked near an old elm tree. Within the seemingly bucolic setting, a young woman typed rapidly on a battered typewriter. She had long blonde hair and rather large but stylish glasses. She wore a very short purple dress with hosiery and heels of the same color. She looked down at the paper before her and read to herself. “The Heroic Ideal –An Examination of the Nature of Heroism in Contemporary Society! By Professor Andrea Wye. ”
“The Hero’s courage inspires the devotion and loyalty of many allies. His very nature as a champion brings out unseen levels of sacrifice and courage in those around him.”
She crossed her legs and tapped idly on the table. “Aquaman proved my first chapter’s theorem. Now, if my plans go as expected, the Atom will test the validity of chapter two’s conclusion. Even a Hero will become a target when the adoration of his public turns to fear. His unique status as a Hero will make him the object of their hatred and fear which will be increased by the very sense that he is different from normal men!”
Professor Wye smiled with an almost girlish delight as she turned to resume her work. The brilliant scholar’s academic plans would not be pleasant for the Atom or for Ray Palmer!
***
A loud shriek echoed through the otherwise peaceful home shared by Ray Palmer, his wife Jean Loring, and the latest addition to their family, a pretty brunette teen named Melanie Larvae.
Ray jumped up from the sofa where he had been dozing and hurried upstairs to investigate! Since a book by author Norman Brawler had revealed the scientist’s secret identity to the world, he had cared a real concern that old enemies like Chronos or the Floronic Man might try to strike at Jean or other Palmer loved ones in order to gain revenge on the former Atom. That did not seem to be the case this time! During his heroic career as the original Atom he had heard Jean’s scream many times and he knew from the pitch of the cry, she was not frightened but angry! The handsome brown haired theoretical physicist quickly ran through a mental check to see if he had done something wrong. “I didn’t forget our anniversary. I remembered to bring home bread and milk last night! I didn’t even go to sleep with my feet on the coffee table! Knowing Jean that can only mean one thing! Melanie’s in hot water again!”
He referred to the brilliant young girl whom he had taken in after a series of unfortunate encounters with the orphaned youth. Her father had been Bert Larvae the criminal known as the Bug-Eyed Bandit His death during the Crisis had ended the long enmity he had had for Ray’s heroic alter ego the Atom!
Melanie had fled from a series of foster homes until her journey had brought her to the Palmer home and a hot tempered battle with Jean. She had robbed the lawyer and left in confused yet poignant grief when she had failed to meet Ray himself. Later, she had been rescued from manipulative criminals who sought to use her inventive skills for their own purposes. That rescue had come from the new Atom (Adam Cray) and it had led to a more heroic one of a different kind by Ray. He had recognized Melanie’s keen mind and her need for guidance and with help from some of his law enforcement connections; he had managed to gain custody of the girl. Jean had promised to try to put her past embarrassment at the hands of Melanie’s robotic insects behind her since in truth, Jean had a deep concern for the safety and well being of youngsters. Still, that uneasy truce had promised to shatter at any moment since Melanie had moved in to their home!
Jean was a beautiful dark haired woman with a sense of style and drama which played wonderfully well in the courtroom; however, even Ray had to pause when he entered their room and saw his wife standing before a mirror in a pale green dress with several large holes in the fabric! “Ray! Will you look at this? It’s ruined! This dress was a Previn original! Now, it looks more like Swiss cheese!” she cried.
Ray tried to conceal a smile as he replied, “Jean, you know the kids are wearing things like that these days! Maybe, you could set a new style for sleepy Ivy Town!”
Jean stomped her foot and placed both hands on her hips. “Very droll, Dr. Palmer. Very droll indeed! Ray, what are you going to do about this? Melanie’s to blame!” she said.
At that moment the girl silently entered the room and sheepishly glanced at the older couple. “I’m sorry! It was an accident! I was testing a robotic moth and it turned out to be more powerful than I’ve imagined it would be! It ate through the dress before I could catch it!” she said.
Ray put his arms around both women and said, “Girls, it was an accident. What say we settle it like this? Melanie will promise to confine all experiments to the lab and I’ll see if I can’t get you a new dress! Anton Previn was a pal of Barry’s. I met him once. He might be happy to help out!”
Jean sputtered for a moment and then threw up her hands. “OK, OK! Maybe, I overreacted! I’m sorry I blew up, Melanie!” she said.
Melanie smiled and said, “That’s OK. I know I’ve been pretty rough on your wardrobe since we first met!”
He said, “Why don’t we all go catch a movie? It’s early still.”
Melanie smiled and said, “That would be great! Could we see a slasher film? I love those!”
Jean rolled her eyes in mock dismay and poked a finger through one of the gaping holes in her dress. “Did you have to say the word slasher?” she said.
They laughed and then Ray turned to answer the telephone. “Palmer residence! Oh, Chief Baxter, how are you?” he said. His expression became grimmer as he listened to his old friend’s words. “Great Scott! I can see why you’d be concerned! I’ll be right there!”
He put down the phone and said, “We’ll have to postpone the movie! There’s a real life horror loose! That was Police Chief Baxter. He says people have been disappearing all over town!”
Jean took his arm and said, “Why don’t you just call Adam? He is the Atom now, you know! He can locate the missing people.”
Ray kissed her gently and said, “I know but the nature of their disappearances makes this equally my concern. You see they did not literally vanish! They shrank out of sight!”
***
Meanwhile, in nearby Pleasant Valley a young man was reading intently in a comfortable room in an old farmhouse. He was concentrating so completely that he did not hear the stealthy approach of a pretty blonde girl. She covered his eyes with her hands and leaned closer as he dropped the book. “Now, Adam, what if I had been one of those super villains you’re always battling? I might have turned you into a ferret with my chango-gun or something!” she laughed.
Adam Cray smiled and moved her hands as he looked up at Juliet Thayer. “Juliet, I am far more alert when I’m in costume and on a case as the Atom. I guess I didn’t expect a sudden sneak attack by Flirt Girl!”
Juliet laughed and said, “Flirt Girl? Is that the best you can do?”
Adam said, “Hey, you’re the one who came up with a chango-gun! Give me a break!” He enjoyed being with the lovely woman and rooming with Juliet and her Uncle Ed was a real treat for the solitary student. He knew that he was beginning to develop real feelings for her. He also enjoyed being able to share his costumed role with the Thayers. They brought a sense of normalcy to his otherwise colorful life that was different from Ray Palmer’s more stoic manner.
Adam reached over to touch her arm and frowned as his hand passed over her head as she suddenly shrank down to the size of a doll! He gasped and activated his own size and weight adjusting device to match her rate of reduction. In seconds, his dark colored cowled Atom costume had materialized around him as he had reduced his own size through the wonderful invention given to him by his mentor Ray Palmer. “She doesn’t know what’s happened. Her perceptions have not adjusted yet!” he thought.
She cried out as she realized what had happened and she fell into his arms.
“Juliet, don’t panic! I know this seems scary but it’s not that bad! I’ll fix it!” he said hurriedly.
She said, “Did you do this to me?”
He shook his head and said, “No, honey. I didn’t! Ray and I will get to the bottom of it. You’ve stopped shrinking. You’ll be OK!”
Juliet held him tightly and Adam’s mind raced as he considered the possibilities!
“I’m putting on a brave front but the fact is I don’t have a clue as to what caused this! I am half afraid to let her go because she might start shrinking again and vanish right into some unknown microverse!” he thought.
He stepped back and returned to his normal size. He carefully picked up the doll sized girl and placed her on the desk. “Juliet, I want you to stay exactly where you are now. Don’t move from that spot! You’ll be safe. I’m going to call Ray!” he said as calmly as he could.
She nodded and wrapped her arms around her chest as she fought the fear that threatened to overwhelm her.
***
Within the largest estate in Ivy Town, Cornelia Vanderkellen sat at the head of an elegantly decorated table and sighed. The blonde heiress was bored to tears. She hated sitting through her Daddy’s dull dinner parties when she could be hitting the nightclubs in the cities near Ivy Town. She stared at the roof and began to count the tiles as conversation droned on around her. She was too bored to even care about hearing the guests tell her how pretty she looked. She had heard it all before anyway and she knew it for a fact.
She gave a small squeal as the room filled with light and all of the guests began to shrink! She stood up and realized that she also was losing height with every second.
The wealthy guests cried out in alarm in increasingly shrill, small voices until a shadow fell across the room and a giant appeared to loom above them! In truth, the giant invader was merely a normal sized man; however, this was not evident to the tiny party guests.
He wore a blue suit and had shaggy black hair with bangs in the front and long sideburns around his jaw line. He grinned as his slightly yellowed teeth appeared beneath a scruffy mustache. He held up a large shoe box in which he had punched dozens of tiny holes. “We’ll be moving the party to my place!” he said as he started to scoop them up and drop them in the box!
Even Cornelia Vanderkellen lost her air of boredom as she felt his huge clammy hand close around her and drop her into the old box!
***
Ray Palmer shook his head in concern as he faced the Atom (Adam Cray) and another thinner man who watched them with studied interest. “Ira’s been going over all the data we gathered from Chief Baxter and it doesn’t look good at all! Dozens of people within Ivy Town limits have been turned into tiny doll-sized beings. Most of them didn’t really disappear although that’s how the Chief characterized the event. They were reduced to a few inches tall.”
Ira Quimby, Palmer’s loyal lab partner, offered his own opinion in a slightly hesitant manner as if he still possessed a definite desire to please his boss. “Perhaps, I can help. I do have the benefit of being able to view such events with a…shall we say…criminal mind?” he said with a brief smile.
Atom said, “You’ve proven yourself to us countless times since you quit being I.Q. the super crook. Hey, even Superman owes you for a favor or two so don’t worry about giving us the wrong impression. We’d appreciate your opinions!”
Ira said, “Thank you son. It occurred to me that if the victims are considered as a whole then we immediately see a pattern.”
The Atom (Adam) said, “I can’t detect a pattern. Some victims were male while some were female. Some of them were young and some are elderly. None of them necessarily shared a common occupation or hobby.”
Ira smiled thinly and said, “That’s exactly the pattern I was referring to before. Namely, there is no pattern! The victims were targeted entirely at random!”
Ray said, “I can offer one fact myself. The shrunken people can be accounted for and as far as we know in each case the shrinking happened in public or around witnesses! Chief Baxter has the poor people in his office! Ira and I did a few tests upon them and none of them have been hurt. They’ve lost height but in no other way have they been harmed.”
The Atom said, “Juliet is with her Uncle Ed. He conducted some tests too but all he came up with was that white dwarf matter was not involved in the process.”
Ray nodded grimly. “I concur. If our method of shrinking had been used, I could have restored them all by now. As it is, I wonder if finding the means by which they were altered will be enough to let us find the person behind the whole mystery. Atom, you actually witnessed Juliet’s shrinking. Did you see anything before the process started that might have triggered it?”
Atom said, “I did seem to see a light out of the corner of my eye before Juliet started to shrink. I’d say the means of shrinking people came from a light ray of some kind!”
Ira said, “A beam almost makes it sound like a projector device was used. Perhaps, by comparing the locations in which the incidents occurred, we could get a rough estimate of the range of said weapon!”
Atom said, “That makes sense but I’d like to know the motive more than the means? Why shrink normal, randomly chosen people and then leave them alone as miniatures?”
At that moment, Chief Baxter himself entered the office at Ivy Town Police HQ and said, “Dr. Palmer, we’ve received a ransom note! Actually, Ferrer Vanderkellen received it and brought it to me moments ago. This could be the break we’ve been looking for!”
Atom said, “Vanderkellen? Isn’t he the richest man in town? What does a kidnapping have to do with the shrinking mystery?”
Chief Baxter scowled and said, “Vanderkellen was late for a dinner party his wife was throwing at their mansion. When he came home, he found signs of a break-in and his family and all of his guests were missing! Later, he received a note that claimed they had been reduced to the size of dolls and that he would only get them back in a restored form if he paid 500,000 dollars!”
Ray said, “Size alteration extortion! That’s a new twist on an old crime. I can understand the motive for this instance. He shrank the guests and carried them off as miniatures. Unless he is paid for their safe restoration, he will kill them or leave them in their current plight!”
Ira said, “Could the other attacks have been practice sessions? After all, none of the others were taken away and they’ve not received ransom demands for their restoration!”
Ray said, “Why use shrinking for criminal purposes at all in this specific vicinity? The reason is painfully clear. Our enemy wants to create a panic. He wants normal citizens to be afraid of having the same fate befall them that struck their neighbors and more to the point; he wants that fear to be directed at me. In fact, I wonder if we aren’t dealing with two criminals each with their own agenda. One wants simple loot while the other wants to incriminate me! ”
Ira said, “My word! I see your point. If shrinking or size alteration occurs in Ivy Town then one would logically assume the famous Ray Palmer has something to do with it!”
The Atom said, “That’s true. I don’t like it! Ever since your secret came out in that book, you’ve been the object of intense media attention; however, it has also opened you up to threats.”
Ray nodded and said, “I assumed it might not matter as much since we live in Ivy Town. The people here always held me in high regard. I’m proud of that. I don’t want that esteem to change to fear!”
Atom said, “We won’t let it! In fact, we can prevent it from happening by bringing in the real crook! If Ira can work out the range, maybe, you can find a cure while I try to find the mind behind the whole thing. I have an idea in fact if the Chief will go along with it!”
Baxter glanced over at Ray Palmer who gave the slightest indication of a nod.
“OK, son, you’re the local hero now. What’s your idea?” asked Baxter.
***
Meanwhile, earlier the Palmer home had become a place under siege as five angry and frightened people rampaged across the lawn and tried to smash their way inside. “Come out, Palmer! We know you are the cause of the shrinking! Your crazy experiments won’t ruin our lives anymore!” cried one man.
A crash echoed as the front window shattered.
Jean Loring ran down the stairs and met Melanie who gazed at her in concern! “Are they crazy? They act like Ray is to blame for the shrinking we heard about on the news!” cried Melanie.
Jean nodded and said, “The doors and windows won’t keep them out! We’re going to have to stand and fight or make a getaway!”
Melanie said, “I think I can stop them!” She whirled to race back into the lab.
A loud voice cried out, “You freak! We’ll run you out of town!”
Jean yelled back, “Leave us alone! Ray’s not responsible for this! He’s trying to stop it!” She grabbed a chair and brought it down across the shoulders of a burly man who was crawling through the broken window. Before she could retreat, a rock soared into the room and hit her in the shoulder.
At that moment, Melanie returned with a small device. “This will activate the robo-bugs I made. They can drive them away without really hurting them. I hope!” she said.
Jean nodded as crashes echoed and her door started to buckle under from the force being brought against it. As the wood and metal shattered and the foursome came closer, Melanie caused a swarm of tiny metallic bugs to fly into their midst and a loud humming sound started to ring out. “I hope the high pitch drone will drive them away!” she said. Jean covered her ears as the two women crouched down together and waited.
The metal bugs did the trick as the gang slowly turned away. Melanie had been forced to use a low voltage sting to drive a few of the more furious rioters away but no serious injuries had occurred!
Jean sighed in relief and tentatively placed an arm around the girl. “You did it! I may never look at one of your wonderful little bugs in the same way again!” she said.
Melanie smiled and allowed the older woman to pull her into a brief hug.
At that moment, Ray Palmer and Ira Quimby entered the house from the rear. Jean flung herself into Ray’s arms as he tried to calm her down. “Jean, I saw them running and heard the drone noise! I owe a debt to Bert Larvae for this…and to you, Melanie!”
Jean said,” Ray, I’ve been brainwashed, kidnapped, threatened by the best, but I never felt as afraid as I did when I saw that mob. They were so full of fear and pain that they became a thing. They were like a swarm or a wave. They just seemed to surge into the house like a storm!”
Ira said, “I fear they will return too!”
Ray frowned and made a mental note to coach Ira on people skills in the future. “We’re going to stop them by finding the source of the fear. If we cure their loved ones, they will leave us alone! We’ve confirmed that a ray is causing this. It is a projected beam that reacts with the human metabolism and causes people to shrink in size. I think based on the tests I’ve done on Juliet and a few of the police at Baxter’s office, I can identify the energy used to accomplish the deed and I can trace it.”
Jean said, “Oh, I never doubted you’d solve the problem but how can even you fix the loss of trust we’ve experienced with the community?”
Ray said, “I don’t know if I can!”
***
Later, a nervous Ferrar Venderkellen stood outside his limo and waited in an open field under a full moon. He held a briefcase in one hand. The portly millionaire frowned as he recalled an earlier conversation he had had with the Atom. “I’m not worried about the recovery of the ransom money. I’m afraid the madman will just kill me and take it! Then, what will become of my family and friends?” he had asked.
The Atom had promised him that not only would he be safe but that following the instructions on the ransom note would ensure the safe return of the shrunken captives! Thus, the wealthy man had agreed to go to the fields beyond Ivy Town College and wait with the money.
Now, as a slight chill filled the night air, Vanderkellen hoped the Tiny Titan’s word could be relied upon! “The Atom’s never failed Ivy Town before and I have to believe he’ll make good on his promise this time as well”! He swung the briefcase with a restless energy until he saw a brilliant flash of light fill the night sky.
He gasped and dropped the suitcase as he began to shrink! He retained his wits and he darted aside as a figure appeared and came out of the shrubs.
The man smiled and grabbed the fallen briefcase. He wore a dark suit and had slightly shaggy hair. “I’ll take this! If you manage to get back to the police before a rabbit or dog attacks you, then tell them I’ll restore you when you return here with an additional million dollars!” he said.
Ferrar shook in a mixture of helpless anger and fear. “You promised you’d restore my family! You promised!” he cried.
The man looked down and said, “I’m a criminal genius. In case you’ve failed to grasp this fact about us from the media, I’ll admit that as a class, we simply can’t be trusted!” Laughter echoed in the night as the man ran away.
He knew that no one was following him since he had projected his shrinking ray across the entire field moments before. Thus, any police that might have hidden away in the woods nearby were no longer any threat to him.
He had little fear of the Atom since he used an ornate ring to bathe the case in a red light before he left the scene. When he heard nothing, he continued on his way. “My neural disrupter would have left any tiny stowaways in intense and obvious agony. I’m glad to see the Atom heeded my warning not to interfere. I’d half expected the little pest to conceal himself within the money!” he said.
Little did he know that the Atom was indeed watching and following him; however, Adam Cray’s dark costumed form was traveling by a means unlike any the original Atom had ever regularly used! He soared through the sky far above the fields and woods below. He was positioned like an athlete within a bobsled; however, this remarkable craft flew at an impressive speed with near total silence although it was no bigger than a narrow shoe!
“I have to give Ira credit for turning his old aeroshoes into vehicles for shrunken heroes! I doubt there will be a big market for them unless that Doll Man Ray once told me about shows up here again but I sure get a kick out of using them! This way I can track our mystery villain from high above his vantage point. Thanks to Ray and Ira, I have an idea where he’s heading anyway!” thought the Tiny Titan.
He guided the craft to an old house near the top of Widow’s Hill. He landed the aerosled, climbed out, and entered through a cracked window. “Earlier, Ray traced the shrinking energy to this gloomy old place. It looks more like Dracula’s summer home than a super secret criminal lab but then again, beggars can’t be choosers and this does offer privacy and altitude!”
He made his way deeper into the house and saw a strange scene. Boxes lined a table and each box had many air holes punched in the sides. “I’ve found the missing people! He’s keeping them in boxes like a kid’s pet turtle or something!”
He gasped as a beam of energy blasted out of the darkness to narrowly miss his dodging body. “I didn’t expect to be detected while I was that small!” he thought.
The man in the dark suit stepped forward and removed a shaggy dark wig to reveal a bald head and slightly pointed ears. “The Atom! I see your miniature movements failed to confound my mechanical friend!” he said.
The Atom reduced his weight and sailed across the room until dim moonlight coming through a window revealed a robotic being that moved on heavy treads and tracked his every movement with eyes of red light! “Heat seeking or infrared sensors!” he mused.
He sailed through the air and found himself repelled from the proximity of the robot by an unseen force. “That Vulcan eared creep is Mr. Neptune. Ray had him on his list of potential suspects. After all, there aren’t that many crooks that use shrink rays!”
Moonlight gleamed on the metal being as it extended a narrow clamp and tried to crush the hero. “Mechano has a personal force field. They’re all the rage these days, you know!” gloated the bald man.
The Atom reduced his size again and sailed directly through the unseen barrier to emerge within the robot. “Riding a beam of moonlight was easy! I saw light could penetrate the force field and the rest was merely a matter of altering my size to a microscopic level!”
He dashed through the inside of the robot and sliced a gaping path with his pocket laser which he carried with his other specially devised tools in his weapons vest. “Bless Ray and Ira for coming up with these things! Before Ira added his own inventive genius to the project, Ray could not reduce objects and have them retain stability! They would blow up eventually!” He smiled as the damage caused the robot to lurch to a sudden stop.
He emerged and faced Mechano’s maker with both fists raised. “Now, Mr. Neptune, what do you do for a second act?” he said in a mocking tone.
Mr. Neptune cursed and said, “You infernal pest! I have battled Superman himself! Do you really think I’m impressed by your tricks?”
Atom said, “Before you get too busy patting yourself on the ego; I’d suggest you recall the score card from your battle with Superman. I think it would show that he won and you ended up in jail!”
Mr. Neptune said, “Perhaps, it is fitting that we meet! After all, I was the one who came up with my shrinking process long ago and used it against the Sea Devils. Fate had to match me against the only other expert on size reduction in time!”
The Atom said, “I don’t get your way of thinking! You had funding enough to build your killer vacuum over there but you decided to use your ray to extort more money from folks! You could have lived well from what you spent on that metal toy.”
Mr. Neptune scowled and thought, “Professor Wye financed my inventions in exchange for my promise to use them on random folks in Ivy Town. She wanted to make a panic in which the blame for the shrinking attacks was placed on Ray Palmer. It was all part of some grand sociological work of her own devising! Well, I’ve repaid that debt while securing a nice sum for myself on the side! The pretty Professor didn’t count on my adding a bit of extortion while doing her little task!” He raised his hand and aimed the ornate ring at the Atom who waited and then timed a reduction perfectly.
The neural disruption missed him and he grew again to connect with a blow to Mr. Neptune’s head. He received a punch in return and then ducked a second swing to grab the older man’s arm and ram a knee into his stomach. “Working out with Starman and Steel is paying off!” he thought.
He pulled Neptune into a wrestling hold and brought him crashing down to the ground. “I’ll take that fancy ring. From what little I know about you from JLA files, you shrink things or yourself with it!” he said. He removed the ring and left the beaten scientist on the floor.
“Don’t worry everyone! We’ll have you safely home and returned to normal size in no time!” he announced as he stepped closer to look down at the captured people in the boxes.
Later, the Atom stood beside Ray Palmer as he addressed the press at police HQ while Chief Baxter stood by his size. “Everyone, Mr. Neptune is in jail. He was the evil genius who caused all the shrinking. All of his victims have been rescued and cured thanks to teamwork from Atom, Chief Baxter and his men, Ira Quimby, and myself!”
A reporter asked, “Dr. Palmer, during the madness there were a few cases of disgruntled or frightened people blaming you for the whole mess! I suppose this clears you of all suspicion! What do you have to say about the crisis?”
Chief Baxter interrupted and said, “Ray Palmer is a hero. He’s one of us as far as this department is concerned. He was never under suspicion by official channels. This was nothing more than a case of a criminal trying to use his talents for personal enrichment. Dr. Palmer was not to blame for that!”
Ray cleared his throat and said, “I beg to differ, Chief. As kind of you as it is, to back me up like this, I have to say that I feel like I was to blame in the sense that Neptune targeted Ivy Town because I live here. He’s admitted as much. He was asked to use his ray here by an ally of his that he refuses to identity. He claims he can’t reveal the person’s name. In any case, he did say this unknown enemy wanted to make things rough for me. I can only say that I am sorry for all the suffering that happened! I love living here. This is my home. I can’t pretend that my presence here won’t bring in some peril from time to time. I’m a target to every petty crook or world beater who ever crossed my path back in my costumed days; however, my friends and I will always do our level best to protect you all from such menaces. Some of you would kindly say that that’s the work of a hero. I differ. I’d say that’s the work of a good neighbor!”
Applause rang out from the crowd and Atom patted Ray on the back.
“They believe in you. Only a handful of people were fooled into blaming you. That says a lot for what you mean to this community!” he said.
***
That same conclusion had been reached elsewhere by Professor Andrea Wye. She had departed from Ivy Town earlier in a bit of a huff. “Neptune betrayed me. I paid him to spread panic and he defied me by also abducting those people and sending in a ransom note. That tactic in and of itself, led to his downfall. My experiment can be viewed as a failure. Still, I did see that the real Hero does not lose the support of his followers without exceptional circumstances of a sustained duration. That will suffice for now.”
She gazed down at a map at her feet and said, “Where shall I go next? Gotham City? Central City? Star City?” She smiled as her glance fell on one additional map!
“Perfect!” she said softly.
