Black Canary
Times Past, 1951
Cyclone
by Libbylawrence
CYCLONE: Part 1
The Red Gloves Gang thought of themselves as true professionals in crime. They had a flashy name, snazzy costumes which gave them their name, and had fought Batman and Robin, no less. (True they lost, but any inmate in Gotham State Prison would admit that losing to the Dynamic Duo was nothing to be ashamed of and was, in a way, a badge of honor!) Now, however, the Red Gloves Gang ran for their lives down the halls of the Gotham Medical Research Lab. Their planned robbery had failed miserably.
“I bet it’s them — Batman and Robin! That grinning punk will shout something like, ‘Caught you red handed!’ and then it’ll be lights out for us all! I just know it!” whined Ace.
Rocky sneered, “Naw! The Batman will flash that big smile and do something clever that’ll make us look like chumps! He’s got a zillion gizmos in that posh belt o’ his!”
Their leader Red (hence the name Red Gloves Gang — it was his gang and he could call it what he wanted!) said, “I don’t think it’s them! I saw a shadowy figure but he was in purple, not blue/gray!”
“True enough! Purple is the color of royalty and this night you have an audience with the King of the Crimebusters: Cyclone!” said a purple costumed man who stood before them defiantly. They drew their guns, only to be knocked flat by his gesturing hands as powerful blasts of air struck them with brutal effectiveness!
Cyclone stepped forward and used his force blaster to rock them to the ground even as he broke the walls around them. He tossed them out the windows even as the gutted medical building collapsed around them. “This night you were as chaff on the wind! The winds of Cyclone!” he announced.
They groaned and awaited the police as fire burst out in the wrecked building where chemicals mingled in disorder.
The next night the man called the Gong laughed as his sonic waves sent the guards at the Gotham Museum to their knees in pain!
“You fools! Sound is my weapon and you cannot stand against it!” he boasted as he filled his sack with precious bells and chimes from the sixteenth century which were on exhibit this week only.
“Let me ring your face! Oh, I just had to say it!” laughed a sexy blonde as she kicked the weapon out of his hand and chopped him to the ground.
“Black Canary! Don’t tell me the whole JSA is here!” he gasped.
She tossed back one blonde lock and grinned, “Yeah, exactly! The Spectre came out of retirement just for you, you bad, bad, man!”
She grimaced when a moaning guard distracted her long enough for the Gong to activate one of his sound devices. She cried out as blood poured from her nose. “Can’t stand up! Balance all gone!” she muttered.
The Gong started to run from the Blonde Bombshell, only to be struck down by the suddenly appearing Cyclone! “You’ll be sorry you hurt the little lady!” he said grimly.
Gong turned his weapon toward Cyclone, only to be tackled from behind by the now free Black Canary.
CYCLONE: Part 2
The Gong dropped his device as Canary brought him down hard. She slapped him across the face and he struggled, only to be pummeled by the Cyclone’s specially directed wind blasts!”
Canary held her wig as the winds swept over them. “Easy, you got him! Thanks for the save, Cyclone! I’ve read of your exploits!” she said with a smile.
“No problem, little lady! Now, you head home and curl up with a nice romance novel while we men handle the bad guys!” he said.
Black Canary resisted the temptation to slap Cyclone’s goofy grin off his masked face and demurely walked home.
She sat on her bed and frowned as her husband Larry Lance entered. “The news is all the same: Batman and Robin do this, Batman and Robin do that! Of course, it seems like the kid is not with Bats as much! Guess he got a job after school or somethin’!” laughed the detective.
Dinah Drake Lance didn’t hear her husband’s banter as he rubbed his hand through her long hair.
“Hey, doll, what’s wrong? Your Larry got in the doghouse again? Talk to me,” he urged.
Dinah smiled and kissed her husband. They were still newlyweds in this year of 1951.
“Sorry, love! It’s tonight I fought this petty crook of Batman’s called the Gong and he almost won until this new upstart Cyclone saved the day! He talked to me like I was a little housewife who should be home by the stove in curlers and a robe!” she said grimly.
“Well! I’ve tasted your cooking and I prefer to have you out fighting crime, although you could dump the fishnets and join me at the agency!” he said sincerely.
“No thanks. I will someday, but for now I love being the Black Canary too much! Flash, Hawkman, Green Lantern, the Atom, Doctor Mid-Nite, and Wonder Woman and I are a real team! The membership has settled down a lot and we work great together. Of course, maybe we could add some new members like the Green Arrow or better yet — Wildcat and Mr. Terrific who have been associated with the JSA for a while now without exactly attending regularly,” she mused.
“Doll, I can’t keep the names straight in your little mystery-man coffee klatch! But I do know you got the moxie to take down any punk named Cyclone if he mouths off to you!”
She kissed him again and tried to forget the new mystery-man.
She shrieked and jumped out of bed the next morning after awakening to find breakfast ready on a tray by her bedside, along with the daily newspaper.
“What’s the trouble? Somebody banned fishnets?” said Larry as he ran inside.
“No, the news! Look — the museum’s Exhibit Hall property was ruined by the battle between the Gong, Black Canary, and Cyclone! It’s a total loss! That never happened. I left the Gong beaten with Cyclone standing over him and the Exhibit Hall still intact! How could the Gong and Cyclone had wrecked it so totally?” she asked.
Larry said, “I guess the creep woke up and trashed the place before Cyclone got the goods on him. After you left I mean!”
Dinah shook her head. “No! I suspect something more! The Canary is going to look into it!”
CYCLONE: Part 3
The Black Canary hid outside the mansion of Dwight Farrell until his guests had departed. She had no doubt that he was the man called Cyclone. She had spent the better part of the day in the library’s newspaper files checking on every known sighting of the Cyclone! In every case the hero had stopped a villain or a gang of crooks from some crime; however, the fight between them had wrecked each location in which it occurred! Shortly thereafter, the damaged properties were purchased through dummy corporations that the Sleuthing Siren had traced to Farrell. She also knew that Cyclone was but one of his colorful names; a call to Batman had confirmed that fact.
Batman had offered her any aid he could provide; however, he had done so in his usual warm and friendly manner. He was truly a friend to all those who sought to make the world a better place by fighting crime. He was also free of the snobbish attitude she had received from Cyclone.
I’ll just show you who should stay curled up with a romance! You can read plenty of them over the next twenty years in jail! she mused.
She swung off the tree in which she had perched and crashed through his windows. He gasped and reached for his equipment which lay on a table. She rolled across the floor and sprang up to block his path.
“Ah! ah! ah! No wind blasts today, thanks! I’ll see what you can do on your own, Mr. Farrell! Or would you prefer I call you by your first costumed identity: the Wrecker!” she said.
He frowned. “You know I was the Wrecker! But how could you have also determined that I am Cyclone?”
She knew that he was stalling for time and she was confident enough in her won prowess to let him do so.
“You realized trashing places for pay would put you back in jail, so you devised a new method to use your destructive gizmos for profit. You knew mystery-men often damaged properties during battles to stop their foes. You also knew that if you as Wrecker hired thugs to commit crimes at certain locales then showed up as Cyclone and beat them while destroying the locations during the fight, you could often buy them at low prices for your real estate company. You made a nice sum off this racket, but you make a stupid mistake when you ran across my path!” she announced.
“I had no way of knowing that you would show up to face the Gong before I got there! Plus, I figured you for a dumb blonde, not a detective!” he said as he jumped toward her.
Without his equipment, he was helpless against the skilled martial artist and she knew it. She spun aside and kneed him until he moved no more.
“Cyclone, you were just an ill wind that was full of hot air!” she teased.
She told her tale to Larry with delight that evening.
Unknown to the Black Canary, the events of the Cyclone case would have deeper effects to come.
In DC a man read in the Washington Capital-Globe of the damage done by the Cyclone in his various adventures and he tossed down the paper in disgust. “All these masked mystery-men are dangerous! They can’t be trusted, and I’m going to reign them in!” he vowed.
His name was Senator O’Fallon, and he would shortly bring about the retirement of the JSA itself during his House Un-American Activities Committee hearings!
