Showcase

The Return of Vic Valor

by Dan Swanson

Chapter 1 Getting Started

Some time in 1987…

Ted Knight, a leading citizen of Opal City, had donated his private astronomical observatory to the Opal City University Department of Astronomy, which had in return named an academic residency for him.

Decades earlier, he had constructed a research facility in the bedrock below the observatory, and before the University took possession, he needed to verify that nothing remained that might link Ted Knight to Starman.

The Trophy Room, in particular, could have revealed many secrets. In addition to a series of exhibits tracing the evolution of Starman’s weapon from the original Gravity Rod to the current, much more powerful and sophisticated Cosmic Rod, the case containing the battle armor of Vic Valor might connect him to that mysterious hero, and it was possible that something about the Xenon armor would link it to his deceased friend and mentor, Woodley Allen. That Woodley had been kidnapped and brainwashed into wearing the armor as a villainous stooge for the evil Dr. Doog was a closely held secret, and Ted was determined that no one would ever learn it from him!

There had been so much stuff here, in fact, that it would have taken years for Ted Knight to move it, but fortunately, Starman had access to resources that Ted might not. Dr. Fate magically whisked the entire contents of the underground facility to a new sub-basement beneath the Justice Society of America’s brownstone headquarters in Gotham City, leaving Ted the much simpler task of making sure nothing had been left behind.

Even using all the advanced powers of his Cosmic Rod, Ted could detect nothing left but dust. Good enough! He hadn’t given up astronomy, far from it, but the viewing was so much better from his new orbital observatory, and the Cosmic Rod allowed him to fly to orbit in less time that it had taken him to reach this earthbound observatory by car. It was satisfying to know that these facilities would be used productively by the University, rather than lying almost abandoned, waiting for his infrequent visits.

As he wandered the echoing halls, he felt an almost unnatural chill as he realized just how many memories lingered here. Could there be ghosts remaining? Would ghosts associate themselves with a scientific facility, a bastion of rational thought? If there were ghosts here, how would they react to their new landlords?

He shook his head, bemused by this train of thought. He didn’t want to believe in ghosts or the supernatural, but the evidence of the Spectre was hard to ignore or explain in any other terms. But what was important now was that there was nothing remaining to give him away, and that it was now time to hand over the facilities to their new owner.

Yes, a good deal all around! Satisfied that his secrets were safe, he headed off upstairs to host the press conference and celebration during which the bequest would be officially announced to the public.

A few weeks later…

“Yes, siree Bat! Best seat in the house, as usual” Bat-mite thought smugly to himself. He was seated high in a corner of a large room, on a comfortable cushion of air, arms crossed, closely watching some drama playing out in and around the esoteric equipment scattered throughout the room. “Though the choice of leading man doesn’t do much for me, and some of the scenes aren’t pleasant!”

Two caped athletic figures were engaged in furious combat on the floor below. The smaller of the two, dressed primarily in purple, suddenly whirled and aimed a sweeping kick at the other’s cowl. The kick connected with a ‘WHACK’ that was clearly audible, and the larger, black-clad figure tumbled backwards.

“WAY TO GO, HEL!” Bat-mite yelled at the top of his squeaky voice. This unexpected cheering surprised and distracted Helena Wayne, the Huntress, and that bare instant of hesitation was enough for her opponent to tackle her. Bat-mite winced as Blackwing slammed her to the floor. Mite didn’t know Blackwing’s civilian identity and didn’t really care, either. Not when he was beating up on Helena!

“Hey! That’s cheating!” he yelled, forgetting that Blackwing couldn’t see or hear him. Helena glared at him for an instant before returning her attention to the fight, and he didn’t need to read her mind in order to know he was gonna hear about this later!

“It’s not fair at all!” he thought to himself. “I should never have promised not to use my powers to help her!” He looked on forlornly.

She hadn’t said a word, but he wouldn’t have heard her anyway. Sonia had introduced him to the wonders of the Walkman, and Bat Lash had hooked him on Clapton and Steppenwolf, and he was rocking out as he watched the woman of his dreams show off her fantastic moves!

The Huntress squirmed and twisted and managed to wedge her feet against Blackwing’s chest, and then explosively straightened her legs, launching him up and away. He was off-balance when he landed, and the Huntress sprang forward and knocked his legs out from under him with a stunning sweep of her own (stunning) left leg. Mite started to cheer again but quickly thought better of it.

Blackwing turned the fall into a backwards roll, pushed off with his hands into a back flip, and landed squarely on an acrobat’s springboard. He was launched straight up, much higher than the Huntress would have believed possible. Of course, she had never seen anything from him like that back flip before either – he must have been practicing! At the top of his flight, he shot something from his hand and a harpoon of some kind flashed across the room, trailing a wire, and stuck into the ceiling behind her. An instant later, Blackwing was swinging towards her like Tarzan, with both legs outstretched. If she didn’t move fast, she was toast!

She ducked as he thundered by at high speed.

“That would have hurt!” She whispered softly to herself. “You’re getting better, Mr. Bullock. Good to see some results from these workouts.” An almost evil smile crossed her face as she flowed into her next more. “Still, it’s my turn now!”

She sprang to her feet, pulled a collapsible batarang from her utility belt, turned and threw in one smooth graceful motion, and an instant later, the razor-sharp edge sliced through Blackwing’s line, leaving him tumbling, high above the floor.

This wasn’t totally unexpected, however. He did a quick forward roll and came out of it under control, using his cape like the wings of a glider. He dove to pick up a little more speed and then pulled into a tight turn, and came around for a ‘strafing run’. The Huntress stood still, as if stunned by his acrobatics.

“Sorry, Helena, I know you better than that!” he thought to himself. “Question is, which way do you dodge? I’m betting on straight up!” He had another fancy new maneuver up his sleeve, one he’d picked up from a great movie, and if she did jump, she had a real surprise in store!

A surprise which would have to wait for some other time, as this workout was brought to an abrupt end by a shattering explosion!

Chapter 2 Some New Guest Stars

Blackwing almost had time to pray that the blast wouldn’t alter his trajectory before he crashed into the Huntress. As he had hoped! He wrapped both arms around her, which wrapped them both in his Kevlar cape, which would offer them some protection from the blast. As they touched the floor, the Huntress was converting their fall into a roll. If they could just move a little bit more to the side, the concussion ought to blast them through the swinging doors of the gym, and there would be less debris to fall on them in the hall!

Even with the protection of Blackwing’s cloak, the two were battered as the were tossed into the hallway. They added their own efforts to the momentum provided by the blast, and in only a second there were 20 feet past the door and rolling to a stop. Neither could hear over the ringing in their ears. They immediately untangled from each other and headed back to the gym, but quickly realized it wouldn’t be safe to enter, and was unlikely to be helpful – the room was filled with debris and dust and stuff was still falling from the ceiling and walls. The only saving grace seemed to be that there were no fires that they could sense. Which was strange – an explosion with no fire?

“Mite! Where are you?” Helena wasn’t worried about him – he was a pest but it would take a lot more than a surprise explosion to hurt him. But he might be able to tell her more than she knew.

He popped up in front of her, a relieved look on his face. He started talking as fast as he could, but she couldn’t hear.

“Can’t hear you! Do you know what happened?” Blackwing could see that Helena was talking but he couldn’t hear anything. He shook his head and pointed at his ears, but she was talking to someone else. He wondered if she had taken a blow to the head that might be confusing her? He looked again, and coming on top of the rest of the evening, he wasn’t surprised to see dark blue letters floating in the air in front of her.

“It was a missile!” he read. “It blasted through the floor and then out the wall towards the front of the building! Boyohboyohboy! This is going to be GREAT!”

Maybe he was also suffering from a concussion? But Helena’s next actions seemed to indicate that this was real. She held her hands out in front of her, shook her head, and shouted a single word. Even though he couldn’t hear what she said, Blackwing had never in his life seen body language that more clearly communicated a message.

“NO!” her body shouted, and he ‘heard’ it almost as loudly as he had heard the explosion.

The original text faded, and was replaced. “Aww, gee! I never get to have ANY fun!” Somehow, though he could see nothing but some script, in his mind’s eye, he saw an 8-year old boy, hurt in his voice, turning his back to hide his tears. Helena was made of stern stuff, however. She once again said “No!” Then she said a few more words, turned and headed up the stairs. They had to search for survivors!

“No! You promised you wouldn’t use your powers to help me. Take care of yourself, I have to go!” With that, Helena turned and ran to the stairs.

Bat-mite stood there, pouting. “It isn’t fair! I can help! It’s not my fault this world is so flimsy!”

Helena had not wanted to hurt his feelings as she protected herself and her world, so she had convinced Bat-mite that even though he was a magnificent hero, and incredibly competent and noble, in this dimension his powers were too strong to be used safely. Even something as casual as a sneeze could be disastrous when it had 5th dimensional magic behind it! Bat-mite wasn’t used to flattery, and flattery from Helena had extra impact – she was so beautiful!

So he had promised that he wouldn’t use his powers to help her while he was here this time. He stood there for a few seconds… wavering. He wanted to help! But he couldn’t break his promise! Suddenly he had a revelation.

“I can help her without my powers! After all, I’m Bat-mite, and I know all the tricks of the World’s Greatest Detective!” His chest puffed out and he seemed to grow a foot taller – not, wait, he really DID grow a foot taller! He would use his deductive abilities to follow the trail of the missile, discover where it had come from and see if could learn something to help Helena! “Heck! She didn’t say I can’t use my magic to help me! Just wait ’till I solve this case! I’ll be a hero! Maybe she’ll even give me a kiss as a reward!” He turned and stomped off into the shattered gym, just daring anything to get in his way!

*****

“Any discussion?” Joanna Andre asked her audience as she finished her presentation. She hoped so, as she usually found the discussion much more interesting than the lecture. A hand immediately shot into the air. “Yes, miss?:

A woman, an attractive redhead in a stylish suit, stood, and asked “Can we please have another look at slide 23?” She paused as Joanna quickly flipped back to that slide. Joanna chuckled to herself as the screen showed an action shot of the new entry in the costumed super heroine game, Mighty Isis. She had felt sort of strange about including her costumed identity in her presentation, but any talk about the many ancient artifacts of power that had been found in Egypt that did not include Isis and her Amulet would be suspiciously incomplete.

Besides, her Doctoral Thesis on this topic was what had ultimately convinced the Chair of Archeology at Gotham City University to hire her. Assistant professors wore many hats, and one of them was giving public presentations in their areas of academic interest. If she had to stand in front of a group of unknowns and talk to them about ancient Egypt, she might as well talk about something she know well!

Other artifacts of power she had discussed include the Mask of Nabu, the Scarab’s sacred scarab and Hawkman’s Nth metal. She could have mentioned the mask of Set, but she figured that powerful evil artifact was best kept secret. During her thesis research, she had also found references to other talismans powered by Isis and others, but she had as yet not been able to locate these other talismans.

“You say this woman, who calls herself Mighty Isis, is not actually the Goddess, but a mortal who has received powers from the Amulet she bears? How can you know that?”

Before Joanna could answer, another woman stood up and started shouting! This one was dressed just like Mighty Isis in the slide, in a simple white shift that came to mid-thigh (well, it would have been simple except for the massive leather neckpiece and belt, both decorated with inlaid silver). However, while Mighty Isis was built like a runner, this woman looked more like a bodybuilder.

“Heretic! Of course Mighty Isis is the current incarnation of the great Egyptian Goddess, Isis, Patron of Women, and all that deny her Godhood will regret it! The International Sisterhood of Isis Syndicate DEMANDS that you withdraw your blasphemy and acknowledge our Goddess!”

Joanna had learned of the Sisterhood during her research. It had existed for centuries, but had never before been anything other than a very loose organization with vague goals and very modest membership. Ever since Mighty Isis had appeared, ISIS had attracted new members, and the tone of the organization had become increasingly strident.

A half a dozen other women, all dressed in identical Isis outfits, rushed into the lecture hall from the various exits and joined in the shouting. A bunch of folks headed for the exits as the tension level in the lecture hall continued to build. When the members of the Sisterhood blocked their way, it seemed certain that this confrontation would quickly escalate to violence.

Chapter 3 Detective Bat-Mite

When Bat-mite stomped like this, why, it was wise for anyone and anything to just get out of his way – fast! Like an irresistible force, heedless of whatever might be in his way, he strode ruthlessly through the dust clouds like a conquering god. Admittedly a small god, but ruthless, heedless and irresistible nonetheless! Lucky for the junk around him, his path was clear.

As he neared a large hole in the floor, he slowed, and began to study it closely. Applying all the lessons he had learned from observing Batman and Robin for so long, he was able to make some startling deductions.

“Boyohboyohboy! Won’t Helena be impressed? I might just solve this whole case for her!” He created a magical notebook to record his priceless observations – even if the dangers he was sure to face overcame him, he wanted to be sure Helena would benefit from his observations. He had a lot of faith in her abilities, but he was Bat-mite, master detective, after all, and she might miss some of the more subtle clues…

“Hmm, something pretty powerful made a hole in the floor – and it goes right through to the room below…” he muttered to himself, recording this vital observation. “Must have been something pretty powerful! And from the way the floor is twisted up and back, whatever it was came up from underneath!” Another notation. He had actually seen a missile of some kind crash through the floor, but his notes would make the sequence of events clear to anyone who didn’t have the advantage of having been an eyewitness – or his awesome deductive talents!

“By the way the debris is scattered, and the angle at which the bent girders are pointing, there should probably be an exit point from this room right about…” he turned until he was looking forward along the trail of debris, then raised his head “THERE! Yesindeedy, there it is. A brilliant piece of deductive reasoning, if I do say so myself!”

“I’ve pretty much deducted everything there is to be deduced here!” he thought smugly. “Time to move on!” He jumped over the edge of the hole in the floor. A parachute, perhaps the size of an umbrella, popped out of his back, and he swung back and forth as he drifted gently down to the floor below. He looked around, and once again made some astonishing deductions.

“Nothing damaged but this glass case! Looks like the case used to hold a missile, and somebody launched it! Boyohboy is Helena gonna be impressed.” He finished writing in his notebook and was so happy he was dancing around until he tripped on the parachute. He glared at it and it disappeared with an apologetic ‘pouf;.

“Why would anyone pen up a missile, though? It’s not like it can run away!”

Suddenly, he looked worried, and an awful thought occurred to him. “Hel ought to be here by now! She’s not quite the detective I am, but she’s had plenty of time to follow the clues. I wonder if she’s in trouble?” A TV appeared in the air in front of him, and on the screen he could see Helena and Blackwing battling a very large flying man, dressed in brown with a red cape and cowl. He was so startled, he dropped his notebook.

“Don’t worry, Hel! I’m on my way!” He floated into the air, accelerating as he flew higher. And then he stopped. The TV crashed to the floor and exploded, sparks showered the fallen notebook and it caught fire. Bat-mite didn’t notice. Hel was in danger and she needed his help!

Yet, he could hear her stern voice clearly in his mind… “Do NOT under any circumstances use your powers to help me!” He realized, again, that she had not been kidding. Still, she was in trouble and he had to help! As he puzzled this out, there was a shimmering over his head, and an old-fashioned light bulb slowly materialized, the kind with the big curly filament and the transparent glass. An instant after it was completely materialized, he reached up and pulled the chain, and the bulb flashed on,

“I got it! I can’t use _my_ powers, but what if I use someone else’s powers?! ” Something still bothered him, though – he realized that if Helena recognized him, even though he was keeping his promise and using someone else’s powers, she would be cross with him. He needed a disguise… He looked around for inspiration.

Next to the shattered glass case was another case, this one still whole. And inside that was what looked sort of like a large, shiny silver-skinned man with an opaque silver basketball over his head. Closer examination showed that it was some kind of costume or suit of armor.

“Useful, but not quite what I have in mind.” He made a florid gesture with his hand, and spoke out loud:

“Presto, Changeo!”

The glass case vanished, the armor morphed slightly and changed colors. Now it looked like a tall man, with a decathlete’s build and an opaque silver basketball over his head, wearing a dull silver costume with a short red cape. He snapped his fingers and a panel opened in the chest. He floated inside and, as the panel closed, the figure came to life.

“Into the Blue!” he yelled, and leaped upwards through the hole in the ceiling. “Hold on, Hel! I’m on my way – for real, this time!” An observer might have heard a snatch of song coming from inside that opaque helmet, fading into inaudibility as he rocketed away. “Who stands for you and for me and for principle…”

Fortunately for anyone else who happened to be in the building, the sprinklers came on and drowned out the fire the exploding TV had started – incidentally. But Bat-mite – or whatever mysterious hero he was impersonating – was long gone by that time.

Chapter 4 The Return of… Insect Queen? Corona? Isis?

“Well, Ms Lang, considering the chaos in here, I doubt that you’ll get a chance to talk to the lovely professor tonight.” Lana was talking to herself. She also owned an Egyptian talisman of power, and she was interested in what Professor Andre might know about the broach that gave her the powers of the Insect Queen “There are a lot of similarities between my broach and the Amulet of the Goddess Isis. I wonder if my powers somehow derive from the Goddess as well?” But the presence of ISIS seemed to have canceled the Q and A session that had been scheduled following Joanna’s lecture.

“Maybe Insect Queen can help with the crowd control problem? And I may have an easier time getting Professor Andre’s attention later as Insect Queen than as plain old Lana Lang – well, not all _that_ plain, and no longer old!” she thought, with a smug smile. This actually seemed like a better plan – she had been wondering how she could ask questions about the broach without revealing her secret. She ran into the cloakroom, where she pulled on her blonde wig and started taking off her well-tailored casual suit.

The teenage cloakroom attendant, who had hidden among the racks at the first sign of trouble, couldn’t believe his eyes when this drop dead gorgeous blonde started taking off her clothes. She must be crazy, but he wasn’t about to complain! Much to his disappointment, her unknowing strip tease didn’t reveal what he was hoping for – instead, she had a tight yellow and black super hero costume under her suit! He did get an eyeful as she bent over to pull on the high-heeled yellow boots she had produced from her handbag – and of course, the stories he told his friends later on all embellished the truth a little (well, actually a little more each time he told the story).

As Insect Queen zipped back into the lecture hall, a tremendous explosion rocked the building!

Most of the people in the lecture hall, including the fanatics of ISIS, panicked and tried to force their way out through the two doors. However, Insect Queen saw no evidence of an explosion in the hall itself. It must have happened nearby.

“It looks like I’m not needed here. The GotU Campus Police�” (who had just arrived, after receiving a call from Joanna) “�are well on their way to restoring order. Maybe I can help deal with the explosion”.

She willed her skin to be as hard as the shell of a lobster, and flashed towards the window. But she pulled up short as she realized�

“I can’t just smash through the window – there are too many people around who could get cut by falling glass! Besides, coming right after that explosion, a window breaking might really freak out some of these folks, and cause the riot that the cops are trying to prevent!”

She quickly turned her back to the window, and her wings blurred into ultra-high speed vibrations. The powerful ultrasonic blast this produced immediately reduced the glass to harmless powder, and Insect Queen was out! She concentrated on communicating with the insects and spiders nearby, trying to gather as much news as she could. Of course, the best an insect could tell her was that there had been a loud disturbance ‘that way’.

She put all the information together. “The explosion was a couple of blocks due west of here.” She was instantly heading in that direction. There must be something dangerous going on at or near the brownstone headquarters of the JSA!

*****

Alex DeWitt had trouble believing that only seconds ago, she had been bored out of her mind. She was attending Joanna Andre’s public lecture as part of her background research on a freelance photojournalist assignment, a biography of the new generation of super-heroines that had sprung up since the Crisis – Corona, Mighty Isis, Queen Arrow, Flare, Arrowette, just to name a few. The 10 minutes that Professor Andre had devoted to Mighty Isis had been interesting and useful, but the rest of the lecture had just been boring. She already knew more about Dr. Fate and the Hawks than Professor Andre would ever be able to talk about in a public lecture!

Things sure could change in a hurry! First a near riot, and then a massive explosion – and then some super-powered blonde in yellow had blasted through the window, heading in the direction of the explosion. Well, there was another super-powered blonde in yellow who could play that game!

She willed her ring to transform her, and too quickly for any observer to follow, Alex DeWitt vanished and Corona took her place!

“Looks like the campus cops could use a hand – or six!” Six long flexible yellow arms sprouted from her power ring, each lifting an ISIS member by the seat of her outfit. Corona floated out the missing window, her hapless captives ridiculously dangling behind her. Once outside, she deposited the furious Sisterhood on the GotU football field, which should keep them out of trouble for a few minutes, at least. Then she headed in the direction of the explosion. Not far ahead of her, she could see the other yellow-costumed woman speeding towards the danger zone.

Chapter 5 Who is Zephy?

Joanna had not been prepared for this kind of reaction to her lecture, and certainly not for the appearance of the strident Sisterhood. She tried using the PA system to get people to calm down, but one of the black leather and white clad women yanked the microphone away from her, breaking it in the process. She then approached Joanna, and the archaeologist didn’t like what she saw in the other’s face. Well, she wasn’t the same helpless wallflower she’d been a year ago!

“Why are you lunatics doing this? It’s against everything ISIS stands for!”

“You know NOTHING of ISIS or our ideals, and you blaspheme our Patron Goddess! We do nothing more than the will of Isis!”

“That’s a boatload of crap!” Joanna yelled back. “I know a lot more about your Patron than you ever will, and she would never approve of your actions here!”

The other woman screamed and leap forward, and Joanna realized if she didn’t react quickly, she was about to get mauled! She blocked the rush of her attacker with a straight arm that would have made football legend Walter Paydirt smile, with a result similar to what he usually had. Her attacker staggered and fell backwards, crashing into several other members of the audience.

Joanna used that instant to call the Campus Police from the telephone on the podium. The fanatic of ISIS got back into the fight by lunging at Joanna’s legs, and the two collapsed in a heap on the podium.

Nothing in Joanna’s earlier life, or her recent career as Mighty Isis, had taught her anything about dirty infighting, while the other woman seemed to be an expert. Joanna was taking a terrific beating as the other pummeled her with fists, elbows, knees and an occasional head butt. Her immaculate business suit was being shredded, as the Sister attempted to pull her jacket down to her waist to immobilize her arms. But she gathered her new fortitude and fought back as best she could.

In the heat of battle, neither woman had any attention to spare when the explosion rattled the lecture hall.

Joanna finally forced enough separation between them to throw a punch. She twisted to add momentum to her right cross, and she wasn’t holding anything back! At that same instant, something jerked her assailant up and back away from her, and her sudden freedom of movement only added speed to her swing. The ISIS fanatic was unable to block or dodge, and Joanna’s punch struck her on the left side of her chin, snapping her head around and battering her instantly into unconsciousness!

Stunned at the sudden end of the fight, Joanna slowly got to her feet. She let a Campus Policeman guide her out the door. “Once you get outside, ma’am, head east and keep going until you hear some kind of ‘all-clear’. You want to be as far away as you can get!”

“Excuse me, officer – what else is going on?”

“You don’t know? A super villain has attacked the JSA and there is a big fight going on outside their headquarters. For your own safety, get as far away as you can!” He turned to help the next person.

Joanna slipped behind a hedge. She looked upwards, spread her hands wide to the heavens and uttered two words in a clear, proud voice:

“Mighty Isis.”

The transformation was different this time. Instead of changing to Mighty Isis, she found herself floating weightless, surrounded by infinite darkness. She had been here before!

“Welcome back, my daughter,” a kind voice spoke in the darkness. A woman’s voice. Andrea had not expected to hear it tonight, but she recognized it instantly.

“Hatshepsut,” she breathed. “Why am I here, mother? My help is needed on Earth! Have I done something wrong?”

“I am displeased, my daughter” the spirit of the ancient Queen spoke, gently. “Yet not with you, the fault is my own. Worry not, as no time will pass while we converse. When we finish, you can still aid those in need!”

“I should have foreseen the effects of introducing you to the world in the guise of Isis. The Sisterhood of ISIS is my own ancient creation. Created long ago, and it has gone through many changes, daughter, but still, created by my own hand to honor our Patron. And as long as it has been, there have always been those sisters in ISIS who felt that the Goddess demanded more� ‘passionate’ actions from her followers.”

“These sisters believe that the appearance of Mighty Isis is a sign; that the Goddess herself has returned to lead them to ‘greatness’. Until the rest of the Sisterhood can educate them, I believe it would be wisest to blur, and perhaps even conceal, your relationship with the Goddess Isis.”

Joanna nodded. It seemed a somewhat drastic step to her, but she could see the necessity. Still, she liked being Mighty Isis. Before she could say anything, Hatshepsut continued�

“Your abilities shall remain the same, though your appearance will change – somewhat. You will still call upon the Goddess to grant you her power – yet you will use the name of another when wielding the power of Isis. Behold�” she paused dramatically for a few instants.

“Zephyr”

Out of the darkness, a magical mirror appeared, allowing Joanna to inspect her new appearance – which was pretty much the same as her old appearance except that the color scheme had altered.

The white thigh length shift now shimmered with the colors of life, ivy green and a dark ocean blue, flowing from one color to the other. The black leather of her belt and neckpiece were now an earth-tone brown, and the sliver inlays were now golden. Most striking of all, the iridescent aura that had surrounded her as Mighty Isis no longer glowed white, and her natural coffee and cream complexion beautifully complemented the new colors of her costume.

“I trust that you find the changes satisfactory, daughter?”

A few years ago, Joanna would have hidden her beauty away, but her recently successes in life, not just as Mighty Isis, but also as Joanna Andre, had given her a serenity and sense of self worth, allowing her to accept and encompass her new image.

“Yes, Mother, this is quite satisfactory.”

“Then, I know you are anxious to return to your world and aid those in need. Until we meet again!” The darkness morphed into a landscape, and Zephyr was once again on the grounds of GotU. She smiled as she chanted the words that let her fly�

“O zephyr winds which blow on high. Lift me now so I can fly.”

A gentle breeze ruffled her waist-length black hair, which hung behind her like a cape, and she rose majestically into the sky.

Chapter 6 The Villain, Revealed!

Blackwing had been using the training session to cautiously test a new gadget in his utility belt. He had a container of highly compressed air mounted on each hip, which he could use like rocket engines. He only had about 5 minutes of thrust, however, so he had to use them sparingly. Although they had worked fine in simulations and lab tests, he had really wanted to give them more of a workout during this last workout before using them in battle.

“Oh, well, the best laid plans and all that… Looks like I’ll get them stress tested under live conditions!” He launched himself into the air, and turned the jets on full, and shot through the exit hole left by the mysterious projectile.

Huntress headed up the stairs instead, intent on finding anyone in the brownstone who might have been injured. Luckily it was a slow Sunday evening – she thought that perhaps she and Charles and the phone attendant had been the only ones present. A quick stop in the security room confirmed her guess. The phone attendant had followed standard emergency procedure. “Now there’s an oxymoron!” she thought grimly. When the attendant hit the panic button, an alarm was sounded, and she had been automatically sealed in by walls which had been designed to withstand even Superman (for a short time). This left the Huntress free to concentrate on the menace.

The images recorded by the security cameras were blurred. She knew that computer enhancement would clean them up in only a few minutes, but she didn’t have a few minutes. A humanoid something had crashed up from the sub-basement into the gym, and then burst out to the street, too fast for her to pick out details. She switched to outside cameras, and saw Blackwing engaged in aerial battle with someone she almost recognized. That’s where she needed to be!

When he flashed through the hole out to the street, Blackwing found a very large man floating in the air, examining the building and the damage he had just done. ‘Wing was pretty big himself, but he would feel small next to this fellow. The floating figure wore a costume that was mostly brown, with a red cape and hood, and ‘Wing didn’t recognize him. Mutual recognition didn’t seem to matter, though. With a bellow of rage, the big guy flew to the attack!

Blackwing quickly reviewed his situation. “Strong, fast, probably invulnerable, can fly – Damn, I didn’t sign up to fight Superman!” He cut his air jets and pulled his cape in close, and plummeted groundward, and the villain thundered through the space he had just vacated. “Guess we don’t get to choose our customers in this biz, though!” His harpoon shot out and the wire wrapped around the villain’s legs. “This may be the single most dumb ass thing I’ve ever done.” He started reeling in the line, working his way upwards.

The villain abruptly changed course, snapping ‘Wing around like a whip, right at the wall of the brownstone.

“Time for Plan B! Cept I don’t even have Plan A yet�” He released the cable, spread his cape, and managed to evade the wall He was moving a lot faster than he normally glided, and he decided to use his extra speed to gain some altitude. Meanwhile, as soon as he released the reel, a dead man’s switch released a powerful jolt of electric current into the villain’s body.

The Huntress rushed into the street just in time to see Blackwing flung violently towards the wall of the brownstone. He twisted frantically, managed to avoid hitting the building, and climbed skywards. The villain’s body suddenly spasmed uncontrollably as the hidden taser jolted him, and he crashed to the sidewalk, which shattered explosively. He smashed into the side of an office building, destroying the brick facade, which collapsed and buried him in several tons of rubble.

Finally, Helena’s subconscious put all the clues together. Opal City, brown and red costume, powers like Superman’s, vulnerable to electricity – and she couldn’t help but shout out the answer…

“It’s VIC VALOR!”

Interlude…. An Inside Joke!

Insect Queen was talking to herself as she approached JSA HQ. “Good, none of my little friends are reporting any news crews on the scene yet! Maybe I’ll be out of here before those yellow idiots show up!”

Since her rejuvenation, Insect Queen was well on her way to becoming more famous than Lana had ever been on her own. Insect Queen had even appeared on a charity benefit telethon not long ago, and it had turned into a disaster.

The host was interviewing Insect Queen when there was a disturbance in the studio audience. About a third of the crowd had suddenly pulled of their outer wear, exposing yellow costumes, and they had started waving protest signs and chanting.

“They swim, they fly, they walk, they crawl, their only crime is that they’re small. Shame on you, Insect Queen. You are an abuser and you’re MEAN! Insects have feelings too!”

The protesters were so loud studio security was called to evict them, and things went downhill from there.

Lana later discovered that they called themselves “People for Equal Rights for Insects” and Insect Queen was their ticket to publicity (oops, actually, Insect Queen became to them a public symbol of the abuse insects have endured from humans since the beginning of time). After all, Insect Queen forced insects to perform unnatural acts, and killed many of them before their times, with absolutely no regard for their welfare. She was killing them merely to propagate her own twisted version of justice, or even worse, perhaps only so she could become famous.

She was almost thankful to discover that Mighty Isis had similar problems… as it was, she dreaded facing the Yellow PERIs almost more than any mere super villain.

Chapter 6 Helena Fights Alone!

Helena didn’t remember much about Vic Valor. His entire career had lasted less than a week, way back in 1949, and she was sure he had been a hero. In fact, she had owned a set of ‘action figures’ when she was growing up and her two favorites had been Vic Valor and Buzz Lightspeed. But right now she couldn’t quite recall what his powers were. So far, except for the weakness to electricity, he seemed like a pretty fair approximation of Superman. So where had he been the last few decades? And why was he wrecking the JSA Brownstone and trying to smash Blackwing? And wasn’t he supposed to be a hero?

She threw a bat grenade at the wall behind the pile of debris, bringing more of the wall down on the buried Valor. She followed up with a freeze capsule, hoping to trap Valor under the frozen pile. She saw it start to quiver, and dove to the ground, just before the pile exploded, throwing bits of brick and concrete every which way, like a million bullets.

Huntress managed to escape most of the shrapnel by rolling behind a parked car. She was hit several times, but her costume did a good job of protecting her. She was pretty sore, but she didn’t seem to have any broken bones, and didn’t immediately notice any bleeding.

The poor owner of this car was going to regret leaving it parked here overnight. The other side was shredded by the shrapnel, all of the windows were shattered, and then both tires on the side away from her exploded.

If she was going to be a hero, it was time to move. She flashed over the hood of the battered car, moving almost too fast to follow, hurling a couple more pellets from her utility belt ahead of her. He was too big a target for her to miss The first two pellets broke against his broad chest and began spitting copious amounts of thick stinky smoke, hopefully blocking his vision. The third released a gob of sticky glue that expanded on contact and spread to cover Valor’s whole body.

It probably wouldn’t hold for very long. But as outclassed in power as she was, she was going to have to keep moving if she wanted to have any chance at all – and use her utility belt tricks wisely! She slipped her infrared goggles out of the belt and over her eyes, allowing her to see perfectly through her designer smoke screen.

Valor amazed her by diving back into the debris and rolling around, crushing much of it into fine dust. The dust caked over glue and it lost its stickiness, leaving Valor once again free to move. On the off chance that he might not be totally invulnerable, she quickly shot him with two anesthetic darts from her crossbow, but they didn’t even penetrate the dusty armor she had inadvertently provided him.

Well, electricity had worked once, and she had a taser of her own. She pulled it out and checked that the intensity was set to max. At this range, she could hardly miss. She fired the wire into Valor’s chest, where it stuck and then dumped the taser’s incredible charge into Valor’s massive frame. Helena could smell ozone, and see current crackling over the surface of his body, but this time, it had no effect. Valor calmly reached up and tore the wire free, yanked the taser from Helena’s hand, snatched it from the air and crushed it.

Helena flipped open a lead compartment on her utility belt, and a bright green light flared out. Valor took a step closer and swung at her, a punch she barely dodged. The wind from the punch threw her backwards against a brick wall, and the impact knocked the wind out of her. As she slumped to the sidewalk, Valor picked up the battered car and flung it at her. She couldn’t move; she knew this flying care would be the last thing she ever saw. Damn, she had so been looking forward to being Kara’s Maid of Honor!

Chapter 7 Bodacious Blonde Bombshells Batter Badguy!

Blackwing was in a power dive, and he opened his compressed air jets to maximum. Still, he knew he couldn’t reach the villain in time to prevent him from throwing the car at the helpless Huntress. There was no way she was going to be able to dodge, either. He wasn’t going to be able to save his friend, but he vowed that he would avenge her. He clicked a control that released two more harpoons, but instead of firing them, he took one in each hand, held them out in front, and aimed at the villain’s back. A microsecond before he hit, he saw Helena sliding out of the way of the deadly missile on a carpet of… oil? Whatever it was, she wasn’t moving fast enough. but, as he slammed his barbed spears into the broad back of the bad guy, the battered car was smashed into the ground by a giant glowing yellow hammer!

Helena didn’t need avenging just yet! Didn’t matter, though – his harpoons had as little effect on his foe as they would have against the hull of a battleship, the hardened tool steel shattering as if it was balsa wood.

But even this hulking monster was constrained by the laws of physics, and ‘Wing’s momentum knocked him down like a candlepin in front of a cannonball. He pinwheeled forward and smashed into the wall, very close to where Helena had been lying only seconds before. Blackwing had pretty much knocked himself out of the fight. He thought he may have broken some bones in the collision, and as he passed out, he prayed that whoever had saved Helena could deal with this threat without him.

Corona’s sledgehammer changed into a giant fist, and she scooped Valor off the pavement. He started to struggle and she turned up the pressure. He managed to free one arm, and then the other, and she was at the upper end of her power range. The big man grabbed the index finger of the giant yellow hand and began inexorably prying it open. Corona had undergone some incredible stresses in her training with Green Lantern, Strobe, and several members of the Justice Society, but only Power Girl had been able to break free of her energy constructs. And now Valor was managing. She couldn’t keep this up much longer!

Suddenly, there was a yellow blur flashing around the giant yellow fist. Insect Queen had adapted the speed of a darting dragon fly, and was spinning silk like a spider, flying around and around Valor and Corona’s energy fist. With the added strength of the thick silken cocoon to back her up, Corona was able to release the pressure just the tiniest bit. She could tell that between the two of them, this prison was just barely beyond Valor’s strength, and she was trying to figure out what to do next. They couldn’t hold him forever. She hoped someone had contacted the JSA! Meanwhile, she yelled at Insect Queen.

“I think if you can wrap on a couple of more layers, I can probably hold him until the big guns get here!”

Lana wasn’t sure she could spin a couple of more layers – it took a lot of energy to make silk! But she had a lot of allies nearby. It has been estimated that there are several million spiders for every human on earth, and Insect Queen called all the nearby spiders out of hiding. For a few seconds, millions of spiders swarmed over the silken cocoon, and each added a small contribution. In another few seconds they vanished, and the silken cocoon around Valor was now over 8 feet in diameter. The pressure on Corona’s energy construct continued to lessen, and she actually started to worry.

“He probably can’t breath in there! We’ll kill him!”

“Wouldn’t bother me, sister! He would have killed the Huntress without a blink!” Corona couldn’t believe how cold and uncaring Insect Queen sounded. She didn’t know that Lana was wearing her hard-as-diamond TV critic face. “Still, that _would_ look bad on tomorrow’s news, wouldn’t it? If you shrunk the ‘leash’ from your ring to that fist, wouldn’t that leave a little room for airflow?”

Corona was relieved, and she was in the process of making sure Valor had enough air to live, when her efforts were rendered moot! There was a flash of intense heat, and the cocoon vanished instantly into smoke! Valor was apparently done fooling around. He flew like a guided missile at Insect Queen. She was still adapting the darting speed of the dragonfly, and she seemed to instantly move from one place to another, then hover for a second, and then dart to yet another place. Each time Valor targeted her, she darted out of the way, but he kept getting closer and closer – and she was really getting tired! She could see that Corona was getting ready to go back on the attack, so she drew the villain ever closer to the other blonde.

Valor shouted in frustration and plunged at Insect Queen faster than before, and she was almost too slow this time – he managed to shred one of her wings as she dropped instantly towards the ground. He strained as hard as he could to change directions and follow her, and he was totally unprepared for Corona’s attack. Corona swatted him much as legendary tennis star Chrissie Austin would hammer a lazy shot on her baseline with her deadly two-handed backhand – but Corona’s racquet was all sweet spot, 15 feet of magical energy backed by Corona’s steely will power! Valor flew up, up and away, headed for the middle of the Atlantic.

The two heroes turned their attention to the two who had fallen before they arrived. A steady stream of ants was carrying the unconscious form of the Huntress towards an undamaged building further down the street, and Lana was darting after them. Corona landed next to Blackwing and bent over to check his pulse.

An invisible fist slammed into her head. Fortunately, she had paid attention in her training sessions and, in her Corona identity, she always maintained at least a minimal force field to protect her. Unfortunately, her shield only deflected the blow rather than blocking it, and she was struck hard enough that she was instantly knocked unconscious. Less than a tenth of a second later, Valor was swinging at Insect Queen.

As Valor had flashed through the air at invisible super speed, his passage had killed many insects. Insect Queen had sensed his approach, as each insect died with a tiny spiritual sigh that Lana was able to sense. Valor was so fast, she didn’t have time to really react, but she was starting to flinch away from him when he hit her, and this minuscule flinch might have saved her life. Again, though, maybe not. She was knocked tumbling through the air, and she finally crashed to earth and rolled to a stop in a small park a few blocks away. Once Insect Queen lost consciousness, the ants bearing the Huntress to safety had all scurried away. Once again, she was helpless in front of this super-powered madman!

Chapter 8 Zephyr and The Dynamo in Danskin

“Magnet ON!” a powerful voice range out. A car that had been parked down the block shot towards Valor at high speed, and smashed him away from the Huntress. It carried him forward and crushed him against the side of an empty city bus, parked at the curb due to engine problems much earlier that day. A half dozen other cars flew down the street and smashed into the growing pile of scrap metal. And then, cars stopped flying, and for an instant there was silence.

A lean man in a silvery costume and red cape, his head covered in a silvery baskeball, was dancing a happy jig, and singing in a squeeky voice “Boyohboyohboy Hooray! I’m a hero and I saved the day! I saved Hel’s life, I’m here to stay! Three cheers for me, Hip Hip HOORAY!”

He floated over to the pile of scrap metal, and spoke. This time his voice was much lower, a rumbling base that seemed to shake the very air. “Evil stands no change against the mighty magnetic powers of Colonel Invincible, the Dynamo in Danskin!”

Perhaps this was a mistake. Colonel Invincible noticed a low rumbling coming from the pile of scrap metal. He barely had time to speak…

“Magnet ON!”

when the tons of scrap metal, which only minutes ago had been some very expensive cars and a stalled city bus, exploded into the sky.

Colonel Invincible was buffeted but protected by his magnetic powers. The surrounding buildings were not so lucky and their outer walls were hit, damaged, splintered, and every window on the block was shattered. Luckily all civilians had evacuated the area. A clear, strong voice rang from the sky, commanding, imploring…

“Mother Earth which ‘neath us lies, protect all from the death that flies!”

The earth beneath the 4 stunned or unconscious heroes receded and then closed in over them, shielding them from the flying shrapnel. When the air had cleared, Vic Valor was striding towards Colonel Invincible, and he was speaking – the first words he had uttered since he had blasted out of the laboratory subbasement.

“Imposter! I am Ultimate Victorious Valor, Commander of the Invincibles, and you are unknown to me! Your costume betrays your association with Xenon and the evil Dr. Doog!” He slammed a tremendous punch towards Colonel Invincible’s chest. The Colonel, however, was made of stern stuff, and he deflected Valor’s punch. The big man had left himself open, and CI took advantage. His super-powered right uppercut struck Valor on the chin, and actually lifted him from his feet a few inches. A smile split the lower half of his face.

“At last, a foe worthy of my mettle! Defend yourself, imposter!” He slipped into a classical boxing stance, left arm up to defend his head, right arm jabbing, jabbing, probing the hero’s defenses. Colonel Invincible was in the same stance, and the two circled each other, jabbing, blocking, occasionally throwing punches. They both seemed to have eschewed their powers, and turned this fight into a man-to-man slugfest.

If any human fight fan could have seen the action, he would have marveled at the skill each fighter displayed, the precision of the punches, the superb display of boxing defense – yet no merely human observer could have seen the action, live – the two combatants moved so quickly that even an ultra-high speed camera and slow motion playback would have shown only a blur. That same fan might have quickly concluded that Colonel Invincible had no chance in this fight – Vic Valor was several inches the taller of the two, and weighed at least twice as much. But at least for now, the Man of Magnet was holding his own.

Zephyr used the short respite to get the other heroes out of danger.

“Heroes four lift from the ground, hidden from view, without a sound… heroes four, float away, live to fight another day.”

The 4 heroes vanished. Zephyr knew they were floating towards Gotham St. Elsewhen Hospital, where each would eventually be gently deposited on the front lawn, unless s/he awakened sooner. Assured that these other heroes would be as safe as she could make them, she turned back to the fight.

The fight between Valor and Colonel Invincible had been pretty much a draw so far, but there was a big loser.

The surrounding neighborhood was taking a real beating as the combatants bashed each other into the walls of buildings, knocked down streetlights and utility poles, battered holes in the streets and tore up the sidewalks. Fires were burning where sparks had ignited flammable debris; geysers of water blasted from broken hydrants, and there wasn’t an unbroken window for blocks.

Zephyr was horrified by the wanton destruction. Her first priority was to prevent further damage, either to life or property.

“Power of storm, lightning and thunder, cloud and wind and rain… I call on all, aid me now, this horror to restrain!”

A magical whirlwind arose, centered around the two ‘Invincible’ combatants. The eye collapsed, forcing the battle into the middle of the street, away from the shattered buildings.

A heavy cloud cover appeared and torrents of rain washed down on the scattered fires, quenching them. Thunder boomed, knocking dangerous rubble loose from walls high above the street, and brilliant flashes of lightning vaporized the falling debris before it could cause further damage.

Satisfied that the city was safer now than it had been, Zephyr turned her attention to the fight. And just in time! Valor had used his greater size and weight to batter through Col. Invincible’s defenses, and as Zepphyr watched, Valor hit his slighter foe with an uppercut that lifted him off his feet and threw him backwards into the wall of magic wind. He was instantly spun away, out of Valor’s reach, and the big angry man looked around him for another target.

Again the commanding voice of Zephyr rang out:

“Hands of stone rise from below – Aid me now and grasp my foe!”

Rough hewn hands of rugged stone tore up through what remained of the street, grasping Valor’s arms and legs, with a larger pair grappling around his body. Valor strained but the hands gripped him tightly. Still, the strain was tremendous.

Every twitch he made battered Zephyr like a punch. Who was this masked man? He had taken the best shots the heroes could muster, and he had shrugged them all off! If reinforcements didn’t arrive soon, and he got loose, she knew Valor would shrug off her further efforts as less than inconveniences.

Chapter 9 The Plan

Valor glared at the stone hand restraining his right arm and it started to melt. Zephyr started a spell to counter the heat but it was already too late. Valor’s right arm burst free of the restraint. His free hand pummeled the rocky construct gripping his left arm and it shattered. With both arms free, he concentrated on freeing his feet, next. Rays lanced out of the palms of both hands, and the rocky ‘overshoes’ began to disintegrate.

Zephyr turned her attention away from the imprisoning spell and the animating magic flowed out of the stones gripping Valor. She spoke another spell, meant to slow him once he inevitably shattered the remaining stones holding him.

“Mother Gaia heed my cry, increase Earth’s pull, he may not fly!”

Even as Valor shattered the remaining stone bonds, gravity was shifting under him, gaining strength, making him heavier and heavier. To his astonishment, he found that while his strength allowed him to resist the pull and remain standing, he was unable to fly! He was becoming so heavy, that he started sinking into the pavement below him. The concrete below him suddenly could not longer support his weight and it shattered with a crack like thunder. As she watched the Earth slowly swallow her opponent, Zephyr was astounded to see a smile on his face!

And then stunned when, light as a feather, he lifted from the hole.

“Yes, Element Witch, I too am a Master of Gravity. I hope you have other options in your elemental bag of tricks, or you will soon be vanquished as were your allies!”

Zephyr needed another second or two to prepare her next spell – and it sure didn’t look like she was going to get that time. However, she could cancel any current spell instantly, and she did so. Valor had been using his powers to resist a gravitational pull of many tens of g’s. At the return of normal gravity he bounced high into the air!

“It will take all of our efforts to drive him away!” Zephyr jumped in surprise as the Huntress appeared next to her, stepping off a glowing golden platform that had been created by Corona. Insect Queen landed to her left, Corona to her right. “If this really is Vic Valor, he should have vulnerability to bright light and intense electricity. And even Superman has been affected by ultrasound.”

“I hope I sound more confident that I am!” she thought to herself. “Valor somehow ignored my electrical blast, as if he had somehow overcome his weakness. Though my taser has nothing like the power of a single lightning bolt – and I plan to have this woman hit him with a lot more than one.”

‘This woman’, Zephyr, was speaking. “I sense that he has flown out of my gravity-trap. What we do, we must do now!”

With no hesitation, Huntress outlined her plan. She finished with a wry smile “Looks like all I’m good for is bait!”

“Imps of color and of light, change this woman to all sight!”

The Huntress disappeared and in her place stood… another Zephyr? “Scatter!” the disguised Huntress advised her allies. “OK, ladies, do your stuff!”

Corona enclosed ‘Zephyr’ in an invisible energy shield, and only just in time, as Valor burst from the clouds like an avenging bolt of lightning. ‘Zephyr’ spoke:

“Spirits of nature around me gather! Make this hit feel like a feather!”

Hidden, the real Zephyr winced! Valor smashed into the shield, and though it was driven into the pavement, Helena was unharmed.

“Furies of Nature vanquish my foe!” ‘Zaphyr’ commanded.

Insect Queen’s wings were moving at ultrahigh velocities, and she focused an intense blast of ultrasound on Valor’s head. He couldn’t hear it, but it was affecting his sense of balance, and the world seemed to be rolling slowly around him. Corona created a super-powered spotlight and blasted him directly in his eyes. Even the light-filtering goggles he had donned years ago were insufficient, and pain lanced through his visual system. Closing his eyes didn’t help. He had to escape, and the only way out was up! But before he could fly, the real Zephyr spoke her last spell!

“Gods of storm around the world, heed my call! Show us your power, blast our foe, one and all!”

Who really knows how many storm gods there are? Zephyr might, and we might have found out by counting the lightning bolts that struck Valor in the next few seconds. Or we might not, for how many of those gods, with a chance to show off to their peers, unleashed more than one powerful blast?

The resulting barrage of lightning was among the most impressive displays of Nature’s power that had ever been witnessed by humankind, and it left the heroines temporarily blinded for long minutes. During those minutes, they prayed – if Valor had survived, and was able to recover his sight before they did, why, it would be just too bad for them. Yet, despite their fears, they remained alive…

Zephyr’s sight returned first, and she launched herself into the air to search for their foe. She discovered no traces of him. Could the lightning have destroyed him totally, even disintegrated his entire body?

“Of course it could have! You witnessed the power yourself” she thought angrily. “I never expected to kill him!” she could feel guilt and knew this day would bother her for a long time. Even she, avatar of the Goddess Isis, had underestimated the power that she could command, and unleashing that power without proper consideration had proved fatal.

Joanna didn’t believe in killing, though the Goddess of whom she was an avatar and the ancient Queen who had given her the amulet of Isis were more practical.

“There are times when it is the only possible resolution.”

Joanna refused to believe this – she thought that gods and royalty, including even the Goddess Isis, were just too aloof from the concerns of humans and did not really understand the value of life to mortals. But Zephyr was not simply an avatar of Isis, but a blending, and Joanna vowed that her own sensibilities would ever on rule Zephyr’s actions. Her convictions on this matter never wavered again, even when, a half hour later, Dr. Fate assured everyone involved that Valor had not died, but instead had been driven off by their combined attack.

Epilogues

Valor had been ‘under control’ several times earlier during the fight, and managed to return for another round, so no one relaxed right away. But he really was gone, and they heaved a collective sigh of relief as other people began to filter into the area.

*****

The Mayor of Gotham City arrived a few seconds before Hawkman, the current Chairman of the JSA. This was unfortunate, as the hero was unable to duck the mayor, and he had hoped to postpone this confrontation for later. He was relieved to see that “At least the clean-up crew has arrived!”

There was an army of uniformed men and women swarming through the streets and over the faces of the nearby buildings, with a variety of unusual high-tech machines (many invented by Ted Knight and Sylvester Pemberton). Hawk knew that before the sun came up, all the visible damage would be repaired and the rubble and debris removed. Disaster Inc reported that, incredibly, no one had been hurt in this fight other than the heroes and Vic Valor. So Hawk was as prepared as possible for his confrontation with the Mayor.

“This is the last straw, Hawkman! Your improved, highly advanced security was supposed to keep my city safe from this kind of damage! I want you out of town, and I want you out now!”

“Mr. Mayor, this block will be completely restored by the start of business tomorrow, and no one was hurt.”

“Mr. Super Hero, you know it’s only pure damn luck that nobody got killed. What about next time? Or the time after that?”

Hawk was silent. He couldn’t really argue; of course the Mayor was right. Some day, some fanatic would attack during rush hour, and they wouldn’t be so lucky. Jay had a couple of ideas about this issue; if he were elected President he was planning to propose that the JSA set up a new HQ on Federal land a long way from any populated area. Meanwhile, the Mayor had always been overridden by the City Council on the issue of pulling the JSA’s charter, and since no one had been hurt today, it was unlikely that the Mayor would suddenly win their support tomorrow. But Carter realized that the JSA needed to come up with a better solution – and fast. There must be something the World’s Greatest Heroes, including the two most powerful magic users and a couple of the most brilliant inventive geniuses on the planet, could do to further protect the public!

*****

Blackwing had returned to the battle scene, a little too late to get in on the grand finale. He was introducing himself to Insect Queen and Corona. Lana choked back a laugh when she heard Corona’s heroic name.

“You picked your name after…” she didn’t get to finish, as she was interrupted by Alex.

“I get so tired of ignorant people asking me if I named myself after a beer. And from somebody who’s the Queen of Bugs? Give me a break!” Now Lana interrupted

“Hey, hold your horses, lady! You’re the only one who mentioned beer, here. I was going to say ‘A glow enveloping the higher potential electrode, often accompanied by streamers directed toward the lower potential electrode, in a coronal discharge’. No need to be rude.”

“Oops – no, actually, I was thinking about…”

Blackwing interrupted this time. “A colored luminous ring appearing to surround the sun, caused by diffraction of light from very fine water droplets suspended in the air.”

Alex was stunned. These two had to be pulling her leg, but she had no idea how they had done it. They laughed, and she laughed with them. She was still hurting over Kyle’s death, and ever since her friend Buffy had returned to the West Coast, it seemed like her social life had just about vanished. She needed some friends and these two seemed like good bets!

*****

The Huntress was hunting. She wanted to have a long talk with that new hero in silver. She found him pretty much where he had fallen when Zephyr’s wind had torn him away from Valor. He was just struggling to his feet. She reached out a hand to help.

“The Dynamo in Danskin? Colonel Invincible? C’mon, Mite, give me a break!”

“I beg your pardon, Miss? I am indeed Colonel Invincible. And you are?” Nary a squeak.

“Listen buster, and listen good. I’m going to adopt Sonia, you know – what kind of mother would I be if I didn’t know what her favorite movie was? Now, you got one chance. Come out of there now, and take your medicine like a man, or I’m tossing you out of my house forever. And don’t even think about coming to the wedding!”

Bat-Mite thought about it for a second or two. He never doubted that Helena would find a way to keep him from the wedding – he knew he was much more powerful than she, but he would never lift his hand against her. And she was good friends with Dr. Fate, the Spectre, and Johnny Thunder and T-Bolt. And he knew if he did ‘take his medicine’, she’d forgive him – she always did! But this wasn’t going to be fun…

“You’ve got maybe 1 more second, Mite!”

“Hold on!” he squeaked. A panel door appeared in the front of Colonel Invincible’s uniform, popped open, and Bat-mite floated out. He dropped to the ground and moved around behind the now free-standing uniform, as if for protection.

“But Hel! I kept my promise! I didn’t use my powers, I used his!” and he pointed. “It was the Dynamo in Danskin, not me!”

Helena’s voice conveyed anger… “Even if that was true, you know you broke the spirit of the promise, Mite! And it’s not. You used your powers to create Colonel Invincible, and you created him to ‘help’ me.” The anger vanished, and now she projected sadness. “I’m really disappointed – I don’t know how I can ever trust you again.” She _almost_ felt guilty at manipulating the little guy this way – almost, but not quite. He had a good heart, but he needed an occasional scolding if he was ever going to grow up. She had to believe that he was still growing up, because the thought of a whole place full of brats like him, with powers like his, terrified her!

“But what did I do that was so wrong? I did help you, IdidIdidIdid!”

“Look around you, Mite! You almost destroyed the city! Look at the street – look at the buildings – look at the windows, the fire hydrants, the streetlights, the shattered cars.” She knew what she was doing, because each item she pointed out was suddenly, magically restored – saving Disaster Inc. a lot of work, and incidentally almost giving the Mayor apoplexy. She pretended not to notice. “Your powers, Mite, are just too awesome to be used safely here on Earth. Now look – you want to hang at my place until the wedding, right?”

He nodded so hard and fast he floated up into the air. When he stopped nodding, the little parachute popped out and returned him safely to the street – the now repaired street. He twisted his hands together behind his back. “I do, I love watching movies with Sonia, and Bat Lash tells me my poker is getting better and someday soon I’ll start winning back all my gold nuggets from him, and you know I just love watching you beat up the bad guys. Please, please, I promise to be good!” He swung his right hand around in front of himself again, and handed her a bouquet of 5th dimensional flowers – easily the most stunning bouquet she had ever seen.

Helena relented – as they had both known she would. “. I never could resist a sweet talker who gives me beautiful flowers! OK, Mite, one more chance. But it’s the last time. And no more Dynamo in Danskin!” She took the flowers in one hand, and his outstretched hand in her other, and they walked away – and Bat-Mite was literally walking on air, more than a foot off the ground in order to reach Helena’s hand. Or was it just because they were holding hands?

“So, Hel, didja see the fight? Wasn’t I great? I was weaving and dodging like Ali! If I hadn’t stumbled and got caught in that magical tornado, boyohboyohboy would he have gotten it!”

She smiled at him warmly. She never could resist a smooth talker whose heart was in the right place!

*****

Zephyr wasn’t surprised when Dr. Fate recognized her as the former Mighty Isis. Isis herself had never been able to hide much from Nabu. “I heartily approve of your new look, Avatar of Isis. ‘Tis best to distance yourself from the ancient worship, as long as controversy rages around your name. I look forward to a long association.”

That had to be Fate’s hosts,.Kent and Inza Nelson, speaking; Nabu, for all his devotion to order, and the fortunate correspondence between order and what humans perceived as ‘good’, had never been someone who projected warmth and friendship. “And I also approve of your own current manifestation, Avatar of Nabu! I think I am well found, here in the 20th century!”

*****

Vic Valor was far away. Nothing in the last couple of hours had made any sense to him – as far as he could remember, 3 hours ago he was trapped in Dr. Doog’s Destructo-Ray, prepared to make one last escape attempt, and knowing he would be dead if he failed to escape. And then, somehow, he was out of the D-Ray trap and under attack by Doog’s henchmen. And then there were the visions, flashes of memory, in which he was strapped down on a table of some kind, and someone was operating on him, but when had that occurred? He hoped everybody would leave him alone long enough for him to figure things out!

 

The End