Countdown (39 page)

“Please, Mary!” Her fingers gently massaged her injured throat. “Let us help you!”

“I don’t need your help!” Mary snarled, outraged by the mere suggestion. Shrugging off the blistering fusillade of bullets, she dived at Jason, even as the trigger-happy vigilante slammed a fresh cartridge into his gun. “I’m sick of you, my brother, Zatanna, Klarion, and all your condescending attitudes!” She was only seconds away from smashing into Jason like a missile in a miniskirt. “Well, look who’s helpless now!”

Right before she hit him, however, the jagged iron sculpture from the center of the reflecting pool came plowing into her from the side. The massive projectile knocked her off course, sparing Jason by a matter of inches, and rammed her into the base of the Hall’s western tower. Iron crashed against the reinforced bronze plating, crushing Mary between them. The clang of crumpled metal rang out across the Mall.

Donna heaved a sigh of relief. Standing atop the sculpture’s star-shaped pedestal, she lowered her arms, grateful that she had managed to hurl the one-ton piece of artwork at Mary in time. “Well, I suppose that bought us a few seconds.”

» “Thanks!” Jason hollered. He glanced irritably at the Hall of Justice. Metal barricades had descended over the exterior glass windows, to protect both the building and any visitors trapped inside, but there was no sign of any reinforcements coming to their aid. “Hey, Donna, how is it we’re having a knock-down, drag-out right on the JLA’s doorstep and they’re nowhere to be found?”

“Guess they’re busy elsewhere,” Donna said. She wondered if maybe Mary—or Darkseid—was using some sort of arcane magic or super-science to block any alarm signals coming from the headquarters. Thankfully, any innocent bystanders had already fled the Mall, although Donna heard the sirens of emergency vehicles converging on the scene. A news helicopter arrived to capture the breaking story' from above. Donna guessed that neither the police nor the media were likely to intimidate Mary. “I think we’re on our own.”

Jason spat in disgust. “Typical.” Holding on tightly to his gun, he hurried to Jimmy’s side. “Screw the League, then! I’m grabbing Olsen and getting him as far away from her as I can.”

Good idea,
Donna thought. She doubted that one big chunk of metal would be enough to put Mary Marvel down for the count, especially now that Darkseid had supersized her powers somehow. “Speaking of MIA, where’d the Atom run off to?” She quickly scanned the debris-strewn battleground, but failed to spot the miniature hero. Was he lying unconscious somewhere, too tiny to be seen readily, or had his nerve failed him in the end? The Ray Palmer of old, the stalwart member of the Justice League, would have never deserted his allies like this, and yet... was it possible that the tragic events of recent years had broken his spirit more than any of them had realized? “I hope he didn’t desert us,” she murmured.

She didn’t want to think so, but then again, she had never expected Mary Marvel to go bad either....

The screams of twisted metal seized her attention. Electricity crackled over the surface of the mangled iron sculpture as Mary brusquely tossed Donna’s improvised missile aside. She rose from the battered base of the tower, brushed off her skirt, and ascended into the sky above the plaza. Her hair was a trifle mussed, but otherwise she looked alarmingly unscathed. Pissed-off blue eyes glared down at Donna and the others.

“Enough’s enough!” she said testily. “I have a promise to keep, and I intend to keep it.”

“A promise to Darkseid?” Donna challenged her. “A promise that could cost Jimmy his life?”

Mary shrugged off Donna's accusations. “Heru!” she called out, imploring the ancient Egyptian deity better known to the West as Horns. “Lend me your speed!” Donna glanced anxiously at Jimmy. Jason was tugging on the towheaded reporter’s arm, trying to hustle
him
away from the Mall, but Jimmy appeared understandably reluctant to abandon Forager, who was sprawled upon the chipped pavement surrounding the Washington Monument. “Here,” Jimmy urged the groggy insect-woman as he crouched beside her, assisting her to a sitting position. “Let me help you.”

“Come on!” Jason said impatiently. “Get a move on!”

But not even Donna was fast enough to stop Mary Marvel. Moving so swiftly that she was nothing more than a satiny black blur, she whooshed down from the sky and snatched Jimmy away from his guardians before Donna or anyone else could even catch a breath. She zoomed away at lightning speed, leaving the thunderstruck Challengers behind. Within a heartbeat, both Mary and her captive were completely out of sight.

“Nooo!” Forager shrieked. She reached out desperately, but Jimmy was long gone.

Jason kicked the pavement. “Dammit!”

Donna shared their frustration. Flying over to join her remaining companions, she vented aloud. “I don’t believe this! After everything we’ve been through, just to lose him to Darkseid like this ...!’*

“No ” Forager climbed to her feet. Her armor was cracked and scuffed, but her resolve was apparently still intact. Twin antennae quivered passionately. “I shall track the Olsenbug,” she vowed, shaking her fist at the heavens. “And I will find where that black-hearted witch and Darkseid have taken him ... even if it leads us to the very end of Creation!”

Donna was impressed by her courage and determination, which would have done an Amazon proud.

“All right,” Donna said. “But first we need some serious backup.”

6 AND CODNTING.

.OUTSIDE METROPOLIS.

“DIsen,”
Darkseid greeted him. “How nice to see you again.”

Jimmy was backed up against the wall of a rocky gorge somewhere in the Blue Mountains northwest of Metropolis. Darkseid gazed down at Jimmy from a ledge overlooking the narrow ravine, while Mary Marvel stood by on a lower ridge. She didn’t look at all guilty about delivering the frightened reporter into Darkseid’s clutches.

I don't understand,
Jimmy thought.
She wasn’t like this on Apokolips!

“Darkseid,” Jimmy replied, trying hard not to tremble. “I—I’m not afraid of you.”

His show of defiance provoked a laugh from the archvillain. “Ha! I admit you’ve been a source of great amusement to me these past months, James Olsen, but now the time has come to take back that which 1 have given you: the souls of the New Gods.” He extended his hand, which glowed ominously. “Don’t worry. It
will
be very painful.”

Jimmy could just imagine. Vivid memories of Light-ray’s and Sleez’s butchered corpses, with smoking holes in their chests, flashed before his mind’s eye. But he wasn’t about to beg for mercy. If this was truly the end, he was going down fighting—-just like Superman would.

“Yeah? Good luck with that,” he challenged Darkseid. “Or did you forget that I’ve got powers now too?”

He threw out his arms, and pictured a volley of razor-sharp quills piercing Darkseid’s stony gray flesh. He visualized his legs stretching like taffy, carrying him up and away from the lonely ravine. He tried to call upon the astounding speed he had tapped into once upon a time in Metropolis. Heck, he was even willing to dissolve into jelly again.

But nothing happened.

“Indeed, you have great power,” Darkseid conceded, “so long as I permit it.”

Twin beams shot from his eyes, blasting apart the rug-< ged terrain beneath Jimmy’s feet. Reeling backward, Jimmy threw up his hands to protect his eyes as granite splinters pelted his face. His butt landed hard on the uneven floor of the gorge.

“Give it up, red,” Mary' advised him. She sounded like she thought she had his best interests at heart. “Why drag this out when you don’t stand a hell of a chance?”

“I’m disappointed to hear such language coming from you, Mary,” a familiar voice scolded her. Hope flared brightly in Jimmy’s heart as he spotted Superman flying down from the sky, faster than a speeding bullet. The Man of Steel’s powerful right fist collided with Darkseid’s chin, sending the startled villain flying from his rocky perch, while Mary Marvel nearly jumped out of her high black boots in surprise. Superman cast a disapproving glance in her direction. “You could really use a better role model!”

Forager came bounding into the gorge after Superman. “Olsenbug!” Her eyes and antennae anxiously searched his face for injuries as she hugged him so hard his ribs hurt. Her armored helmet failed to conceal her relief at finding him again. Fluttery wings retracted into her back.

“Superman!” Jimmy exclaimed. “Boy, am I glad to see you! But how ... ?”    .

“Donna contacted me via the Hall of Justice,” he explained. “Darkseid blocked my telescopic vision somehow, but, thanks to Forager, we were able to track you down.” Landing in the gorge between Jimmy and Darkseid, who was even now rising ponderously back onto his feet, Superman stood ready to do battle with the sinister New God. “The rest of you should back away and find someplace safe.” The bright red S on his chest contrasted sharply with the sinister darkness of Darkseid’s and Mary’s attire. His scarlet cape rustled in the cold mountain breeze. “This is about to get ugly.”

Less than fifty yards away, amidst a pile of fresh rabble, Darkseid faced his foe. “Kryptonian,” he snarled. “Do you mean to confront me alone?” He sneered mockingly. “I’m a touch insulted. I’d have expected the entire Justice League to rain down upon me at once.”

“They’re tied up right now with a living tsunami on the planet Rann,” Superman said. “But there’s no need to wait for them. This is between you and me. You had the New Gods murdered, didn’t you? And now you’re going after Jimmy.” Superman didn’t often lose his temper, but Jimmy could tell from his tone that the hero was genuinely angry. “The way I see it, it’s past time for me to put you down for good.”

“You’re mistaken, Kryptonian,” Darkseid answered. “The end of the New Gods is the Source’s doing, not my own, but I alone shall survive to rale over the Fifth World to come, and nothing you can do shall stop me!”

His Omega Beams struck the ground, triggering a massive earthquake that caused the wall of the gorge to crumble. An avalanche of shattered stone came roaring down the side of the mountain. “Jimmy!” Superman shouted, momentarily looking away from Darkseid. He looked tom between rescuing Jimmy and guarding him from Darkseid and Mary. “Your defensive powers?”

Jimmy tried to stretch to safety, but to no avail; his fragile limbs remained stubbornly inelastic. “Darkseid turned them off! I can’t... !”

“Fear not!” Forager threw herself atop Jimmy, shielding him with her armored form. Heavy boulders bounced off her back and shoulders. “I will get the Olsenbug to safety!”

“Aww, that’s sweet,” Mary Marvel jeered sarcastically. Heedless of the falling debris, she launched herself at Jimmy and Forager, even as Superman struck back against her malevolent master. “But who’s gonna save you?”

Hi8 ground shook as Superman waded forward against the full force of Darkseid’s fearsome Omega Beams until he was right up in the villain’s face. The searing radiation hurt almost as much as kryptonite, but Superman kept on 'coming. “If that’s your best shot, Darkseid, you might as well give up right now.”

“Oh, you needn’t concern yourself with that.” Darkseid blocked Superman’s strong right fist with his beefy arm. Seizing the hero’s shoulders, he shoved Superman down onto his back. “I only wished to bring you close enough to—”

Superman’s eyes flashed crimson. A brilliant burst of heat vision struck the villain’s face, blinding him. “Close enough to what?” Springing to his feet, Superman grabbed on to Darkseid’s craggy face with his bare hand and flung him halfway across the ravine. The capsized New God crashed upside down into a granite cliff face. A landslide buried Darkseid beneath a heap of rubble. Seismic meters all over the state jumped in alarm.

I have to admit that felt good,
Superman thought. He had foiled Darkseid’s nefarious schemes, and battled his vicious minions, numerous times over the years, but Darkseid himself had usually refrained from getting his own hands dirty, preferring to manipulate events rather than engage in hand-to-hand combat with “lesser” beings. Too many of their past encounters had ended in frustrating stalemates, with Darkseid grudgingly returning to Apokolips to plot anew.
Not this time,
Superman resolved.
It’s about time we finally went to head-to-head. If Darkseid wants Jimmy, he's going to have to take me on personally.

An explosion of cosmic energy blew apart the mountain of debris on top of Darkseid. The cataclysmic shock wave hurled Superman into the air, rocketing him into the side of the mountain. Stunned by the force of the blast, he rolled downhill into the battle-scarred ravine, where Darkseid waited at the center of a newly carved crater. Fury had replaced hauteur upon the villain’s features as he glowered wrathfully at the Man of Steel. Incarnadine energy crackled around his clenched fists. “You dare lay hands on mighty Darkseid?” he roared. “YOU DARE?!”

“Yeah, I do dare.” Shaking off the effects of the explosion, Superman flew at Darkseid. His tattered red cape 'flapped behind him. His knuckles pounded into Darkseid’s face. Black blood sprayed from the villain’s lips as his head was knocked to one side. “Guess I’m just not a big fan of murderous tyrants!”

With no thought for his own safety, Superman hammered away at his foe.

i.sss
than ten yards away, Forager sprang as nimbly as a grasshopper, deftly evading Mary Marvel’s angry fists, while Jimmy Olsen looked on desperately, wishing there was something he could do to help. “Keep still, dammit!” Mary cursed in frustration. Her swinging fist took a chunk out of a large gray boulder, but missed Forager completely. Mary looked like a frustrated exterminator chasing after an annoying cockroach. All she needed was a giant flyswatter.

“Never!” Forager replied. She used Mary’s own shoulder as a brace to flip over the frustrated ex-heroine while delivering a savage kick to Mary’s rear as she landed nimbly behind the other female. “Only when the last breath of life leaves me will I—”

“Fair enough!” Mary interrupted. Running out of patience, she unleashed a blast of bright blue electricity that jolted Forager like the world’s biggest bug-zapper. The insect-woman convulsed in shock before dropping limply to the ground. Her body twitched spasmodically amidst the dust and rocks.