Countdown (41 page)

“Jason!” Donna cried out. She flew at Mary with her fists stretched out before her. Sunlight flashed off her silver belt and bracelets. Her outraged face no longer held the slightest bit of sympathy for the other woman. “I swear by the gods, Mary... !”

Mary laughed at Donna’s approach. “You want your boyfriend so badly?” She grabbed Jason by one ankle and swung him like a club at the oncoming heroine. Jason’s head smacked against Donna’s face, knocking her out of the sky. She crashed to the ground at Mary’s feet, providing an easy target for Mary, who clobbered her over and over with Jason’s limp body. She looked like she was playing a grotesquely brutal game of Whac-A-Mole, using the former Robin as her hammer. Donna tried to fight back, but every time she lifted her battered face from the debris, Mary pounded her back down into the dirt... until Donna finally stopped moving. Only her labored breathing revealed that the super-powerful Amazon still possessed a spark of life.

“Heh,”
Mary casually tossed Jason aside as she stood triumphantly over Donna’s prone body. “How about that? Looks like I’m the last girl standing!”

Indeed,
Darkseid thought.
It seems Eclipso was right to see potential in you. A pity she did not live to see her efforts bear such delicious fruit. . .

The
unnatural green light flooded the inner corridors of Jimmy’s brain, serving as a constant reminder that something was terribly wrong. The Atom realized that there was no time to conduct an exhaustive analysis of the artificial implants infesting the cerebellum.
I can’t stall any longer,
he realized.
I have to do something.

His eyes zeroed in on the blinking array before him. At a loss, he wondered how his fellow League members would handle a situation like this.
I know what Hawkman would do,
he thought. The avian avenger, who was probably Ray’s closest friend in the League, had a fondness for medieval weapons like maces and battle-axes.
What did Carter say once?
His teammate’s words of wisdom came back to him:

“When in doubt, break things.”

The Atom took a deep breath, then grabbed on to the crystalline array with all his strength. Hostile electrical impulses shot up his arms, numbing him, but he didn’t let go. The alien gizmo resisted his efforts to wrench it free, but, using the white-star technology embedded in his costume, he increased his strength disproportionately to his size. Sparks flew from the infected synapses as the entire array came free at last. Jumping backward from the unleashed energy, he let the crystalline lattice slip from his stinging fingers.

The kryptonite glow flickered all around him, then went out entirely. The emerald brain matter took on a more natural reddish hue. Only the strobe-like glare of flashing synapses allowed him to see his way around the murky cortical folds. Bright arterial blood pulsed warmly beneath his feet. He could only pray that meant Jimmy wasn’t brain-dead yet.

I did it!
he exulted.
I think....

His triumph was short-lived, however, as a loud scut-ding noise suddenly echoed through the winding convolutions, growing louder by the second as the source of the uproar grew ever nearer. To his alarm, a horde of silvery alien insects came rushing toward him. Vaguely resembling beetles, they clattered over and under each other in their eagerness to tear the Atom apart. Although the size of fleas, they looked as large as king crabs to the tiny Atom. Their scaly shells bore the same alien circuit patterns as the array he had just dislodged. Angiy pincers snapped at him.

“Uh-oh,” he blurted. What were these things? Apoko-liptian antibodies?

His only consolation as they swarmed over him, biting and clawing at his flesh, was the realization that he must have done something right to stimulate this kind of attack.

He could only hope that it wasn’t too little, too late.

“Mack!”
Jimmy gasped.

He felt a sudden shock at the back of his skull, then realized that he could move again. The bright green glow of the kryptonite evaporated, and he stared down at his hands in wonder, watching his flesh turn pink again.
Thank goodness!
He had no idea what had broken Darkseid’s spell, but he couldn’t have been happier. He glanced anxiously at Superman and was relieved to see the Man of Steel recovering as well. The greenish pallor retreated from Superman’s complexion as Earth’s yellow sun restored his strength. His swollen veins constricted.
Yes!
Jimmy rejoiced.
It’s a miracle!

Darkseid was taken aback by this unexpected turn of events. “This can’t be!” he objected. “You’re mine to control!”

Oh yeah?
Jimmy thought.
We’ll see about that.
He sensed instinctively that something had changed fundamentally inside his brain, freeing him from all of Darkseid’s fiendish constraints. He could feel the stolen power of the New Gods surging through him, merging with the unique abilities Darkseid himself had endowed him with. He was in command of the power now, not the other way around. Now he just needed to take it to the max—and buy Superman the time he needed to recover fully.

Jimmy clenched his fists and concentrated. A hoarse grunt erupted from his throat as yet another freakish transformation racked his body. The soiled coverall came apart at the seams as his size and mass increased at an exponential rate. Thick, olive green scales spread across his exposed skin. Webbing formed between his fingers and toes. Bony claws sprouted from his nails. Darkseid, Superman, and the entire gorge seemed to shrink beneath his gaze as his head ascended toward the clouds.

“Holy Moley!” Mary exclaimed. She craned her head back to take in the entire mind-boggling sight. “Now, that’s freaking sweet!”

Jimmy Olsen, helpless cub reporter, was gone. Towering in his place was a colossal turtle-man standing over fifty feet tall. Bulging reptilian eyes sported beady black pupils. Overlapping layers of homy scutes, each the size of parking spaces, armored his mammoth body. Only his flame red hair and freckles rendered him recognizable as he loomed above the startled villains like a prehistoric behemoth.

“You want the power inside me, Darkseid?” Jimmy reached for the smaller-looking New God with his giant claws. “Come and get it!”

4 Jteis COimTHUG.

SITilOE METROPOliS.

lie
suburban community of Bakerline was usually a quiet place, comfortably removed from the fast-paced hubbub of the city. Strip malls, supermarkets, and fast-food restaurants served miles of peaceful residential neighborhoods, where the biggest news was generally a bake sale at one of the local churches, or maybe a hotly contested high school football rivalry.

But none of that mattered today as the innocent suburb was laid waste by a titanic battle between two enormous, inhuman figures. Jimmy Olsen, now a gigantic turtle-man, grappled furiously with Darkseid, who had grown to equally Brobdingnagian proportions to confront his former pawn. Banks and hardware stores were smashed to smithereens as the wrestling giants lurched against them. Broken glass and masonry rained down into the streets. Flames erupted from collapsed homes and buildings. Gushers sprayed from fractured hydrants and water lines. Sirens blared above the thunderous din of the battle as ambulances, police cars, and fire tracks raced through the endangered community, trying futilely to cope with the devastation left in the giants’ wake. Abandoned vehicles blocked traffic. Screaming men, women, and children ran frantically through the streets like extras in a Japanese monster movie.

“You will most certainly suffer for this, Olsen!” Darkseid bellowed. His stentorian voice reverberated for miles in every direction. Their epic struggle had carried them all the way from the Blue Mountains to Bakerline, leaving a trail of utter destruction behind them. Now over fifty feet tall, the evil New God towered over the hapless business district in their path. He butted his armored skull into Jimmy’s jaw.

“Not if I’ve got anything to say about it!” Jimmy swiped his reptilian claws across Darkseid’s chest, gouging the villain’s indigo armor and driving him backward into the redbrick facade of a three-story department store. The un-lUeky establishment caved in beneath Darkseid’s tremendous mass. Parked cars were squashed beneath the villain’s boots. Jimmy’s webbed feet crushed an empty SUV.

Darkseid lashed back at Jimmy, who landed hard on the mini-mall across the street, flattening the entire complex. “I don’t know how my control over you was pried from my grasp,” Darkseid ranted, “but no matter. I will still kill you, and the very essence of the New Gods will flow from your corpse into me!” His crimson eyes blazed like hellfire. ‘The Fifth World will be mine to shape as I will!”

“Over my dead body!” Jimmy blurted. “All fifty feet of it!”

“I don’t get it,” Jason griped. “How the heck did Darkseid get so freakin’ big?”

Superman dropped him, Donna, and Forager off on the roof of a deserted apartment building before flying away to join the relief efforts. Thankfully, the entire JLA had teleported back from Rann in time to assist in the evacuation. From their elevated vantage point, Donna watched as the League did what they could to cope with the emergency. The Flash hurried panicked civilians to safety at lightning speed. Green Lantern used his power ring to scoop up entire crowds in spheres of glowing emerald energy. Wonder Woman rescued stranded bystanders from rooftops with her Golden Lasso. Hawkgirl carried out her own airborne rescues. The Batwing made a rare daytime appearance, spraying burning buildings with fire-retardant foam. Superman rescued injured men and women from mountains of collapsed debris. Green Arrow and Black Canary, freshly returned from their honeymoon, defended storefronts from looters. His trick arrows and her sonic cry sent the troublemakers packing.

“He’s Darkseid,” Donna replied simply. Her face and bones still ached from the vicious pounding she had re-» ceived from Mary Marvel. A bandage was wrapped around Jason’s injured skull, while Forager’s arm was in a splint. Superman had wanted to take all three of them straight to the hospital, but they had insisted on seeing this earth-shattering drama through to the end. There would be time enough to tend to their sprains and concussions later— assuming the world was still around tomorrow.

“Indeed,” Forager confirmed. “The dark one’s powers are beyond imagining. I still fear for my Olsenbug’s safety.”

I don’t blame you,
Donna thought.
But at least we don’t have to deal with Mary at the moment.
The traitorous ex-heroine had bailed on Darkseid right after Jimmy decided to emulate Godzilla. Donna scowled angrily as she recalled how the other woman had betrayed the Challengers and left them for dead.
I’ve got a score to settle with that bitch, but not today
....

She suspected Jason and Forager felt the same.

First, someone had to stop Darkseid from conquering all of reality. And, from the looks of things, that all depended on ... Jimmy Olsen?

* ifs *

“Perish,
Olsen!” Darkseid roared. “And provide me with that which I alone deserve!”

Their gargantuan strife had tom a destructive swath through Bakerline all the way to the banks of Hob’s River. A powerhouse blow sent Jimmy reeling into the large suspension bridge connecting the suburbs to the city. Iron supports and tresties splashed down into the churning water. Jimmy’s webbed feet found purchase on the silty floor of the river. The cold water invigorated his huge reptilian frame. He grabbed on to the bridge, wresting it from its moorings, and swung it like a club at Darkseid. Steel girders and concrete smashed against the New God’s dark blue helmet. The clamorous impact rattled windows all across Metropolis,

, “What you deserve, huh? Well, mister, you’ve got it!”

Tinier
than ever, compared to Jimmy’s colossal new proportions, the Atom scurried stealthily through the quivering canyons of the oversized brain. The silvery antibodies, which had also grown in proportion to Jimmy’s cerebellum, now looked as large as crocodiles. They scuttled about aggressively, clacking their pincers together, but, without even shrinking on his own, the Atom had become too insignificant to attract their notice.

Thank heaven for small favors,
he thought.
No pun intended.

His blue and red costume was sliced and shredded from the antibodies’ assault. Countless minor scratches and lacerations stung like hell, but, taking a quick physical inventory, he appeared to have escaped serious injury. Jimmy had undergone his inexplicable growth spurt just in time.

A violent tremor shook the cerebellum, knocking the Atom off his feet. A ledge of spongy gray matter cushioned his fall, yet the seismic disturbances continued to toss the

Atom from side to side. The Atom felt like he was stuck inside the San Andreas Fault during a major earthquake. Climbing back onto his feet, he stumbled awkwardly over the shuddering cerebral jelly. “Jeez, Olsen,” he griped. “What the hell is going on out there?”

He was tempted to exit the brain through the nearest convenient orifice. Unfortunately, he still had work to do inside Jimmy’s violated cranium. Although he seemed to have turned off the kryptonite effect, and somehow transformed Jimmy into a giant, by disabling that one biomechanical implant, still more alien circuitry extended deeper into the innocent reporter’s hindbrain. Like a prospector tracing a vein of glittering ore through a sweltering underground mine, he followed the flickering circuitry down the cerebellum into the brain stem, along the path of the posterior inferior cerebral artery, until he glimpsed a . brilliant golden glow up ahead.

That better not be just an overactive synapse,
he thought as he squeezed through a slimy cortical fold to get a closer look. The light was so bright that he had to shield his eyes with his hand. Blinking into the glare, he stared in wonder at the source of the dazzling illumination.
Paydirt,
he realized at once.
That is definitely
not
a synapse.