Countdown (36 page)

“Holly!” Mary cried out in protest. “I said no killing!” She had been counting on Holly to keep Harley’s homicidal tendencies in check, but it seemed that the redheaded catwoman had acquired some of the ruthlessness of Diana the Huntress along with her new weapons and abilities.
This could be a problem,
she thought.

Holly shrugged. “Get over it, kid. We’re at war.” “Umm, guys,” Harley interrupted. She peered down the grungy avenue before them. Clouds of noxious smog obscured the view. “The disease-ridden toilet-licker has run off.”

“No problem.” Holly sniffed the polluted air. “I’ve got her scen t.”

Harley made a face.
“Eww! ”

A low growl escaped Holly’s lips as she sprinted down the alley after Granny. Harley hurried after her on foot, while Mary soared above the grimy pavement. “But seriously now,” Harley asked, “you can really smell the old bag’s trail?”

“Yes,” Holly snarled, “and, actually, she
does
smell like a disease-ridden toilet-licker.”

Mary found that to be way too much information. “Do I want to know how you know what that smells like?”

“I used to be a junkie,” Holly admitted casually. “In another life.” Her slitted eyes narrowed as she spotted her prey. “And there’s our heifer, hoofing for that big building up there.”

Darkseid’s somber fortress loomed ahead of them. Mary suppressed a shudder as she recalled her previous visit to the Dark Lord’s inner sanctum. Had that been only a few weeks ago? She flew faster, anxious to catch up with Granny before the evil old woman gained the safety of the stronghold. New powers or not, Mary was in no hurry to take on Darkseid himself again.

To be honest, she wasn’t entirely sure what to do with Granny if and when they ran her to ground; it wasn’t as if they could exactly turn her over to the local authorities.
Maybe we can just teach her a lesson before forcing her to send us back home?
She hoped, for the other girls’ sake, if not for Granny’s, that she could stop Holly and Harley from killing Granny in the name of the gods.
I can’t let them get carried away with their new powers the way I was.

But before the women could intercept Granny, a blinding light suddenly manifested in the desperate harridan’s path. The intensity of the glare was such that Mary was forced to avert her eyes, but not before glimpsing the silhouette of a masculine figure at the center of the light. For a second, Mary thought that maybe Zeus himself had decided to personally punish Granny for her sins, but she sensed nothing familiar about the presence before her.

“Umm, who is that guy?” Harley asked. She and the other girls halted in their tracks, daunted by this unexpected new development. They backed away instinctively.

“I don’t know,” Holly said, “but I hope he’s on our side.”

Me too,
Mary thought.

“You ... ?” Granny blurted. Judging by the quaver in her voice, she recognized the newcomer. She threw up her gnarled hands in defense.

The unearthly voice that issued from the incandescent figure was not one that Mary had ever heard before. “Granny Goodness, your orphanage is in ruins; your world is on the brink of becoming something entirely new. The Fourth World ends and with it comes the extinction of the New Gods!”

A searing bolt of golden energy engulfed Granny, incinerating her instantly. Squinting into the glare with watery eyes, Mary caught a fleeting glimpse of the crone’s charred skeleton before Granny’s remains disintegrated into ashes. Suddenly, stopping Mary’s companions from killing the old woman was no longer an issue.

Granny Goodness was no more.

His work done, the luminous figure launched himself into the lurid red sky above, swiftly disappearing from sight. Mary didn’t even think about flying after him.

Holy Moley!
she thought.
What was that all about?
The three girls stared speechlessly at the smoldering embers, “Wow!” Harley said finally. “It’s like when the big fish eats the little fish and then a bigger fish eats the big fish. I know, ’cause I used to feed goldfish to Mister J’s piranhas.”

Holly sighed wearily. “Shut and up and stay away from that fire.”

“I have powers now,” Harley pouted, “so be nice!” Mary’s eyes gazed up at the heavens, where no trace of the killer’s glowing trail remained. “Who was that?” “Who cares?” Holly lowered her bow. “He saved us the trouble of offing Granny ourselves.”

“That’s great and all,” Mary said. “But wasn’t Granny our ticket home?”

Silence ensued as the truth sank in. Granted, Mary figured she could probably fly all the way back to Earth if she had to, like she had after defying Eclipso. But, despite their sometimes annoying personalities, she wasn’t about to leave the other two girls stranded on Apokolips.
Besides,
she thought,
last time, I had the magic of both Black Adam
and
Isis to speed me home. This time I wouldn’t be able to rely on any powers other than my own.

Harley could only manage to take their dilemma seriously for a moment or two. “Not to worry; we’ve got powers, remember? We can find another way.” Turning away from Darkseid’s fortress, she blithely took off down a random alley. “C’mon.”

The humor in the situation was not lost on Mary. She exchanged a wry look with Holly. “We’re back to following her again?”

Holly shrugged. “The good news is she tends to fall into—”

They rounded a comer and skidded to a halt, almost bumping into Harley, who was staring goggle-eyed up at the sky, where an attractive brunette in a sparkly black leotard hovered above the alley. Her bare arms cradled a young man wearing a black leather jacket. A crimson domino mask concealed the youth’s identity.

“Mary Marvel?” Donna Troy gasped in surprise.

9 AND COUNTING.

. APOKOLIPS.

Darkseid
removed Granny Goodness from the chessboard.

“The clock is counting down to its final moments,” he declared. “Our game draws near its end, as does reality as we know it.”

Solomon glowered at Darkseid from the other side of the board. “The death of the Fourth World does not concern you?”

“Unlike you, Monitor, my vision extends beyond the fifty-two realities.” Darkseid repositioned Jimmy Olsen upon the board. “All things must end, true, but they will do so on my terms.” He stepped back to take a look at the larger picture. “Take consolation in the fact that you never stood a chance against me.”

“Your arrogance betrays you,” Solomon accused. He reached for the Atom. “I still have pieces in play.”

Ouch!
the Atom thought as the Monitor’s giant fingers squeezed his ribs. He clenched his teeth to keep from crying out as Solomon moved him across the board. The doll-sized hero tried not to move a muscle; the last thing he wanted was for Darkseid to realize that he wasn’t just a playing piece but the genuine article.
All the better to spy on you
,
you monster.

He still hadn’t forgiven Solomon for murdering Barry Allen, but, where Darkseid was concerned, it wasn’t hard to figure out who the greater of the two evils was here. If the fearsome master of Apokolips had some nefarious new master plan in the works, the Atom wanted to know all about it.

Good thing I kept a miniaturized version of my costume in my belt buckle!

“You fool,” Darkseid mocked the Monitor, seemingly oblivious to the deception going on right beneath his granite nose. “Don’t you see? I have controlled both sides of the board from the beginning. What does it matter to me if the Fourth World ends in flame and fire? As long as the Fifth World is bom in my own image!”

The Fifth World?
The Atom resisted an urge to gulp. His tiny heart was pounding so hard he couldn't believe Darkseid couldn’t hear it.
Darkseid wants to reshape all of reality?

“We shall see, God of Deceit.” Solomon plucked the Atom from the board and activated his transporter beam. A cascade of flickering quantum particles cast a veil between the Atom and the cavernous war room. “This game is not yet over.”

Darkseid made no effort to prevent his opponent’s departure. “Very well, Monitor. Make your final move.” A glow appeared in his hand and he placed a figure of Solomon himself upon the board. “The end is finally upon us, and, as was inevitable, Darkseid shall triumph over all!”

The New God’s merciless laughter rang in the Atom’s ears as the Monitor teleported him away.

APDKDLIPS.

“Donna
Troy?” Mary gasped.

Of all the beings she had expected to encounter in the fetid alleyways of the Armagetto, Wonder Woman’s foster sister was nowhere on the list. Mary had fought beside Donna and the other Teen Titans before, and knew she could trust her, but what in heaven’s name was Donna doing on Apokolips?

And who was that masked youth she was carrying? “Okay,” he cracked, “this isn’t quite what I was expecting.”

Tell ?ne about it,
Mary thought.

“Let’s skip the pleasantries,” Holly said. She lowered her bow, apparently recognizing the world-famous Titan «as well. “
Please
tell me you have a Boom Tube!”

Harley waved at their fellow Earthlings. “Hi there!” She sounded positively starstruck by Donna’s unexpected appearance. “Can I tell you how much I’ve always loved that outfit? The sparklies are
sooo
cool! Are they actual stars?” Donna looked nonplussed by Harley’s reaction. She descended to the pavement and put down her male companion. “Mary, who exactly are these people you’re with?” A hasty round of introductions followed as the two teams compared notes. Mary was surprised to learn that Jason Todd was alive again, but had to admit that he hardly looked like a corpse. More discouraging was the discovery that Donna and Jason were just as stranded on Apokolips as Holly and Harley were.
No way can I fly this entire gang back home,
Mary realized,
not even with my new powers.

“Women’s shelter and we fought each other,” Harley babbled at Donna, telling the perplexed heroine more than she ever wanted to know about the other women’s various misadventures, “and then we took this boat ride and fought these sea serpent things, and
then
we hit Paradise Island and we were Amazons, only Athena wasn’t really Athena; she was this old bag who was, like, totally evil....”

Holly cut to the chase. “So we’re stuck here? Still?” “Join the club!”

A new voice entered the discussion. Mary looked up in surprise to see ...
Jimmy Olsen?

At first she thought the towheaded reporter had been captured by a Parademon, but then she realized that the armored figure carrying Jimmy down from the sky looked slightly different from Darkseid’s loyal shock troops. Filmy wings and twin antennae gave the flying woman a distinctly insectoid appearance. Her segmented armor was made of a glossy, shell-like material, as opposed to steel. A helmet concealed her features, so Mary couldn’t tell if she was human or not. But she definitely seemed to be on Jimmy’s side.

'• “Watch your step, my Olsenbug,” the stranger buzzed as she carefully lowered him to the pavement. Her own boots touched down lightly beside him. Overlapping wings folded into the back of her thorax. “Do you know these humans?”

“You bet!” Jimmy said. A soiled set of coveralls, of the sort worn by many of Darkseid’s slave laborers, suggested that he had been on Apokolips for a while. “Some of them, at least.” He introduced his new girlfriend. “Forager, meet Mary Marvel and Donna Troy.” He grinned at Mary. “Let me guess, that was your thunderbolt that ripped the roof off Granny’s place?”

“Guilty as charged,” she admitted, hoping that was all she would have to confess to.
Has he heard anything about my recent excesses back on Earth ? Has Donna ?
She took stock of the motley collection of characters assembled in the alley:
Superman’s buddy, Catwoman’s protegee, the Joker’s ex, the original Wonder Girl, the second Robin, some sort of alien bug-lady, and me.

“Holy Moley!” she exclaimed. “It’s like a sidekicks convention ... on Apokolips, no less!”

Donna arched an eyebrow. “That’s one way to look at it, I guess.”

“Watch who you’re calling a sidekick,” Jason grumbled. Holly’s hackles rose. “Never mind all that!” Feline claws extended from her fingertips. “How the hell are we getting out of here?” She fixed her slitted eyes on Jimmy. “Can’t you whistle up a ride from Superman?”

“Sony,” Jimmy said, instinctively backing away from the agitated catwoman. “I lost my signal-watch a while back.”

“Terrific,” Holly growled. “Just great.” Her whiskers twitched irritably. “You’d think the gods would’ve offered us a ticket home along with the new duds and powers.” “The gods have larger matters to attend to,” a booming voice rang out from above. A flash of shimmering energy caught Mary’s eye, drawing her attention to a rusty fire essape overlooking the alley. A large alien figure materialized upon the metal landing, which creaked beneath his weight. Mary recognized the bearded entity from the original Crisis.

“Holy Moley! It’s the Monitor!”

Donna and Jason immediately tensed for battle. “On your toes, people!” Jason warned. To Mary’s surprise, he drew an automatic pistol from beneath his leather jacket. “Trust me, you don’t want to turn your back on this creep!” “Huh?” Holly blurted. Following Jason’s lead, she fitted a silver arrow to her bow and took aim at the Monitor. Harley hefted her clown-sized mallet. “What the hell is a Monitor?”

Donna didn’t bother to explain. She raised her silver bracelets defensively. “If you’re here to spill any more blood, Solomon, we’re ready for you!”

Blood,
Mary thought?
Whose blood is Donna talking about?
She gave Donna a puzzled look.
I thought the Monitor was a good guy.

“Spare me your hostile posturings,” he said impatiently. “You humans think violence solves everything.”

couHToeavN 217

“You’re the one who went berserk on Earth-51,” Donna accused him, “then abandoned Jason and me here!” “Your recriminations no longer bear any relevance,” Solomon insisted. He gazed down on the misplaced mortals as though judging them from on high. His foreboding tone and expression raised goose bumps on Mary’s skin. “Darkseid’s insidious plans near fruition and drastic action is required if we are to prevent him from conquering all.” A tiny figure, unnoticed by Mary before, stirred upon the Monitor’s shoulder. The inch-high human sprang from his perch, increasing in size with every second. By the time the brightly costumed hero landed nimbly on the ground among them, Mary realized that the Monitor’s miniature passenger was none other than the Atom.