Countdown

by Unknown Author

  The color drained from the guards’ flesh and uniforms, turning chalky gray. The spontaneous burst of magic had done more than just bedazzle the hostile guards; they had literally been transformed into marble, like the strewn remains of the bygone temple. The petrified men stood like statues amidst the fallen columns and archways. Only their modem uniforms and weapons demonstrated that they hadn’t been resting here for thousands of years.

  Mary gulped. Did I really do that? She had acted without thinking, but maybe her reaction had been a little extreme? The men had been pigs and bullies, who probably deserved everything they got, but still...

  “Hah!” Eclipso chuckled softly in her ear. Distracted by her confrontation with the obnoxious soldiers, Mary hadn’t even heard the other woman glide up behind her. “They wanted to guard these ruins so badly, now they can do so forever.” She hurled a bolt of purple energy at the men’s leader, reducing his stone pistol to gravel. “Very nicely done.”

  “Y-you think so?” Mary asked uncertainly. She was relieved—and grateful—that Eclipso hadn’t condemned her like Billy and Zatanna had. Perhaps Jean really was on her side?

  “Of course,” Eclipso assured her. She laid a comforting hand on Mary’s shoulder. Her violet eyes probed Mary’s face. “How did it feel?”

  Mary contemplated the stationary figures of the transformed guards. The men’s bellicose expressions were stamped forever onto their petrified faces. Aside from their badges and uniforms, were they really all that different from, say, those muggers who had terrorized her back in Gotham City? Mary wondered how many other innocent tourists the men had threatened and brutalized over the years. I was just minding my own business, she recalled resentfully, but they were going to throw me into some filthy Turkish prison anyway. Real tough guys, picking on one helpless-looking girl...

  “Actually,” she admitted, “it felt pretty good.”

  Eclipso smiled. “I’m glad to hear that, Mary. It means you’re on the right path.”

  That -was just what Mary wanted to hear. Take that, Zatanna!

  “It’s weird, though,” she confessed. “I didn’t even know I could do that.”

  ‘This is just the beginning,” Eclipso promised. She lifted off from the rubble, ascending into the cool night sky. The waxing moon, shining brightly above them, matched the silver crescents upon her throat and bodice. “Come with me, Mary. Let me help you explore your new abilities ... and guide you to your ultimate destiny.”

  Which is? Mary wondered anxiously. She hesitated amidst the ruins, unsure if she should accept the other woman’s offer or not. The old Eclipso had been a villain to be sure, but then again, so had Black Adam. Maybe this new Eclipso was different... and truly understood what Mary was going through. Just because I have Adam’s powers, that doesn V make me evil too, so it would be unfair to judge Jean on the basis of the old Eclipso’s crimes.

  '' Besides, nobody else seems to believe in me anymore. ...

  Mary launched herself into the air after Eclipso. “Wait for me!”

  20 AND GODNTBND.

  ■ THE iliED,

  Roiling clouds of radioactive vapor churned outside the Monitor’s energy-sphere. Crimson lightning lit up the billowing mists. A bloodred radiance suffused the stormy atmosphere, which seemed to stretch on endlessly in all directions. Turbulence rocked the globe beneath the Challengers’ feet, making it difficult to stand upright. Donna braced herself against die curved wall of the sphere to keep from falling. Talk about a bumpy ride, she thought. This thing needs seat belts.

  “So where are we now?” Jason asked. He scowled at the daunting scenery outside. “We taking a detour through Hell or something?”

  Donna had to admit this unnamed cosmos had a distinctly infernal appearance. If she didn’t know better, she’d think they were traversing Tartarus itself. Minus the three-headed dog, of course.

  “My people call this realm The Bleed,” Solomon informed them. “It is the formless void between the fifty-two universes.” Unlike Donna and Jason, he seemed to have no difficulty maintaining his balance. He tracked their progress on a holographic display screen. “The Bleed’s chaotic energies render it all but impossible to monitor, which should hide us from my brethren for the time being.” Donna was grateful for the respite. “But they’re definitely after us, aren’t they?”

  “Yes,” Solomon admitted. “The other Monitors refuse to accept my in terpretation of recent events. They deny all evidence of the catastrophe to come. We can expect them to oppose us at every turn.”

  “Took them long enough,” Jason muttered. “I thought you guys were supposed to be on top of things.”

  “I must confess to a deception,” Solomon explained. “I uploaded a fifty-two-minute delay into the central Nexus, keyed into my own presence. What they monitored regarding me...”

  “Had already happened almost an hour earlier,” Jason 'grasped. “Sweet!”

  “The stratagem bought us time.” Solomon adjusted the navigational controls. “But, alas, they have obviously become aware of the discrepancy.”

  Donna nodded soberly. “So from here on, wherever we go, they can find us.”

  “That’s going to put a real crimp in our grand tour of the Multiverse,” Jason observed. He reloaded his automatic pistol. “We’re going to have to fight our way to Palmer.”

  “No,” Solomon said. “That will not be necessary. My brother revealed more than he had intended.” He gazed past the transparent walls of the sphere at the hellish red maelstrom before them. “I now know exactly where Ray Palmer is.”

  19 AND COUNTING.

  THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE.

  “My God ..

  Holly stood upon the prow of the Minerva as Paradise Island came into view directly ahead of the private yacht. Grecian temples and palaces gracefully adorned the sloping hillsides of the densely wooded isle, which rose from the sparkling blue waters of the Caribbean like a mirage. Even from miles away, you could tell that the marble buildings were no crumbling ruins; they looked like they were in perfect condition. The pristine elegance of the forbidden isle could not have been more different from the squalid Gotham slums Holly was accustomed to.

  “Gods,” Athena corrected her. Along with Holly and the other Amazon wannabes, the supposed goddess gazed out at their destination from the deck of her ship. A crown of electrum rested upon her piled brown curls. “And, yes, it is beautiful. Themyscira, eternal home of the Amazons.”

  Themyscira was the actual name of what the media had dubbed “Paradise Island.” Now that they were almost there, Holly was starting to believe that Athena was the real thing after all. Who else could guide them straight to this mythical location? Wonder Woman’s homeland was supposed to be magically hidden from the rest of the world. As far as Holly knew, not even Selina had ever set foot there before.

  “Jeepers creepers, will you get an eyeful of that.” Harley Quinn stared dreamily at the island as she leaned so far out over the front rail that Holly was afraid she was going to tumble overboard. Despite herself, Holly was starting to warm to the endearingly daffy ex-super-villain. It was hard not to respond positively to the pigtailed blonde’s infectiously cheery disposition. ‘"Sure beats a padded cell in Arkham!”

  “I’ll bet,” Holly replied. A warm tropical wind rustled her hair, which had regained its reddish hue now that her temporary dye job had faded away. Like the other initiates, she was clad in the Amazonian armor that Athena had insisted they wear from now on. That struck Holly as a tad excessive, especially on a Caribbean cruise, but maybe the warrior goddess just wanted them to get used to wearing the heavy armor. What the heck, she thought. When in Themyscira. . .

  The yacht rolled beneath their sandaled feet. “I can’t wait to get back on solid ground,” she admitted. She had gotten over the worst of the seasickness on the first few days of the voyage from Metropolis, but the oscillating deck still made her a little queasy. “How much longer before we dock?”

  “We dock soon,” Athena informe
d her. Her silken robes fluttered in the breeze. She strolled away from the rail. “But the rest of you get off here.”

  “What?” Holly asked. She wasn’t sure she heard Athena right. The island was still at least a mile away.

  “Your training begins now.” Athena raised her voice so that all could hear. “Into the water, my warriors-to-be!” “Wait a minute!” Holly pointed at the azure waters ahead of the yacht. Scaly green fins cut through foam-flecked waves. Serpentine snouts, sporting dagger-sized fangs, occasionally broke the surface before diving beneath the waves once more. Scores of prehistoric sharks and sea serpents infested the churning sea. “What about them?”

  “The children of Ketos Aithiopos, mother of all sea monsters. The ancient guardians of our shores.” Crossing the deck, Athena extracted metal lances from a wooden bin. She handed the weapons out to the young women she had brought here. “Outswimming them is a worthy test for any aspiring Amazon.”

  “No way!” Holly refused a spear of her own. Silly her, she had thought that the bin contained life jackets or something. “Anyone who would jump into that is insane.” “Cowabunga!” Harley shouted as she enthusiastically hurdled over the railing. She hit the water below with an enormous splash.

  Holly rolled her eyes. “I rest my case.”

  ' But Athena wasn’t taking no for an answer. She pressed the spear upon Holly, who became acutely aware that, stuck on a boat hundreds of miles from modem civilization, she didn’t have a whole lot of other options. Holly watched glumly as, one by one, and with varying degrees of apprehension and excitement, the other girls followed Harley overboard, like lemmings voluntarily racing toward their doom.

  So much for a mutiny. Holly grudgingly snatched the spear from Athena’s hand. Guess somebody’s got to look out for the other newbies. She glanced back at Athena as she clambered over the rail. “Any last words of encouragement?” The goddess obviously had no intention of getting her own feet wet. “An all-powerful protection blessing would be nice.”

  Athena seemed amused by the younger woman’s irreverence. She smiled slyly. “Aim for the eyes, child.” “Whatever.” Holly took a deep breath and jumped feet-first into the foaming water below. After the sunny warmth of the deck, the sudden chill of her immersion came as a jolt to the system. The bronze armor weighed upon her like an anchor, so she hastily stripped down to the thin

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  white linen tunic underneath. The discarded metal gear sank to the bottom of tire harbor, but that was the least of Holly’s worries. The authentic Amazon uniform wasn’t worth drowning for.

  Athena can take it out of my allowance, she thought wryly. Or get her uncle Poseidon to retrieve it for her.

  Shedding her sandals as well, she kicked up to the surface, her head breaking above the waves, where she found herself starring in an extremely unnecessary remake of Jaws 3-D. Splashing about in the ocean, the other initiates desperately tried to fend off the ravenous predators besieging them. The serpents’ tails whipped the water into a bloody froth, while their voracious maws lunged repeatedly at the would-be Amazons. Holly spared a moment to look for Harley, but failed to locate the Joker’s demented ex amidst the aquatic tumult. Salt water splashed against Holly’s face and lips. She thanked God—or the gods— that Selina had insisted that she learn how to swim....

  Who the hell does Athena think I am? Aquagirl?

  A reptilian head that made Killer Croc look like Ker-mit the Frog burst from the water only a few waves away. Holly gulped as she stared straight down the bright pink gullet of a monstrous sea serpent. Rows of ivory teeth waited to strip the flesh from her bones. Its fishy breath turned her stomach.

  Paddling to stay afloat, she maneuvered the spear into position. Aim for the eyes, she recalled urgently, only to discover that the hideous creature didn’t have any eyes, only glistening expanses of scales where its ocular organs should have been. Holly cursed profanely. For a goddess, Athena gave lousy combat advice.

  She jabbed at the monster’s snout, but the point of the spear failed to penetrate the serpent’s scaly armor. Crap! She dived beneath the waves just as the creature snapped at the empty air her head had occupied only a heartbeat before. Its rough hide scraped against her bare legs, drawing blood, as she frantically swam away from the hungry beast. Holding on to her breath, not to mention the spear, she stroked underwater for as long as she could before surfacing once more. She thought she was heading toward the distant island, but in the chaos it was hard to be sure. Blinking the salty water from her eyes, she anxiously scanned the horizon.

  An appalling sight greeted her. Only a few yards away, a monster-sized shark chomped down on the mangled body of a headless swimmer. Blood and gore exploded from the shark’s jaws as the mutilated remains of the nameless runaway fed its bottomless appetite. Despite her own peril, Holly cursed Athena’s lethal training methods and “survival of the fittest” ethos. Talk about cutthroat competition!

  Cutthroat...

  A crazy idea struck Holly. Spear in hand, she swam toward the murderous shark. Forget the eyes, she decided as she dove toward the creature’s exposed underbelly. Aim between the scales. Kicking upward, she drove the spearhead into the shark’s throat with all her strength. Gallons of cold blood spurted from the savage gash, rendering the surrounding waters incarnadine. Reversing course underwater, Holly abandoned the spear and put as much distance as possible between herself and the wounded shark before surfacing to inspect her handiwork. Just as she’d hoped, the other sea monsters had been attracted to the huge outpouring of blood, turning on the injured shark in a cannibalistic feeding frenzy. Sharks and seipents alike snapped greedily at each other, momentarily ignoring the insignificant female morsels bobbing in the sea all around them. The children of Ketos were too busy devouring their own. Snapping jaws and ear-piercing wails added to the din.

  “Now!” Holly hollered at the other girls. “While they’re distracted!”

  She spotted the island to the south. The safety of dry land called out to her and, not looking back, she paddled toward Themyscira as fast as her weary limbs allowed. The swim seemed to take forever, and every muscle in her body ached by the time she finally staggered out of the sea onto the sandy shore of Paradise Island. Breathing hard, she spit a mouthful of brine onto the beach. Water streamed from her soggy hair. Her chiton was soaked clean through. The bloody scrapes on her legs stung like the devil. All in all, she felt more like a drowned rat than a former Cat-woman.

  But we made it, she thought. That counts for something.

  Lifting her head, she was glad to see several other women dragging themselves onto the shore as well. Some of the stronger gals assisted their weaker sisters. Holly was too exhausted to do a proper head count, but she got the impression that most of her fellow initiates had come through the harrowing ordeal in one piece. She looked around for Harley, but the pigtailed lunatic was nowhere to be seen. A genuine pang of grief caught Holly by surprise.

  « Aw, hell, Holly thought. Guess the little nut didn’t make it.

  As much as she hated to admit it, she was going to miss ...

  “Hey!” a high-pitched voice squealed gleefully. “Who’s up for sushi?” Holly spun around to see Harley come wading out of the surf, holding aloft the speared head of a giant shark. The beast’s meaty tongue dangled out one side of its gaping jaws. “I’m buying!”

  Holly smacked her hand against her brow. She didn’t know whether she was happy that Harley was still alive or she wanted to toss the harebrained blonde back into the drink.

  Maybe a little bit of both.

  Yet her relief that Harley had survived was sullied by the knowledge that not all of the shelter’s former denizens had escaped the island’s flesh-eating guardians. Holly recalled the shark’s anonymous victim and a fresh surge of anger caused her to clench her fists. Goddess or not, Athena had no right to subject vulnerable young women to such blood sports. There’s something rotten

  countdown its

  going on
here, Holly concluded, and it’s up to me to get to the bottom of this scam before somebody else gets killed. A determined look came over her face as she straightened her shoulders and marched up the beach to begin her undercover mission on Paradise Island. If Athena thinks she can turn me into an obedient little Amazon warrior, she’s not as all-knowing as she thinks she is. She’s in for a big surprise once I get the goods on her.

  After all, that was what Catwoman would do.

  APOKOLIPS.

  The Armagetto was both the home and prison of the “Lowlies,” the planet’s oppressed masses. Some of the slaves had been bom here; others were hostages and pris-' oners of war from throughout the universe, brought to Apokolips to spend the rest of their wretched existences providing brute labor for Darkseid and his favorites. Cruel overslavers enforced their master’s rule, brooking no disobedience—as Jimmy had painfully discovered.

  Jimmy trudged through the sooty streets with the other slaves. Their horrific task? Carrying the limp corpses of dead Lowlies to the perpetually blazing Fire Pits, where the anonymous bodies were turned into fuel for the infernos. Knowing that most of the fatalities had dropped dead from pure exhaustion, Jimmy couldn’t help wondering if he was destined for cremation as well. He glanced at the slaves working beside him. They pushed on mindlessly, having lost all hope long ago. Their lifeless eyes never lifted from the pavement.

  I’ve got to get out of here, Jimmy thought, before I end up like them.

  The hot air seared his lungs. His tattered clothing was soaked with sweat. His stomach growled hungrily; the Lowlies were fed barely enough to stay alive. Jimmy guessed that he had lost at least ten pounds during his

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  captivity. He wearily hurled another cadaver into the fires, then circled back the way he had come. On Apokolips, there was never any danger of running out of fresh corpses. As ever, he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of Forager, but without success; he hadn’t laid eyes on the missing insect-woman since awakening to this never-ending nightmare. He prayed that she was still alive, and not just because she was his only ticket home.