The DCFuture Underground Fan Fiction Group acknowledges that DC Comics owns the name Damage and ALL DC-created characters and retains complete rights to said characters. These concepts are used WITHOUT permission for NO PROFIT, but rather a strong desire to peer into the future of the DCU. We also acknowledge that the concepts and original characters introduced here are the intellectual property of the author. ** The events in this issue take place WELL before And Justice For All issue #7 The element of surprise can make or break a military mission. Once lost, of course, it cannot be regained. Unless it was never truly lost. If Jack can pull off turning his enemy's greatest strength against him, all may not be lost. Damage DCF LS Issue 7 "The Siege Part II" Written by Oliver Kiemschies Edited by Jason Tippitt Chapter 1: Gottcha June 6, 2112 -- 10:00 a.m. Ross-Tech Labs Penthouse Office of Duane Smithson Cleveland, Ohio Duane Smithson finally smiled a deep broad smile, the kind of which he hadn't allowed himself since his ordeal with Jack began. Jack was back in the fold. His daughter was in the lab, and tests were proceeding well. As an added bonus, his wife carried yet another... opportunity. Yes, it had been costly. The loss of the J.A.C.K. clones was most unfortunate, but no matter, more could be made now. No more kid gloves, either. Waiting for Jack to develop powers on his own, that had been rather annoying. It would have been so much easier if Damage could have been grown in the Lab, as was Iron Jack. His damn scientists warned against that, though. "The matrix functions best in natural conditions," they said. "The meta-gene has always performed badly in laboratory conditions," they said. Then there was Dr. Alverez' act of outright treason. All that work collecting samples from the most powerful heroes, *and* villains, only to have that sentimental idiot include only heroes in the matrix. Upon reflection, he shouldn't have trusted the good doctor's advice in engineering such a normal life for Jack. Then there was the robot. Cutting-edge nano-technology was one of Ross-Tech's most valuable assets. This asset actually became sentient. This would have made it far more valuable. It was a great shame to destroy Metallo. He wondered if Jack had made the most of this priceless innovation while he had the opportunity. He probably had this technological marvel doing something mundane like cleaning the house. Duane chuckled to himself at the thought of using something as incredible as a sentient computer acting as a butler. *** 14th Floor Stairwell Fever stepped over another burning guard. If she were stopping to think, she would have noticed that there were less guards than she'd expected. She wasn't thinking, though. She was just eliminating everything in her path. As she rounded the corner, she saw the stairwell had been blocked with office furniture. No matter, she had been trained well by the League and had seen the building schematics. She knew they would keep one stairwell open for security to use. Her years of training gave her almost instinctive knowledge as to which one was most likely open. No need for thought, just let your training take over. She would have to wade through more guards, but as where that may bother a thinking person, it caused no pause for a trained warrior acting on instinct. *** Duane Smithson's office Smithson leaned back at his desk and put his feet up. He was finally happy. He looked at Don, who had relaxed a bit after the nano-killer had been released. "Don, have a seat, relax a bit." "No thanks." "Don, you've joined the right side, you know." Don smiled. "I'm not a bad guy. How about after this is all over we open a bottle of 50-year-old scotch? I collected it from the president of a small company in Chicago; well, he was the president then. I've been waiting for a good occasion to crack it open." "Sounds nice." The doors to Smithson's office burst open, knocking Don to the floor. Two cyborgs entered, dragging Jack behind them, and one of Smithson's guards in battle armor brought up the rear. Jack was fitted with a restraining collar to negate his powers. "Jack, it's good to finally have you home," Smithson gushed. Jack looked at Don, sitting on the floor. "You traitorous bastard," he spat. "Oh, come on, son! You couldn't have trusted someone like him! I was most disappointed in you." Jack leapt at Smithson but was caught by one of the cyborgs, who slammed him to his knees. "Where is my family?!?" "And how do you know they're here? How do know they're even alive?" Duane stood and walked around his desk. "And if they're alive, how do you know they want to see you? How do you know they weren't a set-up?" "Don't play with me. I know not all of my life was fake. And I know my family is alive. They're too valuable for you to kill." Smithson kneeled in front of Jack. "Okay, Jack, so you know a couple of things. And your offspring has turned out to be valuable. But what about your wife? What value does she have?" "She's pregnant, and I know the process works better when the children are grown in a womb." Duane smiled at Jack. "Yes, son, but a womb doesn't need arms, or legs..." He grabbed hold of Jack's head and looked in his eyes. "Or even a head, for that matter." Jack lashed out with his head and struck Smithson in the mouth, knocking him to the ground. Two cyborgs grabbed Jack and threw him to his knees. Smithson wiped the blood from his chin and stood up. He glared at the two cyborgs. "Where the hell are my personal guards?" "They are reporting to the 14th floor to deal with the renegade meta-human." "Hasn't security been able to stop her yet?" "Negative; security forces have been kept to 30% of nominal." "By whose orders?!?" "Mr. Baginski has ordered all security forces away. Only the select troops you have direct control over have responded." Smithson ran behind his desk and activated the com-link on his personal computer. "Baginski! Report, what the hell is going on?!? Order all forces to engage Fever now!" There was no response. "Something wrong, *Father?*" Jack asked with a smile. Smithson kicked Jack in shoulder. Don crouched down beside Jack. "Jack, old buddy, why are you making this tough on yourself?" Jack spat in Don's face. "Don't call me 'buddy.'" Don grabbed Jack by the restraining color and yanked him into the standing position with surprising strength. "Man, you are dense! Don't you realize Smithson controls everything from that little desk over there? Don't you realize your plans have been *short circuited?*" There was a strange urgency to the way Don had said those last two words. This confused Duane. He was a master game player, and he realized something was wrong. What could Don have up his sleeve... his sleeve? Smithson's eyes trailed up Don's arm to the hand holding Jack's collar. On the tips of his hand, barely visible, were small silver tendrils leading from "Don's" hand to the restraining collar. "Guards!" yelled Duane, but it was already too late. Damage leapt with incredible speed over Duane's desk. As he was clearing the desk, he pulled back his fist, and a millisecond later, when he was in arm's reach, Duane Smithson was struck harder than he had ever been hit in his life. His body was thrown back into his bookshelf, causing it to fall on him. Unit 6/23C grabbed Jack from behind before he could continue pummeling Duane. Unit 6/23D drew its weapon. It was preparing to fire when liquid metal tendrils shot out from "Don's" hands and disabled the weapon. Don's hands then morphed into silver hammers. In a shot he was on the cyborg, striking him with the hammers. Smithson pulled himself from the book shelf and noticed the guard with his weapon aimed at the Jack/Unit 6/23C pair. "Shoot, damn it!" The guard adjusted his weapon to full power and fired, striking the cyborg in the head. This affected the cyborg enough for Jack to gain a better footing and flip the cyborg over his head. The cyborg struck the window, shattering it. It teetered at the edge of the windowsill. Damage and the armored guard both fired on the machine-man. The cyborg fell over the edge and plummeted to the distant pavement. Jack then turned his attention to the other cyborg. He grabbed it by the arm and threw it to the ground. Smithson pressed a button on his watch, activating a hidden door behind an undamaged part of his bookcase, and ran for this new exit. A shot fired from the guard's gun crossed his path, stopping him. The guard removed his helmet, revealing a face just like the man with silver hammers for hands. "Dawson?" "In the flesh, *boss,*" quipped a smiling Don. The man Smithson has believed to be Don paused from his attack, smiled at Duane as well, and morphed into Metallo's liquid metal form, before he returned to his fight. "Unit 6/23D, your sacrifice will not be forgotten," Smithson announced. "Understood," commented the cyborg. Electricity arced from the cyborg, enveloping both Jack and Metallo. Don was knocked to the ground. Smithson took advantage of the distraction and scurried out the exit. "Metallo, I think it's self-destructing; do you think you can deactivate it?" Metallo's hammer-hands morphed into the familiar liquid metal tendrils and attached themselves to the sizzling robot. After a moment, Metallo shook his head in disappointment. "How far can you throw him?" the silver man questioned. Jack noted the cyborg was fitted with a rocket pack. "Can you get the rocket pack working?" Metallo's tendrils went to work on the pack. Suddenly, hot exhaust started shooting from the pack, sending the cyborg toward the interior of the building. Jack quickly grabbed on to the warrior telekinetically and was whisked away as well, shattering glass and leaving holes in walls along the way. "Whoops," apologized Metallo. Jack pulled himself to the cyborg, feeling the sting of electricity as he touched it. He held tight and telekinetically arced the flight path at an outward angle. Two offices and a janitor's closet later, Jack was able to veer out an exterior window. He aimed the machine-man upward, and they began to climb at an alarming rate. The cyborg's jet pack began to sputter and die. Jack gave it a telekinetic shove, pushing it upward, and himself back toward the building. As Unit 6/23D's upward momentum was waning, Jack plummeted toward the building. When he finally came into range of the building he pushed with all his mental might to slow his fall. He succeeded... at slowing, that is, not at stopping. He crashed through a skylight and landed in front of Duane Smithson's secretary. The woman had apparently not abandoned her post when the evacuation notice had gone out. He looked up, not being able to move for a few moments. He could see the dead cyborg's momentum had finally given out, and he, too, was falling toward the office. He painfully raised his head and looked at the secretary. "Get... under... your... desk." She dove under her large metal desk, not a moment too soon. Unit 6/23D exploded with all the force the latest micro-fusion generators could muster. Had it been inside the building, the first two floors would have been rubble. Luckily, it was high enough for only the rest of the skylight to be shattered. Broken glass and, eventually, burnt-out robotics began to shower Jack. Jack opened his eyes to see Metallo and Don standing over him. "Damn, Jack, you know how to have a good time!" commented Don as he helped him up. "Controls everything from his desk?" questioned Jack to Metallo. "You caught that hint?" "Smithson left quite a bit of time on that self-destruct." "No doubt to give himself time to get away." "And us, too; I bet he's not through with me." "He did intend to cover his escape and possibly destroy his office." The three men returned to Smithson's office and sat behind his desk. "The computer is still on!" commented Don. "And all of Smithson's security codes are still active." Jack began to access the most secure regions of Duane Smithson's computer. Metallo began to remove Jack's restraining collar. "Oh, by the why, Jack, I don't think this thing was ever working properly." "Excuse me?" replied Jack. "I think the matrix structure that acts as your genetic code is far too complicated to dampen." "But I felt weak." "Well, perhaps this one worked on your strength, this time, and for the short period of time you were wearing it. The processor was working overtime to keep up with that casserole you call a genetic code. Worn long enough, it may actually stimulate *new* powers, temporarily, at least." Jack ignored Metallo's lecture as he continued to search for his wife and daughter. "I've got it! I've got their location! He's got them separated. We'll have to split up. We can meet up with Teri..." "Teri!" Metallo exclaimed. "We've got to check up on Teri." Jack activated his comm-link. "Damage to Fever, come in; come in Fever." Static was the only reply. Jack began to search for her on Smithson's computer. "There are reports of a heavy fire fight on the north side of the 14th floor. She's burning her way through everything in her path." "Why isn't she responding to her comm-link?" asked Don. "It may have been damaged in a fight." "Unless it's burnt out," Metallo added. "If she's generating that much heat, she's in danger of burning herself out. Why would she do that?" "My 'death' was announced via internal communications." "We thought communications would be down longer," Jack added, beginning to understand where Metallo was leading. "She thinks you're really dead!" exclaimed Don as he finally understood as well. "I knew I should have told her." "We agreed; only you, me, Don, and Troy would know about the decoy Metallo. It was for her own protection." "Well, *now* she needs protection. Jack, there's only so much she can take before she burns herself out. We have to stop her," Metallo pleaded. "Alright, Sarah and Lori are on different levels of the sub- basement. We can get her on the way down." "I'm going to send some of this info to our other friends, and then I'll go meet up with them," added Don. "I wonder if they're making out okay?" *** 10th Floor Outside the Financial Systems Vault. Baginski lowered his weapon and walked over to Troy. "So, thief, how much of my boss's money were you planning to walk out of here with?" "All of it," Troy answered with a smile. "You certainly aim high." He extended his hand. Troy took it and shook firmly. "Looks like we threw in with the right team," Baginski added. Todd's jaw dropped. "Alright. Am I missing something here?" Mr. Baginski put his arm around Todd. "When Don Dawson contacted me and told me how Smithson had been manipulating us with his charisma powers, I didn't believe it at first. But after that, every time Smithson called me into his office, I could feel him using it on me. When you know it's there, it's easy to counter," explained Mr. Baginski. "So you were steamed at being manipulated." "That bastard sent good men to their deaths for his amusement. I see that now. Not to mention all the unpaid overtime he conned me into working." "So you decided to get even," added David. "And rich," finished Baginski. "Are these the only troops you could take with you?" "We're enough," commented the female guard. "They're the only ones I trust completely. Smithson handles most of the hiring anymore. A third of the guards report directly to him, and more of the ones I brought on, in the days before he became president, have walked right into their own deaths, with his help, of course." Baginski pointed to the female guard who spoke earlier. "May I introduce Julie Crawford, expert with almost every hand held weapon known to man." He pointed to the second guard. "Charlie Crawford, her husband, and a counter-espionage genius. And finally," he said, indicating the third guard, "my second-in-command, Davis Mau." Todd's PAD began to buzz. "We're getting more security codes now." He analyzed the codes. "Wow, they're good ones, too!" Troy took Todd's pad and looked over the codes. He smiled and handed the PAD to Mr. Baginski. "Everything! Everything is here!" "Just like I said, my friend, we're taking everything." The new team crossed the room, opened the data vault with the stolen codes. They then proceeded to steal the entire net worth of Ross-Tech Labs Incorporated, as well as reducing Duane Smithson's personal net worth to zero. *** Chapter 2: Rescue One 12th Floor Fever turned a makeshift barrier of desks into a pile of ash. The sweat that poured from her was beginning to turn to steam. Her Justice League trainers would have been proud. A decade of training had had an effect on her. Sure, she abandoned the League at the first sign of human compassion, but that was when she was thinking on her own. Now she was in her battle mode; more specifically, she was in "Total Siege Mode." She did exactly what she was trained to: kill everything in her path with no regard to herself. She opened the door to another stairwell and walked face first into another obstacle. She began to heat up again in preparation of destroying the obstacle. That was until the obstacle called her name. "Teri, stop it!" Jack called. She faltered. At that moment, Teri's brain switched off for a few seconds, as it was struck with Jack's mental reset. When it went back online, two parts of her brain were at war. Her training urged her on. "This could be a trick," that part of her brain urged. That sort of deception happened regularly. Various enemies, who were adept at mental manipulation, would reach into your mind and use your thoughts as a weapon against you. That was what was special about Total Siege training, though brainwashing would be a more accurate term than training. It allowed you to ignore various mental inputs and simply attack. Luckily for Jack, he had that mental reset ability, and Teri never completely finished her training. As two trains of thought crashed into each other, she continued to stare at Jack. What she saw next ended her internal struggle. A hand, a SILVER hand, rested on Jack's shoulder and moved him aside. Soon she was face to silver face with her lover. She began to cry. "M... m..." she muttered as she tried to say his name. He walked to her and placed a finger on her lips. "Hush, it's okay; it's me." "No, it could still be a trick," her training cried out, but that voice was becoming more and more quiet. "How? They reported that you were dead." "It was a decoy. I'd been creating it for days, using little pieces of myself that I kept regenerating." "That cylinder in your room? You said it was spare parts." "In a way it was. It was pre-programmed and remote- controlled. That was the most important part of our attack, but you were never to know, in case you were captured." "Internal communications came on too soon," she added. The lovers fell into each other's arms. "I hate to break this up, but we have more families to reunite," Jack interrupted. "What's the plan?" she asked. *** Sub-Basement Level 6 Special Projects Chamber 1 Duane Smithson's emergency elevator landed with a thump. The door automatically flung open, and Smithson tumbled out. He drew himself up and dusted off his suit. "Damn bastards!" he ranted. "Think they can mess up my plans. Plans I've had in place for decades! DECADES!" His thoughts turned to his guards. "And what the hell happened to Mr. Baginski?" He looked around the Special Projects Chamber. There was a control panel at the center of the room. Around the room there were four metal containers the size of large coffins. Two of the metal containers were open and empty. Smithson activated the control panel. "Jack, if I cracked your secrets, we could have had the world." Smithson became lost in thought. It was a familiar vision. He saw armies of J.A.C.K. clones. Their powers spanning the entire superhero pantheon. He stood on a podium before his legions. A squadron of fliers zoomed by. A battalion of infantry men fired energy blasts from their hands in a salute to their leader. He began a well-practiced speech about how the world was now theirs. It was being broadcast across the globe by his telepaths. He continued on about his glorious victory over Justice and his pitiful League. He was shocked back into reality by the buzzing of his control panel. "Speaking of Justice, I must remember to thank him for making me a beta tester." He pressed two buttons simultaneously, and the remaining containers opened. Inside were two cyborgs, with the labels Unit 6/24 and Unit 6/24A across their chests. Two pairs of eyes flashed open. "Well, well, well, the 2113 model, just off the showroom floor. And best of all, there *is* a bulk rate discount on bionics." *** Sub-Basement Level 3 Outside a Guarded Cell Two guards sat listening to the activity on their comm-links in an antechamber outside a heavily fortified cell door. "Damn! I wish we could get in on that action." The door to the outside of the antechamber began to glow red. Its hinges began to melt. Suddenly, it fell inward crashing with a loud thud. "Be careful what you may wish for," came a voice from beyond the door. The men raised their weapons and attempted to fire, but to no avail. A quick check of their guns revealed that the firing mechanisms had been fused. The guard who had complained before drew a knife from a sheath in his belt. "Halt." "Boom," replied the female voice from the doorway. The guards looked at each other in confusion. "Excuse me?" "I said..." A mass of air quickly super-heated in front of the guards, creating an enormous thunder clap, rendering both men unconscious. Fever stepped into the chamber and looked at the men on the floor. "Did you want me to repeat that a third time?" She noticed how heavily fortified the door was. "Damn, that looks big." Teri attempted to open the door using her stolen codes, but to no avail. She reached in a pouch on her belt and withdrew a small syringe. "Hmmm... that one!" she said as she stuck the syringe in the neck of one of the guards. He awoke instantly and attempted to move once. Just once. "Ouch." "Don't move, cowboy; not like you could, anyway." "What... you... want?" "The codes; how do you open the door? By the way, don't bother trying to lie; it will only give you more of a headache." "Are... none. Smithson erased... when... attack started." "Then how the hell did you expect to open the door again?" "Nnn..." "Come on, don't fight it. Trust me, you don't have the brain power, and why bother with the headache?" "Smithson has a back-up code." "Damn, and it wasn't on his computer. Well, thanks for the download; good night, cowboy." "Wha..." Teri struck the guard in the forehead with the palm of her hand, and his head stuck the hard floor. He was unconscious before the thud finished echoing through the room. "Alright, we do this the old-fashioned way." Teri dragged the guards out of the room, walked over to the large door, and banged on it. "Hey, if you can hear me, get away from the door!" She walked back to the entrance to the antechamber and focused her power on the large prison door. After a few minutes the door began to show a slight glow of red. She doubled her efforts, and soon she was once again covered in sweat. Finally she could do no more and fell to her knees. The door still glowed red. "I thought I lost someone I love. I'm not going to let that happen to you, Jack." She extended her hand and once again focused her power. Soon the door was bright red and was beginning to buckle. Finally Fever was spent, and fell to the ground. "So close." Unexpectedly, the door fell toward her. She lifted her head and saw a bent and broken bed sitting on top of the door. Just as the heated door was beginning to ignite the bed, someone dove from atop it and landed just in front of Teri. Teri recognized the woman. She was about 5'5", had short dishwater blonde hair with a little curl to it, and matched the woman in Jack's photo. The clever woman had battered the weakened door open with the bed, and used it to shield her when she escaped over it. "I... I'm here to rescue you," said a nearly unconscious Teri. "Where is my daughter?" "That's our next stop." "Do you think you can walk?" "This month?" Sarah helped Teri up. "Come on, I'll help you. There are going to be more guards here any second." Sarah helped Teri through the door. "So, like I said before, where is my daughter?" "Jack's getting her." "Jack? What does he think he's doing? He's a scientist; he's not suited for heroic rescues." "You need to be brought up to date about a few things." *** Chapter 3: Rescue Two Sub-Basement Level 5 Inside a Medical Chamber The medical technician checked the monitors connected to the sleeping child. Several of the higher cerebral monitors had been showing increased activity over the past hour. "Odd." "Something wrong?" asked the assigned guard. "Well, the stress monitors have been high for the past hour." "Yeah, so?" asked the bored guard, feigning interest. "Well, just now they've gone down." "Isn't that good?" "Yeah, but it's like she was upset about something, but now... it's like she just calmed down for no reason." " Emergency, situation, I repeat emergency request assistance!" barked a voice from the room's intercom. "That's coming from the next room," observed the technician. The guard activated the exterior camera. The office outside the medical chamber was a battle zone. Desks and computers were strewn about. In one corner of the room was Damage, and in the other was a Ross-Tech guard in full body armor. They had each other pinned. The embattled guard re-activated his comm-link. "<..bzz> I repeat no other units avail require immediate assistance, or there's no way to keep him out!" "Well, are you gonna help?" questioned the frightened technician. "I... I have orders to stay here. Besides, he'll never get through this door." "Yes, but if he does get through, two of you stand a better chance of stopping him together than one at a time," reasoned the technician. The guard considered this. He also considered how good this would make him look in the eyes of his boss if he stopped Damage. He opened the door and dove for cover beside his fellow guard. "Cover me, I'll rush him," offered the foolish guard. "I've got a better idea. Why don't I morph into my true form and beat the snot out of you?" The guard turned his head in surprise just in time to see his 'ally' turn silver. He missed the rest of the transformation thanks to the silver fist smashing into his unprotected face. Before they had time to gloat over their accomplishment, Metallo and Jack noticed the large metal door was closing. Jack poured on his enhanced speed and made it through the door first. Metallo was hot on his heals, squashing his width just enough to make it through. "I'm just doing my job; I never wanted to hurt anyone," stammered the technician. Jack heard nothing except the breathing of a small child. Jack began to walk to the bed. The technician backed away to give Jack room, but Jack did not notice the mousy young woman's movements. All he saw was the little girl lying on the bed. Jack knelt beside her and began to stroke her blond hair. He'd seen pictures of Sarah at that age and was still amazed at how much Lori looked like her. "Is she sleeping?" he whispered. "Um, well. Sort of," stammered the woman. Jack glared at her, his eyes glowing red. "What... do... you... mean... sort of?" Jack asked slowly. "Well, we hooked her up the equipment and started running tests." Jack could barely keep from turning the technician into a splat on the wall. "Um... well... as soon as we hooked her up, she went catatonic." Jack looked back down at his little girl. He closed his eyes and gently reached out with his mind. "She's in there." "I know," responded Metallo. Jack looked up and saw Metallo interfacing with her monitoring equipment. "This equipment is monitoring some deep brain functions." "Yes, " stammered the medical technician, "it's meant to monitor possible psi-functions." "I think I can use it to reach her, well, at least in part," continued Metallo. "Part?" "I'll need your help to complete the task." "My powers don't work like that." "No, not alone, but with me working on it from this end, it might work." Jack didn't need any more coaxing. He closed his eyes and started trying try to find his daughter's mind again. Metallo worked the equipment from the other end. He began using the monitor equipment to search for Jack's mind through Lori. Quite quickly, Metallo found an anomaly. "There you are, Jack," he whispered. He activated some electrical test pulses directed at the anomaly. Suddenly Lori's mind was linked with Jack's. Instantly realizing this, Jack began to pull his daughter out of her slumber. He could not read her mind, but he did sense a general feeling of calmness. Lori was content. When she was in the range of normal sleep, Jack let go. "She knows I'm here. Metallo, somehow she knows I'm here." Lori's little eye's fluttered open. "Daddy?" Tears appeared in Jack's eyes. "Yes, little one, it's me." She reached out her arms for a hug, and Jack scooped up his daughter. He looked over his shoulder at Metallo. He noticed Metallo had small waves passing through his liquid metal form. "Are you okay? Are you having trouble keeping your form?" "No, it's... well, this happens when my emotions are extremely... well, when I have trouble calibrating strong emotional..." he stammered. "You old softy." If Metallo had blood vessels, he would have blushed. "Daddy? Where Mommy?" "We're going to get her now, sweetie; we're going to get her now." *** Sub-Basement Level 4 "Where in the hell are we supposed to meet him?" questioned Sarah as she helped Teri along. "This level, on the west side of the building." "And with you down for the count, what are we supposed to do if anything gets in our way?" "Excellent question," observed Duane Smithson as he stepped into the women's path, leveling a rifle at them. Smithson slowly walked to the women, keeping a close eye on Teri. He held her chin in his hand. "I doubt you could even light a match right now." "Go to hell." "Is that the best you can do?" "No, this is," said Sarah as she jabbed the knife she had taken from the guard into Smithson's leg. "Damn you, witch!" he screamed as he fell. The women dashed down the hall before Smithson could follow. They raced around a corner and continued running. "I need to rest. We could hide until I can get my powers back." "How long will that take?" "A few hours, maybe." "We can't leave Jack hanging for that long." "If I hadn't burnt out my comm-link, I could send him a message." Sarah looked down in disappointment. Fever's attire caught her attention. "Quite the cyber-chick look," thought Sarah. She had short red hair, and the top of her outfit was red and yellow. Her pants were orange, and she wore army boots painted orange... bright orange. "We may be able to send him a message, after all. Give me your shoelaces." Chapter 4: Overcoming Obstacles Sub-Basement Level 5 "These stairs should take us to the rendezvous point," commented Metallo. "Render-roo?" questioned Lori. Jack smiled. "The place we find Mommy." "Find Mommy, we find Mommy now!" "We're on our way, sweetheart." "HALT. JACK ORDWAY. SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY." The trio turned to see two cyborgs standing behind them. Jack handed his daughter to Metallo. "Lori, go with uncle Metallo; Daddy has some work to do." "Jack, maybe I should...." "No, friend, take her. Defend her with your life. I'll meet you at the rendezvous point upstairs with Teri and Sarah." Jack raced towards the cyborgs with all the speed he could muster. He struck the machines like a bowling ball striking pins. Metallo enveloped the child in his liquid metal arms and dashed away from the battle. Jack and the two robots continued down the hall until they struck elevator doors. Their momentum carried them through the doors, and they began to tumble downward. Claws sprang from unit 6/24's hands and feet as the cyborg dug into the elevator walls in an attempt to slow his fall. Every time it made contact with a surface, however, Jack's optic blast knocked it free. Instead of slowing, Jack pushed harder with his telekinesis, increasing their rate of descent. "This course of action is illogical!" exclaimed 6/24A. By now they were near the lowest floor. Jack leapt from the robots and pushed them harder while slowing his own fall by telekinetically grabbing onto the walls of the shaft. A quick mental reset disrupted what small pieces of organic material remained in both cyborgs' brains. This slowed them from taking any action to stop their descent until it was too late. A millisecond before impact, 6/24 dug into the wall and was only able to slow down a fraction of their speed before they struck the floor with a ground-shaking thud. Jack also continued downward, his own decent being too rapid to stop. He focused his telekinesis on his own body in an attempt to make himself more rigid. He struck the robots with a thud which echoed through the whole building. Jack painfully pulled himself from the ground. Luckily this elevator shaft had been repaired after Jack's earlier visit, and this trip did not continue through the floor into the sewer system. Some part of Jack's brain yelled, "STEE-RIKE!" but he said nothing. This was no time for the cliched superhero quips; his family was waiting for him. Two sets of red eyes flashed to life beneath him. Unit 6/24A reached up and grabbed Jack by the waist. He was battered like a rag doll against the elevator doors, sending them flying outward. Jack grasped the doorway and kicked backward, toward the robot. He scrambled into the lowest sub-basement level. He heard a familiar hum and noticed the smell of plasma by-products. Taking a moment to look around, he saw huge generators emitting a dark red glow. "Fusion Reactors? Oh my god, Ross-Tech has been generating its own power with illegal fusion reactors right in the middle of the city." None of this was on the schematics Jack had stolen. It did answer several questions regarding Ross-Tech's massive power usage. As Jack stared in wonder at the massive machines, he was struck in the back in the head by one of the cyborgs. He was able to experience the hydrogen plasma first hand as he flew through one of the conduits. He skidded to a stop on the far side of the conduit, as hot hydrogen plasma spewed from its containment vessel. "You idiot, you could blow up the city!" "JJJJJaa Orr... Dam Dam Dam surrender... suspender... n-n-n- no-money-down-lender!" exclaimed the malfunctioning machine. "Oh-oh, a few too many blows to the head." Unit 6/24A crawled from the elevator wreckage. "Look behind you, it's Jack Ordway!" screamed Jack. Unit 6/24 turned to see its comrade beginning to stand up. "Unit 6/24, your higher mental processes are in massive disarray. Stand down until your self-repair..." Unit 6/24A was cut off when his twin began to strike him. "Staaand stand-down... sand-one... grand bone land-ho!" cried the confused machine as he attacked the wrong opponent. Jack quickly flew to the reactor control panel and began the emergency shut-down sequence. "Not fast enough!" cried Jack. *** Central Utility Building for the Cleveland Financial District "We're getting some weird thermal readings from sector 13, sir," cried an operator to his crew chief. The chief pulled up the data on his console. "That's under Ross-Tech. The only thing that can put out power like that is a fusion reactor." "Impossible; how could they hide a fusion reactor?" questioned the operator. "It could have been cloaked." "Then why do we see it now?" "Because the system is malfunctioning." "How do you know?" "Look at the anomalies. That thing is going to blow." "It would take most of the city with it!" "Sound the city-wide emergency alarm! Alert the League to get a team to Ross-Tech to turn that thing off." "That will take too long." "Do you have any other ideas?" "I could try to hack into Ross-Tech's internal systems. It appears their defenses are down. I may be able to cut in through their internal infotainment channels." "Do it, but I'm sending a team anyway." The operator applied his hacking skills, using the communication channels to access internal Ross-Tech information. What he saw explained the entire problem, as the reactor's video surveillance channel was broadcast over the console. In plain sight were two battling cyborgs wreaking equipment, and an exasperated man flying around the room trying to shut the reactor down manually. "Hey, I recognize that guy," exclaimed the operator. "He saved my cousin at Euclid Avenue." "Well, that guy is the only thing that stands between this city and a hole in the ground where this city used to be." announced the Ross-Tech computer over the infotainment channel. "Damn, I'm glad we're the only ones who heard that." "Oh-oh." "I don't like your tone son. What else is wrong?" "Well, that infotainment channel isn't a closed loop system." "Meaning?" "Meaning this is being broadcast city-wide." "You mean the whole city knows..." "Yes, sir." "I hope that man knows what he's doing." "Right now, sir, the whole city hopes he knows what he's doing." *** Ross-Tech Reactor Room Jack dug his fingers into a cryogenics conduit. The biting chill of super-fluid helium barely above absolute zero rushed into his hands. He held his breath as he yanked the pipe free. Instantly the liquid changed into gas, increasing in volume by 900% and displacing the breathable oxygen. Jack thrust the loose pipes into the ruptured plasma conduit. He held tight as frigid cryogenics collided with blazing plasma. He glared at the conduit. If only he could focus his vision powers and use only the heat aspect, he could fuse the conduit together... His mind flashed elsewhere. He was wearing a familiar blue, red, and yellow uniform, and was hovering beside a damaged bridge. A beam of heat shot from his eyes as he began to repair the bridge. Instantly, he was back in his proper time and place. A beam of heat- only shot from this eyes, and soon the conduit was fused. The cryogenics continued to flood into the reactor chamber. Jack rushed to the controls and began to increase the power to the containment field around the chamber. announced the computer. *** Central Utility Building "Yes!" shouted the operator. "He did it!" continued the crew chief as he slapped the back of the operator. "Before that guy was an underground hero; now the entire city owes him," continued the chief. *** Ross-Tech Reactor Room "The city in exchange for the building; I'd say it's a fair trade." Soon Unit 6/24 collided with the control console at which Jack was working, sending them both flying. The cyborg's eyes began to flicker. "Good work, buddy. Hey we make an okay team; maybe we should..." Unit 6/24A rushed Jack, cutting him off in mid-sentence. "I am programmed to destroy you if capture is deemed impractical." Jack reached out to feel the cyborg's mind. He found almost nothing. There were a few scraps of organic material in the machine, but no personality. "I've got a friend who's more machine than you, but at the same time more human." "I am an efficient creation of Justice League science." A fist with the strength of a bus flew into Jack, sending him rushing backward into a wall. The cyborg was on him in a flash. It wrapped its fingers around Jack's neck and began to choke the life out of him. From the robot's point of view, data streamed in indicating his mission's success thus far. Detailed data regarding his vital functions streamed through its CPU/brain. From its fingertips he could read Jack's diminishing vital signs. Breathing was disabled, pulse, though quickening at first, was now slowing. Brain waves were off the scale. Again images flooded Jack's mind. He was a tattooed warrior. An enemy had just pierced his chest and ripped his heart out. Next he was in a dank cave. The wet snap he just heard was his own spine. Then he stood before the Daily Planet building. The marauding monster he'd fought across the country would get no further. He would stop it here and now. Jack felt a rush as he joined some energy field that existed beyond the speed of light, but he felt a pull, drawing him back to the solid world and his great love. This battle would not be Jack's last. The robot sensed Jack's brain waves returning to normal. The sensors in its chest registered a pressure. A quick glance downward showed the pressure was due to Jack placing his feet against the chest of the cyborg. Rupture alarms went off inside the robot's head as Jack dug his fingers into the cyborg's arms. Soon the pressure on its chest increased dramatically. The machine's motion sensors indicated it was now flying backwards. Error signals from its arms began to flood its CPU/brain. No data was returning from its arms, and fluid sensors were indicating a major leak. A quick visual inspection indicated the reason for the error signals. There *were* no arms to provide the data. The cyborg's sub- routines performed the digital equivalent to wondering, "Hey, where did my arms go?" As it looked up and saw Jack flying towards him with the metallic arm held over his shoulder, the machine performed the digital equivalent to thinking, "Ah, there's one." These were among the last bits of information to be processed by the machine's mind, as Jack struck it in the head with its own arm. The dented head flew across the room and landed in a trash barrel at the far end of the room. The armless, headless torso fell backwards. Again, there were no quips from Jack. He made no snide remarks this time. This was as close to killing a living being he ever wanted to get. A quick check of the computer indicated he had fifteen minutes to get his family and friends and get out the doomed building. He flew from the room and into the elevator shaft. Unit 6/24 lay on the floor. Its red eyes flickered back to life. "Jack... Jack... Rack... Smack... Crack... Mother's back." It sat up and made its way to the elevator shaft. Grabbing onto a cable, it began to rapidly pull itself upwards and after Jack. *** Chapter 5: Reunion Sub-Basement Level 4 Smithson limped through the hallways, looking for the women who had hurt him. "ORDWAY! ORDWAY! It's only a matter of time before I find you, witch!" He paused. "Don't you want to know where your daughter is?" "I'm the only one who can get to her. Jack won't be able to get her. He's busy being killed by two of the Justice League's best cyborg prototypes right now. You didn't really think he could win? Come on, he's no superhero." Smithson entered another room. If he were in a less chaotic frame of mind, he might have noticed the orange shoelace tied to the radio antenna that was sticking out of the waste basket in the room. "Not only is he not a superhero, he's not even a man. He doesn't have a normal human, or even meta-human, genetic structure. He's just a storage matrix. He was meant to store valuable genetic material, and by some *FREAK* of nature it just happened to be self- replicating. That's what he is: a freak! Smithson opened the door to a janitor's closet but found nothing. "You've been letting a freak touch you. You've been intimate with an experiment. Doesn't that make you're skin crawl? He... *it* has been the source of all your problems, not me. Jack is what I really want. You come out and help me find him, and I can make all this go away. Wouldn't you like your life back? Sarah, think of your daughter. You don't want to trade her life for that freak, that freak who's responsible for all this trouble. Sarah, be reasonable." From the hallway came the sound of elevator doors busting open. "It can't be," whispered Smithson. Jack flew down the hallway. He quickly passed the room where Smithson was and where Sarah and Teri were hiding. He doubled back and flew into the room. "Well done, son! You've beaten the cyborgs! I am proud of you." "Don't give my that crap. My father was an overweight tool- maker who liked German beer and women's volleyball!" "He was a faithful employee, indeed, and served me well by pretending to be your father. But Jack, I'm your father. You were created by my hand. My will brought you to life." "I know the truth. You were advised to give me as normal a life as possible. You implanted me in someone you could keep your eye on. They never knew I wasn't their own genetic offspring." "Jack, that's all a lie; your whole life was a necessary deception. Necessary until now, that is. Now you can take your rightful place by my side. Jack, together we could free the world. That bastard Justice wouldn't stand a chance against our army. We had to keep you hidden from Justice. Now, together, we can end his tyranny. That was my plan all along. That's why I had to carefully engineer your life. I had to give you fake parents, fake friends, and even a fake wife and daughter. Sarah and Lori were never your own." "You're lying." "Come on, Jack, do you think you could even mate with a human? We never kidnapped them. Sarah came back willingly. She's been relocated and is right now in another city, just waiting for her daughter: her daughter, and not yours." "Then why was Lori hooked up to all that equipment?" Smithson paused. Jack had found his daughter. This would require some serious lying. "That's your fault Jack. Exposure to you did that. She's a very sick little girl. You have no idea how dangerous some of your parentage is. Toxic, radioactive, even various Psi-related diseases, it's all in there, Jack. You really shouldn't have spent so much time around a developing child." Jack hung his head as his own history flashed before his eyes now. He remembered watching Browns games with his dad. He remembered his mother teaching him to dance. He remembered how nervous he was when he was when he first kissed Sarah, and how relieved his little girl was when he comforted her after a nightmare. One thing rang true through all of these memories. There was love, and it was real. No matter what else was fake, that love was real. "You lying sack of..." he began to whisper. He stopped his swear, as he noticed the waste basket in the corner of the room. The orange shoe lace stood out like a beacon. Jack did a quick survey of the room, and noticed a trash chute directly beside the waste basket. "Smithson. You are a pitiful little man." "Why, you ungrateful little mutant." "So those are the last words you want to say before you have to have your jaw wired shut?" Before Duane Smithson could process the threat, Jack had cleared the distance between them and struck Smithson in the jaw. He heard the crack and realized what Jack had meant moments before he lost consciousness. Jack heard the doorway to the trash chute slide open. A woman with short dishwater blonde hair crawled out of the open door. She froze when she saw Jack, as he froze when he saw her. After so much deception, after so much had changed, both of them were afraid to believe they were back together again. Slowly, without saying a word, Jack began to cross the room to Sarah. He held out his hand to her, and she to him. Their fingertips touched. Slowly his hand slipped up hers. Soon he was touching her arm. Tears flowed from her eyes. He continued until he was caressing her cheek. She stared into his eyes with an intensity of a blind woman who was seeing for the first time. They closed their eyes and bent towards each other. Their lips touched, and their arms wrapped around each other, first lightly, then with a growing tightness and urgency. It was as if they were afraid that if they let go they would be separated again. They had been drowning. Their lungs had been on fire, demanding air. If they did not take a breath soon, they would surly perish, then suddenly they broke the surface, and they filled their lungs with precious air. That best describes this kiss. Jack's link activated... in reverse. *** Outside of Gotham The greatest hero the planet had ever known shuffled around a lonely mansion. It wasn't like him to feel sorry for himself, but occasionally he couldn't help it. In all his travels, through cosmos- shattering wars, through the end off all things, and the rebirth of the same, there was one thing that affected him like no other. It was the love of one woman. Though he had always believed life was hope, sometimes he couldn't help but despair at the cruel fate which allowed him to outlive her. He would give up all his powers, even his life, for just one more moment with her. "I have to get out of this musty old mansion," he thought to himself. He sniffed the air. Oddly, it no longer smelled musty. It smelled sweet instead. It smelled of perfume. It was a familiar perfume, one even his already heightened senses were especially tuned to. In a dank cave beneath the mansion, a sentient machine called to its master, interrupting his exercises. "Master Tim! Something is wrong with Master Clark." The new hero rushed to his mentor's quarters. There he saw something he never thought he'd see. The man who was once the most powerful hero on the planet was on his knees weeping. He was weeping AND laughing. "Clark, what's wrong?" "She was here! She was really here. I smelled her perfume. I felt her! Dear God, she was with me again, if only for a moment." "Are you okay, Clark?" "I'm fantastic. I'm the best I've been since I woke up," he beamed. *** New York City Warriors Bar Guy walked among the memorabilia. He passed the Green Lantern room. It held such special meaning for him. Finally he came to a different display, which easily held as much meaning. There were pictures of a white-haired woman in a blue outfit. Guy opened the display glass and took out one of the pictures. He began to feel cold. "Damn ancient furnace," he swore. The cold was not uncomfortable, though. It was different than a typical chill you might feel on a cold day. There was a strange familiarity to the sensation. A frost began to cover the display glass. Slowly, as if being etched by some unseen finger, a heart began to be drawn in the frost. Guy Gardner put his hand to the evaporating frost. "I love you, too," whispered the brave warrior. *** Over the skies of Metropolis J'onn J'onzz flew over the Metropolis skyline. As he approached Centennial Park, he observed the eternal flame of one of the park's monuments. Usually he wouldn't focus on it. He had his reasons not to. This time, however, there was something different. Something was strange about the flame. He flew towards it. He hovered a safe distance from the flame, uncertain of what was drawing him to it. The flame began to dance more actively than it had before. It took a specific shape: the shape of a Martian woman and child. "We're with you, beloved; we always have been." "I know. I've always known," he responded. Soon the flame was just a flame again. The Martian Manhunter was a powerful telepath, however. Evidence of the link resonated in his mind. "Thank you, Jack Ordway." *** Justice League Headquarters Justice sat in his office. Things were not going as he would hope. There were just too many meta-humans out there, and his hold on them was not as tight as it needed to be. His cyborg project was not going well, either. He sighed. "Who first made you first lose your breath?" He looked up to see who had uttered the question. "Show yourself!" he barked as he looked around the room. As he was facing the window, he saw a faint reflection of someone standing behind him. It was a red-haired woman in a black outfit. On her chest was a yellow bat. "Who made your heart first skip a beat?" He quickly turned, but the intruder was gone. "Barbara?" There was no answer. "Stress," he told himself. "I have to get back to work and dismiss these silly sentimental images. I must focus on the goal at hand," he lied to himself. He'd gotten quite good at that over the decades. For now he would believe the lie. Later that night, though, as he dreamt of swinging through the air with the beautiful redhead, the lie wouldn't hold. For the first time in decades, the man who held the world in his iron grasp wept in his sleep. *** Back in Cleveland Ohio Ross-Tech Labs Sub-Basement Level 4 "Excuse me, a little help here." Jack and Sarah broke off their kiss. "Sorry," stammered Jack. "Yeah, sorry." "Where's Metallo?" Teri questioned. "Right here," he said as he entered the room. "Looks like we missed all the fun." He opened his arms, and little Lori sprang forth. "Mommy! Daddy, you found Mommy, Yay for Daddy." She rushed to her parents and was quickly included in their embrace. "Oh god how I've missed you, little one," cried her mother. "Are you okay, sweetheart?" "Yes, Mommy, I took a good nap." Sarah looked at Jack with a puzzled expression. "I'll explain later," he added. "We go home now?" questioned the little girl. "From the mouths of babes. We don't have much time; the pre- reactor chamber is going to blow in about five minutes. We'd better scoop up Smithson and get the hell out of here." "Scoop up who?" questioned Metallo. Jack looked to where Smithson had been on the floor. "He's gone. Da... Darn," he said, remembering his child's presence. "We don't have time to look for him!" "Is team two already out?" questioned Teri. "They were clear before the alarm sounded. Smithson doesn't have a dime left to his name," answered Metallo. "Alright, everyone in the elevator. I'll get us out of here." "Jack, you can't lift us all out of here in an elevator," Metallo commented. "I'm not going to lift. I'm going to push." Soon the entire team had been loaded in one of the non- functioning elevators. Jack began to push the elevator downward. Within ten seconds they reached the hole in the floor Jack had made on his previous trip the building, a hole which connected the Ross- Tech building with the Cleveland sewer system. Jack slowed the descent as it hit the sewers. The neo-polymer elevator floated in the filthy water while the occupants remained dry. Jack grabbed the cable and pulled the elevator away from the building as quickly as he could. They were two blocks away when the pre-reactor exploded. Flame shot into the tunnel and licked the edge of the elevator as Jack turned a corner and dragged the elevator down a perpendicular shaft. *** Epilog One: The Color of Money. The Horse team, along with Jack's family and the Ross-Tech allies, stood on Kosar Park Hill overlooking the Cleveland skyline. Smoke still poured from Ross-Tech headquarters. The explosion shattered all the windows in the building. "Well, it looks like the building's still standing," commented Todd. "Not for long," David countered. "I expect it experienced extreme structural damage. It will have to be demolished." Jack sat on the ground with his daughter in his lap. Sarah was beside him with her arm around him. Metallo extruded a camera from his arm and snapped a photo. "I thought you would want a new photo. One with you in it." Jack laughed for a moment. He put his little girl on his wife's lap and approached Metallo. "Smithson got away," he said in a more serious tone. Troy overheard their conversation and approached them. "Don't worry, he won't get far. After all, he's broke now." "Oh, yeah," Jack continued, "what was our take?" "I'm downloading that number now into everyone's PAD's." Jack pulled out his PAD and looked at the number. "Wow! Divided ten ways, that's still a healthy number." "No, that's not divided ten ways; that's your individual amounts." Sarah stood and took the PAD from Jack's hand. "We're rich! Momma said I'd never get rich marrying a physicist. Momma was wrong. How did you do it?" she asked Troy. "Transfer from one account to a few others, assign some stock to one of the accounts, then buy the stock with another: basic stuff." "So I guess we don't have to do this anymore? You know, the Horse gig, we don't need the money anymore," said Todd. They were all silent for a moment. "Why the hell not?" said Julie Crawford. They all looked at her in surprise. "I like what you guy's do, it sounds like a lot of fun." "But we're rich now?" questioned David. "So, that just means we can be more picky about whose chops we bust. We don't have to do it to make a buck anymore." "We can do it for fun," added Todd. "Or for moral reasons," countered Jack. "Yeah, that too," Todd finished. "Robin-freaking-hood," added Don. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to take a little time off and just be with my family." "You'll be back, though," said Troy. "Yeah, he will," added Sarah. "I know my man. The life of leisure would bore the hell out of you." Jack hugged his wife and child. "Eventually, but not for a little while." *** Epilog Two: The Next Day Justice League Headquarters Justice was poring over paperwork when his comm-link beeped. "Come in," he answered. He did not need to check who it was. He already knew who it had to be. Two guards entered, dragging Duane Smithson behind them. They threw him on the ground and left. "What's wrong, Smithson? Didn't they *like* you?" He knew. At that moment Smithson realized Justice knew about his power. "I never tried to manipulate you, sir." "You did try to manipulate my people; therefore you tried to manipulate me. *ME*!" "But, sir, it was all in your name." "Don't lie to me, Smithson. It might have worked on others, but it won't work on me." "Are you going to kill me?" "No, Smithson, I'm not going to kill you. You will now work for me directly." Smithson saw a ray of hope. "Thank you, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. When I get back to Cleveland, I'll get Ross-Tech..." "Ross-Tech is finished, and you're not going back to Cleveland." "But sir, what about Ordway and Horse?" "One of my agents from Ross-Tech is already in place in Horse." "Agents at Ross-Tech?" questioned Smithson. Justice simply rapped his fingers on the desk. "But sir, they're criminals, why can't we just bring them down?" "Duane, are they any more criminals than you were, or Lexcorp, or DCT? I've long kept my eye on the corporate giants as well as keeping them in check one way or another. I plan to use Horse as a tool to continue this practice. Besides, the man just saved the city of Cleveland from *your* folly. Now would be a bad time to crack down on him." "So what do you want me for?" asked Duane. "Remember the low-level bureaucrats of mine you used to manipulate?" "Yes?" "You're one of them now." *** Epilog Three: Still Forgotten Child Two Day's Later The explosion virtually destroyed the sub-basements of Ross- Tech labs. All but one, that is. There was one heavily fortified room that still stood. The excavation crew was excited to find it. They dreamt of treasure hidden in a secret, secure vault. Now they dream forever, their corpses littering the floor, in front of the heavily fortified door they had opened. A sixteen-year-old boy made his way through the streets of Cleveland, outside of Ross-Tech. He was looking for somewhere quiet. He saw a homeless man sitting outside of one of Cleveland's overflowing shelters. The man didn't annoy the boy. The boy felt no anger or hatred for the man. He actually felt sorry for the man. The homeless man had no idea how lucky he was. "Why don't you go inside?" asked the boy. "It's full." The boy walked inside. Two minutes later, he walked out again. The boy looked off into the distance as he spoke to the homeless man again. "He was loud. He annoyed me," said the boy. "There's a space now," he continued. Soon screams could be heard from the shelter. "I don't know what happened to him," shouted one of the voices. "He's just dead. He's just dead," shouted another voice. "What the hell did you do?" questioned the homeless man, but the boy had already disappeared. *** End of Issue 7 and Damage:DCF LS Coming up? Damage isn't going to disappear. There are plans for him elsewhere in the DCF. Also, I have some ideas for one-shots in a "What I did on my summer vacation" theme. We'll see what pans out. To the other DCF writers, feel free to use the characters. Iron Jack and Quiet Jack are loose in the DCF, so feel free to have them pop up in your books. Horse is for hire, but they don't really need the money any more, they just do it for fun... oh yeah, and for moral reasons. If you use Horse in your book, I'll let you in on the secret of who the Justice League spy is. Visit the Letters Column at: http://home.sprintmail.com/~olliejk/Fan_letters.html Suggested Music for this Issue: Chapter 1) Gottcha Last Stop by The Dave Mathews Band Chapter 2) Rescue One - Metallo and Fever reunion Badaboom by Eric Serra (from the soundtrack of The Fifth Element) - Fever rescues Sarah (and all subsequent scenes with just Fever and Teri) Put a Lid On It by The Squirrel Nut Zippers Chapter 3) Rescue Two Protect Life by Eric Serra (from the soundtrack of The Fifth Element) Chapter 4) Overcoming Obstacles Battle Flag by The Lo Fidelity Allstars Chapter 5) Reunion - Sarah and Jack's reunion Human Nature by Eric Serra (from the soundtrack of The Fifth Element) - Reunions around the DCF Leeloo by Eric Serra (from the soundtrack of The Fifth Element) - Escape from Ross-Tech Little Light of Love by Eric Serra (end title version)(from the soundtrack of The Fifth Element) + continuing on to... Epilog One + continuing from end of Chapter 5 Little Light of Love by Eric Serra (end title version)(from the soundtrack of The Fifth Element)