Issue Number Fifteen
"Knightfall"
Chandi Gupta was having a very pleasant experience, one that was very rare in her recent life. She was having a nice dream.
Unlike most of her dreams, which generally revolved around her transformation into the all-power entity that was Shiva, this one was tranquil and peaceful. She was at a fair with her parents, one of the old kind of fairs that you sometimes see in the movies. She wore traditional Indian attire, but she was much older than in real life. Her long, dark hair hung down in waves down her back and both her parents agreed that they loved their daughter, just as she was -- Shiva or not.
The best part of the dream, though, came when a shadow fell over Chandi. It was in the shape of a giant bird, but Chandi knew what it really was. She looked up, a beautiful smile on her face.
Katar Hol landed in front of her, a group of flowers clutched in one hand. He wore only leather pants, his hairy, muscled chest gleaming with a faint sheen of sweat. He winked at her, wickedly, and moved to embrace her. His breath was warm on her neck as he nuzzled her cheek. She could feel the strength in his arms, the hard pressure of....
"Who the hell are you?!"
The strident voice was female, but filled with fury. Chandi blinked herself awake, cursing whomever had awakened her -- that had been a great dream, one that was only going to get better....
Chandi looked up to see a young woman dressed in a colorful red and black costume, a hat sitting jauntily atop her head, topped off with a feather. Chandi didn't recognize her, but that didn't matter. Whoever it was had no business in her room, in the middle of the night.
Chandi summoned a small water spout beneath the stranger's feet. The sudden slickness sent the girl tumbling, though she was up again remarkably fast. Now that Chandi's mind was beginning to shake off the drowsy after-effects of her slumber, she was beginning to place the young woman before her. "Wait! I know you from Cyril's photographs! You're --"
The red-clad female slammed a foot into Maya's chin, sending her back. "The Squire, at your service! Now, do you want to tell me what you're doing in my old room or do I have to beat it out of you?"
Maya rubbed her chin and frowned. Part of her wanted to fry the little witch, but she knew that wouldn't be right. "My name is Chandi -- I'm called Maya when I'm with the Squadron, though."
Squire relaxed a bit and reached over to turn on the light. The room flooded with brightness, and the two women warily examined one another. "Cyril gave you my room?"
"I guess so. He said you were away at boarding school."
"I was... Until your Fox called and told me that Cyril had been lost on another world*. I came back as soon as I could, to make sure everything was on the up and up."
(*Back in issue # 9.)
Maya's frown deepened. "On the up and up? What do you mean by that? You don't think we did something to Cyril, do you?"
Squire shrugged, her eyes full of pain. "I don't know. I don't know anything about any of you. The last time I saw Cyril*, he told me he was going to invite the lot of you to stay here at the castle until the Secret Society of Super-Villains was dealt with. Now, I hear that the man who raised me is missing and my home is now the headquarters for a bunch of former Justice Leaguers!"
(*Back in issue # 2.)
Maya tried to reign in her temper, remembering that the girl before her -- Julie Days, she remembered -- had been raised by the Knight and trained as his partner. It wasn't unusual that she would be upset right now. "I can wake up the Elongated Man, he's the current team leader. Maybe he can put you at ease."
Squire put out a hand to stop Maya from leaving. "Hold on. I used my access code to get pass the security because I wanted to see what you people were up to. I don't like it. Cyril's lab is a mess, you're in my room and there's a Thanagarian sleeping next door. They invaded Earth, remember*? I think we're going to have to bring in the Ultramarines on this one."
(*Back during the "Invasion!" crossover, in the late 1980s.)
"What?"
"You heard me. The Knight and Squire were members of that group for a time and I want them to handle the investigation into Cyril's disappearance. I don't believe he would have chosen to abandon m-- I mean, England. Something's not right."
Chandi didn't know what to say, but she now knew what the real problem was. Squire had almost said "abandon me." All of this disbelief on Squire's part... it had to do with her feelings of rejection. Seeing past the pain in Squire's eyes, Chandi could only nod. "All right. We'll speak with them. We have nothing to hide."
INTERLUDE
The four colorfully garbed individuals stood in the hot Arizona desert, each lost in their own thoughts. For Gorgon, he dreamed of strangling the lifeblood from the Crimson Fox. Tracer's visions were equally bloody, but they consisted of him tracking a group of lost children through the woods. He could smell their fear, could almost hear their screams of pain. Dr. Diehard's thoughts were more materialistic, focused on the wealth that would come once the Extremists had conquered this planet.
For their leader, Lord Havoc, things were more complex. Since his tranformation from Maxwell Lord into the armored tyrant Lord Havoc*, he'd been of two minds. Literally. One, dominated by what remained of the old Max Lord, was concerned with protecting his loved ones**. The other, the Havoc personality, wanted to destroy this world as the original Lord Havoc had done on the planet Angor. For the present, his Lord Havoc urges were driving him forward -- towards a horrible destiny.
(*See Justice League America # 100. **See Justice Squadron # 2.)
"She comes." Lord Havoc's voice was cold and hollow, but tinged with madness. His words made Tracer snigger in anticipation.
A mist began to form in front of them, gradually solidifying into the shape of a young woman. "You're on time. Good. I'm a busy lady."
Gorgon's head-tendrils stretched towards her hungrily, but Havoc's glare made the villain retract them. "Nash. You brought the item I requested?"
The Mist smiled, looking over the top of her shades at the assembled villains. "I have it, but I think you're overpaying for it, to be honest. This Squadron of yours is nothing but a recycled JLE -- and I took them out single-handed*. Thought I'd killed that Fox, in fact, but heroes are hard to get rid of."
(*Back in the much-hated Starman # 38.)
"You took them by surprise. They've gotten better since then. You'll find that the funds have been wired to your account -- now give me the item."
She passed a small cylinder into his gauntlet and shrugged. "Dr. Iker has no idea it's missing. The old fool's probably forgotten what it even does." She smiled. "Hope you have better luck with it than he did back in the forties."
Lord Havoc looked at the small cylinder, with its quaint design. It was difficult to believe that such a device had actually been able to samel transdimensional matter*. "I don't suspect luck will play much of a role in this, Nash. All that will be required to reduce this world to a smoldering rubble is power."
(*As first seen in Adventure Comics # 64, July 1941!)
MOUNT THUNDER
The Justice Squadron's shuttle was parked deep within the recesses of Mount Thunder. The mammoth structure had once been home to the Justice League splinter group known as Extreme Justice, but it had recently come into the hands of the International Ultramarines, a group of proactive metahumans intent on bringing peace to the world*.
(*As seen in DCL's Extreme Justice # 3.)
"I have to admit... Zis headquarters is quite impressive." The Crimson Fox, accompanied by her fellow heroes, was standing in one of the many glass-lined elevators that was transporting them to the Ultramarines' meeting room. The girl known as Squire was with them, her arms crossed and a sullen expression on her face.
The Elongated Man rubbed his chin and nodded. His neck was extended this way and that, angling for a better view. "Yeah. Maybe we should hit up Revson for an increase in our funding. We could have our own mountain retreat -- or better yet, a satellite!"
While the Fox and Ralph shared a chuckle, Kimiyo Hoshi closed her eyes tightly. The tears had come so often since Erewhon's death that she felt like they'd never stop. When she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, she turned to face Hawkman. "Yes?"
"I... thought you might need comfort." Katar, able to sense the auras of those around him, could tell that Kimi was holding herself together by force of will. Her pain and sorrow kept him in constant remembrance that Shayera was out there somewhere, missing*.
(* See Brave & the Bold #10 & #11)
"No thank you. I don't need anyone's help." The cold anger in her voice startled Katar, but Kimi quickly softened her tone. "I am sorry. I... sometimes it's easier to be angry than admit how I truly feel."
"I understand. I sometimes bottle up my feelings... Especially right after I encountered the Hawkgod. It... changed me. Not for the better, in some ways. I felt distant from those who loved me. It took time for me to really remember who I was."
Kimi nodded. She recognized a sense of haunting in Katar's eyes. "I forgot... who I was... at one point, too. I hope it won't happen again."
Maya, who had been eavesdropping to this point, squeezed Kimi's hand. "It won't, because we'll be here to remind you if you start to forget."
Kimi smiled at the young girl and squeezed back. "You've really grown up since we were in the JLE together, Chandi."
"Psst! It's showtime, folks." Ralph's words cut off Chandi's response. The Squadron turned to see the elevator doors open slowly.
Before them, seated around a large table, were the International Ultramarines : Goraiko,Vixen, Jack O'Lantern, 4-D, Warmaker, Flow and Pulse-8.
Warmaker, the team's spokesperson, stood in greeting. "Welcome, Justice Squadron. Let's make this quick and painless, shall we? We want to know what happened to the Knight -- and we want to know now!"
INTERLUDE 2
Dmitri stared at the monitor for several long minutes before yawning. Imagine! He'd come all the way from Russia, just to be grilled by the other members of the team about his 'invitation' from Max. Then, just when they'd accepted him, he'd been ordered to perform monitor duty while the other went to America.
Still, at least it was quiet. Nice and....
He jumped, realizing that he'd drifted off to sleep. The monitor board was still quiet and he lowered his head once more. Slowly, he fell back into a slumber....
If he'd been awake, he might have seen the red-cloaked man float past. Revenant watched the sleeping Russian and muttered to himself, "They replace me with that? God save them...."
"... and so he elected to remain behind, in that other reality. It was his decision and it was one that we respected." Ralph had retold the entire story, keeping his tone as neutral as possible. He felt a pang of regret that the Squadron hadn't been able to persuade Waveride into helping them locate Cyril again, but he kept that to himself.
4-D could barely their skepticism. "Another reality? I've seen amazing things since Eiling and his boys worked their magic on us, but never anything like that."
Vixen leaned forward. "It's not that uncommon for the League, though. And the Squadron is the closest thing around to a JLE these days. I can vouch for most of them -- Ralph and I were part of a League that went down in flames. I'd go to war with him."
Ralph grinned. He'd always liked Vixen -- maybe after all this, he'd invite her to join the Squadron.
Warmaker held up a hand for silence. "I trust your judgment in most things, Vixen, but there's something that came to my attention just last evening. Even Squire doesn't know. And I'm afraid it casts our friends here in a rather bad light."
Hawkman stiffened. Something about Warmaker's aura disturbed him. It was almost as if the man were convinced that the Squadron were lying. The Thanagarian leaned forward and whispered in the Fox's ear. "This is going to be bad."
Warmaker's voice rose a bit in anger. "Late last night my contacts within British intelligence sent me a message. I could barely believe it -- but I verified it. A body was found in east London last night, stuffed inside a garbage can. His uniform was bloodied and his face had been... scarred... but it was obvious who he was. Cyril Sheldrake, the Knight, was brutally murdered."
The words sent shockwaves throughout the room. The Squire staggered back, her hand on her chest. Her breath came in great, painful gasps.
The Crimson Fox blinked. "Mon dieu... It is not possible!"
"It's true, Fox. Now, somehow you're lying... and I intend to find out the truth."
Maya could barely contain her fury. Before anyone else could respond, she'd ignited. Flame licked at her flesh as she stormed forward. "How dare you? We saved the world -- and Cyril showed us how to be heroes. He stayed behind, gave up everything, just to help one person! And now you accuse us of.. of what, exactly? You think we beat him up and threw him in a garbage can?!"
Flow stirred, his liquid body shifting. "Calm down, little girl."
Maya pointed at him. "No! You calm down! I don't know why the British government went to you with this instead of us, and I don't care. We'll get to the bottom of this, without your damned help!"
Warmaker bristled. "The hell you will. The Knight was one of us and I'm convinced you're lying, so--"
"So nothing." Vixen stood and locked eyes with her team's leader. "These people aren't murderers. And Cyril was one of them, too."
The Crimson Fox smiled grimly. "Thank you, Vixen. I have friends in high places, as well. I think I shall be able to get access to Cyril's body for analysis and--"
"Witch! How can you be so cold?" Squire shouted furiously.
The Elongated Man stretched forward, his face registering his sympathy. "Give us a chance, Julie. Cyril did. I promise -- I'm a great detective! If anybody can figure out what happened, I can!"
Warmaker shook his head. "I'm sorry, Squadron, but I can't allow that. If you want to work on this on your own, you're welcome to. But I'm making the call on this one -- the Knight was an Ultramarine first and foremost."
Ralph started to protest but Katar touched his arm. "Let it rest. We know it can't be Cyril. And we can uncover the truth about this without their help, if need be."
Constance watched as the Elongated Man slowly assented. Mon dieu... Poor, sweet Cyril. I swear we'll find out the truth behind this. I swear.
In Justice Squadron # 16 : The Extremists launch their plan for world domination! Be here for part one of "All the King's Men..."
EUROPINIONS
We continue to move forward, dealing with one issue after another. This story will hopefully make it clear that I'm not just ignoring those members who've come and gone. The mystery of the Knight's apparent demise will be fully explored.
Next issue kicks off our Extremist arc, as the deadly team (led by Lord Havoc) seeks to conquer the world. But our little band of heroes will (hopefully) stand in their way.
See you then.
Keep in touch,