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05

"Behaviour"

By Ed Ainsworth

 

Since joining Buddy's assembled team, Rex hadn't visited here much. In fact this was his first visit in the last month. He plucked the collar of his trench coat as he walked into the S.T.A.R labs station; he nodded to the Security guard, and laid his identification down on the table.

"Hey Steve. How's your wife?"

"Not bad, thanks Rex. Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Tashana. She's never been here before; I need visitor forms and stuff right? You can trust me when I say she's a good guy."

"Gotta be confirmed there Rex. Hold on a moment."

Tashana looked incredulously from Steve to Rex, who seemed to be stuck in a poorly written sitcom.

"What's he doing Rex? He's not even using a computer."

"Of course not. S.T.A.R retro-fitted an android as their clerk; Steve, look up L.E.G.I.O.N and a brief stint on R.E.B.E.L.S; oh and cross it with the Society of Super-Villains, the most recent version, and their Anti-Monitor tower machine thing."

"Oh, Right. You're Lady Quark? Sorry didn't recognize you with the longer hair. Lookin' very swish their lady, might have to get my wife to grow her hair long."

"You're an android, why would you require a wife?"

"I got needs a two-pin plug and a power grid can't supply me with."

"Your society is very strange, Rex."

The duo walked down the corridor, after the security doors slid open.

"Rex? Why are we here?"

"We're here to see some friends of mine, Tashana. Some who are very dear to me. I want you to meet my family."

The two walked into an open plan laboratory, a large glass tube filled with liquid at the far of the room, a large cot currently on fire, and a wheelchair facing the windowsill were all that occupied the room.

"Mr. Mason; Rex...We've been waiting for you to return."

"I know Java. I've been busy."

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The doorbell of the Baker residence rang, and Buddy, clothed only in a towel around his midsection, opened the door slowly.

"Mr. Baker?"

"Yello."

"We have a package for you, sir. Please sign here."

Buddy took the package and signed for it, looking bemused at the envelope, rather than a brown parcel.

"Well, I'm officially confused. I always thought parcels were bigger than standard mail."

Buddy walked towards the table, and sat down. Cliff slammed his spoon down and stared at his father.

"Clothing, Perhaps?"

"As long as I pay the Mortgage, then you'll have to deal with semi-nudity."

"Technically, Mom pays all the bills, Dad. You're a super-zero."

"Good point, Cliff. Remind me of that fact when I'm not raising your allowance after the presentation I'm giving on live TV tonight."

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The remains of the Amazon Island :

Extrano sits. His arms and legs crossed, hovering in the air. Mystical energy crackles around him. Magic has changed, and Extrano with it. Magic now required a price, and to resurrect an old friend, the price must be something of an equal trade.

The heroes of the world had to start taking more of a hard line towards this sort of thing. With the villains willing to do anything to get their own way, it was time for the heroes to try and match their vigor and enthusiasm.

The energy rippled and snapped in a vortex around him, as light warped and refracted from every angle, in a kaleidoscopic explosion of the spectrum, dazzling even Extrano. The ground underneath him, the tiny fragments of island, and raised continental shelf shattered, leaving him floating above a boiled sea.

Extrano let out a long sigh and wiped the sweat with flowed freely down his face, and across his beard, but he looked up, his eyes narrowed in the face of her renewed brilliance.

"Harbinger."

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The TV Station

"Why are you still holding that Envelope Buddy, don't you want to open it?" Rita asked, staring intently at the envelope. She had been with the Doom Patrol for a long time; her curiosity couldn't resist the peculiar nature of Buddy's distinct lack of interest in the contents.

"I know what it is."

"All the more reason for you to OPEN IT!" She made a swipe at the Envelope, and Buddy moved, so quickly she didn't even notice him, placing two fingertips against the bridge of her nose.

"Don't."

Rita blinked a few times. She'd rarely seen anyone move that quickly, it was the fastest reaction times she'd seen this side of the Flash. She'd only had a few encounters with Buddy before, but everyone she'd met had said that he was a likable, amiable, and very friendly guy. He didn't really seem that way at the moment, in fact, the look he'd just given her, coupled with his performance; he'd actually worried her a little.

"Mr. Baker; three minutes until you go Live."

"Thank you. Excuse me, Rita. I need to prepare what I'm going to say."

"Don't you have a script?"

"Apparently not."

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Buddy Baker had a secret he had kept from his wife.

A secret that once released could destroy the marriage which had been bent and warped beyond breaking point, and had still snapped back into place again.

Buddy Baker had another child, a daughter in fact. She was currently coming into her own, the same way Maxine had when she was her age. Three years on this planet, and she already had an affinity for the natural world.

"Mommy? I'm scared. It.it hurts Mommy."

"What hurts, honey?"

"The World Mommy. The world makes me hurt on the insides."

Annie stopped in her tracks, and looked at the Red glow surrounding her daughter.

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Buddy stands in the centre of the studio, at a podium, his palms flat on the desk in front of him, he looked to Rita and then down at his papers. He shuffled them a few times, and rubbed the sweat from his face.

"Many of you know me as Buddy Baker, or the Animal Man, from the Justice League. I've had a few.minor adventures, but after the Crisis, I was separated from the others in our adventure and I spent the last year in a place called the Red." He paused, taking a deeper breath and letting it out slowly.

"I want to talk to you about the World, and Animal Rights. I know it must make many of you groan but--"

Buddy was interrupted by the wall exploding into a spray of Mortar and bricks, a few blindsiding Buddy, causing him to hit the ground heavily. He blinked a few times and thought he caught sight of something familiar.

"White.Ape.?" He muttered, passing into unconsciousness.

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"BORN ON A MONDAY! KILLED ON A SATURDAY!" Grundy roared, as Black Orchid hurtled through the air, exploding through several trees and hitting the ground heavily. She smacked into a large, thick tree which shot spores into the air.

"DAMNIT Grundy, now is NOT the time. The Elementals are SUFFERING." Orchid got to her feet and wiped some Purple blood from her mouth. She turned her head to see the large bulbous tuber growing from the ground. It must have been 6 feet tall and at least half a mile wide. Her eyes opened before she was struck again by Grundy. The world went dark, but before she passed out she was sure that she could see two Grundy's.

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"The Clade's are opened!" The Deer spoke, as it feel to the floor at the foot of a giant tree, its mouth hitting the edge of the small pond.

"The Clade's?" Shock ran across the wildlife in front of the Pond. The Newt passed out, whilst the Frog slowly stroked its amphibious companions head.

"What has caused this?" The Blue Jay said softly, fluttering its wings.

"The Parliaments are in disaster after the Crisis. We can feel the Red rebuilding, but we must ask for the Parliaments of Six to open to us. Make the preparations." Spoke the Hedgehog, one of the most mystical animals, unbeknownst to humans.

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Maxine Baker, known to her Father as Little Wing, had led a long and interesting life, despite the fact she was only 8 years old. Within a few months of her father restarting his super hero career, before his initial stint on the Justice League, she had witnessed the near rape of her mother, and the death of animals. She'd been the focal point for an entire religion, the next step in humanity and raised a Triceratops who had hatched from a Chicken Egg.

She'd seen her father reborn as a Chimera, and a dragonfly and finally as an other dimensional shamanic human totem. Today Maxine's life was about to take a further turn for the strange.

Playing in the yard with her Triceratops, she noticed something unusual in the ground. It appeared to be insect shaped, but she knew nothing insectoid could be that large.

Maxine cocked her head, looking at her Triceratops, and leading it towards the large beetle. There were in fact three large beetles, one hanging from a branch on a tree, on in the grass, another on the roof of the house.

Maxine poked it with a stick, and the scarab hissed loudly.

"Hello. I'm Maxine, what's your name?" Despite Buddy's powers being artificial it had appeared that Maxine had inherited his power base as well, enabling her to tap into the Red on an intuitive level.

Maxine leant down to pick up the beetle, it hissed at her and crawled up her arm. Maxine giggled and looked at her Triceratops, who had retreated to the other end of the garden.

"What's the matter?" She asked, a few second before the beetle bored into her skin.

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Next Issue: White Apes? Who is Annie? What's going on with Rex and Tashana? What's in that Envelope? Scarabs? Stay tuned for our Animal Man Swarm Tie in issue!