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06

"Cladistics"

By Ed Ainsworth

Swarm Tie in Issue

 

Thomas Kalamaku is known as a Psychonaut. An entity evolutionarily enhanced to deal with things beyond his ordinary perception. Originally intended to be part of the New Guardians, a group of enhanced humans and elementals who would bring about the epoch of a new age for humanity. However, this "event" was handled poorly by the Guardians of the Universe. Tom thought he had no powers, but he was mistaken.

Tom had transformed misfit mutants, deviants and beastiforms into creatures with normal minds, and hearts, full of love and hope, and he was the final part of the New Guardian's plans. The team had been gathered, the seeds planted within the belly of Gloss, who lay nestled in a root formation, carried by Harbringer, who was now made entirely from light.

"We're here." Extrano spoke, hovering over where Tom kept the Bestiforms. The crystal skull in his hand reverberated with power, and he smiled, looking across at his assembled team. Even Floro looked happy, despite his extreme dislike for Flesh.

"Thomas. We've finally come for you." Extrano spoke, as Jet and RAM decended towards the man.

"Extrano.RAM? Jet? I thought you were both dead.And Harbringer too.even Floro. What's going on? An old Reunion ?"

"No Thomas. Something much more important than that, we're here to change the world and we need you to do it." Extrano spoke, landing next to Tom and putting his hand on Toms shoulder.

"We need your hope, and your light Tom. We need your beastiforms and your new society."

"But I've still got so much to do with less people; they're only just surviving out here, Extrano."

".Whether you give it freely or not, Thomas." Extrano smiled, and smashed Tom over the head with his Crystal skull.

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"Traci." Martin let out a long, out of breath sigh, rolling off his lover, who stared at him with satisfied eyes. She rolled onto his chest and stroked his chin gently.

"Don't say it. Why can't you just accept, we're two different people who find each other extremely attractive." She whispered, smiling a cocky smile.

"It's the Principle of the matter, I'm primarily a scientist, and I have a responsibility to set an example to all of my students."

"You're setting the example that you're a stud." Traci smiled, before rolling her eyes at Martin's stoic features.

"Oh for god sakes, Martin. We always go over this after we've had sex!"

"Traci! Please, do you have to.say that word?" Martin blushed and pulled himself out of bed.

"MARTIN! Why can't you just accept this? Accept me. It's SUPPOSED to be."

"And what if I don't subscribe to the "Destiny" angle, Traci?"

"Martin, you were an earth elemental. You bonded with firestorm during the Crisis, you were nearly expunged from existence by demi-gods from an alternate reality, and now you're having sex with a beautiful, GORGEOUS Urban Magician. What ABOUT that sentence makes you think it's a series of random coincidences?"

Martin sighed, and looked at her for a long time. Traci soon sat down, returning his gaze and running a hand through her long hair.

"Something's happening Martin. " She suddenly piqued up. "Something is happening to the city. It's screaming at me."

"Well, what can I do, Traci?"

"You know what we can do, Martin. You've been repressing it since you nearly became a Cosmic elemental. You've told me about it, the way it feels when we're near. How we're so close to each other emotionally and mentally."

"Traci, please, it's all.conjecture it's."

"MARTIN. I Love you, of that I'm sure, but...I can't let you delude yourself anymore. I won't allow the man I love to drift into some self induced insecurity of about being too old and unable to do anything."

"Traci.Please, you're pushing me with your Magic's. I can feel it, stop it."

The Building began to shake, Traci pushed harder on Martin, windows warping, door frames twisting.

"Traci.Please, I don't want to do this..."

"TRACI!" Martin's hands began to glow, energy warping around the room. Wall paper turned to polystyrene, water to nitrogen gas, the oxygen transformed into gel; Martin grasped at his throat, and reached out for Traci, who grabbed his hand tightly.

The room exploded in a bright fit of light, flames spraying the people below.

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Rita Farr, AKA Elasti-Woman, had a lot of experience with the bizarre as a member of Doom Patrol, the most off-beat and strange team this side of the universe. However, before her was something very strange indeed. An African man, dressed in what appeared to be a loin-clothe and a ceremonial helmet stood before her.

"I am Freedom Beast, and Buddy Baker, the Animal Man must die!"

"Why? What's he ever done to you?" Rita asked, her body increasing in size as she spoke, the jeans and t-shirt she was wearing tearing with her increase.

"He did not help me when I needed it, and instead spent his time helping you, in your world of warfare and oil prosperity when my people are dying!" Freedom Beast yelled, leaping through the air and slamming into Rita's stomach, bringing her down and into the stage. The wood splintered around her head, and she yelped with pain.

Buddy stirred as the mutated animals paced around him. Half flamingo, half Rhino, the beast with a huge beak, pink feathers, and a heavy set quadrapedal body. It snorted and nudged buddy with his nose.

Buddy's eyes open to see the animal mutates thrown through the air. Entities covered in armor, similar to that new Blue Beetle that was being thrown around during the Crisis.

"Wha? What're those things?" He asked, groggily, as Freedom Beast landing in front of Buddy, kicking him squarely into the trio of "Beetle-Borgs".

Buddy hit the ground and rolled a few feet. He stirred, and looked up. There was something familiar about these three...some sort of connection. Using his "ecological vision" he opened his eyes to the connections of the universe. He saw the connections from his body to theirs, and suddenly the feeling presented itself.

"Ellen?" he said softly to the large one, as it fashioned a blade from its hand and thrust it through Buddy's shoulder, impaling him.

"AH! JESUS!" He yelped, as Freedom beast turned his attention to the angry Beetle's.

"Something isn't right, Animal man."

"I BLOODY WELL KNOW THAT! I HAVE A F*&$ING BLADE THROUGH MY SHOULDER!"

"There's no need to be rude..." Freedom Beast said as he leapt towards the Maxine Beetle, who quickly twisted on the balls of her feet, grabbing the beast's ankle, and hurling him in a wide arc, loosing him towards and subsequently through the far wall of the studio.

"Maxine.Urn.I know you can here me, you're connected to the Red too. Come on Honey.Listen to Daddy.Don't.Hrnnnn. Don't Do this."

"Ddd...Dad?" The Maxine Beetle spoke.

"Come On honey. Reach out.Reach out and grab onto me.Feel humanity again, come on."

The Beetle Maxine tightened her forehead, eyes closing as she reached out for her father, but something went wrong in the process. With the beetle interfering, Maxine latched onto the abilities and the instincts of one of the many parasites on Buddy Bakers body.

Maxine crawled over to Ellen's body, and quickly began to tear into her abdominal region, with her beetle armor claws, tearing away at the armor and the flesh, before, slowly trying to crawl into Ellen's belly.

" DEAR GOD! NO! NO!"

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The Red Tornado has changed greatly since the Crisis. Damaged beyond repair, his robotic shell was naught but fragments. Luckily for him the shell was literally that. A Shell. Having spent a month and a half as shrapnel within a Tornado of his own personality and thoughts, he finally made it back together, becoming a member of the new JSA team.

The Tornado now spent his spare time collection wind's for the Parliament of Vapors. The Avatar of the wind had been chasing Zephyr's around for the last week, only to find himself called away for what appeared to be an important meeting. Very important; if what was being spread around was true.

A meeting of Clade's was in attendance, but so much had happened in the last year. The Earth was hurting, and it showed. Swamp Thing hadn't been seen since the Elemental war, Tornado himself had been so busy catching up with the Parliament of Vapors, and he'd neglected his family. He even saw the other Elementals. The new Stone elemental, an aboriginal man, who claimed to be able to converse with Uluru and Naiad, the water elemental.

Red Tornado even recognized a few other "elementals" the Elemental for the Red was attending this gathering. It was not Buddy Baker as he had expected, but the daughter of Swamp thing, Tefe Holland. He didn't recognize the man in the swirled coat, who appeared to be licking moss from a tree and glancing around underneath a crop of uncontrolled strawberry blonde hair, nor the silent, stoic woman who had a long shock of white hair. The final group was a giant swollen tuber, the Black Orchid, and Soloman Grundy, sat down against a tree, playing with a frog in his massive hands.

"Welcome to the Parliament of Clade's, Vapor's representative, we now wait only for the Flames representative."

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"MAXINE! GOD NO!" Buddy yelled, as his youngest daughter tried to crawl back inside her mother's belly, Ellen falling on her back and writhing in pain, despite the scarabs best attempts to keep her up.

Tears rolled down Buddy's eyes as he scrambled to his feet, blood pouring from his shoulder wound.

"MAXINE!" He yelled again, as he spotted Cliff leaping onto Freedom Beast, driving his spiked fists through the "heroes" chest, and opening it up.

"CLIFF! Ahhh.Damnit." Buddy drops onto his knees watching his son tear out the organs of the meta-human, tossing them into a neat pile behind him.

"It all ->Ahunnn<- went so wrong.so quickly..."

Buddy was suddenly blinded by the approaching light given off from above him. The crimson flames licked all over the androgynous body. The voices spoke in unison, both Stein's and 13's. Long flowing hair made from fire, and no mouth to speak from, it was as though the very flames radiated intelligence and language. There was no costume, nothing to suggest it was a firestorm. This was something else that combined the Matrix with magic.

This was a flame elemental.

"Scarabs of space, you are a blight on the surface of the Earth." The firestorm spoke, voices over-lapping, Traci's soft, subtle tones, almost sensual in their pitch to Martin's harsh, angered voice, crackling with energy.

"The Parliament of Flames will no longer allow this to continue." The firestorm lifted its hand, long slender feminine fingers, moving with grace but possessing the bulk and muscle of a man.

The Maxine beetle screeched as the ground, brick and mortar moved up around her, removing her from her mothers bleeding womb and pinning the pair to the ground. The Firestorm walked towards them, crouching down and placing a hand on Maxine's forehead.

"We are the new Fire elemental, Scarab of Space. We hear your multifaceted voice, a buzzing consciousness, like fire in the night. We hear it and reject it."

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Buddy charges towards the Firestorm, leaping into the air to throw a kick, but is intercepted mid-way with a fist to the stomach, sending Buddy flying backwards.

"We are not your enemy, Bernhard Baker. We are Firestorm. We are the living embodiment of sex and culture, the storm of Fire!"

"Uhhh.Great. That makes me feel better while you pin my wife and daughter down.Wait.Where's Cliff?"

Cliff had already thought about making an escape but instead tried a different tactic. Leaping through the air, the Beetle, slightly out of phase with reality collided with Firestorm on a level that only the beetle armor could provide.

The Firestorm exploded and threw Buddy backwards through the air; he hit a wall hard and slid down it, leaving a trail of blood.

His final thought, as he passed out, was that he should really get some better endurance. It's not good for a superhero to pass out all the time.

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Next Issue: Beetles Vs the new Firestorm at the centre of the Matrix! Rip Hunter and some very different Time Commandos! The Parliaments of Clades, and more Platinum!