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Issue #2

By Ken Hintze

Scripting assist by Josh Krenz

 

<><><><><><><> APPROACHING DARWIN , AUSTRALIA <><><><><><><>

" H ow did you narrow it down to the city of Darwin ?"

A spacecraft rips through the atmosphere above Darwin , Australia . Jemm, the last son of Saturn, pilots the vessel as J'onn and Butcher relax in the back. Will Payton sits nervously on the edge of his seat, biting off the tips of his nails and nibbling the remains.

"Narrow it down?" Starman Will Payton choked, " it's Darwin -like the capital city of Australia . All you did was narrow down the continent."

"Will-what is it that bothers you so?" Butcher asks through closed eyes.

"N-nothing. Nothing at all. I guess I just don't like flying."

John Butcher opens one eye at this comment, looks over at the recently shaved man and decides to think nothing of the comment.

J'onn replied, "The Ingento Corporation's home office is based in Darwin ..and the Ingento Corporation recently completed a number of major construction projects in downtown Darwin . One of high interest to me is the redevelopment of the Wharf Precinct which includes a large convention & exhibition center, an apartment building, retail outlets, and a swimming lagoon. There are rumors of a bomb shelter being installed under this redevelopment project. By itself, this may not be interesting, but the International Building Code restricts bomb shelters to only cover 25% of the above development, due to means of egress issues. A contact I have in Australia informs me that this supposed 'bomb shelter' is in fact the entire footprint of the structure."

Through his nervousness, Will pipes up. "Yeah J'onn-someone violated a building code. Big deal. What about kickbacks and bribes? It's not unrealistic to assume a contractor slipped the code officials an extra few bucks to look the other way."

J'onn nodded in agreement, then replied, "I agree William.but my source IS the only local code official in Darwin who covers this type of non-combustible construction design. Nothing goes to the planning commission without his express approval. The volume of this shelter could easily hold 8,000 people, a number too close for comfort. That alone is a reason to look into it."

In the end Will could do nothing but agree, submitting to the logic of his Martian friend. There was something refreshing about being amongst other superheroes once again. The last time he had been this close to the action seemed like forever in his still fragile memory. Still his strength was returning rapidly, but the prospect of finding Doomsday did not seem pleasant. Will inhaled a deep breath, focusing himself for what they might find as they landed outside of the capital city.

The ship landed in a densely wooded area on the outskirts of Darwin , keeping their presence hidden. Standing up, J'onn addressed the other three in the starship, "Jemm, I would like you to stay on board this ship and do some research for me using the on-board computers which are connected to Z'onn Z'orr. Find out how many cities the Ingento Corporation has a presence in and also research the Hero Hotline. Look for patterns, correlations, anything. I want to know if there is another strong city connection other than Darwin , in case we end up walking away empty handed."

With a quick nod Jemm turned to the computer modules.

J'onn continued, "John, I would like you to look through the city and be our eyes and ears. Tell me what you sense. You are more in tune with the world than anyone of us. You will be our scout. Let us know if anything seems out of the ordinary.but avoid contact with anyone or anything. If Doomsday is indeed here, then we need the element of surprise and a well-formed plan on our side."

Butcher slid a large knife into a concealed leather strap on his back, and then nodded in agreement. J'onn then placed a hand on Will Payton's shoulder and said, "William, you will be joining me on a tour of the Ingento Corporation headquarters. I have scheduled a 2pm tour and we will be taking it. With your ability to change your facial features and voice, you will easily be able to join me there. If anyone needs to make contact, I will have all four of us mind-linked telepathically at all times."

The four started on their paths. At the back of the ship J'onn handed Starman a high-class business suit. The man took it into his arms like a foreign object. It had been years since he had worn such cloth. His life as a missing moment had completely distanced him from such gifts of humanity.

The two exited the starship. J'onn and Will made their way to a back road, approaching a simple black limousine parked on the roadway. As they got closer a man in a simple black suit exited the driver's seat and opened the door and let another well dressed man out of the vehicle. Will shot a strange glance to J'onn, who simply responded telepathically, " Do not be alarmed William. This is my local contact, Eric Horner, who is the local building code official in this city. He will take us to the Ingento Corporation offices under the façade of American Investors looking to invest in the Ingento Corporation. Eric does not know that I am the Manhunter from Mars, he believes that I am John Jones, the private detective here to uncover building code violations that Eric cannot prove about the Ingento Corporation. You are my assistant in this case, so go along with our conversations and if anything comes up, I will relate the information to you through our mind-link ."

" It's not that ," thought Will, " do you think this thing has a television ?"

J'onn released a telepathic groan.

Will patted J'onn on the back, picked up his stride, and let a huge smile cross his face. "Eric Horner!" Will schmoozed, " It's a damn pleasure to meet 'cha! All this time working with John Jones and I hardly ever get to work in the field with real clients. This is truly an honor sir! My name is William Cleveland!"

Eric Horner smiled and held out his hand to greet Will. Eric then turned to J'onn and said, "I hope William here is qualified to take on a case of this magnitude. No offence, but this could be the largest building code violation case in the history of Australia ! I mean, what could be bigger than this?"

Will chuckled under his breath. He'd take building code violations any day of the week, especially if the other possibility is Doomsday and 7,500 kidnapped humans. Eric gave Will a quizzical look, to which Will replied, "You bet! This could be the biggest thing to hit Australia since the Sydney Opera House..or Mick Dundee!"

Eric turned away in disgust, as J'onn chimed in, "Shall we get on the move, Eric? I would hate to be late for our tour of the facilities. We can keep the discussion going in the car."

"Speaking of which-you decked this thing out for us?" Will said as he took in the limousine before him. " Look at this J'onn-this is what I call traveling in style. Real class!"

Eric gave an awkward smile, then opened the back door of the limousine. With a graceful gesture he motioned J'onn into the back seat. "That's what I love about working with you Mr. Jones.you always put work first and leave the lousy comedy back in the U.S. where it belongs."

Will started to respond, only to be cut off by J'onn. " I like 'Friends'."

Eric let out a chuckle. " Well, who doesn't?"

" You cheated ," thought Will, " you read his mind !"

J'onn gave Will a small smirk and a wink.

The driver closed the door behind them and started the journey to the heart of the city--the redeveloped Wharf Precinct, the location of the Ingento Corporation headquarters.

"So tell me Eric," said Will. " They're big on soccer out here, right?"

"Football, yes." Eric responded

"Really? I thought you guys only played rugby and soccer."

"No, we play rugby and football."

"Wow, I never thought you guys could take it. I mean-don't get me wrong, you've got some mighty big.what do you call them? Blokes? But I didn't think a nation of criminals could ever take it to the gridiron."

Eric chuckled as he looked over to J'onn. "Clearly Mr. Cleveland has never played rugby or Australian 'soccer'. We'll have to arrange it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back inside the starship, Jemm was being showered with light from multiple monitors all glowing down information as he searched for J'onn's request. The homepage for Ingento Corporation sat directly in the center, a list of corporate officers scrolling vertically downward. Jemm scanned through the names, then thought, " J'onn.here is the list of directors. The Chief Operating Officer is Dennis Noreen. "

"So do you know who Joe Montana is? Or Chris Carter?"

" The Chief Financial Officer is Jason Cutts ."

"Or what about The Fridge? Do you got someone like him?"

" The Security Director is Greg Wheeler, the Chief Research Director is Barry Melrose, the ."

" Wait a minute Jemm " Will telepathically interrupted. " Did you just say that Barry Melrose is the Chief Research Director? That's the jerk that said I stole the Starman powers from his test subjects, the Power Elite! "

" Does he normally fall silent like that?" Eric asked J'onn.

"All the time." J'onn nodded.

The limousine stopped at the main doors of the Ingento Corporation, as J'onn thought, " That could be a very common name William. Jemm, look into it. We have arrived-try to keep your mind focused on the task at hand ."

Will and J'onn exited the limousine. From inside the limo, Eric said, "Good luck John..I hope this is a successful trip for the both of us." Eric closed the door and the limousine pulled away, as two large men approached J'onn and Will, "How can we be of assistance to you two gentlemen?"

J'onn removed a piece of paper from his suit jacket, handing it to the larger of the two men, "This is the information I received from your corporate office. I am John Jones and this is William Cleveland. I trust that you were informed of our visit?"

The smaller of the two men took the paper and read it very quickly-nervously looking over the words and quickly welcoming J'onn and Will into the main complex. A quick telepathic scan of the area revealed that he couldn't read the minds of anyone in the building except for Will.

The two were led into a lobby. The smaller man walked away, Will started to follow only to be pushed into a seat by the larger man.

"Take a seat," the man said.

"Funny," Will Payton said as he brushed off his jacket. " You Aussies certainly know your comedy."

J'onn contacted Butcher. " W hat have you uncovered ?"

" J'onn, I have a very bad feeling about this place. Something is wrong.very out of harmony. The spirits are telling me to tread lightly, as something is amiss. I am coming to the Ingento building now, for I fear that you two are in danger. I will be there in .."

John Butcher's thoughts cut out, as J'onn tried again to reach him. Turning to Will, J'onn attempted to connect with him, but found no response. J'onn turned quickly and noticed the smaller man return into the room with a large man in a designer Armani suit. The man approached the waiting group. "Welcome Mr. John Jones.I see that you are here for a tour of our facilities, I have been expecting you. Unfortunately, we only allow individual tours and never groups. Your associate will have to wait here. You do understand, don't you Mr. Jones?"

Anxiety spread through J'onn as he glanced over to his accomplice. After a brief moment, Will looked into J'onn's eyes and said, "Go ahead Mr. Jones, I can find something to entertain me down here."

J'onn then joined the man in the Armani suit as they walked through a door and into a hallway.

" So." Will started, " you guys play soccer out here?"

As they walked down the hallway J'onn opened up the lines of communication. "It seems that we have not been properly introduced to each other. What is your name and position within the company?"

The man in the Armani suit shrugged, nonchalantly replying "All will be revealed in good time.please come with me."

The two approached an elevator. The man pulled a key out of his pocket, inserted it into a keyhole and punched in some keys on the keypad. The elevator slowly started its descent. J'onn knew it was going down to the bomb shelter basement mentioned on the architectural plans.

J'onn then said, "I do business more comfortably when I know who I am dealing with...so please good sir, what is your name?"

The man smirked, " M y name and position are is of no consequence to you. What you need to consider are the consequences of industrial espionage. Did you think that you could just walk into this office and try to steal our secrets? We have the best meta-human warning devices in existence. You may be normal, but your so-called associate is far less innocent."

The man mockingly showed surprise. "Oh! That was supposed to be a secret? I know your associate is a meta-human. Right about now the last of his powers are being sapped away. Play it cool, you may just die painlessly today."

J'onn turned to face the man in the Armani suit, "What could you possibly have to hide within this company that you would develop a meta-human warning system capable of shutting down a meta-human's powers? This is a real-estate development company..." The two exited the elevator. J'onn prepared himself for both a mental or physical attack, as he could still feel his powers within him.

The man in the Armani suit simply laughed and gestured to a room at the end of the hall.

The door slid open to reveal a large circular room. In the middle of the room a man in a new suit lay hunched over on his knees, chained to the ground. The man looked up-revealing the true face of Will Payton, all powers drained from his being. "J'onn" he started, "it's a trap.get away while you still can!"

With one mighty motion J'onn swung his arm into the man in the Armani suit, sending the man hard against the wall of the hallway. J'onn then turned and launched himself into the center of the room. Before he could get to Will, a large metal panel slid upwards, revealing a glass covered control room with a mixed group of men and women working at computers. One man stood apart from the group. With great confidence he looked J'onn directly into J'onn's face-his arms locked behind his back.

"This has to be my birthday!" over the loud speakers the man gloated. "Not only do I get to test out my latest subjects, but I also get Starman in my lab! That's right Starman, you haven't forgotten your old friend, Dr. Barry Melrose? Right?"

The man's face shifted to a scowl as he focused on the chained figure on the floor.
"You stole those powers from me, Starman. I had great plans, great plans indeed. Still, that didn't stop you from interfering. Now, however, I have been pushed into greater things. My skills and research have created something much more powerful."

The man behind the glass once again started to smile. " It is not everyday that Dr. Frankenstein gets to destroy his wicked monster."

Across the room a large door opened. For a brief moment there was nothing, but soon twenty people filed into the room, slowly crawling along the room's perimeter. With a quick gesture, J'onn reached down and ripped the chains out of the ground, snapping them off Will's wrists.

Dr. Melrose screamed in surprise and frustration. " What? How can this be?"

J'onn cast his gaze through the glass into the madman's eyes. " The monster was the doctor, not the creation."

The living wall of humans started to march inward on the Manhunter and his weakened companion. "I do not wish to hurt any of you.but please be advised, I will do whatever I have to do to keep my friend safe from harm."

A man flung his arms outward, shards of ice streamed from his fingertips towards J'onn. The projectile collided with J'onn who simply shrugged off the assault in order to protect his friend.

Once again J'onn attempted a mind scan, but found his efforts to be in vain. Two people were punching their hands together, creating a vibration stream through the airwaves. J'onn jumped into the air with Will Payton, avoiding the attack, which managed to knock four assailants into a stupor. J'onn set down next to the three attackers and carefully knocked them out with a swift tap on the head.

J'onn then faced the thirteen others in the room, Starman still held in his arms like a weak child. The remaining attackers shifted their positions, moving into a firing squad formation. Setting Will down on the ground, J'onn flew at supersonic speed towards the easy target, carefully knocking out the row of sitting ducks.

The mastermind behind the glass, Dr. Melrose, seemed unimpressed. " Release the meta-human system. " A man at a computer typed in a code, returning the metal panel in front of the glass wall. A new door opened along the curved wall. A large figure sped into the room. J'onn reverted back to his Martian Manhunter form, quickly shielding Will's limp body from harm.

The speakers came alive again with Dr. Melrose's voice as he said, "The Martian Manhunter..no wonder our meta-human security system didn't pick you up. But it matters not. Do you remember the man before you?

Of course J'onn remembered him. He was Dreadnaught-a walking disaster. Dreadnaught, along with Psi-Phon had posed a serious threat to Superman and the Justice League for years. "So that's how they've done it," J'onn thought to himself. " They're using Psi-Phon to remove everyone's powers." The two managed to pack a serious one-two punch. As Psi-Phon leached powers away, Dreadnought would duplicate the abilities-forcing the world's greatest meta-humans to face their own powers.

"By now you're aware of what Dreadnaught can do, however how familiar are you with Starman's abilities? How often have you been on the other end of one of his assaults? I believe his ability to heat things up might cause you a little more trouble than normal!" The speaker cut out as Dreadnaught stepped closer to where J'onn was standing.

J'onn flew into the air, lobbing blasts from his vision down at Dreadnaught. The impacts managed to knock the massive alien into the wall. Dreadnaught pulled himself off the wall and flew upward, firing a nova-blast at J'onn, who quickly avoided the blast with his speed. Out-maneuvering Dreadnaught, J'onn flew behind the beast and bullrushed him with all of his strength. A crater formed below the two as J'onn continued pushing Dreadnaught into the ground. Then, before Dreadnaught could retaliate, J'onn flew into the air. The intense heat and fire from a single shot of Starman's powers would easily incapacitate J'onn.

J'onn continued to fly through the room, scooping up all twenty of the humans, and placing them inside the open door from where Dreadnaught came from. Turning invisible, J'onn once again rammed into Dreadnaught. Dreadnaught still maintained consciousness, and continued to fight back. Will had managed to pull himself up, and ran over to the pile of unconscious people. After a few moments, a few of them snapped out of their stupor. With J'onn invisible, the test subjects only saw the raging Dreadnaught firing nova-blasts wildly about. One member of the group, the first to attack J'onn, got to his feet and shot a blast of ice at Dreadnaught. Soon the hulking alien was encapsulated within thirty-feet of ice.

Will and the others continued their mission to wake the remaining test subjects. Still, with Starman's powers Dreadnaught would not be held captive by a prison of ice. Within a few moments Dreadnaught had melted through the cage. Mockingly, he turned to the people and laughed, but an invisible J'onn once again knocked him into a wall. Dreadnought swung wildly, but missed J'onn, who once again blasted him with energy.

More people stirred, as Will continued to shake and slap the delirious. Two more members of the group stepped forward, knocking Will Payton aside. Repeating the gestures from earlier, the two figures smashed their fists together sending a wave of kinetic energy towards Dreadnaught. The stream of energy glided past Dreadnaught, colliding instead with J'onn. The dazed Manhunter now became an easy target as Dreadnaught swung a massive fist into the Last Martian. For a brief second J'onn's concentration faded, enough time for Dreadnaught to know where his opponent was. The nova-blast fired from Dreadnaught quickly wreathed the Martian's body in flame. All J'onn could do was scream in agony.

The Martian Manhunter fell to the ground in a wrecked heap, as Dreadnaught picked him up. Holding the Manhunter in a fierce embrace, Dreadnaught increased his body temperature, causing the Manhunter's screams to intensify.

As the torture continued J'onn lost his form, his shape shifting into bizarre and absurd shapes. Will screamed for Dreadnaught to stop, but the massive alien simply tightened his grip.

Murmurs could be heard behind Will as the test subjects started putting the pieces together. A few of the test subjects grabbed a hold of the helpless Starman and dragged him to the ground.

Laughing the entire time, Dreadnaught held the broken Manhunter in one hand. With his other hand he reached back and ignited his fist. His laughter continued to fill the room as he slowly brought the flaming mass downwards. Suddenly, Dreadnaught's laughter cut out. The flames that once engulfed his massive hand were now dying away. He tried to heat his core again, but nothing happened. With a horrid scream Dreadnaught threw J'onn against the wall and tried to use the nova-blasts, but nothing happened. As J'onn tried to crawl away, Dreadnought screamed, "I don't know how you removed my powers.but I am still strong enough to finish you!"

Dreadnought stomped over to J'onn, but was cut short by an energy blast from behind him. Dreadnaught turned to his assailant and saw one of the subjects standing there in defiance. The man said in Spanish, "<That's the Martian Manhunter of the Justice League! He saved my brother.so back off you ugly piece of trash!>" The man shot another energy blast. Dreadnaught shook it off and picked up the man.

Effortlessly, Dreadnaught ripped the man into two pieces, laughing as the man's sinews snapped and his muscles tore apart. Bones popped, and finally the man was dead. "You were only good for feeding Doomsday anyway.fleshy waste."

As J'onn saw this happen, he charged Dreadnaught in a rage. Pounding him with multiple lefts and rights, Martian Manhunter pummeled the laughing alien. J'onn morphed his body into numerous spikes and stung them into Dreadnaught's body. "MURDERER!!! YOU WILL NOT KILL ANOTHER AS LONG AS I AM STILL STANDING!!! THESE SPIKES HAVE INVADED YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM, TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR BODILY FUNCTIONS! FROM NOW ON YOU WILL BE PARALYZED FOR THE SIN YOU HAVE COMMITED TODAY!"

J'onn shifted the spikes, causing Dreadnaught to bellow in pain. Finally, J'onn removed the spikes, collapsing in exhaustion. For a few minutes Dreadnaught's body twitched in place, until finally he was frozen in place.

A door opened into the room and the nineteen test subjects fled out in a panic, abandoning the beaten form of Will Payton. A lone figure stood in the open doorway that once held Dreadnaught. John Butcher entered the room, dragging behind him an unconscious Psi-Phon. Lodged into the alien's neck was Butcher's massive knife, which he quickly removed. With a swift toss and a stern kick Butcher tossed Psi-Phon into the room. He loomed over the bleeding figure, and without hesitation brought his massive foot down across the pitiful creature's arms and legs, snapping them in two. " Try to escape now, unholy beast. "

Butcher helped the fallen Will, as Will started to feel his powers return. None of his injuries seemed to be major.

The two walked over to J'onn, as the Martian Manhunter slowly got to his knees under his own power. J'onn looked up, as Butcher lent him a hand. "Jemm contacted me and said he could sense from you that Psi-Phon and Dreadnaught were here. I had already broken into this complex, so it was only a matter of time until I found you. Fortunately, I ran into Psi-Phon first. He was watching the fight on a monitor.so I made sure he would forget all about giving Dreadnought the powers of Starman. A quick taste of my knife into his neck and you didn't have to worry about fire anymore."

A bright flash quickly surrounded J'onn, Butcher, and Will..suddenly darkness. The emptiness seemed to last an eternity, but another flash interrupted the abyss. J'onn looked over at his compatriots, who each gave him a perplexed look. They were on an island none of them could identify.

Standing at the center of the small island was Snapper Carr. "Snapper my friend!" J'onn said. "Why are you doing this?"

Snapper looked back to him and said, "You second rate psychic.for once do the right thing, and stay out of our affairs. I may not be able to invade your mind with the firewalls you have set up, but trust me on this.if you interfere with our plans again, you will not walk away alive. I don't care what he says about keeping you alive."

Snapper teleported away, leaving J'onn, Butcher, and Will alone on the island.

 

NEXT ISSUE : It looks like J'onn was correct about something going on with the Ingento Corporation, but how is all of this connected? Snapper Carr, Psi-Phon, Dreadnaught, Dr. Melrose, Doomsday, 7,500 "test subjects", the Ingento Corporation, and the Hero Hotline. Who's responsible for all of this, and what are their motives? Check back next issue in Manhunters #3!