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#1
MAY 10 |
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“A New Beginning”
Freddy Freeman looked around and took a deep breath. He’d finally made it. Here he stood on the grounds of Ivy University as a freshman. He glanced at the clock tower and realized he was almost late for a meeting with the person who’d made that possible.
As he walked across the campus, his mind started to wander. He knew that time had ticked forward since Titans West had broken up. He’d spent time finishing up his high school education in Fawcett City and began looking toward his future.
He walked into the science building and entered an elevator. His mind continued to wander as he recalled his goodbyes at the Fawcett City train station. Billy hadn’t been there, but that wasn’t anything unusual. They hadn’t spoken since their brawl in the ruins of the old Titans West headquarters. To be honest, Freddy thought, he really didn’t know if he was still mad at Billy or not. Of course, he also didn’t know if Billy might still be mad at him or not.
The doors opened and he stepped out. He walked down the hallway and opened the door to the office he was looking for and was greeted by a red-haired woman. Freddy’s brow furrowed as she led him into the inner office and closed the door behind him. Ray Palmer, the head of the Physics department, rose to shake his hand.
“It’s good to see you, Freddy,” Palmer said as he motioned for Freddy to have a seat. “I’d hoped that you’d take up my invitation.”
“I really appreciate it, Professor Palmer,” Freddy said. “If you hadn’t been able to help get me the scholarships I needed, I never would have been able to attend here.”
“It’s no problem,” Palmer said with a smile. In his mind, he replayed a conversation they’d had:
“Freddy really needs this,” Captain Marvel had said. “I don’t want him to feel like I’m manipulating him, but…”
“But he needs something, right?” Palmer had asked. Marvel sheepishly smiled in agreement. Palmer nodded. “I can help him out.”
“There’s one thing,” Marvel said. “I don’t want him to know about me talking to you.”
“Is there a problem there?” Palmer asked.
Marvel shifted uncomfortably. “You’ve heard about the fight we had when he was with the Titans West, right?”
“You two haven’t worked things out?” Palmer pressed.
“I’ve been trying to give him space,” Marvel said. “I didn’t want to push and make the situation worse. And Freddy hasn’t come to talk to me.”
Palmer rubbed his chin. “I’ll be glad to help him out, and it would definitely help me out to have CM3 on campus.”
Palmer blinked and returned to the present as Freddy asked him a question. “Your secretary looks familiar,” he said. “Was she ever on TV?”
Palmer made sure the door was closed before he answered. “Her name’s Fiona Webb. She was on TV, but only because she was a bystander to an incident. A few years back, she was getting ready to marry a man named Barry Allen when the Reverse-Flash attacked to try and kill her. The Flash stopped him, but he killed the Reverse-Flash doing it.”
“Barry Allen?” Freddy asked. “Billy’s told me about him. He was the last Flash, right?”
Palmer nodded. “It gets worse. The Flash was tried and acquitted of murder and then he died not long after.”
Palmer continued. “I know that living in Central City was affecting her mind. She kept seeing Barry everywhere she looked. I knew Barry had cared about her, so I had her hired here so she could start over.” Palmer paused a moment. “Not many people know that, so I’d appreciate it if you kept it to yourself.”
“Of course,” Freddy said.
“Have you thought about your major yet?” Palmer asked.
Freddy thought a moment. “I’m not sure. I’ve thought about journalism, but haven’t made my mind up yet.”
Palmer laughed. “It’s funny you say that. I’ve got someone in the journalism department I know.” Palmer wrote down a name and office number on a sheet of note paper and handed it to Freddy. “He’s a little unusual, but he’ll be able to answer any questions you might have. And, of course, my door’s always open to you as well.”
“Thanks, Professor,” Freddy said as he rose and shook Palmer’s hand. He picked up his crutch and left the office, curious about his roommate.
“You know Ray Palmer?” Ryan Choi, Freddy’s roommate, wasn’t what he’d expected. When he’d heard Ryan was a physics major, he’d expected your standard nerd. Instead, Ryan was dressed stylishly and his spiked hair tried to add a couple of inches to his 5’5” size.
“I met him,” Freddy admitted. “I don’t know why he’s taking such an interest in me.”
“Probably smells potential on you,” Ryan said. He smiled widely. “I know that’s how he got me my scholarship. I’ve been following his theories since I was a kid. I’ve been writing back and forth to him since my family moved here from Hong Kong.” Ryan sobered. “But friend of Professor Palmer’s or not, there’s something you need to understand if we’re going to be rooming together. Lay off about my height. I’ve heard it all before and the only thing it’ll gain you is a black eye.”
“Same to you,” Freddy said as he showed his crutch. “You lay off the cripple jokes and I’ll lay off the short jokes. Okay, Tiny?”
Ryan smiled. “You got it, Hopalong. Now let’s go find the cafeteria; I hear that the food goes downhill once all the parents leave.”
The two new friends headed out of the room in search of food.
A groundskeeper was muttering under his breath as he swept up a sidewalk. He hated this time of year, all the new students and their parents just throwing trash everywhere, and whose job was it to make sure the trash went away?
His scowl only deepened when he looked to his left and saw someone standing in the middle of the lawn – directly behind the ‘Keep off the Grass’ sign. After muttering a second about how he wished college kids could read, he spoke up and said, “You need to step off the grass, sir.”
The man turned and the janitor saw his face for the first time. His skin appeared to be made of plant fibers and his eyes were red and crazed. “You won’t separate me from the Green again!” the Floronic Man screeched. At his unspoken command, thorny bushes erupted from beneath the sidewalk and imprisoned the janitor.
Freddy and Ryan were returning to their room with sickened looks on their faces. “Seriously,” Ryan said, “you cannot expect me to believe that meat loaf’s supposed to be green.”
“I think I saw a ring on one of the hot dogs,” Freddy added. “I also can’t believe that the head cook’s name is Stumpy.”
Ryan rubbed his stomach. “Looks like we’ll be making friends with the pizza place, then.” They stopped as they came upon the attack and they ducked behind a statue’s pedestal as Floronic Man, totally focused on the janitor, did not notice them.
“We’ve got to get help for him,” Ryan said in a low voice.
“I know,” Freddy said. “Look, you need to run and get campus security. Maybe there’s something they can do.” Ryan started to protest and Freddy cut him off. “Look, with my leg there’s no way I can keep up with you and that guy needs help now. I’ll be fine.”
Ryan started to argue but just gave a quick nod and took off at a run.
Freddy watched until Ryan rounded a corner and was gone. He smiled. “Captain Marvel,” he whispered.
Not even the Floronic Man could miss the lightning bolt that struck nearby. He turned his attention from the trapped guard just in time to see CM3 land directly in front of him.
“Let him go,” CM3 said. “It’s over.”
“No!” Floronic Man screeched as CM3 ripped apart the bushes and released the janitor.
“You’d better get out of here,” CM3 advised as Floronic Man jumped on his back and started hitting him on the head.
“I know what you want!” Floronic Man yelled. “You want to separate me from the Green again, just like everybody else! I won’t let you!”
CM3 smirked. He launched himself into flight, forcing the Floronic Man to hold on for dear life. CM3 then gently removed the Floronic Man from his shoulders and placed him atop the clock tower.
“Sorry, but I can’t let you run around on the loose to hurt people,” he explained as the Floronic Man ranted in rage. “That should hold you until…” His voice trailed away as he saw campus security on the ground. “There they are.”
Leaving his opponent on top of the tower, CM3 lowered himself to the ground. He pointed up. “He’s up there,” he advised before launching himself into flight.
He didn’t fly far as he landed behind a building and said “Captain Marvel” to return to his Freddy Freeman form. He walked around the corner and ran into Ryan who was with a blonde woman.
“You all right?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah,” Freddy said. He looked over to where a fire truck was raising a ladder up to the top of the tower. “Looks like they got him.”
“And nobody got hurt,” Ryan added. “And I found us a new friend while I was calling security.” He presented the blond woman. “Meet Bethany.”
“Bethany Silver,” she said as she clasped Freddy’s hand. She was gorgeous; just looking into her eyes took Freddy’s breath away.
“Hi,” Freddy stammered out. He tried to ignore Ryan’s wide grin behind her. “It’s good to meet you.”
“Well then,” Ryan said as he draped his arms over Freddy and Bethany’s shoulders. “Since we’re all friends, why don’t we go find the nearest pizza place before we starve?”
“Great idea,” Bethany said. “You know, they had steaks here a week ago and I found a name tag that said Muffins in mine! I showed it to the cafeteria lady and she said if I wanted muffins, I had to come for breakfast!”
Freddy’s mind began to wander as they walked away and Bethany and Ryan kept talking. So this was college. He’d known it would be different from high school, but not this different, and now he was going to stand on his own two feet without Billy or Mary there to back him up.
Freddy smiled. It looked like college was going to be fun.
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Next Issue: In CM3 #2: Freddy begins classes, but there’s an old face starting to prepare for an attack.
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