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#6
OCT 11 |
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“The Truth about Bethany Silver”
“Come in,” Dr. Sivana said, "and close the door behind you.”
Freddy Freeman, very observant of the weapon Sivana was aiming at him, obeyed. Inside, however, he was filled with panic. He knew that if Sivana suspected the truth – that he was CM3 – his life could be measured in minutes.
Freddy sat down in a chair that Sivana motioned to and, a moment later, Sivana pulled the trigger on his weapon and tendrils of sticky fabric shot out, easily binding Freddy to the chair. A handkerchief from Sivana’s pocket served to silence him.
“Why are you doing this?” Bethany demanded.
“You wouldn’t answer my phone calls,” Sivana replied as he sat down on Bethany’s bed and began flipping through a photo scrapbook. “I had to come check on you.”
“I don’t want to see you!” Bethany said. She started toward the door. “All I have to do is call for help and the police will come for you.”
Sivana raised his weapon. “I don’t think that would be wise,” he warned as he motioned for her to sit down. He turned to another page in the scrapbook and showed it to Bethany. He pointed to a picture where she was with Freddy and Ryan. “Who’s he?” Sivana asked as his finger moved to Ryan.
“That’s Ryan,” Bethany answered. “He’s a friend.”
Sivana nodded once and pulled the scrapbook back toward him. “See that it stays that way,” he said. “There’s something about him I don’t like, just like this one.” He aimed the weapon at Freddy again.
Sivana stood and walked toward Freddy with an evil smile on his face. “Yes, I know your dirty little secret,” he said as sweat began to bead up on Freddy’s forehead, "and after I finish talking with her, it will be your turn.”
Ryan Choi was sitting in his hospital bed when Ray Palmer walked in. “How are you doing?” he asked.
“I feel fine,” Ryan said, turning off the TV. “Just nothing on.”
Ray smiled. “That’s a hazard of a hospital stay. I’ll bet that the food’s pretty awful, too.”
“Now that you mention it,” Ryan said, “is meatloaf supposed to be purple?”
“Not normally,” Ray said as he picked up Ryan’s chart and flipped through it. “Just look at it as teaching you a new appreciation for the cafeteria.”
Ryan’s face contorted in an odd look of disgust. “I didn’t think I was that sick.”
Ray closed the chart. “Well, everything looks good. I want you to stay here tonight for observation and then you’ll be able to head back to campus tomorrow. I still want you to check in with me regularly, though; I want to make sure there are no side effects from exposing you to that radiation.”
Ryan smiled. “No problem. I’d rather avoid cancer if it’s possible.”
Ray said goodnight and left the room, but once the door closed, his smile faded...it wasn’t cancer he was worried about.
Sivana tossed the scrapbook aside. “Now, let’s talk about you,” he said as he turned his full attention to Bethany. “You’ve been a bad girl. Do you know how hard it was for me to find you?”
“Did you think that there might have been a reason?” Bethany asked. “Maybe I didn’t want to be found.”
Sivana reached out to stroke Bethany’s chin and she pulled back. “It’s my job to find you. You know I’ve always tried to protect you from danger.”
“I don’t care!” Bethany retorted. “I don’t care who you are. I don’t want you in my life!”
Sivana sat back on the bed. “That’s not a very good attitude to have toward your father, my dear Beautia.”
Freddy’s eyes went wide at the revelation.
“My name is Bethany now,” she said with fire in her eyes. “I have no father.”
Sivana backhanded Bethany and she fell to the floor. “I am your father and that will not change!” he said.
“Some father,” Bethany said as she sat up and glared at him. “All the time we spent running from the authorities--I’m glad my mother took me and Marcus and left. I just wish that she could have saved Georgia and Thaddeus, too.”
Sivana nodded slowly. “So Magnificus has changed his name as well. Your mother did a good job covering her tracks.”
“She didn’t want to be found by you,” Bethany said. “All we wanted was to live our lives in peace.”
“That remains to be seen,” Sivana said as he pulled a scanner out of his pocket.
Dwarfstar enlarged as he returned to his lair. He smirked as he studied a map of the university where several locations were circled. He had a lot of work to do and it would take time, but it would be worth it when Ray Palmer was dead.
Sivana frowned as he studied the readout. “Negative,” he muttered. "But the science was perfect!”
Bethany’s jaw dropped. “You experimented on me?” she asked. “Your own daughter?”
“So now I’m your father,” Sivana said. “Typical female behavior.” He studied her a moment. “You do have so much of your mother in you.”
“Better her than you,” Bethany fired back.
Ryan Choi looked up as Lucas Carr rolled into his hospital room. “Professor Carr?” Ryan asked.
Snapper’s head was bandaged but he still managed a smile. “Still ticking,” he said. “Ray told me you were here and I wanted to check and see how you were doing.”
“I’m wishing I could get out,” Ryan said. He started to speak again and stopped suddenly.
Snapper smiled. “It’s okay,” he said. “I was a member of the Justice League; I know about Ray.” He paused a moment. “So tell me all about the Watchtower.”
Ryan smiled and started giving Snapper the virtual tour.
Freddy was trying to free himself. He’d been wiggling his arms back and forth, but Sivana’s creation still held him tightly. He kept his eyes on Sivana and Bethany. He didn’t know how, but he knew that he’d get free if Sivana tried to hurt her.
Sivana stood and paced. “You never understood,” he said. “My science is sound! But my peers laughed...they said that my theories were unproven nonsense. I had to prove them wrong, don’t you see?”
Bethany met Sivana’s gaze with a glare of her own. “And that’s why I wound up trapped in one of your Suspendium globes for years,” she retorted.
Sivana lunged forward and leaned over her. "BBut it worked!” he said. “You were perfectly unharmed and it was like no time had passed for you!”
“I wanted time to pass!” Bethany yelled as she climbed to her feet and faced down her father. “All I wanted was a normal life and your experiments stole that from me!”
“And I wanted my just honors as a scientist!” Sivana yelled back. “And I wanted my family! But your mother stole that from me!”
“You still have Georgia and Thaddeus,” Bethany said. “Have you twisted them into you yet?”
Sivana smirked. “They show great promise in the laboratory. So did you, as I recall.”
Bethany simply scowled.
Sivana smiled gently and kissed her on the forehead. “Despite your missteps in life, I’m still your father, I still love you and I want to be part of your life. Perhaps you’ll begin to answer your phone and I won’t have to make another surprise visit.”
Sivana turned to Freddy and the smile faded. “And now for you,” he said in a menacing tone.
Chris Freeland walked out of the library, which was nothing unusual for a history major, but Chris was up to more than that. He walked into his dorm room and locked the door. “Any luck yet?” he asked.
Johnny Peril turned to face him. “Nothing yet,” he said. “Your Mr. Keeper’s hidden himself well. You might have to try contacting someone else with more access to the infernal realms than I have. Have you thought about John Constantine?”
Chris, Kid Eternity, shook his head. "I’ve tried him. There was something there that I didn’t want to be any part of.”
Peril nodded. “There’s always Nabu,” he said. “Didn’t you say that the Lords of Order had created you?”
“Yes,” Kid Eternity replied as he plopped down on a chair. “I haven’t been able to get in touch with him, though. It’s as if something’s been happening.”
“Odd,” Peril replied, who’d crossed his arms and was now leaning against the wall. “What do you want me to do now?”
Eternity thought a moment. “I’m still working my way through their library. I’m sure that Mr. Keeper would have left a clue for me. After all, I never applied for college; I just got a letter in the mail that told me I’d been accepted.”
“Interesting.” Peril thought a moment. “I’ll keep my eyes open. I’ll let you know what I can dig up.”
“Good,” Eternity said. “Keep your cell phone on in case I need to contact you.”
“Of course.” Peril unlocked the door and walked out of the room.
Sivana leaned so close to Freddy that his breath was hot on Freddy’s forehead. “And then there’s you,” he said. “I know your dirty little secret. Yes I do.”
Sivana leaned even closer. Freddy could see himself reflected perfectly in Sivana’s oversized glasses. “You want to go to bed with my daughter,” he spat. Sivana laughed. “I would recommend against that. Do you know who I am?”
Freddy nodded.
Sivana gave a satisfied smile. “Excellent. Then you know what I can do to you should attempt to invade her decency.”
Freddy nodded again.
“Then I think we understand each other. I hope we will not need to meet again.” Sivana kissed Bethany gently on the forehead and pulled what appeared to be a remote control from his pocket. He pushed a button and an energy portal opened. He stepped through and was gone.
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Next Issue: In CM3 #7: Ryan returns to the university and an attempted robbery has drastic consequences.
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