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#11
DEC 12 |
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“Gathering Clouds”
Freddy Freeman looked out the window as he heard the rumble of thunder. “Great,” he said. “Looks like I’m getting soaked on my way to class again.”
He plopped down in a chair as Ryan Choi, seated across their dorm room, shrugged. “Wish I could help you out but campus security impounded my golf cart; seems they don’t think that a golf cart with a top speed of 130 MPH is really safe.”
“And you disagree?” Freddy asked.
“Well, I didn’t have the air bags installed yet, so they might have a point,” Ryan conceded, “but that was just a prototype. The Choimobile V 2.0 will blow it out of the water.” Ryan smiled as he held up four fingers. “Four letters: V.T.O.L.”
“Great. So now you’ll have the FAA after you and not just campus security.” Freddy groaned. “How long do I have until class starts?”
“Clock?” Ryan asked.
“Freddy Freeman has twenty-two minutes until he is due in English Composition 101,” the clock replied.
Freddy stared at Ryan. “Is that–?”
“Yep,” Ryan replied with a smile on his face. “Power Girl’s voice. Wait’ll I get the 3-D holographic projector working on it.”
“I’ve met Power Girl,” Freddy said. He saw the look on Ryan’s face and said, “And no, I will not introduce you.”
“I hope you’re happy,” Ryan said as he folded his arms and leaned the chair back on two legs. “You’ve just killed true love.”
Freddy reached out with his cane, hooked the end around one of the legs and pulled. Ryan squawked as he fell backward. “And now you’ve broken my back,” Ryan said as he lay on the ground. “I’ll bet you’re ecstatic right now.”
“No,” Freddy said as he stood. “That would have required me catching that on film.” Freddy leaned on his crutch a moment. “How’s training with the JLA going?”
“Not bad,” Ryan said as he stood and picked his chair up. “The worst problem’s is the costume. While it turns out that Professor Palmer’s suit is great for shrinking….but growing? Not so much.” Ryan saw the odd look on Freddy’s face. “That’s right. It’s like you’ve got size ten stuff in a size six suit. Feels like I’m crushing my junk every time I grow in that thing. He says he’s working on it, though.”
“It’s better than fighting crime naked,” Freddy said.
“Point,” Ryan conceded. “I’ve been doing a few tests of my own on the costume. It’s been irradiated with the same dwarf star matter that gave him his powers, so I’m trying to see if I can modify the radiation somehow to allow it to stretch instead of just shrinking.”
“Have fun,” Freddy said, “just like I’m about to have fun getting soaked.” He walked out of the room and was gone.
Ryan thought a moment. “Hmmm…” he muttered before he grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen. He was soon deep in design sketches for a force-field umbrella and wishing he could analyze Booster Gold’s technology.
Jonathan Mayland was not a happy man. He was the dean of Ivy University and he was getting soaked because his umbrella had blown inside-out again. He finally reached the administration building and shoved the umbrella into a trash can. Trying to maintain any dignity he could, he slicked his hair back and walked down the hall, leaving small puddles of water on the carpet as he did.
“Good morning,” he said to his secretary as he walked into his office. “What sort of crises are we dealing with today?”
“The usual,” his secretary said as she handed him a sheaf of reports. “The football field’s been vandalized again.”
“Who was it this time?” Mayland asked.
“Probably the physics department. Apparently somebody set off some sort of explosion that left a crater at the fifty yard line.”
“Wonderful,” Mayland said. “I’d trade the usual for normal any day.” The secretary smiled as he walked into his inner office. He sat down in his leather chair and shuffled through the mail on his desk. Most of it he threw aside until he reached a small cardboard box. He picked the box up and shook it. It was heavier than it looked and he could hear something inside.
Mayland picked up a sword-shaped letter opener from his desk and slit the tape. He opened it and a small figure fell out. He looked at it as it lay on his desk. “Wonderful,” he said. “Another Atom action figure.” He squinted at it a moment. “At least most of them get the costume colors right.” He reached down to throw the figure in his waste basket and dropped it. It wasn’t hard plastic. It was soft, warm, and …breathing?
The figure climbed to its feet to Mayland’s shock. “Greetings, Dean,” it said. “My name is Dwarfstar. I thought I’d introduce myself before the festivities commenced.”
“What do you mean?” Mayland asked. “What do you want?”
Dwarfstar smiled. “The destruction of your university…and there’s not a thing you can do to stop me.” Mocking laughter echoed in the office as Dwarfstar shrunk to nothing and vanished.
Mayland swallowed hard before he put his head in his hands and leaned forward. He stayed that way a moment before he reached to his phone and dialed an extension he knew by heart. “Professor Palmer, we have a situation,” he said.
A moment later, the Atom came flying out of the phone’s earpiece, enlarging as he did so. “What’s wrong?” Atom asked. Mayland quickly explained Dwarfstar’s visit. Atom listened and frowned as he began pacing on top of Mayland’s desk.
“I’ve never fought this Dwarfstar before, but I’ve been working with some other heroes to track him down,” Atom said. “I believe he was responsible for the explosion at the journalism building, but I haven’t heard anything from him since apart from one time he showed himself and vanished again.” Atom walked to the telephone. “Do you have a student directory?” he asked. The dean produced the book and laid it down on the desk. Atom quickly flipped through the pages until he found the entry he wanted. He picked up the phone’s receiver and laid it down.
He dialed the phone with both hands pushing the buttons while he spoke to Mayland. “There are three of us on-site now,” he said. “Still, you might want to be prepared to evacuate the campus if necessary. We’ll stop this nut, but I don’t want any students getting hurt while we do it.” Atom turned his attention to the phone as it stopped ringing and was answered. “It’s Professor Palmer, Ryan. Hold the receiver away from your head. I’m coming through.” Without another word, Ray jumped into the receiver and was gone.
Ryan nearly dropped the phone as a tiny Atom emerged from it and grew until he reached his full height as he landed on the floor of his dorm room. Ray looked around the room. “Where’s Freddy?” he asked.
“On his way to class,” Ryan said. “You have got to teach me how to do that.”
“No time,’ Ray said. “We’ve got to get to him. We have a situation.”
“Cool,” Ryan said. He handed a metal bar to Ray. “You might want this.”
“What is it?” Ray asked as he looked it over.
Ryan smiled. “I call it a bangstick.” He showed Ray the controls on his own. “It’ll fire energy bursts and we should be able to ride these at our six-inch sizes.”
Ray nodded. “Won’t hurt.” Ray started to open the door and paused. “You’ve tested these, right?”
Ryan smiled. “Not yet, but the science is sound.”
Ray nodded and gave the stick a wary glance. “Let’s hold these in reserve,” he said as he carefully laid it on the floor. He led the way out of the room.
As they walked down the hall, they passed a blond man who was walking the other way. “Hmm,” Jonny Peril murmured. “And where are you going, Professor Palmer?” He hurried to Chris Freeland’s room. This was something that Kid Eternity might be interested in.
Dwarfstar cackled from his hideout. At last his plans had come to fruition. On the desk before him lay a remote control. Despite the temptation, he wouldn’t show himself just yet. His finger stabbed a button. Next time, he reassured himself. The next time he would see it all personally. Both Ivy and Ray Palmer would burn. He laughed maniacally as he imagined the response to the message he’d just sent.
Freddy Freeman was just leaving the classroom building when he saw Ray and Ryan running toward him. “What’s he done now, Professor Palmer?” Freddy asked.
Ray’s face was serious. “We’ve got a situation,” he said as he dropped his voice and started pulling Freddy away from the normal flow of students. “Dwarfstar just showed up in Dean Mayland’s office. I don’t know what he’s up to, but he’s getting ready to make his move.”
The three of them whirled around as an explosion ripped through the air. As screaming students scattered, they could see that a statue of the school’s founder that stood at the center of campus had been reduced to molten scrap.
“Looks like he’s starting,” Ray said.
“Let him try,” Freddy said. “Looks like it’s time for the three of us to go to work.”
As the three headed off, they didn’t realize they were being watched. Kid Eternity’s eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. “You’re right,” he said to Jonny Peril, who stood beside him. “It looks like it’s time for us to intervene.” Eternity turned and was swallowed by the fleeing crowd with Peril keeping pace beside him.
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Next Issue: In CM3 #12: Dwarfstar is determined to reduce Ivy University to rubble, but why? As Dean Mayland frantically tries to evacuate the campus, Atom, Ryan and CM3 discover Dwarfstar’s secret. But can even the three of them stop him?
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