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Post by David on Aug 23, 2007 17:21:12 GMT -5
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Post by David on Aug 23, 2007 17:25:09 GMT -5
DC2 Challenge
Week #16: “Shadows of the Past”
Written by Alex Vasquez
Cover by Craig Cermak
Edited by David Charlton |
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Post by David on Aug 23, 2007 17:29:15 GMT -5
Eclipso watched Vandal Savage and his acolyte from his citadel on the moon. “Foolish man, does he think that antiquated book will stop me once my avatars prepare the vessel?” Eclipso licked his lips as if he could taste the pungent flavor of victory on his tongue.
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Post by David on Aug 23, 2007 17:29:43 GMT -5
Challenger Mountain
“What the hell was that?” Leslie “Rocky” Davis screamed as he felt the tremors diffusing throughout Challenger Mountain.
“Something hit the mountain,” Kyle “Ace” Morgan said. “Prof, can you see what it was?”
“Yeah,” Professor Haley said as he climbed up to his computer terminal. He was about to access the surveillance system when he heard a ping and a voice saying over the computer’s speakers: “You’ve got mail.”
“Prof, this isn’t exactly a good time to check to see what some chick posted on your MySpace page.” Rocky sounded hysterical.
“This email,” The Professor said, struggling to maintain his balance as tremors continued to cascade through out the mountain. “It’s from Professor Stein.”
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Post by David on Aug 23, 2007 17:30:17 GMT -5
The Abyss
“What do you want from me?” Ronnie Raymond cried to Metron. “I’m useless without the Professor. All I do is screw up.”
“To think destiny would waste the powers of a god on someone as weak minded as you.” Metron said, annoyed with Ronnie’s negative attitude; but he was more annoyed at himself for being played by Eclipso. “Ronald Raymond, you and only you are the consciousness of the Firestorm Matrix, not Professor Stein. You’re actions now will determine if you are to repeat the mistakes of your predecessors, and doom your world.”
“What do you know about any of this?” Ronnie asked.
“Everything...”
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Post by David on Aug 23, 2007 17:30:52 GMT -5
Brazil
“So, do you mind telling us what’s going on with these weird weather patterns?” Jefferson Pierce, known as Black Lightning said as he along with Fire, Tala and Black Condor escorted Bruce Gordon out of the cabin he had been hiding in.
“You’ll find out as soon enough.” Bruce Gordon said. Suddenly, multiple energy blasts rained down upon them, causing them to scatter. Shadowstorm hovered above them, ablaze with dark fire.
“The master is ready for his vessel.”
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Post by David on Aug 23, 2007 17:32:10 GMT -5
To: profhaley@challengermt.net
From: mstein@hudson.edu
CC: rpalmer@ivy.edu
Subject: Shadowstorm and the coming Eclipse
Professor Haley,
If you are receiving this, that means I was unable to get to you in time about the impending danger that threatens us all.
This is going to have to start with an admission, one that I know, as a colleague and a friend you will keep with the utmost confidence. I am one half of the superhero known as Firestorm. How that came to be is a story that will have to be told while sharing a bottle of brandy, that is, if we survive the looming Eclipse. Since becoming Firestorm, I have been having visions of alien individuals with similar powers to my own. I now know that they are the memories of the previous hosts of what I have named the Firestorm Matrix.
These visions have been very disturbing of late. I’ve seen the worlds that the early hosts of the Firestorm Matrix called home become ravaged by cruelty and hate. The source of this was a corrupted Firestorm host who created black diamonds made of necrolite, which spread an unholy darkness over his world. He then prepared a sentient host for some dark, godlike entity that fed off of hate and anger until that world consumed itself. This same modus operandi would continue for millennia upon millennia and I could only speculate upon it’s meaning, until I accessed the memories of a host, who was able to put a stop to it.
The Firestorm Matrix is a sort of harbinger of this black demonic sprit. Once the world of the host experiences an eclipse of any kind, this demon becomes attracted to the Matrix and begins to search it out, taking it over and using it to spread the hatred that it feeds off of. The Matrix is not sentient entity; therefore no host could act against this cosmic game of tag, until it went through its first evolutionary leap and the host gained the ability to access the memories of the past hosts. The last time this happened, the host became aware of this natural order, and made the preparations for his people to defend themselves against it, eventually banishing the demon to what we know as the Fourth World, home to New Genesis and Apokolips.
But now the Prince of Darkness has returned. It’s already begun to corrupt the other host of the Firestorm Matrix and I feel that it is only a matter of time before the Firestorm Matrix resumes its historical role. I’ve attached a file to this email with all the data I was able to compile on this thing and have sent a copy of this to Ray, hoping that the two of you will find a way to stop this, even if you have to kill me.
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Post by David on Aug 23, 2007 17:32:57 GMT -5
“Wow, I never would’ve guessed that old man was a super-hero.” Rocky said.
“So what do we do?” Matthew “Red” Ryan asked. “Do we go after Firestorm or do something about that stuff under the mountain?”
“Dr. Stein is gone, so that means Firestorm is lost, according to his email.” Professor Haley reminded them.
“So let’s take care of the necrolite.” Ace ordered as the tremors got stronger and stronger, causing the Challengers to tumble to the ground, while trying to avoid the debris. A final explosion rocked the control room, knocking out the far wall, and an Eclipsed Orion swooped through on his Astro-Glider!
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Post by David on Aug 23, 2007 17:33:25 GMT -5
To Be Continued!
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Post by mockingbird on Jul 28, 2011 13:10:21 GMT -5
To let us know what you think of this issue, please visit the letters page here!
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