"Superboy's disappearance sounds like a mystery needing detective work--and that's a Hawk specialty," says Vina. "So, I'm for that."
"Oh, and some people have been calling me Lady Hawk. But Michelle Pfeiffer, I'm clearly not."
Roy says,
"That's right, Cap'n Bill! We have a mystery in Hawaii and a dangerous menace in New Mexico -- one's an island surrounded by the world's largest sea, and the other's a landlocked desert! You should definitely go to Hawaii and look for Superboy."
"Heh. Michelle Pfeiffer."
Chin-Su scratches the back of his head. "I ain't much for the thinkin' stuff. And catching tanks sounds like it calls for speed and strength, and it'd be a bit of a stretch to call my powers anything like that - pardon the phrase." He frowns critically. "On the other hand, I spent my college years playing 'Timesplitters' on the Gamecube. I feel pretty qualified to timetravel."
"Allright!" he says, suddenly jumping up. "It's time to SPLIT!"
"I don't like the desert and I can't really swim with this," Quinn says, giving the shield a little shake, "so I'm with Chin -- time travel sounds like my jam."
Roy: "So that's Cap'n Bill and Lady Hawk for Hawaii, Chin-Su and Quinn for the Stone Age, and I guess that leaves me, Jimmy, Kasumi and Sam for Nevada! That is, if we have some way to get Chin-Su and Quinn back from the Stone Age. I guess there's no time pressure there .. heh. But is that good for everyone?"
Chin-Su looks like something just occurred to him. "Something just occurred to me," he says helpfully. "Do we even have a way to GET to the Stone Age in the first place?"
Roy: "I was thinking Sam, sorry! The Anti-Magician could do it, and if not, there's always my ring. And bringing you back when you're done would use the same pathway: Sa ... Anti-Magician could just say, "Bring heroes back when their work is done!" in his far-out magic lingo. Right, Anti-Mage?"
Sam a.k.a the Anti-Magician sighs. "Give me a moment. I need to figure out how to pronounce 'take us back to the stone age.' Be warned, this might go horribly wrong." then, after a moment of muttering and another to see if any of his old companions want to come with him, he says "ekat su kcab ot eht Enots Ega."
And silently, like the fading of a memory, Peltast, Chin-Su, and the Anti-Magician are simply ... passed into WHAT WAS.
Cap'n Bill salutes Roy. "To the Sandwich Islands, then! With a fair schooner and a following wind, going down by the Great Horn Spoon, we should be there in merely seven months. Unless one of ye can charm us there by your charmings? Anyone have a magical umbrella, or a pair of silver slippers, by any chance?"
Roy replies, "No, but I think I can do you one better ..."
And his ring creates a four-masted ship-rigged schooner out of green light!
"All aboard for the Sandwich Islands!"
Kasume looks around carefully. "Um...am I to go to Ne-va-da? Or Stono Age-o?"
ReplyDeleteJimmy, the Substation Superman, or Sub-Superman for short, says, "I think it would be best for me to investigate Superboy's disappearance. I am an investigative reporter after all. Besides, if something was strong enough to kidnap Superboy, you should probably have someone almost as strong as Superman at your side."
ReplyDeleteCap'n Bill has the trick of sliding his pipe from the left corner of his mouth to his right away, just by pursing his lips, to show when he is confounded and awed. "Well, blow me down..." He mutters.
ReplyDeleteBut with a stomp of his boots and a thunk of his hickory leg, he gets boards the ghostly, empty schooner made of green light as if she were sure and solid. He limps loudly over to the helm and takes the wheel in hand.
To no one in particular, he shout, "Look sharp! Prepare to cast off!"
Then he looks at the compass to take the heading, looks at the clouds and birds overhead to get the feel the wind and welkin, and peers over the rail at the entirely non-watery pavement under the keel.
He puffs his pipe like a smokestack for a moment, squinting with one eye.
"Aye...ah... up anchor and hoist the mizzen and run downwind out of harbor or ... er ... take her up."