Post by lawrenceliberty on Apr 24, 2024 19:33:52 GMT
Captain Comet (Adam Blake) was a remarkable man. He was born with an amazing array of mental and physical abilities stimulated by the simultaneous passing of a comet with his birth. He grew into a prodigy whose many talents amazed experts and ordinary folks alike. He eventually became a hero known as captain Comet. He was one of the first costumed heroes of his era and as a champion he protected Earth from alien invaders, evil scientists, Soviet spies, and more mundane threats to the peace of the Eisenhower era. However, the gifts that made him the Man of the Future also seemed to work against him in some ways.
He didn’t easily fit in with other people. He had an attraction to a coworker at the Midwest Library where he worked as a reference librarian as plain Adam Blake but nothing really came of their flirtations. She may have had feelings for him but in spite of how smart he was, he couldn’t really make a lasting connection with her. In late 1954, he had departed his home world in search of adventure, knowledge, and perhaps, some form of acceptance. His sleek Cometeer carried him away from the planet of his birth and for many years he stayed away. He was content to see and experience new adventures and he became a cosmic champion as he had once been a defender of Earth, but contentment was not really the same as true satisfaction. Even after returning home in March 1981, and battling a criminal organization called the Secret Society of Super Villains, he had felt little elation at his victories. Oh, he had appreciated being accepted as an honorary member of the famous Justice League of America and he did think of heroes like Hawkman, Green Lantern, Adam Strange, and the Atom as his friends but again, he soon found himself adrift once more. He wanted more than a challenge. He wanted to feel fulfilled.
He laughed bitterly as he remembered how the villains had tried to use him as a pawn and had even tried to seduce him by having the femme fatale the Star Sapphire pose as a potential love interest. He had been too smart for them and had merely played along with them until he could defeat them. He had triumphed and even the subtle schemes of the evil gorilla Grodd had failed to stop him. That brilliant primate wanted to use Comet’s own advanced brain as a catalyst to boost his own mental might. That scheme had blown up in his face. Comet did feel some pleasure in that fact.
“I never could stand that smug ape!” he thought.
Now, as he piloted his rocket through deep space, he brooded about the circumstances that had led to his second departure from Earth. He shook his head in disgust. He had fought alongside other heroes during the Crisis on Infinite Earths and again, he and his allies and triumphed but saving the world …saving all of creation was not the same as finding a rewarding relationship or having a family to come home to after surviving such a battle.
He sighed and said, “I sure didn’t have one of my finest moments after I left Adam Strange, Dolphin, Rip Hunter, Animal Man, and the rest following our time in space. I was ambushed like some rookie. The Martian Red Brotherhood took me and others as part of a sinister plot. I spent far too long in a state of suspended animation. When I was freed, I learned an alien shapeshifter had taken my place and done a lot more than I had in my own career before dying heroically. So, who am I? I’m not even the best Adam Blake!”
He shrugged and pushed away the self-pity and regret. He was better than such feelings. Now, he had a mission. Working for the enigmatic Guardians of the Clockwork Universe, he was repairing and investigating changes and damages to the cosmos caused by the Crisis. He was good at the job. He had again saved the universe from a being known as the Dark Destroyer and again from the parasite called Starbreaker. He had helped a heroine Kayla the Marvel Maid of Terra deal with the loss of her own planet and he had good friends in Prince Gavyn the Starman and his bride Merria. They were away and while he had time to himself he was trying to come to terms with his life. Adam was a good-natured man and he resumed his customary calm demeanor as he studied his controls.
He blinked for a second as a silvery light briefly flashed across one of his screens.
He frowned as he noticed the ship’s automatic scanners had detected an anomaly.
The handsome brown- haired man frowned as he looked at a monitor and checked data at a speed that surpassed the most advanced computer.
“A planet almost exactly like earth. Nothing I haven’t seen before but this one has one very disturbing feature. I can’t detect any thought patterns below except for those that might be attributed to someone in a deep sleep or under some kind of mind control!” he said.
He nodded slowly as he saw a strange sight. A satellite orbited the planet at roughly 22, 300 miles above its surface.
“That’s not the JLA satellite but it is in the same position as the HQ used by those heroes back in our solar system!” he said.
Suddenly, a golden glow filled his ship and a humanoid figure materialized before him.
He was tall, gaunt, and moved with a mixture of elegant grace and violent aggression! He had purple-hued skin and his dark hair came to a severe widows’ peak. He stroked a thin mustache and smiled smugly.
“Captain Comet! This is a pleasure! One gets so weary with herding sheep! It will be most agreeable to slay an equal!” he said.
Comet recognized the alien intruder from his days battling the Secret Society. He also noticed the golden gleam that came from the man’s ring.
“Sinestro! You are welcome too! I ‘d like nothing better than to wipe that sickly mustache off your face!”
He moved swiftly and avoided a bludgeoning blow that crashed down near him. The golden projectile was merely one of countless constructs the alien’s power ring could generate.
“Sinestro is dangerous and a planet of total order with mindless slaves would be right up his twsieted alley!” he thought.
He blocked a barrage of lethal golden daggers with his own TK force field and concentrated.
Sinestro’s smile faded as did the glow of his ring’s power.
“This is intolerable! I won’t allow this!” he shrieked as he lost his calm demeanor.
Captain Comet allowed himself a smile as he exerted his own incredible will power! He had done something few other beings could boast of accomplishing. He had taken control of Sinestro’s power ring with his own greater force of will!
“It is too late Sinestro! Now, tell me what you’ve done to those poor people? You’ve lost to me again! It must feel like déjà vu!”
Sinestro scowled as he strained to regain control of his ring to no avail. “You are as insufferable as I had heard. Adam Blake the sickeningly noble and heroic champion of justice! Meeting you was not what I’d expected!”
Comet frowned as he heard the alien’s words. “He means it. I can tell. He has no memory of ever meeting me before! Perhaps, I can learn more from probing his mind a bit deeper!”
Suddenly a purple blast of energy slammed into Sinestro from behind! He collapsed from the impact and Comet peered through the blinding glow to see a shapely female form within the nimbus of power. She had long black hair, intelligent if wicked eyes, and a lithe sultry form. She wore a brief purple and white costume with a tiara. A gemstone within the tiara was the source of the gleaming lilac energy.
“Star Sapphire!” said Captain Comet. “What is this? A Secret Society field trip?”
Star Sapphire (Remoni- Notra of Pandina) laughed a kittenish laugh and approached the hero.
“No word of thanks for my subduing that obnoxious blowhard? Of course, you had him where you wanted him. I recall you had that irritating habit of always being one step ahead of most foes except for me!” she said.
“You remember me? “he asked.
She placed one gloved hand against his chest and leaned closer. “Of course, I do! We shared some moments of passion in between the battle royales did we not?”
Captain Comet recognized the same perfume she had worn years before when she alternated between identities of Debbie Darnell stewardess and French realtor Camille Fortier. He admitted to himself that she was sexy in all her roles.
He grasped her hand to remove it from his chest. “I’m serious. You clearly recall me but SInestro acted as if he had never met me and yet I could tell even of superficial scans that he is Sinestro or at least one version of him! If that planet is as Earthlike as it seems on my ship’s scanners, perhaps, it also has counterparts for beings from Earth or at least associated with Earthlings. And yet I don’t sense any active minds below. I suppose that satellite is the place where I can get answers!”
“My, aren’t we all business? I can help you. I have changed. I am not the woman I once was. I helped save the universe. I even formed a friendship with a heroine named Lady Lunar. She’s as much of a do-gooder as you are! We travelled through space together until recently. I assure you it is all true. Read my mind!” said Star Sapphire.
“I will!” said Comet as he placed Sinestro in a stasis chamber and turned to ace the smiling woman.
He saw images of her past. She had been born Remoni -Notra on Pandina. She had come from a poor background and had survived through a combination o intellect, sex appeal, and ruthlessness. Her appearance had drawn the alien Zamarons to her planet. The immortal warrior women always sought a queen who had a specific appearance. She had to look a certain way because she was also by necessity mortal and having a shared resemblance made the transfer of authority from one woman to another easier if they at least looked alike. Each queen became known as the Star Sapphire due to the gem of power she wore.
He saw her quest to find additional gemstones and how that desire had led her to join the assembly of evil known as the Secret Society of Super Villains. She and her allies including the real Sinestro, Gorilla Grodd, Copperhead, Professor Zoom, and others had schemed to acquire power in various ways. Captain Comet had thwarted them again and again with helped from Justice League members, solo heroes like Kid Flash, and the Creeper, and the Justice Society of the parallel Earth 2. Star Sapphire had also played the roles of Camille and Debbie to deceive others and enable her to manipulate them. She had indeed tried to seduce Captain Comet and he did remember every moment they had shared. He told himself that he had only been playing along with her ruse since he had figured out her true identity immediately upon meeting her but he was willing to admit to himself that he had been drawn to her beauty although her cruelty and vanity repelled him.
He blinked as he saw her more recent actions. She had fought alongside heroes he knew like the reformed Lady Lunar and others unknown to him. Pulsar? Alyssa the Golden Blade? She had been brave and capable and in the end she and her allies had truly won a great victory in space against the deadly Despero.
She placed both hands on her hips and said, “Do you recognize my mind? Have we achieved a meeting of minds as they say?”
He nodded and said, “I saw your past. I also saw that you did act heroically most of the time during your time with Lady Lunar. I am glad she’s turned her life around too!”
“I recently learned that the Comet I last faced was not really you. He was a Martian. He fooled me. He did act like you. Of course, had I kissed him I would have known the difference!” she said as she posed rather dramatically.
Captain Comet lowered his gaze and said, “I accept your offer. I can sense that planet is full of helpless folks who have no free will. I don’t know if that world has heroes of its own. It might have a Superman, Green Lantern etc. of its own but it does seem to have villains like this alternate Sinestro!”
Star Sapphire said, “Well, a woman likes to think she is one of a kind!”
“What brought you here?” he asked.
Star Sapphire sat down and crossed her legs. She leaned forward and said, “As I mentioned, I had recently had a series of adventures with Lady Lunar. She became homesick for life on Earth. I had no desire to return there since there was nothing to hold me there…unless you have ideas along those lines, Adam!”
He said, “Continue!”
She smiled and tossed back her head with that same musical laugh.
“I was actually heading for Venturia to try my luck there in various ways when I was drawn here. Something compelled me to come here. I have never been in this sector of space before!” she said.
Captain Comet nodded as he piloted the ship toward the satellite. “Stealth is out of the question. They obviously know we’re here.
One odd fact: I was not headed here either. Something brought my ship to this destination in spite of the settings on my auto-pilot.”
Star Sapphire said, “Perhaps, it is an illusion? Of course, your mind would be immune to that kind of delusion!”
Captain Comet said, “I tried to read Sinestro’s thoughts but I did not detect anything that indicated he was not the vile Sinestro we knew…except he didn’t know me.”
“His loss, darling. I assure you of that!” she replied.
After docking the Cometeer aboard the satellite, the duo emerged from the ship to see a wide hangar bay. The technology around them seemed advanced but not alien in nature.
“Welcome aboard, Mate! We call this beauty the Einstein! It is as fit and fine a craft as ye’d want!” said a strangely dressed figure who greeted them.
“Captain Stingaree!” thought Comet as he recognized the modern-day pirate! Behind the rogue stood an assembly of other villains.
The golden clad Professor Zoom smirked with his usual confidence and restlessly shifted from place to place with super speed. A man in a colorful green and white costume with a stylized clock emblem on his chest lurked to one side as did what appeared to be a living shadow!
Star Sapphire also knew them. The Reverse-Flash, Chronos the Time-Thief, and the wily Shadow Thief were infamous super villains in their own right.
Star Sapphire smiled coldly. “This is not a reunion I desired!
She flew forward as the energy nimbus around her body grew brighter. A bean of purple energy surged out of her gemstone and missed the swiftly racing Zoom!
He said, “You can’t move faster than I can!”
He gasped as Captain Comet knocked him cold.
“And you can’t move faster than thought. I knew where’d you be before you got there!” he said.
Chronos fired a razor- sharp projectile in the shape of the elongated hands of a clock but Star Sapphire melted it and kicked him in the face with one graceful move.
“Too bad you didn’t take time to dress better. What a tacky outfit!” she quipped.
Comet ducked as Captain Stingaree swung at him with a crackling electric sword!
He connected with a TK thrust that sent the startled pirate crashing into the fallen Chronos.
“We make a good pairing!” said Star Sapphire.
The eerie Shadow Thief loomed up and grabbed her with weirdly shaped giant hands.
She struggled in his grasp and a blast of her energy drove him backward. “Don’t you like bright light?” she demanded.
Captain Comet concentrated and the Shadow Thief deactivated the device that allowed him to manifest as a living shadow. A shocked Carl Sands grabbed for the dial but it was too late, Captain Comet and already knocked him down.
“It makes things a lot easier when you're solid, Sands. Easier for us that is!” he said.
At that moment, Comet frowned and said, “Come on! I detected the mind behind everything. The thugs we just defeated are hardly the brains of this operation!”
They ran down the passages and stopped at a large chamber where an evil looking bald man sat casually on a captain’s chair.
He wore purple and green and smiled coldly. “I have of course heard of you, Captain Comet. I wanted to recruit you, Star Sapphire. In any case, I am Lex Luthor. This is my base and from this vantage point I am now the ruler of the planet below. The other villains are my enforcers if you will although since no one below has free will, there is little to enforce unless unwanted guests like you two arrive!”
Captain Comet said, “You’re controlling everyone below and deadening their free will from here. What good does it do the great Lex Luthor to be king of a realm of mindless drones?”
Luthor said, “It was a challenge. I wanted to see how I could dominate an entire planet.”
Star Sapphire almost purred as she said, “Luthor, you are very capable indeed!”
He raised one eyebrow in amusement. “And you are very transparent, my dear!”
Captain Comet said, “ You succeeded because there is no Superman here to stop you. There are no heroes at all on that planet and yet how can there be a Reverse-Flash without a Flash to inspire his criminal career? There I something wrong here. Some kind of logic is missing from this scenario!”
Luthor said, “Superman? I’ve heard of him. He is known throughout space but he has nothing to do with this world. He has never visited Gaia!”
Luthor said, “I cannot allow you to interfere with my plans. I won’t let you stop me from expanding this little operation across the galaxy.”
Comet said, “You named this satellite for Einstein. Perhaps, he is a hero to you? He wouldn’t have approved of the way you’ve robbed a world of the ability to think. “
“For that matter, I don’t approve of it either!’ he declared.
Luthor laughed coldly as he stood up. “And you presume to challenge me? Do you really think you’re smarter than Lex Luthor?”
Captain Comet smiled and said, “Actually, I think a gorilla is smarter than you and he’ll prove it now that I’ve freed his mind from your control!”
Luthor gasped as a massive hairy figure crashed into the room and knocked him across the deck.
“Grodd!” whispered Star Sapphire as she saw the evil genius battered Luthor with such savagery that he could not fight back.
“Enough, Grodd! I won’t allow you to kill him!” said Comet as he stepped forward to confront this world’s counterpart of his old foe.
Grodd said, “He was using my mental might to cloud the minds of the whole planet. He had me hooked up to some infernal device that forced me to act as some kind of living battery for his machine. Just as our Gorilla City is hidden from sight of mankind, so did he force me to make the humans below weak willed and easily controlled.”
Comet said, “Once I detected your mind and the helpless rage you felt, it was easy to wake you up so you could free yourself. “
Grodd said, “We have never met before but I sense you are a worthy foe!”
Star Sapphire said, “We could sue this base to do so much….good! We could do a lot for the masses. With your mind we could create a golden age!”
Comet led her aside and said, ‘When I read your mind before, I broke through the shields you’d imposed. I saw your life as a slave. Would you want that kind of life for anyone else?”
She started to speak then nodded silently.
He said, “Without your mind as a battery Luthor’s device is useless. Everyone below is discovering free will again!”
Grodd bared his fangs and growled. “I will return to Gaia. I have my own method to attain power.”
Star Sapphire whirled and blasted him with a blazing barrage of energy bolts. He staggered and then collapsed at her feet.
“Was that not well done?” she said.
Captain Comet said, “Yes, you’ve always been very deadly and as someone said, it was beauty that killed the beast… not that Grodd is dead.”
Star Sapphire said, “So this planet Gaia is almost like Earth but lacks heroes?
Captain Comet said, “You could say that.”
Star Sapphire frowned and pursed her lips as she asked, “Then where did all the villains come from then? Can there be a Luthor without a Superman? “
Captain Comet said, “I’d say it was just another cosmic fluke. There are many such wonders in the cosmos! We will drop the villains off at Kronis the Prison Planet.”
Later, after he had done what he said and made certain the satellite’s equipment had been dismantled, he stared out into space from aboard his ship.
“Star Sapphire is asleep in one of the other rooms. You can manifest if it will make it easier to communicate!” he thought.
Silvery light filled the ship and a humanoid figure materialized before him.
“You detected my mind. No one else has ever done that. It was your own keen mind and the emotions you felt so strongly that drew me here. I have known loneliness, and it was my desire to help you!” thought the silvery being.
“You are from another dimension but in our plane of existence you can alter reality. Something in my mind …some random thought caught your attention!” he said.
The Silvery being responded again. “You had regrets. You felt badly. I wanted to show you how much good you have done and will continue to do. You defeated another grouping of super villains. You freed the entire planet of Gaia! You are a hero. I also assure you that all the good the Martian accomplished came from what he had absorbed from your own mind. Your mind was too strong for him. You overwrote his own brain in a way. Regret nothing.”
Captain Comet smiled and said, “Thank you. I felt your presence but it was faint until the end. I supposed the Grodd powered machine created a kind of mental static that obscured your essence.”
He added, “But, I must ask, if you created those villains for me to battle, could you not also create heroes to defend the native below?”
The Silvery being flickered and said, “It is done! I have retroactively altered history so that from this moment onward, Gaia will have both heroes and villains!”
Comet said, “Thank you. I feel better and why did you bring the real Star Sapphire here?”
The Silvery being replied, “I brought you what you needed!”
As Captain Comet piloted the Cometeer into deep space, he thought, “The Silver twist! That was the name Green Lantern gave to that remarkable being. I owe it a great debt. I was feeling sorry for myself. Now, I see how foolish that was. I’ll do better from now on and maybe Camille or Debbie or whatever she calls herself will be a part of my future life.”
