The DCFutures FanFic group is aware that many of the
names and concepts used in this work of fiction are
the property of DC Comics.  We use them WITHOUT
PERMISSION for NO PROFIT, but rather a look into the
future of some of our favorite characters.  Some of
the concepts and all of the story is, however ENTIRELY
original, and property of the authors.  So there.

****

New Orleans

        Helena Shaw drove her hovercar into the garage next
door to her main office/residence.  She owned upwards
of 50 safehouses scattered around the world, but this
one was the first.  This was where Donut stayed with
his computer.  This was where Jenni Robbins kept the
place running while Helena was off working as
Manhunter (much to the girl's protests -- and Helena
empathized with her, respected that the girl had
probably been quite a warrior with the Boston rebels
called ROBYN, but a pregnant woman had no place in
combat).  This was home.
        And her home... 
        ...Had been invaded.
        "Captain Atom, I presume," Helena said, power baton
at the ready.
        The silver-plated Justice Leaguer turned to look at
her and smiled.  "Yes," he said.  "I apologize for the
mess I've made, but the girl didn't quite believe I
was who I said I am."  The sofa's back was blasted
out, foam scattered around the room.  A wooden chair
(that had cost three hundred dollars!) lay broken on
the floor, one leg broken off like a club.
        "If you've harmed Jenni or her baby, I'll kill you,"
Helena said.
        "Relax," the man said.  "She's asleep upstairs.  She
finally just gave up and left.  A shame that such a
fierce woman's spirit has been broken."
        "You don't know anything about her," Helena said.
        "You'd be surprised," he said.  Helena tried to
remember what Hourman and Killer Frost had told her...
that this was a second Captain Atom who'd appeared
months after the one who consorted with the Suicide
Squad.  This one was an ultra-militaristic thug who'd
become completely loyal to Justice.  At the time
Helena was hooked up with Hourman's battalion, Captain
Atom was elsewhere, guarding someone the two men
called 'the kid.'
        Justice's son?  Maybe... 
        "Where's my partner?" the Manhunter asked. 
        "In a safe place," Captain Atom said.  "And he'll
remain safe, be returned to you post-haste, if you
agree to a job."
        "How do you know I won't double-cross you?"
        "I know your reputation," the Leaguer said. 
"Business is business."
        Damn.  Twice in one night that had been thrown at
her.
        "What do you want?"
        "Hourman."  He thought a moment, then added, "Alive."
        "I'm not an assassin," she said.  "But it's a deal."
        Captain Atom snapped his fingers, and Donut appeared
in his chair.  A rail-thin shadow of a man
materialized standing next to Captain Atom.
        "...I wish I knew what those freaks wanted..." Donut
stopped in mid-sentence.  "Whoa..." he said, starting
to fall out of his chair.  Manhunter rushed over to
steady the blind man.
        "He's disoriented from the jaunt through time,"
Captain Atom said.  "I can relate.  You've heard what
I want, Manhunter.  You've got a week to find him." 
With that, he turned to nod at the mute being by his
side, and the two vanished.

*****

        Helena checked in on the girl and found her asleep
upstairs, just like Captain Atom had said.  She bit
her lip, thinking that the captain was right -- the
girl came on fast and hard, but the fight went out of
her quickly, like something inside her was broken. 
Maybe it was losing the child's father, the boy who
dressed up as Robin.
        After a shower, she walked back into Donut's
workspace and asked, "Any luck?"
        "The League's letting me into their records on this
pursuit," Donut said.  "He was last seen in New York
City.  Hourman broke into his own apartment and made
off with some unverified items; they suspect he may
have had a stash of Miraclo tablets hidden there."
        "Makes sense," she said.
        "You're standing there naked behind me again, aren't
you?"
        "Actually, I dressed this time," Helena said, patting
the black man on the shoulder.  "Sorry, I'm in no mood
for banter.  I just want to get this over with."
        Donut turned to face her.  "Are you actually going to
capture Hourman?  They'll kill him."
        Helena sighed.  "Captain Atom was right, though.  I
make a deal, I stick to it.  My whole professional
reputation's shot if I renege on a contract."
        "Would you take a contract on me?"
        "I couldn't," she said.  "You're my partner.  That
would be a conflict of interest."
        "What about the Suicide Squad?"
        "I'd hand Eve Tresser over in a heartbeat," Manhunter
said.  "I hate that bitch.  Everybody hates her,
except maybe Batman... Jake, that would be hard... I'd
never enter into that contract, because he's too
powerful for me to take on.  The others, I don't care.
 Except Ollie... but he's been pardoned, anyway."
        "What about Priest?"
        Helena seethed with anger.  "I'd announce my
retirement," she finally responded.
        Donut flinched.  "Wait, it's updating..." he said.
        "More on the man of the hour?"
        "Yeah," Donut winced at the pun.  "Okay, he's been
spotted again.  Gotham City, Lowtown," Donut said. 
"He fought an agent named Shamrock..."
        "I'm on my way," Helena said, grabbing the
computerized sensor mask and energy baton from their
spots on the weapons wall.  Just for added security,
she slipped a laser blaster into a holster on her leg.
 And then she was gone.
        "You'd announce your retirement," Donut muttered.  "I
don't know whether to be ashamed or proud."

****

The DCF Fan Fiction Group Presents:
INFINITY, INC.: DCF #2

"The One Where Things Almost Start To Happen But Kinda
Had To Get Cut Off Because The Writers Got Sick Like
Dogs."

****

By Jason Tippitt scarcrest@hotmail.com & Erik Burnham
darvey@rocketmail.com

****

Elsewhere

        Remember that scene in "The Wizard of Oz" with the
winged monkeys?  This wasn't like that at all.  Well,
it sorta sounded the same.  Only louder.  And there
were a lot more of 'em.  But the creatures here were
even uglier.  Like old photos of your family from
about twenty years ago, when the clothing was
atrocious.  These things were so ugly they could be
modern art masterpieces.
        The horde scurried around.  Something had them
excited; they could smell blood and coming battle. 
And they liked it, oh yeah.  Just about feeding time
for these bad boys.  How long had they been here? 
Hard to tell inside a boom tube.  Even if you had a
mind; which these parademons didn't.
        Did we mention they were ugly?  We didn't even
mention their feeding habits...

****

Gotham -- Lowtown

        "So," Danny Parker smirked, exhaling a thin stream of
smoke as he did so, "your own people're after you. 
There's some kinda irony there."
        Hourman nodded.  He was getting to like this
sig-hound, who had just finished telling him the story
of how a pale, glowing liquid had spilled on him one
day and turned him into this... plastic man.  He also
told him of the fight he'd had with another Justice
Leaguer, the one called Fire.
        ...Fire didn't walk away from their little skirmish. 
        It sounded as though this sig-hound was completely
invulnerable to any physical attack, and had complete
control over the very molecules of his body... but
wasn't smart enough to realize the full extent or
ramifications of such abilities.  Probably a good
thing, that. 
        "You do realize," Danny continued, "your sig is gonna
fetch me a lot more once they kill you."
        "Not in my present quasi-fugitive state," Hourman
noted, quickly following the line of thought.  "If
anything, the price would go down.  Maybe out."
        "Sure?"
        "I've always paid close attention to the value of my
celebrity status."
        "...Damn."  Parker looked depressed.  A moment
passed, a few drags on the cigarette, and he perked
up.  "Unless we get you to do a little of the hero
thing, am I right?"
        Hourman felt his eyes rolling back.  Wasn't Batman
supposed to be around here, somewhere?

****

Gotham -- Lowtown

        "I'm so glad you came down, 'Lish!" Darcy Martin
grinned.  Alisha's best friend in college, Darcy was
deemed unfit to join the League when Alisha went on. 
They still kept in touch, and Darcy was always trying
to get Alisha to go on a good old-fashioned shopping
spree once more.  She had the money to do it, after
all... 
        Alisha Michaels was glad she'd accepted the
invitation this time.
        So here they were, in Gotham City's famous Lowtown
district... Lowtown, the biggest shopping mecca the
world had ever known, was the size of a small city,
employing thousands.  Indeed, the vast majority of
stores in Gotham -- aside from a few bars and eateries
-- had all gone subterranean.  It was fantastic: a
wonder of the world in its own way.
        Boom.
        "What was that?" Alisha asked.  Her senses were still
a little hypersensitive -- the way she liked 'em when
she was in Maine -- to keep the beauty of nature at
the forefront of her mind.
        "What was what?" Darcy shrugged.  "You hungry?"
        "Hungry?  No..."
        "Are you sure, hon?  Your stomach's growling awful...
loud..."
        Have you ever seen a parademon up close?  We weren't
kidding.  They're nasty no-goodniks.  They frighten
small children... heck, they frighten large children. 
Adults.  Animals.  Inanimate objects...

****

WARRIOR'S BAR, NYC

        Guy, Tim, and Ollie sat in a booth to themselves.  No
one else was in the building, as Superboy and Chalice
had decided to extend their group's activities.
        A TV murmured in the distance.
        "You're Batman," Guy said.  Tim nodded.  "And you
knew?" Guy continued.  Ollie nodded.  "And it never
occurred to anyone to tell me?"
        "I thought you knew," Ollie spoke, a well-placed
smirk on his face before he added: "It's been obvious,
I think."
        "It was not THAT obvious!" Tim chimed in. 
        "He's right; it made just enough sense to not make
sense.  But now it does.  Agh.  My head hurts."  Guy
finished his beer.  "And why exactly are you so into
the revelation thing now?"
        Tim sighed.  "I want to start a team.  A real team. 
Something people can look up to."
        "And he wants us in on it," Ollie added.
        "You think people are gonna look up to us?"
        "Those kids look up to you."
        "Yeah, well..." Guy stammered.  "Waitaminnit, what's
that?"  Reflexively, he turned the volume up on his
TV.
        "...Monsters of some kind running amok in Gotham
City.  Reports from the scene indicate massive
property damage in the Lowtown shopping district, and
expanding out through..."
        "Well now," Guy smiled as he turned the TV down. 
"Looks like you got yourself a genuine emergency
here."
        "We can be in Gotham in twenty minutes," Ollie added.
        "Right," Tim nodded.  "Here's to... the Bat Posse!"
        "I don't think so," Ollie and Guy spat
simultaneously. 
        "Fine, we'll work on that as we go."

****

TO BE CONCLUDED IN INFINITY, INC.: DCF #3

****

Letters

****

From: Stormangel


Heya strangers! I was surfing the web and came back
home to the DCF site after a way to long hiatus and
found Infinity Inc. #1. Must say that I loved it
immensely, especially the scene at Warriors... you two
always knew how how to maintain my version of Guy.

-Jessie Davis

From: LegacyIcon

Loved it!! Loved it Loved it!!
Want more!

-Payne

From: Oliver_Kiemschies

Finally got around to reading Infinity Inc. #1. Took
me a while to get around to it, but all I can say is
about freaking time! It's nice to see some people
ready to rip a little hole in the darkness that
surrounds the world in 2113. I'm not talking about
light and fluffy heroes though, I'm talking about
people ready to kick a little ass for the right
reasons. I'm not saying there aren't heroes already on
the scene, I'm just saying it's nice to see a
super-hero team dedicated to heroism.

-Ollie

From: AstralLord

Erik:

Got to say it.... the first issue was very impressive.
Good tight plotting. Plenty of interesting
possibilities. Real characters. I guess that's what
keeps me interested in the DCF - the characters are
interesting and growing and the plots are good.

Thanks,
Des

We appreciate the comments and we hope to hear more!
Issue three will be out MUCH quicker than #2!
(Sophomore slump -- what can I say...)

Send all comments to darvey@rocketmail.com and
scarcrest@hotmail.com