//------------------------------//
// Issue 1, Chapter 6 
// Story: Among Gods 
// by Grave_Mind 
//------------------------------//


Issue 1: Tower of Babel

Chapter 6


“Weeeee!” Pinkie cheered and giggled as she raced down the metal tunnel at lightning fast speed. A trail of pink lightning trailed behind her, which sparked as it traveled up in a stream of sparkling streaks.
She soon skidded to a stop and looked on in sheer awe as soon as she reached the end of the tunnel and into a large room. Tall pillars of light dotted the place, connected by long walkways and platforms that seemed to stack and cross over all across each other in nearly infinite ways. “Wooooooow…” Pinkie muttered. “Pretty liiiiiiiights!”
Pinkie was so busy gawking over the mountainous structures that she didn’t notice a streak of scarlet stop right behind her. “You like it? This is the power grid for the Watchtower’s Power Core! Cyborg built it for us! Also, you’re trespassing! I’m gonna have to turn you in!”
Pinkie nearly jumped out of her skin as the Scarlet Speedster snuck up on her! She stumbled back and hit the railing. The hyperactive pink speedster tripped and flipped over the railing, but a scarlet hand quickly reached down and grabbed her. “Gotcha!” He grunted. Before Pinkie could even blink, the costumed man yanked her back up! The speedy hero took a moment to congratulate himself for reacting so quickly. “All in a days work for yours truly, the Flash, the Fastest Man Alive! No need to thank me!” He boasted proudly. “You okay?”
Pinkie was left still and motionless, her eyes glazed over as she was hoisted back up. Flash tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow under his mask. He waved his hand in front of her slowly, but frowned when he saw it didn’t do any good. “Uh… hello?” He asked, snapping his fingers in front of her face. “Anybody home?” He waved his hand in front of her face as well, but it did nothing to bring the poor girl out of her stupor. Flash let out a sigh of defeat as he looked at her dumbfounded expression in utter confusion. This was getting weird.
It would only get weirder still. Pinkie’s mind was assaulted with images that came and went at a million miles an hour. Her vision was blinded with bolts of lightning and streaks of red and gold. Her senses were greeted by images of an older man standing at the end of a bridge, looking over an expansive city. He dressed similarly to her, only wearing a winged helmet and a red shirt with a large bolt of lightning striking down the center. Other similarly-dressed costumed speedsters joined his side. One looked almost identical to the man who saved her life just moments ago. The second was younger than the other two, garbed in yellow. The two adults exchanged a brief glance with the young runner before he blazed across the bridge, leaving a streak of gold in his wake! “Wow,” Pinkie thought out loud. “He’s faster than Dashie!”
Pinkie watched in amazement as the young teenager raced across the long bridge to the city. His body began to grow and morph before her eyes! By the time the young man reached the city limits, he had become a fully-grown adult. His costume was no longer the gold ensemble from before either. Instead, the man’s costume was the exact red costume the second speedster had at the bridge. A torch had been passed, a legacy had been upheld.
“Wow,” Pinkie exclaimed again. “So… the boy at the end of the bridge grew up and inherited the super-cool outfit that the others had! That is… ten times super-cool! At least 100 percent super-cooler!”
The scene exploded into a fiery green inferno and Pinkie found herself staring up at the hauntingly hooded gaze of the Spectre. She stood at the end of the same bridge, where she witnessed the continuation of a long-running history. She gazed up at the otherworldly spirit with a chipper smile and her typically happy demeanor. Even when she stared at such a force in the face, she still saw a need to giggle at the ghostie. “Ooooh! Hi there, Mister Spectre! It’s so good to see you! Did you see that boy run across the bridge! He was really fast! He was all like, ‘NYOOOOOOM!’ and I was all like, ‘Wow! Look at him go! He’s faster than Dashie!’ And then when he turned into a grown-up when he reached the end of the bridge, I was all like--”
A sudden crack of lightning and a boom of thunder quickly silenced her. The sky began to darken to a threatening green behind the Spectre, who stood like the powerful ethereal titan he was. Bolts of lightning exploded around Pinkie, which caused her jump and squeal in surprise, and swiftly made her remain silent.
“Awaken, Pinkie Quick,” The Spectre declared. “The power of the Speed Force is now yours to command. No go. Save your friends before it is too late!”
Then, with a final bolt of lightning, Pinkie returned to the waking world. Her once dilated-pupils reformed beneath her mask. Everything around her felt… slower now, slower than before! But her brain moved as if it was locked into hyperspeed! It was as if she just gulped down ten full bags of sugar! She never felt a rush like this since, well, ever! The only time Pinkie could recall reaching anything remotely like this sugar rush was when she accidentally coated a batch of cookies with too much sugar! She felt as if nothing could slow her down that day, even though everyone in Ponyville tried. Despite this, Pinkie could only watch as this scarlet-costumed hero brought up his hand again, snapping his fingers in front of her face again in agonizing slow motion.
“Hey,” Flash said again. “You okay? You blanked on me for a sec!” He scrunched his face and rubbed his chin. He then reached out to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “You need help,” he told her. “Why don’t we get you back to the others? Your friends are being rounded up as we speak. I’m sure they’ll be fine. We’re not here to hurt you.”
Pinkie’s mind spun and the world became a blur. This crimson-clad runner in front of her became muddied and distorted in her eyes. Why was everything so slow now? Even at her highest of sugar rushes, the world never seemed this… slow! For the first time in her life, Pinkie felt scared. Everything around her was moving at a snail’s pace except her. What was happening to her? And what was that the Spectre said? Her friends were in danger? She needed to do something! She needed to find them! She needed to get out of here! She needed to find a way to return everything to normal, and fast!
In a crackle and a flash of pink lightning, Pinkie disappeared in a blur of speed. Flash tripped and stumbled forward as his hand grasped at the air. He quickly regained his footing as he looked on in surprise, watching this trail of pink speed off across the multiple levels of walkways across the power cores of the Watchtower’s power grid. “Whoa,” Wally muttered to himself. She was almost as fast as Barry! “This might take a while.”
Lightning swirled and crackled around Wally before he zoomed off after her. Whatever was going on, she was clearly not trying to sabotage the Watchtower. Not on purpose, at least. Regardless, she needed to be stopped before someone got seriously hurt.



Raven moved quickly to the side to avoid an incoming energy blast from Twilight. It erupted harmlessly behind her in a cloud of glittering purple sparks. Something about this didn’t seem right to the hooded empath. That attack was too weak to kill or even incapacitate. She must be deliberately trying her best to hold back.
“Listen to me,” Raven said as she avoided another blast. “Whatever is going on, you need to calm down. There’s no reason for us to fight.”
Twilight didn’t want to fight either. But here she was, alone in a situation that had quickly spiraled out of control. Her friends were probably alone as well, maybe worse off than she was, maybe even in danger. Her fearful glance turned into a glare of determination. She didn’t have time for this. She needed to get out of here.
“Get away from me,” Twilight told Raven. “I must find my friends!”
Twilight turned on her heel and jumped up to take off into the air. Raven took off after her in pursuit, determined to put an end to this once and for all. She fired a beam of black energy from her hand, which shot upward and wrapped itself around Twilight’s ankle. Raven yanked down hard, pulling Twilight back down to earth.
Twilight hit the ground hard. She recovered quickly and rolled over onto her back. She sent out another flurry of energy bolts at Raven, but Raven lazily dodged each one, moving from side to side to avoid the blasts. Each dodge closed the gap between them. Raven narrowed her eyes as a stray blast whizzed over her head. She could tell she was getting to her, but it wasn’t going to be enough. She needed to end this now before someone got hurt.
“Enough!” Raven commanded, leaping up higher in the air above Twilight. “Azarath Metrion Zinthos!”
A bird of the darkest black was summoned at Raven’s command, manifesting itself from the very cloak that shrouded her. The large bird eyed Twilight for a second before it spread its wings and let out a shrill, deafening cry. The bird then dove at Twilight, enveloping her in pitch black darkness.
Raven struggled to keep her magic construct under control as it draped its wings around Twilight. Such power should be enough to keep the girl contained until she wore herself out. But that was only a best guess. The spellbinding empath would not anticipate what would happen next, however…
As she struggled to maintain her construct in this physical plain, Raven could hear muffled shouting come from within the blackened feathers of the bird. It sounded like… a chant. A familiar one. One she had just uttered to summon the very bird to contain this intruder.
“Azarath Metrion Zinthos!”
The bird exploded in a massive pillar of purple light. The surge of energy shot upwards, traveling several feet and hitting the tall ceiling above them. Raven braced herself as the force of the explosion made her tumble through the air. She slammed into the view port window behind her with a hard THUD! Raven slid down the hardened glass and winced from the impact. When the world stopped ringing, she found herself facing an exhausted Twilight, physically and mentally exerted from the energy she had just unleashed.
Raven managed to get back on her feet and winced a bit. She gripped at her side under her cloak and limped her way over to the downed intruder. This girl was Azarathean, like her. She was strong too, but clearly lacked in proper experience or control. Raven couldn’t help but feel she was holding back. She didn’t want to hurt anyone. Still, Raven had to call this in. Perhaps the League will get some answers when the rest were turned in for questioning.
“This is Raven,” she relayed into her earpiece as she winced again. “My target is down. Requesting assistance for pickup.”
“Copy that, Raven,” J’onn said from the other line. “The others are still rounding up the rest of the intruders. Is everything all right on your end? You sound injured.”
Raven winced once more and glanced down at Twilight. “N-no,” she said. “I’m fine. Just get here soon.”
J’onn acknowledged her request. “Very well. We’re sending a team to your location now. Martian Manhunter out.”
Raven took another look at Twilight. “What brought you here…?” she muttered to herself. She didn’t know why she was suddenly so curious about this other Azarathean, but something told Raven that she needed to trust her.
Something about this isn't right, she thought. As far as Raven knew, she thought she was the only Azarathean on Earth. What about the other intruders? They all looked similar to other heroes as well. What was the meaning of all this? Who sent them? What was their purpose? Hopefully, they would get some answers once the rest of the intruders were brought in for questioning.