When suburban married couple Jake and Sarah Morrison say the names Hawk and Dove, they are transformed into avatars of war and peace-designed by star-crossed lovers to bring unity to the Lords of Order and Chaos, avoiding the impending age of Chaos called the Kali Yuga and ending the timeless struggle between the forces of Order and Chaos.

Issue #21

“Skull and Bones”

Written By Paul Daimler

“Where is Ren?” Sara Morrison asked, sipping her champagne without much relish. She had planned on having a Bloody Mary or two tonight, but vodka went right to her head, and until she and Ren got a chance to talk to her Dad about Victor Larson, she didn’t want to get too sauced.

“I don’t know.” Jake said, tugging slightly at his tie. “When can I take this noose off?”

“I thought you would be enjoying that suit more.” Ren grinned, “You look every bit the handsome young Republican in it.”

“I swore I would only wear a monkey suit twice in my life after my senior prom—for my wedding and for my funeral. You got one of those out of me already. You ain’t gonna get the other one for a long-long time.” Jake said.

Sara grinned, “It’s a suit. You wore a tuxedo to our wedding. You aren’t getting buried in a tuxedo. Besides, dressing up is nice.”

“You certainly went all out.” Jake said, looking appraisingly at her slinky black dress. “You’re showing a bit more skin than normal tonight, honey.”

“I just felt like being a bit more sexy this evening. I figured if you were going to wear the suit for me, I could wear something you’d enjoy.”

“So…” Jake said, “If I wear suits more, you’ll wear slinky little dresses more.”

Sara looked up at her husband, allowing a slightly seductive tone to enter her voice, “I think we might be able to work that out stud.”

Jake’s face flushed.

Sara giggled, “Oh my god! Did I embarrass you Mr. Morrison?”

Jake looked away, taking a deep gulp of his gin and tonic. “Um… no. Not at all.”

Sara laced her arm through Jake’s, “Oh sweetie. We’re going to work on your shyness later tonight. After we get home. Now, go get me another glass of champagne. Please.”

“Sure.” Jake said.

Sara drained her glass and watched her husband walk toward the bar. She smiled, watching him go. Sometimes she ran into his shyness and it only made her more endearing to her.

“Sara!”

Sara turned to see Karen Beecher-Duncan standing there, holding a glass of red wine and wearing a smart beige and gold cocktail dress.

“Karen!” Sara gushed, “You look amazing!”

“Oh, thanks.” Karen said, “You too.”

The two women embraced.

“I’m glad you made it tonight.” Sara said.

“Me, too. It’s pretty boring night after night in that lab. And, whatever issues we’re having with the exo-suit just aren’t easy to resolve.” Karen sighed, “I’m getting pretty home sick. I miss my husband.”

Sara repied, “I’m not sure I could be away from Jake that long.”

“This is the longest I’ve ever been away.” Karen shook her head, “I’m flying back for a few days next week. And, then if I’m still here next month, Mal is going to fly out for a few days.”

“I can’t wait to meet him.” Sara said, then paused, “Again…. Wow. It’s so weird. I remember him but it’s more like a TV show I’ve watched.”

“I can’t imagine having my head full of some one else’s memories.”

“It’s rough sometimes.”

“It must be hard for Jake. Having all of Hank’s memories… considering how Hank went bad… and Ren.”

Sara nodded, “Well, Hank’s memories end just before he became Monarch. So, Jake doesn’t have to deal with that. But, the Ren thing…”

“Difficult?”

“Very difficult.” Sara sighed, “And, I don’t really have anyone to talk to about it. Jake gets mad if I talk about it with him, and Ren just can’t be honest with me about it…”

“Tell you what,” Karen took a sip of her wine. “We’ll have dinner and drinks next week, just you and I, and you can talk about it until you’re done talking.”

“Really? Oh, that would be awesome.” Sara said, relief flooding her. “Thank you.”

“No problem my friend.” Karen replied, “I’ve been doing this hero thing off and on for years, and most of that with the Titans… you wouldn’t believe the strange situations I’ve seen and helped people through. I mean, I was around when Duela Dent first showed up.”

“Duela Dent?” Sara asked. “I don’t know her…”

“She called herself Harlequin back then… claimed to be the Joker’s Daughter at first, but turned out to be Two-Face’s adopted daughter. No one has seen her in years, last I heard she was in a mental hospital.” Karen took another sip of wine. “You wouldn’t know her though. She wasn’t around when Dawn was. She was before that.”

“Duela Dent…” Sara frowned. “Reddish purple hair? White face paint? Checkered outfit?”

“That’s her.” Karen agreed. “I didn’t think she and Dawn ever crossed paths. She and Don did.”

Sara tilted her head to the side, “Weird. I just got a vision of fighting alongside her against someone named Mr. Esper…”

Karen looked at Sara suddenly, “That was when Don was Dove.”

“Weird. I wonder why I remember that.” Sara felt a quiet tremor as several memories of Duela Dent flooded her head; memories that could only have been Don Hall’s memories.

“Here’s your champagne.” Jake said, interrupting.

“Hi, Jake!” Karen greeted.

“Hey there Karen. I see Sara convinced you to come out to this shin-dig in a fancy dress too.” Jake said.

“Yeah. I picked this up this morning. When I packed for Atlanta, I didn’t expect I would need a fancy cock-tail dress.” Karen laughed.

“You should have said something.” Sarah told her, “I have a closet full of stuff I never wear.”

Sara then gave Jake a flirty look, “At least not lately…”

Jake’s cheeks flushed again.

Agent 32 had taken the uniform of a waiter slightly smaller than him, and right now he was paying the price as he wandered around the room with a huge platter of stuffed mushrooms. The waist of the black pants was digging into his waist.

“What all is in the mushroom?” A rotund man with a tiny mustache asked.

Agent 32 didn’t even bother to mask his look of disgust—the man was obliviously not white. He looked like he was probably Mexican—or some such race that should have never set food on American soil.

“I don’t make it.” Agent 32 snapped, “I just serve it.”

The rotund man flinched at Agent 32’s unexpected attitude.

“Well…” He finally sputtered, “I’ll be speaking to someone about your attitude.”

“Whatever you feel like you tubby mongrel.” Agent 32 snorted, moving away from the man. He found a nice white couple and offered them the platter.

Agent 32 glanced over his shoulder, watching as the fat-man waddled toward the tables where the catering manager was over-seeing everything.

“Damn it.” Agent 32 spat under his breath. He hadn’t even been thinking—but if that man reported him to the manager, they might realize that he wasn’t one of the hired waiters. That could complicate things considerably. “Crap. I should have been thinking.”

Agent 32 quickly lost himself in the crowds, trying to keep himself out of view the best that he could.

“Dad!” Sara said, coming up beside her father Robert Kincaid.

“Sara!” Robert’s face lit up. “Where’s Jake?”

“Oh, he’s around.” Sara smiled, “Where’s Mom?”

“Probably at home.” Robert said, “I haven’t seen her today.”

Sara looked at her Dad, keeping her tone level, “Everything OK?”

“You probably know better than I.” Robert said, “She talks to you more these days than she does me.”

“She’s still reeling from finding out you had an affair and that Richard Keos blackmailed you into running that smear article against the mayor.” Sara said, “I mean, if the situation was mine… I don’t know that I would still even be married to Jake.”

“I appreciate your candor.” Robert said, suddenly sounding older than fifty-two.

“Robert! There you are!”

Sara turned to the tall thin man with thinning gray hair and piercing eyes peering at her from his crow’s feet.

“Victor! You remember my daughter Sara, don’t you?” Robert asked.

“Oh yes. So nice to meet you again.” Robert said, extending his hand.

“Victor Larson? Right.” Sara said, her tone pleasant. Robert looked at his daughter suddenly, recognizing the tone. It was the one Sara used right before she had cornered someone in a lie or caught them misbehaving and was preparing to bust them.

“Yes.” Victor smiled.

Sara looked over her shoulder, giving a nod and then turned back to Victor, flashing her smile again.

“Oh, look Dad!” Sara said, dropping Victor’s hand. “It’s my friend… you remember my friend… Ren Takamori?”

“Ren!” Robert beamed, “Of course I remember you!”

“Hi, Mr. K!” Ren grinned, “Great to see you again!”

“Ren, surely you know Victor Larson… he is one of the editors at Renaissance.”

Sara noted from where she stood that Victor’s face had turned a particularly unflattering shade. It looked like he had just swallowed something that was going to make him sick.

“Oh, sure I know Victor.” Ren said, “He’s my boss!”

“Oh, really?” Robert scratched his head, “I didn’t realize that. Don’t I look like a fool.”

“Yeah. He sends me to the airport all the time so I can get pictures of Dallas Kerwin and his girlfriend.” Ren grinned widely, watching Victor’s shade turn greener and greener by the moment.

“What?” Robert said, snapping his head toward Victor so sharply that Sara was afraid he might get whiplash.

“Uh… yeah. For the society page in Renaissance.” Victor stammered.

Both Sara and Ren grinned widely, watching Victor begin to squirm.

“We don’t have a society page.” Robert said, “We did an article on Dallas Kerwin in the last issue. Why would we need any more pictures? And, why would we have Ren getting paparazzi shots even if we’re doing another article?”

“Um…” Victor continued stammering. “Remember in the last meeting? I mentioned we were going to start carrying a society page? Doing profiles on notable celebrities in the Atlanta area? I gave you that proposal…”

“I don’t remember that.” Robert said his tone growing icy. “That sounds dangerously close to the various tabloid magazines who’s levels I have avoided stooping to my entire life as a journalist and a publisher.”

“Oh, Dad… it looks like you have to deal with something.” Sara said, “I’ll see you later. Come on, Ren.”

Sara grabbed Ren by the arm and dragged her away.

“Why are we leaving?” Ren asked, looking over her shoulder just in time to see Robert Kincaid’s face turn a particular shade of scarlet as he began to chew Victor Larson out. “I wanted to watch him get reamed.”

“Nah. We need drinks.” Sara grinned. “And, finger foods. And, I want to see this Andrew you’ve been raving about.”

Ren laughed, “You are acting awfully spontaneous and mischievous tonight. It’s so unlike you.”

“Is it?” Sara asked, questioning. “Hmmm… Maybe.”

Ren opened her mouth to say something and then quickly shut her mouth. Dawn had a streak like this. Dawn had loved pulling pranks . Everything Ren knew about Sara did not indicate there had ever been a prankster element to her. She was acting like Dawn. Ren’s mind whirled with the possibilities of this implication.

“Oh! Hey!” Ren said, pointing. “There is Andrew Michaels! And, he’s already talking to Karen!”

“That’s him?” Sara asked. “He’s cute!”

“I know!” Ren gushed, “Let’s go so you can meet him!”

Agent 36 felt a distinct flare of displeasure go through him as he served an attractive black woman a glass of champagne.

But, he gritted his teeth and dealt with it. If the Skeleton Men were to be successful this night, he had to keep his cover—that of a mongrel-loving indulgent service industry idiot.

This was why he had joined the Skeleton Men five years ago—to help stop the mixing of races and reclaiming an Aryan heritage for the South. These small sacrifices he made now would only lead to glory later.

Agent 7 came over his communicator, “We have several platoons in place. What is the scene within? Any confirmation of Takamori in the room?”

“She is talking to some black b*#*@ and a blonde man.” Agent 36 said, observing where Ren Takamori stood across the room. It was evident to him that she was into the man, but the man did not appear to be overtly interested in her. Good for him… staying away from that mongrel.

“Don’t let her get out of your sight.” Agent 7 said. “We are nearly ready out here.”

“Understood.” Agent 36 said, “36 out.”

“He sounds nice enough.” Jake said, sounding gruff. “I just hope he likes her. You know sometimes Ren and the reality of a situation don’t line up.”

“Oh, I know.” Sara said, lacing her arm through Jake’s. “But, it’s a good sign. Maybe she’s finally actually moving on. That is good for everyone.”

Jake smiled down at his wife, looking into her dark blue eyes. He brushed a lock of her chestnut brown hair from her cheek.

“I love you so much, babe.” Jake grinned.

“I love you too.” Sara said. She gave his hand a squeeze and opened her mouth to say something when she was interrupted by a peal of laughter.

“Sara Kincaid? Is that you?”

Sara smiled, turning to see Gail Robiceaux standing there. Her ravishing red hair looked like molten copper against her pale creamy skin. Her supple lips were painted a deep red that only made her skin look more porcelain and dollish.

“It’s Sara Morrison now.” Sara smiled, trying to push the wave of negative thoughts back. “This is my husband Jake.”

“OH!” Gail gushed, extending her hand to Jake. Jake took it awkwardly and shook it. Gail wrinkled her nose, having expected Jake to lift it and give it a kiss. She pulled her hand away quickly, pressing it against her amble bosom. “How long?”

“Almost three years now.” Sara smiled, “I’m surprised you didn’t know. You cousins Delton and Ella-Louise were at the wedding. You also met him last year at a fund-raiser for the Wonder Woman Foundation’s Hurricane Relief here.”

“Oh, I rarely talk to that part of the family. My father’s people are less than admirable and lack certain scruples and decency.” Gail rolled her eyes in an exaggerated expression, her blue-eyeshadow coated eyelids fluttering madly. “And as far as that fund-raiser…. I met so many people that night.”

“Your cousins seemed decent at the wedding. They gave us a cuisinart.” Jake said, frowing. He did not like this woman at all. “And at the party, you were bragging about your stupid liberal views on gun control. I called you a commie pinko b*#% and walked off.”

“Oh? That was you?” Gail’s eyes dramatically. “I didn’t realize that was you. You have aged since last year…”

“Gail! Who are you friends?” A tall well-built man with graying blonde hair said, coming up beside them.

“Dallas Kewin!” Jake said excitedly, “Let me shake your hand! You are the man that is going to turn around the Falcon’s chances at winning the Super Bowl this year!”

“Well, we’ve got a great team in place…” Dallas began.

As Dallas and Jake lapsed into football talk, Gail and Sara found themselves staring at each other.

“You seem different than last time we talked.” Gail said to Sara, staring directly into her eyes.

“You, too.” Sara said, wondering what the hell she was talking about.

“You seem more chaotic somehow.”

“Chaotic?” Sara asked with a lifted eyebrow.

“ Yeah. Normally you are so orderly.” Gail commented.

Sara looked at the woman’s face, trying to determine by her expression what she was trying to get at.

“I’m still orderly.” Sara frowned, “I don’t know what you’re trying to insinuate.”

“It’s just…” Gail hesitated. “Well, before you hooked up with that big dumb jock there, you were in control. Now, not so much.”

Sara found herself suppressing the desire to haul off and smack Gail right then and there.

“You’re dating a big dumb jock yourself.” Sara replied coolly, pushing the anger down.

“Wow. You’re actually losing your cool right now.” Gail lifted an eyebrow. “You wanted to hit me for that, didn’t you. You weren’t prone to physical violence before.”

“I’m not going to hit you.” Sara said, her tone going icy. “Getting arrested for smacking a vacuous debutante with too much money and too much time isn’t worth losing everything I’ve worked so hard for. Despite the fact that it would be pretty rewarding for a few seconds to wipe that smug look off your face.”

Sara then stormed off, trying to get lost in the crowd.

“What the Hell was that?” Sara gasped once she was across the room. She felt her temper cooling down, her anger melting instantly. “That was dumb…”

Sara looked back through the crowd to where Jake and Dallas Kerwin still talked sports scores and player stats. Gail Robiceaux was staring across the room at her, her expression bemused.

“It was her…” Sara whispered. “Something about her caused that reaction…”

Sara looked away, scanning the crowd for Ren or Karen.

Skeleton Men Platoon 5, which was comprised of Agents 37 through 45, had set up across the street in conjunction with Platoon 4—which had two members inside the party. Platoons 4 and 5 were back-up—there to cover the exit of the team that was going to go in and grab Takamori and escape with her.

“We’re in place.” Agent 37 said into his communicator.

“Excellent.” Agent 7 responded. “Our extraction team is almost ready. Wait for our signal.”

“Understood.” Agent 37 replied.

The communication ended.

Agent 37 did a quick visual check to make sure that all of his team was in place. Once satisfied with this, he refocused on the building across the street. He could see the party was in full-swing through the wall-length windows on the side facing the street.

Jake was not sure where Sara had gotten off to, one minute she was by himself while he was talking with Dallas Kerwin and the next moment she was gone. He thought he might have heard her and Gail Robiceaux’s voices slightly raised and tight—the same tone Sara took with him just before their most wicked fights, but that couldn’t be so. Could it?

There had been something odd about the Robiceaux woman. He had thought last time they met, but this time there had been something else. He wondered what it was. When they’d met last time it was before he and Sara had first become Hawk and Dove. Maybe whatever it was he had sensed tonight was some sort of side-effect of his Chaos-powered nature.

“What a mess.” Jake said, shaking his head. Sara spent a lot of time questioning their powers—how they worked, what they meant, and all those pesky details. Jake didn’t really care about any of that. He just wanted to punch out bad-guys and let the bullets bounce off him. Surely that’s all Superman did. Wasn’t it? He’d met Superman exactly one time…

No. Wait. That had been Hank Hall. It had been during the Alien Invasion. Right after Hank and Dawn had become partners. Jake frowned. He remembered how impressive Superman had been to him… no… to Hank. And he remembered telling Ren all about it over and over. Superman had been one of his… no, one of Hank’s heroes.

Remembering those long conversations with Ren, even though they weren’t really his, he felt a slight wave of jealousy echoing through him, which angered him. He did not love Ren. He had no feelings for her. But, there was a part of Hank Hall dwelling in him… and that part was not at all pleased that Ren Takamori was maybe moving on. Jake just hadn’t really had to deal with this before… and he didn’t like it. And, he didn’t know who to talk to about it. He certainly couldn’t bring the subject up with Sara. She was sensitive enough about the Ren situation.

“If only Don was here.” Jake whispered. Then shook his head. He’d never even met Don Hall. Don had been dead many years now. He had never confided or relied on Don for anything. But Hank had. Especially when it came to girl trouble. Jake frowned. How much of Hank Hall’s essence was truly corrupting him? He had not pondered this question as much as Sara did, but sometimes he couldn’t help but worry. Especially when he considered how Hank Hall had ended up… whatever parts of him hadn’t ended up housed in the Hawk spell and embedded in Jake’s soul was floating around somewhere, going as Extant.

Across the room, Jake saw a blonde man with blue eyes and an athletic build.

“Don?”

Quickly Jake began moving across the room, making his way through the crowd.

Coming to a stop he tapped the man on the shoulder, “Don?”

The man turned around, and Jake could see that while there was an uncanny resemblance, this was not Don Hall. Although the man seemed to have an inner light that reminded him of Don Hall… of Dawn… of Sara when they were Dove.

“I’m sorry.” The man smiled brightly, “I think you’ve got me confused with someone else. I’m Andrew Michaels.”

The man extended his hand.

“Oh, hey! I’m Jake Morrison!” Jake said, taking the man’s hand and giving it a good firm shake. “My wife is Sara Morrison. We’re friends with Ren!”

“Oh.” Andrew said, a shadow passing through his eyes. “You’re Sara’s husband!”

“Yeah. I missed you earlier when you met Sara.” Jake said, “Good to meet you now.”

“Yes.” Andrew nodded, “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Andrew opened his mouth to say something further, but was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass as the entire glass wall of the room they were in shattered as a platoon of Skeleton Men came crashing through.

As the crowd erupted into panic, Jake did not waste a moment to slip away in the pandemonium. He ducked beneath one of the long white flood length tablecloths covering one of the banquet tables.

“HAWK!” He shouted.

He transformed instantly, coming out the other side of the table.

Launching himself into the marching platoon of Skeleton Men, he wasted no time slamming his fists into them.

“Get ‘em Hawk!” Ren Takamori shouted.

“Ren,” Sara said, “I’m going to slip off and change into something a bit more comfortable.”

“Alright.” Ren replied, not taking her eyes off Hawk pummeling the Skeleton Men. Out of costume and without the presence of magic, Jake looked nothing like Hank. But, as Hawk he was just as big and brawny as normal.

“I think I’ll join you.” Karen Beecher-Duncan said.

“Oh?” Sara asked with a lifted eyebrow. “That purse is a bit small for your… uh, pajamas.”

Karen smiled, “You’d think. But, Ray Palmer lent some of his white dwarf meteor materials to S.T.A.R. Labs… and I helped Wally West reconfigure his ‘ring’ recently. I figured that I might have use for my… pajamas while I was here in Atlanta. So, I cobbled some stuff together.”

“Excellent.” Sara said, “I guess we should find a ladies room.”

As Sara and Karen made their way through the panicking crowds, Sara heard someone shout: “NIGHTINGALE!”

Sara paused, turning to see the woman who’s costume was so close to Dove’s fly through the air toward the Skeleton Men. Her long flowing molten gold hair fanned out above her white and dark navy blue outfit.

“Who’s that?” Karen asked.

“Nightingale.” Sara replied, “Hawk met her the last time the Skeleton Men attacked.”

“Do you know who she is?”

“I have a very good idea. Actually.” Sara said as she and Karen left the room to change.

“So, that’s Nightingale….” Ren whispered, digging her camera out of her purse. She could at least get some shots of this. It would be great for the next issue of Renaissance Magazine. Plus, she might be able to sell some of them to the press for a little extra cash.

“Don’t move Miss Takamori.”

Ren turned toward the waiter who had just spoken to her. His face was scrunched into a pinched angry expression as his little rat-like eyes focused on her. He looked like he was a few sizes too small for his uniform. She figured maybe he was making that face because of his discomfort.

“Ms.” Ren corrected.

“You’re going to come with me.” The unhappy waiter said.

“Thanks for your concern.” Ren smiled, “But I’m gonna get some pictures. Besides, I’ve been in the middle of super-villain/super-hero throw-downs plenty of times. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“I think you misunderstand me Miss Takamori.” The waiter removed a small pistol sized energy weapon like the bigger bazookas the Skeleton Men were using.

“Oh.” Ren said, looking from the pistol’s barrel to the unhappy face of the man holding it. “I guess you’re with those super-creeps?”

“That’s right mongrel trash.” The man hissed, “And, you’re going to come with me. Or, I’ll put a giant hole through your gut.”

“That’s not very nice.”

Both Ren and the unhappy waiter turned just in time to see Belenius disarm him and deftly knock him out.

“Oh, hey.” Ren smiled, quickly patting her hair—hoping it looked good. She knew her dress was hot.

“Ms. Takamori.” Belenius smiled brightly at her. “It appears that these Skeleton Men might be trying to kidnap you.”

“You don’t say?” Ren said, stooping down to pick up the energy pistol. She tucked it into her purse, figuring that it might be handy for Hawk and Dove’s investigation. At the very least Karen could take a look at it.

“I do.” Belenius said.

“What have you done to Agent 36?!” Another man in an ill-fitting waiter’s uniform asked.

He snapped the trigger on his energy pistol, knocking Belenius off his feet.

Belenius gave a groan as he fell over.

The man—Agent 32, grabbed Ren by the arm, jabbing the barrel of his pistol into her ribs.

“You’re coming with me.” He dragged Ren toward the doorway that led to the back hallways of Renaissance Magazine’s offices. He had an escape route planned that would allow him to get out while the rest of the Skeleton Men were storming the room.

“I think he plans on slipping out the back door with this party-goer.” Dove said to Bumblebee as they stepped into the doorway, blocking Agent 32.

“I think you’re right.” Bumblebee replied, “Let’s correct that misconception for him.”

She fired a sizzling bolt of sonic energy from her visors—striking the man in the arm.

The sonic disruption prevented him from being able to even pull the trigger as his entire arm went numb and his fingers went lax and unresponsive.

“You black b—“ Agent 32 was silenced by a left-hook from Ren.

“Thanks.” Bumblebee said.

“I’m going to go in there and help Hawk and Nightingale.” Dove said, turning to Bumblebee. “You get Ren safely out of here. It appears somebody is out to get here.”

“No problem.” Bumblebee took Ren by the hands. “Hold on while I fly us out of here.”

They flew out of the hallway, bursting into the clear cool night sky.

A blast of energy struck them from the sky, sending them both falling toward the ground below.

“Agent 41 reporting in. The Bumblebee and Ren Takamori have been struck with a stun ray. We are going to collect Takamori.”

“Proceed as planned.” Agent 7 replied.

TO BE CONTINUED…