SBS #7 - Voting Thread

Blue Valley:

So I wrote a letter to mom and dad, and then decided to deliver it myself. Had dinner with them, changed clothes in my room, grabbed a backpack, and zipped downstairs again.

"Wally West!" scolds my mother. "What did I say about super speed in the house?"

I catch the pictures that flew off the wall in my wake, and say, "Sorry, mom," as I quickly rehang them. I kiss her on the cheek, she swats my shoulder, and I head for the front door.

"Aren't you staying for game night?" she calls after me, sounding disappointed.

A bit guiltily, I wince and say, "Can't, mom. Gotta run." As the door closes behind me, I hit superspeed, and I'm passing the "Now Leaving Blue Valley" sign before it clicks closed.

Back at the house, mom probably sighs and says, "That boy. He's always running."

Bludhaven:

Guys like Stallion hardly make the double flip from the lamp post worth it, but he's basically a big bully, and I really kind of dig hearing a bully go oomph.

"OOMPH!"says Stallion as my heel connects with his jaw. He goes down hard on the sidewalk as I roll to a stand. He's on his back for several seconds before rolling unsteadily to his side, propping himself up on his elbow, and spitting out a mouthful of blood along with a tooth. When he sees the tooth, he starts, "You mother-- OOMPH!" but is interrupted by an escrima stick to his solar plexus, and the other to his jaw again, knocking him cold.

"Yippee-ki-yay," I say to his unconscious form as I ziptie his hands and feet. Pressing a button over my ear, I say, "Oracle, can you arrange pickup for Stallion at these coordinates? Let the police know the bomb is deactivated and there should be a couple of very willing witnesses against him tied nearby."

"You didn't untie the hostages?!" exclaims Oracle.

"No time! Got another appointment! You know me..."

"Yeah," says Oracle lightly, "I know you: always running."

"That's the life!" I say with a smile. "Nightwing out."

Manhattan Penthouse of Donna Troy and Kory Anders:

"Kory! Come on! We have to go!" calls Donna.

"I'm coming, Donna!" I call back as I skip barefooted down the stairs. Padded carpet is an Earth wonder. "Have you seen my shoes?"

Donna laughs. "You can see over three miles away, but you can lose something in this apartment?" She has a beautiful smile. "Did you look behind the couch?"

"Oh! There they are," and I grab them and slip them on as I hop for the door. "What's the hurry, anyway?"

"Last one there has to cook, and I'm not letting the guys do that to me again!" she grins, waving me frantically for the door.

"Well then we'd better hurry!" I say as I lock the door, and scoop her under one arm. I take off through the foyer skylight, and we're headed towards the island.

"We know we're not beating Kid Flash there! We have to hurry!" laughs Donna as she twists out of my arm and takes to the air herself.

"Always in such a hurry," I say calmly. "Why are humans always running?"

Mansion of Steve Dayton:

"Jeeves! Jeeves! Jeeves! How many times do I have to tell you only four grape tomatoes on the salad?" I exclaim in mock outrage.

"How many times must I tell you that my name is not 'Jeeves,' sir?" asks Jeeves peevishly.

"Don't get your bow tie in a twist, Jeeves!" I say as I turn into a spider monkey and jump on his chest, straightening his already impeccable tie. "I'm just funnin' with ya."

The doorbell chimes like a grandfather clock, and Jeeves says, "I believe that would be Miss Jillian, Master Logan. Where shall I tell Master Dayton that you have gone this time?"

I swing the door open, turn into a gorilla, swing Jillian lightly into the air, and turn into a horse just in time for her to land on my back. "Aw, you know, Jeeves- don't bother. Steve knows me- always running somewhere." As I step out into the sunlight, I turn into a giraffe, and Jillian grabs around my neck, surprised by the sudden elevation. "Urk! Not so tight!" I gurgle. She lets up, and I gallop away.

"Hey, Salad Head," says Jillian, "I don't cook, and I've tasted your so called food! Let's get a move on it!"

Turning into a giant eagle, I laugh and say, "What the lady wants, she gets!"

"OOOOP!" she calls out in surprise, and I angle towards the island.

Titans Tower:

I've been sitting cross legged for hours, meditating and summoning strength from great Azar to hold back the encroachment of Trigon on my soul. I may have to call on my friends for their help again soon, or I may have to run from my father's onslaught once again. I don't want to do that. It feels like I am always running from him, and I grow tired of it.

I allow my soul self to lift away from me, and it passes through walls and ceilings, circling the top of the Tower, and then through the common areas before sweeping towards the dock. They are all here or quickly approaching. It is almost time. My soul self swings back towards my room, and settles over me once again. I open my eyes, stand, retrieve my cloak, and teleport through dimensions to get to the rec room.

Rec Room:

"Witch!" calls Victor jovially. "We've really got to teach you to use the elevators!"

"I am sorry, Victor. I did not wish to be late."

"Ahh, but you are late!" teases Garfield, as he turns into a green crow and lands on my shoulder. "You live here. You teleport. And you still managed to be the last one to the rec room." He flaps his wings once, turns into a chimpanzee, flips in mid air, lands on his feet, shrugs, winks at me, and then turns into a rabbit before hopping into the arms of his friend, Jillian.

"You know what that means," says Dick, wagging a finger at me.

"No. I cannot," I protest.

"Ohhh, no!" says Donna. "Fair's fair, Raven! Last one here cooks; that's the deal!"

"I could cook one of my native dishes," says Kory. "I am sure you would all like--"

"NO!" the group shouts in unison. Kory zaps small starbolts towards our friends playfully in retort, and they scatter behind the furniture, laughing.

I smile. "Well, I thought that my meditation might make me late, so I took the liberty of being prepared," I say as I walk towards the kitchen.

"Wait a minute," says Victor. "You actually cooked?"

The lobby buzzer sounds over the intercom as I reach the refrigerator, and as I open it, I smile slyly back to my friends. "No, I made lemonade, tea, and espressos. I ordered dinner- pizza, Chinese, and subs. The pizza delivery man is also bringing sodas."

"Alllriiiight!" cheers Gar as he runs for the elevator, green fox tail swishing behind him. Jillian runs after him to help get the food.

Richard looks at me and raises an eyebrow. "You rigged the race by showing up last?" he asked. "And you don't even cook?" he laughs.

I set the various pitchers out on the counter, and smile back at him and the rest of my friends. "We are always running, Richard, and this race is in fun. This is a time for us to relax. I don't get to treat very often, so allow me this indulgence."

"Speaking of 'running,' the winner gets to pick the movies. And that was...?" asks Donna.

"Who else?" says Wallace, hefting his backpack.

"Ohhh!" groan Victor and Richard.

"Not again!" says Kory.

"To the victor goes the spoils," Wallace says with a grin.

"Then that should mean I get to pick the movie!" says Victor, pointing a metal thumb at his chest.

"Ha!" shouts Richard. "I'm supposed to spout the one-liners!"

"Or me!" calls Changeling, as he slides in on giant octopus legs, seven holding the food, and one coiled around Jillian, holding her aloft.

"If you don't put me down, I'm gonna kill you, Green Genes!" she says while laughing.

"Hope you guys like fast planes!" calls Wallace as he zips over to the VHS player.

"Top Gun again?" groans Donna.

"You know you love Tom Cruise!" Wallace says good naturedly.

"Do not!" protests Donna.

"You have a poster of him on your bedroom wall," Kory says innocently.

The group laughs. I sit back with an espresso and smile. We are always running, but not today. Today is just a time for friends.

"Wake up, runner 134," a woman's voice said over the intercom. "It's time to run!"

A bald man in his twenties woke up. He washed his face, put on a blue jumpsuit and swore to himself.

"How long was I asleep, Veronica?" he asked.

"Four hours." replied the woman's voice. "Get ready to run, Runner 134."

"Four hours?" he asked. "That's not much of a resting period."

"The human body only needs.." she began.

"Yeah, yeah. Spare me the details." he replied. "Cold hearted witch." he added under his breath.

"I heard that, Runner 134." Veronica said. "You just made it worse on yourself."

"You always do, babe." he said.

The door to the room opened.

"It's time Runner 134," Veronica said with a giggle. "Better run!"

Runner 134 reached under the bed cot and pulled out a bag. He opened it and grabbed a sub machine gun, a pistol, some ammo boxes and three grenades. He could hear moaning coming from the door. He looked over and saw three zombies shuffle towards the door.

"Zombies this time, Veronica?" he said as he pointed the SMG at the three zombies and blasted them in the heads.

He ran out the door and looked around, gathering his bearings.

He was on the porch of a small cabin in a vast swamp. Their were moans coming from behind him. He looked back and saw a horde of zombies shuffling towards him.

A large black raven flew down from a tree and cawed at him.

"Better run, Runner!" the raven said in Veronica's voice.

Runner 134 ran through the muddy, boggy swamp away from the zombies. The raven flew above him cawing "Better run, Runner."

A zombie with a plus symbol on its forehead came up behind him and lunged. He shot it in the head, then searched its body, finding three silver bullets that fit perfectly in his pistol.

He had to stop and shoot a couple of zombies but he made good time and was able to outrun the horde. He stopped at an open field and looked up at the Raven.

"Last time we did this you had me in the Himalaya's surrounded by a bunch of Yeti's," he said. "You losing your touch, Veronica?"

The raven laughed. "Oh, wait till you see what I have in store for you."

Just then there was a wolf's howl, followed by several more howls.

Runner 134 climbed up the nearest tree, setting up an explosive trap along the way.

He waited. A couple of zombies shuffled towards the tree. He kept waiting. Finally, a werewolf came out of the dark woods and howled, looked up at Runner 134 and began climbing the tree just as another werewolf came out of the dark.

The first werewolf triggered the explosive and was blown from the tree. The second werewolf climbed up the tree and jumped towards Runner 134, who shot it with his pistol. It fell to the ground, turning into a pretty, red headed woman as it died.

He pointed the pistol at the first werewolf, who was on the ground, healing from the blast, and shot it. It turned into a beautiful, blonde woman.

Another werewolf came out of the woods and howled. Then a huge, black furred werewolf followed. It stared up at Runner 134, howled a blood curdling howl, then walked back into the dark woods. The other werewolf followed.

Runner 134 climbed down the tree, shot the few zombies with his SMG and started running.

He could hear the werewolves running after him.

He ran towards a large body of swamp water. He looked across the water and saw a large cabin with a blue door. That was his check point. He needed to swim across and enter that door.

Just then he saw the water ripple. There was a bloated zombie wading in the water towards Runner 134. Then a huge tentacle flew out of the water and grabbed the zombie, pulling it into the of the swamp.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked.

The raven sat in a tree above him. "Better run, Runner."

"Seriously, Veronica?" he said. "A Kraken?"

"Shouldn't have said those mean things to me, Runner 134." she responded. "Better run!"

Howls came from behind him. He grabbed a grenade and threw it towards the howls. One of the werewolves jumped out of the woods towards him as the grenade went off. He shot it with his last silver bullet. The werewolf turned into a dark haired woman as it died.

He could hear the last werewolf, the big one, howling as it ran towards him.

"That was your last silver bullet, meat," the big werewolf growled. "You killed my favorite wives. I will eat you whole."

Runner 134 ran towards the swamp, threw a grenade towards the Kraken and dived into the water.

He swam as fast as he could, the explosion confusing the Kraken. The big werewolf dived in after him.

Runner 134 dived further under as he felt a claw snatch at his ankle, while also feeling a tentacle shoot past his body.

He kept swimming as fast as he could.

Eventually he made it to land. He began running as fast as he could but temptation made him stop and look back at the water.

The Krakens head was at the surface of the water and it's tentacles were wrapped around the werewolf, pulling it toward it's beaked maw.

All of a sudden the werewolf tore it's way out of the tentacles and jumped at the Kraken's eyes, slashing away.

Runner 134 turned back towards the cabin and ran. Finally he made his way on to the porch, walked over to the blue door and looked up to see the raven.

"Gotta admit, Veronica, you almost had me."

"Did you like the boss?" she asked.

"Which one?" he replied. "The big, bad wolf or the giant squid?"

Just then he heard a growl behind him. He looked back to see the big werewolf walking up the porch steps towards him. It was missing an arm and was carrying a large tentacle on it's shoulder, which it threw at Runner 134's feet.

"I am War Claw, leader of the Swamp Wolf Clan. No man can escape me." he growled. "I will have my revenge for the wives you took from me. I will tear you.."

Runner 134 opened the blue door. "Yeah, maybe some other time."

He walked through the door and shut it behind him. The world outside disappeared.

He walked over to his familiar cot and fell on it.

"Time to rest, Runner 134." Veronica said over the intercom.

"Yeah, time to rest." he replied. "Maybe a little longer this time, beautiful?"

"See, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice back." Veronica replied.

Runner 134 fell asleep.

Here's the page I'm still drawing from this comic