RADIO ON THE ROAD

THIRD STOP: THE UNITED NATIONS, OFFICE OF THE MARKOVIAN AMBASSADOR

Billy Batson

	A rather unremarkable boy, at first glance. Billy is in his early teens and rather
scrawny, with black hair that looks shorter than it really is thanks to a natural wave. The manly
cleft in his chin seems out of place considering his otherwise unassuming demeanor.
	A longer look suggests there may be more to this lad than first appears. He is wearing
olive green Dockers with a military style cloth black belt clasped by a simple steel buckle.
Black and white sneakers look fresh out of the box. His button-down white shirt is hardly visible
beneath the voluminous blue and white baseball jacket he's wearing, but the white tab collar
still pokes out a little at the top. A cap of matching colors is stuffed in one pocket.

Billy seems fairly comfortable at the interview, if a trifle intense. It is rare that he has a
world politician in front of the microphone. "Compared to its Balkan neighbors," he says to his
guest, ambassador Zarkov, "The Markovian government has been remarkably stable. What role does
Markovia play in the peacekeeping efforts there, and how do you think the nation will factor into
European politics in the coming years?"

Zarkov sits behind his desk, stroking his van dyke beard as he considers a reply. "Well, Billy,
you must understand that our history..."

Suddenly, there's a wrenching sound from the connecting room and a muffled cry. A guard posted at
the door turns in time to see a huge figure standing in the now vacated frame. Flanked by a trio
of smaller men in red jumpsuits, KGBeast glowers down at the guard. He contemptuously grabs the
man and flings him across the room into a lamp.

The three men in red level stun blasters at Zarkov and Billy. KGBeast puts a giant finger on his
one good hand to his lips. "Shhhh. We are to be talking."

Behind KGBeast, a few unconscious forms can be seen, as well as the window washers platform
positioned outside of the now opened window into the main room of the office. Presumably, the
intruders mean's of entry.

"Ambassador and young friend," KGBeast rumbles, the blade that replaces his left hand glittering
menacingly. "My employer is desiring to get word out about the crimes of Markovia. You," he says,
pointing the blade tip at Billy. "Will be getting the word out."

The initial sound snapped Billy head to the side and he stared with surprise to see the huge
intruder enter and casually handle the guard. He was just about to say, 'Holy Moley!' when the
KGBeast held his finger up in the universal sign for silence. By the time he does speak, the
shock is gone and Batson is working hard to remain calm. "No problem, mister. Whatever you say."
He keeps his voice level, and tries to reassure the ambassador with a glance.

The ambassador stares, looking pale and ashen. Evidently, the huge interloper's reputation is
known in his homeland. "K...KGBeast!" he announces, helpfully. "You, you have no right to do
this! You must be insane if you think you can just..."

KGBeast points the blade's edge towards Zarkov's sweating forehead. "Do not be trying to tell
KGBeast how he is to his job, Ambassador. And you are a fool if you think this vaunted club of
yours can keep me out." With a sniff of self-satisfaction, he nods to one of the three stun-gun
toting terrorists with him. The prepare cords and begin tying Billy and the Ambassador to their
chairs. KGBeast takes a suitcase sized radio transmitter array and sets it up on the desk. He
opens it and taps on a few keys and adjusts some dials. "You will be speaking into the
microphone. You will be reading questions to Mr. Ambassador from this list." He slaps down a
sheet of paper with a letterhead with Cyrillic script. In poorly typed list fashion are a series
of questions, all of them relating to the supposed injustice visited upon something called the
'Sons of Bedlam'.

Billy can't help but 'ulp' as he's tied up to the chair. This ... wasn't a good sign. It didn't
take long to run through the available options in his head. Can't say the magic word now! The
most important thing is to keep anyone from getting killed. Do what he says for now. "Look,
mister." What did Zarkov call him? "KGBeast. I'm a reporter. That's what I do. You don't need to
tie me up and hold us hostage if you want your opinion to be heard..." When he sees the
questions, Billy's pride and integrity start to kick, but he keeps up the show with all the
earnestness a teenage kid can muster.

KGBeast chuckles darkly. "You misunderstand. These are not my opinions. I am
merely...insurance...that you broadcast them. Now - speak, boy. Or you will see things a child
should not see done to Mr. Zarkov." He looks malevolently at the staring Ambassador, and then
pushes a big red button. A computer display shows that the transmitter is now broadcasting across
Manhattan, apparently pirating a signal from a radio news service inside the building.

With a sour expression, Billy turns to the questions. They're peppered with insults and radical
terrorist agendas, which Billy can't help but stumble over as he works furiously to come up with
a strategy -- any strategy -- for getting out of this mess. "Um, Ambassador Zarkov, you represent
a liberal monarchist state that willfully prostitutes itself to the West. You have disarmed the
populace of your nation to make it easier to repress them, persecuted noble freedom fighters
desiring only independence and a voice in government, and imprisoned innocent men without
justification. How do you answer these charges?"

KGBeast's mask conceals it, but you can almost -hear- the smug expression on his face. His
colleagues pace around, anxiously waiting for the terrorist broadcast to wrap up so they can get
out of here.

Zarkov coughs, then stutters "I...these men, that these ridiculous questions speak for - they're
bloodthirsty terrorists! Madmen!"

KGBeast drums his fingers lightly along the sleek edge of his armblade in silent warning.

Zarkov swallows, then says "B-But, Markovia has always strove to give even dangerous men due
process. We have given them a trial of their peers. We have not persecuted them or their
families. We accept voices of dissatisfaction, but not when they come at the cost of..." He
drifts off, looking at KGBeast's form hulking over him.

Batson gives an encouraging nod of the head to the ambassador and tries to ignore the terrorists.
'Come on, play along!' he thinks. 'We can fix this all later after these apes have left!' "The
Sons of Bedlam scoff at your feeble justifications," Billy reads off his script. Somehow the
words have a bit less power when delivered by a 15 year old, but what can you do. "They demand
that you cede to them all the land from the Heklum mountain range to the Cidi river, as
compensation for your lawless repression of their free-thinking and popular ideology."

The Flash

The costume is a little different - a mix of new and old - but the icon is the same. It's the
Flash, in the flesh. Tall, lean, and muscular, this world-famous runner's body is compact and
efficient, but also somehow either imposing or reassuring, depending which side of the law you're
on. His suit, as mentioned before, is classic Flash with a couple of modern amenities: it's red,
naturally, and has Barry's solid jagged belt around the middle and wings on the sides of the
boots, but the metal wingtips on the sides of his cowl contain tiny radio receivers, and the
cowl's eyes are an opaque white which hide ever-useful starlight lenses.

The radio'd been on in the Tower's rec room, alternately blasting and quiet enough to serve as
background noise, for the past few days without pause. The only person left there, one Bart
Allen, was leaning over the table sorting out the clippings and printouts that the Titans and TMS
had thus far managed to collect, trying to find any patterns, any information that would lead to
some sort of resolution to their predicament. Therefore, the radio was on when the ever-popular
news station (that, incredibly, everyone'd agreed on) was taken over by a rogue broadcast. It
only took this Flash a couple of seconds of listening to both identify the voice of the reporter
- and figure out that he didn't exactly want to be saying what he was saying. The raw fear in the
ambassador's voice was enough to confirm it: this wasn't at all good. Well, at least he knew
where the original broadcast was coming from - it'd be a good place to start. Leaving a wake of
fluttering papers behind him, the Fastest Man Alive took off for the UN building.

Zarkov says "I..." He seems to get the sense that its better for both himself and Billy if he can
drag this out. He slowly says "...will have to consider these demands. Land deals such as these
will take much negotiation in the highest levels, in addition to consideration for the people of
those regions. Ah, if you look at the Treaty of Karavic, for instance, you will see that even in
times of crisis and general agreement, the actual handover of land and titles is most difficult."

KGBeast glowers wordlessly. One of the other men approaches and whispers upwards towards the huge
man, speaking in clipped Russian.

Billy tries to lean forward, and then remembers he's tied to a chair! Boy, if Captain Marvel were
here, these guys would be history in a hot minute! Looking as if he'd swallowed a bug or
something, Batson improvises off the script to keep the terrorist agenda going as long as
possible. "What about a release of prisoners, Mister Zarkov. Surely you can think of no excuse to
prevent Markovia from releasing innocent patriots from cruel and inhumane re-education camps and
slave labor centers! The Sons of Bedlam have provided me with a list of names and demand that
these individuals be released at once."

Zarkov blinks, then says "Re-education and slave labor camps? Markovia is a free country! We have
a healthy system that supports its people. We do not seek to oppress anyone, which is more than I
can say for the man that these 'Sons of Bedlam' place on a pedestal. He would have had us all in
chains through his conspiracies if it hadn't been for men and woman willing to stand up to him."

KGBeast speaks to one of his associates in Russian, then looks to Zarkov. "You deny what the Sons
of Bedlam will soon reveal," he says, in a staged sort of tone. He jabs a finger at one of the
last parts of the list, near the bottom. A rather final looking summation of the Sons of Bedlam
and how they plan to make a statement today.

Billy hesitates when the Beast indicates the final passage. A sinking feeling in his gut tells
him just what that final statement might be: the blood of the ambassador all over the office!
Looking down over the script he decides to stall. He sounds a bit more like a kid than he did a
minute ago, and big words make him stumble. "This ... proclamation is the test ... testament of
the Sons of Bedlam, devoted followers of Baron Bedlam..." There's more, but Billy's keeping his
head down and taking it slowly. One sentence at a time.

The one good thing about these nutty ear-wings is that they've traditionally always doubled as
radio receivers. It's a matter of a nanosecond to tune one of them into the correct station, and
the Flash is zeroing in on the building in question. After whizzing through the city, and then
the UN building, with an absolutely blinding speed, Bart finally stops to *ask* where the
Markovian ambassador and his young interviewer are located. After he finds out, *then* he heads
upstairs, destination firmly in mind.

As Billy speaks, KGBeast slowly inches towards the back of the Ambassador's chair. Zarkov closes
his eyes, all color leaving his face...

Billy's chest tightens up, and he realizes it's now or never. Time to get the bad guys focused on
him instead of poor Mr. Zarkov. "Devoted followers of Baron Bedlam," he repeats, before erupting
out with, "a mass murderer and sociopath wanted for war crimes by this very United Nations that I
am speaking from!" While undoubtedly he will be clobbered into senselessness, Billy talks a mile
a minute into the mike. "We have been held hostage by a terrorist who plans to kill us on the
air! It's all a lie!"

And at that second, the Fastest Man Alive sticks his head through the closed door to see what's
going on in there. Looks like there's not a lot of time - looks like there're also several people
in the way. Nass. Stepping in the rest of the way - and no, the door DOESN'T explode - just as
Billy yells into the microphone, the Flash finally lets out a relatively loud, "HEY!" This isn't
good at -all-. He gives disarming everyone at once a shot, still slightly offkilter with the
'save hostages' versus 'disarm badguys' question.

Twisting with an animalistic snarl, KGBeast's big meaty right hand comes around to backhand the
intrepid boy reporter, likely knocking him over. He says "Finish it!" and hefts his blade over
the head of the ambassador.

As the blur that is the Flash races through the room, papers flutter up from the desk and the
three armed terrorists suddenly find themselves sans stun blasters.

In that chaotic second, there's a hiss in the air as the blade cuts downwards...

Billy's chair crashes to the ground and he of course goes with it, letting out a painful grunt.
He has not yet cleared his vision when a fierce wind whooshes through the room, and the best he
can manage is to struggle a little in his bonds.

Since the blade looks like a losing battle - making it not work, anyway - and pushing the
Ambassador's chair at this speed would be tantamount to murder, the Flash tries another method on
the Beast. Namely, grabbing the base of the prosthetic the blade's attached to and vibrating it.

The blade suddenly cuts down INTO the Ambassador's skull! For a macabre second, everyone in the
room sees this happen...and also sees that the blade does no harm!

Growling in anger, the KGBeast turns to the sudden apparition of Bart Allen standing there, hands
blurring around his armblade. "I am crushing you!" he says, pulling the vibrated blade away from
the fainted Zarkov and attempting to flip the desk at the Flash with his other hand.

The three terrorists back away warily, eyes darting to try and locate their weapons.

"Izzat the Flash?" Billy murmurs weakly from his horizontal position on the floor, still firmly
tied to his chair. Something about him doesn't look right. Maybe it's just his blurred vision.
Did that knife just go into Mister Zarkov's head? But, there's no blood? Be patient with Bill.
He's a little fuzzy right now.

"You are getting yourself a 'Learn English in Two Weeks' textbook!" retorts the Flash, quite
consciously mocking the broken speech patterns. "It only took -me- five minutes." As the desk
starts flying toward him, he momentarily considers just letting it pass through him, but -- well,
Billy probably wouldn't appreciate that. Fast as thought, he lifts the kid and his chair bodily,
running them through the wall to the hallway. Heck, maybe the guards'll be here by now. Then he
starts heading back in, for the ambassador...

The UN guards come to a stumbling stop as Billy and his savior appear through the wall. One says
"The Flash!" just quickly enough for Bart to hear it before he darts back in.

KGBeast says "Grrnnnnah!" as he sees the red blur re-enter the room. The three terrorists with
him back away towards their window exit. KGBeast waits with his big hand and reforming blade in a
wrestling stance, then lashes out suddenly, attempting to cut the passing speedster.

"Holy Moley! You ~are~ the Flash!" Of course, the Flash is already gone. UN security have already
paused at the sight of Billy's sudden deliverance, and one of them bends down to untie him. "You
all right, kid? You hurt?" The boy reporter rubs his jaw and says, "That guy hits pretty hard,
but I've had worse." Taking an extended hand, he wobbles shakily to his feet.

"Grife, gotta be more careful," mutters the Flash to himself, collecting the ambassador and his
much heavier chair. Taking the lessons taught by life as well as mentors to heart, he's finally
making a priority of the defenseless. (Hee hee.) The weight slows him down a little, but not
enough to stop his going through the door. Setting the older guy down, he *huffs*, then looks
around. Ooo! Guards. "Hey, there're three thugs and a KGBeast in there. The three are unarmed.
I'm going back in." Time to make good his word...

UN Ambassador Zarkov lies limply in his chair, evidently still recovering from the shock of the
whole 'blade entering my skull but not doing anything' incident.

KGBeast looks extremely unhappy as he backs away with his comrades, moving to the window exit.

Billy is courageous, but the KGBeast's brutal backhand knocked him hard. His attempt to stand
meets with failure, and he collapses into the arms of a quick-thinking guard. "Poor kid. Better
get him to the infirmary."

The Flash looks extremely annoyed as he stops just inside the door. "You -really- don't wanna do
that," he says, then takes a step forward. "We can do this the easy way, where you give
yourselves up, or we can do this the hard way, where I *make* you."

KGBeast looks back towards Bart. "You fool. I will be detonating this office if you come closer!"
He holds a small device in the palm of his giant right fist. "You twitch and I am pressing the
trigger." His comrades look uneasy as they edge to clamber out onto the window cleaner platform.

The guards must have overheard KGBeast's comment, as The Flash can hear them calling for
emergency bomb squads and evacuation of the building.

The Flash just answers, looking really interested, "Holy nass! Is that one of those
radio-controlled detonators? I heard about them!" He doesn't look like he's gonna twitch. Nope.
Looks like he's standing perfectly still.

The trio gingerly step onto the window gurney. One hisses to KGBeast in his native tongue; its
easily translated as 'Hurry up!'. KGBeast seems more interested in glaring at the Scarlet
Speedster at the moment. "You do not think I will do it? Even as I stand here? I have no thought
for myself in this. You and I will burn together."

The Flash nods cheerfully, voice raising slightly. Just wants to make sure he's heard. "I think
you'll do it, all right. Even though you're letting your lackeys get away, out that window there.
That goes past a lot of other windows, doesn't it?" He shrugs and grins. "But yeah, I think
you'll do it. What makes you think I can't get away in time?" Stall stall stall. Let everyone get
out of that hallway before he does something rash.

"You bluff." KGBeast says, one round eyepiece and one slanted eyeslit glinting. "You seek to
stall. I am not for stalling." He pauses, then edges closer to the window, a thought seeming to
form in his nefarious mind. His blade hand edges out of the opened window. "Markov. Yuri. Giri.
You are loyal to the cause, yes?"

The three men vaguely nod their heads. One of them says, exasperated "Yes, I am loyal - now, come
on! Our escape window is dwindling!"

KGBeast's razor sharp cutting weapon touches one of the cables holding the window cleaner
platform even as he faces you. "Your escape is imminent."

TWANG!

The three men stare in horror and then begin freefalling as the platform tilts, then goes
vertical, a dozen stories over the street.

Eyes widening momentarily, the Flash darts forward instantly and tries to vibrate the detonator
out of the Beast's hand. Praying it'll work, he doesn't really have the time to try again if it
doesn't - he'll drop it in the hall with whoever's left. On his way, see? 'Cause he's mostly
concentrating on getting the hell to the ground floor and outside under the window before the men
fall. Mentally apologizing profusely to whoever tries to mess with the Beast now, his main
objective is to save their lives - something only he can do right now. Getting outside and under
them isn't a major issue - not at the speeds he's used to running. Generating enough of a
whirlwind underneath them to slow their descent, however, is another matter entirely - but he
gives it his best.

As the Flash runs out into the night air, he feels the detonator in his grip. Looking up beneath
the three tiny figures, he sees a helicopter pass directly over their sprawling silhouettes. In
his bullet-time tunnel vision, he can begin to make out the faces of the men as the helicopter
hovers next to the window. Then, his world goes into a rapid spin, the air currents starting to
collect beneath his insanely spiraling footfalls. The air cushion begins to form...

WHUMP!

The three men hit it in the nick of time, slowing to fall into the layer of spinning air,
hovering there in disbelief. Their momentum reduced to manageable levels, they should be safe
enough to be dropped to the pavement.

"*Love* that sound. Love it! A nice, solid 'whump'. Sounds like an exploding pillow," says the
Flash, more to himself than anyone else, trying to keep himself from thinking about what he
*could* have done until this is all over. It's half a second before he's traded the detonator for
some nice, thick rope to tie the thugs up, and it's another second before he's got them secure
enough that he feels he can leave them on the asphalt. All right, he didn't really trade the
detonator, just put it where it couldn't be used. Then it's back upstairs, even though he's got a
sinking feeling he won't be finding any Army of Darkness wannabes up there.

After seeing a stretched out gallery of people fleeing the evacuating room...they've just started
reaching the ground floor...Bart reaches Zarkov's office. Zipping to a halt by the window where
he was confronting KGBeast only a handful of seconds before, he sees a helicopter flying skywards
at rapid speed, its sleek black surface glistening in the nightlights of Manhattan.

Down below, he starts to see red and blue lights flashing as police and emergency personnel
respond to the situation...which seems to have just ended.

Later ...

The United Nations has a small medical facility, mostly for tourists who fall sick. In this case
the tourist is young Billy Batson, radio reporter, who was interviewing the Markovian ambassador
when the brutal KGBeast arrived with a terrorist agenda of his own. After being forced to read a
script of inflammatory accusations of Markovia, Billy tried to alert the audience to the Beast's
presence and was backhanded in return. At that lucky moment, the Flash appeared, whisking Billy
to safety. The boy collapsed from his injury a moment later and is unaware that the situation is
now resolved.

Billy reaches up to rub his head as he lies in a narrow bed. "Ouch. That hurt." A nurse is in the
room and she smiles. "Easy there, Billy. That man almost took your head off."

Appearing seconds later with a couple of cups of coffee, the Flash is careful to let the cups
spin halfway as he stops, allowing centripetal force to keep the hot liquid within the confines
of their containers. Seeing Billy's awake, he looks distinctly relieved. "Hey there, kiddo. Sorry
I didn't get there faster, but I only figured out what was goin' on halfway through the
broadcast." The man in the red union suit holds out a cup of joe, as sort of a peace offering,
maybe. "Don't know if you drink coffee, but if you do..." He leaves the sentence unfinished.

The nurse takes the cup of coffee with a pleasant he's-too-young expression on her face. Billy is
grinning as he rubs the big lump on the side of his temple. "Thanks, Flash. You saved my life. Um
... " He looks a little more nervous suddenly as he asks, "What about Mister Zarkov and the
KGBeast?"

The Flash gives the nurse a look that's a bizarre mixture of sheepishness and indignance - after
all, he'd been drinking coffee since he was chronologically much younger than Billy - but lets it
go. Returning his attention to the boy, he pulls up a chair and sits on the edge, leaning his
elbows on his knees. "Ambassador Zarkov is fine. A little shocked, a little scattered, but
nothing that a good rest won't cure." His expression changes a little, guilty, maybe? as he
continues, "The KGBeast, I'm afraid, made a getaway in a helicopter while I was otherwise
occupied. I've alerted the rest of the Justice League to his presence in the States, though, and
they're keeping their eyes peeled - but you shouldn't have to worry about it; you didn't tick him
off."

Billy's expression is remarkably determined for a lad so young. He's clearly not afraid of the
terrorist, and is mostly relieved to know that Zarkov is unharmed. "Wow, that's great news. Not
about the Beast getting away!" he corrects quickly, waving a hand in the air. "You know what I
mean. You really showed up in the nick, sir. It, uh ... it would have gotten pretty bad if you
hadn't been around. I should have done something sooner," he adds, guilty, "I just couldn't think
of what."

The Flash lets one of those annoying 'secret smiles' tug at the corners of his mouth, and manages
to say seriously, "Whatever you would have done, I'm sure you'd have done the right thing.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and all that." He drains his own coffee in one
blinding movement, setting the cup on the floor next to him. He raises his eyebrows. "But anyway
- you're sure you're all right? Do you need to call anyone?"

Billy shakes his head and promptly gets out of bed. "Naw, I'm fine now. I should find my crew.
They gotta be around here somewhere." After a moment he asks quietly, "I'd appreciate it if you
wouldn't, you know, broadcast that I went unconscious. I don't want my future guests thinking I
was a wimp or anything."

The Flash holds his hands up in front of himself, grinning. "No worries - you're the one who
broadcasts, remember? I just run fast." Standing as well, Bart drops his hands, then clasps them
behind his back. "Besides," he adds, cocking his head slightly, "no one ever ends up calling you
a wimp. You set the standard for the rest of us. Hey, as long as you're all right, I'll seeya
around, okay?"

Billy Batson blinks a little. .oO(Set the standard? Wow. He must be a dedicated listener.) With a
wave he says, "Sure. See ya. Careful out there!"