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Issue Number Two

Written by Barry Reese

"Something Wicked This Way Comes, Part One"

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Detective Henry Watkins lit another cigarette and stepped back, allowing the forensics teams to do their work. The body was being zipped up and removed all ready, but the chalk outline left a grim reminder of the scene.

Watkins stared up at the full moon as he exhaled a long plume of smoke. The second brutal murder in less than a week, both involving drug offenders with long records. Now, is this the work of a vigilante or is the first step in a drug war? Either way, I'm gonna be busy in the future....

"Detective? I've finished interviewing our one witness." Bigelow startled Watkins, almost making his drop his smoke.

"Jesus, I hate the way you creep around like that!"

"Sorry, detective." Bigelow, a young cop in his first year of duty, flipped open his notepad. "The witness is Steven McIntyre, aged 53. He's homeless and sleeps down the road, in an alley behind the Varsity. He says he was heading out to the homeless shelter because of the cold when he heard a scream. When he ventured over to see if somebody needed help, he saw the victim lying on the ground in a pool of blood. A costumed metahuman was standing over him, with blood dripping from what McIntrye described as 'claws.'"

"Hmm. Wonderful. Did you recognize the description of the meta's costume?"

"Not really. But I figured we could run it through the database back at the station. 'Course he might be a new guy -- metas pop up like crazy these days."

"Sad, but true. Okay. Make sure you tell this McIntyre guy to stay where we can find him." Watkins tossed aside his cigarette and stamped it out with a foot. "I've got a real bad feeling about this, Bigelow. A real bad feeling. Atlanta's been pretty safe from metahuman activity since that Damage kid moved away, but this might be the tip-off of something much worse. You know what this city will be like if we start having Capes running all over the place?"

"What?"

"Chaos."

THE NEXT EVENING

Sara Morrison stepped out of the tub, carefully wrapping the towel around her body. She was exhausted, weary not just from physical exertion but from stress as well. Since she and Jake had returned from Washington, there'd been one problem after another -- a pile of work had been waiting for her at the social services office, her father was being extremely distant and secretive and she was still coming to grips with the full meaning of her Dove abilities.

She'd actually tried to summon the costume and powers once or twice, just to make sure she hadn't been dreaming. Unfortunately, it hadn't worked.

Jake had been the one to stumble onto the solution when he'd nearly been run down by a truck while crossing Peachtree Street. He'd felt a strange sensation at the base of his spine, a crackling of electricity that seemed to demand attention. He'd barely made it across the street in time, the truck racing by. The word "Hawk" had formed on his lips, almost automatically.

And he'd been transformed.

From there, he'd tested it further -- and driven Sara to do the same.

Each of them had to feel that they were in some degree of danger, be it mortal or otherwise, for their powers to activate. As soon as they began to feel safe enough that the danger was passed, the powers and costumes would begin to fade.

The sound of footsteps in the hall brought her out of her reverie. "Jake? That you, hon?

Jake's face appeared in the doorway, his eyes moving over her near-naked form with obvious interest. "Well, well. I hope I'll still get this kind of homecoming after we've been married a few years."

"Naughty thing." Sara kissed him on the cheek. "How was work?"

"Boring. Got enough students to form a new self-defense class. Mrs. Watson threw her hip out and had to leave in an ambulance."

"Ouch."

Jake followed her into their bedroom, where she dropped the towel and began dressing. "I've been thinking... about this Hawk & Dove business. You think the way we got our powers is the way the old Hawk and Dove got theirs?"

Sara pulled a t-shirt on. "I've thought about that, too -- even looked into it a bit on the 'net. The first Dove died during that whole red skies affair. The second one was killed by some nutjob named Monarch, who must have hilled Hawk, too -- 'cause he didn't show up anymore after that. Seems like a dangerous profession...."

"True, but it looks like we've been drafted. Given that we each pledged our lives to those mysterious voices, I don't think we have any way out. Soooo... We should decide how we're going to handle this."

"Handle what?"

"Being heroes. I can teach you some hand-to-hand techniques, how to use a few weapons--"

Sara shook her head. "No way. The voice told me I was to bring peace to the world. I'm a Dove, remember? Violence is the last resort for us."

"The last resort for you, maybe. Not for me. Besides, you hae to be able to take care of yourself -- at least be prepared for when the villains don't want to listen to your psychobabble."

"Psychobabble? Is that what you think I do all day? Blather away at people with a bunch of nonsense words? This isn't the dark ages anymore, Jake. We don't have to bash in the heads of our enemies. Most of those guys turn to crime because of societal pressures. I guarantee you that most of the Flash's Rogues Gallery come from broken homes. I see kids like that everyday -- good kids who turn to crime because it's the quick and easy way to get money and respect. Beating them up doesn't help them -- it might even hurt them, because violence begets violence."

"We should be hurting them, Sara. They're criminals, remember? If you don't discipline them, then people will think that our mode of justice is a joke. All these people understand is violence. You can't coddle them."

Sara felt her face redden. "Jake... Sometimes you really piss me off."

Jack moved towards her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Sorry, babe. I just think we need to look at this. Are we going on nightly patrols or just waiting for crime to come to us?"

Sara smirked. "Maybe we could give the police a Hawk & Dove signal they can fire into the nighttime sky."

"Not mad at me?"

"Nah. You can't help being a jerk. You're a guy."

"Thanks."

"Anytime. Listen, the whole idea of cruising around, looking for the bad guys seems strange to me. For one thing, we don't have our powers until we're in danger -- by then, it might be too late. And where are we going to find trouble? Hang out in bad neighborhoods until 3 in the morning?"

Jake looked thoughtful. "Good point. How do superheroes find villains?"

Trae Smith counted out the bills in his hand, his heart hammering. Ten grand. He'd never seen so much money before in his whole life. "Pleasure doin' business wit' you, man."

The gentleman who sat across from him in the dingy apartment merely nodded. "Keep pushing the Velocity, man. We earn more from one sale of that than from your crack totals total."

"Will do. Will do." Trae barely noticed the drug dealer stand up and leave, his mind already busy formulating plans for his payment. Gonna get a new car, maybe buy myself a nice trophy girl, too. Then I'll--

The sound of the door opening again made him pause. "Hey, that you again, Willie? Whatchu forget?"

Trae turned and stared into an unfamiliar face. The stranger wore a dark-colored costume that was vaguely avian. "I'm not Willie, punk. But I'll be more than glad to take that money off your hands. In fact, I think I'll take your hands, too." A clawed hand shot forth, neatly removing Trae's left hand.

His screams echoed loudly through the night air.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Sara Morrison shivered as she and her husband walked through one of Atlanta's seedier areas. "We're going to get killed."

"No we're not. Our powers will kick in the second we feel danger."

"I feel danger now. Look -- let's go home. We both have work tomorrow and it's late."

Jake sighed. He didn't understand why Sara wasn't embracing their new situation. In the marines, he'd learned that one person could make a hell of a difference -- but they had to grab the bull by the horns and take action. Sara and her father, however, were more willing to trust in human nature and let things work themselves out. Protest would be fine, of course, but only of the non-violent kind. "Okay. Nothing's going on, anyway. I just had such a feeling that this was the place. A wrong hunch, I gue--"

The sound of a man screaming made them both jump.

"Bingo," Jake whispered. Clenching both fists, he said the word that had been on his mind all evening. "Hawk."

The transformation was immediate, clothing in the red and white costume that symbolized his nature.

Sara watched the look of satisfaction on his face and felt a chill. How can he be happy that we've found a crime? Someone's obviously in pain. This is what I get for marrying an adrenaline junkie. "Dove." Sara lifted herself into the air, admitting to herself that this felt nice. Flying had always been a dream of hers as a kid. "Let's investigate -- but no rushing in without surveying the situation first. Got it?"

"Got it." Hawk took off, eager to bust some heads. Life, he mused, was good.

The man called Keos stood in front of a large bay window and stared out into the city. Atlanta had grown so much in this century, rising from the ashes of its burning to become one of America's best and brightest.

But it had also become infected by the same social cancers that afflicted the rest of the nation. Drugs, prostitution, racial instability and more... It would take another great fire to forge Atlanta into what it should be.

A faint scent of brimstone made him wrinkle his nose. He turned to see a small demon scuttling across the carpet. "It hasss begun. The hunter hasss found itsss prey."

"Where?"

"In the Sssutherland Projectsss area. Our hunter wasss busssy ferreting out undesssirablesss when the prey came upon it."

"Show me."

The demon tilted its scaled head back, opening its mouth. A foul-smelling, greenish cloud issued forth. In the smoke, images took shape.

"So, it's true. A new Hawk and Dove... how predictable."

Dove placed a hand on Hawk's shoulder, staring at the run-down apartment building. The man's screams had stopped, though a baby was crying elsewhere. Otherwise, it was eerily quiet. "I have a bad feeling about this... Do you feel it? Like something slimy crawling up the base of my spine."

"Can't say that I do... Well, not what you're describing, anyway. I feel something... kind of... " Jake paused, searching for the right words. "I feel almost aroused."

Dove blinked, having not expected those words in a thousand years. "Don't get too into this whole hero thing, okay?"

Jake frowned. "I don't mean I'm turned on by the spandex, Sara. There's something in the air, that's all."

"He's right, sweetie."

The taunting female voice kept Sara from voicing more confusion. Both heroes looked up to see a purple-and-black clad female crouching outside a window. Her costume was very similar to Hawk's, though a bit more sinister in appearance. "I take it you're the one responsible for the screams?"

"I caused them, yes. But we're on the same side this time, Dovie. I'm just removing a few nasties from the streets -- you should thank me for saving you the trouble."

Hawk swallowed hard. This woman... she was definitely having an affect on him. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"My name's Kestrel and I guess you could say I'm your bette noir. You see, I'm a servant of Chaos, too -- just like you. We're a matched pair -- unlike you and the pretty bird there."

"Chaos...?"

"Poor thing -- don't even know your own origins, do you? I'll explain it all to you later -- after we've removed the old ball and chain from the picture."

Kestrel jumped into the air, raising her hands upwards to make a killing thrust with her claws. Dove, however, anticipated the move and reacted with super-human speed. She side-stepped the attack, narrowly avoiding a disembowelment.

Hawk reacted immediately. Even though this Kestrel was enticing, she was also repulsive in a way. She stank not only of evil, but of chaos. Am I chaotic, too? What does that mean? Hawk clutched one of Kestrel's arms hard, hoping to restrain her. "Give it up. I don't want to hurt you, but I will!"

"Aw, so sweet. You almost remind me of Hank. But he was a fool, too." Kestrel drove an elbow hard into Hawk's midsection, knocking the air out of him.

Dove retreated into the air, the sounds of approaching sirens in her ears. This woman was a psychopath -- and her strange attraction to Jake was worrisome, too. Even worse -- she could tell Jake was attracted to her. "Kestrel -- how can you be a servant of the same being who created Hawk? Why weren't you paired with him instead of me if that were the case?"

Kestrel grinned maniacally. "Did I say the same being? I don't think so. I'm a servant of Chaos. So's he. But there many different Lords of Chaos, just like there are plenty of Lords of Order. Some of them don't like the little experiment you represent -- which brings up me. I'm a living spell. I can be summoned and grafted onto any living host..."

While Kestrel was speaking, Hawk dug his fingers into the concrete sidewalk. He lifted a section of effortlessly, marveling at his own strength. The sudden upheavel sent Kestrel sprawling, though the chaos-agent recovered quickly. "So you're just using some innocent woman's body? Great -- you're an even bigger scum than I thought!"

"You're all wrong, Hawk. You and I are two sides of the same coin. You won't be able to stand being with that Dove forever -- you know the last Hawk killed his Dove?"

"Liar!" Dove landed behind Kestrel, clutching the woman's wings and yanking her hard to the ground. "If they were anything like us, that couldn't have happened. Differences don't make us weak -- they make us stronger! Hawk might be aggressive, but that's because he's got such zoom-vision. I'm more wide-angle in my perspective -- and that means that, between the two of us, we've got it all covered!"

Kestrel's head made a loud cracking sound as it connected with the ground. Almost immediately, a small pool of blood formed behind her head, even as her form shimmered. Where once there was Kestrel, now there was only a young brunette woman.

Hawk hesitated. "Jesus... Is she...?"

Dove knelt and checked for a pulse. "She's alive! But she's so still..."

"Hold it right there! Get your hands up!"

Hawk whirled around to see three uniformed officers, with weapons drawn. "C'mon, guys, we're on your side."

"Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. We won't know until you put your hands up, will we?"

Dove continued to kneel, using what little first aid she knew to help Kestrel's host. "Can we sort this out later? This woman needs help."

"Screw 'em, Dove." Hawk moved over and lifted the woman into his arms. Dove started to protest that he should move her, but held her tongue when she saw his expression. It was full of both rage and indignation. To the police, he said "We're going to drop this woman off at a hospital and then we're going to uncover who's the real villain behind all this, because it's not us. And I'd recommend none of you open fire on us because you'd hate to hit this innocent victim, right?"

Hawk took off at a fast pace, moving far faster than a normal human. Dove kept pace easily, though her stomach was tied in knots. "Jake, you know how this is going to look, right? She probably killed someone, then the police see us standing over a normal-looking woman who probably won't even remember being Kestrel in the first place. Then we fled, using her as a human shield. This is not good."

"I know it, Sara -- but there's no way we'd be able to prove our side of the story anyway. We have to worry about doing what's right, not necessarily what's going to make us look good."

"Good point, but I don't us to become felons. These names of ours should mean something...." The problem is, are we going to be able to agree on what that meaning should be....

In Hawk & Dove # 3 : "Something Wicked This Way Comes" Part Two. Hawk & Dove are wanted by the law while Kestrel takes a surprising new form!

LETTERS OF WAR, LETTERS OF PEACE

Greetings, mortals. I am S'chak, the Lord of Chaos who has empowered the star of this series, Hawk.

And I am Kor, the Lord of Order who has empowered the co-star (remember that, S'chak) of this series, Dove.

Hmm. As you say, Kor.

We shall be sharing the duties of responding to letters, be they full of hate or love. Let us begin.

From Gary Dreslinski, re : Hawk & Dove # 1:

I didn't like it. I loved it. You really hit the feel of a series that I dearly miss.

Thank you, you pus-filled bag of meat. We are much honored.

Agreed. Your words of praise are dear to our hearts.

From Clay Arceneaux, re : Hawk & Dove # 1 :

I like it. I like it a lot.

Bah. These mortals are incapable of sustained speech. We should raze the world and begin anew! Unleash chaos upon the multiverse!!!!!!!

Sigh. Thank you, Clay. Much appreciated.

Until next time everyone!

Write to S'chak and Kor.