Legend of the Hawkman #4

Shayera Thal pulled her motorcycle to a stop just outside the small trailers that Katar was calling home these days. She's stormed out the night before, having become thoroughly disgusted with her ex-lover's plan to ask the Earth-One Hawkman to host the Hawk-God for eternity. She's seen the act as a cop-out, a coward's way of avoiding something that, rightly or wrongly, was his own cross to bear.

The hours spent drinking at a nearby bar and then a bit of sleep had allowed her emotions to cool a bit. Katar, whose idealism and optimism had once confused and attracted her all at once, was now a very different man than before. The weight of carrying the memories of all the former Hawk-Champions had nearly unbalanced him, forcing Arion to banish Katar to another realm where no one would be at risk. When he'd later stumbled back out into the real world during Kulak's most recent attack on the Justice Society*, some of those Hawk-Champions had been severed from him. He'd slowly begun to return to some sense of normalcy... and then came the horrible injuries at the hands of Tracer** and, after that, the realization that the Hawk-God was free once more. Not to mention all the months he spent looking for me. Oh, Peacock, why couldn't things have worked out differently for us?

(*See DCL's Justice Society series for more. **In DCL's Justice Squadron # 16-18.)

Shayera moved towards the trailer, pausing only to notice a large cluster of feathers on the ground nearby. "Seven Hells... I missed it. The Hawk-God came....."

She began to run then, a thousand thoughts running through her mind. Was Katar her dead? Had he died, with her last words ringing in his ears, her angry and accusatory stare the last thing he would remember of her? No! I won't lose him again. Not after all we've--

The door of the trailer suddenly opened, revealing a tall, handsome man with curly dark hair. His face shone with concern, but he still smiled at her, openly glad to see her. He wore the green and red garb that the Prime Hawkman had worn, but it was obviously her Katar, the intelligence and sensitivity she knew so well reflected in his eyes. Shayera stumbled to a halt right in front of him. "Peacock...?" she asked, touching his face before she could stop herself. His scars were gone, his eyes human again.

He held her hand in his, pressing it harder against his face. "It's me, Shay. For the first time in a long time... It's just me." He suddenly pulled her to him, kissing her hard and deep. Their tongues brushed together hungrily and Shayera felt her head grow dizzy.

Katar looked away slightly. "I'm... not sure exactly. My other self performed the ritual while I was locked in battle with the Hawk-God. We... merged... all of us. When the smoke cleared, I was me again. I was dressed like that other Earth's Hawkman and all of my scars were gone... And I feel so..." he shook his head, obviously unsure how to explain himself. "I feel like I'm ready for anything, Shay. Like there's no stopping us."

The grin that appeared on her face was full of love and laughter. "Just try and stop me, Peacock. Just try and stop me."

Hawkwoman stared out the bedroom window of her Midway City home, her helmet resting on the nightstand nearby. The rest of her costume, however, was still in place. She'd volunteered to take Monitor Duty at JLA HQ, hoping that some sign of Katar's return would come through. In the end, though, she'd turned over her place to Firestorm when the flame-headed hero had come to relieve her.

She thought she felt her unborn child stir in the womb, joining its mother in feeling distress. Shayera placed a hand over her belly, trying to reassure the tiny little Thanagarian that its father would soon be back, safe and sound.

Shayera was so lost in her thoughts that she barely noticed the winged figure flying lower and lower towards the house. He landed on the rooftop, gaining entrance through the small doorway that they used when in costume. Shayera heard the door close, however, and sprang into action. She picked up a small mace, just in case it was an intruder, and moved out into the hall. "Katar? Is that you, hon?"

The figure who stepped into view, swathed in dark leather and bearing deep scars over his exposed upper body, looked almost nothing like her husband for a moment. But as his gloved hands pulled the helmet away, exposing his features, Shayera knew that it was, indeed, Katar.

His hair was now much longer than her husband would normally wear it and a deep scar crossed the bridge of his nose. It was the eyes, however, which held Shayera's attention the most. They were bird-like and inhuman, though Katar's natural affection for her was still evident. "It's me, Shay."

She was at his side immediately, allowing him to lean wearily against her. "What happened to you? What happened to your clothes?"

Katar glanced down at his body, smiling softly. "I'd barely noticed what I was wearing...." He allowed himself to be led into his study, where he sat down heavily in a chair. The many books on archaeology seemed almost foreign to him now, fragments of a life that was no longer his. Since his identity had been exposed during the Shadow War, he'd rarely pretended to be Carter Hall anymore, but he still held his love for the pasts of both Earth and his native Thanagar. "I went to another world, Shay. I helped another Katar Hol battle something called the Hawk-God."

Katar retracted them, nodding. "Yes. It'll take some getting used to, but at least I won't have to change into the old harness anymore."

Shayera decided to press on for the moment. The wings could wait, for now. "What happened next? How did you... get all these scars? And your hair -- you would have needed to have been gone for months for your hair to grow this fast!"

Hawkman ran a hand through his long black hair. "I performed a Thanagarian ritual, hoping to trap the Hawk-God inside me. It worked -- but I think it mixed me up with my other-Earth counterpart. Physically, we both took on many of the characteristics of the other. My hair lengthened and I gained his scars for instance, -- not to mention his costume and these wings. And... for a moment there, I had his memories and he had mine. I think I may have gained some of his more recent cynicism... and a newfound respect for all the things I have that he doesn't." Katar leaned forward and kissed his wife on the forehead. "There were so many differences in our worlds, Shay. The JSA and the JLA exist on the same planet there! I read through a few of the magazines in his home... Superman died and came back. The League went global for awhile and split into multiple branches. And I don't even want to get into the Thanagarian situation... if anything, it's even bleaker than here."

"I... don't know. I'm not sure. I think perhaps he was split apart somehow, an aspect of him going into each of us."

Shayera threw her arms around her husband's neck. "Well, if the worst thing to come out of this is that you picked up a few scars, maybe it's not too bad. We'll borrow the Amazon's Purple Healing Ray and you'll be as good as new!"

Katar hugged her back before pulling away slightly. "You had a surprise for me, Shay? You mentioned one right before I disappeared."

"Oh yes... Well, I planned to spring it on you over a romantic dinner but I can't wait anymore -- We're going to have a baby."

Hawkman blinked in surprise before kissing her hard. He felt a wave of happiness wash through him, but it was tinged with something else. There had been some changes he hadn't mentioned -- he felt that some of his basic nature had been altered, darkened somehow. But I still love my wife. That hasn't changed. And it never will.

The Black Condor sipped his coke and listened as Katar finished his story. It was early evening, Katar and Shayera having spent the better part of the day catching up on old times. The Condor, whose eyes were still somewhat sensitive to light, squinted at his mentor. "So the Hawk-God's gone?"

Katar, dressed once more in the costume of the Earth-One Hawkman though sans mask, nodded. "As best I can tell." He glanced outside, where Shayera was picking through the feathery remains. "You did very well, Condor. I'm proud of you."

The Condor flushed at the unexpected compliment. He cleared his throat and motioned towards Katar's garb. "I guess you're taking over again, huh?" And that means my days as Hawkman are through, he thought.

"I think so. My wounds are completely gone." Katar stared into the young man's eyes. There was a fire there, a passion, that the Condor hadn't seen recently. "But I don't want you to think that I'm giving up on you. You're the next generation of hero, Condor. That means that I have a responsibility to help you when you ask for it. The world needs people like you and I -- especially today. There are violations of civil rights here that remind me more and more of my homeworld... and the rush to despoil the enviroment for the sake of immediate returns..." Katar frowned and made a fist, "... Somebody has to stand for something better, show that sometimes the things that are most worth fighting for aren't the things that come easily."

The Condor blinked. He'd heard from Shayera about Katar's old idealism, the drive to make sure that his newfound home never became as corrupt and decayed as Thanagar... but until now, he'd never seen it first-hand. "What can I do?"

"Well, I've had this notion about the Wingmen... about what they should have been, not what they became on Thanagar. If you'd like to join Shayera and I, we might able to start our own Earth-based police force... one that answers not to any to one government or leader... but to the world."

Without a moment's hesitation, the Condor clutched it in return. He could feel the man's charisma affecting him -- his words made you feel like you'd gladly die for his ideals, ideals which all men know in their hearts to be true. "I'll follow you to the ends of the Earth, Katar. I'll be a Wingman for you."

"They understand that I'll be ready to answer the call if they need me." Hawkman, soaring through the skies of Chicago alongside his wife, scanned ahead. He could see the Condor, decked out in the new Wingman uniform, waiting in front of a large crowd of reporters. "Looks like we're late."

Shayera smiled. "You shouldn't be so voracious, Peacock. You're going to tire out this little bird."

Hawkman didn't bother to reply to her playful sparring. Instead, he landed gently next to the Condor. Cameras flashed all around them as the Hawks moved up to the podium, which was situated in front of the Chicago City Hall.

"Sorry, little chick," Hawkwoman whispered, "but we were... um, unavoidably detained."

Hawkman motioned for them to quiet down. He placed his hands on the side of the podium, casting a quick glance at his old friends in the Chicago Police Department. He'd tossed them aside, like he had Shayera, soon after becoming the Hawk Avatar. Now, though, he would make it all up to them. He felt like a new man, one infused with the spirit of the original, the best, Katar Hol.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let me thank all of you for coming here today. Several years ago, you welcomed my partner and myself to your world, allowed us to become one of you, even after our own homeworld abandoned us. We came to regard Earth as our second home, a place for which we would fight to our last breath to defend. I've been aided in that endeavour by the Justice League and the Justice Squadron in the past... and today, I announce that I have taken my leave of both groups in order to bring a little bit of Thanagar here to Earth. My father, Paran Katar, was inspired by the Carter Hall Hawkman and so he created the Wingmen of Thanagar in Hall's image. The Wingmen eventually became another pawn in the Thanagar arsenal, but originally they were meant to protect the peace, to right the wrongs that others could not and to serve as a symbol of all that Thanagarians could be. Since they were originally inspired by an Earthman, I think it is fitting that I create a new set of Wingmen to protect the peace here on Earth... but this is group is one that shall never bow to tyranny. As you can see, we've replaced the Thanagarian hawk-symbol on our uniforms with a globe depicting our new home. This is to symbolize that we are not an extension of the Thanagarian police force. Some of you may ask why I am returning to such a militant garb when I publicly stated that I no longer wished to be considered a soldier. Well, recently I met a man -- a Katar Hol from another reality, in fact, if that thought is comprehensible to you -- and I saw that he never abandoned the Wingman gear of his world. He still wore it proudly as a symbol of what that group should have, and could have, been. I am ready to do the same. In so doing, perhaps I will inspire those on Thanagar, as well as those on Earth."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce your Wingmen Corps to you : Hawkwoman - Shayera Thal, my partner of many years; a young man known to some as the Black Condor; and myself, Hawkman, born Katar Hol, child of both Earth and Thanagar."

Hawkman paused, waiting for the crowd's response. Would they reject them, remembering only the Wingmen who had tried to invade Earth during the Dominator-led invasion? Or would they remember the many times Shayera and himself had put themselves on the line for Earth?

The reaction was not long in coming. A public hungry for heroes burst into applause. Hawkman stepped back, taking Shayera's hand in his. "This time, we'll make it work, Shayera."

Coming Up in Legend of the Hawkman # 5 : We focus on Earth-DCL's Katar and Shayera, as they move forward with the new Wingmen. Plus : A deadly threat begins to reveal itself.

Well there you have it. The end of our first storyline. Hopefully you've enjoyed things and are intrigued with where we're going -- a new Earth-based Wingman Corps is just the start of what I have planned. Look for a return in some ways to the feel of the Hawkworld series in terms of the DCL Katar -- but you'll get your Silver Age Groove Thang on with the storylines featuring the Earth-One Katar, who now has a bit of "modern day sensibility" thrown into the mix, thanks to his merger with our Katar. This series will flip-flop storylines with both the Silver Age Hawk and the post-Crisis Katar, giving you the best of both worlds (I hope).

Please let me know what you think of all this.

Barry Reese