17
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or universe which are trademarks of DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation. These in turn are owned by Time Warner. The events and original characters depicted are my intellectual property with all rights reserved.
The Court of Owls was assembled. Garth Ellis had wandered within the giant underground maze construct for five days now. He'd had no food and no rest. The Court had seen to that. And the only source of water was laced with hallucinogenic drugs. Put altogether the conditions were unraveling Ellis' very mind.
The center of the maze contained a vast library of the Court's long history in Gotham City. There was also a ledger of the fallen who'd died in this very maze. It read as a Who's Who of Gotham's notorious disappearances.
Adding to the disturbing imagery was the fact that dozens of sarcophaguses were stored at the center of the maze. Ellis had opened one to find it contained a deceased Talon. And he'd already learned Talons were the Court's enforcers.
Ellis could finally make out the catwalks stretching over the maze thanks to the Owls occupying them. The glare of the bright lights flooding the maze had kept them hidden before. The Court of Owls' members all wore their white owl masks and so did their children. The Court was dressed in its finery, as though they were attending a gala or a party. And perhaps they were and Ellis' death was the scheduled entertainment.
"What do you want from me?" Ellis' raspy shout echoed throughout the complex.
And then he knew he was no longer alone. A Talon stood nearby. She wore the customary black uniform and owl mask. She was also laden down with edged weapons and carried a staff with blades at either end. Ellis giddily wondered where the Talon that had come for him two weeks ago had gone off to.
Ellis had drawn the attention of the Court of Owls by investigating the true history of Gotham City, not the published fairy tale. Once he'd begun his research and had finally received a court order to review the original founding documents incorporating Gotham City, the judge had died in a mysterious car accident and costumed malcontents had stolen the documents he sought.
Then the primary source documents listing the city's founders turned up missing as well. Then the founding families turned a deaf ear to him. Afterwards the unaltered architectural records of the construction and growth of Gotham over the centuries that he'd unearthed in the vaults vanished.
Finally, a Talon arrived at his doorstep. But it had been a male Talon, not the female standing nearby now. But the first Talon had hesitated just long enough for Ellis to dive into the whole sordid history of the Court of Owls that he'd managed to uncover and piece together. The details concerning a history of the Court recruiting carnival and circus performers as youths seemed to have an impact on Ellis' unwanted guest.
So Ellis elaborated on how the Court would employ criminal elements to kill the families of the desired recruit. The newly orphaned boy or girl would then be approached by Owls themselves who would appear to be a benefactor to the youth. After a year or so, the youth would be introduced to the Court of Owls itself and begin his or her training as a future Talon.
Ellis had compiled case histories dating back to the founding of the city shortly before the American Revolution was underway. The Court had been nearly undetectable until after the Civil War when a bounty hunter named Jonah Hex had interfered with a Talon's recruitment. Thanks to Hex, the potential recruit was spirited away out of the Court's direct grasp.
In turn, Jonah Hex had fought the Court's current Talon. It had been a monumental struggle that shattered many buildings and lives. Hex survived whereas the Talon had fallen and was still awaiting his revival. But Ellis was unaware of the Court's ability to rejuvenate their dead Talons and unleash them upon an unwitting world. Jonah Hex had born the scars of his battle in his flesh. But they were merely a sideline compared to the other scars that testified to the roadmap of his life.
Ellis' last case file was of a youth that had lost his parents a mere twenty years ago. The Talon had abruptly snatched the newspaper clippings and a summary of Ellis' findings out of the researcher's hands and then vanished into the night. Ellis knew he'd gotten too close to the Court of Owls by then and he prepared to leave.
Ellis was on loan from Metropolis University to Gotham State University. He demanded to be brought back home and eventually convinced the President and Board of Regents of the university to agree. But the night before Ellis was scheduled to depart; he received an invitation from a colleague.
Gotham's own Stratton family, one of those that traced their lineage back to the city founders, was displaying rare archival documents recently found in storage within a family vault. Ellis knew it was a trap and the documents were probably forgeries but the urge to attend was irresistible.
The last thing Ellis recalled of the unveiling was drinking a single martini. Then he'd awoken in the central library of the maze he'd occupied for the better part of a week. Or at least he guessed it had been nearly a week. With no sun or moon he'd been void of the usual diurnal influences. And the Court had arranged to keep him awake most of the time he'd been in the maze.
Under the influence of the hallucinogens he had begun seeing the assembled Owls transforming into bizarre hybrid creatures made of owls blended with humanity. But he saw the Talon with pure, stark clarity. And he realized her role wasn't to kill him but rather to shepherd him. He noted at long last, the Owls' children prepubescent children who were on the cusp of being teenagers had vanished. That was why the Talon was in place, to keep him from escaping the young Owlings' initiation rite. A rite that concluded with his death.
A previously hidden door opened and the young Owls spilled forth wearing their traditional white masks. They'd added white robes and ritualistic daggers to the mix for this occasion. The Owlings stabbed at Ellis' leg and abdomen as they fell upon him. As he went down, screaming for mercy, they clumsily stabbed and hacked away at his body until it lay still and his blood had sprayed all across them.
The Talon solemnly used an owl feather quill to add Garth Ellis' name to the Book of the Fallen. Mothers and fathers of the young Owls emerged to direct them to drag Ellis' corpse to the repository of bones. There rats would gnaw away all traces of Ellis' flesh and he would never be found.
The teenagers were tasked with cleaning up Ellis' blood under the watchful eye of the Talon. She had orders to "chastise" slackers and they well knew it. The rite of passage had been successfully completed. Video recordings of the event would be scrutinized to look for signs of strengths and weaknesses.
But that was for later. Now came the celebration of the milestone event. And for the first time in a century, the Court had shared this transition into adulthood with outsiders.
Nyssa al Ghul and the White Rabbit were those so honored. The man known only as the "Heretic" had also been invited but he had declined, citing professional concerns regarding their joint enterprise. Since Leviathan would be supplying the bulk of the manpower in the upcoming allies' initiative, everyone deferred to his judgment on where his time was best utilized.
The Court of Owls had ascended en masse to a banquet room that served the various families' needs. The children, still masked and soaked with blood, were feted and family portraits were taken. Nyssa found it incongruous to photograph evidence of an otherwise untraceable murder.
"So what did you think of our little ceremony?" an elder Owl asked Nyssa and White Rabbit.
Suddenly the entire room was hanging on their conversation as Nyssa answered, "I was born on the Steppes before Alexander II freed the serfs. Then my mother and I moved to the Caucuses where the Cossacks dutifully carried out pogrom after pogrom against any Jew, or half-Jew in my case. Decades passed and thanks to my father's lineage, I aged slowly enough to pass the Nazis' scrutiny and was spared from Auschwitz's gas chamber at my induction into the death camp. After the Allies' supposedly 'liberated' us my long lost father finally claimed me. And I began my training to join the League of Assassins."
Nyssa's eyes narrowed as she firmly assuaged the Court of Owls' fears, "This all goes to point out I have witnessed the very worst of humanity and plumbed the depths of its sickness. But I have also seen hope come to life and dreams of a better world actualized. So don't presume to assume you've shocked me in any way."
"But did you approve?" the Owl asked.
"Life and death are negotiable commodities," Nyssa said without inflection, "You have your customs for dealing with them and I won't judge. But do me the same courtesy."
"And you?" the Owl's affected laziness was laced with menace as he addressed White Rabbit.
"I'm all about tolerance," she glibly replied, "As long as it doesn't interfere with my goals. Ours intersect so you have no worries."
"Then you may continue as our liaison," the Owl nodded with approval, "Inform the Heretic we have a message. Tell him, 'the storms begin tomorrow at dusk'. And please make certain he is ready to begin at that time."
"Finally," White Rabbit heaved an exaggerated sigh.
"I'll be taking my leave of you now as well," Nyssa told him, and by extension the entire crowd, "The Heretic still hasn't agreed to all of my terms and I no longer have time in which to gently persuade him to."
"We know what he is," the Owl shared, "Why not simply have your sister deal with him directly?"
"Because he feels abandoned by his 'mother' and has every right to," Nyssa told him, "I share a connection to him through her blood. That gives him a little latitude with me. But not enough to let him interfere with our united mission."
"Good," the Owl was pleased by her sentiment, "Family is noble but ambition is paramount. Better to lose a wayward family member than lose an entire city."
"Or a world," Nyssa bowed her head slightly as she gathered White Rabbit and led her away.
LexCorp owned dozens of hangars around Gotham's municipal airport. Leviathan had outperformed themselves by landing aircraft never designed for such short runways and offloading over fifty armored vehicles without attracting too much unnecessary attention. The attention they had attracted was paid enough to ignore any activities surrounding the airfield.
Nyssa and White Rabbit were brought before the Heretic for an audience with the religious and military leader. Nyssa could tell by her "nephew's" body language he'd already received White Rabbit's still unspoken message, "You've already heard."
"The Court of Owls is secretive enough but they still have agents that operate openly," Heretic replied, "Our surveillance is very thorough."
"You needn't wear your mask for the White Rabbit's benefit. She already knows you're the force-grown clone of Damian Wayne," Nyssa informed him.
"That name means nothing to me," Heretic said angrily.
"Yet you came to Gotham to hunt down Bruce Wayne and slay the Detective in his own lair," Nyssa reminded him, "You hospitalized a SWAT team but in the end you were still captured until released by my Injusticers."
"Your point?" Heretic was getting irritable now.
"Batman is off limits to you," Nyssa commanded, "Frankly, you aren't good enough to capture him and I need him alive."
"You know what Ra's al Ghul pushed Talia to," Heretic was visibly angry now, "Why she chose to let him replace her mind with his."
Nyssa moved faster than Heretic could react and jabbed a knife blade under his jaw, "If you ever give voice to that truth again, I'll silence you forever."
"What about her?" Heretic glared at White Rabbit.
She winked at him, "I'm all about self-preservation."
"And she already has found out for herself that Bruce Wayne is Batman," Nyssa added as she withdrew the knife and stepped back.
"I want my vengeance," Heretic demanded petulantly.
Nyssa didn't sheath her knife yet and had visions of burying it in the Heretic's chest, "Batman didn't even know of Damian's existence until the boy was already dead. That goes twice for you. And dwell on this, if Ra's al Ghul transfers his mind from Talia's body into Bruce Wayne's as he always intended, then there is a chance, however slim, of reviving Talia's consciousness."
"You're assuming I'd even want her back," Heretic sniffed.
"Don't you?" Nyssa asked knowingly.
"Damn you straight to hell!" Heretic snapped, "Of course I do."
"Then comply with my wishes," Nyssa instructed in an ironclad tone.
"Are you prepared for tomorrow night?" White Rabbit felt it was a good time for a distraction.
"Of course," Heretic snorted, "Besides the armor units we brought in ourselves, we chose these facilities because of LexCorp having stowed original samples of the vehicles here. My men and women have all arrived now."
"So you'll be on time?" White Rabbit sought a clarification.
"And in position," Heretic grated.
"What about your overseas concerns?" Nyssa inquired, "Batman, Inc. has made it a very personal mission to find and destroy Leviathan cells."
"We have strikes prepared in each of their home countries," Heretic revealed, "And I have multiple engagements planned for the Native American reservations to keep Man-of-Bats and Raven Red distracted here in the States. That merely leaves the East Coast operatives of Azrael, Spoiler, Batwoman, and supposedly a new threat calling herself Bat-Girl."
"I persuaded Talia to deploy the League of Assassins against the Order of St. Dumas," Nyssa informed him, "That will draw Jean-Paul Valley to Europe to champion the Order as their chosen Azrael. The three remaining women will be dealt with when and if we have to. That's where the Injusticers come in."
"You seem to have thought of everything," Heretic said with a grudging modicum of respect.
Nyssa shrugged, "I try."
"Why did Ra's choose Talia over you?" Heretic finally asked a burning question plaguing his mind.
"Because I would have killed him and dismembered the body so there would be no way a Lazarus Pit could ever revive him again," Nyssa answered with fire in her eyes.
"Good to know," Heretic nodded his head in respect, "If you'll excuse me now, I have final briefings to give."
"We'll get out of your way then," White Rabbit said perkily.
In the cargo van Nyssa used for transportation, she looked over at White Rabbit, "Are you certain you and Jaina want to go through with this plan of yours?"
"Positive," White Rabbit giggled, "Maybe we'll have a girl's night and sell the video to a porn site."
"Ivy only has eyes for Harley so you won't be getting any," Nyssa advised her oversexed companion.
"Too bad," White Rabbit pouted, "You don't think ol' Ra's would loan me Brucie for a weekend before the big mind swap?"
"Not a chance," Nyssa said with an air of finality.
"Too bad," this time White Rabbit's sigh was plaintive, "Both Jaina and I like the parts of Bruce that we each deal with. We've even considered sharing him."
"And another porno was filmed," Nyssa grimaced as she pulled the van up to a curb, "You're hopeless but safely home."
White Rabbit inspected the brownstone, "And Jaina left all the lights on. Means the party has already started. See ya!"
Nyssa watched White Rabbit scamper up the steps to burst through Jaina Hudson's front door. Nyssa pulled out and drove straight the Endicott Mansion adjacent to the Wayne Estate. Nyssa parked the van but kept the keys in the ignition and her weapons on the racks.
Inside, Nyssa gathered her three Injusticer field commanders. David Cain was her general for the Injustice League. Blacksmith led the Injustice Rogues. And Card Queen and Enigma had formed a partnership approach to guiding the Injustice Titans. She gave them the deadline to begin and they all accepted it without a qualm. Then she summoned her two latest recruits to the Injustice League.
First, Nyssa addressed the Wrath. Eliot Caldwell was more than a billionaire weapons manufacturer. He was also trained as a leading assassin who specialized in killing police officers. He'd never been photographed but urban legends surrounded his work. He was dubbed the "anti-Batman". A title which pleased the Wrath.
Eliot was currently engaged in a hostile takeover of Wayne Enterprises. Bruce Wayne had personally rebuffed any bids at buying a portion of his majority shares. But the Board of Directors was considering dividing the stock while giving Caldwell advance options. Which would grant him a majority.
The Wrath had undertaken a campaign to destroy the GCPD. First he had armed various underworld figures and street thugs. This leap in weapons technology had led Commissioner Sawyer to beg for upgrades from Caldwell. And he'd happily supplied them knowing they'd be the cause of death for any officer using them.
"You've walked the GCPD down your path by the nose but what about Batman?" Nyssa asked of him.
"Bruce Wayne may have given him every toy he ever wanted but none of it stands a chance against my arsenal," Wrath boasted, "Batman beat my mentor but he never realized he had his own 'Robin'. Having assumed the mantle of the Wrath and making it my own I fully intend to carve up Batman and hand him to you on a silver platter."
"Just as long as he's alive and intact," Nyssa clarified, "Wounds don't concern me. They'll heal."
"Of course," Wrath nodded his compliance, "Now if you don't mind, I have last minute preparations to oversee."
"And Wrath?" Nyssa called out, "Ignore Grayle Hudson until the campaign has begun."
"As we agreed upon," Wrath bowed slightly at the waist.
Nyssa instinctively knew Jack Hudson's daughter was going to get a visitor despite Wrath's compliant words.
Nyssa met with White Canary next, "Now is the time for truth. Why are you with us?"
"To destroy the Black Canary," White Canary answered.
"So you've said," Nyssa allowed, "But there's a story here. I wish to hear it."
"Team 7 invaded our village as we guarded the path to the Eclipso stone. They killed everyone except me. The stone turned them against each other and only a portion of the team escaped alive. Those that did largely became what you describe as meta-humans. Only a fraction of them retained their sanity," she explained.
"And where did you go from there?" Nyssa inquired sharply.
"A nearby temple took me in. I told them my story. They trained me to exact justice upon the murderers," White Canary answered.
"And why the fixation on Black Canary?" Nyssa wanted to know.
"Dinah Drake Lance killed my mother and father and gunned down all of my brothers and sisters," White Canary angrily recalled, "Then she butchered my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I'll see her dead before all the others die one by one."
"Then you should know that Black Canary has a new partner. After Green Arrow died his protégé, Red Arrow, became the second Speedy and she and Black Canary are inseparable," Nyssa warned her, "And they are affiliated with ARGUS, wherein Dinah Drake Lance has been reunited with Steve Trevor."
Nyssa could see the hate burning behind White Canary's eyes, "And now you've finally told me the truth. If you join me for a reconnaissance of an ARGUS facility, I'll consider that your penance for holding out earlier."
"Of course I'll come," White Canary eagerly committed.
"Easy, this is a probe not a combat mission. We will be there to purloin secrets," Nyssa informed her.
"Yet you're expecting trouble," White Canary realized.
"This ARGUS base had been given over to an organization dubbed the 'Justice League of America'," Nyssa shared, "And the League of Shadows lost track of this 'JLA' yesterday."
"Understood, when do we set out?" White Canary would not be deterred.
"Equip yourself and meet me outside," Nyssa instructed. Then she assembled the Injustice League, "White Canary and I will be penetrating an ARGUS base. I don't have to tell you what that could potentially mean now that ARGUS has their own pet meta-human team. Cain, Aresia, Merlyn, and Syonide will come with me. The rest of you will stand by."
Nyssa met her appointed team outside next to her van. David Cain had a question, "Why aren't Mad Dog and Annalea coming with us?"
"Subtlety is not among their gifts," Nyssa replied, "Deranged killing sprees are. I want a clean entry and exit with no bloodshed."
"And if the Justice League of America arrives?" Merlyn wondered.
"Then we get bloody," Nyssa decided.
The Justice League Dark had sent representatives to Castle Drakul in the Transylvania district of Romania. Dr. Fate teleported the group to the castle's gates. Only it wasn't vampires that emerged from the nearby village but lycans.
The Moon was waning so they hadn't transformed. Yet it gave enough light that they all bore some manifestations of lupine characteristics. The Alpha recognized Andrew Bennett.
"It has been a long time since you came sniffing around the Master's table scraps," the Alpha sneered.
"They seem to keep you fed well enough," Bennett retorted, "But dire news brings me today. Mary has assembled an army and will march on this castle."
"Mary, the so-called 'Queen of Blood' doesn't have the wherewithal to attack the Master," the Alpha growled deep in his throat, "So piss off."
"Why not let Drakul decide for himself?" Bennett asked.
The Alpha flash fangs as he snarled. Bennett showed his own sharp teeth, "Do we really have to do this?"
"No, you do not," an imperious voice said from behind them.
"Master! I only sought to…" the Alpha began whimpering.
"You only sought to elevate yourself to my position," Drakul accused, "Such it has ever been and will always be."
Two vampires exited the castle and each bore a sickle forged from silver. The Alpha lycan was a simpering mass as his vampire "betters" dragged him away to "chastise" him. The rest of the pack dispersed to their homes situated outside the castle's walls.
Drakul motioned towards the path leading the escape door, "Come, I never refuse to grant an audience to a Lord of Order."
He led them into the heart of the castle and up a flight of stairs hewn from the rocks stacked and mortared into castle walls. They ended up in an audience chamber. Drakul mounted his elevated "throne". Beside him on a pedestal sat a scrying stone with a cloth draped over it.
"You're taking precautions these days," Bennett noted.
"Between Tala and Mary, I have no lack of voyeurs these days," Drakul said wearily.
"Tala, the dark sorceress?" Zatanna blurted her question.
"Tala was my guest until Ra's al Ghul appeared alongside the zombie named Solomon Grundy," Drakul revealed, "Apparently they came with a so-called 'better offer'."
"So you recognize the danger?" Bennett asked out of turn.
"Of course I do. I recognized over three hundred years ago before you turned her," Drakul was angry, "I warned you of the dangers but you fell in love."
Drakul sneered the last word, "When a vampire is turned, nothing new can be introduced into them. They become static creatures. Yet darkness creeps into their souls and twists what darkness was already present into true evil. Andrew had enough light in his heart to fight the darkness."
Drakul laughed, "But Andrew has committed his share of barbaric acts since then because the darkness in his soul is ever present and always seductive. But he finds his way back to the light. But Mary was evil before she was turned."
Drakul's burning eyes bored into Bennett, "You choose poorly, Andrew. And now the world pays for your corruption of the heart."
"But you'd never be one to cast around blame, would you, Vlad?" Bennett quipped.
"Why have you all come to me?" Drakul wondered, "And don't bore me with pleas regarding fighting Mary. They're useless since I'll be drawn into the battle anyway simply to win my survival."
Drakul mused over his next inquiry, "Why has a sorceress lacking confidence and discipline come to me? A sorcerer with barely enough soul left in him to qualify as human and not a demon? And a Lord of Order who is out of sorts? A new host perhaps?"
"We're taking the fight to Mary," Zatanna proclaimed, "We're tracking her army's movements and we'll strike at them during the day. That will leave any remnant that gets by us to you."
"Who is this 'we'?" Drakul mulled the proposed plan over.
"The bloody Justice League Dark, mate," Constantine retorted.
"Is the title supposed to impress me?" Drakul idly wondered, "Because I've observed the Justice League and you rabble are not remotely it."
"They are an assembly of mages and other creatures who possess magical abilities and a will to serve Order and the Source and battle evil," Dr. Fate's spectral voice was finally heard.
"And you let Constantine into an assembly thusly purposed?" Drakul couldn't help but laugh. Drakul quickly sobered up, "This is my territory and I shall defend it."
"And Mary expects you too," Zatanna argue, "So why not preemptively strike her where she would least expect it? At the border perhaps?"
"Moving my horde will draw attention," Drakul warned them, "And thus I lose the element of surprise."
"But I can move them all with a gesture," Dr. Fate reminded him.
"Very well, it is a plan," Drakul finally agreed, "The day shall belong to your Justice League but I shall rule the night."
"I'll tell the others," Zatanna rose from her cushion.
"And take that thing you've exchanged bodily fluids with," Drakul sniffed.
Zatanna was embarrassed to be outed and Constantine was just miffed for general purposes. With a gesture Dr. Fate swept them away and Drakul smiled, "Now that the children are safely away, let us negotiate the true terms of my involvement."
Zatanna and Constantine appeared outside the House of Mystery. Constantine looked amused, "I guess even a high and mighty Lord of Order can't penetrate the house."
"Can't you ever be serious?" Zatanna huffed.
"This is my serious face, darling," Constantine cracked.
"Don't call me that. It was one night. Okay, four nights. Every week for three months. But we're done," Zatanna declared.
"Maybe you are," Constantine said with all due solemnity.
"I am so not going there right now!" Zatanna stomped up the steps and marched straight into the House of Mystery. Constantine dutifully followed and was still amazed he was even allowed entrance. Drakul had been right about him. He was a mere scrape above a demon.
He followed the sounds of human voices and found Zatanna greeting Madame Xanadu. As Constantine expected, Xanadu was seated and taking tarot reading after tarot reading. But her cards underwent constant metamorphoses and they changed with each reading.
Jason Blood stood by to attend her every need. They'd known each other since the days of Camelot. And Jason could summon the demon Etrigan to deal with any wayward Lords of Chaos or whatnot.
Deadman was serving as Xanadu's courier. At each team location, he'd possess someone and relay her instructions and warnings. All of it served to keep his mind off of Holly Granger and how he's failed her. Dawn Granger's half-sister had been seduced by Chaos and become an Avatar of Chaos in balance to her sister being an Avatar of Order. Holly transformed into Swallow and was now hunting Madame Xanadu beside Condor, Osprey, Kestrel, and Swan.
"And what the hell did you do to piss off Drakul anyway, John?" Zatanna whirled on him as he entered.
"Why do you blame me, Zee?" he wondered.
"Because I know you," Zatanna grated, "That's more than reason enough."
"Well, I hate to disappoint but all I'm guilty of is knowing Drakul wanted us out of the way so he could get down to brass tacks with Fate and Bennett," Constantine's own temper began to flare.
"He is correct," Madame Xanadu paused her reading long enough to say.
"He is?" Zatanna was astonished.
"I can be right about a few things," Constantine drolly replied, "I was right about you getting your tattoo."
"I'd already decided to get one," Zee huffed.
"But I helped pick the location," Constantine said smugly.
"You suggested I get on my pelvis or my ass," Zatanna angrily replied, "You smirked while blathering on about 'private showings'."
"Which prompted you to pick your arm and now you're happy," Constantine considered the argument over.
"And it has nothing to do with you," Zatanna rolled her eyes.
"Children you either behave or you're dismissed," Madame Xanadu scolded them. Jason was rather amused and Deadman seemed to be trying to picture Zatanna's tattoo moving off her shoulder and relocating to both her pelvis and ass.
Zatanna decided that some days it didn't pay to try and save the world, "Have we found Mary yet?"
"Our five teams have had luck tracking down Mary's minions but they've enjoyed little success finding the Queen herself," Jason reported.
"We might want to pull Enchantress and Silver Swan off search duties," Deadman said once again, "The vamps got a good look at them and Enchantress managed to burn down an entire hotel with a good number of them trapped inside."
"Which is why Nightshade and Black Orchid are with them. They are all in civilian guise and the vampires are relatively harmless until nightfall anyway," Madame Xanadu said again.
"But they ain't huntin' for vamps. You got them after those Avatars of Chaos. And as best I can figure it, the Avatars outnumber our group," Deadman complained, "And it ain't like Silver Swan is herself. She's traipsing about as Valerie Beaudry. She's a seventeen year old kid for chrissakes!"
"And Black Alice is even younger as is Misfit," Xanadu glared at him, "I read the cards. This is what they are appointed to do. And it isn't as though Swamp Thing and Detective Chimp have an easy time blending in. Frankenstein's Creature must also maintain a low profile. And Ragman and Nightmare Nurse hardly blend into a crowd."
"And Amethyst and Nightmaster can hardly make Blue Devil inconspicuous," Madame Xanadu continued her litany, "Mindwarp has his own difficulties owing to his abilities revolving around astral projection and the need to protect his forsaken body. And then he is tasked with leading a rogue angel and an escaped witch boy."
"And finally we come to Vac Shade;" Madame Xanadu said crossly, "Shade is mentally imbalanced from his years of loneliness from living on Earth. Put that together with his being teamed with Jennifer Morgan and Misfit and I doubt Shade's sanity is going to improve any."
"You put them all together," Constantine quipped.
"I did nothing," Madame Xanadu firmly replied, "The cards spoke and I revealed what they said. Nothing less and nothing more. I saw a revealed future but I don't know how it will happen or even when."
"So you're basically spitballin'," Deadman retorted.
"In a sense," Madame Xanadu allowed.
"I'm not familiar with either Jennifer Morgan or Misfit," Zee admitted.
"Jennifer is the daughter of Travis Morgan, the Warlord of Skartaris. She is the supreme sorceress of that underground land. And she is prideful, willful, and not one to take orders from anyone," Madame Xanadu explained, "Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe was marginally homeless most of her young life. She discovered her absentee father was a wandering Homo Magi when her mother's apartment was burned down by an arsonist and Charli alone survived out of every occupant in that building. Charli developed a fixation on Batgirl when she brought Charli's arsonist to justice. When Batgirl vanished, Charli considered taking her place but we reached out to her instead. She is woefully young and inexperienced. Her lack of training is appalling and she poses a threat to herself and potentially others through her missteps."
"Then why take her in?" Constantine asked.
"Why not ask yourself the same question?" Xanadu snapped back at him, "The girl needs training and we have the ability to provide it. So we've decided to do so."
Zatanna met Madame Xanadu's gaze and realized she wasn't the only one present that knew the full truth regarding Batgirl's fate. Xanadu reshuffled her deck and rose. Reaching for a covered scrying stone she sat it on the table.
"You two, see what you can do with this," she instructed and then she motioned towards Jason and they excited the room.
Deadman grinned, "Looks like you're my bosses now."
"Bloody hell, now what?" Constantine wondered.
Zatanna pulled up a chair and unveiled the crystal orb, "Now we see what's going on. And sit down, for God's sake. You're infinitely better at this that I am."
"Somehow I know you'd say that," Constantine lamented as he pulled up a chair to slump in.
Deadman decided these two were much better than Hungarian television.
The Los Angeles Port Authority administered the third busiest port in the world. And while the Port Authority was appointed by LA's mayor, the port was privately funded. So few vessels were ever turned away while there were fees to be had.
Another aspect of the port was that dozens of piers and slips were leased by sovereign nations. These spaces enjoyed diplomatic immunity and were off limits to the Port Authority Police Department. They were guarded by whatever national forces the occupying nation deemed necessary.
For the People's Republic of China, that meant soldiers of the People's Army guarded the warehouse-like pier. Objects and merchandise of varying worth came through this backdoor. People also traveled into the United States through the site complete with cover identities and papers.
Colonel Win commanded the army detachment guarding the slip. Win made a healthy living taxing goods and personnel being smuggled through the territory. He was also frequently paid to look the other way. Such as tonight.
Li Quan had brought a massive shipment of Tibetan opium that could be further refined by Yakuza distributors into heroin. Li Quan's proposal that the Triads could peacefully coexist with the Yakuza was becoming a reality under his supervision and that of his unofficial partner, Takeo Yamashiro, the man known in whispers as Sickle.
Amanda Waller had targeted the shipment after the Black Bat lost it in Hong Kong. But Cassandra Cain's involvement had ratcheted up the paranoia factor always prevalent with drug dealers. ARGUS was ready to hand things off to another agency but Sickle's involvement came to light and so she tasked the JLA with apprehending the perpetrators.
Katana's thirst to kill Sickle was well known to Waller but she must've skirted a file or two because before the team departed for the mission, Darknight and Ri revealed their similar feelings for Li Quan. Katana and Ri had already tracked the criminal pairing down once.
Sickle had escaped due in part to the JLU's interference and the Chinese government itself had released Li Quan a mere three hours after Ri handed him over to her authorities. This time Darknight was with Ri and they were bypassing the Chinese government altogether. If turning him in resulted in his release, then they'd compensate by turning over his corpse. The consequences be damned.
Ri and Darknight had committed to the JLA. They were just banking on the fact that ARGUS would provide them with asylum after the political storm broke out. As far as Waller was concerned she'd utilize the JLA to fight anything short of a Presidential order to surrender the Chinese operatives.
Isis blew the doors off of the pier's loading area with a hurricane force wind. Men were blown about and most sought shelter while they still could. Then Isis released the winds from her control.
Black Adam led Troia and Hawkman into the pier. Chinese troops, Triad thugs, and Yakuza enforcers all opened fire. Steve Trevor led the remaining JLA forces tasked with breaching the pier into it. Trevor's electro-pulse gun, Vigilante's hyperkinetic rounds, and Speedy's arrows all provided cover fire for the JLU to advance.
Colonel Win summoned the PAPD. The Port Authority in turn requested backup from the LAPD. And they all converged on the spot to be confronted by Guy Gardner.
The Red Lantern had been looking forward to this. Ever since he'd given up a failing law practice to join the family trade in the Baltimore PD, Guy had burned with shame at being kicked off the force. But the Green Lantern Corps had found him.
And later abandoned him when he married Dela Pheron. Then he'd worn Sinestro's yellow power ring until Atomic Skull had dosed him with enough radiation to kill him. The Guardians of the Universe had been less than sympathetic.
And Sinestro's ring tore itself off of Gardner's hand. But a red power ring had honed in on Guy's rage and it claimed him for the Red Lantern Corps. And so as Guy confronted the LAPD and PAPD, he was sorely looking for an excuse to "bust some heads".
Li Quan brought a half dozen bodyguards with him as Sickle led the way to the docking slip. The small freighter sat at one side of it and high speed motorboats sat on the other. Li Quan was grateful for Sickle's foresight.
"We are saved!" he exclaimed. Red heat vision beams cut through the boats and ignited their fuel bladders. As the burning carcasses sank into the ocean, they all beheld Power Girl watching them from the sky above, visible because the dock lights shone upon her.
"Damn!" Sickle snarled.
Then Katana, Ri, and Darknight emerged from the shadows beyond the reach of the lights. Katana pulled the SoulTaker free from its sheath upon her back, "Now Takeo, we finally finish this."
"And there is no escape for you this time, Li Quan," Ri vowed.