Justice League Africa Issue 1 - In The Dark Of Night

By Calvin Burrell

2020

Several armed guards paced the deck of a cargo ship, travelling east a fair distance out from the coast of West Africa. Its name, 'The Storm of Mjolnir II', was emblazoned on the side in large print. The men were all equipped with FN P90s. A Belgian made gun, capable of firing at nine hundred rounds per minute with an effective range of two hundred metres. Each guard was trained in how to handle this weapon and make each shot count. Should they be unable to do so for any reason, each guard was also equipped with a taser. Should they be unable to use either weapon for any reason, every single one was trained in Krav Maga, an effective and efficient martial art. Should they be unable to fight whoever was stupid enough to try and steal their cargo for any reason, each guard was equipped with a radio, effective at long range or even under water.

All the escorts of The Storm of Mjolnir II were there because of three people. The first being themselves, as each expected a large paycheck for their services. The second was Phillip Marksbury. At one time Africa's leading industrialist, but after weeks of scandal, several truths had come to light which had chipped away at his business, the most damaging incident being his own son, Ancil, being arrested and charged for several murders. Adding to funds slipping through his fingers, Marksbury had to deal with a single unstoppable force that seemed hellbent on destroying him. The third person. David Zavimbe, also known as Batwing. He had investigated Ancil's crimes and the cruelty they displayed caused him to make taking down the family personal.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather have the armour?" said a voice through his earpiece for what felt like the millionth time.

"No, Matu," David answered as his small, dark blue speed boat headed towards the large ship. The engine of the boat was specially designed to run almost silently. Those above could not hear him and in the dark of night, would have trouble seeing him. "The Batwing armour is great for shock and awe, but I wanted something lighter and quieter for this mission.

"A good thing your old clothes still fit then," Matu Ba replied. He sat back in a chair in The Haven, their base of operations. A large computer screen before him showed a satellite image of the cargo ship.

David looked down at his clothing. His outfit was not a highly advanced suit of armour, capable of flight. Instead he wore a basic uniform. The same one he used prior to Batman's visit. Back then, David had channelled his energy and righteous fury into battling those who would threaten, steal, cripple and kill. The uniform was designed for functionality, composed of simple clothing and light bullet resistant armour. David armed himself with a utility belt, eskrima sticks and a mask coupled with goggles to hide his identity. The goggles were of his own design and capable of many forms of vision, including night vision which he used now. He looked up to see the ship before him. He did one last inspection on his equipment, including the explosives he needed to sink the ship. Once ready, he pulled his mask on.

"I'm going radio silent. I'll update you when I'm done," David said as he pulled out a gun shaped device from a duffel bag before him. The device was slightly larger than his hand and had a hook with three claws pointed forward sticking into the barrel. David waited patiently for the right moment, having learned the guard's patterns long ago. He squeezed the trigger and the hook shot out, dragging a thin, but strong filament behind it. It dug into the side of the side of the ship, just in time for the guard nearby to be too far to hear it. The speed boat would detect the ship's position and follow it, another gift of the Batman's, and designed by Lucius Fox. Letting the speedboat do its job, David flicked a switch on the back of the grapple gun, causing the mechanism to retract and pull him up.

His eyes narrowed behind the goggles. It was time to get to work.

Meanwhile, in the city of Tinasha...

Mari Jiwe McCabe is many things. She is a native of Zambesi, a model, the inheritor of a powerful totem, capable of tapping into the morphogenetic field and acquiring the attributes of any animal she chooses and she is the superhero known as Vixen. Right now, she is also surrounded. Her investigations into a smuggling ring led her to what she thought was a warehouse used for taken goods. However, inside she didn't find stolen electronics as expected, but a small army of thugs. Their leader, Lale Diawara, the second man to use the name Blood Tiger, stood behind his men. Blood Tiger grinned, the red stripes painted on his face made the expression look fierce and unnatural.

"Vixen..." Blood Tiger said the name slow, licking his upper lip as he did. "If you wanted to stop us transporting our gains, you are already too late. They were moved hours ago. But you are right on time to meet my army. For rabble, they are impressive, as you will soon see,"

The thugs surrounding her pulled out crowbars, knives and machetes. They moved to encircle her, leaving no escape. Vixen clenched her fists as her eyes moved quickly from one thug to another as she turned in a slow circle, coming to face Blood Tiger again. The leader crossed his arms smugly.

"You should not have come here alone," Blood Tiger said. "You are outnumbered thirty to one,"

"She is not alone," said a male voice from somewhere above them. Everyone present looked up, but saw nothing. Until a second later that is, when a man seemed to appear out of nowhere, standing upside down with his feet on the roof. The man wore a wide brimmed hat with a spider symbol that somehow managed to not fall off. His black cloak had the same symbol and he wore it over a red and black outfit that matched the colour of the hat. A grey mask covered his face and he held a wooden staff in his hand. He was an inheritor of a totem himself, and took the namesake of the spider the gold object represented: Anansi. His equipment gave him the ability to walk on walls and ceilings, while the magic in his totem gave him his true power.

Anansi jumped from the roof and flipped, landing on his feet beside Vixen. "And you should recount, Blood Tiger. Please tell me if you were counting yourself or not. I need to know exactly how many bad men I will be knocking unconscious tonight,"

Blood Tiger growled and commanded his gang to attack as he made his escape out the rear door.

"I guess he was not," Anansi said with an amused tone and a chuckle as the thugs charged the two heroes.

"Focus, Anansi," Vixen told the man as she ducked under a knife swipe. "And we can laugh about this later,"

Vixen channelled the agility of a spider monkey and backflipped, kicking the knife wielding thug in the face as she did. The man fell as the kick connected and Mari landed gracefully. She moved swiftly, dodging attacks and responding with her fists.

"I'd rather laugh now," Anansi said as a group of thugs carrying crowbars advanced on him. He simply winked at them and suddenly, several copies of Anansi appeared around him. The thugs stopped in confusion for a moment, then one tried attacking. The crowbar passed through a copy and it faded away, revealing itself to be an illusion, created by the hero's totem. Before that bandit could react, he was struck by the real Anansi's staff. The others tried to attack, but were met with more illusions. In their confusion, Anansi easily moved between his copies, knocking out the gang members before they realized which one of him was real.

"You're welcome for the rescue, by the way," Anansi called to Vixen. She seemed to ignore him as she channelled the kicking power of a horse and struck a thug in the chest, sending him flying into his comrades. Another tried to hit her with a machete from behind. Vixen reacted quickly by spinning around and sending a kick between the legs of the unfortunate man. The bandit made a high pitched squeal of pain and dropped his blade, followed but a soft whine as he slowly fell to the ground and curled up in a ball.

"I haven't decided if I'm going to thank you yet," Vixen finally retorted to Anansi. "Blood Tiger is escaping,"

"For the moment," Anansi replied. "Go after him, I'll wrap up here,"

Vixen landed a flying kick on a thug and he ended up halfway through an empty wooden crate. "You sure?"

The real Anansi stood in the middle of the warehouse and twirled his staff over his head. He slammed it into the ground and several more copies appeared around the warehouse. They all had the same amused smirk. "Go. Bring down your prey,"

Vixen nodded and used the power of a bull to charge through the gang and out the door. She saw tracks left behind by a vehicle and knew Blood Tiger had likely driven as far as he could by now. She growled as she started channelling another animal.

Blood Tiger had the gas pedal floored in the brown jeep he drove. The dirt road was bumpy, but he traversed it easily. He was glad that he got away, and that the stolen goods were already in another warehouse. The buyer that contacted him had wanted something specific in their merchandise and was not the type to accept failure. He was still patting himself on the back when he glanced behind him. His eyes widened at what he saw.

Vixen growled again as she closed in on the vehicle. She was channelling the speed of a cheetah and running on all fours. Her lithe form mimicked that of the jungle cat. She knew Blood Tiger saw her and couldn't help giving him the same fierce grin he gave her earlier. Once she was close, she channelled the jumping power of a cricket, and leapt high into the air. Her arc took her over the jeep and at the right moment, she channelled the weight of an elephant. She landed like a ten ton brick on the vehicle, crushing the front end and sending Blood Tiger flying out the shatter window. He rolled several times before stopping and groaning in pain. Vixen calmly stepped off the wreckage and advanced on him slowly.

"I've got some questions for you," Vixen said to the gang leader, lying on the ground in pain before her. "You can answer, or I can show you what it's like to be sat on by an elephant. Your choice,"

Blood Tiger winced, deciding that was an experience he could live without. Vixen stood over him. "Where have you moved the stolen electronics?"

"A storage building several miles north of here. By now our buyers have already taken what they want. The rest is going on the black market,"

Vixen frowned in irritation and continued her interrogation. "Who are your buyers?"

"I can't tell you everything. You have the location. That is enough, isn't it? I have a reputation to consider,"

Vixen glared down at Blood Tiger. Without saying a word, she lifted her leg over him and lowered it down slowly on his chest. Still sore from the crash, Blood Tiger now had trouble breathing under the pressure.

"Okay, okay! I'll talk! Just stop!" Blood Tiger gasped. He tried to catch his breath after Vixen moved her leg. She started tapping her foot impatiently.

"One of our buyers, he's quiet. Secretive. He only contacts me by phone and tells us to drop off his merchandise in locations outside the city. He picks it up after we leave. I know nothing of him," Blood Tiger said. Vixen started to raise her leg again and Blood Tiger continued frantically. "B-but the other is a representative from a Chinese triad. A gang that calls themselves The Scarlet Dragons. I swear that's all I know! Don't step on me again…"

"You and your crew are done here," said Vixen with a low, menacing tiger growl. She heard the sound of incoming police and EMS and she left Blood Tiger there for them to find. He gritted his teeth and watched her dash off again. Already he was plotting his revenge, but part of him was glad she didn't actually sit on him.

To be continued...