10
The surviving members of the Crime Syndicate were leading elements of the Legion of Doom on a rampage through downtown Seattle. Then they traveled across the bridge spanning Lake Washington and moved into Bellingham. Heading south they drifted into Renton and the multitude of Boeing Aircraft facilities to be found there. It was here that the JLU interdicted them.
Supergirl was immediately snared by Superwoman's lasso. The lasso expanded and intertwined all around the Argoan as though it had a life of its own. Superwoman wore a demented smile over Supergirl's obvious puzzlement.
"What the hell?" Kara asked as she struggled to break free.
"You really needn't bother," Princess Artemis of Paradise Island advised Supergirl, "I'm not using a knock off from that bitch Donna Troy's world. This is my lasso, handcrafted for me by Vulcan himself."
"I thought you couldn't return to Earth-3," Kara said between gritted teeth.
"Who says I did?" Superwoman laughed, "Doors can be opened and they work both ways."
"You're saying someone from your world came to ours?" Supergirl was rather distracted by the lasso.
"Yes, someone I thought was long dead," Superwoman reveled in that knowledge.
"They'll wish they were dead when I get loose," Kara vowed.
"You'll be lucky to survive this experience," Superwoman chuckled, "So don't get cocky."
Superwoman twirled her finger and the lasso constricted. As it grew tighter it got more and more difficult for Supergirl to breathe. And it didn't help that Superwoman began pummeling her with her fists.
Ultraman flew up to block Galatea's path, "You're not Supergirl but you'll do."
He snarled and threw a punch at her. Galatea caught his wrist with one hand and locked the other behind his elbow. Twisting and throwing him at the ground at the same time, she sent him face first into the concrete below.
Galatea then dropped out of the sky onto his back, one knee planted between his shoulder blades. As he reached around to push her off, she locked him in an arm bar. Between the wrist lock and the hyper-extended elbow, Tea knew she could break multiple bones from this vantage point. Her instructors at CADMUS or even Black Adam would have urged her to simply do it right away rather than risk her opponent slipping from her grasp.
Risking broken bones, Ultraman pushed off with the other arm and rolled Galatea off of his back. Ultraman's right arm was still in too much pain to use, so he applied a left jab to her face. Galatea was knocked off of her feet and onto her back.
But she used a handspring to kick him in the face and vault over his head. Instantly moving into a backspin kick, she caught Kal-L in the side of the head and he stumbled onto one knee. Her following round kick put him on his back.
Galatea gripped his throat as she reared back her other hand and formed a fist with it, "I'll give you one chance. Tell me who is leading this mission and what your objective is. Dick me around and I'll end you."
"Do it," he rasped as she tightened her grip around his throat, ""It'd be a mercy killing."
And then Galatea made a life altering decision.
Sentinel chose to confront Power Ring. Jack Stewart looked emaciated and Sentinel knew why. Zatanna had learned that the Rings of Volthoom that equipped the Power Ring Corps in Earth-3's universe fueled themselves off of the fear of their wearer. If the wearer couldn't generate enough ambient fear to feed off of, the ring would literally consume all of its wearer's energies.
It had been a bad few months for Power Ring. He'd suffered defeat after defeat. Three weeks ago had been the most humiliating. White Lantern and Stargirl had been joined by Wonder Girl in thwarting Power Ring's ambitions to create a storm of fear that would consume NYC and feed the Ring of Volthoom.
It seemed Power Ring's ring was sating itself on him instead. He appeared to be in the last throes of dying to feed the ring's insatiable hunger. So Sentinel placed him within a vault construct.
Power Ring mustered enough strength to blow the construct apart. But he was practically skeletal now. Sentinel used a hand construct to try and wrest the Ring of Volthoom off of Power Ring's hand. But as Sentinel yanked at the ring, he tore Power Ring's arm off.
As the man screamed, he crumbled to dust. Sentinel was so sickened by the event; he neglected capturing the freed Ring of Volthoom. It streaked off into the distance seeking a new host.
While Sentinel settled his stomach Hula Hula called, "Sentinel, do you have a moment?"
"Things just cleared up for me," Sentinel searched around for Power Ring's ring.
"A situation is developing at Microsoft's corporate campus in Kirkland. A trifecta matching Legionnaire descriptions are running amuck," Hula Hula advised him.
"This is all a distraction," Sentinel mentally kicked himself for missing the signs.
"Is anyone else available to assist you?" Hula Hula asked.
"No, but I was solo before the Justice Society formed up and even frequently afterwards," Sentinel assured him, "I'll be fine."
Sentinel was grateful Hula Hula dropped the matter as he flew north.
Bane was incredulous. Wildcat was beating him senseless. Bane had his Venom augmented physique and Wildcat only had hard won hours in a gym. Only Batman had ever beaten him without enhancements before. Frequently in fact.
Atomic Skull had warned Bane about Wildcat. He always thought the stories were hyperbole designed to cover up incompetence or cowardice. But Wildcat had already broken one of Bane's knees, an ankle, a wrist, an elbow, and his nose. And he wasn't certain yet about several ribs and his skull.
Bane was utterly disgusted. He was having his ass handed to him by a senior citizen. Yet, Wildcat looked decades younger than his purported age. That and he moved like a young man.
Wildcat surged at him again. This time Bane's jaw got broken. One final right cross delivered a severe concussion and Bane passed out. Wildcat looked around and saw Animal Man could use a hand.
Animal Man was outnumbered three to one. Wildcat rubbed his knuckles as he stalked off to help, "Whatever happened to fair fights?"
Reverse Flash ran across the bridge and headed back into Seattle. Streaking up and down the downtown streets, he created sonic booms that shattered windows. Jay Garrick finally managed to tackle Professor Zoom.
As the men rolled apart, Reverse Flash mocked Jay, "Too old? Are you too tired to fight? Because I can recommend a good rest home if you need one."
"I'm more than ready for you, Zoom," Jay assumed a boxing stance.
"Oh, this should be good," Reverse Flash predicted.
Within seconds, Jay knew Zoom was a better fighter. And a dirtier one as well. Landing several successive blows, Reverse Flash knocked Jay off of his feet.
"Original Flash my ass! You should retire, old man." Reverse Flash crowed.
A backspin kick staggered him. Two more successive kicks knocked Zoom out. Dinah Lance checked him and gave Jay a thumbs up.
Jay knew Dinah still couldn't speak. He hadn't even noticed that the confrontation had occurred outside of Sherwood Florist. Her assistant Roselyn stood behind her wielding two batons.
Jay dimly recalled that Roselyn had been a vigilante called Thorn in Metropolis before her knee had been crippled. Even now after multiple surgeries she had to wear a brace-stabilizer that took all the weight off of her knee. Jay rose.
"Thanks, Dinah. You saved my body even if my ego took a beating," Jay chuckled.
A costumed figure riding a yellow Honda CBR motorcycle raced up. Jay recognized Dinah's adopted daughter Mia Deardon in her guise as the archer called Speedy. His signal device sounded and he stepped away while Mia checked on Dinah.
Jay rejoined the group, "Sorry about the distraction."
"Look, the Legion of Doom is running rampant. Could you use a hand?" Speedy inquired.
"Actually, there's a situation in Kirkland you could help Sentinel and I with," Jay requested.
"Of course I'll help," Speedy nodded.
"Follow me," Jay took off running and Speedy gunned her throttle as she rapidly shifted gears as she pursued.
"She'll be fine, Dinah," Roselyn assured her, "Now we still have some of Ollie's gear in the back. I'm going to dig up something to either restrain Reverse Flash or keep him under until backup arrives."
Once upon a time Dinah had faith her loved ones would be safe despite the danger. Now she knew differently. And she would take appropriate precautions.
Taking careful aim, Dinah stomped on Reverse Flash's knee, breaking it. At least one bastard was out of the fight now.
Psi telekinetically threw everything in the street at Stargirl. Courtney used the Cosmic Rod to obliterate it all. Then she began blasting away at Psi. Psi's TK shield held up under the weight of the rod.
But then Stargirl began projecting her energy stars derived from her Cosmic Convertor Belt. Psi's shied crumbled and the woman was knocked out. Courtney blew on her finger.
"Sometimes the old ways are still the best ones," she bragged to no one in particular.
Then she heard a mangled roar and the latest Blockbuster came into view. Stargirl flew to Sand's position, "Ew! Don't tell me that used to be a woman."
"I think the bra gives it away," Sand was trying his knockout gas gun out. Blockbuster didn't even sneeze.
"I'm gonna puke," Courtney warned Sand, "She's wearing a thong, for God's sake."
"Keep her busy while I set up," Sand instructed.
Courtney unleashed her cosmic weapons and they barely slowed the former Rachel Sands.
Then the ground swallowed her up to her shoulders. Stargirl grinned, "Not bad. You're still a douche but that was pretty smart."
"What's with the abuse?" Sand was quizzical.
"Seriously? You have to go there after your little love fest on the Watchtower?" Courtney wondered.
"I asked what needed to be asked," Sand huffed.
"You were a massive jerk then and you're bordering on asshole now for defending yourself," Stargirl decided.
"You're close to insubordination here," Sand warned.
"Oh. My. God! You're pulling rank?" Courtney was incredulous, "What? You can't fight fair?"
"I was right earlier and I'm right now!" Sand declared.
"You would believe that," Stargirl said dismissively.
Blockbuster broke free and climbed out of the hole. Stargirl turned to Sand, "Let's kick her ass now so I can kick yours later."
"You and what army?" Sand retorted.
Hector Hammond had projected all of the gaseous molecules away to keep Metamorpho at bay. It was only as he started to pass out that he realized he'd defeated himself by denying himself oxygen. Hammond's inert body slumped as his eyes closed.
Metamorpho realized that King Chimera needed him worse than anyone else.
Bronze Tiger held up his brass knuckle mounted blades and Crimson Fox said, "We meet at last."
"Actually I met your sister a few months ago," Bronze Tiger's words froze her blood, "I'll let you know now, your pheromone load won't even slow me down. I'll give you one chance to walk away. I suggest you take it."
"You know I can't," Crimson Fox countered.
Bronze Tiger hefted his "claws", "Too bad for you."
"I read up on you," Cyclone admitted, "When you were Louise Lincoln you were Crystal Frost's top research assistant. After she became the first Killer Frost and died, you recreated the accident and became a Killer Frost yourself to prove you loved her."
"Are we even nearing a point?" Killer Frost sounded bored.
"I was a lab assistant when I became infused with the nanites that give me my powers," Maxine explained.
"So does that make us sisters?" Killer Frost scornfully inquired, "Yawn."
"You don't have to be so mean about it," Cyclone lectured her.
"You've got to be shitting me," Killer Frost remarked. She wasn't certain of whether to laugh at Cyclone or just kill her. She went with "just kill her."
Maxine ducked as ice daggers flew her way. Then she recreated a tornado. Killer Frost knew Cyclone was in the eye of the storm. So she began injecting ice and cold into the funnel cloud.
The tornado dissipated and Cyclone rested on her knees clutching at herself as she was wracked with spasmodic shivers. Killer Frost approached Cyclone, "Poor baby. Let me kill you and make it better."
King Chimera had been struck down by Count Vertigo. Vertigo used a new imbalance inducer that didn't rely on an external optical disc. Instead it was a transmitter that affected the nerve impulses from the inner ear to the brain. And he could project this field one hundred feet in any direction.
He started smelling an odd odor, "Is that you Metamorpho? Even if I pass out my imbalance field will be active and only I know how to deactivate it. Why don't you revert back to a humanoid state and let's see how human you really still are?"
Metamorpho complied and within seconds he began crumbling apart and his component pieces twitched and vibrated.
"And now we know," Count Vertigo laughed.
Catman, El Diablo, and Black Spider had Animal Man pressed back against a store facade. Catman was using a loop snare and had it around Animal Man's neck. Black Spider held a Desert Eagle fifty caliber and El Diablo looked a little lost.
Wildcat dealt Catman a blow that reeled him and a second blow to Black Spider. Wildcat dismantled the pistol, "Fight fair, you little turd."
"I hear you used to be a big shot boxer," El Diablo positioned himself to challenge Wildcat.
"Just a five time world champion," Wildcat decided to play the dick measuring game.
"Three times for me, pops. Want a shot at the title?" El Diablo taunted.
"It'd be my pleasure," Wildcat admitted.
Animal Man got free of the snare and smashed into Black Spider while channeling a rhino. He watched as steel claws extended out of Catman's forearms, extended over the hand and locked into place eight inches from his knuckles. Animal Man channeled a Siberian tiger and let loose with a roar to match.
Animal Man recognized Catman's response as pure African Lion. It seemed today was going to be interesting after all.
Jesse Quick raced up and down the parking lot while Livewire threw electrical bolts at her. Finally, when it seemed Livewire was running low on juice, Jesse closed the distance with every intention of using her Liberty Bell triggered adrenal strength. What she actually hit was a wall of voltage.
Livewire laughed as she sauntered up to Jesse's prone form, "Don't feel bad. It'll only hurt for as long as I want it to."
Sentinel had barely entered Microsoft's Kirkland campus when Jay followed him. Speedy's arrival did come as a shock though. As they went through the buildings they found security guards strewn about. They were alive but had been stunned by something very powerful.
"Let's use the security office to find the bad guys," Speedy suggested.
Jay grinned at Sentinel and they followed her advice. Finding every employee unconscious, they panned out to outer buildings. And they found the Ultra-Humanite, Calendar Man, and Clock King with a hostage.
"What are they doing?" Sentinel wondered.
"She's seems to be burning off copies of software," Speedy surmised, "Probably something top secret."
"Let's bag `em," Jay encouraged them.
"I suggest you stand up, dear," The Ultra-Humanite ordered the "hostage", "Tell the Justice League your name."
"My name is Tran Xian," the woman stammered, "They had me copy our new decryption engine and scrub the network drives. If they leave, they'll have the only copy in existence."
Sentinel raised his ring hand, "I'll get you out of here."
"No!" she was frantic, "They put something in me and unless they remove it it can be triggered to kill me. They already killed my staff."
"Can you reconstruct the work being lost here today?" Jay wondered.
"Slowly," Tran answered.
"Wrong answer," the Humanite glanced toward Calendar Man who whispered into a throat mike.
Everyone tensed. And then a growing bulge protruded from Tran's throat. Then the object inside burst through, nearly decapitating the woman. The item grew to human size to be revealed as a woman wearing the Atom's costume.
She deactivated the personal shield that had protected her from the gore, "Well, that was satisfying."
"Who the hell are you?" Jay asked. Speedy had an arrow nocked and drawn.
"Call me Atomica," the woman grinned like a Cheshire cat, "Consider me a gift from the Crime Syndicate all wrapped up with a bow."
"Ultraman said the rest of the Crime Syndicate was dead," Sentinel countered.
"Well, he's not the brightest bulb if you know what I mean," Atomica mocked her own partner, "You must be a local ring slinger. Poor Jack was supposed to deal with you."
"His ring consumed him," Sentinel felt revulsion at the memory.
"And now it's looking across the happy hunting ground for a new host," Atomica said gleefully, "First Harold Jordan and then Jack Stewart. Who knows who will be chosen on this world?"
"You do realize none of you are going anywhere but jail?" Jay had to ask.
"Sorry, can't spare the time and all that," Atomica waved at the JLU members and Titan present, "Exit boys."
Clock King activated a boom tube. Humanite sat a transmitter down and Sentinel barely erected a shield before the neuron pulse struck. As waves of neural energy cascaded at the shield, the Legion withdrew. Atomica blew them a parting kiss.
The emitter fried itself from being overused. Speedy shook her head as she lowered her bow "That didn't go according to plan."
"A new member of the Crime Syndicate whose power set matches Atom's," Jay summed it up, "She going to be a hard lady to catch."
"And her sadism seems to know no bounds," Sentinel realized, "She enjoyed killing that poor woman."
"All the more reason to stop her," Jay urged.
"We'd best get these people some help and check on the others," Sentinel decided.
"You go and I'll stay. The SPD and emergency services know me," Speedy offered.
"Thanks," Jay grinned as he took off again.
Sentinel flew after him.
Speedy sighed, "So much for helping the Justice League."