16

Nyssa watched as the Injusticers lashed Commissioner Sawyer to the Bat Signal atop GCPD headquarters. Her secure mobile began to ring and she stared at the Caller ID. It wasn't any number she recognized but very few people on the entire planet had its number.

She decided to answer and held the receiver to her ear, "Hello?"

"Nyssa, it's me, White Rabbit," she quickly established so Raatko wouldn't hang up, "The Court of Owls sent a squad of Talons to kill Jaina. For some reason the Justice League of America had Troia and Hawkman guarding her. But one still got past them and I had to deal with him. Rather than show myself, I made a break for it and am recruiting Ivy and Killer Croc to help me get the Owls."

"I can provide aid as well," Nyssa decided, "We were going to move against the Court anyway. This just accelerates our timetable."

"Okay, but where is the Court currently located?" White Rabbit inquired.

"The elders are gathered in a secret room within Wayne Tower. It's underneath the viewing area and has a private egress into the sewers for unseen entrances and exits," Nyssa explained, "The Injustice League should prove useful in aiding you. Meet them at the tower in twenty minutes."

"Will do," White Rabbit agreed and hung up.

Nyssa turned to Cain, "David, the Injustice League needs to kill the Court of Owls leadership now rather than later."

He bowed his head, "Understood."

He gathered the Injustice Leaguers and departed. Nyssa collected Blacksmith and her Injustice Rogues, "I want the JLA dealt with. Do that now."

The Rogues left and Nyssa addressed the Injustice Titans, "You have the Court of Owls' target list. Ensure the Talons did not fail. And if any Talons are on scene, destroy them as well."

The Injustice Titans eagerly set out. Nyssa observed Maggie Sawyer struggle against her bonds while she was strapped to the very symbol of her revulsion. In addition, storm clouds were gathering over Gotham. Nyssa found it all rather apropos.


Leviathan had encircled the city center in concentric rings. Each major intersection was blocked up with armored vehicles and troops. The last units had pulled into place and the Heretic awaited the signal to make the final push into downtown.


Alone amidst the streets of Gotham, Scorn surveyed the Wrath's handiwork. The criminal element had been decimated when their handguns and assault rifles exploded. The cops had been neutralized by the electrical taser equipment built into their body armor by Caldwell Arms. They would be roused later in order to suffer horribly painful deaths.

Scorn had been a street hood amongst Gotham's bottom feeders. After doing a stretch in Blackgate Prison, Scorn had been approached by Mr. and Mrs. Waters on behalf of Elliot Caldwell and he'd become Scorn. Scorn was so busy gloating he failed to register the sound of a turbine engine approaching. That is, until he bounced off the Batmobile's forward ram and hurtled across the hood, cockpit, and rear end of the armored car.

Batman popped the hatch and surveyed the scene stretched out before him. Reaching Scorn's fallen form, he ripped off the sonic generator off of Scorn's back and then the emitter coils from his gauntlets. Batman placed a small charge on the equipment and destroyed it. Hearing Scorn groan, Batman ripped the accomplice's helmet off and delivered a brutal right cross. Scorn had the good sense to be knocked out.

Batman heard the rake of metal scraping air and then the sound of an approaching turbine caused him to look up. Seeing the Wrath-wing in the air and diving for a strafing run, Batman scrambled to get back to the Batmobile where he had equipment to deal with aerial attacks. But the Wrath's focus wasn't on Batman. Rather he delayed until he'd passed over his effective chance to fire on the Batmobile and instead opened up with the rotary Vulcan cannon and chewed apart the street until he'd ripped Scorn's body to shreds. Now that his failed lackey had been dealt with, the Wrath decided it was time to lure Batman into his trap.

A hydraulic platform descended from the Batmobile's chassis and swiveled the car around and retracted so Batman could engage the turbine engine and tear off in a jet exhaust fueled hurry. He was grateful for two things at that moment; one was that law abiding citizens were staying indoors and in presumable safety. The second was that the Wrath was flying down street avenues, guiding Batman to his quarry rather than vector across town.

But Batman quickly surmised why the usual looting wasn't underway. Leviathan had secured the bulk of the city and its troops were maintaining law and order in the absence of the GCPD. Despite the Heretic's hatred of all things related to Batman, the Leviathan troops held their fire as Batman raced by chasing down the Wrath-wing as it closed in on Caldwell Arms and its hidden roost.

As he approached the Caldwell building, Batman's police scanner began picking up desperate requests for backup from Barbara Gordon and Harvey Bullock. As he stopped the Batmobile in front of the Caldwell lobby, the Wrath launched an antitank missile at the vehicle. The resultant explosion blew Batman through the glass enclosure and into the lobby itself.

Only Batman's latest generation armored suit saved him from being killed, but he was still staggered. He checked his triangulation equipment and detected that Barbara and Bullock were making a mad descent through the building's floors. Given the background noise streaming through the signal, they were also under fire. And seeing as how Caldwell Arms security hadn't responded to Batman being blown through their out glass partition, it was logical to assume security was after the GCPD detectives instead.


Barb and Bullock had descended thirteen floors before they gained access to the freight elevator. Rather than aim for the lobby, they targeted the underground levels in an effort to discover how Caldwell had managed to build such an infrastructure with supposedly no manufacturing underway in this "administrative" site.

What they'd learned so far was that the Fortieth Floor housed Elliot Caldwell's private penthouse and work offices as well as space for Mr. and Mrs. Waters. The floor below was a weapons testing ground. The thirty-seven and thirty-eighth floors were a combined hangar facility. The next two floors were devoted to sound proofing to keep the employees below ignorant of what truly happened inside Caldwell Arms.

The thirty-fourth down to the fifth floors were actually inhabited by administrators, corporate executives and scads of engineering departments. The fourth floor was listed as Security's domain. The third floor was Human Resources and the second floor was employee support in the form of commissaries, cafeterias, and recreational facilities.

The lobby was obvious. But the listed but unspecified six underground floors intrigued Barbara, so at her insistence they were going there. They stopped at the basement level and found loading facilities and a secured area. The secured space housed the Wrath-mobile among other vehicles. And it contained a listing of the underground manufacturing base stretching across the five floors beneath the basement.

"I don't know what the hell that thing is but it makes the Batmobile look like a Lego tinker toy," Bullock commented.

"That's the whole point," Barbara concluded, "Haven't you noticed Caldwell's obsession with Batman? It includes these vehicles and Caldwell supplying both the GCPD and the Gotham crime syndicates. It makes perfect sense for the 'anti-Batman'."

"Geez Lootenant, are ya sayin' this Caldwell clown is really the Wrath?" Bullock was stunned by her deduction.

"Funny you should put quite that way, Harv," Barbara mused, "I think Elliot Caldwell was consumed by the Wrath identity and every single action he's taken ever since has been to further the Wrath's agenda. And I don't have to say it. He is. Loud enough for the entire world to hear. It's just no one ever bothered or wanted to listen."

"So if Caldwell really is a world class cop killer, why'd he give all that crap to the PD?" Bullock wondered.

"We've been getting calls from our unit that everyone wearing a Caldwell vest was tased by it and their Caldwell weapons all malfunctioned," Barbara reminded him.

"So Caldwell arms both the crooks and cops so he can start a street war and then wipe out both sides," Bullock pieced it together, "He wipes out both sides and sets up what? He's a friggin' assassin not a crime lord."

"Then he's setting up someone else to take over for the Five Families and Penguin and Two-Face. And city, county, and state officials in Gotham have to be eliminated as well," Barbara finally understood.

"Jee-zus Lootenant, we're outta our league here," Bullock whined.

"I think 'League' is the magic word here," Barbara smirked, "Want to take this bad boy for a spin?"

Bullock recognized her devilish grin as she touched the Wrath-mobile, "Sure. Why not?"

"Hop in," Barbara ordered, "I'm taking you for a ride."


The Waters led Caldwell Security into the lobby only to find Batman grimly waiting for them. He'd met the Waters in his meetings with Caldwell as Bruce Wayne. Elliot Caldwell had begun his takeover bid with Wayne Enterprises by suggesting a merger rather than an outright grab of Bruce's corporation. He knew the Waters were Caldwell's personal tools, instruments that lived to do his bidding.

So if they were leading the charge, Caldwell was busy elsewhere orchestrating Scorn's attack plan. Then there were the rumors of a Batman-like shadow moving across the city in vehicles, planes, and across rooftops on foot. Batman had easily deduced that the Wrath was in town and pulling Scorn's strings. Yet it was too easy to place Caldwell in that position over the Wrath. If the Wrath truly did emulate Batman in many ways, the refusal to answer to any mortal, immortal, or godlike being would be a key character trait. So that only left one final conclusion.

Batman managed to wipe out security within two minutes time. Twenty-four guards were unconscious and the Waters were tied up and bound back to back. He knelt before Mr. Waters.

"Where is Caldwell?" Batman growled.

"Go to hell," Mr. Waters retorted.

Batman broke his nose, "Tell me!"

"You won't kill me," Mr. Waters' words threw flecks of blood at Batman as it entered his mouth.

"But I'll make you wish I had," Batman rose and kicked in between Waters' spread eagle legs.

An animalistic howl roared out of Mr. Waters right before he violently vomited. Mrs. Waters called out to Batman, "I'll talk! Just leave him alone."

"Where is he?" Batman shouted angrily.

"He's here," Mrs. Waters smirked.

Batman ducked behind the Waters just in time to foul the Wrath's shot. The Wrath chuckled, "I don't often miss, Batman. Consider yourself fortunate."

"It's over, Caldwell," Batman declared.

"So you figured it out at last, Detective," Wrath was amused by this development, "And I thought you were simply ignoring me. When in fact you were truly ignorant. Tell me, when did you finally know?"

"When you killed Scorn," Batman told him.

"That was a calculated risk," Wrath admitted, "Frankly I'm disappointed. I'd been told you were far more cleaver than this, Detective."

The way Wrath kept using the title, it was like being in Ra's al Ghul's presence again. But Ra's was dead and Talia had taken over the League of Shadows. But Cassandra Cain's price for becoming Black Bat was to warn him of another of Ra's children. A daughter named Nyssa Raatko. A daughter who had initially defied Ra's for his negligence before settling in his camp.

Or had she? Nyssa was calling herself an al Ghul these days and she'd been given the title the "Demon's Hand". And rumor upon rumor alluded to her running the League of Assassins before exiting to create the Injusticers. The three prong entities were the Injustice League, the Injustice Titans, and the Injustice Rogues. All three designed to combat members of the Justice League and the Teen Titans. Regardless of the fact there were now four Justice Leagues besides the Titans and the JSA All Stars.

But Batman hardly thought that Nyssa would direct her Injusticers against the Justice League Dark. All of those considerations ended when a god-awful; shriek of a rolling metal door tearing off of its hinges revealed the Wrath-mobile launching out into the Gotham streets. It tore off down the avenue.

"I think I found your pests," Wrath dryly remarked to the Waters.

Batman jumped and hurled two batarangs. The Wrath responded by shooting them out of the air. The cycle rate on his rifle was over three thousand rounds a minute. So it could discharge and reload fast enough for the Wrath to destroy both batarangs effortlessly.

"Tell me why I do what I do," Wrath requested.

Batman was still sizing his opponent up, "Like the original Wrath, you were orphaned by James Gordon. But he was orphaned as a boy and years later you were a teenager in juvenile custody after your parents died when the Wrath found you. He molded your hatred in order to shape you into his 'Robin'. After all, I had mine so he had to have his."

"So now you know the truth about both Elliot Caldwell and the Wrath," he said, "So what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to stop you and end Grayle Hudson's worries all at once," Batman vowed.

"And how will you accomplish that?" Wrath asked, "You won't kill. And unfortunately, this time I won't either. I'm tasked with bringing you in alive. But the fate in store for you is worse than death. If you beg me, I might just kill you anyway. It would at least been a clean death. But don't underestimate how much damage I can inflict upon you. You just need to be alive when I present you."

"We'll see who gets damaged," Batman replied resolutely.


White Rabbit arrived at the Botanical Gardens to find Ivy ensconced inside. Ivy was entranced by her creations. Once upon a time she would have utilized ordinary gene splicing to create her beauties. But now Ivy was a mixture of plant and mammal DNA. Her blood coursed with more chlorophyll than hemoglobin these days.

As a result, Ivy could "speak" the plant languages composed of pheromones and pollens. With them she directed the growth of vegetation even before it began to grow and take root. She shaped plants that mutated on a genetic level merely because Ivy told them too.

And plants could speak to her as well. So Ivy was imminently aware of White Rabbit's arrival in a stolen car. And her arrival meant things had already gone wrong.

Ivy wondered how to classify the White Rabbit. Jaina Hudson was half Anglo-Saxon and half East Indian yet White Rabbit was an albino compared to Jaina's dusky features. She wasn't an avatar, or a duplicate, or a doppelganger. White Rabbit was a fully conscious and independent being who just couldn't exist without Jaina wishing her too. While it was an interesting quandary Ivy didn't want to devote more than cursory attention to it.

Blade grass, now grown into eight foot tall fronds that held a razor sharp edge to them. Ivy directed them to part like a lush, green version of the Red Sea. White Rabbit followed the course laid out before her and met Ivy sitting at the edge of a flower bed.

The flowers throughout the facility had expanded to a size where they dwarfed most large satellite receiver dishes. White Rabbit took note that the flowers were all tracking her. And inside their stamen and ovules were pollens shaped like small daggers. White Rabbit had no doubt the flowers could eject the pollens and shred anything they were directed to kill.

"What's gone wrong?" Ivy asked dismally.

"The Court of Owls tried to kill Jaina," White Rabbit answered, "They don't seem to have a grasp on our dual nature but they sent six Talons after her."

"How did she survive?" Ivy knew she had or White Rabbit wouldn't be standing before her. She also knew White Rabbit wasn't anywhere near powerful enough, or skilled enough, to dispatch six Talons to the afterlife. But then again, they were supposedly already there.

"The Justice League of America inexplicably sent two members to guard her," White Rabbit explained, "Hawkman and Troia arrived on the rooftop and dealt with five of the six assassins. I neutralized the sixth. If it hadn't been for the JLA, Jaina, and by that I mean 'we', would be dead by now."

"Something steered the Court to Jaina," Ivy rose to her feet.

"They provided a list of potential targets and asked Nyssa and I if we had any exclusions we'd like to have made," White Rabbit explained, "I chose Jaina and Nyssa selected Bruce Wayne."

"Why Wayne?" Ivy wondered.

"Before Talia became involved with Batman, she had a romance with Bruce Wayne," White Rabbit twisted the truth, "Nyssa thought he'd make a nice present."

"Well, the Court has undoubtedly sent Talons after him as well," Ivy surmised.

"I'm going to kill every Owl," White Rabbit vowed, "Slowly."

Ivy smiled, "I think I can help. But first…"

She slowly lifted her hands and shoots rose out of the ground and then vines crept up behind them. The flowers all blossomed as large as the others but these were mutated Venus flytraps. The vines were attached at the base of the stalk and writhed and twisted as they sought food.

"Stay right with me," Ivy advised White Rabbit.

They exited the Botanical Garden and the glass enclosures shattered and the plants within stretched beyond their former boundaries. Hedges grew wildly around the facility. Red poppies sprouted up to form a barrier around the garden.

"Ever seen Wizard of Oz?" Ivy smirked, "Only my poppies don't just put you to sleep. They make you die of anaphylactic shock."

The pair abandoned White Rabbit's stolen car and got inside Rose Petal. The top was down so White Rabbit got a full dose of the cooking oil experience. She snickered.

"Seriously? French fries?" she had to ask.

"We take what we can," Ivy shrugged as she threw the VW New Beetle into reverse, "Where to?"

"We're going to the water supply pumping station to pick up Killer Croc," White Rabbit shared.

Ivy crinkled her nose, "Ugh."

"He's available muscle and he works cheap," White Rabbit told her, "Then we go pay the Court of Owls a visit."

"Do you even know where they are?" Ivy had to wonder.

"They're inside Wayne Tower overlooking the rail hub," White Rabbit revealed, "There's a secret room beneath the public viewing area. The Injustice League will meet us there. Nyssa always planned on eliminating the Court."

"Somehow I think they're expecting treachery," Ivy warned her.

"Then why disappoint them?" White Rabbit asked perkily.


The Heretic oversaw Leviathan operations in the C3 post they'd hauled in with a semi. The semi-tractor trailer served as the Command, Control, and Communications hub for the operation. So far, Leviathan had met with little to no resistance. And what trouble there was to be found was quickly suppressed with superior firepower.

In the absence of the GCPD, Leviathan had become the de facto enforcer of law and order. But the organization had set up a perimeter around the heart of the city and was poised to move into it. Nyssa was moving far too slowly for Heretic's tastes but between her and his genetic "mother" she'd certainly displayed a far better talent for survival.

But ever since being recruited for this event, Heretic had spent the last two weeks anxiously awaiting the signal that had just come in. Nyssa directed the message just to him, "Leviathan Command, you may now proceed and secure downtown. Stand advised GCPD HQ is secured with the exception of one pocket of resistance. Batman is being contained at Caldwell Arms and will soon be captured."

"Signal all units to begin to squeeze the population," Heretic ordered, "I want everyone in position within the half hour. I want checkpoints at every traffic artery and major intersections set up and a rolling search for potential insurgents before the hour is up. I don't want any vehicular or foot traffic in this city proceeding without our authorization."

The three communications officers began relaying the instructions to their assigned zones. The two drone controllers sought and obtained lift off clearance from the former Wayne airfield that now served as a regional cargo hub. The UAVs lifted off and began a sweeping patrol of the city.

Nyssa spoke across the encrypted airwaves once again, "All Leviathan units be advised. The Wrath is currently engaging Batman at Caldwell Arms. All vehicles and personnel are to give way and not interfere in the operation. The combatants are to be given wide berth and access to all parts of the city."

"Prepare my helicopter," Heretic ordered.

"Sir, the Demon's Hand has ordered us to stand down in this matter," Leviathan's second-in-command reminded her leader.

"We do not serve the League of Shadows," Heretic reminded her in return, "Now have my damn helicopter brought to me."

"But…" she began to argue.

"Nyssa al Ghul is not a part of our organization," Heretic raged, "She may be Talia al Ghul's sister but Talia betrayed us all when she returned to Ra's al Ghul's fold. Now, if you make so much as one more word of protest, I will summarily execute you right here and now. Understood?"

"Perfectly," the Second replied coolly, staring down the barrel of his pistol aimed at her forehead.


Inertia had run to check on the mayor, only to find Peter Hamilton was nowhere to be found. But six Talons were even deader than previously advertised. Many of them dismembered or crushed. The judges, Emud Hamil and Dorothea Pruit, were also missing with a trail of Talon bodies in their wake. But evidence at the three sites pointed to Galatea, or Power Girl or whatever she was calling herself now, Black Adam, and Isis. So that just begged the question of how did the JLA learn of the Court of Owls' plans?

But Justine Juress was still home. And Black Canary and Speedy, or Red Arrow or whatever the hell she was calling herself today, were present as well. Juress was waking up and rubbing her jaw so she'd obviously been knocked out. And given the death glares she was aiming at Black Canary it was easy to tell who had done the dirty deed.

Inertia raced away to get some privacy where he could contact Nyssa and get instructions on how to proceed.


Sun Girl made a similar discovery at Black Mask's mansion. Ri and Darknight were very cagey and highly skilled at being stealthy but they stood out to her infrared and ultraviolet senses. She easily spotted the two JLA agents on the rooftop across from Black Mask's.

So like her boyfriend, Sun Girl quietly withdrew to speak with Nyssa.


Card Queen arrived at Tobiah Shaw's and used binoculars to watch movements within his flat from across the street. Animal Man and Crimson Fox were tending to Shaw while he struggled with the sights and smells of all the corpses scattered around his lodgings. The soon to be former Card Queen fervently desired to add a few bodies to the mix.

Duela Dent eagerly awaited the inevitable confrontation. Despite being Two-Face's daughter, Duela had always felt a kinship with the Joker. He'd gone missing for over a year now so Duela felt safe founding a gang of likeminded sycophants calling themselves the Jokerz. And this was going to be her first action as the Joker's Daughter.

Only direct threats from the Joker and Harley Quinn had prevented her from sticking with the name in the past. But with both Joker and his floozy wannabe girlfriend gone, Joker's Daughter could call herself anything she damn well pleased. But first she had to verify her plans with Nyssa.


Enigma went to the Iceberg Lounge and observed Penguin inside of his offices and rooms attached to the nightclub. He only had two of his femme fatale bodyguards lurking about. She wondered if one had been killed by the various Talons Penguin's other goons were dragging off.

Then the sometimes Riddler's Daughter spotted Batwoman, Bat-Girl, and Starling across the way. The scene amused Enigma. Batwoman kept a vigil while Bat-Girl seemed oblivious to Starling's attentions. Enigma knew Starling and also knew was openly and proudly bisexual. And she seemed smitten with Bat-Girl.

Enigma smirked to herself as she pulled out her notepad and began scribbling down a puzzle to send to the Batwomen and Starling, since she seemed to have thrown in with them, and give them three minutes to work on the clue while she set up her hit on Penguin. But before she did anything, she had to clear her intentions with Nyssa.


Match didn't bother checking in with Nyssa. The Superboy's Bizarro clone simply smashed his way into Derek Power's estate. Lacking Kryptonian vision powers, Match still possessed near Argoan strength. But his true ability was his tactile telekinesis. Simply put, Match could animate any inanimate object he touched. While he could use his TK ability to fly, it was this ability that bolstered his limited invulnerability and swatted aside nonliving objects.

Guy and Ralph had no clue regarding any of this. They just saw a younger version of Bizarro and went into overdrive. Powers simply stormed out of the room and sought shelter elsewhere.


Risk also plummeted headlong at Two-Face. He knew Harvey Dent was Duela's father but he assumed she wouldn't mind him killing Two-Face. What he hadn't expected was for Catwoman and Catgirl to suddenly come bursting in the through the open windows.

"Harvey, we can't keep doing this," Catwoman warned him.

Risk was suddenly more than pleased that his half-alien physique gave him meta-human abilities. He had a feeling he would need them.


Kid Crusader was tasked with dealing with Roman Falcone. He had to wonder why Nyssa was guaranteeing the Talons had succeeded when she planned on destroying them all and betraying the Court of Owls that commanded them. But it wasn't his place to ask.

She'd told him Falcone was haunted by personal demons. Whether they be in his mind or soul, Kid Crusader guaranteed they'd be dead soon enough. Along with Falcone himself.

But Kid Crusader hadn't expected to stumble upon the Huntress and the Question. Huntress' head was bobbing up and down on Question's lap. Seeing the faceless apparition, Kid Crusader suddenly knew Falcone's demons were very real.

The demon and his succubus got to their feet while the demon zipped his pants back up. Kid Crusader's sword mystically appeared in his hand and the succubus suddenly said, "Oh hell."


"What the hell?" Bullock blurted as the Wrath-mobile turned away from a major intersection where four military vehicles sat. Only, none of their markings corresponded with US Army designators. As Barbara skidded the monster SUV around, she turned hard to the left and floored it.

As the Wrath-mobile hurtled down the street, the Leviathan checkpoint units opened fire. Bullock was incensed, "Cripes! They're shootin' at us!"

"Tell me something I don't already know," Barbara said tersely as they skidded around a corner.

Approaching another major intersection, Bullock exclaimed, "Shee-oot Lootenant! They're flippin' everywhere."

"Man the guns, Harv," Barbara ordered, "We have to get to the PD and we can't let these goons stop us."

"Okay, but I gotta warn ya, this battle wagon ain't designed ta take prisoners," Bullock advised her.

"We'll worry about the body count afterwards," Barbara said grimly.

"Yeesh! Whatever happened ta that sweet little Batgirl I use ta know?" Bullock asked.

"She woke up," Barbara told him in an eerily calm voice.

Bullock decided he'd rather face down Leviathan foot soldiers than Barbara Gordon.


Ivy made White Rabbit lay down newspapers on Rose Petal's back seat before Killer Croc could sit down. En route to Wayne Tower, Croc chuckled, "Bunny Ears here tells me we're gonna get down and dirty with some suit and tie types. Don't seem like yer usual play, Ivy."

"You should know I'm versatile, Croc," Ivy replied emotionlessly, "And White Rabbit is the only one of us to have seen the opposition."

"That true, Rabbit Stew?" Croc thought he was all too clever today.

"Yes," she answered honestly.

"Now this really don't seem like you," Croc told Ivy.

"I trust White Rabbit," Ivy said simply.

"So does Luthor," Croc confessed, "He's the one that told me ta work wit her. An' bein's she's bankrollin' this little operation, I'm stickin' wit her."

"Pull in here," White Rabbit interjected, "This alley will gain us access without alerting the Owls to our presence."

"Guess we're goin' below," Croc laughed as he hopped out of Rose Petal.

"No one said anything about sewers," Ivy said coldly.

"Why else would I need Croc?" White Rabbit asked as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"So why do you need me?" Ivy was a little cross now.

"To watch my fluffy derriere," White Rabbit grinned.

"Since when did you want or need protection?" Ivy was still put out.

"Since now," White Rabbit huffed while Croc pried open a manhole cover and began descending into the sewer depths, "And I'm not talking about me me. I'm talking about Jaina."

"Okay, I'll do it," Ivy relented.

"And I even have something I can offer Harley in exchange," White Rabbit promised.

"Tell me later," Ivy insisted, "Right now you have a play date to make."

"Yes, I do," White Rabbit said smugly and then said with whom.

"You cunning little bitch," Ivy said with admiration before departing.


The Injustice League made it into the Wayne Tower's viewing area without being spotted. But once there, surveillance tracked their every movement. The elder Owls left through their private elevator out of the secret room and descended into the sewers. Their contingent of Talons surged upward through the outer walls to shatter the windows above and dive in at the Injusticers.

Cain, Mad Dog, and Annalea swiftly discovered their firearms were useless against the hyper-regenerative Talons. So they used the blades they carried with them against their similarly armed opponents. Aresia fought four Talons single handedly. Merlyn found his arrows were useless and he dropped back behind Syonide whose electro-whip kept the Talons at bay.

White Lightning discovered her hypnotic talents over men were of no use whatsoever. White Canary was the first to discover that if one beheaded a Talon, the Talon didn't keep coming. But Lady Flash demonstrated the full potential that the Russian military had envisioned for her now that she was under the influence of Velocity 9.

She struck target after target within seconds of each other. Having mastered vibrating her hands, she would plunge them into a Talon chest where her fingers carved through flesh and bone. The vibration would then liquefy the Talon's heart and gut his thoracic cavity. Lady Flash dealt with the entire Talon force in less than two minutes, excluding the six permanently disabled by Aresia and White Canary.

"Good work, Christina," Cain allowed, "Now we need to affect an entrance onto the level just below us."

Aresia ripped a chunk of the floor up while Lady Flash vibrated through the floor. Having a portal to the floor below, Cain saw and heard Lady Flash as she reported, "There is no one here, tovarishch."

"Then we find a way to track them down," Cain decided, "Aresia, White Canary, you're our best skip tracers. Find the Owls."

The pair dropped into the lower level and quickly found the hidden elevator.


"They the ones?" Killer Croc asked White Rabbit as the Owls spilled out into the sewer.

"Yes, but you only have to keep them from getting by us. I had a specialist called in to deal with the Court of Owls. The entire Court and not just these old men," White Rabbit advised Croc.

The elder Owls made their way further down the tunnel until they heard the scrape of a blade leaving its scabbard. The hidden figure before them stepped close enough to allow his sword to be seen in the dim light coming through the manhole from an overhead street lamp. Then Deathstroke himself stepped into the light. And the Owls saw the means and method of their deaths in his one remaining eye.


Waller had Peter Hamilton, Emud Hamil, and Dorothea Pruit in interrogation rooms. Steve Trevor and Sue Dibney were directing the lines of questioning from a control booth. Waller had Power Girl and the Black Marvels standing by for further word from the rest of the JLA.

Ralph's report of being attacked came in seconds before Catgirl called in a similar complaint. Finally the Question signaled her as well. Waller was about to dispatch the remaining JLA forces at headquarters when the Injustice Rogues struck her location.

Ignorant of the underground levels, the Rogues attacked and took hostages from among the State Department functionaries in the upper stories. So the on-site JLA was sent after the Injustice Rogues.


Power Girl faced down Magenta, Silver Sorceress, and Blue Jay. Silver Sorceress was delighted, "Excellent. They sent someone vulnerable to my magic. You are aware that Kryptonians are helpless against magic?"

"I'm Argoan, you idiot, not Kryptonian," Power Girl snapped.

"What you are is a test tube by-product that should have been flushed," Magenta taunted Galatea.

Power Girl decided it was time to hurt the Rogues. Badly.


Black Adam confronted Girder and Murmur amongst a room full of potential victims. Girder's organic metal body gave him strength to rival Adam's. Murmur's barely in control homicidal twitches meant Black Adam needed all the speed the gods could provide to stop the predator before he began killing. And that was why the two Injustice Rogues flew into action simultaneously.


Isis challenged Blacksmith and Plunder on the grounds. Blacksmith's ability to convert anyone, including the guards she'd captured, into organic steel meant she now controlled the guard detachment. And Plunder wielded weapons capable of staggering, if not killing, Isis. She suddenly knew this just wasn't her day.