It was two days later, and the not so small rescue contingent, were on their way to rescue as many people as possible, at the testing site the Kuvira had set up. After a little upgrade to Kilchii's computer system, (finish building the network for him), Wonder Woman had been able to get a closer look at the test site. The satellite imaging had captured a semi detailed picture of the facility. No doubt the Apokoliptions were using advance tech to scramble the satellite network. Why they hadn't just blown it out of space was mystery.
Riding on Juicy was; Opal, Lin, Mako, Asami, and Kya, who had upon hearing about the plan, demanded to join them. As a healer and combat fighter, her skills were needed if the liberation was to succeed. In Sphere/Super Cycle; Superboy, Arsenal, Cheshire, Tigress, Kid Flash. In the back sat Nikiti, Lien, Yukio, and Kyoshi.
Running below, Wolf and his family kept pace. They were sniffing out trouble and keeping a lookout for signs of danger. They also had another mission. They knew from Hoa's last transmission before the attack on the Swamp that Toph had left in order to search for and rescue her family from Kuvira. There had been no reports of Toph level attacks happening, hopefully that meant Toph was waiting and listening for the right time to strike. Wolf was at the head of the pack, with Naga to his right and little behind him. The Nanook was running side by side his sister Kallik. Bringing up the end was Silaluk who yipped encouragingly at Taqquiq, who quickly picked up the pace.
Attached to Wolf's neck was a special radio collar that not only tracked his movements, but helped him communicate with the others. Superboy had memorized all the sounds Wolf made so he was able to create an audio library to help understand what the animals were saying. Said person was listening carefully as his friend started to communicate.
"What's he's saying? Did he find something of interests Supey?" Kid Flash asked. He was riding in the Super Cycle to conserve the energy he needed for running all around during the liberation. Already he was eating his first snack, some fire flake bits, to take the edge off his growing hunger.
"Give him a chance to listen Flashy," Tigress teased her boyfriend. She reached over and ruffled his red locks, making him give her a little pout. Tigress grinned and gave him a playful kiss on his cheek. Arsenal shook his head and underneath her mask, Cheshire rolled her eyes at her sister's little games. The other passengers just shrugged their shoulders as they waited for Superboy to explain his pet's growls.
"Wolf's scenting a lot of scared animals up ahead. They're running away from a very strong and pungent scent. The family can't quite identify it. The scent is really mixed up," Superboy said to the group and through the walkie-talkies to the other team.
Asami, who had the radio pack clicked on the device. "Didn't you guys mention once that Wonder Woman had some kind of animal talking skill?" she asked from Juicy's back.
"Empathy, she can feel the moods of animals and sometimes get pictures of what's they've seen or heard," Tigress replied. She had stopped polishing her sword and took the walkie-talkie from Superboy. "I've seen her use it occasionally on joint missions." One time, a group of extreme animal activists had released all the animals from the Gateway City Zoo and Aquarium." Tigress shuddered at the memory of nearly becoming food for a komodo dragon during the mission. It had taken practically all night to restore order. Without Wonder Woman's gift, it might have taken even longer.
"She's flying ahead, trying to get a lay of the land. Let's ask her to check with the animals. Whatever is going down there might be a danger to us," Yukio pointed out. He knew from experience that you didn't want to encounter a dangerous beast, especially if it was hurt.
Superboy did that after taking back the device. The Amazon Champion agreed to look into the situation. She had been about five miles ahead, but swiftly changed her course heading back the way she came. After flying back three miles, she encountered a frightened cat-owl, who hissed at her. She beat her wings against the princess arms trying get past her. Wonder Woman touched one of its wings, helping the animal calm down. She got an image from the animal, a small old lady was doing battle against a trio of modified tanks. There were also a group of ten foot soldiers, Earthbenders, wearing strange closing and using weird guns. Contacting the others, she flew down to help.
Toph spit at the feet of the soldiers, eager for the challenge. She had already put down all the other patrols that had come after her. This one would be no different. She listened with ears and kept tracking everyone's movements. All three tanks raised their cannons as they locked target on her. She could tell these tanks had been constructed of a non-bendable metal, more of that foreign stuff she kept coming across. She felt them roll a millimeter closer before striking.
The Earth answered her as the ground in the small clearing shifted, creating little ridges or sinkholes. The cannons aim was off and the resulting blast missed her by two millimeters. She quickly pushed herself backwards to avoid being hit the foot soldiers. Something was different about them. She could smell the metal coming at her at a rapid speed. She was about to put her hands in front of her to get a better "look" at the projectiles when someone darted between her and the weapons fire.
Wonder Woman used her enhanced agility and speed to deflect the bullets away from the woman she was sure was Toph. She was surprised to see soldiers using firearms against her. Must have been another little treat Kuvira had given her troops. "Stay behind me, you don't want to get shot, believe me."
"Listen little Missy, I'm Toph the Greatest Earthbender ever! I don't need a young hussy like you saving my butt," Toph growled. She reached out with her bending and blew up the earth near them causing three of the soldiers to drop their guns. Before they could reached down to pick them up, Toph had tunneled over and grabbed the guns breaking them in half.
The seven remaining soldiers raised their guns, cocking the guns. Out of the woods Wolf and Naga, plus their brood, raced out of the forest heading for the soldiers. The guns switched am as they try to hit the animals. The entire pack managed to avoid getting hit before leaping on top of a soldier, shoving them to the ground as they went to work on them.
The last soldier started to run, but he didn't get far. A powerful breeze lifted him up in the air, four sharp fans flew through the air slicing his uniform in half. A small device landed on the gun, which started to beep. He tossed it up in the air where it exploded. A net was thrown over him as he was sucked over to a flying bison.
A super charged lighting strike zapped one of the tanks. The men inside soon found themselves in a Faraday Cage, unable to move or touch anything as the electricity traveled outside and following leads inside. At that moment they went flying into the air along with the other two tanks, both in the same condition. Something or someone rammed through the metal, grabbing the humans before the tanks were destroyed by a well-timed heat blast.
As they landed Opal ran over and greeted her grandmother, who was very happy to see her. Lin was a bit wary of her mother, but was never less civil. As the natives informed her what was going on, Wonder Woman called over the Young Justice members to help with the interrogation. Her Lasso of Truth, got a lot of information they needed. Troop movements, layouts of the testing site, prisoner information, but nothing on which aliens were there or what Kuvira was testing. The soldiers weren't that high up, all they knew in two days, Kuvira would be ready for final testing of a weapon she said would change the world. Cheshire, Arsenal, and Nikiti, were ordered to deal with these prisoners. No one asked what that that meant. Ten minutes later, the trio returned, their weapons not coated in blood, but showed some use.
During dinner that night, it was time to discuss who would be on what teams and where everyone would be. With the new information on hand they relabeled the map and added details along the side. As they did so, it was obvious that the enemy was waiting for them to enter a trap. The key was to spring the trap, but get out before the cage door shut.
"According the soldiers, the prisoners are being held in a camp here," Tigress pointed out to a large encompassed area. Next to it was the medical and interrogation building. "If the information is right, Kuvira plans to transfer all the prisoners, through an underground transport system to this town she contracted about two miles away." Tracing her finger along the route, she drew a red circle around the front, middle, and end.
"These areas are the places most guarded during the transfer. Along the route they'll certainly have guards, benders and lot of firepower. The trick is too slowly, but quickly, remove prisoners from the line before bringing them back to Kya, who can treat them. She can use Juicy and Sphere to take them out of the battle zone," Arsenal pointed out as he drew figures on the map.
"This will require a team of precision, stealth, and those who can adapt quickly," Toph pointed out. Using her seismic sense she tried to get a beat on who the best candidates were. "Who's going to be on this team?"
"Tigress, Kid Flash, Mako, Kyoshi, Opal and Taqquiq. Each of them have the skills needed to carry out this mission," Lin stated after looking over the profiles of the people assembled. She could read her mom's skeptic body language. Rolling her eyes she decided to ignore her mother for the time being.
"Since I'm in charge of the saboteur team, I need people with some technological experience, but also a few muscles to protect us from unforeseen surprises," Asami announced. Looking at the map and remembering the description the soldiers gave her, she needed to think carefully who should be on her team. She chose Arsenal, Cheshire, Yukio, Nikiti, Toph, and Kallik. The first three for their technical skills, the others for muscles and amount of damage they could cause.
"So that leaves the rest of us to deal with causing trouble for the enemy. Hmm, Lin, I think you should take Nanook, Naga, and Lien with you. You should come from the left. Wolf, Silaluk, and Superboy should take the right. I'll drive straight down the middle. If everything goes right, we not only save over a hundred prisoners, but also set the enemy back by months, years even," Wonder Woman explained.
They arrived on two days later just as the sun was staring to rise. In the early morning light, the beautiful colors of light contrasted greatly against the cold black and gray of the camp. Sphere was chirping and beeping a lot as all the animals growled angrily at the sight before them. All they could do is stare from their hiding place near the tree line.
Three blazing fire pits hissed and crackled as chained and collared Earth Kingdom citizens carried dead bodies to throw in the pits. What remained of their clothing appeared to be dirty rags. Whip marks and heavy bruising covered the exposed parts of their body. When Superboy used his enhanced vision he saw each of them had a mark branded on their skin.
Several containment areas had been set up to hold prisoners in the cold metallic semi living metal used by the aliens. Watching them, they could see that the areas could change size. As soldiers left the barracks or mess hall, they quickly joined with their alien counterparts. They seem to block out the screams coming from the hospital/interrogation building. Some of the soldiers headed to the training area to practice their skills by killing off dissidents who tried to leave the army.
On the opposite side of the complex was a huge depot with a range of vehicles, armories filled to the brim with weapons, and a manufacturing plant that was processing the plundered resources to build more armaments. Still the worst sight before them wasn't the massive army or the prisoners' conditions. In the middle of the complex was the sight of two giant factories. In the bigger one, the group, using their powers/binoculars, could see a giant cannon being assembled. Squinting, Superboy was able to see a fuzzy image of what was being kept in the second factory. Strange cages and what he assumed to be stasis tubes, stored in one room got move to another as the contents were merged with something on a conveyor belt.
"Something evil is happening in those two factories. I can't see through the metal clearly enough to get a better look. Sphere busy, she can't keep our presence secret and go through the mainframe to find out what is happening down there," Superboy admitted sadly. He was trying with all his power to turn off his hearing. He couldn't bear to listen anymore to the screams of pain.
"They're starting the prisoner transfers. The first batch is already moving underground to that abandon town. They're working quickly, they want to test that huge chunk of metal now," Toph informed them. She sent out more vibrations trying to tell the difference between Kuvira's troops and the aliens. For some reason, she couldn't quite distinguish between the two, it was almost as if they everyone there was half and half. Just then she felt something.
"I've got a lock on Baatar Jr. The boy is so excited his heart's about to burst."
Opal huffed, turning slightly away from her grandmother. "Why should we care about him? He's a traitor, not only to this family, but the world. We should be focusing on helping the rest of our family, not him."
Toph ignored Opal, her old face squishing together. Her gifted grandson, who took after his father and grandfather, (Satoru. A rekindle relationship that ended when he died from an illness related to his work at the refinery)* was presenting the nearly finished device to Kuvira. He was being truthful, but she was lying to him. There was a blitz attack as something happened to one arm and Kuvira struck him in the head with her fist. A gem of some kind cut through the bone. A dark entity stepped out and stood by Kuvira. A shiver ran down her spine as the dark entity seemed to do something romantic with the traitor Empress. Two Parademons flew in, grabbed Baatar Jr. before carting him off to the town.
"Baatar Jr just got played. Kuvira was using him, her and her lover I think? They just beat the crap out of him and had one of those flying creatures took him to the town." Her words shocking everyone, except Cheshire, who was used to that sort of things. Either way it was time to get this mission going
Switching their costumes to stealth and camouflage mode, the teams got ready to leave. Nikiti, gave his spare sword, he had created from gathered bits of the enemies metal, to Wonder Woman as his sister gave up her small shield to the warrior woman, thinking she would make good use of them. Kya wished them luck as she started to prepare of the incoming masses. "Please great Ocean and Moon spirits, watch over them."
The liberation teams reached their points in the prisoners transfer line. Tigress was the leader of the group. She and Kid Flash held their position near the start of the line. They watched as a section of the earth parted as the prisoners, who were being held in place by restraints in special cars, were sent down the tracks. It reminded the couple of roller coaster seats, only these people weren't here for fun.
"Time the cars, we need to slip a few seconds before them and get at least twenty feet in front of them. We can start plucking prisoners then," Tigress whispered to Kid Flash. He nodded placing one hand on her arm. Waiting for just the right moment the duo zoomed in passing Kuvira's troops, who assumed it was a breeze created by opening the door. The duo reached a small niche just past the first check point. Tigress located the guards running the checkpoint. Thankfully they were Kuvira's troops, they were carrying shock poles, another new weapon based on the Equalists electro glove, to use in keeping the prisoners from making too much fuss or attempts to escape.
"Remember, we can't rescue this group of people, that will have to be Opal and Taqquiq's job," Kid Flash hissed. He was vibrating a bit in anger. He wanted to start rescuing people now, but they had to wait for a few cars in order to not alert the rest of the line of trouble. Finally, a third car passed.
Tigress took out a small pipe and held it at an angle. Pressing it three time, she hit the two guards at the checkpoint and one leaving the control center. It was her father's special blend of poison. Soon they be in a coma for a few weeks. As another guard passed near them, she pulled out her Bo, and struck him in the chest. Before he could recover Kid Flash was all over him, using cuffs they had brought to restrain him and then phase him through the rocks and into the isolation bunker above.
A fourth car was coming their way and Tigress pounced on it. She drew gasps from prisoners, who assumed she was there to kill them. Instead she withdrew her crossbow and shot it towards the incoming guards. Smirking, she watched as the fiberglass arrows struck their clothing, piercing deep into their shoulders hanging them on the stone wall. As she thought, these guards were non-benders hence the weapons.
Turning to the passengers she held her hands out in a calm down position. "I'm here to help you, but I can't get you all out at once. Don't worry, there's help further down the line," she assured them. Carefully, she lifted her sword before slicing it downward. At first, it didn't even leave a scratch. She tried again and again. The car was about to reach a turn before the second checkpoint. With all her might she swung one more time, freeing two adults and juvenile child. She grabbed all three and jumped off the car. They hit the ground hard as the rolled to a stop a few feet back. "Is everyone okay? Anyone hurt?" she asked.
The prisoners were speechless as the young heroine proceeded to check them over. All three were malnourished, the female adult had several open sores on her legs, and the male was missing his teeth and fingers from one hand. The juvenile appeared to be normal until she took a closer look at his throat. His Adam's apple had been cut open and the cartilage removed to get at his vocal cords. The stitching told her someone had cut those and sewn him back up. This child wouldn't be able to speak again.
"Don't worry, we'll have a doctor look at your injuries." Kid Flash appeared just then, after sending more guards to the isolation boxes. She told him to get these three to Kya fast. She would free some more. Smiling he said he be back in a flash as she hurried to intercept the next car.
They did the same routine for the next three cars. As Tigress got ready to jump on another car she sensed something. Faster then the eyes could see she switched out her sword for her bow and fired several trick arrows taking out the incoming troops. Two small groups of Kuvira's troops literally popped out of the rocks as hidden doors hissed open. She fired a zip line arrow, which wrapped around the lights above, pulling herself up. Reaching into her belt, she threw several smoke bombs below confusing the troops.
The sensors in her mask told her that the cars were still coming through, but now the guards had started metalbending the restraints. They were going to kill the prisoners' right there and then. "Not on my watch you ugly fools!" She cut her own line falling into the midst of the smoke.
The smoke cloud was so thick that nothing could be seen, just the sounds of battle. Gunfire started to occur as metal clashed against one another. The earth rumbled and there was a blast of fire. Water seeped from the rocks as the telltale whoosh of a speedster was heard. When the smoke vanished, the guards were on the ground, along with some experimented humans. Tigress's uniform was torn as and Kid Flash was breathing heavy. He opened his gloves and quickly took a snack bar out gobbling it down.
"I'm not doing to good Arty, I need to refuel more than this," Kid Flash told her. Just then he was shoved to the ground narrowly avoiding being skewered on a sword that had an electrified field around it. A dagger aimed for her side, but she manage to knock it far away. Tigress locked eyes with one of the Apokoliptions from Kuvira's memory.
This one wore a purple and yellow outfit from the Renaissance period. His stance was balanced and strong. The swordsman approached her with controlled, precise movements. A quick assessment told her that this man was not only good with weapons, but excellent at hand to hand combat. "Well, I must say, my dear sweet woman, that I'm very surprised to see one as young as yourself a master at her art. You've been trained well."
She said nothing just keeping her stance and blocking him from attacking her lover as he prepared to come to her rescue. A slight shift of her head made the boy stop and then turn around towards the cars on the railway. "Go on, free a few of the Lowlies. We have more than enough for the beautiful weapon's test in but a half hour or so. Beg my pardon, I have forgotten my manners."
The man whipped off his hat and slightly bowed as introduced himself as Kanto, Master Swordsmen and personal assassin of Lord Darkseid. He declared that he want to duel her because of the lack of fighting spirit from Dr. Bedlam's experiments. The duel would end when one couldn't fight anymore. Reading her silence as acceptance, they went after one another with all they had, while Kid Flash did his best to keep rescuing people.
Further down the line, Mako and Kyoshi, had been doing their job without a hitch. Kyoshi's warrior training had greatly prepared the eleven year old for dangerous situations. Using a combination, of her fans and bending, she had managed to distract the troops in this area long enough for Mako to take them down. Her warrior outfit kept her safe as she weaved and dodged, using chi blocking to paralyze the troops before shoving her fans deep into the half human soldiers, partially destroying their special armor.
The due had been rescuing a lot of people, who took the tunnels Kyoshi had created to safety. She had just finished sending another batch of prisoners through the tunnels when she heard Mako's breathe hitch. "What's the matter Mako?" she asked. Mako was frozen in place just staring at the latest car making its way through. When she looked closer, she could see why Mako had stopped. That car carried loyal security force members, including Bolin, Varrik, and Zhu Li. Straining herself, she bended up a pillar of rock that twisted around and stopped right near the edge of her tunnel. Kyoshi reset the track, keeping an eye out for trouble as Mako hurried to his little brother's aid.
Mako was in a hyper focused mode. He slid next to the car, with two superheated flame daggers, he freed all the prisoners. The people didn't get up though. The entire car was made up of experimented prisoners or torture victims. There was plenty wrong with them. Mako took one look at his brother and it took everything in him not to cry. "Bolin, bro can you hear me," he whispered.
"Mako? Is that you?"
"Yeah it's me, I'm here to help you. Just sit still."
"I don't…think…I could…move if I wanted to," Bolin admitted sadly. His chest had caved in after Dr. Bedlam had cut him open and ran live tests on the boy. Two of his ribs had been removed along with tissue from many of his organs. The skin on his lower legs was reddish brown, with cracks in it. Blood or something else moved through them to his toes that now had claws on each of them. The same had happened to his fore arms, his body temperature was really high for a non- firebender. "Their madmen did a lot of tests on me. He took something from me and gave it to Kuvira ughh."
"Don't worry about that right now Bo, I'm getting you out of here." He was going to propel the car up to the tunnel. As he got into position, he paused and blinked. Then he blinked again. Sitting two seats away from Bolin was Varrik and Zhu Li. He hardly recognized them at all. Zhu Li skin sagged a lot from her poisoned wounds, some still dripping with fresh blood. Her left eye had been cut out and replaced with a robotic one. One hand was around her abdomen, a healing surgical scar showed under her fingers.** Varrik looked no better, part of his brain was exposed and covered by a thick clear plate. His eyes had a crazed look to them and he was muttering nonsense. He was severely underweight and for some reason, missing all his teeth. Lastly, he seemed shorter, it was as if someone broke his legs, took out some of the bone, and refused them back together.
Kuvira is going to pay for this! He thought to himself. Creating a pinprick flame on one finger, he carefully started to cauterize Zhu Li's wounds to prevent infection. He got ready to check out the other prisoners, when Kyoshi yelled, "LOOK OUT!" He rolled off the car just in time a brute smashed the car in half with his fist. Picking up the half of car with unchecked prisoners, he hurled it through the air towards the ceiling. Kyoshi bent down a many stalactites catching the car before it smashed into the ceiling. Mako took a better look at the beast before him, trying to recall, this guy's picture from enemy files.
"You should be cowering human. I am Kalibak the Cruel, first son of the Great Darkseid, his most loyal servant. You should give up now, you can't hope to win," Kalibak threatened. He leveled his beta club as the top started to open, as bolts of nerve energy darted about. "What do you hope to accomplish by saving a few Lowlies from their deaths?"
Mako got in a probending stance as he stood protectively in front of the other half of the car. "I won't let you or anyone else hurt my little brother anymore. I'm going to make sure that you never hurt anyone again."
"Brothers? You fight for your brother? That makes you weak human, brothers only exist as competition. They'll stab you in the back any chance you get." The alien spat at the thought of loyal brothers. He fired the nerve beam at Mako, who fell back into his probending steps with ease. He weaved and dodged, throwing up a firewall to keep himself hidden.
He wasn't prepared for Kalibak to run straight through the flames, ramming him so hard he flew back and hit the track. Another car was coming down the track, its speed increasing. Ignoring his cracked rips, he used his fire to propel him in the air away from the car. He was joined in the air by Kalibak riding air disks. He chased after Mako, who canceled his flaming feet, to run across the cave wall.
The brute fired his club again. Mako jumped off the wall falling to the floor. Twisting in midair he caught the energy in his fingers. The pain was overwhelming. It felt like his body was about to give out. With sheer will power he combined his own lighting with the energy, redirecting it and blowing up the air disks. Both the fighters hit the floor hard. Round one to Mako.
In the town above Opal found herself in trouble. Cyborg benders attacked her and Taqquiq. Opal didn't want to hurt these people as she tried to get them to disperse. She spun on her heels, changing direction as a blast of fire missed her by inches. She created an air shield to block the water attacks and jumped high into the air to avoid an earth attack and was shocked when she was hit by an air funnel attack. Landing on the ground she looked up and was shocked to see a young airbender, one of the adopted child that gained bending, looking straight at her with cold eyes. "Eliminate the enemy," the little girl stated in a robotic voice as she lifted her gun arm to kill her.
Taqquiq popped out of the ground, using his massive jaw strength and ripped the weapon off. He barked at Opal, who took that as a sign to get busy freeing people. Leaving the young male alone she raced through the town. People were trapped everywhere in the town, held in place by alien restraints. She started tugging on ones wrapped around an elderly man. "Don't trying using brute strength girl. These things are too thick and strong for you to rip them off, even with airbending. You have to try something else."
What else could she do? None of her training prepared her for something like this. She looked at her hands in frustration. This was a conflict she couldn't find a way around this. Negative jing wasn't the answer and neither was neutral jing. She had to use positive jing in this. Suddenly an idea popped in her head.
Without hesitation she started to create suction, pulling all the prisoners in her line of sight down, ignoring their complaints of pain. Once everyone was sucked low, she pushed up creating a series of air blasts pulling the prisoners right out of their restraints! A simple air cushion caught all of them. "Head in that direction until you reach the ridge. A healer is waiting there to help you out. If some of you can stay, I can finish rescuing the prisoners." A few people nodded, as they stayed to help her as more cyborgs appeared. She was determined to find her family and get them out of here.
While all this had been happening, the saboteurs had been doing their best to accomplish their goal. At first it had been easy. Pop a few tires, slash a couple lines, remove parts to make the gear nonfunctional. It was when they arrived at the factories that the trouble began.
"Destroying that cannon, is our top priority," Asami whispered as they hid behind one of the barracks. Using her binoculars she found an opening. "We can use the side door over there, to get inside without being seen. Once inside, we can start dismantling that monstrosity."
Yukio shook his head in disagreement. He pointed to the smaller factory. "We have to stop whatever is going on in there too. Superboy told us there were cages with living things in them. How can we abandon them?" Next to him Kallik whined, her ears twitching as she listened closely to the sounds from that factory. Her spiritual side was aching in pain.
Asami opened her mouth to argue, but Nikiti stopped her with a slight raising of his sword. "He's right, leaving any living creature here is wrong. Whatever is in that factory needs to be dealt with now." He humbly asked Toph to create a tunnel for his cousin to pass through unseen. With his own little tool kit, he knew Yukio could easily get inside. With a sigh of boredom Toph struck the ground creating a tunnel. After wishing him luck, Yukio, Kallik, and a reluctant Toph made their way to the second factory.
Asami led her group to the main factory. They pressed against the factory wall. She reached down and activate the stealth soles on her boots. Special padding absorbed the sound making them silent as they slipped inside the factory. From their position in the back, they could see Kuvira's thugs opening the end of the cannon to check that all the parts were aligned. "Triple check the energy capacitors people. We can't have the device overloading during use," the Head Engineer commanded from the office balcony. "Jin Show! How many times do I have to tell you that the alien plating goes over the dome plating, after you've installed the second layer of platinum plates? Keep it together people! The weapon's testing is in one hour and we need everything perfect! Empress Kuvira will be watching!"
"I wonder why they needed to mix the old plating and the new plating together like that. I thought all the domes were already platinum?" Arsenal questioned his group leader.
"I think the gem named girl said the old domes were a mix of metals in the platinum family. In any version of Earth you go, certain metals are going to be hard to find," Cheshire replied in silky tone. She was getting bored stuck here and wanted to make a move already.
"At least we know this weapon can't work if it's missing valuable and hard to replace metal components. Let's get to work," Nikiti stated. Creeping along the shadows they silently stalked their way to the central control panel. Seeing a nearby vent, Cheshire made her way inside and crawled quickly and quietly to avoid setting off any advance alarms that might be inside. A few minutes later, she looked out a vent seeing her prey below her. "Time to meet the Cheshire Cat."
The Head Engineer heard rustling and looked up at the shaft trying to see if anyone was there. He pulled out a flashlight aiming it at the vent when smoke bomb fell to the ground hissing. Activating the fans, the vents started sucking the smoke away. "What was that about? Another test by the Empress."
"No, just little old me," a voice chuckled. He looked in one direction trying to see who was there, but only saw a shadow moving. He fumbled for his new gun when the lights went out. Now his heart was pounding. He reached for his walkie-talkie, but it had been snatched away. "Hello, whose there? You should surrender right now. Empress Kuvira can be merciful at times."
"Never try to lie to the master liar," Cheshire's voice came from out of nowhere. A flurry of throwing stars pinned the guy to the rotating chair. As the chair spun tiny fibers came out of the ends turning into a mass of thick ropes. A tap from her sai and he was out. "Foolish man, he can't beat me. Better check on the heiress and my lover. Changing frequencies, can anyone hear me?"
"I hear you, everything okay so far, but we need to clear these guys out if we're going to really make any progress down. Think you can get the guards out of here?" Nikiti whispered. One eye looked at Asami and Arsenal busy taking out parts. Asami was trying to rig the entire cannon to blow up. Using a mini laser in one of his fingers and some tools, he used when attending to his prosthetic carved out new openings. Reaching inside, he pulled out a piece, did an adjustment, before putting it back.
The swordsman tapped his comlink trying to get ahold of his cousin. "Yukio, come in, you hear me. Please respond."
"I…..hear you Nik. We've found the…forms in ca… They've been using Spirits… source… weapons manu… here! We're trying to free them right now ahhhhhhhhhh!" His cousin's voice was cut off. Hear the crashing glass above him, he bent down to his knees and shoving the sword in the ground before using it to help him do sweep kick managing to trip the instep of one foot. Rolling upright he kept his blade in front of him as he managed to get on some high ground.
Desaad had switched out his knives for something with a longer reach, a kusarigama, in fact. This one was very different with three different kamas attached to the chain, each covered in a different energy and it looked like the weight on the end could change size, weight, and density at will. Nikiti took that all in in seconds, memorizing the layout, getting into his signature stance, and sweeping a glance at the area to use it to his advantage.
Cheshire landed behind Desaad, her weapons drawn, mask down, in full Shadow mode. She was looking for any weak spots on her foe. She was also light, using her lithe form to position herself in the perfect strike.
"I did want to test this primitive, but highly upgraded weapon on some of the prisoners, pity soon there won't be any left." No one said anything as they all eyed each other. They stayed that way for a few more seconds and then all three attacked each other. Asami and Arsenal covered each others back as they continued their efforts to destroy the cannon.
In the other factory, Toph was using her skills as she busted the entire factory wide open. Doing widespread attacks using rock dummies, she listened closely, trying to predict which body the psion-energy being might pop into next. Behind her, Yukio was breaking weapons and freeing spirits. Kallik was alternating between protecting the two humans and ripping open cages or tubes with spirit vines. It was uncertain who would win this clash of titles.
The distraction team never really had a chance to do their job properly. The members had slowly been approaching the test site, ready to spring into action when Lien accidentally tripped an alarm. The warrior waterbender had only a second to get angry at herself when Nanook grabbed the back of her kimono, tossed her in the air, before she landed on his back. Naga did the same thing with Lin. "Let's ride!"
The two females clutched the fur of their mount tightly as mother and son charged into battle. Their target was the armory and vehicle depot. As they raced towards their target several space crafts started to power up. "Not on my watch! Naga, hard left and give it all you've got," Lin ordered. Naga woofed as she poured on the speed. She gracefully weaved through the cars and swatted away anyone who got in the way.
The first craft was about to take off when Naga brought her full weight down on the top of the craft bringing it down on the ground creating a small crater, the tremor that followed blew several of the troops away. Balancing herself on her tail and back legs, she drove her head straight through the crafts cockpit window. The sight of her angry, snarling face, scared even seasoned Apokolypition faces to wet themselves. Her jaws bit into the pilot's drawing a lot of blood and crushing part of the arm. Swinging her head, the guy never had a chance. He was dragged out of his seat, the window, and hurled seven hundred feet away. The copilot tried to grab his sidearm to attack, but a paw swipe stopped that from happening. Naga came to rest back on all four paws, her tail wagged slightly as she spat out the gun. Seeing Lin was using her bending to jump from craft to craft, Naga decided it was a good time to make short work of destroying the vehicles. She hadn't had this much fun in ages.
Riding a moving space craft was not the same as being on top of an airship. The pressure from rising so fast nearly caused her lungs to burst. Lin wrapped her cables tightly around a hatch on the ship keeping herself from falling off. As the flight leveled off, the Chief of Police, stood up. The other crafts were circling her. They would sacrifice their fellow comrades just to kill her. Retracting her shoe plating she used her seismic sense to get a better feel of the craft.
The craft was constructed of unknown purified metal. She couldn't find any earth inside it to bend. There were no cracks or flaws anywhere on the ship to use to her advantage. Raising her arms to shoot her lines, something caught her attention as the craft was fired upon. Dodging out of the way, the heat of the blast partially melted her uniform.
"No time for this, got to lose the metal," she whispered as she bent her uniform off, save for her spool back and cable line. She reshaped the metal into several small disks. Taking a leap of faith she jumped off the craft, latched on to another ship. Once on the roof she searched and found what she was looking for. A tiny panel at the pack of the ship. Making herself as small as possible, she pulled the panel open, finding a series of buttons underneath. Using one of her discs, she removed the buttons and cut the lines. Satisfied, she made her way to the next craft to repeat the procedure. If her feet were right, then those buttons reset every system on the craft.
Lien decided she like riding Polar Bear Dog/Venom Wolf hybrids. Nanook was living up to his name. He was a raging bear, using the front legs he inherited from his mother to crush tanks under his feet. She used her bending to ice up her fans and used several water whips to throw them at her foes. While waiting for them to come back, she bent up some ice hooks, lashing out and removing the bottom of the vehicles. It was one of the few parts that wasn't coated in alien metal.
On the opposite side the camp Superboy was using his tactile telekinesis to disassemble mecha suits that kept trying to kill him. Flying into the air he used his heat beams to cut off the legs before using his arctic breath to trap the soldiers inside their mechas. Wolf and his daughter worked together as they forced the alien troops into a trap. The Venom that resided in their blood made them extremely tough. Even as their fur and skin was removed, neither predator showed signs that they felt pain. Growling, they took their prey down and proceeded to ensure that there were no survivors.
Wonder Woman had done a most impressive job of leaving scores of injured people in her wake. She destroyed the barracks and fought like a true Amazon besting any opponent that came her way. She caught the attention of one of the Elite, Steppenwolf, Darkseid's general. He'd been leading the army and saw a chance to get some glory for himself. Now the two of them were locked in battle. His electro-ax against her borrowed sword and shield. As for a she could tell they were equals. Clashing against one another, neither of them was giving an inch.
"Most impressive, you should join us warrior. I'm sure you could become a powerful Fury, maybe even become their leader. I wouldn't mind if you killed Granny, she's hasn't produce many champions of as late," he mentioned as he brought the full force of his electro-ax on her. Wonder Woman felt her shield starting to give. Pushing harder, she shoved him off her and threw the shield as if it was a discus.
He weaved out of the way and brought up his weapon to block Wonder Woman's strike. Again and again they clashed, weapon against weapon until her sword got cut in half at the same time a well time punch shattered the electro-ax. "Guess you weapon wasn't as strong as you thought," she replied in badinage. Her hands inched towards her lasso only to bring her arms together to avoid a speeding arm hammer.
"I don't need weapons to win this fight woman. I prefer doing this the old fashion way." Steppenwolf challenged her. "I will enjoy your death very much, for it means that I'm finally strong enough to challenging that mink who bested me." Wonder Woman knew he meant Kuvira, but didn't have time to think about it as she continued her fight.
Time seem to blur as each group continued to fight. Each side hurting the other, the good guys got great shots in. For all the chaos, the rescue team had managed to get at least two hundred and seventy five people out of there. Kya was doing her best to treat everyone, but need some help. Sphere was moving around while flashing. The healer hoped that the living machine was calling for help. Watching from the ridge, Kya bit her lip wondering why no patrols had picked her up by now. Surely they knew where she was? Unless, there was a reason for leaving her alone. "Oh no, everyone get down!"
The entire facility and the nearby area became the epicenter of a massive earthquake. This was no normal quake, everything was lifted into the air by a powerful telekinesis attack suspending everything miles above their earth. The Spirit Cannon was pulled out as its parts were fixed and placed back in order. As everyone was thrust back on the ground and held in place. The cannon took aim for the town as it started to glow. Right as it shot, a tremor hit the base causing the aim to be off a little. A giant hole appeared in a mountain, but the town was left alone. Smaller, similar blasts, were also misplaced.
The grip on the combined armies disappeared as they all assembled in order on one side of the camp. The heroes all stood up on the other side, somehow ending up together. A dark laughter filled the air as a mobile hover platform descended from the sky. On it were two people. That is, if you could call, a rock skinned giant with glowing orange eyes in a black suit, with frown on his face, darkness seeming to come off him, as human. The Elite and their forces all bowed their heads praising Darkseid's name. He spared them a glance, his eyes burning as he clenched his fist, scaring everyone was there.
Standing next to him, but just a bit behind was Kuvira, only she looked really different. Her hairstyle had changed, she now wore it in a high ponytail, with two small curls framing her face. Her green eyes had a tint of yellow in them, Superboy looked closer and saw that they were tiny data screens. On top of her head, was a small gold headpiece, that had the Earth Kingdom symbol, being overshadowed by Darkseid's mark on it.
Gone was her military uniform. She was wearing a skintight dark emerald green body suit with black accents. Her armor on her chest plate, lower arms, belt, and lower legs was black. Her boots looked softer and were brown. A layer of moving mesh was seen under the armor. Strapped to her back was a butterfly sword along with a small range gun attached to her belt. Though they couldn't put a finger on it, everyone assembled sensed something was different about Kuvira, deep inside.
"Hmm, the testing of the weapon has been interrupted. Still, we've obtained the results for in organic matter and range. The smaller weaponry hasn't backfired indicating your former engineer was successful in creating a link between our two different techs, while harnessing the power of the spirit energy source," Darkseid stated simply looking at the hole. "Portability is a slight problem. You said you're engineers have almost finished with the second half of the weapon?"
Kuvira nodded her head, her spirit weapons had been completed. With a bendable under layer and Apokolypition metals to contain the energy, her guns now could channel the power of any spirit vine or being for multiple charges. It was all thanks to Baatar and his blind loyalty. "I know you wish to continue to see what it does to organic matter my gracious lord. Perhaps it can wait a moment or two?"
Darkseid placed a hand on her shoulder and gently rubbed them. He smiled at her and moved aside letting her take center stage. He whispered in Kuvira's ear something as she romantically gripped her hand in his for a moment. He then flew to another hovering platform as Kuvira lowered hers. Seeing the Bei Fongs, made her heart race in excitement. "What a treat it is indeed to see all the great Bei Fongs in front of me. Toph who created metalbending. Lin who is the Chief of Police, and my friend Su. I bet your regretting abandoning me now aren't you?"
"I never abandon you Kuvira. I raised you as one of my own. How could you go as far as betraying our entire world, to someone like them?" Su demanded angrily. Gesturing to everything around them, "How is anything you've done related to your goal of keeping the EK safe from harm? You don't care about any of your fellow countrymen anymore."
Kuvira sneered. She was doing all this because it was for her countrymen, the entire world's betterment. In a brisk voice, she explained that the only way to keep a world safe and progressive, was ally yourself with a great power; that had already had done so. Only the strong, loyal, and intelligent people could be allowed to survive. Sacrifices, both great and small, were needed to make any sort of progress. She had gone as far as her twisted logic would take her. She now held the power to rule, but only did as much as she was allowed, knowing that her lord and master knew the best course of action. She would fight for what she wanted and challenge those who wanted her power, but would never try to take power that didn't belong to her.
Watching everyone's confusion Kuvira laughed again as she jumped off her hovering platform and landed on the ground. "It's time that I show you what I mean. Only the strong need to remain, and right now I'm the greatest Earthbender on this planet." She held up a hand, flicking her wrist, somehow knocking Toph of her feet. "I can see for miles around that you have no back up and that you would be bluffing if you tried to convince me otherwise. I can see and sense all," her words sending a shiver down their spine as they realized what it meant. "Now for the fun to begin."
Without a thought she created a massive wave of earth that flowed towards the group, absorbing Toph's attack scattering everyone apart. She moved superfast as she glided across the ground. Arms extended, she ripped off several metal armor pieces, manipulating them into small stilettos aiming at everyone's throats. A quick spin by Kid Flash and he managed to catch every single one. With her back turned to him, Kuvira merged the metal into a sharp drill driving it into KF's thigh, delighted in the sound of him going down.
Tigress, Arsenal, and Cheshire fired at her at her back, while Su, Lin, and Toph came after her from her front and sides. Twisting about she released sand from a hidden compartment on her leg armory. A giant sand ball formed around her, growing thicker and thicker, preventing her from being hit. Using seismic sense, shebent a small bit of sand. It tumbled across the ground, attaching itself to the small family, who frantically tried to get it off.
Riding a dust devil, she rose above the ground, flying on the sand cloud. "I bet none of you realized how useful sand is when you use your imagination," she laughed. Her cloud ripped apart as used hands made from sand to pull the trio together and tied them up. Their mouth protectors gone as sand started to fill their bodies killing them.
"Stop this at once!" Lin shouted as she and her sister combined efforts to toss the roofing of the factory at Kuvira. The attack surprised her as she was buried under the roof for a second before cutting through it with her sword. "That's the best you can do. I'll show you real metalbending!" The sisters watched in stunned disbelief as Kuvira bent up both factories and merged them to create her own space craft.
"How are you doing this? Most of that factory was purely refined metals, no earth in it!" Su demanded. Even Toph was stunned, no one could manipulate truly pure metal!
"My powers have been upgraded. You're boring me, hope you enjoy this," the space craft flew over their heads blasting everything in sight with lava. Toph carved a path for the lava to flow in as her daughters kept attacking Kuvira, trying to break Kuvira's connection to the ship. Asami set her electro glove on overload and flung it. It connected sending shards of metal and lava everywhere. It fell for miles. Asami ran stumbling to the ground as molten piece of metal came showering down.
All the elements came together to protect her. She watched as Mako, Opal, Lien, and Kyoshi used their powers to protect their little group. Then they switched throwing everything they had at Kuvira. The enhanced bender smile, creating a wall of metal behind her embracing the attacks. At first they thought they had managed to hurt Kuvira, but that wasn't the case. Superboy, who had managed to stop the sand attack and ordered the animals to take his friends and both Baatars' out of here whistled a warning. "Move!"
Crystal shards and thin strips of wood came out of the smoke. Mako got hit in the chest by a wooden strip that turned into a stake, digging deeper into his chest. He flailed around trying to claw the stake out. At the last second Lien cut it out with her waterbending and started to try to heal him, even though she had little experience. "Don't try to talk, you're bleeding internally. I think I can..."
"LIEN WATCH OUT!" Nikiti shouted moving to block another round of crystal shards, but found himself unable to move. He and his cousins all started to scream as their bones bent out of shape as they felt them breaking. The remaining Bei Fong kids came to their aid bending up a thick rock wall as they knelt to see what they could do. Superboy used his x-ray vision to keep track of the fight as the older Bei Fongs and Wonder Woman fought. What he saw confirmed his suspicions.
"Kuvira's DNA has been altered extensively," he stated. "Someone how the enemy managed to splice genetic coding into her granting her these abilities. I think they even made an artificial strand to give her wood power, since a lot of cultures see earth and wood as complementary elements."
Opal, was trying to keep Yukio from worsening his broken leg. "What could she be using to attack our friends bodies with?" She had never seen anything like this before.
"Not to mention what did she do to survive those attacks?" Wei asked. His twin added, "Is that the reason she can overpower our mom?"
"Whatever she's doing, her muse is nothing, but pure fury," Huu added.
After thinking for a few minutes he had some answers. "Minerals, there are minerals in your bones. She manipulating the minerals which is how she controls your bones. She break them or make you attack each other, depending on her whims. I'm willing to bet that her mesh has nanites in it that gives her a power up or protects her body from elemental attacks. We need to get out of here!"
Just as he said that they all vanished, the entire group, Kya and the prisoners, everyone was gone. Kuvira growled as she watched someone's boom tube swallow up her prey, mostly likely taking it back to safety. She would have someone's head for this! At least, she knew for certain, that Baatar Jr. would die. After all, who could survive having a diamond bent through their body, lacerating blood vessels near the heart?
It took thirty minutes to regain control of the facility. The Earth Empire army had felt the wraith of their Empress when she used her newfound mineral bending power to bend them in all the wrong angles before resetting the bones in place. "I am greatly disappointed with you all," Kuvira stated coldly from her hover platform. "You are supposed to be the greatest army that this world has ever seen. It doesn't matter that we only lost a fourth of our newest productions, we shouldn't have lost anything! I want this entire facility cleaned up and preparations for Phase Three to start at once. Do you understand me?"
"YES MA'ME!" they responded. The troops quickly split up and begun the cleanup. The self-proclaimed Empress took a deep breath. She punched a few commands into the control panel. She knew that this failure, would come back to haunt her. The platform flew towards a building, that hadn't been destroyed or damaged, in the attack because it had been cloaked at the time. Straightening up she bent off any dirt there was on her outfit. Taking a deep breath she entered the building.
All the other Elites had taken their seats at a large metallic table. On the walls screens with real time events played. Computers beeped as the heat increased in the building. Darkseid was sitting on his throne. She bowed to him keeping her head down for a few seconds before raising it, exposing her neck to him. She was giving him a chance to take her head off, with no resistance on her part. His gaze went from angry to agreeable; acknowledging for her to stand. He held out his hand and she placed her Parent Box in his hand before taking a seat.
"Now we have every Box in this facility to be examined. If anyone of you used a Box to save those insects, I will show you no mercy," Darkseid stated. No one said anything as he levitated the boxes to scanning station nearby. An in depth scan was done and a few minutes later the computer announced. "No match found. All Boxes functioning normally. No tampering detected."
Even if the computer cleared them, they all knew that they were still under scrutiny. After all, they had all been scattered about during the attack. Darkseid decided to interview them all right now. "We set a trap for those humans. They were supposed to be captured and turned into loyal soldiers for my army or killed if they were too much trouble. So tell me why that didn't happen."
Kanto spoke first, "My Lord, I assure you that my first concern was taking down the enemy. The loss of a few Lowlies was nothing to be concerned about. I simply was taking my time to…"
"To duel another work of art? Because of your need to preen, both the speedster and weapons mistress, managed to save scores of Lowlies while keeping themselves alive," Kalibak pointed out angrily. "I was not as foolish. I never underestimated my foe and was minutes away from killing both him and that little girl."
"Except you didn't. I was reviewing the footage. That "little girl", took your both your arms out and left you limping with a few fist hits," Dr. Bedlam voiced. He was in a new body, one that was in a very bad condition. That woman had the gall to destroy his entire lab and all his spare bodies. At least he had been able to give a paralytic nerve agent to that kid, before that beast decided to take out his arms.
"You're not entirely out of blame either. You new versions of the Parademons were not invincible like you promised," Desaad mentioned. Looking at Steppenwolf he asked, "That Amazon would have made a great addition to our troops and you let her slip away."
"This entire facility and plan was on our newest Elite's shoulders." The general looked at Kuvira with hatred in his eyes, but the woman wouldn't even flinch. She didn't make sound, use her powers, or anything. "This entire plan was yours. The Spirit Cannon, the new guns, all of the armaments, everything in this facility was your plan. If anyone is at fault, it is your."
Kuvira examined her nails, turning her head away from him. Her disinterest in him made him angry. She flicked a strand of hair back before starting to type something on her pad. Now everyone at the table, except for a stony faced Darkseid, was glaring at her. Wasn't she going to defend herself? "Are you just going to sit their girl? Speak up already!"
At that exact second lava flooded the area melting their chairs and dragging them into pits. As Immortals it wouldn't kill them, but it would leave them in a lot of pain. Darkseid did a rare clap in praise for Kuvira, able to pull something like this off without showing her hand. "Very clever, but you still have to defend yourself. I'm not one to tolerate failure."
"I know my Great One. I did believe the mixing of the troops would help us become a solid army of destruction. For the most part it did work; everyone was side by side fighting for the same cause. We saw proof of the fleet of vehicles, the new Parademons, even our weapons work together as one," Kuvira explained. She showed him the pad she had been typing on. It was entire report on the whole incident, the statistics, including efficiency and death results for both sides. "As you can see from the display the cooperation of our forces started to fall apart when they decided to separate to claim glory for themselves."
"The free will factor, once again it ruins everything. How would address this problem. Your use of fear and intimation isn't working anymore. Even the ones bonded to my technology are showing signs of disloyalty." Kuvira reached out and pressed a button on the pad. Information about the Dai Li and their methods popped up along with a diagram of a small network of nanites filled with a fluid. Reading the data, Darkseid smiled approvingly.
"It seems that our methods of brainwashing doesn't hold the same effect because of cultural belief and their sense of loyalty is ingrained in them. You are certain that using this method along with the nanites containing my blood would be the solution."
Kuvira nodded. She had heard all about the Dai Li methods of wiping memories and programming people to mold them into use. Combined with the nanites injecting tiny amounts of blood into the brain's loyalty section, no one would have any free will to resist Darkseid. He nodded in approval and told Dr. Bedlam to get to work on it immediately. He issued orders to his Elite about making the final preparation with the rest of their forces so Phase Three could be activated in a few days instead weeks.
After they were gone, and everything was turned off, Darkseid and Kuvira retired to his chambers. Inside, Kuvira stared to take off her armor before freeing her hair. She stood still as he pulled undid her mesh and took her body suit off. "On the bed, submissive and prisoner position."
"As you wish," Kuvira said. Lying on the bed she bent up crystal restraints, and bent splinters into her body with a smudge of dirt on her. "I'm am ready for you to use me." Very pleased by her submissive, but aggressive nature, the two lovers were ready for some fun. They were the perfect match after all. ***
A week had passed since the attack on the facility. There had been an epic argument of proportions between the League and the rescuers, about how stupid they had been for going directly after the prisoners, and the counter argument about the necessity of the mission. The argument had come to abrupt end when they were reminded by Tenzin that they had injured that needed assistance.
Republic City Hospital was overfilled with patients as the best doctors, healers, and councilors tried to help the traumatized patients. Many were suffering from malnourishment, dehydration, and PTSD. The ones that had been experimented on were kept in a private wing in the hospital to be treated. The rescue team had been check over by the Martian Manhunter once he returned. Anyone with some medical training had been called in for this including Korra. Also making rounds at the hospital was Prime Minister Wu, meeting and greeting his people, asking about their care. He really was maturing into a great leader.
Toph, who was feeling better than ever, thanks to Kuvira bending her spine back into proper alignment, was trying to comfort her daughter Su and Baatar. While their young children had suffer relatively minor injuries, their eldest was being held in ICU. His left arm had been broken in four places, the cut on his skull was deep, but the worst part was his heart. Toph and Kya had managed to get the diamond out before it shredded all the veins to his heart. Still, Kya's healing could only go so far. The doctors weren't advanced enough yet to perform the life saving surgery to fix his heart. The League didn't even the equipment here to help and he was too fragile to move. Baatar Jr. was slowly coding to death.
In another room husband and wife slept in their beds, thanks to some sedatives. The doctors had been stumped how to help them at first. Finally, they decided to treat Zhu Li's cuts by stitching them up and rubbing an ointment over them that would help keep the scarring down. She also received powerful anti poison pills made from special plants that grew in the hard to reach areas of the Fire Nation. A healer was scheduled to come in and doing an exam about what the mad doctor had done to her abdomen. They left her artificial eye alone.
Varrik's condition was difficult to treat. He had retreated into himself to avoid the trauma from watching his wife suffer. Now all that was left was crazy person. A special wig had been ordered and now covered his partially expose brain plate. Special braces were being constructed at Future Industries to help compensate for the bone loss. He was being fed a fatty liquid diet until his new teeth came in. They had tried to separate the couple only for them to scream in fear, so for now they were left alone.
Bumi was doing his level best to keep his cousins from doing something they regret. "Look, I am on your side really. When I was in the United Nations, nothing would have stopped me from completing a mission, not even some broken bones, but aren't you concerned at all by the risks," he asked Nikiti The nineteen year old sword arm was broken and in a cast next to his chest, he had a few ribs cracked, and one foot was in boot cast. "You could do permanent damage to yourself. What if you can't wield a sword?!"
Nikiti glared at his cousin, didn't he think he knew that already? He had heard the stories of grandfather breaking his arm and losing his prized space sword. It had taken nearly ten years to track it down and reforge it properly. That sword was the family heirloom passed through the generations, the sword he carried was a new version of the same sword. Remelted with new space rock added to make it even stronger. He picked up his sword in his right arm and did a few test swings. "I understand what you're saying, but I can't stop now."
"It goes against our code of honor, everything we ever learned from both sides of our heritage. So what if can't walk right now, I'll use my arms to bend and propel me. Lien can do the same with her waterbending and nothing keeps my big brother down right Yukio," Kyoshi asked, looking at her brother with pride in her eyes. Yukio nodded, creating a make shift weapon from parts of his bed.
Bumi's threw his hands up in the air. He just did his crazy man shout and agreed to help get them mobile again. The cousins grinned happy to have someone believe in them.
Team Avatar was sitting beside Bolin bed. Korra had personally checked him out with Martian Manhunter. After reading the reports on what happened, she finally had a good grasp on what was happening. At the moment she was taking a much needed break, trying to recover her strength after an intense session with Bolin.
Bolin cracked a grin when he saw someone. Pabu raced up the bed and curled around his head happy to see his buddy again. "It's great to see you too Pabu. Thanks for saving me brother. I don't think I could last much longer."
Mako gripped his brother's hand and smiled. "I'll always come to your rescue Bolin. No matter what we're brothers to the end," he told him, tears in his eyes. He added he was so proud of Bolin for taking such a big risk to do the right thing. Asami promised she take them out to the best restraunt, as Pabu leapt out of her arms and started licking his face. Even Korra and Kilchi said how much they missed them, but no one was sure what to tell the earthbender.
"There is good news, bad news, and worse news to be delivered, and I am the messenger," Ferrum said as he materialized in the room surprising everyone. "The good news Bolin, your internal damage has been fixed and your brother was lucky not to get internal bleeding. The bad news, your genetically altered limbs with lava flowing from them can't be changed. It will take several months, even years for the victims to recover from this."
"You said there was worse news," Kilchii pointed out. "I think we have a good idea what it is. Kuvira's using spirits to power her weapons. Working with Darkseid's group she's going to supercharge a Box to create massive opening that will allow them a clear access to our world."
"All the while harvesting the Spirit World for a power boost so they can launch a world –wide attack. Also, I think I know who Parent was talking about when hir said that she had an evil boyfriend. She's Darkseid's lover isn't she?" Korra intoned, giving everyone a double shock as Ferrum confirmed her thoughts.
"Perhaps the worst news in the attack is imminent. Tempus's time sense says the attack will start in a mere half hour. He ordered the Guardian Spirits to protect our nations and their people. He along with everyone else, will protect our world. Avatar, you must warn everyone and evacuate this city. I have hidden caves that people can stay in. I'll stay here to protect the patients.'
He didn't have to tell her twice. She raced out of the room to talk to Lin. Kilchii ran to get the heroes. Asami called out she needed to get some stuff from Future Industries and Mako had to go protect the Prime Minister. No one saw, Bolin rip out his lines and demanded Ferrum sent him where asked to get more help. Ferrum did what he was asked as he prepared himself for the war that was about to happen.
Thanks for sticking with me so far. Now I better explain those asterisk marks I had in the story. I did have a few points I wanted to further explain on.
First, I just couldn't write a story without giving Su, her father's name. I mean Lin got hers. So I chose Toph's love interest from The Rift trilogy. He was a mechanical genius and he sorted of reminded me of Su and her family. So that's the reason I chose him.
Second, I am not that cruel to have had anyone sexually abused or had their reproduction systems remove! I would never ever do that. The scar on Zhu Li's abdomen is from removing her appendix for study.
Third, I wanted and hope to show that Kuvira is a lot like Darkseid. She's a powerful, manipulative, controlling woman, who uses her brains and intimation to defeat her enemies and get what she wants. She's not stupid enough to see that Darkseid could easily kill her with single glance. So while she's ambitious and challenging, she knows when to be submissive enough that he isn't afraid Kuvira would grab power from him.
Darkseid also finds her amusing. Remember, she broke into his palace and challenged him. On a whim, he wanted to see what she could do because of her achievement of reaching him despite all the security. He's had a big influence on her, making her as dark and evil as him, without her fighting him. She's also the only human to keep up with a New God and survive a process to make her an Elite. So that's why they're a perfect match.
Okay see you next time.