Corrupting Influence

Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to DC or Marvel. I own Farrah/Persiana and Leon/Crisis.

Chapter 7: The Dark Sacrament Begins

Leon stood as ready as he could,
"I take it you aren't here for a confession."

The priest gleefully cackled,

"You shall here a confession. A confession…according to the Crime Bible!"

He lunged at the red-eyed swordsman, but Crisis was too fast and, as soon as the priest's back was to him, Crisis unleashed a devastating kick, snapping the priest's spine. The priest lay in a heap and Leon went to check on Mirage,

"Are you all right?"

Mirage looked up tiredly and whispered,

"Ju…Juli...Julienne…."

Julienne was near her mother,

"Mommy, don't go."

Miriam shook her head, speaking in Portuguese,
"No, sweetie. I have to. Mommy…Mommy wants you to be…brave. Be brave for Mommy…"

With that, the illusion-making meta-human closed her eyes forever. Julienne began sniffling and crying, calling for her mother to come back. Leon looked down at the young girl and took his glasses off. A small tear trickled down his cheek and he placed his hand on Julienne's shoulder, taking her inside his coat. Fire shook her head, trying to fight back tears as well.

It was around this time that Fury was calling in,

"Crisis, are you there? Come in!"
Leon sniffed a little and composed himself before answering,

"Yeah, I'm here."

Fury said,
"The safe house is secure. You can bring Mirage in and we'll proceed from there."

Leon said coldly,

"Mirage is dead."

A short silence came as Leon waited for Fury to say something. The one-eyed soldier said,
"All right, bring the girl. She has to know something."

Leon responded,

"Yeah."

He then switched off and said to the two women,

"We move out."

He looked down at Julienne and knelt near her, saying,

"We're going to have to go now, all right? You need to be brave, just like your Mommy told you to be. Can you do that?"

Julienne nodded, still wiping some tears down her face. She then hugged the red-eyed powerhouse and Fire smiled. Things were going to be all right.

Meanwhile…

Mantis was now standing before several large tanks filled with what seemed to be ordinary people. These people, however, were not ordinary. The insane megalomaniac folded his arms,

"And, what are these supposed to be?"

Libra said simply,

"The army that will bring balance and defeat to the Justice League."

Bruno looked at the tanks,
"I can feel the energy from here. What did you do to them?"

The balance-seeking villain explained,

"Very simple. These people are some of the darkest, and most dangerous in the world and, with an infusion of the DNA we have been able to gather from key League members, we can use them and show just how corrupt the League is by duplicating their powers and abilities through these men and women. All that is needed is for the incantation from the Crime Bible. That will unlock the potential for all of them to succeed."

Bruno Mannheim nodded,
"If I do this, will you then give me what is coming to me?"

Libra replied,

"Yes, you shall have your elite guard protecting you. I assure you; those that have been chosen will be the messengers of what is to come."

As the psychotic mobster walked over to the Crime Bible, Loki rubbed his hands evilly,

"Oh, this is truly going to be glorious."

The book was opened and Bruno began reading it. The book itself was as large as a phone book and ornately decorated with horrifying symbols and, as one was to study the ink on the pages, it was not really ink, but blood. Bruno raised his hands and began reading aloud passages, verses especially tailored to violence, darkness, and corruption of the innocent. At first, Bruno was speaking in English, but, as he read on, the language on the page seemed to change, into something that no human could decipher. But, from what was being said, and how, even in an alien tongue, it seemed to be truly maddening. Any sane person could feel the darkness from those words, even if they did not understand the language itself.

As the reading continued, a pool of dark water began forming in the tanks of each of the new soldiers for Libra's army. Some of them began to shout out; transforming into horrifying beings with incredible levels of darkness. One even mutated into a monster; a thing from the stuff of nightmares. Others began to change as well; many of them forming armor and weapons from their flesh. Familiar weapons and even more familiar flesh. The pain was excruciating, but they persisted. Despite this corruption, it was oddly giving them strength. Then, finally, the tanks all burst, one at a time. Libra applauded,
"Excellent. It has been done."

He walked over,

"I have created the Mockeries, DNA-infused beings with many the powers and abilities of the Justice League members."

Mantis studied the first one,

"This one looks like Superman."

Libra nodded,

"It is Dark Superman, a mockery of him. He holds tremendous darkness and temptation that he does not wish to use."

He then walked over to the second,

"This is Dark Lantern, a mockery of the Green Lantern."

The one he was talking about looked to be in a containment suit of some kind, but he did have a green glow. It was not a familiar glow, twisted by Libra's experiments.

The next was a Dark Thanagarian, a woman who had hawk-like armor and a mace.

The fourth was Dark Firestorm, a man that looked very much like the real Firestorm, only with that same eerie glow.

The fifth was Dark Fury, a woman who looked like Big Barda, only with a darker armor and weapon.

The sixth was Dark Warrior, a man that looked like Orion, complete with the same weapon system as his counterpart.

And, the seventh, and arguably the most dangerous, was Dark Martian. Unlike the others that had some semblance of what the Justice League looked like, this one did not. He was a grotesque monster, lizard-like, anyway. He had a dark glare cast upon the others and he seemed to hiss. Libra then looked over to Mantis,

"Will this suffice?"

Mantis could not believe it. He was truly astounded at what Libra had done. But, he had to ask, "Will these seven defeat the Justice League?"

Loki smirked,

"When I add a sort of magical defense that their weakness cannot be exploited, yes, they will."

Mantis rubbed his hands evilly,

"Great! We invade at once!"

Next Chapter:

The Justice League gets a taste of the Mockeries and Mantis, and Crisis and the Howling Commandos follow a lead that takes them straight into the hornet's nest of Intergang! Stay tuned, fellow readers!