10

Jenni Quick and Minute Man surveyed the scene where the newly arrived New Gods had decimated the Nazi patrol. Jenni Quick had once been Jesse Chambers before Per Degaton had taken her from her parents, renamed Johanna Degaton, she had been raised by Degaton loyalists within Hitler's regime.

Rick Tyler had also been abducted and had grown to be codenamed Minute Man in contrast to his father, Hourman. Using a modified form of Miraclo, Rick's dose activated within one minute and lasted for four hours. That and the obvious historical allusions to the American Revolution had played into his handlers' wishes.

Jenni Quick and Minute Man were touted as Americans who'd seen the light of Nazi superiority and they were officially charged with commanding the meta-human special force supporting the invasion of the American East Coasts. But Jenni and Minute Man's forces weren't limited to humans. They also had New Gods supporting their effort.

Joining them were Infernus, Mighty Endowed, and Iota. Infernus' flames and Mighty Endowed's preposterous breasts were useless in this case. Infernus' talents lay in incinerating legions of troops at once. Mighty Endowed had once been a human named Nina Dowd but she'd been genetically altered into a New God. And with a New God's physique had come the grotesque inflation of her chest. Although, her breasts could emit a hypnotic light that could control any man that gazed upon them. Which made her more than a sideshow attraction only good at distracting lustful soldiers.

Iota's rather distorted hedgehog-like appearance also lent some simple tracking abilities. He rooted around until he could report, "All of the Freedom Fighters had gathered at this part of the building."

Infernus ripped a scrambler patch off of a fallen suit of armor, "And this tech comes from New Genesis. It's a toy generally used by Highfather's son."

"What about this?" Mighty Endowed struggled to rise after bending over to pick up an item, "This looks like a flash bomb."

Iota took it from Mighty Endowed's hand and brought it to Jenni Quick, "This is also Highfather's son's equipment, mistress."

He cravenly licked her boots while he handed off the device. Infernus was enraged, "You debase yourself to a mere human?"

"Watch the 'mere' cracks buster!" Mighty Endowed snapped, "I was human once upon a time."

"And now you're a waste of flesh," Infernus snarled.

Mighty Endowed's breasts lit up, "Just stare at my girls while you think nasty thoughts."

Infernus went slack jawed. Mighty Endowed laughed, "Typical man. I show some tits and a little ass and you're drooling all over yourself."

A low whine heralded the arrival of Lady Justeen and the Suicide Jockeys. Justeen was DeSaad's prized protégé and second in command. The Suicide Jockeys were her brainchild. Hunger Dogs strapped into parademon flight harnesses; they fought to elevate their families' position above slaves to a stratum between Hunger Dog and Darkseid's Elite. Call it a burgeoning middle class. But for the Jockeys it was a short lived one since they performed kamikaze missions for Justeen.

Justeen received all of the evidence that had been gathered, "It does seem Scott Free and his traitorous wife has arrived on this world. We need to determine if this is a vanguard to invasion or something less threatening. In any case, Darkseid will be pleased to learn the whereabouts of Highfather's son."

"And how will this development affect my Lord Degaton?" Jenni sharply inquired.

"Do not presume that your great speed makes you exempt from my skills," Justeen advised Jenni, "I will inform your master of the potential threat after I have reported to mine. You'd best remember that your leader swore an oath to my Dark Lord to serve and obey in the name of Darkseid."

Justeen signaled the Suicide Jockeys and they flew off. Infernus summoned Iota and Mighty Endowed, "Come, Killroy must be informed of these events."

A boom tube swept away the New Gods. Jenni turned to Minute Man, "Rick, I must travel to Berlin to warn Lord Degaton of these twists in case the New Gods prove unreliable. You'll remain here in charge of our special response teams."

As Jenni Quick flew away at super speed, Rick Tyler knew Jenni was flying straight to Per Degaton's bedchamber as well as his throne room. And Minute Man knew he'd have to have a little "chat" with Degaton about that some day.


Orion's boom tube split the evening silence the minutes after Minute Man and his patrol departed the scene. As Orion emerged from the dimensional veil, he too saw the rather simplistic suits of combat armor strewn about. They were obviously Apokoliptan in design but made of Terran components.

Orion discovered a remaining sample of one of Mr. Miracle's scrambler patches so it confirmed Scott and Barda had already been there. An examination of the micro-circuitry controlling the armor made Orion's blood run cold. He immediately went to the cybernetic interfaces and saw that they shared distinct elements with Mother Box.

Which could only be possible if Himon were present on this world as well. Himon was from New Genesis but he dwelt on Apokolips amongst the Hunger Dogs. Himon couldn't be persuaded to aid Darkseid's schemes upon pain of death. But Himon had a leverage point in his daughter, Bekka.

Until recently, Bekka had been Orion's wife. But when Orion stood unopposed to Highfather's plans to allow Darkseid and his Elite to reoccupy Apokolips and re-enslave the Hunger Dogs, then Bekka had terminated their marriage contract and left New Genesis. The last Orion had heard of his ex-wife, she'd received her own yellow power ring and joined the Sinestro Corps.

Orion knew he'd failed Bekka in her own eyes. He'd be damned before he failed her again and left her to pain and suffering at Desaad or Justeen's hands. Scott Free and Barda were now on their own in defending Maxima. Orion had a mission all his own on Earth-9.


After the destruction of Washington DC, the US capitol had been moved to Ogdensburg, New York. The rural location was adjacent to the Canadian capital of Ottawa. All of the government's functions were mirrored in Los Angeles so the country could literally be cut in half and still resist the Nazi regime.

Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego were the country's largest naval ports outside of Pearl Harbor. Seattle and San Francisco stemmed the oncoming tide across the Bering Strait. Pearl Harbor supported the Pacific and Indian Ocean campaigns while the Southern California ports supported the wars in South America.

The Nazis had conscripted troops in every occupied territory. Only those with accepted "Aryan" bloodlines could join the officer corps and Special Forces. Eugenics programs had dominated German life for decades. Procreation was carefully regulated and the programs were spreading to Scandinavia, the Netherlands, select families of Czechoslovakia and Great Britain.

Slavic, Hindi, African, Asian, and Middle Eastern bloodlines were preserved only for the sake of cannon fodder and slavery. Except for a dwindling remnant found in Australia, North and South America, the world's Jewish population had been exterminated. Unsurprisingly, these few were adamantly opposed to appeasing Nazi ambitions. That fervor had launched many political careers.

The current US President and Canadian Prime Minister were Jewish. The Australian PM was half Jewish. It made for great Nazi propaganda but also solidified great support behind the leaders of what remained of the free world.

Australia was currently in the process of liberating India. The US Fleet was throwing massive support behind the Aussies and Imperial Japan was engaged in an overland invasion of China and Far East Russia, therefore drawing off most of the Nazi reinforcements away from India.

Uncle Sam brought his guests up to speed on these events as he brought the upstate to meet the President. Phantom Lady led the remaining Freedom Fighters against the Nazi invasion of New York. But that was the merest tip of the invasion.

Every port on the eastern seaboard had been blockaded and invaded even deep into Hudson Bay. The Eerie Canal had brought Nazi submarines into the Great Lakes. Reports were filtering in that the Nazis had entered the Gulf of Mexico and were engaged in every southern port across Brazil all the way down to Argentina.

Rumor had it that Per Degaton had emptied every port and barracks in Europe and Africa to support this effort. It was an all or nothing effort at this point. This was the geopolitical reality that Mr. Miracle, Barda, and Maxima had arrived into.


Ogdensburg was a collection of bunkers and militarized buildings. It reminded Scott and Barda of Apokolips in its dismal appearance. It was also a study in contrasts compared to the Earth they were more familiar with. Military technology had no resultant civilian applications here. Uncle Sam almost split a gut when he heard that other Earths had harnessed missile tech to place men in orbit and even on the Moon.

"Here we actually used atom bombs for awhile," Uncle Sam said sadly.

"That's how many other Earths ended World War II," Barda informed him.

"Well, here it was the Ratzis that dropped the bombs first. They hit Tokyo and Kyoto to announce they were declarin' war on the Japs. Then they nuked Washington DC and Boston to send their regards to us. We took out Dresden and Munich in reply," Uncle Sam recalled, "Dwight Eisenhower overcame the stigma of failing at Normandy to become our first post-nuclear wipeout President. Douglas Macarthur held the reins until Ike got elected. They oversaw buildin' the Great Alliance that's been holdin' the stalemate ever since."

"Then Hitler died and Degaton took power and Darkseid and his goons showed up and we've been barely holdin' on ever since," Uncle Sam grimly told them, "We're done for unless we can counteract Darkseid's weapons."

"I don't know how much we can offer but whatever we can is yours," Mr. Miracle promised.

"But you gotta come from somewhere," Uncle Sam was exasperated; "Surely those folks will help us?"

"I'm afraid they won't and we ourselves already have forces pursuing us," Barda reminded him.

"I ain't askin' anything the President won't," Uncle Sam warned them.

"Then you'd best convince him to accept our replies or we will be forced to move on to another Earth and you'll have to risk seeing whether or not Maxima's pursuers will aid your enemies while they determine whether or not she's present on your world," Mr. Miracle advised.

"And limited help is better than no assistance at all," Barda joined in, "Almerac pitted an entire fleet against our forces and we barely slowed them down."

"Those ships used to be part of my imperial fleet. That force was composed of one hundred battleships. A single ship could raze this planet to lifelessness and a dozen could blow it apart," Maxima warned, "My daughter already tried to conquer Earth Prime to spite her father and I."

"But why would ya'll care so much about Earth?" Uncle Sam wondered.

"Because in our universe, her father is the hero you knew as Superman," Maxima confided.

Uncle Sam suddenly felt his Earth pull out from underneath him.


"This is definitely a different world," Superman lamely observed as the JLU studied the massive wanted poster scrawled across an entire city block.

"And it's Earth-3," Mary Marvel pointed out the obvious; "Why else would they be after Superwoman, Ultraman, and Power Ring?"

"And I can only guess the fate of those faces that are 'X-ed' out," Troia shuddered, "They're all people we haven't met."

"I don't think we ever will," Hawkman observed, "Yet all of them are frighteningly familiar all the same. But whoever 'Atomica' is, she's evaded capture but hasn't appeared on our world yet."

"Familiar how?" Flash was getting a feeling like he was walking on a grave.

"Owlman is obviously this world's Batman. Johnny Quick is their speedster but he doesn't match up to our Johnny Quick. He's more like a Flash wannabe," Hawkman commented.

"It's easy to see who 'Deathstorm' is supposed to align up with," Captain Atom stated, "And you're right about this 'Atomica'. If she is this world's Atom where is she?"

"The Sea King was also obviously their Aquaman and they had an earlier version of Power Ring named Harold Jordan," Flash commented, "So obviously the Power Ring Corps passes on rings like our GLs."

"We must move on or risk detection," Katana advised them.

"Too late," Anna Fortune proclaimed dourly.

Buna and Brola emerged from one end of the street to confront the JLU. Humans in body armor and carrying advanced weaponry followed them. Brola spotted Lightray and broke into a malignant smile.

"Lightray, what an unexpected displeasure," Brola taunted.

"You and Buna cannot possibly hope to stop us all on your own," Lightray defiantly proclaimed.

"Whoever said we were alone?" Buna mocked him.

Cyborg-87 tromped his way forward from behind the humans. The LexCorp Security officers made way for Cyborg-87's red hued armored carapace. Lightray paled at the sight of the Apokoliptan weapon.

Boots could be heard stomping forward from the opposite end of the street. Concord and Harmon led the LexCorp Security forces. The two elite Apokoliptan shock troopers held the humans back after they'd sealed off the exit.

Unseen to those below, Kalibre monitored the situation from the rooftop. Buna's father was one of Darkseid's Elite. An assassin with few peers and only one better, Kalibre only reported to Kanto and Darkseid himself.

Kalibre watched with some amusement as the Gravi-Guards pushed through Concord and Harmon's position. The brutes equaled Cyborg-87 for sheer size and strength. And their gift was to alter their density to make themselves less vulnerable to harm and even stronger.

Kalibre felt a swell of pride as his daughter announced to Lightray, "I'm certain Commander Tusk will be pleased to offer your hides to Alex Luthor."


Superman went straight for Cyborg-87. Cyborg-87 deployed the four panes across his back. They discharged an energy field resembling electricity but was actually a thousand times more potent. Superman was driven into a rictus on the ground.

The two turbo fans installed in Cyborg-87's chest began to spin. Red solar plasma discharges hammered away at Superman. The panes kept up their assault as well. As Superman weakened, weapons blisters popped up on Cyborg-87's forearms.

The blisters fired antiproton beams. Superman's atomic bonds were weakened with each successive blast. He was literally flying apart on the atomic level. Finally, he passed out and Cyborg-87 relented.


Lightray had immediately gone airborne to assist Superman. But Kalibre fired a harpoon from a rifle through Lightray's left shoulder blade. The harpoon's tip deployed a grappling hook. As Kalibre reeled in the line, the hook set in Lightray's shoulder.

Kalibre energized the line and Lightray was stunned into submission. Kalibre was able to reel Lightray in for ten to twenty feet before he'd resist again and the procedure would be repeated. Katana moved in to sever Kalibre's line but Buna intercepted her to aid in her father's capturing Lightray.


Mary Marvel fought a Gravi-Guard. Her first set of blows registered with the hulking brute. But each successive blow did less and less damage. And its strength grew proportionally as well so the battle truly began at that point.

Troia found the same difficulty that Mary had. Before passing out, Troia wondered if her enemy's neck was still vulnerable. That was the last question she posed before darkness claimed her.


Commander Steel, Vibe, Atom Smasher, and Captain Atom all fell before the Gravi-Guards. Each had been startled by their foes invulnerability. And each went down unsure of how to even fight their opponent.


Anna Fortune watched as a raven haired New God navigated through the LexCorp lines and zeroed in on her. Anna wondered why she suddenly rated. The woman only seemed a few years older than Anna herself but she knew appearances were highly deceptive where Fourth Age gods were concerned.

The woman was provocatively dressed and seemed utterly unaccustomed to battlefields. In fact, she appeared to be a courtesan. Anna had certainly known the type in the antebellum south.

"Well, you're certainly not what I expected," the woman admitted as she neared Anna.

"I take it I should be pleased to disappoint," Anna quipped.

"That's more like it," the woman smirked, "My husband seems oddly entranced with you."

"I haven't a clue as to who you are much less who your husband may be," Anna confessed.

"I'm Mortalla," the woman announced rather imperiously.

Anna didn't register a flicker of recognition, "And you are?"

"Darkseid's youngest wife," Mortalla pouted.

"Ah, I see," Anna truly did now, "I should warn you, coattails only carry you so far, whether worn by the father or the son."

"I don't know what you mean," Mortalla said stiffly.

"Denial may temporarily save you but husbands always learn about infidelity in the end," Anna warned her, "Especially when the other man is of their own flesh."

"It seems I'll have to permanently deal with you after all," Mortalla decided.

"And how do you propose to do just that?" Anna inquired.

"I'll simply touch you," Mortalla laughed, "One hand causes instant death and the other would drive you into slumber. Silly me, I always forget what hand does what."

Mortalla wore a demented grin as she marched forward. Anna cast a weave spell to snare her. Mortalla slowly broke free. Anna cast barrier spells and immobilization charms. Mortalla barely slowed.

Anna vanished in a plume of flame just as Mortalla reached her. Mortalla fumed, "Damn it!"


Mortalla called Commander Tusk, "One of the human suspects has escaped."

"And how did they manage that?" Tusk wanted to know.

"She cast a teleportation spell after deducing I was immune to her charms," Mortalla explained.

"So, she's a mage. How powerful is she?" Commander Tusk inquired.

"She's powerful enough to register as a threat to Darkseid," Mortalla shared, "She's an Agent of Order on Earth Prime. My abilities came as a surprise to her but she's very resourceful."

"I'll advise Luthor to lock down the planet," Tusk replied, "And for Darkseid's sake, do better the next time you encounter this sorceress."

"I intend to," Mortalla promised.


Concord used a spread of micro missiles to herd Hawkman into a contained area. And then he used a concussion blaster to hammer Carter Hall into the block long wanted poster. Hawkman was a bruised and bloody mass when Concord ceased fire.

Meanwhile his partner Harmon spread concussion bombs all around to slow the Flash down. They didn't hurt the Flash but they threw him off balance. An electro lance disrupted his connection with the Speed Force. Unexpectedly vulnerable, Flash was an easy target for Harmon's proton blaster.

Brola used his "Hand of Stone" to try and strike Judomaster. But all he accomplished was gouging out walls and smashing store fronts and outdoor cafe furniture. But Judomaster landed devastating blows every time he missed her. She put him down with a phoenix punch to the throat.

Concord and Harmon targeted Judomaster at that point. She scaled a building and reached the rooftop while they were still trying to draw a bead on her. Kalibre never saw her as she slipped away. Judomaster was loose as Concord and Harmon scrambled to report Judomaster's escape.


Buna actually proved to be a challenge for Katana. She was utterly fearless in the face of the SoulTaker. Katana's sword possessed her hands and body and Katana became a fluid engine of destruction.

Buna called in support from the LexCorp Security force. Katana carved her way through them as she headed for the end of the street. Katana only slowed long enough for the SoulTaker to devour the essence of the dead and to tame her own hands. Then Katana vanished.


Dr. Mid-Nite blanketed the other end of the street in blackout bombs. Making it to the streets beyond, he found that the general populace wore clothing akin to the JLU uniforms. Dr. Mid-Nite wished he'd brought Hooty. His owl's collar camera could prove useful at a time like this.

Aerial vehicles converged on the area and began sweeps of the area. Given how broad the pattern was. Dr. Mid-Nite could only guess he wasn't the only one to escape the New Gods. First thing, he had to find shelter and then track down which of his comrades were still free.


Mary lifted the Gravi-Guard in a vertical lift. She released him once she'd reached a suborbital elevation. Then she returned to Metropolis. She risked summoning the lightening. There was an odd chance she wouldn't be able to revert to her Marvel form.

Mary felt oddly compelled to cross town. It was a lot like when she was summoned to the Rock of Eternity or the hidden tunnel beneath Fawcett City. Mary knew better than to resist. Her feet would take her there whether she was willing to go or not.