Chapter 8
After she had graduated, unbeknownst to me, Sarah decided to run political office. She had to make the decision had to be made quick beck it was going to be a special election because the current officeholder was retiring. He was an older gentleman and had been in this post for twenty years. The election would take place in September. It is currently June the first. She wanted enough time to run some commercials.
Dick had decided to give her some money for her campaign.
She said that she wanted Dick, Barbara, Clark, Balin, Sam, Ella, mother, Donna, Cassie and I there for her announcement.
A few weeks back there was a riot at Arkam and several people had escaped. There were The Joker, Poison Ivy, Clock King, and Roxie Rocket, and Lock Up.
I had to convince mother to not wear her crown. The reason is we did not want to draw to much attention. Donna, Barbara, and I were some very nice knee length dresses. Donna had a pink dress on with yellow shoes. Barbara was in a brown dress with black shoes. We had to kind of force mother not to wear a floor length Greek style chiffon dress. Dick was in a nice blue suit. Clark was not with us because he was covering it for the planet. Balin was in a black suit with a black tie. Sam was in a Blue suit with a red a yellow tie. Ella was in a pin striped dress suit with black boots similar to the ones I wear as Wonder Woman.
Sarah was wearing a nice red dress and red shoes. She was also wearing a gold necklace of Themysciran design . It was the same type of necklace that mother would wear on a daily basis.
As she was making the announcement, by the way the office she was running for was Gotham Animal Control.
Roxie Rocket swooped in and took the necklace and flew off. I watched mother like a hawk, she was seething. It was then that I noticed Clark flying off in the sam direction in which Roxie had flown.
I was very proud of Sarah. After the necklace was stolen, Sarah stepped up to the microphone and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, please calm down. I have no fear that my necklace will be returned to me and Ms. Rocket will be returned to Arkham for Superman is on the case."
A few moments later, Kal had returned. In one hand he had the necklace and in the other he had Roxie. He told the Sarah and the crowd that he would take both the Roxie and the necklace to the police. He told Sarah she would be able to get the necklace from the police when they were finished with it.
The police called Sarah to make a identification of on Ms. Rocket and they told her that she would get the necklace back in a few weeks because they need it for the trial.
We explained this to mother. She wanted the necklace back as soon as possible. She had to made to understand that she could not ask it back because we wanted to keep it under wraps what half of her roots are. We could not afford for the people to ask where Sarah's mother is from an who she is.
We never put my name on the birth certificate. We did put Bruce's name on it. We did the same thing with Balin's Birth certificate as well. We knew that the people of Gotham knew about Bruce's reputation as a playboy billionaire. We thought that they would assume that Sarah and Balin was the result of one of Bruce's many one night stands and since they were blond, the people would not put together that she was my daughter. After all, Bruce had a reputation as a playboy billionaire at least before I came into his life. He has been out with a major amount of women and who's to say that he does not have any illegitimate children. It also happens to help that both Sarah and Balin look more like both of their grandmothers than they do either Bruce or I.
As her campaign got into high gear, Dick, Barbara, Selina, and I were investigating the rash of gold robberies that were happening in Gotham.
It was time for a meeting of the expanded founders. This meeting included Clark, Dick, Oliver, Xandy, Donna, Dinah, Wally, Cassie and I. As it turns out, the rash of gold robberies were not just taking place in Gotham, it was taking place all over the place.
It was at this point that I received a summons from the monitor room.
It came from ice.
I excused myself and went to take the call.
It was from Kasnia. Audrey said that both her and King Mikael's countries had been robbed as well.
The robbers were hitting the banks they what was happening. They were not hitting the national gold reserves, they were hitting smaller stashes of gold. This was not just banks with gold their vaults and safety deposit boxes, but also jewelry stores.
I walked back into the meeting and told them what Audrey had said.
Oliver said, "It looks like this could be a world wide problem. I guess we better talk with Amanda Waller."
We gave her a call and told her that she had better talk with her government ties and tell them that it appears someone it trying to accrue as much of the worlds gold as the possibly can.
It was then that we received a call from Dinah telling us that Oliver had been captured but he had escaped. The fact that he escaped was as important, what was, was who he had escaped from. It was Granny Goodness.
Our faces fell because we knew that Granny was not doing of this as a stand alone operation. We knew this was a part of a bigger plan by Darkseid to take over the earth.
The problem was that Kal was in another dimension. He was in Azar with Raven helping, who had recently taken over as the leader of the dimension or Azar.
We would have to make due with what we had. We have the League, the Titans, and the Ultimen.
This would be a the first real test for the Titans.
Mother offered for Phillipus along with a regiment of Amazons to come and help. We told her not to send them because Themyscira would be a fallback position for the forces of freedom and a place where we could plan after the initial attack.
I know that mother wanted to help but Philippus understood what I was saying. Philippus was thinking like a military leader. The woman who had trained me knew what I was saying was true. She said, "My Queen, the Princess is correct. If the outside world is defeated on the first counterattack, they will need a place to go where they will be able to plan a way to take back the earth. Thanks to the gods, we are largely unseen by the world and I doubt this alien who is attacking the world does not know we exist. If he does not know we exist, the Princess and her people will be able the plan a way to take the planet back. It will be at this point when we, the Amazons, both tribes, will join the battle."
It took the Philippus and myself about an hour to reason with my mother and win her mind to our side. After this, we sent Philippus to the Bana. We knew the Bana would understand what seeing the general meant.
At this point in time, both tribes are at peace.
I went with her, as well. We arrived and we took our time in explaining the situation. We told of the impending attack of Darkseid and that the League would be the first line of defense. We laid the same situation out in the same way I explained it to mother. It took a shorter period of time to convince the Bana Queen then it did with mother but she saw the reason in holding what is, possibly, the greatest set of warriors back in reserve.
She agreed.
When we left, she sent with us, the second in command of the Bana military so she and Philippus could start to coordinate both sets of Amazon's military.
When we arrived back at the embassy, I found that Xandy was on Watchtower doing her time on monitor duty. Also, Donna was at the embassy for she had recently returned from Thanagar where she was negotiating with Shayera. The negotiations were for a Themysciran embassy on Thanagar.
Shayera said that if we needed any help she would send some of her people.
Cassie would have been there as well but she was helping Tim Drake on a mission in Vietnam. They are on a deep cover mission it Vietnam and even though they would quickly figure it out but they are really close to finding the information that the League wants on a totally different issues.
As it would turn out, Donna had just returned from Thanagar and Xandy's term on monitor duty. They arrived back at the embassy and I told them what was to happen. I told them that the idea was for us to use Themyscira as a possible fallback position in which we would use to plan a possible counterattack. I told them the Amazons, both tribes, would be a part of the possible counterattack. Mother and the Queen of the Bana were training their warriors.
After this meeting, I found my way back to the farm where Sam, Ella, and Balin were there, helping to babysit the other children. We left the children with the nannies and went into the barn where I wanted to hold a meeting with the rest of the league.
I set up a four-way window on the computer to have a meeting with the Watchtower, Batcave, and the Oliver's mansion.
I told everyone what had happened on Themyscira and that my mother and the queen of the Bana were going to allow the island to serve as a fallback position.
After the meeting I went into the house to spend some time with my children. I did not have much time with Balin because he thought that he should get back to Gotham because he felt that Dick, Barbara, Selina, and Sumner would his help. They, like many of the other heroes, wanted to make their normal patrols in their respective cities. We felt this was the correct thing to do because we did not want Darkseid to know that we were on to him.
Because her father was off in Azar, Ella and Sam had been taking on Clark's patrols in Metropolis, while he was helping Raven.
As it would turn out, most of each heroes arch-enemies were squared away and they had relatively quiet patrols. Sure, there was an Intergang thing in Gotham and a purse snatching here and an armed robbery there.
Dinah wanted to see the kids so she transported into the barn while DeAnna stayed back with Oliver.
This was the calm before the storm.
A few days later, boomtubes were appearing and the attack was starting and it appears the attack was about to begin.
The problem for Darkseid was we were something that he was not expecting, we were prepared.
His parademons started to descend. The League, Titans, and others were prepared to fight. Since Xandy, Donna, Cassie, Captain Atom and I were the ones to be the leaders.
Waller sent several platoons of Ultimen to help us out.
I took one of the platoons, along with, Balin, Sam and Ella with me to Kasnia.
So we arrived there to find that this was where Darkseid had decided to try to physically attack himself. He did not want to attack one to the cities in the United States like Gotham and Metropolis because he has been defeated quite a number of times by either Bruce or Clark.
I do not think that he knew the Bruce was dead and Clark was in Azar helping Raven.
The parademons descended on the twins, Ultimen, and I and the fight was on.
He looked at me and asked, "Where is Kal-El.
I said, "Off Planet."
He smiled. I assume the he was starting to feel smug because he feels that only Kal can beat him. He had no idea who the twins are.
I gave him a smirk, as if to say "I know something you do not."
He started head to me but was cut off by fist to the back of his head. The fist put him on the ground. He got up and turned around, only to see Sam.
Dakseid said, "There is only one person that has ever hit me as hard, that is Kal-El."
Sam said, "Let me introduce myself to you. I am his son, the Zealot."
Again, he was stunned by a hit from behind. He turned around and saw Ella.
He said, "I am guessing that you are Kal El's daughter?"
She nodded.
This point, Sam had come close enough to grab Darkseid around the neck, in a strangle hold. Darkseid grabbed Sam and flipped over his head. Ella had circled around him and was headed for the back of Darkseid's legs. At this point, he was tying to hurt Sam with his omega beam. It was then that I heard a pop. I looked over to see that his "godliness" was on the ground and clutching his knee.
I went over to Ella and asked, "M, what did you do?"
She said, "I used what is commonly known as a chop block."
I asked, "Where did you learn this from?"
She said, "I learned it from profession football and wrestling. In football it is illegal, whereas, in wrestling, it is legal.
I walked over to Darkseid and said, "Darkseid, you have been defeated and we wish for you to get off of our planet."
He saw that his defeat was crushing, and he conceded. He recalled the parademons and the furies. Boomtubes were opened and they left.
On a yearly basis, I would go and visit Bruce's grave. This year, I had some excitement about how Balin was developing as a hero and how Sarah was doing in her political career.
This year, I had decided that I wanted Clark to come with me. Bruce's death hit Clark particularly hard. He had just returned from Azar where he had helped raven.
I had told him of how Sam and Ella defeated Darkseid. He was proud of them and congratulated them. After this, we left for Gotham.
When we arrived at the grave, Dick, Barbara, Tim, and Selina were there. We waited until everyone left before we went to his grave to speak him.
Both Clark and I both had a red rose for Bruce's grave. Mother had decided that she wanted to come and honor Bruce for giving his life in the protection of Themyscira. After she transported to the embassy, Donna had flown mother to the grave. Donna could not because she had to go do monitor duty.
I walked up to the grave, placed my rose on his grave, and said, "Bruce, I think that you would be proud of how Balin has acquitted himself well in his first few missions as a hero. He actually saved Lois's and Clark's children. He has taken one of your suits of armor, had Hephaestus improve it, and now calls himself the Hoplite."
We stayed there for fifteen minutes more for Balin and Clark to say their pieces. I wanted Clark there because he and Bruce were such close friends.
After we left the grave, we brought mother back to the embassy so she could teleport back to the island. After we left the embassy, Clark wanted to go and visit Lois's grave.
Before we left the embassy, we went into Jonathon's green house and picked one of his special flowers. We would put in on Lois's grave.
After we visited Lois's grave, we went back to the farm.
As we returned to the farm, we saw that Jonathon was on the porch. We walked over to him and noticed that he had been crying.
I asked, "Jon, why have you been crying?"
He said, "While you were gone, Matt has passed on."
He also said that the funeral would be the next day and the reading of the will would be two days after this.
The next day, we went to the funeral and the burial.
Two days after this, it was time for Clark to go to see Matt's lawyers office. When we arrived there, we found Matt had only one family member, a cousin named Anne. When I looked at her closely, I noticed that she was just a few years older than Bruce would have been. As I looked at her, I noticed that she looked nothing like a farmer. She was dressed in high end clothes. When I say high end I mean the same type of clothes that I would wear at the embassy, or Sarah was currently wearing in her job as head of animal control for Gotham. She had a manicure. I do not remember Mrs. Kent ever having a manicure. Not one of her hairs was out of place and her make-up was perfect.
The will stated that if there was any relative available, half of the farm would go to the relative, half would go to Clark.
After the reading of the will, Anne came to us and said, "As you may have noticed, I am not a farmer."
Clark said, "We have noticed."
She said, "I wish to sell my half of the farm to you. I am an actress and have never been on a farm."
We went to the lawyer the lawyer and told him the plan. He said that it would take another couple of days to draw up the papers.
Over the years, Clark, with the help of Oliver and Bruce, and later Dick had been buying out the surrounding farms. He now owned several hundred thousand acres.
These farms grew a wide variety of crops. Everything from avocados to zucchini.. He has a winery and vineyard, an apple orchard, and orange grove, and a peach orchard. He grows grains for Barley to rice. He has a dairy farm. He owns several thousand head of cattle, chicken, turkeys, ducks, and other foul.
As of this point in time he had brought in experts in each of the crops and had turned them into sharecroppers. Because of the books he and I had written and my job at Gotham University, we did not need the money. He would take ten percent of the prophets from each farm and let the others keep ninety percent.
With the help of Kryptonian techniques, he has helped the sharecroppers increase the prophets and yields from each farm.
After two days, we heard from the lawyer, he had all the papers drawn up and the banker was with him. Money changed hands and things was done.
Jon had been going up to the fortress to study up on Kryptonian agriculture and the ways they raised their livestock.
One of the things he had come up with was a fertilizer that is one-hundred times more effective than anything on earth.
On the other side of Smallville, Clark bought some land, around sixty-five acres, and set up a building that would be dedicated to making the new fertilizer. It would be used in the next growing season.
The next growing season would come within the next month-and-a-half. They, hurriedly made a batch and rushed it to the farm. The spread in on all of the crop lands.
The time passed and the crops were planted.
When the time came to harvest the first set of crops, it was found the yield had quadrupled. When they fed the cattle the "improved" grain and corn, and ate the grass which was fertilized the by the Kryptonian fertilizer, they gained three times as much weight and eighty percent of the weight was muscle. Also, the cows were giving twice as much milk and it, too, is of a better quality than the normal milk does.
All of the other crops were the same. The yields for those crops were nothing less than doubled.
We used the fertilizer for the next few years and the same thing had happened.
We were growing so much and raising so many animals, we were able to feed, not only Smallville, but also we could feed the six surrounding towns, as well.
After the second full season of using the fertilizer, Clark decided that it was a good idea that he share the advancement with the rest of the world.
As Superman, he held a press conference in Metropolis.
He said, "Ladies and gentlemen, a few years ago I had decided to help a certain family farm. What I did was to allow the farmer use what amounts to Kryptonian fertilizer. This fertilizer has worked incredibly well, it has increased the yields on the fruits, grains and vegetables. This farm also raises livestock. The weight of the cattle is up and it is good weight. The cattle that is used for beef is have two to three times as much meat. The cows are twice as much milk. The meat and the milk is of a higher quality than has been. The yields of food are so great that this one farm is able to feed the seven surrounding towns. I have decided to allow the fertilizer to be released to the rest of the country and the world."
A reporter asked, "Superman, who will be producing this fertilizer?"
Clark said, "The original plant that produced the fertilizer has been sold to Queen Industries."
Within the next few weeks, the deal was made with Queen industries. We sold half of the rights to the plant in Smallville to Oliver for a sum of money that we refused to disclosed but somehow the people in the media who follow business found out the amount. It was fifty million dollars.
It was a good deal for Oliver as well because of his beliefs. He loves to help people in any way that he can. If it is as Green Arrow or as Oliver Queen using his company to help the poorer countries and peoples in the world.
After the deal was done, we all thought that we all could all relax but this was the furthest thing from the truth.
I received a call from the embassy to go there for a meeting.
When I arrived there, I found Mother, Donna, Philippus, Xandy, Cassie and the general, Sekhmet of the Bana-Mighdall tribe. They are the other tribe that was created when my mother and her sister, Antiope split.
What general Sekhmet said was that Set had broken out of the prison in which the Egyptian gods had placed him. Our side of the amazonian society worship the Greek gods.
Apparently, he was putting together an army to destroy the world and needs to be stopped.
We all transported up to the Watchtower where I called an emergency meeting.
We had told the rest of the heroes what was going on and that Set is every bit as bad as some of our gods like Hades and Ares.
We wanted to go and stop Set but we would have to go to Bana-Mighdall and stop him.
It was decided that the Amazons, along with The Titans would go back with General Seckmet, to help the Bana to defeat Set.
When we arrived back in Bana Mighdall and found it looking much like I found Themyscira looking when I arrived during the Felix Faust incident.
We went to find the Queen, only to find that she was injured gravely. The Bana healers had don their best to stop the bleeding and clean the wound but it was becoming obvious that she was going to need surgery. I offered to take her back to the Watchtower where I knew that J'onn would put a priority on the surgery.
Before we left, she made Sekhmet the acting queen and asked mother to help her in the planning of the counter attack.
When I returned, I found that Fire and Ice were just coming off of monitor duty and I asked them if they would like to accompany me back to help in the battle. They said that they would. On the way back to the Javelin, we ran into to Vixen. When she found what was going on, she came as well.
Of the League, I brought with me Donna, Fire, Ice, Cassie, and Vixen. We also brought with us all nine of the Titans. The contingent was, all tolled, fifteen.
Cassie, Donna, and Dr. Fate went with Philippus and Sekhmet to see how the Bana capital was holding up.
The rest of us went to find the rest of the forces and how they were holding up. When we arrived, I saw the general's second-in-command and when I looked into her eyes I saw how bad things had actually gotten.
The rest of us threw ourselves into the fight. It reminds me a lot like what had happened when we sent Hades back into the underworld. There were of the dead that were fighting against the Themysciran amazons. We had to fight through them to get to a statue which needed to get destroyed.
The dead warriors were the first line of defense. The second line was giants, dwarves, elves and Gnomes. The last line was a line of dead Egyptian warriors.
Sam and Ella were flying around and using their heat vision to blow apart some of the skeleton dead. Deanna was using her bow. Magic Man had conjured up some guns for Probe. After he had done this, Magic Man was using magic bolts to put down some of the gnomes and elves. The Cat is using his whip, claws, and other weapons. The New Steel was using her hammer to smite the enemy.
It was then the that I had seen General Sekhmet and the others making a way to the statue. It was then that Bast appeared.
She saw The Cat and put her hands on him and they disappeared.
When they reappeared, they were behind the lines with a clear view of the statue.
Unlike his mother, The Cat had a utility belt. He went into one of the compartments and brought out a device which, I assumed, was an explosive. He put it on the statue and then he and Bast disappeared . When they did not reappear on the battlefield, I think that she took him to the palace where Sekhmet was running the Bana government.
The statue blew up. Set's armies disappeared and he, himself, disintegrated.
The Bana warriors, the rest of the league, the Titans and myself headed back to the Bana capital city.
They were going to have a massive celebration, but not until the queen would return. They invited us to it but, Mother said that she and the Themyscirans had to get back to look at our lands. The rest of us had to get back. Donna, Xandy, Fire, Ice, Cassie, Vixen, and I had to get back to the embassy and the Titans had to get back as well. I, also, know that The Cat would want to tell his mother about meeting Bast.
We had to wait for Selina to come back from a mission she was sent on. She was sent to one of Luthor's many subsidiaries. What she was sent do was to collect some information for Dick.
What actually happened was that she did get the information but he person who was in charge of the facility, blew it up. Selina barely got out but she did get out. We were eating one of Alfred's great meals when Alfred had returned with Selina, who had logged the information into the computer and then she sat down in front of an already prepared plate.
She said, "My mission was a success but the facility was blown up. I did not do this. My mission was to get all of the information from their computer system and to release a computer virus into that system. How was your mission."
I said, "I will let Sumner tell you what happened."
Sumner said, "There was a call from the other branch of the amazons, the Bana. They were having a problem with one of their gods. It was Set. He wanted to take over the earth and wanted to start with Bana-Mighdall. They went to Hippolyta for help. Queen Hippolyta sent a message, through the embassy, to Diana, Donna, Xandy, and Cassie for help. She came to the League, and the sent several female Leaguers along with the Titans. When we arrived it Bana Mighdall we found their queen had been severely injured. The decision had been made for Diana to take the Bana Queen to the Watchtower to do emergency surgery. We went back to Bana Mighdall to found out that there were three levels of defense around Set. We head to get to and destroy a statue to send him back to wherever he had come from. As the rest of the team was facing up against the army of the dead, this was when Bast appeared.
Salina asked, "Who is Bast?"
I said, "Bast is the Egyptian cat god."
Sumner continued, "She came to me and put her hand on my shoulder. We disappeared. When we reappeared, I was only feet from the statue. I walked over the statue, placed an explosive on it, and blew it up. When it blew up, everything settled down. All of Set's army either dissolved or disappeared."
Selina looked over at Sumner and had pride in her eyes. She got up, went over, and hugged Sumner.
The rest of the night was spent relaxing and talking about what was going on with both the League and the Titans.
After we finished eating, I got up and headed back to the cave to have them transport me back to Smallville.
When I arrive back on the farm, I found that, other than Sam and Ella, the other children had been put to bed. This would allow Clark and myself would be able to have some alone time together.
He decided to go and visit the graves of his parents. I went with him to pay my respect to Martha. When she was alive, she was so nice to me. There were several times when Lois and Clark was visiting as well as myself. I knew that there some jealousy on Lois's part. This jealousy stemmed from the fact that the press had speculated that Clark and I had a relationship other than friendship.
After we left the grave sites, we went for a late night walk in Smallville. We felt confident enough that there were a majority of the law abiding citizens were in bed, and the law abiding citizens that were not in for the night were in Metropolis partying. This being the case, made it easy for us to be able to walk the streets of Smallville, in our work uniforms, while holding hands.
As we were walking down main street, we saw the newly elected sheriff. The fear of her knowing who we were was not there because we had decided that we would tell selected law enforcers our secret identities. She saw us, and said hello. We had started a conversation but in the middle of the talk she was called back to the station. She surprised me when she asked Clark and I to get into the car.
When we arrive back at the station, we found one of her deputies with a piece of paper in her hand. When she took a look at the paper, she frowned.
I asked, "What is wrong?"
The sheriff said, "Livewire has escaped along with Giganta."
I looked at Clark as he shook his head.
He looked at me and said, "It will take this one."
He touched his ear to let whomever was on monitor duty to let them know what was going on.
After he did this he lifted off to head to Metropolis.
I went back to Smallville to see the children but I knew that I could go to the barn and monitor the mission.
When I returned, I found that it was eight in the morning on a Saturday.
Before I went into the barn to look in on Clark and the mission, I saw that Jon was on his way out to do his work on one particular part on the farm.
I asked, "Jon, where are you off to today?"
He said, "I am headed to the wheat fields."
He asked, "Mom, do you think that our Amazon sisters would benefit from the same processes that have our farm as successful as it is?"
I said, "Jon, It took a long time for them to accept me back from the time when I was banished from Themyscira."
He understood what I said but asked, "What if I bring them the facts?"
I said, "I don't know, maybe."
He knew that I was working in Gotham so we had to check my schedule so that I could be there to support him in his appearance before the senate.
After our little talk, I gave him a hug. He went off to the wheat fields and I went into the barn. As I was watching the news feeds from Metropolis, there were many things going on. It was not just that Livewire and Giganta, the Atomic Skull and Metallo were rampaging as well. I noticed that there were two supersonic contrails and assumed that Sam was helping out.
At this point, Lois came in to see what was going on. The others were not there. Lyta was hanging out with Saoirse, at the Thanagarian embassy. Lana was at the Themysciran embassy. Martha was at the Smallville Ledger. Lara was sleeping in the house. Jordan was at the fortress. Ella was at her job as an intern at the Gotham Gazette. Bruce was in Gotham partying. Jimmy was photographing Themyscira. Lastly, Perry was doing his monitor duty. He had just recently decided that he wanted to work as a scientist on the Watchtower.
It was at this point that I decided to go and help out which ever person I could find first. It would be either Zealot or Superman. Martha said that she would keep up the monitoring the progress of the missions.
I picked up my com link, put it in my ear, radioed the Watchtower, and told them to transport me to the top of the Daily Planet.
I appeared on the roof of the Planet and found that Sam was there. He looked pretty dejected.
I asked, "Sam, what's wrong?"
He said, "I had a pretty good handle on Metallo and the Atomic Skull, but it seems they split up and disappeared."
I asked, "Where is your father?"
He said, "He is out at sea, rescuing an ocean liner that was shot by Livewire."
Apparently, Giganta was the easiest to defeat. When Zealot showed up, he had tried the same move that his sister had used defeat Darkseid. When she fell to the ground, she had knocked herself out and shrunk down which allowed the police to take her to prison.
I asked, "Which way did they go?"
He said, "Atomic Skull went south, and he is in the sewers. Metallo went north."
I said, "It should be easy to find both of them. With Metallo, just look for any type of above ground mayhem. With the Skull, you have to watch for his radioactivity."
He said, "I will go after the Skull and you can take Metallo."
I understood what he was saying. He was not confident in his ability to withstand the kryptonite.
I said, "I will take Metallo, you go after the Skull."
I radioed the Watchtower to run a scan to find krytonite radiation. I also had them send down a Geiger counter to find the Skull.
When it arrived, I handed it to Zealot and he went off into the sewers. Barbara, whom was on monitor duty, said that Metallo was just north of the city.
When I arrived, I found that he was still absorbing things.
I had to stop him and the only way that I could think to do it was to use my lasso to try to behead him. He had yet to notice that I had arrived which would allow me to put the lasso around his neck.
I was quick such that I was able, in one motion, to take my lasso from waist and throw it around his neck.
I found a tall telephone pole and put my lasso over it and pulled hard. My lasso is indestructible and Metallo was tall, but he was not twenty-five feet tall and I was able to snap his neck from his shoulders.
I went to his body and took the kryptonite out of his chest and had the Watchtower beam me down a lead box.
I took the head and body Metallo to the police. When I arrived there, I found that both Superman and Zealot were there with their respective criminals. Clark had stopped by Gotham and got some silicate powder. This powder was meant for Livewire. It was meant to keep electrical power down.
It was decided that Giganta was to be taken to the hospital for them to repair the damage to her anterior cruciate ligament. After she recovers, she would be moved to a maximum security facility.
After all of the formalities were done with, Clark and Sam checked in at the Planet and I headed back to Gotham because it was going on being Monday morning.
Before I went back to Gotham, I stopped by the embassy to collect the information that I had requested from the official historian of Themyscira. The students knew that I was ambassador for Themyscira. They had asked me about the history of Themyscira and said that I would look into getting it, teaching, and testing them one it. This was going to be a part of my lecture series and I was not going to miss the chance to give the students some information I think would help them later in life.
After my lecture was over the day, I was on the out of town when I heard that there was a riot at Arkham. When I arrived at the cave, I found Tim was doing the duty at the computer.
I asked him, "Who is available?"
He said, "Dick is out of town on business. Barbara, Selina, Sumner, and Balin are there but they could use some help."
I told him that I was on my way.
When I arrived on the scene, it was chaos. I saw that there were some criminals were trying to escape. There was an open semi-trailer behind them. These criminals were the run of the mill thugs. They were all chained together because they had just came from working on paying their debt to society. I picked up the trailer and flew ahead of the criminals, placed the trailer down, and started to pick them up. I put them into the trailer. There were twenty pair of the escapees which took me awhile to find and detain. This took me about an hour. Half way through, Montoya and Bullock showed up and I asked them to guard the back door to the trailer as to keep these criminals detained.\
After I finished detaining these people, we took them back and put them into their cells.
Montoya and Bullock took me to talk to give my report to Commissioner Gordon. I had to wait because Barbara, Selina, Sumner, and Balin were talking to him.
After he had finished with them, Bullock and Montoya went to him and said that we had captured these criminals. After I made my report to Gordon, I went back to the cave to log my information into the computer.
Then, I transported back to the watchtower to log my report there as well.
About forty-five minutes later, as I was walking towards the teleporter, I ran into Sam. He was on his way to log his report into the computer on the watchtower.
I said hello and found that he would be back on the farm in a few hours. He wanted to rest a recharge. Let me amend this, his frustration had gotten the better of him and when he was on the farm he could relax. It was also getting to be this way with Themyscira.
When he arrived, I felt like I should go and talk with him. I knew that he has some confidence issue in the previous adventure.
I asked, "It appeared to me that you had lost confidence it your abilities and the training that you have received?"
He said, "Other than the purse snatchers, rapists, robbers, murderers, and other criminals, this was the biggest person that I have caught and I was afraid that I would not be able to find and defeat either the Atomic Skull or Metallo."
I said, "You helped defeat Darkseid."
He said, "I do not count this because Ella had finishing blow. I still feel like I can not live up to the symbol on my belt buckle. I know what you are going to say, "You chose to put the emblem of the house of EL on it to honor that particular house." Well maybe you are correct on this and maybe I should not have put it on there, but I did."
I talked him into going to Themyscira to talk with Philippus and also to go and talk with Dick about when he first took the cowl after Bruce had passed.
After this, I went into the barn, where I found that Martha was still there monitoring things. I tapped her on the should so I could tell her that I would be taking over for her. She started to protest but then a huge yawn escaped her mouth and I smirked.
She asked me what was going on. I told her what had happened and that Sam was having confidence issues. She could not believe this but knew how emotional Sam could be.
After she left, I sat down in front of the computer to do my watch.
As I was doing my watch, I received a call from the embassy. They said that mother wanted to talk with me.
Before I left, Ella, Martha, Lana, Lara, Lois, and Lyta wanted to come along with us because they had wanted to visit with mother.
When we arrived, mother sent the children to her private chambers and brought me into the senate. As it turns out, they wanted to thank Kal for his giving of the technology that has increased the output of the amazon's farmland.
After this, mother and I went back to the palace where the kitchen staff had fixed a great meal.
After the meal, as we talked, Persephone appeared.
She said, "Diana, Hades wishes to see you."
I asked, "What does he want with me?"
She said, "He would not tell me but he did say that this about a magical object that if it gets into the hands of one of Ares's followers, it could destroy the world."
I went to the goddess and we disappeared.
A few seconds later, we appeared in the throne room of the king of the underworld.
He would go on to explain that the object is about the size of one of the bracelets that I wear. In fact, it was a bracelet with several jewels on it. The wearer would be able to, by just rotating it, access different powers. The problem is that if the person did not have experience in magic, they would not understand that if it rotated in the wrong direction, it would explode.
I asked, "Where is it located?"
He said, "It is in a place called Star City."
He showed me a box. This box was empty. It was where this bracelet should be. He gave me the box and said, "Obviously, I was supposed to be protecting it and have failed at it. It appears that someone from in here has done the deed of stealing the bracelet and getting it into the world. I am currently doing an investigation. I will give you the box, you will bring it with you, get the bracelet, put it in the box, and bring it back to me."
I said, "Look, Hades, you have had it stolen and do not know who did it. I think it would be better if I kept an eye on it. I think that I might have a better place to keep it where Ares might not be able to get at it."
He said, "We shall see."
I went back to the palace and told mother and the rest of the of them what I had to do. I thought that it would be a good idea if Sam should come along with me.
I radioed Dinah to say that there was this bracelet that we had to get. When I called her, I found out that Oliver was in Gotham helping Dick and Barbara, who was pregnant again, with a case.
I knew that we would need some help with this little case. I asked Deanna and Sam to call the rest of the Titans to help us out with.
What I did not know, at least until we arrived in Star City, was that Ella was with Clark on a mission to Thanagar to help Shayera with earthquake relief.
We had our pre-mission meeting to figure out the logistics of where each person would be searching for the demons which would be protecting the wearer of the bracelet.
We decided that, because we had arrived in late afternoon, and the meeting had gone until around seven in the afternoon, we would start in the morning.
After a quick meal, Deanna decided to take Sam and I on a tour of Oliver's house. It was obvious to see that Sam had a thing for her and she was oblivious to it.
The last room we ended the tour in was what Deanna said that it was a trophy room. It reminds me a lot of the room in Wayne Manor where Bruce had put the various suits of armors that he had collected over the years.
The last thing that she had showed us was a wall that had various bows and crossbows on it. The most interesting one was in a wooden case. That particular bow did not have a string on it. I asked Deanna about it and she said that it was a gift from Jason Blood. She said that is was called "Merlin's Bow." She opened the case and picked up the bow showed that it was well crafted.
At this point, Oliver had returned, and it was obvious that he was frustrated that the case that he and Dick were on was at an impasse.
He walked in right at the end of the tour when Deanna had the bow in her hand. She was showing us the partial bow when she saw that there was writing on it. She spoke the what was written on the inside of the bow, and the bow string appeared.
We did not know what the bow could do so we called up to the Watchtower to see where Jason was. As it turned out, he was on monitor duty.
He transported down and saw that the bow had string on it.
When he saw this, he asked, "Who spoke the incantation?"
Deanna said, "It was me."
He said, "What this bow does, is it fires magic energy arrows."
We all looked at each other.
He continued and said, "Also, what it does is that the magic can form other objects like bridges, cages, and other things. The user of the bow can fire and unlimited amount of arrows. It does have one weakness. The weakness is that it needs to be recharged every five years."
Deanna asked, "Where must I go to recharge it?"
Jason said, "You must go to see Dr. Fate about it, the Helmet of Nabu will know about it."
The next day, we all took up our positions. We have sent the Titans to the magic shops and occult places to see if they had bought any type of magical implement like the bracelet.
There happens to around a combined total of twenty-five of such places in Star City. We fond that a particular store, The Star City Magic Palace, said that a person by the name of Janet Mettos had come in with, what he described as being an object that seem to look like the bracelet.
It was obvious that Mr. Jackson had not bought it.
When Deanna asked him in which direction this Ms. Mettos went when she left. He said that he thought she went south.
Deanna came back and gave us the information.
I prayed to Hera and asked her to take me to meet with Hades. What I wanted to ask him if there was a way to track the bracelet or the magic it emits.
Hades asked if I could wait for him to check if there was something like this available. I had the ability to wait for him because all the leads which we received had all fallen through.
About an hour later, Hades returned and, in his hands, he had a wand in his hand. He told me that it was a tracking device. It would home in on the residual energy that the bracelet gives off.
After he gave it to me, he sent me back to Themyscira where I went to the portal which would take me back to New York.
When I arrived back in New York, I radioed the Watchtower to have them get me back to Star City.
I had the home in on where San was. I found that the decision was made to have someone watch the magic stores Sam and Deanna were watching Mr. Jackson's store to see if Ms. Mettos would try to return and sell the Bracelet, again.
We left when then found that I had the tracking wand.
We went back to Oliver's house where we found everyone was there.
I called a emergency meeting where I showed them the wand and told them that it could track the bracelet.
The next day, we went outside, I waved the wand, and recited the spell.
The wand was activated.
pointed the wand and it started to pick up the residual magical energy that the bracelet gives up.
Apparently the entity who stole the bracelet has not told the person who is now in possession of it that it gives off this energy.
We had the Watchtower send us a Javelin for us to be able to aid us in the search for the wand.
Stargirl or Courtney Whitmore was the person whom they sent with the Javelin.
The Titans and I boarded it and we left.
As we followed the direction in which the wand was taking us, we found that a great deal of magical energy had been expended in Metropolis but the bracelet was no longer in Metropolis.
We continued to follow in the direction that it appears it had made a stop in Gotham City. We received a message from Zatanna, who was doing series of shows at the Iceberg Lounge.
She said, "Diana, I understand that you are looking for a very strong magical Object?"
I said, "Yes, we are."
She continued, "Penguin tells me that someone, a female with the last name of Mettos tried to sell the Penguin a magic bracelet."
I asked, "Did Penguin buy it?"
She said, "No, he knew that I was there and knew about magic. Between shows, he called me in and I told him that it is a dangerous artifact and he would not be able to sell it. He asked me if he would like for him to buy it for me. I said I would not know what to do with it."
I sighed and said, "I really wish that you would have allowed him to buy it for you, because it would have made my job easier. I have a box to store it in and a person to give it to. This person will be able to store it."
She sighed and apologized.
We continued our search.
The search, then took us to Brazil.
When we landed, we found that Fire was waiting for us. She said that she thought that it would be a good idea if she was there because it is a dangerous city because of it being carnival time. She let us know that the "success" of carnival is directly linked to the number of murders that happens during this time.
As we continued to follow the where the wand was leading, we ended up at the Lazarus Pit where Talia had taken us in, which Selina was dipped, when she got infected.
I knew that it was not Talia that was there because she had told me that she was going to Europe and then she had asked me if she could go to Themyscira for a mini vacation. I radioed her.
I asked, "We are here at the pit in Brazil and it seems that someone is using it for something. Would you know who it is and why they are using it?"
She said, "The only thing that I can think of is that it is Ubu. As to why, the only guess is that he is working to try and bring back my father."
I asked, "Can this actually happen?"
She said, "Yes, if there is an object of great power."
I said, "He does have such an object. It is a bracelet with power magical jewels on it."
She said, "I want to be there."
I told her to have Philippus take her to the place where the portal to the embassy was. She was to go to the embassy and then have J'onn do a direct transportation also have him key on my communicator.
Five minutes later, she appeared. She took us into the chamber via a secret tunnel. This allows us to sneak us in behind him and surprise him.
When we arrived in the chamber, Deanna fired her bow. What happened was that she, effectively took out the small army that was with Ubu. She used a cage that was formed from the arrow that was fired from.
Then, Talia went to him, punched him hard, and knocked him out.
I went to her and took the bracelet, that she had taken from Ubu's wrist, and put it in the box.
We all adjourned into the Javelin and Dr. Fate took us to her tower and I gave her the box and told her to find some pocket dimension to store it in.
After she created the pocked dimension, where she put the box, I went back to Themyscira .
I prayed to Hades, he appeared and I told him what had happened. He told me that he had found the demon that had helped Ares get the bracelet and was discipline it accordingly.
