Part 2: Unnatural Disaster
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Summary: Wally West struggles through his recovery but what happens when he gets an offer he can't refuse? What will it mean for him, for the world and for his future with the League?
Disclaimer: The DC characters are not mine. I'm just playing with them. They'll be returned eventually, not in good condition but that can hardly be blamed on me!
Author's Note: Told ya it was back on my radar! Here's Chapter 8, much sooner than I expected it. And we're almost at the really cool, really good part! Mwa ha ha ha haaa!
Chapter 8 - Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet
They were impressive crafts, both in their scale and their armaments. The charcoal grey outer armour was fashioned in the sharp, angry lines of military vehicle, with its vague delta shape and thick bulk dotted with large cannons and at the back the very advance propulsion system. On nearly all the screens in the Watch Tower the craft slowly loomed into view, blocking out the small points of light much farther away. This ship was only a few thousand miles from earth, hardly anything compared to the over two-hundred thousand miles between earth and the moon. The vessels two siblings would be arriving in a few hours bringing the count to three –three invading space craft. At least that's what most people seemed to assume.
Though they'd figured out a way to have a communications link with the rapidly approaching crafts two days ago, their hails had received no response. They were left to watch and wait. The orbiting satellites –some military, some not, some classified, some not –of the small paranoid planet were quickly turned in the direction of the oncoming vessels once word filtered through the organizations after the first, fluke sighting.
What followed was a media and military frenzy. It was hard to say who was perpetuating the rumours of perhaps another Thanagarian invasion. Military and government spokes people continued to allay fears while conversely dropping hints that they were preparing for the worst. Reporters, recounted the other invaders from space that had come to earth and while the majority of them had been peaceful and helpful (Superman and the Martian Manhunter to name two) the ones that had the largest impact were the bad ones. It was their memory that coaxed the embers of fear and worry.
"They're still not responding to our attempts to communicate," J'onn announced as he entered the command centre. Few turned to acknowledge or greet him. The second ship was just coming in to view range and the new images were being shown on the screen.
"That's the Coluan symbol," Green Arrow said as the twisted logo illuminated by the sun shining on the hull slid across the screen. "Guess their back for their man."
Some of the information on Vril Dox that they had been given to them by the Flash after his internment in the lunar base had been made public to the members of the League. The big six felt that the others should know how serious a situation this was.
So the world watched with trepidation the arrivals of the Coluans.
+JLU+
"Rudy?" Iris West's wide brown eyes stared unblinkingly at the man currently occupying the small porch at the front of her house. He smiled his familiar sheepish half-smile that made the dark crafty eyes light with something that had always made her a little suspicious. He was her brother and she loved him but that didn't stop her from greeting Rudolph West with a slap.
"Where the hell have you been? What happened?" She asked angrily, already assuming that he'd gotten himself in trouble and had gone into hiding. Still, nothing would excuse him leaving his son behind.
Rudolph rubbed his cheek. "Nice to see you too, Iris."
"It's been fifteen years! I think you earned that!"
Rudolph sighed and ran a hand through his thinning and dull red hair. "I'm looking for Wally. Is he here?"
Iris debated with herself what to do. She knew that Wally had dreamed of his father coming back for him when he was a little boy. Eventually he stopped articulating that dream. She didn't know what he thought of his father now. She stepped further out of her house, not concerned that she was in her slippers, and pulled the door until it was only open a fraction. The sound of the door closing and her absence would have those inside the house wondering where she was and they'd come looking –exactly what she didn't want.
She couldn't have known that her long disappearance since the bell chimed had already attracted attention, first her husband then her nephew.
"Rudy, you can't do this. Not now. Not out of the blue like this!"
"I saw him on TV, Iris. He's needs me!"
"Dad?"
The two people outside looked to the door that was still only partly open but the voice had come from not too far behind it.
"Dad!"
"Wally, no!" They both heard Barry call but it was too late. The door opened fully to reveal a shocked Wallace West. He stared at the man next to his Aunt. His hair was dull and getting grey at the edge just above his ear and a little at the front. There were lines in his face from laughing and frowning that Wally didn't remember. The eyes were the same though. It was him. He was also shorter than Wally remembered but it was him.
"…Dad…" He didn't know what to say.
"Hey, Sport," Rudolph gave a weak wave. "You look…you look good."
The lips on Wally's pale face twitched in what had almost been a smile but the shock was still prominent. "Where…" How many times had he thought about what he would ask his father if ever he saw him again? Here was his chance and he could find any words. He stepped cautiously on to the porch as if needing the extra time to remember how to walk and ensure that the ground wasn't going to be pulled out from under him like he felt this situation slipping away already.
All Wally really wanted to know was "…why…why….did you go away?" He sounded so young, a reflection of the little boy who'd lost his world and his hero. The boy who'd waited alone at home for days before strangers came looking for him.
His broken whisper made Iris's eyes sting with tears. She knew that there could never be a satisfactory answer to that question. No matter what trouble there had been, if Rudolph had really cared, really tried, then he would have found a way to take Wally with him.
"There…was an incident. I had to get away. I didn't want to put you in danger."
"Oh." It was probably the second best answer he could have hoped for. The best would have involved Rudolph being in a coma for the past fifteen years. At least then it wouldn't have been his fault for leaving.
"I saw you on TV. Thought maybe you could use your father," he gave a hopeful smile.
That smile was so familiar and just as much a mystery to him but it was so good to see. The words, the smile, was what the younger West wanted to hear, wanted to see. Automatically he knew it was too good to be true. There was something else –something that had been left out. He could blame this cynicism on recent events though it just could have stemmed from his youth spent roaming the streets and then going home to a room he shared with a dozen other kids. He could read people pretty well and his father was reading like the type of guy he had tried with limited success to avoid back then.
"Where have you been?" Wally's voice was deeper, stronger now and wariness tinged his green eyes.
Rudolph took a breath, giving him time to think and choose his words. "I've been around, trying to blend in."
"I looked for you." Rudolph made to respond again but Wally didn't let him. "I had the best detective in the whole freaking world looking! You weren't blending in. You dropped off the fucking map! You may as well have been dead!" He took a few breathes and turned his body away from the man that was pulling these mixed emotions from him. "Where were you?" He wanted the truth. He would not accept anything less. Much later he'd look back and wonder if the lie would have been better.
Seconds passed. There was some movement, the sound of fabric rustling. Wally slowly slid his eyes over and watched as his father reluctantly pulled something from his pocket. It was a wallet, nothing special about it from the outside, just brown leather. Worn and well used judging from the creases and the fading but still in one solid piece.
"I…I went to the west coast. Northern California," he said slowly. He opened the wallet and stared at it for a moment before offering it to his son, but not his only son. Not anymore.
It twisted in his gut, actual physical pain. His upper body hunched over a little when his next breath rushed out through a strangled throat. Sweat pricked his forehead, a saline sheen glazed his eyes. This was the axe he'd been waiting to fall. The axe was a picture, and the image it held shredded that thing that had been his heart and his hope.
"Her name's Andrea. The little ones are Joyce and Michael –nine and six."
The woman, Wally assumed she was the wife, had short, light brown hair and hazel eyes. She smiled vivaciously at the camera, the laugh-lines at the corners of her eyes emphasizing how many smiles she'd worn and how real they all had been. Embraced, one with each arm, were the kids –Joyce, big laughing eyes and hair that was a lighter and somewhat brighter shade than her mother's, and her little brother Michael, Mike, Mikey, Mickey, with blonde hair that he knew would darken to a shade like his sisters in a few years.
He tilted the wallet and watched as more images flipped out in a chain of captured memories. He thought it would go to the floor, like a list naming all the things his father had never been to him, a friend, a teacher, a protector. There were only four wallet-sized images but he had them, pictures of his family, his new family. No reminder of the son he'd already had –a boy, who was eleven years old when Joyce was born to her loving parents, fourteen when the little family living in California had grown by one.
He hadn't been in hiding. He'd been living, starting again. Wally realized that he'd been truly abandoned. No words could describe how much and how deep that hurt.
"…They're…beautiful."
Tears ran down Iris's cheeks.
A shaky hand slipped the driver's licence far enough out of the slot that he could read the name. "North." He almost felt like laughing. "Benjamin North." The North family.
"You're still my son. You've just got a brother and sister now. You're part of my family."
The young man pressed his lips together, determined that his voice wouldn't waver. "Am I? Or did you tell Andrea that you were going on a business trip, or that you were going to spend some time with some of Ben North's buddies?" Nothing came from Ben North, formerly Rudolph West's mouth and they knew it was true. "Go home to your family, Mr. North." He slapped the wallet into the middle of his father's chest. Not feeling at all sorry when the force of the impact caused the man to flinch and his Aunt to wince at the sound.
"Wally, please. I just want to be your father!"
"What, you woke yesterday, saw me on TV and you remembered that you had another kid out there? Did you want to see if you could get anything from me? Thought about all those good old times when you tucked me in to bed after forgetting to feed me? Are you still looking for a free ride and a quick fix? Well I don't have anything and I owe you even less! You had the chance before to be my father! You had twenty years! You're nine too late!"
"I'm still family. I'm still your father!"
Suddenly, Wally's hands were twisted in his collar, clenching into fists and lifting the older man just enough so that his feet were only holding a small portion of his weight. The angry face of his son was only an inch from his.
"They are my family," he hissed and nodded his head in the general direction of the Allen's and their home. "And my father is dead." He held him for several seconds watching those familiar eyes, and the vaguely familiar face.
A hand settled on his shoulder, warm and calm.
"Wally."
He looked down and to the side. He let go. Rudolph managed to keep himself from falling to the floor by grasping onto the metal railing bordering the porch. Wally was standing sideways to him, apparently split between wanting to say something to Rudolph and going to what was the closest thing to a home he had ever had. He began to turn away from him and Rudolph made one last-ditch, misguided attempt.
"Wally-" He didn't get to say anything more as Wally whirled and a punch was thrown. His fist paused just before it made contact with the brick wall he wanted to take his frustration out on. Iris, Barry and Rudolph watched in astonishment the blue lines of electricity crackling intermittently over Wally's rapidly vibrating arm. There was a great deal of energy being just barely held in check. The energy from his clenched fist caused a small area of the wall to blur but he pulled back. He could pulverise this house in a breath but he didn't want to do that. The Allen's had done nothing but take care of him when even his father didn't want to. He didn't want to hurt them.
He stilled the motion of his arm, dissipating the energy. He lay his hand against the wall and rested his forehead against the rough surface as well. His shoulders heaved with uneven breaths. Rudolph took a step towards him and raised a hand to lay on the trembling back. Wally tensed as though he could feel the touch coming.
"Go away," he whispered. Rudolph paused, his hand hovering nary an inch from the warm back. "Just go away. You're good at that."
After a minute he did. The sound of a car starting and then pulling away signalled the end, the last time he would ever see his father.
"Wally?"
He sighed raggedly.
"Wally?" Barry tried again. He cautiously laid a hand on his nephew's shoulder and found his arms full of the man a moment later. "It's okay, Wally." Barry hugged the quavering young man back. Iris brushed away her tears with one hand and the other she ran through the short red hair of her nephew. From the corner of her eye she caught some movement from the door. She gave her husband a sad look for a moment and then went to check it out.
She found Dawn and Don were hiding behind the door looking confused and a little scared.
"It's okay," she assured though her voice was heavy with sorrow. She ran a finger down her son's cheek and gave her a smile. Of the two Don was, surprisingly, the more empathetic one, and more closed off and private than his sister. Dawn was more analytical so it was no surprise when she asked a question, sad but no surprise.
"Mom, why didn't Wally's dad love him?"
She had no answer.
"Wally, are you okay?" Barry asked when the vibrations began to lessen. He felt the young man nod against his shoulder.
He was still for several seconds. "I'm hungry."
Barry couldn't help but laugh a little. He squeezed the slender man one more time before Wally pulled away feeling embarrassed. He was too old to need hugs. And when he was young enough to need them without fear of embarrassment they should have come from the man he'd just kicked out of his life.
+JLU+
"They're here," Yall said over her shoulder to the two men who were quietly waiting for exactly that information.
"Good." Luthor snapped closed whatever device he'd been tinkering with. With the tips of his fingers stained a faint yellow Dox snuffed out his cigarette. He clearly wasn't worried about what diseases he might contract from smoking, so much so that the nicotine stained his skin. "Watch them closely," Luthor instructed. "When their guard is down we'll make our move."
"Their guard will never be down. Coluan security is very diligent," Yall countered, something prideful in her voice.
Luthor was unconcerned. "Nobody is perfect not even your comrades. If we don't find suitable opening within the next thirty hours then we'll make our own. Contact me when you're ready."
"Where are you going?" Yall asked, trying not to sound too curious.
"To make some preparations." He looked to Vril. "I suggest you do the same."
He closed the door behind him hearing the mechanism click in to place. From his pocket he retrieved a dark haired wig and a hat and put them on. It wasn't much of a disguise but in his regular attire, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes on the ground where he was walking, he blended in better than any expensive and intricate face mask would have done.
The outwardly normal man, weaved through the common streets and alleys, passing average people. He wasn't any of those things; not normal, not common and most definitely not average –not with a mind like he had. A mind that was still what some would consider a few feet short of a mile. If you were to look through his eyes, hear with his ears, perceive his brain there would be a faint apparition always to your left, with that trio of circles etched into the forehead.
He'd stopped walking as though there was someone next to him that he had to make room for. The partner that only he could see could pass through anything. He hadn't stopped talking to it though. Most of the time he responded in his head knowing that he'd be heard but sometimes he forgot himself and he spoke aloud, only to receive curious stares if there was anyone around him.
"You can't trust her."
I know, he thought.
"They must both be eliminated to ensure our ascension."
Lex nodded.
"Do not act before the most opportune time. Only once they have outlived their purpose may they be disposed."
Lex smiled. "Don't worry, Brainiac. Soon we will be the absolute. Alpha and omega."
+JLU+
"Admiral Ross."
"What is it, Keele?" Ross asked of the Petty officer without looking away from the television in his office.
"Sir the Secretary of the Navy has requested that you meet him at the Pentagon."
"By request I assume you mean he ordered me to meet him?"
The young man in the sailor uniform nodded sharply once. "Yes, sir. That was the gist of what he said."
"And I suppose I don't want the details of what he said."
"Yes, sir." Keele would also appreciate not having to repeat the message the SecNav had practically yelled in his ear before hanging up.
"All right. Dismissed." The Yeoman pivoted smartly and exited the office. Jared sighed once he was alone. No doubt this had something to do with the three crafts that had just taken up orbit around their planet. "Shit. When did Earth become Alien Invader Grand-fucking Central?"
+JLU+
"We're getting a transmission!"
"Justice League of Earth, this is First Leader Osip of the Coluan Federacy. We would like the opportunity to confer with your organization."
The heroes glanced around eventually many eyes coming to rest on their defacto leader. Superman nodded to Mr. Terrific who proceeded to open a visual transmission channel. The large glass atrium windows became opaque and an image was displayed in the thin film of specialized material patterned into what usually looked like plain old glass.
"I am Osip. This is my second, Nom," said the blue skinned man who gestured to himself then to the man standing at his side. "We've recently become aware that one of our people, Dox, is on your planet. He is a dangerous individual and has been declared a criminal to be apprehended at any cost. We seek your assistance in bringing him to justice. That is what you do, is it not?"
"He built Brainiac. What punishment could you possibly give that could give justice to all those who have perished?"
Wonder Woman had a point.
"Nothing,
except to make sure that such travesties and tragedies never occured
again," Osip said, unflappable in his resolve.
Wonder Woman
crossed her arms asking, "How exactly do you plan on catching him?
As terrible as he is, he's no fool."
"I believe you people have an expression: everybody plays the fool. He has his maras." The last word didn't translate.
"Maras?" Superman asked.
Osip glanced to the side trying to determine how to explain. Nom took care of the explanation for him. "You have no exact word for it in your language. The best direct translation would be 'emotional investment'. But perhaps a more apt equivalent would be 'weakness'."
Superman, J'onn and Wonder Woman didn't like the sound of that. When they replayed the recording of this exchange for Batman, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl they wouldn't like it either.
"You're going to use-"
"You can't do that!" Wonder Woman protested fiercely, cutting off Ollie before he could finish. Most had or were quickly picking up on the implication.
"Yes, we can. You don't understand. One man, one life, is nothing compared to what could be lost should Dox and Brainiac escape," Osip said coldly. "We contacted you simply as a courtesy. A few of your planets governments have also been sent messages outlining the situation but don't be confused. We are not asking for permission. We'll do whatever is required to ensure the end of this threat." The transmission abruptly ended.
"Whatever is required? One innocent life? Sure. Let's make it two. Nobody will miss them. Maybe fifty –what's fifty against billions? When the hell would it end?" Green Arrow said unhappily.
"Probably somewhere near six billion," Superman said solemnly. He felt the heat of many eyes on him. "We're only one planet. Thousand, probably hundreds of thousands are at risk. The whole earth may become collateral damage in the Coluan attempt to end Brainiac."
"Well there's no way we can let that happen. Anti-world destruction is kind of why we're here." Shayera's statement earned nods all around. She was ready for a fight, so were the others, and none of them planned on anybody being sacrificed in order to win.
+JLU+
Iris eyed the place dubiously. "Are you sure you want to eat here?"
The small shoulders beneath her hands were practically vibrating in excitement. One child under each she could feel them wanting to run off into the crowd of kids and games.
"Vinny Cheezy's is the best!" Wally said seemingly as excited as his two cousins. He smiled at her and she sighed and let go. Her kids were gone in a flash, bobbing heads of red-gold the only way to pick them out from the sea of little people. Iris yelled instructions after them and hoped they heard. "Don't worry. See those guys in the ugly shirts? They're the chaperones. Nothing gets past them."
"Let me guess you worked here," Barry deduced.
"I've worked lots of places. C'mon." He led them over to a set of tables on the upper level. They were lucky to find one free and with a good view of the play area so they could keep an eye on Dawn and Don.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Iris asked once they had settled and she watched over her kids.
He waved away their concern. He wasn't sure what most people liked to do when bombarded with a huge personal issue. He liked to distract himself. Take off for somewhere that he didn't need to think, somewhere with lots of noise –and if there was food available, even better. He'd quickly discovered that Don and Dawn had overheard part of the interaction he'd had with his father and he didn't like the sad expressions on their faces. Their concern made his stomach churn. He was undeserving of such empathy. He was dirty and broken and he didn't want them to know. Vinny Cheezy's was as much a distraction for them as it was for him.
He distractedly tapped a pattern into the table top his mind floating away while his eyes slipped unseeingly over the crowded and brightly decorated restaurant. He wasn't aware of the concerned glances that his aunt and uncle frequently sent his way. He thought he was playing it off pretty cool until the finger he'd been tapping on the table got stuck.
"What the hell?" Wally looked down and to his surprise found his index finger wedged into a small hole in the table. Little bits of wood sat around the small divot, bright beige against the dark stain on the rest of the table. "Oops." He yanked his finger out and blew the shavings off the table. He hadn't realized he'd been tapping that hard or that quickly. He glanced guiltily up at the Allen's and gave a little smile. "I'll be okay though." He glanced back and forth between them. "Really," he said to their still-worried faces, "I always am."
"Hey! You're him!"
Wally quickly covered the hole in the table with his hand and looked up at the person standing at their table. In the bright orange t-shirt displaying the skate-boarding rat that was the logo of the Cheezy's chain, a teenager grinned excitedly.
"Wow, man! I can't believe it. You're totally him –I mean, totally you! Man, you rock! I saw that thing in New York on TV! Totally the shiz-niz, guy!" The youth pulled a vacant chair from another table and sat down at the table he was supposed to be serving. He continued to blather on at such a rate that the Allen's wondered if jokingly if this kid had super-speed as well.
"Jay! What are you doing? You're sup-" the supervisor who had been well on his way to reprimanding his wayward waiter halted mid-tirade as he noticed who it was the waiter was speaking to. "Oh, my God!"
The loud exclamation turned the heads of the many people in the crowd in almost a ripple effect moving outward from the shocked employee. More people began to gather around as the celebrity in their midst was uncovered and word spread.
"Flash, can I get your autograph?"
"My son's a huge fan he'd love to meet you-"
"Hey, y'know that time beat up that big monkey?"
"Is Hawkgirl as hot and scary in person as she is on TV?"
The questions tumbled over each other mixing into the background noise of the excited crowd. Wally didn't know what to do. Thankfully he was saved from having to do anything.
"You're a popular guy," said an amused and familiar voice. Wally quickly turned around to find Green Lantern and Hawkgirl hovering just beyond the railing that kept people from falling off the second level and onto the children playing down below. Said children all had their heads tilted up as they watched the two superheroes float above them.
"What you guys doing here?"
"There's a situation. You have to come with us," Shayera said but Wally shook his head.
"I don't know if that's a good idea. Eiling wasn't pleased with my last trip to the tower."
"Sorry, kid, but you have to."
Wally gave his friend a searching look trying to figure out precisely what was eating them. Something was up and it looked like he'd have to go with them before they told him what it was. He shrugged and was going to step forward since John looked ready to fly him out of there, when a heavy hand grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Hold on!" They all looked to the older man who was preventing West from going with the Justice League members. He was an innocuous looking fellow with brown hair and a bit on the heavy side. "He doesn't have to go anywhere with you if he doesn't want to." Behind the stranger many other people nodded in agreement casting angry looks to the Shayera and John. Obviously they'd misread the situation, mistaking Wally's reluctance to go with them as genuine disinterest when in truth it was just a bit of caution.
"Yeah! He's on our side now!" The call came from somewhere at the back of the crowd but everyone seemed to agree with it. The Allen's and their nephew watched in surprise as the crowd of the common man rallied behind their chosen hero, the one they had readily if slowly adopted into their fold.
Shayera glared at the crowd, considering them nothing but foolish people. She flew forward and landed gracefully on the thing railing. Feet apart and arms crossed she truly resembled the avenging angle that the papers called her. Her effortless balancing on the thin metal rail was show of strength and prowess enough to have the people at the front of the crowd rearing back a little.
She was about to say something and from the annoyed look in her eye Wally knew that whatever was forthcoming would only worsen the situation. The last thing the League needed was one of its members causing a brawl in a family restaurant.
"Wait!" Wally faced the crowd of people. "Hold on. This is nuts. We're all on the same side, fighting for the same thing. Most of all they're my friends, they're good people. You don't have to be scared of them, ever. They're protectors. Nothing will change that." Glancing around Wally met the eyes of many of the crowd and hoped that they believed him. He turned to his aunt and uncle. "I gotta go." Barry nodded solemnly. Iris was staring up the angry, winged beauty that was still balanced on the railing. "She's harmless, Aunt Iris," Wally joked and at his aunt's incredulous look added, "really."
"Be careful?"
"Always am." Wally vaulted the rail landing on the green platform John had made, which promptly morphed into an encompassing sphere. He barely had time to wave good-bye before the Green Lantern flew off with him in tow. Shayera remained for a moment longer, contemplating beating some sense into these people. Eventually deciding against it she stepped off the bar and followed her two friends out.
From somewhere in the crowd a voice answered his own question. "Definitely scary and totally hot."
+JLU+
"Is that better?"
From the half-circle shape speakers on the small console salvaged from an escape pod a voice responded in an alien language. "Yes, it's much clearer now. It's good to finally here from you Yall. Your family sends their fondest regards."
The woman, an experienced officer who'd spent many years away from her home and her family had to close her eyes to maintain her composure. She barely managed a response. "It's been so long."
"Too long. It's time to put this to an end."
Yall nodded, eyes still closed.
"Please know that you do your people a great service. Your loyalty has been used against you and against the greater good. But amends can be made and forgiveness granted. You are still an officer, still a Coluan. Your duty is to us."
"Yes, it is."
"Tell me, what is he planning?"
Yall began her oration describing her former leader's plans, at least what she knew of them. In recent weeks he'd been more secretive, sharing his plans only with Lex Luthor and she suspected that Vril kept the majority of his plan to himself. She divulged the snippets of the plan she'd overheard or discovered when snooping through Vril's things. She glanced back at the door to her small room in the run-down apartment where she and Vril had been hiding for what seemed like years. She kept her voice low not wanting to be overheard. This was treason against her leader and one-time friend but it had to be done. Luthor had fed the lunacy that she'd been trying, with little success, to curb when still on their interstellar craft. The Flash had becoming Vril's new focus after the destruction of his great program and poisoning his mind further.
She didn't spare any details. She told her comrades everything. She was doing to save Vril, not to hurt him.
That's not what Vril thought. In the living room he sat staring at the small television set that had been muted. In his ear was a small piece of technology connected through a remote link to the transceiver he'd planted in Yall's room. All muscles still, even his breathing stalled, he listened. He wasn't angry, he didn't waste such powerful emotions on such minor people as his subordinates or on such small events as a betrayal he'd been expecting for years. Instead he put his plan into action.
Standing he dropped the earpiece to the middle of the floor where he was sure Yall would find it. First, though, he needed to get her attention. Grasping the weapon he'd taken to carrying around with him all the times set his sight in the direction of Yall's room. Even through the wall he knew where she was standing. The weapon in his hand was more than powerful enough to blast through the wall, so with one shot he could plug the leak but that's not what he wanted to do. He needed her one more time. He moved his aim just a little to the right and smirked.
"My dear, predictable Yall," he whispered and then squeezed the trigger. The gun kicked back with a powerful recoil but not before releasing a rapidly travelling orb of red energy. It ripped a smouldering hole through the walls of the dwelling and passed just a few inches in front of the blue haired woman. She felt its scorching heat as it went by, causing the skin nearest the blast to raise and blister. By the time her eyes had widened in both shock and pain, the wall at her right and the one in front of here were gone. Water dripped from the broken pipes and a cool breeze swept through the room that had suddenly acquired an unobstructed view of the neighbourhood.
On the street below, people stared up at the gaping whole in the side of the building. They were used to their buildings falling apart but they didn't usually explode. There weren't usually blue skinned people living inside of them either.
"Yall! What's going on?" The communications unit, though singed and melted at the corner was still in working order. She glanced down at it then ran out to the living room. It was empty of Vril. She cursed looking around frantically. "How did he know?" She took a step forward and felt something under her foot. She raised her foot and found the object that had been left for her discovery.
"He knows." She ran back to her room, to the connection she had with the ship in orbit. "He heard everything! He tried to kill me!"
"Is he still around?" her new commanding officer asked hurriedly. He'd hoped that they'd be able to apprehend Vril in a smooth operation by storming the apartment and catching the target off-guard.
"No, he's gone!"
Yall hung her head and waited through the stream of curses that poured out of the speakers. "Alright. I'm sending a craft to retrieve you. You're not safe there."
"Yes, sir."
"Osip, out."
The line went dead and with a steady hand she turned of the link from her end as well. The small green light went out. She continued to stare at it for several seconds until the bright rays of this planet's sun drew her gaze to its burning image. Her body was heavy with shame, her mind, filled with unforgiving taunts about her career of weakness. She'd been betraying him for years. Those betrayals were only in mind though. An uncharitable thought about his latest course of action, or his sanity –she kept those to herself and remained externally his loyal soldier. Now she'd betrayed him in action as well. It hurt just as much as she'd expected. So she continued to let her eyes burn for her transgression until the nimble craft arrived, blocking out the unforgiving rays.
"Commander Yall?" one of her people called and extended the ramp allowing her to board with ease. "We have to return to the mother ship." She nodded and sat down in the vacant co-pilot's seat. She leaned back, not helping with manoeuvring the ship back to space. He'd managed to get down here without help. He wouldn't need it to get back.
"I hate this planet," she said aloud.
"It is rather…primitive."
"Especially the inhabitants. I rue having to return."
The pilot glanced questioningly at her.
"Unfinished business," was all she told him.
+JLU+
On the ground, at the corner of his building, mixed in with the throngs of people gathering to view the damage and the rapidly escaping ship, Vril stood smiling. "I know you'll be back. Always must have a nice, neat conclusion right, Yall?" It made her a phenomenal soldier and it made her predictable to such a scale that Vril planned his next move by her.
He flipped open the cellular phone the advertisements insisted he needed and made a call. While he waited for Luthor to answer he nodded to himself, acknowledging that this was a rather handy little contraption.
"What do you want?"
"Happy Birthday." There was only silence from the other end. "Isn't that what you people say when you give gifts?"
"And what gift are you bestowing?" Lex asked shortly.
"Brainiac."
End Chapter 8 – As Loyal as She Began, So She Remains
Wow…Vril sure is evil. I guess that's my fault. Hmm…oh well.
Sagga…
