Justice League: Persiana

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

Chapter 10: Clone Saga Part 3

Batman was on the Watchtower, researching both the robbery at STAR Labs and Persiana's kidnapping. Wonder Girl and Wonder Woman were waiting outside. Donna shook her head,

"If only I could have been stronger, then she would not have been captured."
Diana put her hand on her sister's shoulder,

"Calm down, sister. We will find her and punish those responsible."

Batman didn't turn as Superman entered. The Man of Steel said,

"Kara is still beating herself up about what happened, and J'onn hasn't been able to locate Farrah through telepathy."

Batman said,

"We were being monitored for months. Luthor must have hacked our system. Luckily, the power surge that brought Persiana here disabled it."

He turned to Superman,

"Luthor wants to know everything about her, Clark. She knows our identities and procedures. And, from the video feed, the robbery at STAR Labs had Ultra-Humanite as one of the thieves."

Donna was overhearing this conversation. She clenched her fists and stormed in. Diana saw this and quickly tried to defuse the situation,

"Sister, is something-?"

Wonder Girl got right up to Batman and picked him up, glaring,

"Persiana is a strong woman! She won't break to whoever this man Luthor is!"

Wonder Woman grabbed her sister,

"Donna, please. We're all doing the best right now."

The young Amazon princess had tears well up in her eyes. She hugged Diana, saying in-between sobs,

"I love her, Diana. I really do."

Cadmus Labs, Hawaii…

Farrah woke up in a storage room. She tried to stretch out, but found herself restrained. She shook her head,

"Ow, what hit me?"

She remembered fleeing, and then, the mental shock. It was clear there was a telepath that got to her.

She looked up and saw Cheetah, Grundy, and Copperhead all standing there, watching. Of course, the snake assassin was grinning like a little boy who had just received the Christmas gift of his dreams. He said,

"Hello, kitty cat. You're just in time for our make-out session."

Copperhead puckered up his lips. Persiana rolled her eyes,

"Nothing personal, but I don't do snakes. You know; felines and reptiles being natural enemies."

She looked at her restraints,

"This brings back memories. However, I distinctly remember my boyfriend in one of these things instead of me."

The spotted villainess folded her arms and looked at Farrah,

"Are you always so shameless?"
Farrah laughed,

"This coming from a woman that doesn't wear clothes?"

Cheetah opened her mouth to say something, but shrugged,

"Good point."

Farrah groaned in her head,

I need to get out of here.

Luthor walked in,

"I would not attempt a breakout. I took a few precautions. For one, I added electrified triggers. The slightest bit of movement sets these things off. And, the telepathic shield has expanded to almost the whole island."
He cupped Farrah's chin in one hand and said sternly,

"You will tell me what I want to know."
Farrah got serious and glared right back at Luthor,

"Try all you want, Picard. (1) I won't betray my pride."

The bald billionaire took one look at Farrah and smiled,

"We'll see."

He ordered,

"Cheetah, watch her. Grundy, Copperhead, come with me."
The three left, leaving the were-felines in the room.

As soon as the door closed, Cheetah studied her prisoner,

"You're just like me, a freak."

The white-haired were-woman smiled,

"I think it gives me an exotic look, don't you think?"

Cheetah was mystified,

"You can't even be seen in public without people noticing, and you're all right with that?"

Farrah's face saddened,

"There was a time I thought like that too, and wanted to change back, but…"
The feline villainess asked,

"What?"

Persiana swallowed,

"My boyfriend talked me out of it. He said that it never changed the person you really are under all that fur. Even if I did manage to change myself back, there would always be the cat-tendencies still inherent in my behavior. I would never really stop being a cat.

She cheered up,

"Besides, I've gotten used being all loose and limber. I don't think I ever want to go back to being so stiff." (2)
Cheetah perched on all fours in deep thought. Since her accident, she did everything she could, even resort to crime, to change back. Was it worth it, though? Here she was, staring at a woman who has the same appearance as her, but doesn't seem to mind. Farrah looked at her,

"If you're wondering, this was done to me by my mother to go after my boyfriend. However, he never saw me as an animal. He saw me as a human being with cat-like qualities. Honestly, I wasn't freaked out when I saw his red eyes for the first time. In a way, I kinda liked that about him."
Cheetah was amazed. She sniffed her and realized she was telling the truth. The were-cheetah prowled around, thinking.

Farrah sensed this,

"Bats told me about you, how you're resorting to crime to change yourself back."

The were-cheetah shook her head,

"Wouldn't you? I'm a freak! I wanted the power of a cat, not be turned into one!"

Farrah shook her head,

"I know it's unsettling, but a friend of mine told me once that with great power, comes great responsibility. You don't have to think of yourself as a freak because of what you look like. You've been given a gift. Use it. Besides, even if you go back to being human, you still will have the urge to act like a cat. I saw, embrace it."

She then smirked,

"Suppose I was to tell you there's a way you can have both."
At this, Barbara was stunned,

"Is there?"

She came closer,

"What is it?"

Farrah whispered,

"That collar Lex has is what I use to get around when I don't want to be seen in my furry form. Get me out of here, and I'll build one for you too."

The were-cheetah bit down on her knuckle nervously,

"You want me to betray Lex?"

Persiana smirked,

"I hate to see a fellow feline not enjoy herself."

Cheetah was silent for a minute before she looked around and saw the control box for the restraints.

Elsewhere, Luthor and the rest of his team were marveling at the subject inside the glass chamber. Currently, he looked like a teenager with hair similar to Superman's, only there was no curl on it. Copperhead groaned,

"So we stole this DNA sample to clone Superman? I thought we already had a clone."

Ultra-humanite explained,

"Bizarro is an imperfect clone. This process will ensure that a perfect clone of Superman is possible."
Bizarro got nervous,

"What happen to me Bizarro? Me Bizarro not worried about dying."
Power Girl put her hand on the imperfect clone's shoulder,

"Calm down, B. You're an original. No one can top that."
Shade grumbled,

"Why would they?"

Ultra-Humanite saw something out of the corner of his eye. He thought he saw Cheetah and Persiana escaping. He said,

"Luthor, we have to check the prisoner."
The bald industrialist ordered,

"Copperhead, check her."

Copperhead sprinted and returned, frantic,

"SHE'S ESCAPED! CHEETAH HELPED HER!"

Luthor ordered,

"Copperhead, Grundy, Shade, Bizarro; Find those two, and stop them!"
The four villains went to find the two felines.

On a beach…

After deactivating the electrical locks, Farrah slipped out of her restraints, and then followed Cheetah to a beach. The feline villainess said,

"Luthor found a way to create a perfect clone of Superman. I don't know how, but if he isn't stopped, he could create an army of them."

Farrah perched on a rock, not wanting to go any further,

"You really want this, don't you?"

Cheetah turned and shook her head,

"I guess I do. Now, when am I getting it?"

Persiana grinned,

"First, let's get the League down here."

Cheetah nodded,

"Yeah. The telepathic shield ends just around-."
Suddenly, Farrah's ears twitched. She shouted,

"Get down!"
An ice beam was fired, freezing Cheetah in her tracks. Farrah looked up and saw Bizarro using his freezing vision. He waved his hand,

"Goodbye. Me Bizarro no fight you later."
Farrah groaned,

"I need a score card to keep up with this loon."
She did a back flip and quickly climbed a tree. Grundy uprooted the tree, and Persiana jumped down, tripping him. She then dashed away on all fours, thinking over and over again,

J'onn, I need help. J'onn, I need help. J'onn, I need help.

Swirling darkness surrounded her as the Shade cackled,

"Hah, not so tough now, are ya?"
Persiana rolled her eyes,

"Idiot, cats can see in the dark."
The darkness making villain suddenly swallowed nervously,

"Oh, crap."
He screamed,

"Not the face!"
A swipe of claws knocked the cane out of his hand and the darkness disappeared. Farrah breathed a sigh of relief and hoped the League would come. Suddenly, an orange blur took her down. Copperhead leered,

"Hey, gorgeous. Can I pet ya?"
He stuck his tongue out like a snake. Farrah threw him over her head and he landed into a palm tree with a sickening thud. The were-cat flipped back up and right into Bizarro's waiting arms. He caught her and smiled,

"Hello, kitty. Me Bizarro no squeeze you now!"
He started crushing her ribs when a hand phased into his skull. Screaming in agony, the imperfect clone turned and tried to punch the phasing Martian Manhunter. J'onn telepathically put him to sleep and helped Persiana up,

"Are you all right?"
The feline heroine nodded,

"Thank you. Luthor's inside with cloning technology. We have to stop them."

She saw Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, Supergirl, and Batman with him. She smirked,

"Well, the gang's all here."

Wonder Girl ran to her,

"Sister."
She hugged the feline tightly. Farrah hugged back nervously,

"It's OK, Donna. You can let go now."

The younger Amazon did not respond. The lioness said more forcefully,

"Donna, I'm all right. Could you let me go now?"
Donna pouted, but eventually let go.

Farrah looked at the others,

"Lex is planning to use the DNA to clone Superman again. We gotta stop him."

Wonder Woman nodded,

"Lead us to him."

Next Chapter:
And now, to the big battle and conclusion!

(1) This is in reference to Star Trek: The Next Generation. The captain's name is Picard.

(2) Tigra complained of the same thing in the West Coast Avengers series. There was an issue involving the villain Graviton that, when Greer turned into her human form, she complained she was too stiff. I can't recall the exact issue, but it was somewhere between #11-14.