30
Inside the near uppermost floor of the 1WTC entirely occupied by the Conglomerate, the team was roused out of their boredom by the alert call coming from the situation and analysis room. The shift leader began breaking down what the support teams had pulled together, "We have a robbery inside the New York Federal Reserve Bank underway. The culprits, claiming to be the same Kings of Catastrophe from Gotham City, are hijacking the gold bullion reserves of dozens of nations."
Claire Montgomery watched as Vapor pulled together the facts. The New York Federal Reserve was just six blocks from the Freedom Tower between Wall St. and St. Paul's Cathedral. Vapor had one staffer call the motor pool to request transportation while Vapor requested that Claire contact Sue Dibney or Hula Hula in the Hall of Justice in Brooklyn to call off the Justice League of America. Then the Conglomerate went into action.
The team arrived at the Federal Reserve to discover the Kings of Catastrophe had minders outside, in the lobby, and scattered throughout the vault. The loading docks hosted three semi-tractor trailers and the trucks to pull them. Dividing into two teams, the Conglomerate approached from both ends.
Vapor entered the vault area through the ventilations system. Gypsy was masking her presence so that she appeared invisible upon first glance. She was rendezvousing with Vapor deeper in the vault while another team dealt with the forklift driver loading the trailers.
Vapor's acidic mist form melted the grating off a vent and she began to billow into the room near Cluemaster and Mighty Bruce. Mighty Bruce was hacking into the city's electrical and water grids to disconnect everything. All this was to hide the fact he was creating a traffic corridor to get off of Manhattan without being stopped. And he'd rerouted emergency communications so everyone was only speaking with him, and he wasn't answering.
Vapor had to give him credit for being a grungy looking slacker, "Give up now and I won't melt your skin off."
"Who?" Mighty Bruce yelped.
"See that fog?" Cluemaster pointed out, "I'm willing to bet that's the three time loser bitch who thinks she runs those Conglomerate jokes."
He was nowhere near getting on Vapor's good side with those kinds of cracks. Cluemaster advised Mighty Bruce, "Spread out. If she gets too thin I'm willing to bet she can stay cohesive."
Vapor hated to admit it but Cluemaster had deduced her greatest weakness. Mighty Bruce shook his head, "Hey, it's you she's probably pissed at after that remark."
"Just do it!" Cluemaster practically threw a tantrum.
Vapor was beginning to see why the limited public records her team had read over regarding the Kings of Catastrophe made them out to be pathetic wannabes. But Vapor could see by the shadow on the floor unconnected to any body that anyone could see that help had arrived. So she went after Cluemaster.
"See?" Mighty Bruce congratulated himself.
Behind him, his laptop closed and was lifted into the air by unseen hands. And it began smashing itself against Mighty Bruce's head as he cried out, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Enough already! Ow! Ow! I give up already!"
Gypsy became visible again, "Hands behind your head."
She dropped the computer and yanked his hands behind his back and zip tied his wrists together. Might Bruce protested, "Jesuz! Those custom jobs cost a fortune."
Gypsy stomped down on the computer a few times, "Get a real job and I'll even replace it."
"A job? Yech!" Might Bruce screwed up his face, "Like you're so mature anyway."
"I just graduated high school," Gypsy pointed out, "What's your excuse Mr. College Dropout?"
They both turned as they heard gunshots. Cluemaster emptied a revolver at Vapor. She enveloped the pistol and began to melt it down.
"I won't be taken alive!" Cluemaster boldly declared.
"Fine," Vapor said in resignation and kept coming at him.
"Uh…I change my mind," Cluemaster backed down.
Vapor became Carrie Donahue again, "Turn around, Braveheart."
Vapor roughly handled Cluemaster's arms and wrists as she zip tied his wrists together behind his back. Then she marched him to Gypsy and Mighty Bruce's position, "I see our teammates are having similar luck."
"Real courageous there, Hoss," Mighty Bruce mocked Cluemaster.
"You dare critique me?" Cluemaster took umbrage at his tone.
"Damn straight I do," Mighty Bruce told him before he whined, "I can't feel my hands any more."
Gypsy tightened his bonds. Mighty Bruce hung his head, "God, it's like kindergarten again."
"Good!" Vapor snapped at him.
"My lawyers will eat you alive for this," Cluemaster promised her.
"Yeah, `cause I live in mortal terror of public defenders," Vapor sneered.
"Where are our teammates?' Mighty Bruce lamented.
"Getting the snot kicked out of themselves," Vapor relished telling them both.
Tiger Shark backed out of the trailer he was loading with gold. The fork lift wheeled in reverse past the docking ramp when the trailer was pulled out of the loading bay. Tiger Shark belatedly realized the other two trailers were already out of position.
Standing beside the open portal was an unusually tall man with his long hair pulled into a ponytail and he wore a floor length leather trench coat and sunglasses despite it being indoors on an overcast day. Then a young blonde woman floated in through the open loading dock.
"Please turn off the engine. The propane is obnoxious," Little Mermaid requested.
Tiger Shark flipped her off, raised the forks to chest level and floored the slow forklift. Ulla glanced over at Praxis, "Cute."
Tiger Shark slumped and dell out of the forklift's operator's cage. Ulla had to admit Praxis did good work, "And it slowed down those god-awful emissions."
She turned the key and the engine died, "And that ends that."
Praxis rolled Tiger Shark over and secured his wrists, "And that's the end note."
A second forklift slowly rolled towards them and eth driver yelled a battle cry. Ulla gave Praxis an incredulous look, "He's kidding, right?"
"I'm afraid not," Praxis shrugged.
"And these guys are for real?" she couldn't quite believe it.
Ice formed a barrier wall in front of Dr. Doom's forklift and she flew out of the fixed seat and went head first into the mast as the forks impaled the ice wall. Dr. Doom slumped off of the forklift and nursed his aching head. Green flames erupted around him.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Fire smirked, "You only get one choice."
Fire plasma form plumed flame as she gave Dr. Doom his options.
While the Kings of Catastrophe's outer defense met with the enemy, Echo and Reverb entered the banking lobby. There were no counters, no tellers, just a reception staff and banks of offices belonging to banker's bankers. Bird commanded his falcon, Talon to strike out at the Conglomerate duo.
Echo used her reflective powers to bounce the raptor back at its master. It tried to return to attack several times but each attempt was futile. Eventually the falcon's spirit was broken and it retreated back into the office area.
"You coward!" Bird raged at his trained pet.
"Don't blame the bird, man. Blame yourself for being a rat suck piece of shit hiding behind it," Reverb remarked.
"You'll pay for that mouth," Bird began to run towards them.
Bird's police record recorded that he'd actually fought Batman hand to hand and held his own for a record time. Reverb simply unleashed his vibration powers on Bird until he'd shaken several fillings loose. When Reverb ceased his barrage, Bird passed out.
"That was easy," Reverb smirked.
"We still need to call animal control to deal with the falcon, smart ass," Echo reminded him.
"Nag, nag, nag," Reverb sighed, "You remind me of my younger sister and my mamacita."
"And you wouldn't have me any other way," Echo grinned at him.
"No, I wouldn't," Reverb admitted while he went to get the receptionist staff to call animal control.
Tuatara was outside directing Starman against Kite Man, "No, mate! He's banking right."
Starman was unnerved on how Tuatara predicted each of Kite Man's maneuvers before he made them. But now that he was finally listening he was blasting Kite Man's glider pack apart one solar bolt at a time. Eventually there wasn't enough left to keep Kite Man aloft and he plummeted into the hood of a waiting NYPD squad car.
"Good work, Jeremy," Gavyn admitted as he came to rest next to Tuatara.
"Just doing my precog specialty," Tuatara was unusually modest.
Rising Sun and Dr. Light fought the other two outer defenders. They were facing Multi-Man and Mr. Polka Dot. Mr. Polka Dot was highly agitated and Multi-Man had taken a literal personality swing towards the worst. At the moment, he was sitting on the curb bawling like a baby.
"Get up, you cry baby!" Mr. Polka Dot raged, threatening him with his baseball bat.
"Need we even bother?" Rising Sun inquired.
"Of course we must," Dr. Light insisted.
"All right," he shrugged, "Who do you want?"
"The polka dot person," she chose.
"Stinker," Rising Sun accused, "You never leave me any fun ones."
"Poor baby," Dr. Light admonished him and then she blasted Mr. Polka Dot through the bank's steel reinforced doors with a photon burst, "Your turn."
Rising Sun melted Multi-Man's shoe rubber into the superheated concrete. By the time Multi-Man realized what had happened, and wasn't too despondent to care, he was affixed in place. Rising Sun turned to Dr. Light.
"Dinner tonight, Kimiyo? Say, at my place?" Rising Sun asked her.
"Izumi, we live together," she thought he was addled.
"But the magic never dies," Rising Sun promised her.
"I'll be certain to stay away while you prepare," she smiled, "Say, Seven?"
"You can now read my mind," Rising Sun promised her.
"Is it me, or are there a lot of bugs in the air?" Vapor wondered as the police arrived to take care of the vault teams' prisoners.
A series of pops sounded across the vault cells and stacked pallets of gold vanished with each pop. Vapor turned to Ulla, "Check the trailers!"
Little Mermaid flew as fast as she dared. All three trailers had been emptied. And Vapor was correct; the place was rife with flying insects unlike anything she'd ever seen before.
"They're all empty," Ulla reported through her earpiece radio.
"What did you do?" Vapor snarled at Cluemaster.
"Me? I've been right here with you," he gleefully reminded her.
"Vapor, the city power plant was just destroyed by a series of explosions. And cars in the center spans of each bridge leading off of Manhattan vanished and reappeared alongside the bridges just before explosions took out the central spans," Claire reported over the radio to Vapor.
"Get them out of here while we coordinate for damage control," Vapor told the cops, "And put us in touch with a liaison so we can be more effective and work with the NYPD rather than at cross purposes."
They hustled everyone out and Lt. Dan Jurgens was already on the scene and being assigned as the liaison by the commissioner herself.
The Council of Spiders reassembled and conferred to make the assessments of the Conglomerate. Sac reported in to Lex Luthor, "It's as you predicted. With the lunatic fringe Ambush Bug in action with the Kings of Catastrophe we witnessed most of the Conglomerate in action. But there were exceptions. Blue Beetle, Red Tornado, Apache Chief Black Vulcan, Samurai, and the mysterious new Maxi-Man, Matrix, and Strange Visitor were all conspicuously absent."
"And how did they do?" Luthor asked over the secure phone.
"They weren't even moderately challenged," Sac warned him, "Their most capable members weren't even involved and the take down every King of Catastrophe in minutes."
"You're evaluation?" Luthor wondered.
"For the most part they're most comfortable paired off with pre-existing alliances," Sac reported, "But they are capable of handling greater threats. Would you like us to terminate them?"
"No, but I want them more properly field tested when their stronger members appear. Afterwards we simply need to devise a situation where they create a seeming tragedy and their corporate sponsors prove as fickle as the press and the public," Luthor decided.
Having concluded taking the report from the Council of Spiders, Luthor turned to the task on hand. Grodd was seething over Luthor's gathering Bulldozer's compatriots. He'd be even more riled if he knew how Luthor planned on employing them.
Luthor had used CADMUS' files to sort through the Task Force X selection process. Bulldozer, like man of the Legion of Doom's latest recruits, had been on that list. But Bulldozer worked as part of a quartet called the Gang.
The Gang was led by a woman called Brains and she'd successfully steered the Gang through malicious corporate contracts that culminated in employment with an organization called the Cabinet. The Cabinet was later absorbed by HIVE and HIVE by the Black Seven.
But the Gang had been briefly incarcerated after being confronted by Supergirl. But they'd only been caught in the process of breaking and entering and corporate espionage. So their three year's stretch in minimum security was done with. So Luthor reached out.
The Gang was notable in that the four members were lifelong friends who'd grown up in East Side Chicago and had banded together in order to escape and thrive. Luthor was unaware of how they'd become gen active but each had superhuman abilities. Kong was possessed of Solomon Grundy level strength. Once Bulldozer began to run, he achieved unstoppable momentum and his reinforced helmet allowed him to smash his way through most anything. Ms. Mesmer had hypnotic abilities on a lesser scale than Saturn Queen but beyond any human in this century. Brains was aptly named because her intelligence rivaled Luthor's own.
Luthor met with Brains privately, "Are your companions up for the task?"
"Of course they are," Brains assured him, "The question will your dupes fall for it?"
"Boss Moxie is so desperate to replace the Terror Titans within Intergang, he won't question my motives for referring you to work for him," Luthor assured her, "Besides, your professional credentials speak for themselves as well as the fact you fought Supergirl to a standstill several times. And once you're inside Intergang, you'll undermine both Boss Moxie and Morgan Edge's positions to the point that they'll hand their allegiance to me."
"And who gets to be your proxies?" Brains asked.
"Let's say I'll be looking at qualified candidates who are already familiar faces to the Intergang faithful," Luthor said with heavy emphasis.
"I'll be sure to pass the word so my little Gang can remain competitive and motivated," Brains assured him.
Most of the JSA All Stars had teleported to NYC via a T-Sphere left in New York inside the Justice Society Museum. Mr. Terrific had left a strategic reserve e behind at the K-Star Ranch just in case. And that reserve was grumbling.
"What a gyp!" Stargirl was the loudest mouth, "Why did we get left behind?"
"Maybe because you're acting like a two year old having a tantrum, her half-brother, Mike Dugan, retorted, "But it does suck to have my STRIPE mecha called into reserve and not be able to deploy it."
"And you're not the only that's been left here," Lightning reminded her.
"I'm sorry, Jennifer. It just isn't fair though," Courtney Whitmore finally acknowledged she wasn't the only one present dealing with frustration.
"I agree, Court," Mike conceded.
"I heard Hawk and Dove were alerted but left in Washington DC," Lightning shared, "And Jakeem Thunder wasn't even told."
"And Sir Justin looked pissed to be here too," Mike stated, "But you don't see her complaining."
Goldilocks sat alone, sipping tea, "And what are you trying to infer? Because you do realize you hellions are talking loud enough a dead person could hear you?"
"Don't you think you should calm Sir Justin down?" Mike bluntly threw out there.
"Oboy!" Lightning suddenly looked like she wanted to run.
Goldilocks' glare would have wilted flowers and had them begging forgiveness for ever growing in the first place.
"Jeez! He's sorry already," Stargirl came to Mike's defense.
"I don't think he really is," Goldilocks angrily replied.
"Maybe he's made because you tow are having a lover's quarrel," Mike gleefully suggested.
Goldilocks' hair stretched across the room and dulled Mike out of his chair and dragged him to Goldilocks' feet before lifting him into the air, "Pardon? I think I misheard you."
"Put him down!" Stargirl had her Cosmic Rod in hand now.
"Sir Justin and I are not lovers no matter what anyone else professes to be the truth," Goldilocks' eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Um…sorry?" Mike offered.
She released him, "Not scurry back to the other rats on your sinking ship."
"Died she just call us rats?" Stargirl was instantly offended.
"Pretty much," Lightning confirmed it.
"What's your deal?" Stargirl had found a new rant, "You spent a couple of years chasing Sir Justin down and couldn't live without him and now you're just walking away?"
"I want Sir Justin to want me not the ghost of his dead wife," Goldilocks summed it up in as few of words as possible.
"Well, technically she didn't die. She became Saturn Queen," Mike put forth.
"Don't make me hurt you because I will enjoy doing so," Goldilocks advised him, "But the principle is still the same. Tessa doesn't exist within Eve Aries' mind. So for all intents and bloody purposes, Tessa is dead. And nothing of her lives on in my mind either."
"You can say that again," Stargirl quipped.
"How would you like your precious staff shoved up your ass?" Goldilocks asked sweetly.
"Okay, we get it," Lightning offered.
"We do?" Stargirl asked.
"Shut it, Court," Mike hissed at her.
"The team mobilized to persuade Sir Justin of the truth of the matter. And now he's hurting because of it even though he is probably still in denial. But he knows the truth. If you really do care for him, you'll go to him to help him heal and see Tessa isn't in you," Lightning explained.
"And you're still mourning Godiva even though you put up the tough chica show," Stargirl ventured, "Maybe you can help each other out."
Goldilocks stared at Stargirl in astonishment.
"Where the hell did you come from?" Mike wanted to know.
"Hey, just `cause I'm not a total spaz like some," Stargirl grew defensive.
"Roxy, where is Sir Justin?" Goldilocks made her decision.
"In his apartment. Want me to tell him you're coming?" Roxy asked.
Mike snickered and Courtney hit him, "Total gutter ball, dude."
"No, I'll surprise him," Goldilocks replied.
"I bet she just will," Mike whispered.
Goldilocks' hair stretched forth as she exited the room and smacked Mike across the face, "Hey!"
"You totally deserved that one, numb nuts," Stargirl said with exasperation.
Agent Liberty looked at his new uniform and equipment in the mirror as he wore them for the first time. Gen. Sam Lane had acquired CADMUS' old cloning stock and recreated Jim Harper, the original Guardian. But Agent Liberty didn't bother dwelling on the legal and moral implications of bringing a dead man back to life in a day where nearly everyone on the planet had watched Jurassic Park and its sequels.
"The servos in the suit will augment my strength?" he asked the armory tech.
"You'll have the combined strength of fifty men," the tech assured him.
Agent Liberty examined the handguns being provided, "And these will only fire for someone with my DNA wearing this suit?"
The tech danced around the whole DNA issue, "And they fire hyperkinetic rounds similar to those used by Vigilante. But the velocity and kinetic closed of each round can be adjusted before firing by that radial selector at the top of the firearms."
"And control over the jet pack?" Agent Liberty inquired.
"Controlled through a cybernetic web woven throughout the helmet. It's been fine-tuned to your brainwaves so the pack can adjust to any subtle directional command you wish for," the tech explained.
"And what about him?" Agent Liberty nodded across the room at the newest Guardian. The original Jim Harper had been a Metropolis police officer who patrolled Suicide Slum. Seeing a need to act outside the limits of the law to deal with organized crime, Jim had created the Guardian identity. He'd never formally joined the Justice Society but he did enlist with their successors, the All Star Squadron.
But Jim Harper had died in the Sixties. Since then the Guardian identity had been handed down to select individuals. Even briefly to Agent Liberty. But Lane had cloned his own version of Frankenstein.
"I wasn't part of the detail that cloned the new Mr. Harper but Gen. Lane has been fully briefed on the dangers versus benefits ratios inherent in the cloning process from samples harvested from someone deceased as long as Jim Harper has been," the tech told him.
"I'm glad someone has been," Agent Liberty said warily.
"I'm surprised to find you focused on our new Guardian," the tech admitted, "Everyone else seems fixated on Maj. Lane."
Agent Liberty knew why. Maj. Lucy Lane seemed to possess Kryptonian powers when she wore her Superwoman attire. And she seemed bereft of them when she wasn't wearing it. But he was one of the few that knew Gen. Lane had ordered his daughter to wear the Superwoman costume underneath her duty uniform at all times. Which given Reactron's instabilities and Cyclotron's…negotiable loyalties Agent Liberty wasn't surprised by Lane's decision to protect his daughter. Even if he ostensibly only saw her as an asset to utilized.
Agent Liberty was about to head to the test range when alarm klaxons resounded throughout the underwater facility. The tech hurriedly repeated his instructions on how to set his ammo yield and Agent Liberty headed out the door. He was joined by the fully garbed and armed Guardian. It seemed strange to Agent Liberty to see someone else carry the Guardian's shield but in many ways, Jim Harper's clone was still the man that had first received the shield from the War Department when the Guardian enlisted in J Edgar Hoover's fight against insurgents after the JSA proved unwilling to submit to government control despite their close ties with FDR.
Agent Liberty and Guardian didn't speak a word as they arrived in the command center together. They hadn't needed to. Guardian had been force grown to adulthood the same way Galatea had. Unlike Galatea, who'd only been humanized by the efforts of Dr. Emil Hamilton, Guardian had been fully briefed on the human condition, the human psyche, and geopolitical affairs. And as an added incentive, he'd been taught every known aspect of Jim Harper's life.
They found Reactron and Cyclotron present as well. Agent Liberty knew the two were exceptionally bored. Superwoman entered wearing her mask despite everyone knowing she was Lucy Lane. Superwoman approached Sgt. Pearl with a degree of familiarity.
"What do we have, Sergeant?" Superwoman inquired.
"Three pleasure craft circling the atoll in clear violation of posted warnings," Sgt. Pearl reported, "Which happens several times a day but the exception here is our meta-human suspects are aboard these boats."
"So we take `em," Reactron said eagerly.
"No," Gen. Lane interjected from behind his Response Division, "We monitor them and allow them to return to their lodgings while we keep them under tight surveillance. When they're tucked away and unsuspecting, we move in to capture them."
"Capture or neutralize?" Superwoman sought precise clarification.
"We'll try capture but if they prove difficult kill a few and see if that pacifies the rest," lane ordered.
"Yes sir," Superwoman fully endorsed the plan.
Cain made a pretense of testing the boundaries before recalling the three boats and heading back to shore. He looked forward to Lane's folly when the entirely expected ambush occurred later.
Cupid was startled when her laptop began addressing her. Even stranger was the fact she was in her room in the Howard Johnson where she couldn't receive any Wi-Fi signals. In order for someone to connect with her laptop they would have to be pushing an extremely powerful broadband radio signal throughout the Puget Sound region. Cupid sat down in front of her screen and discovered that the oddities kept multiplying as she was being addressed by a talking gorilla.
"Ah, very well, Ms. Cutter. It is good to meet you. I've followed your recent exploits with some interest," Grodd said obligingly.
"And why would you be interested in me at all?" Cupid asked.
"According to the Spanish Inquisitor, you killed twenty of his best men and impressed I-Ching enough for him to release you," Grodd explained, "Before that, vague reports indicate you encountered the Russian information broke named Angelica in South Korea. I-Ching set you on the path to confront the Injusticers and their mistress, Nyssa Raatko. I wish to facilitate this meeting."
"Tell me where they are," Cupid was tired of wasting time.
"I want you to deliver a message for me," Grodd insisted.
"Hire a courier," Cupid retorted, "I can find them on my own."
"What do you intend to do once you meet them?" Grodd asked.
"They'll revive Oliver Queen for me or I'll kill them all and do it myself," Cupid declared.
"Then my message would be delivered," Grodd assured her. He gave her the address to the former Costco warehouse she already had.
"You're a nice monkey after all," Cupid baited him.
"I'm an ape and you'd best remember that at all times," Grodd grated.
"Aw, monkey's got a temper," Cupid taunted him again which provoked him into terminating the connection.
Beryl Hutchinson finally reached Rose Wilson-Worth. Rose heard her update and smirked, "So they outed you. How'd it happen?"
"Garfield Logan entered my room without permission and came upon me stepping out of the shower," Beryl sighed, "He got an eyeful and enjoyed every moment of it."
"I'm surprised he didn't cop a feel," Rose admitted.
"I'd have broken his hand," Beryl shared.
"Good, I should be the only one feeling you up," Rose grinned.
"Have you spoken to your father about us?" Beryl wondered.
"No, but I think he already knows. And he knows you aren't male," Rose grimaced, "He's never been one to communicate but right now the entire dating topic seems to be off limits."
"I'm suggesting to the Teen Titans they allow you to join if you decide to now that they've begun to recuperate from my lack of a penis," Beryl said dryly.
"Right now Slade has been looking up old acquaintances. The first was an old Army buddy from his Team 7 days. Next was a looker named Zealot. She's some kind of warrior priestess and a Kherabim noble to boot. She and Slade have rolled in the hay a few times," Rose explained.
"And he has problems with us?" Beryl was incredulous.
"The way my dad views it is alien pussy is still pussy as long as he's the one porking it," Rose said with all due disgust.
"What's your dad into?" Beryl wondered.
"Remember those communication difficulties? He's in full on stonewalled silence mode," Rose complained.
"Well, tease his ear that the Crime Syndicate tried snatching Max Mercury," Beryl requested, "See what he makes of it."
"Isn't he like the Zen guru of speedsters?" Rose wondered.
"The very same," Beryl confirmed it.
"God, it's good hearing your natural voice and inflection again," Rose confessed, "I always hated the whole Red Robin persona."
"I'm still Red Robin," Beryl smirked, "I just get to be a female Red Robin. And I'm just grateful to see and hear you again."
"We're gonna get maudlin, aren't we?" Rose griped.
"Just one thing before I let you go," Beryl told her.
"What?" Rose's curiosity was piqued.
"I love you and have since the moment we met," Beryl signed off before Rose could react.
Rose's eventual reaction would permanently chart their course.
It had taken Black Mary working alongside Pandora, Black Adam, and Kid Eternity to end the fighting between Horus, Isis, and Kid Eternity's sorcerers and Dr. Fate and Amethyst. Amethyst asked the leading question, "Where's Shazam? Where have you taken him?"
"He's in Hell," Horus boasted, "And his own children dragged him there."
"And made us powerless," Billy Batson complained on his and Freddy Freeman's behalf.
"Then we rescue him," Amethyst insisted.
"We cannot," Dr. Fate advised her, "Order is forbidden to enter Hell except as its prisoner."
"But we, as Lords of Order, are second only to the Source," Amethyst boasted.
"Yet there are powers in both Heaven and Hell with the powers to destroy both Lords of Order and Chaos," Fate warned her.
Amethyst was shocked into silence. Pandora broke it, "But we could enter Hell, liberate Shazam, and exit once again."
"The risks are great and if Shazam were to refuse to liberate you, you would be consigned to Hell for eternity," Dr. Fate warned them, "And Kid Eternity cannot venture to that realm for his powers and existence utterly relies on Order."
"Then how does Shazam have children in Hell if he couldn't enter it?" Freddy wondered.
"Shazam was but a mortal wizard when he sired Blaze and Satanus. He only recently was elevated into being a Lord of Order," Dr. Fate reminded them.
"I refuse to rescue the wizard," Black Adam declared.
"It does seem counterintuitive," Isis agreed.
"Why would I interfere in my patrons' activities?" Hours asked.
"I'll go with you," Mary promise d Pandora, "And we'll only free Shazam if he promises to abandon his plans to kill Osiris."
"But why would Shazam make demon babies?" Billy was confused.
"Read your Biblical account in Genesis Chapter Six when fallen angels came to mortal women and impregnated them. The children were the Nephilim and they were the great heroes of renown and worshiped as demigods. A demon of lust had little difficulty seducing Shazam and bearing him children in Hell," Fate explained.
"Can you open us a portal into Hell?" Mary asked.
"Of course," Dr. Fate sounded insulted.
"Then we go and give him his choice," Pandora decided.
"And if he refuses your offer?" Amethyst asked.
"Then we make our own way out," Mary was confident.
"Be persuasive, young Mary Batson. For Shazam truly is your only route home," Dr. Fate counseled as he opened the portal and sealed it behind Mary and Pandora.
The Super Friends reinforced the Conglomerate while emergency measures were underway. They'd been tasked with providing training for Strange Visitor, Matrix, and Maxi-Man. Maxi-Man had been redeployed to assisting Blue Beetle and Red Tornado in building the new Bug airship. Strange Visitor and Matrix best utilized their talents beside the Conglomerate and the All Stars.
Everyone had been too busy to ascertain how the Kings of Catastrophe had struck out at the bridges and the power plant. Another explosion rocked the water treatment plant while the rescue operation had been underway. No signs of forced entry had been seen at any of the afflicted locations.
And, at Central Booking, the NYPD case officers attempted to interrogate the Kings of Catastrophe and found them missing to a man. Their fellow cellmates ramble don about a series of popping noises as the Kings vanished from the site. And the one man who would have recognized the motif and the technology was currently flying to Alaska.
Goldilocks was getting dressed well Sir Justin continued to lounge in bed. She returned to face him with a fretful expression, "This may have been a horrible mistake."
"Nay milady, for thou hast proven to me at long last that my Tessa truly is gone," Sir Justin was still mourning but he had actually found hope in that realization because it meant he could move on.
"If I'd known this would work I would've bedded you weeks ago," Goldilocks sighed.
"Aye, tis a sorrow," Sir Justin agreed, "But I have gazed into your soul and seen that your own pain truly mirrors my own. I knew of thy sister's loss yet did not attribute the pain that would'st stir in thine heart."
Sir Justin gazed deeply at her, "Yet I have also witnessed a dawning of hope within thee as well."
"So how do two broken vessels mend?" Goldilocks asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"We know each other in ways that most can never achieve," Sir Justin assured her, "We have fought, fought again beside one another, waged affairs of the heart, and even touched on eternity with each other," Sir Justin analyzed the situation, "I say we forge on together, stronger as partners than as independents."
"We've certainly been as close as two people can get," Goldilocks allowed.
"Yea verily," Sir Justin voiced.
"And not in this bed, you git," Goldilocks scolded him.
"But through this tryst I have learned the true depths of my affection for you and only you and none other," Sir Justin was honestly surprised by that fact.
"You've always known how I felt about you," Goldilocks said softly.
"Aye, but thou art decidedly less…crazed…about it now," Sir Justin wore a gently smile.
"Let's say we don't get killed in the interim and help one another heal as we begin to explore just how affectionate we can be with one another," Goldilocks suggested.
"I hear and obey," Sir Justin agreed.
"I rather thin I like a partner who's already broken in," Goldilocks jested.
"Fair lady, this wasn't your first…?" Sir Justin was stunned.
"As the American put it, it wasn't my first time at the rodeo," Goldilocks let him down gently.
Sir Justin was both relieved and vaguely disappointed.
The Conglomerate and the JSA All Stars gathered in Central Park to confer with Lt. Jurgens and he could consult with the NYPD brass. Jurgens brought the news of the Kings of Catastrophe's escape. Wildcat swatted at oversized bugs while Jurgens spoke. Strange Visitor looked distracted up until Matrix disappeared with a loud pop!
Bugs kept running into Mr. Terrific while the others quickly fanned out to determine where Matrix had vanished to. Mr. Terrific couldn't understand the insects. It was like they couldn't see him and the only thing he was invisible to was electronic observation.
"Alan! Snare me a few of these 'bugs'!" Mr. terrific shouted his request.
Sentinel encapsulated several in a construct bubble made by his Green Flame powered ring. Mr. Terrific used the sensors within a handy T-Sphere and his own mask to evaluate the nature of the miniaturized teleportation relays. He finally grinned.
"Ingenious," Mr. Terrific admitted at last.
"Care ta share?" Wildcat grumbled.
"Imagine my T-Spheres roughly the size and shape of an insect," Mr. Terrific elaborated, "And you'd have these wonders."
"And one of these critters just snatched up Matrix and presumably the Kings of Catastrophe and thirty-two billion dollars worth of gold before that," Vapor reminded everyone.
"I'm unfamiliar with this tech so I don't know how it's broadcasting," Mr. Terrific lamented.
"I think I do," Strange Visitor no longer looked distracted, "In fact I think I see a transmission locus concentrating across the river."
"Those that can follow Strange Visitor, do so now," Mr. Terrific instructed the All Stars.
"Ulla, you're on her ass," Vapor ordered.
Strange Visitor began following the transmissions to their point of concentration and several All Stars and the Little Mermaid followed her lead.
"Hmm…it's really you. Or is it?" Ambush Bug said between teleport pops around Matrix, "Your costume is all wrong. You're too young. And you've grown…boobs. Actually, you're pretty hot!"
"Excuse me but have we met?" Matrix asked.
"Ah, Supey! Don't tell me ya don't remember yer pal Ambush Bug!" Ambush Bug wailed.
"Um…no," Matrix tried to be diplomatic.
"Was it red kryptonite? Izzat why yer a girl alla sudden?" Ambush Bug wanted to know.
Matrix suddenly got it, "I'm afraid you don't understand. I'm not Superman."
"Ack! You've lost yer memory too!" Ambush Bug was even more distraught.
"No…" Matrix tried to be patient, "You've heard of Supergirl, right?"
Ambush Bug stopped his furious spacing, "Yer…Supergirl?"
"nN a manner of speaking," Matrix decided to tread carefully. Ambush Bug didn't seem very stable, "I'm the Supergirl of a pocket universe."
"What's a pocket got to do with anything?" Ambush Bug was already confused.
"An entity called the Time Trapper created a separate universe that contained two solar systems. Earth's and Krypton's and manipulated time so that in the 31st Century the eventual Legion of Superheroes would be inspired by Superboy's exploits after already having met a young Superman," Matrix explained, "But the Time Trapper wanted to inspire the LSH in order to destroy them from within through Superboy. Superboy died and I was created to take his place."
"So…yer from a different universe an' ya decided ta come here?" Ambush Bug was skeptical.
"My universe had a problem in the shape of three Kryptonian criminals and the killed all life on Earth. I'm the only survivor. So I came here," Matrix wondered if that would persuade him.
"Yer sure yer not a bit…touched in the head?" Ambush Bug gently asked.
Matrix began to wonder if Ambush Bug would know normal if it ran over him. Then he softened up a bit and was less manic, "But it's a major bummer losin' everyone like that. I recently lost someone too. My sidekick Cheeks, the Toy Wonder."
"Did someone kill him?" Matrix felt infinite sorrow over Ambush Bug's loss.
"Some yahoo broke inta my apartment and kidnapped Cheeks then threw him inta the building's trash incinerator. When I got ta him, the kid was nuthin' but a puddle of melted plastic," Ambush Bug fretted over the memory.
Matrix began to realize the appellation Toy Wonder was very apropos. Ambush Bug continued his tale, "After Cheeks' death I succumbed to the spirit of the vengeance an' of the night. I terrorized the guilty an' woulda kept goin' but that General Glory fella kicked my ass and made me see daylight. So I decided ta try this whole superhero shtick out. Lex Luthor asked me ta join these Kings of Catastrophe yobbos so's II dood it ta bring `em ta justice."
"You broke them out of jail and stole the gold for them," Matrix pointed out.
"How can ya be a real hero unless the crime is worth noticin'?" Ambush Bug wanted to know, "The plan only works if I turn `em in."
Matrix suspected there was a twisted logic at work here. Mostly twisted.
"Whoops! Company's comin'!" Matrix watched as Ambush Bug clenched his fists.
And then, with another loud pop they were suddenly elsewhere.
Flash forced the door open and sped into the empty apartment. Sentinel, Cyclone, and Aztek followed him. Ulla had brought Fire and Starman along with her as Strange Visitor followed the invisible trail.
"We need to disable the man's ability to teleport across distances by destroying his relay bugs," Strange Visitor opined, "I can clear the entire Bronx with a finely tailored electromagnetic pulse that will only knock out the bugs."
"I'll handle Queens," Sentinel volunteered.
"Brooklyn is mine," Cyclone declared.
"I think I can cover Manhattan," Aztek offered.
"I think I have trick that will cover the islands," Ulla ventured.
"I'll handle anything left behind with solar flare activity," Starman stated.
"Flash, you and Fire can proceed to Harlem," Strange Visitor requested, "I think I picked up our quarry going there. Look for something strange."
"You do realize this is New York City?" Fire asked, "Weird and unusual are everyday occurrences."
"I'm sure a teleporter with a woman in a Supergirl outfit will draw attention even in here," Strange Visitor remarked.
"I'll see you in Harlem," Jay Garrick said to Fire before the Flash tore off and raced across town.
Anna Fortune focused the totality of her considerable attention towards one end where the Brooklyn Bridge had been sheared off by a bomb blast. She was making preparations to conduct a time lapse spell which could recreate portions of the event while Atom Smasher slogged through the East River trying to recover pieces of the shattered span, "Gawd, what do they dump here?"
"Really, Albert? Do you despise your assigned duty to the point of now abandoning it altogether?" Anna chided him.
"Couldn't you just whammy the pieces out of the river?" Atom Smasher asked.
"Probably, but then I would have to wait until I could conduct this spell since it will drain me of my vitality for some time," Anna confided in him.
"I'm just not sure Mr. Terrific will even need this debris," Atom Smasher admitted.
"Perhaps, perhaps not, but in any case I can't afford to be distracted from this point until I finish the spell," Anna let her plea stand for itself.
"I've got your back," Atom Smasher promised.
Sand and King Chimera could see the towering Atom Smasher begin his vigil over Anna. King Chimera chuckled, "Heh. I'm betting Mr. Terrific is making Atom Smasher suffer needlessly."
"Michael isn't the sort," Sand called up from his overhanging vantage point, "Climb down and join me."
King Chimera seemed less than inclined to. Sand canted his head slightly, "Don't worry. I have you."
King Chimera's knuckles were white as he held a death grip to some twisted metal, "Yes?"
"Take a good look at these blast points," Sand instructed. He was relying on King Chimera's eidetic memory from this point on, "Good enough. Climb on back."
Sand followed King Chimera back to the bridge's remaining surface, "Got it?"
"Of course I have it," King Chimera sullenly replied.
Sand called over several NYPD bomb technicians, "Project the image of those blast points and expand them."
King Chimera's image delighted the NYPD bomb squad. They ran through several examinations from multiple angles. It would require chemical analysis but it seemed Semtex was the explosive material of choice. And the theory was the detonators were wired to a radio controller.
Apache Chief, Samurai, and Black Vulcan examined the George Washington Bridge while Rising Sun and Dr. Light examined the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Dozens of other bridges in the area had also been cut in half. Yet the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels were left untouched.
Vapor led a united team front to NYPD headquarters to gain access to the department's files on the individual Kings of Catastrophe and whether or not they had a connection within the NYPD's ranks that would facilitate their escape. She pushed and officialdom pushed back.
As a former police detective in Portland, Oregon Jason Praxis tried to sway the authorities. Wildcat stepped in counting on the NYPD's decades of close ties with the JSA to count for something only to find himself rebuffed. Jesse Quick, Hourman, and Dr. Mid-Nite also found themselves stymied at every turn by the gridlock.
Tuatara pulled vapor aside, "At this juncture you're calling Claire and she'll grease the wheels with a call to Max Lord."
"You're a genius," Vapor grinned.
"Just a precog recognizing the signs," Tuatara shrugged.
True to Tuatara's word, Max caved the doors of resistance in and the police Commissioner granted them a five minute audience. Vapor worried that the NYPD's capitulation might have screwed Gypsy's time table up. After all, she was already in the archive room.
Mr. Terrific led the investigation inside the New York Federal Reserve Bank. He already knew the teleport bugs had transported the gold away. What he didn't know was if they'd left some residual trace of where it had gone.
Commander Steel and Judomaster examined the vault cells. Echo and Reverb went over the trailers. Metamorpho examined each truck in turn. Ice froze all of the teleporter bugs.
A swarm of "bugs" flew at the united team. Reverb shook most of them apart while Echo reflected many of them and ice froze the rest. Three T-Spheres zoomed in on Mr. Terrific's location.
"That's it for the bugs," he collected a frozen one, "Standby here until you receive further instructions from Vapor or Sand."
He teleported via T-Sphere back to the K-Star Ranch. Judomaster commented, "That was most…unexpected."
"There are other words for it," Reverb growled.
Strange Visitor's targeted EMP fried teleport bugs from the Bronx to west Manhattan. Sentinel's power ring snared and crushed them across Queens. Cyclone set up a vortex that sucked insects and insect-like machines alike before driving them into the ground to be pulverized. Aztek used sheer force of will to project beams of mystical energy across midtown and east side Manhattan to destroy the teleporter bugs. Little Mermaid created water spouts that targeted Long Island, Stryker's Island, Coney Island, Staten Island, Liberty Island, and Ellis Island in turn. The bugs that weren't drowned by the sudden deluge were smashed flat against the ground. Starman erupted a solar flare flash to catch any bugs that had risen high enough in the air to evade destruction.
Everyone except the Flash and Fire returned to the abandoned apartment in the Bronx. Strange Visitor was confused, "I finally noticed that there's a high frequency, military grade signal coming from Manhattan. I think it's back at the New York Federal Reserve."
"Then we investigate that first and leave this stranger to Jay and Fire," Sentinel decided.
Sentinel and his mixed party returned to the bank, "Where's Mr. Terrific?"
"He flat out ditched us, man," Reverb complained.
"We are no longer alone," Judomaster noted.
Starman illuminated the shadows and the Council of Spiders attacked.
Sac pitted millions of spiders at Echo and Reverb. He'd made them breed in seconds, creating a generational army of common spiders. But they all marched in unison on the Conglomerate couple. Echo's powers kept them at bay at first. Reverb's vibration powers literally shook the arachnids apart.
Widower confronted Judomaster and Commander Steel. He used his twin swords to maximum effect against Commander Steel yet the cuts and slashes didn't seem to actually harm Commander Steel. Judomaster remained untouched by either blade, foot, or hand.
Goliath was truly the most imposing member of the Council of Spiders. And Ulla quickly discovered he rivaled her own Atlantean strength. And Aztek was trying to be noble and was getting in her way.
Sentinel created a construct shield too block Wolf's gunfire. Ice erected a barrier to do the same. Both were amazed that Wolf had surgically attached four extra arms to his body and was equally accurate shooting with six hands.
Funnel used a web projector to create a funnel web around Cyclone. But as the poison expert prepared to deliver her fateful lethal injection, Cyclone created a miniature tornado that sucked Funnel in.
Tangle deployed his laser web projectors. The lasers wee powerful enough to harm both Starman and Strange Visitor. And they seemed hardened against their particular powers. So Tangle used his remotes to begin to shrink the web.
Recluse was the most acrobatic of the Council of Spiders. As he demonstrated against Metamorpho. And with his fingers amputated and replaced by blades, his touch was lethal. His swipes and stabs at Metamorpho actually did damage. Even Metamorpho seemed unaware that harm could still be inflicted on him.
"I don't need costumes telling me how to run my department!" Police Commissioner Maggie Sawyer raged.
"Someone needs to," Vapor quipped, "You made a helluva mess out of the Metropolis SCU and then the GCPD. Now the biggest bank robbery in history happened under your nose."
"Yours as well," Sawyer grated.
"Look, everyone knows you practically wrote the Dent Act in New Jersey," Vapor accused, "It's like you actually want the criminals to win."
"I should have you run out of town," Sawyer said in a very still voice.
"I'd like to see you try," Vapor taunted her, "My boss would have a press conference held before I hit city limits."
"Ladies, let's finish this," Praxis actually sound upset.
Vapor knew Tuatara had the All Stars distracted out in the lobby. This little farce was just to keep Sawyer off guard and unbalanced should her minions discover Gypsy's activities.
Sawyer's phone rang and vapor almost held her breath. Then she wanted to swear as Sawyer answered it, "What? No, I didn't mean to take your damn head off. What do you mean security is seeing things in the archive room?"
She glared at Vapor, "Seal the room. No one gets in or out until II get there."
Sawyer hung up, "If I find someone in that archive, I'm arresting every damn one of you for obstruction and the culprit with an added charge of breaking and entering. Now get out of my building."
Vapor gathered her flock and they were stepping outside when Vapor whispered to Praxis, "Did they get her?"
"Not even close," Praxis stared at Gypsy standing near the bus stop with file folders in her hand.
"So, yer Supergirl without bein' Supergirl. Does she know?" Ambush Bug asked Matrix.
"She knows I'm on this Earth. I tried to tell her I was becoming active again but I couldn't," Matrix wondered why she bothered to explain.
"Why?" he wondered.
"Because I couldn't find her even though she lives in Los Angeles," Matrix sighed.
"No problem," another pop triggered by Ambush Bug took them across the country to LA.
Flash raced into the room, "I could've sworn I heard voices."
He waited until Fire showed up, "We may as well rejoin the others. Even if they'd been here at one time, they're long gone now."
"But how?" Fire wondered, "All of the bugs should be wiped out by now."
"I don't think we're going to like that answer," Flash shared.
Echo kept repulsing the waves of spiders but new ones came at her and Reverb from all sides. She could only repel one side. Reverb unleashed his full powers in every other direction.
Echo warned him, "I can still only direct my reflection field at one direction at a time."
"Shit," he grated.
A final push and he shook apart the remaining spiders. Then he took care of those confronting Echo, "Where's the guy go?"
"I…I don't know," Echo realized.
"This ain't good," Reverb realized.
Widower finally pierced Commander Steel's skin but his blade bounced off a steel rib and Commander Steel smashed the sword blade in two before pulling his shard out. Judomaster finally engaged Widower and he found himself on the defensive. Lobbing smoke grenades, he vanished.
"He's gone," Judomaster advised Commander Steel.
"How Batman is that?" Commander Steel wondered.
Goliath took hold of Aztek with all six arms and then lifted him over his head to drop him down on his knee. Only Aztek's armor kept him from having a broken back. As it was, he'd be in pain for several days.
Goliath tried to grasp Ulla with his six arms. She wondered just how human he truly was. But she knew spiders reproduced through sexual means. So she kicked him between the legs. He whimpered before throwing her against a concrete wall. A smoke bomb obscured her vision and after it cleared, Goliath was missing.
"How does someone that big just disappear?" she had to ask.
Wolf kept firing with two pistols while he reloaded two more with specialty rounds. The wooden bullets had been specifically designed with Sentinel and Jade in mind. The thermal bullets with Ice, Killer Frost, and Icicle as the intended targets.
Finding his construct shield pierced by bullets, Sentinel took cover behind Ice's barrier. And she was constantly reinforcing it now because of the phosphorous laced ammo. And then the gunfire simply halted.
Sentinel's ring sought out Wolf to no avail, "Neat trick."
Cyclone ended her tornado to discover Funnel had already escaped and vanished from sight. So now was trying to get Commander Steel and Judomaster's attention so they could bring the sword shards and cut her free.
Strange Visitor endured mind gripping pain to wade through the tangle laser web. Once on the other side of it, she found it vulnerable to her powers and she destroyed one half of the web network and Starman freed himself and destroyed the other half. Tangle disappeared during that process.
Metamorpho was bleeding from multiple severe stab wounds. The ichors he called "blood" oozed all around him. Recluse saw his fellow Council members were withdrawing. Which made sense. They were assassins specializing in sneak attacks and ambushes to kill opponents. Sustained battles were not their forte. So he withdrew as well.
Sentinel was the first to reach Rex Mason, "I need to get him to Stagg Industries. Rex may hate Simon Stagg but Stagg scientists turned him into the Element Man and Simon is his father-in-law. Stay put until Jay gets here."
Sentinel flew away just as Flash arrived followed by Fire. He got the update, "We'd best check in with Sand and one of you Conglomerate types should contact Vapor and find out what she wants done next."
"Curioser and curioser," Anna sighed as she alighted on the bridge.
Atom Smasher hovered nearby, "You find something?"
"Dimensional shifting was employed to redeploy the bomb riggers," Anna reported to him, "They teleported across distances, some not so vast and some vaster than others, to place the charges virtually unseen."
Images of Dr. Doom and Tiger Shark appeared before her, "These are our culprits. But I don't think they are responsible for all of these teleportation tricks. This lime colored fellow seems to be the loci for those."
"He's like a garish…bug," Atom Smasher observed.
"It does seem to be a theme," Anna admitted.
"Do you have any limits?" Atom Smasher asked in awe.
"Dearest Albert, your faith in me is very sweet and sadly misplaced. I have no idea of where these villains absconded off to," Anna said wearily, "And I'd like nothing more than to sleep for a month at this point."
Vapor recalled the Conglomerate to 1WTC an d Wildcat and Flash conferred with Sand before he did the same with eth All Stars.
On Long Island, the Kings of Catastrophe toasted their good fortune, "To Ambush Bug!"
"Where is the lunatic?" Multi-Man asked.
Most felt it was a fine way to talk considering who was speaking. Cluemaster replied, "He'll be around. He mentioned dhow much fun we all were."
"Fun and rich!" Kite Man gleefully gloated.
"Ambush Bug shouldn't have just hared off. Everyone will be looking for us now," Dr. Doom predicted
"Too true," Luthor entered the room.
"Can we help you?" Cluemaster asked.
"The gold. I want it," Luthor told them all.
"That wasn't our arrangement," Cluemaster reminded him.
"It is now," Luthor summoned the Rogues who were getting a ten percent cut to muscle the Kings of Catastrophe.
"Waitaminute!" Mighty Bruce yelled.
"Do tell?" Luthor asked as everyone stared at Mighty Bruce.
"I…uh…I just thought it needed saying," he lamely stammered.
"You'll still get ten percent," Luthor promised, "And recall that ten percent is three point two billion dollars split amongst you and the alternative is we take the gold and you get nothing."
"I think we all see your point," Cluemaster said sullenly.
"Excellent, then we can still maintain a working relationship," Luthor promised.
Another pop delivered Matrix and Ambush Bug inside Queen Paints. He gestured expansively, "Ta da!"
"Where are we?" she had to wonder.
"Los Angeles," Ambush Bug said proudly, "It's an abandoned paint factory. No one lives here."
"Then explain them," Matrix nodded towards the police surrounding them both.
"Eep!" Ambush Bug popped off again but in his haste, he forgot to grab Matrix.
"Ma'am, you're Supergirl, right?" an officer asked.
"It's really too long of a story to keep telling," Matrix sighed.
"Captain Parker would like you to report to Robbery-Homicide downtown," the officer informed her, "And he's bringing Jade in as well."
"Why?" Matrix had to ask.
"You really have been out of town, haven't you?" he asked.
"Very," Matrix assured him.
"No wonder you and White Lantern have been hands off," the officer said eagerly, "Anyway, Green Arrow killed fifty people while you were gone."
"Why would he do that?" Matrix asked.
"Uh…we don't know. We're hoping you'll tell us," the officer admitted.
"Where downtown is Captain Parker?" Matrix wondered.
He gave her an odd look before escorting her to his cruiser outside and pulling out a map, "We're here and headquarters is here."
After she'd flown away, the cops gathered to discuss the changes in Supergirl's outfit and the fact she looked five years older since disappearing.