9 Justice League Shadows
Tessa and Claire struggled in the grip of Goldilocks' hair. It bound their wrists and ankles as well as lifted them by their waists. They'd been free to hurl profanity and threats until Goldilocks got bored and gagged them both. She reported in to the lab's security office. There, Gemini manned the camera controls.
To be honest, neither Tessa nor Claire had given Gemini any thought. Tessa's only real concern out of the entire Brotherhood of Evil was Goldilocks. The nutcase was still convinced that Sir Justin was "her knight in shining armor" and she was his "fair maiden". The last comment Tessa had been allowed to make was that Goldilocks' brains were scrambling over the fact that Justin was the Shining Knight.
Goldilocks' hair, like her sister Godiva's, was magically imbued. This meant it could not only stretch and grow at leisure but it was also prehensile and took on a life of its own. It could also lift and carry objects several times Goldilocks' own weight while not imposing any burden on her at all.
Therefore she easily toted her twin prisoners through the corridors of STAR Labs until she reached the security office. Gemini smiled as Goldilocks entered. She probably counted as the lunatic's only friend amongst the Brotherhood.
"I see you found them," Gemini said with some amusement. She was a second generation member of the Brotherhood. Her mother, Madame Rouge, had been a founding member alongside the Brain and Monsieur Mallah. Rouge had retired into obscurity after the fall of the Doom Patrol but the Brain had eagerly recruited her daughter upon learning the offspring possessed the same elasticity powers of her mother. They rivaled those of Plastic Man and the Elongated Man as well.
"Right where you said they'd be," Goldilocks laughed.
"Can you lift their duffels and backpacks off of them?" Gemini asked, "I'm willing to wager they contain the items the Brain is ransacking this facility for."
Goldilocks pinned Tessa and Claire against the office wall. Strands of hair kept their wrists and ankles bound while other tendrils unlatched the clips binding the straps of their accoutrements to them. She drew them in and sat them on a desk.
Gemini concluded her conversation with the Brain and deactivated her wrist comm. She turned to face Goldilocks. Of course, given Gemini's powers, this meant her neck twisted around while her body faced the monitors.
"The Brain and Mallah are on their way. They're bringing Mammoth and Shimmer as well. She can create bonds so you'll be free to go," Gemini relayed.
"I'm not going anywhere," Goldilocks snorted, "The faux redhead and I have unfinished business."
"No, you don't," Gemini said icily, "The Brain already has issues with you because you and Elephant Man left the Brotherhood. If you're going to regain his trust you'll have to do as he instructs."
Goldilocks' eyes smoldered, "This usurper has come between me and my fair prince. She must pay!"
"Shimmer will see that she does," Gemini reassured her.
"Does what?" Shimmer asked as she stepped into the office. Mammoth ducked so that he could clear the doorway. Of course, his massive frame also required him to angle himself since his broad shoulders wouldn't fit the doorframe either. The Brain rolled in followed by the doting Mallah.
"Do you have it?" Brain immediately asked.
"We'll see," Gemini replied. Her arm stretched and delivered the bags to the Brain.
"Open them, Mallah!" he cried, "Open them!"
The ape dutifully complied. He lifted different storage containers up and the Brain's synthetic eyes scanned them.
"At last!" he cried victoriously, "We have them!"
The Brain rotated his post-like chassis, "Shimmer, bind the good doctors. They are coming with us."
"What!" Goldilocks thundered, "Not her! She must be part of the end solution with the others!"
"Spare me your delusional obsessions, my dear," Brain requested, "Dr, Richardson is the primary architect of these fabulous creations. She can save us a great deal of time by revealing the secrets of their engineering."
"What about the other one?" Mallah asked, "Is she coming with us as well?"
The Brain's synthesized voice had a great deal of menace as he chuckled, "Indeed. For if it weren't for Dr. Connelly, we wouldn't have known of this project."
Tessa gave Claire a scathing look and Claire blanched. The Brain resumed his chuckling, "Easy, Doctor. Poor Miss Connelly didn't know. We have taps on all of LexCorp's databases. When you sent her the basic schematics of your wonderful nanoprobes, and asked her to develop AI software and wetware for them, we became instantly aware of your developments and the current level of progress that you've had with them."
Shimmer created shackles for the ladies by converting airborne nitrogen into iron. The Brain wheeled closer to them, "Of course, I know all about the pair of you. Theresa Richardson, your parents live in Queens. You have a brother in Long Island. Another in Metropolis. And yet a third in Manhattan. You are courting Sir Justin, also known as the wretched Shining Knight."
He rolled in front of Claire, "And you, Claire Connelly. Or should I say, Christopher?"
Shimmer started at that. Mammoth recoiled. Gemini's curiosity perked up and Goldilocks merely smirked.
"You are the paramour of one Michael Jon Carter, known to those present as Booster Gold. You recently finished your transition into womanhood by undergoing Sexual Reassignment Surgery. In fact, I would believe that your newly reconstructed parts are still rather tender." The Brain recited, "The point of this exercise is to inform you that the men you love are on their way. You coming with us serves two functions. Both are practical in their way. You will reveal to us the secrets of your work or you will perish. But before you die, you will serve as living shields insuring our escape."
"If you cooperate fully, not only will you survive but the Shining Knight and Booster Gold will live as well," Brain advised, "I would dwell on that as we begin our extraction."
Tessa's glare could have sliced flesh off of bone, "You're going to kill us anyway. Why should we cooperate?"
"Because Dr. Richardson, if you aid us, your work will insure that future lives are not lost because of our unfamiliarity with your work. We know of your devices' predilection for consuming arterial tissue. While this would be useful in a failsafe environment, it serves no practical function. My comrades and I are interested in modifying the nanoprobes so that they render the victim unconscious for the duration of the nannite's lifespan. Could that be arranged?" Brain inquired.
Tessa glanced towards Claire. Claire ruefully nodded, "It's feasible. Once the software and the engineering of the prototypes are perfected, they could be tailored for any number of functions."
"Excellent!" Brain exclaimed, "Mallah, request a transport."
Brain wheeled in between the women and Mallah came to their side. They vanished in a blue flash. Gemini rolled into action.
"Inform the others the 'final sanction' protocol is being invoked," she ordered. Mammoth and Shimmer hesitated and Gemini snapped at them, "Go! You're in the Brotherhood of Evil now! We don't do things by half measures."
The twins left. Goldilocks turned to face Gemini, "I'll alert Warp."
"Good, because those two blithering idiots can't be separated. Apparently it takes both of them to tell Phobia and Houngan of our plans," Gemini complained.
"Where's Gizmo?" Goldilocks wondered.
"He's wiring the building," Gemini informed her, "He's in the west wing en route to Warp's position right now. You could catch him on your way."
'Righty-O!" Goldilocks said cheerfully.
Gemini had a sneaking suspicion that something was on her mercurial compatriot's mind. There was an ulterior motive at work here. She settled in to watch the security feeds again. If Goldilocks were to do something stupid, Gemini would know about it.
Before Gemini had taken over STAR Labs' security office, one of the guards had managed to hit the "panic button". That in turn had scrambled the Metropolis Police Special Crimes Unit. Captain Mara Taggard had taken over after Sawyer left for the top slot in Gotham. She had formed a perimeter with her men and women. The officers under her command were slated to merely keep the building secure from outside intervention while the ISA and JLU breached the interior.
Mara chafed under these restrictions. Her people were good. Damn good. Better than any wiseasses the ISA could dredge up.
She was startled when three ISA flagged SUVs pulled up. Nine costumes, two uniformed officers, and two plainclothes women got out of them. Taggard marked the women as being in charge of the ISA group. Curiously enough, only one of them was armed.
The armed woman presented her credentials, "Gwen Cormaugh. I'm the ISA's liaison with the JLU. That also means I'll be taking point between them and you."
Gwen motioned Mr. Terrific closer, "This is Mr. Terrific. He's in charge of our pajama people."
Mara grinned at that descriptor. She also noted that the two uniforms stayed close to their vehicles while the blonde bombshell that had been driving Gwen's SUV cozied right up to Plastic Man. It was easy to see which way that wind blew.
Mara directed her full attention to Mr. Terrific, "So what's your plan?"
"Have you been able to get internal visuals?" Terrific asked.
"Only from exterior vantage points," Taggard admitted, "They have the security system on full defense mode. The place is locked down. There are several small drones patrolling the grounds. There's also a full sized Reaper in the air. It seems to make an orbit every ten minutes or so. In fact, it should be here any minute now."
Suddenly a military style drone flew by. Mara sighed, "It's got eyes on us. From the specs STAR Labs handed over to the Metropolis PD, it also mounts rubber bullet loaded autocannons and two gas grenade launchers with ten rounds apiece."
"Don't worry, we'll take care of that in short order," Terrific assured her, "Do you have an interior layout? I did some consulting work with STAR Labs a few years ago. I may have a photographic memory but I only toured a small section of the facilities."
Four T-Spheres suddenly gathered around Mr. Terrific. Mara smirked, "Who're your little friends?"
Mr. Terrific smiled, "These little babies are our ticket in."
Hourman accepted a bottle of water from Penny and swigged down a Miraclo pill, "Thanks. I'm trying to get dad to revamp the Miraclo from a pill to an injectable or even an oral agent. Until then, I do it the same way he did. Through a pill."
"Wouldn't a pill be an oral agent?" Penny wondered.
Hourman thought about and chuckled, "I guess you're right. Sounds like something Jesse would say to me."
"Jesse?" she inquired.
"My wife," Hourman revealed.
"Mah goodness! Ah didn't even know ya'll were married," Penny admitted.
"Is she 'in the business' too?" Plastic Man asked.
"Yes, like me she's second generation mystery man," Hourman smiled, delighted with his topic, "Of course the term 'man' has to be taken liberally."
"Who were her parents?" Penny wanted to know, "Maybe Ah've heard of them."
"Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle were Jesse's folks. She inherited both of their power sets. She taps into the Speed Force like her dad. Of course, the Flash, both older and younger, does the same. Jesse gets her super strength from her mom," Hourman explained, "Her dad could never explain the strength bit but it was tied into her belt somehow."
"Y'mean like Courtney's Cosmic Convertor Belt?" Penny asked.
"Not quite," Hourman sought the words to adequately explain the concept, "Liberty Belle's belt buckle was cast out of the same bronze that the actual Liberty Bell was forged from. Apparently she was wearing it when the bell was rung accidently by Nazi saboteurs. Something happened and suddenly she was throwing cars around like they were paper. Jesse never showed her mom's strength until she got the belt on and 'rang' the buckle with her knuckles and then suddenly she was a powerhouse in my class."
"I take it the effect wears off?" Plastic Man guessed.
"Not yet," Hourman chuckled, "Which means I lose a lot of wrestling matches and tickle fights. Especially since she can move faster than I can see. The only thing she can't do is fly. Her dad eventually developed that power."
"So, ya'll said Nazis. Does that mean they were part of the Justice Society?" Penny inquired.
"Yes, and like my dad and all the others except Fate and Wildcat, they entered the Ragnarok dimension and stayed there until 80s. Then they got out and rebuilt their lives. Of course, you've probably heard they've recently reinstituted the JSA. They're taking on younger heroes and training them," Hourman described.
"So are Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle part of the revived Justice Society?" Plastic Man wanted to know.
"No," Hourman grew sad, "Johnny got lost in the Speed Force rescuing Jesse from it. Liberty Belle packed up and disappeared. Jesse wouldn't even talk about her for a couple of years. Libby, that's Jesse's mom, showed up one day to explain herself but Jesse wasn't interested. Libby gave her the Liberty Belle belt and we were in for a surprise when Jesse tried it on."
"So why didn't Jesse join you in the Justice League?" Penny wondered.
Hourman grinned, "She joined the JSA. She wanted to pass on what she knew the way her dad taught her how to use her powers."
"But you're in the Justice League," Plas pointed out the obvious potential conflict.
"My dad and I discussed it when I took over for him. The JSA was his team. The JLU asked me to take over for dad before the JSA reformed. I'd already committed and I don't shirk my responsibilities or go back on my word," Hourman declared.
"Which Ah'm sure Jesse is happy about," Penny grinned.
"I can only hope," Hourman shared.
"I wonder what's going on with the leadership." Plastic Man mused aloud, "I think I'll go find out."
As Plas stepped away, Obsidian approached. He seemed bemused so Hourman asked what was so funny. Obsidian decided to share.
"Vigilante had his hands full keeping Booster and Sir Justin from charging in there like John Wayne coming over the hill," Obsidian related to them.
"Sounds like something your dad would do," Hourman retorted. Obsidian stiffened.
Penny caught it, "Ya'll don't seem to like that comparison."
"I don't like anything about my father because he was never there. I never knew who he was until I got these freakish powers. The only good thing I ever got from him or my mother was Jenny," Obsidian said bitterly.
"Jenny?" Penny repeated with some confusion. She admittedly knew little about the reclusive Obsidian but it seemed Hourman did.
"My sister. Thanks to our parents she also had freakish powers. But she's lost them despite the fact that her skin is still green," Obsidian stated, "Imagine the looks she gets every time she goes out. How many green skinned people so you think there are running around?"
"Ah couldn't say," Penny admitted.
"Just her!" Obsidian snapped before storming off.
Penny looked mortified but Hourman intervened, "Let it go, Penny. Todd's guardian abused him as a kid, and like he said, he never knew Alan Scott was his father until after he and Jenny reunited as adults and became Obsidian and Jade."
"Alan Scott?" Penny rolled the name around in her mind, "Wasn't he the original Green Lantern?"
"Yeah," Hourman confirmed her guess, "He was given a power ring and a power lantern by an elemental force. Until Hal Jordan joined the Green Lantern Corps, Alan was the Green Lantern. Now there's John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, and a million alien Green Lanterns. Alan's with the JSA again. He goes by 'Sentinel' now to avoid confusion."
"But why didn't his kids know about him?" Penny wanted to know.
"Because Alan didn't know about them. He married a woman named Rose. What he didn't realize was she suffered from schizophrenia. She actually became a super villain named Thorn. Rose disappeared for a while, presumably because she was pregnant with Todd and Jenny, and then Thorn appeared. Alan knew it was really Rose but he couldn't reach her," Hourman shared, "Thorn eventually died during one of their encounters. Rose broke through Thorn's madness and whispered a deathbed confession that she'd born Alan children. She died before saying how many or who they were."
Hourman looked uncomfortable as he continued, "He never gave up looking and finally found them because of Jenny's green elemental powers as Jade. Jenny had inherited her powers from Alan's exposure to his power ring and Todd had been given the shadow essence that had comprised Ragnarok. Jenny understood Alan's plight but Todd never has. Nor has he ever forgiven Alan."
"That's terrible," Penny said sadly.
Hourman made decision, "Look, I've got to tell someone this and for some reason I trust you to do the right thing with it. I swore not to tell the League's administration but you don't qualify on that score."
"All right," Penny swallowed, "Shoot."
"Todd's schizophrenic like his mother," Hourman revealed, "He's been prescribed meds but I've watched him over the last few years. It's getting worse and I don't think he's taking his medications. He's been increasingly erratic over the last few months. If he doesn't think anyone's around, he has conversations with shadows in the room."
Penny, to her credit, didn't look like a deer in the headlights. She merely nodded, "Ah know who to talk to."
"Thanks," Hourman said gratefully, "Looks like Plas is waving us over."
"Then let's not keep him waiting," Penny smiled.
Mr. Terrific had intercepted Obsidian and asked him to fetch Vig, Booster, and Sir Justin. They all arrived at the mobile command truck that the SCU had brought in. Mr. Terrific noted that Hawk and Dove had been paying enough attention to come when needed without being summoned.
"I've got a plan," Terrific announced, "But it's going to unfold in stages. Booster?"
"Yo!" he called out.
"You're taking out the Reaper that's flying around," Terrific said and then admonished him, "Not yet! I'll signal you when we're ready for you to move."
"Obsidian, you'll approach the emergency exit. Hawk and Dove will accompany you. They'll deal with the security drones. You'll access the building and get me an opening to insert T-Spheres through. Once they're in position the rest of us will teleport in. From there, we'll deal with Phobia, Houngan, Mammoth, and Shimmer in the south wing. Warp and Gizmo are in the west end of the building. Goldilocks and Gemini are on the loose and unaccounted for. The Brain and Mallah have also dropped out of sight."
His eyes came to rest on Sir Justin and Booster, "And there's still no word on Doctors Richardson and Connelly."
"I swear upon all that is holy, if they have harmed the merest hair on Lady Tessa's head, I shall draw blood on this day," Sir Justin vowed.
"You and your sword will find themselves cooling their heels out here if you even so much as make a move on someone's life," Mr. Terrific sternly warned, "Do you understand?"
Sir Justin scowled. Terrific pressed him, "If I don't have your word that you'll take prisoners, I won't let you go in. Do I have it?"
Sir Justin wrestled with that one before conceding, "Aye, you have it."
"Good," Mr. Terrific was relieved, "Then let's start moving out."