Divide and Conquer: Almost There
(Red's Army HQ, Arizona Desert)
Slade's POV
At first I didn't know what the woman was yelling to me from across the work yard, but when I ran over there she pulled me into her little communications center that she had made in a trailer and told me to gear up. I didn't know what was going on, but if I was needed, then shit must have hit the fan. Right as soon as I could get my mask on Miranda ran in and pulled me into the comm. room and pushed me back outside. Lucky for me I had all my shit together because I was teleported the second that I stepped outside of the trailer.
I didn't know what the hell what was going on of course, but from what I could tell I was transported to someplace that looked like a jungle. From behind one of the trees Paul ran over to me and dragged me over to where Killer X was and the question of all people.
"What the hell is the league doing here?" I shouted at the question.
The faceless man looked back at me and held a finger where his mouth would be and motioned me to get down.
"You may not understand it, but as soon as we got here our suspicions were confirmed. It seems that mister Amano was kidnapped and brought here for some reason."
"Well uhh, that still doesn't answer why you're here."
"Look, i'm here because I know Marcas, and compared to the rest of the league I do want him to succeed at what he does in life."
That figures, of course the boy didn't mention anything about him, but if he helped lead these guys to where this next recruit is then i'm fine with that. Then out of the stillness of the forest I could hear something through my helmet. It just didn't fit in with the natural sounds of the jungle, it actually sounded like an air raid siren.
"Is there a military base nearby?" I asked everybody.
Killer just shrugged his shoulders and peeked over the fallen tree that we were hiding behind and pulled out a pair of binoculars.
"The Justice League has a nice sized record of military installations and as far as I know, this isn't a Brazilian military installation." said Question.
"So what is it?" I asked.
"Well let's go an see." said Paul.
Cautiously we stepped out of our cover and started moving towards the source of the sirens. Every now and then we would stop and hide behind trees of bushes, just to make sure that we weren't being watched by anybody. After moving about fifty yards I spotted something moving ahead and got everybody down. To large robots were moving on wheels towards the mountain ahead, probably where the sirens were.
When the path had cleared I gave the go signal and ran along side the same road that the Robots went down and came up on the foot of the mountain where we found more than rocks. There were huge concrete walls at the base of the mountain and a plain, flat area around the wall that I could only assume was a minefield. What was strange was that there were no guards on the walls at all, which is usually the total opposite whenever I go out in the field.
"What do we do?" asked Killer.
"Let's test to see if the mines are on." said Paul.
Extending his hand, he ordered for his bird to throw a rock out into the middle of the field. Once the thing flew back over it gracefully dropped the stone into the middle of the field and bolted back to where we were. The Question and Killer ducked back a bit, but when the rock hit the soil, nothing happened. So out of the four of us I went running over to the wall and shot a line to the top with my remote claw. The others followed suit and climbed up with me to the top where we stood and watched the action unfold.
Right when we got onto the top of the wall the doors built into the side of the mountain blew open, and two of the giant robots flew out with them. As soon as the smoke had cleared the robots were getting up, and there was a girl standing there with someone in her hand.
"Hey!" yelled Killer, "that's the guy that we're looking for!"
"Is he dead?" asked Paul.
I zoomed in with the scope in my helmet and said, "No, but he's got a nice sized hole in his side."
The robots, come to find out were mechs(there's a difference you know), aimed their weapons on the doorway and opened fire. With the heavy firepower that they were carrying, you would've thought that they could take out your average joe, but this wasn't one of those cases. Out of the smoke of the explosions the girl jumped up and out of it and formed a cannon out of her arm and blasted a few nice sized holes into one mech's leg and shot right through another entirely, killing the pilot.
You could almost say that the other mech shat itself, because the pilot escaped through a hatch on the bottom. We all just stood and watched as the girl dropped the man that she had been holding and changed her hand into a spearhead, but it was more than that.
"You coward, GET OVER HERE!" she yelled as she fired the object right through the pilot and reeled him back in.
"So, who wants to go down and help Amano?" asked the question.
"That's a good question, but I have a better one. Where did the psycho robot lady go? She was there a second ago." Paul said pointing to the body of the pilot.
My heart skipped a beat as a flash appeared behind Killer X and held him hostage.
"Whoaly shit!" yelled Paul.
"Who are you four?" She yelled. "You don't wear the same armor as the hostiles that I terminated below but you are still armed, so who are you?"
The Question was the only one of us that was calm enough to walk in front of her and actually do anything.
"Hello, I am the Question, but you can call me Q."
From where I was standing I could see patterns going across her eyes, they looked almost like profiles.
"Vic Sage AKA The Question, Sex: Male, Age: Unknown, Hair Color:Black, Eye Color:Unknown, Associations(ates): Justice League, Huntress AKA Helena Bertenelli, The Red Crosshairs AKA Marcas Valitov. Slade Wilson AKA Deathstroke, Sex: Male, Age: 49, Hair Color: White, Eye Color: Blue, Associations(ates): Wintergreen, The Ravager AKA Rose Wilson AKA Grant Wilson, The Red Crosshairs AKA Marcas Valitov, Dr. Ivan Markov. Paul Jones AKA The Drifter, Sex: Male, Age..."
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The girl looked so much like a human being, but under that exterior was machinery the likes of which I haven't laid eyes on before. She also recited who we were word for word without leaving a detail out. She is a robot.
After she went through our profiles she let go of Killer and jumped over to where our man was on the ground and started doing something. I didn't know what she was up to, but if she left us alive then she obviously doesn't consider us to be threats, which doesn't surprise me after she took down two ten ton mechs.
"So what do we do now?" asked Paul.
"Well, we do have to get to Manuel, but we would have to go through her, which I personally don't want to." said Killer.
"Only one way to find out." said the question.
Manuel's POV
After she came into the middle of the fray, everything was a blur. Something had hit me over the head while I was trying to shield myself from the barrage of bullets and now I was looking right into her face. Before, when I was running from her I didn't even turn to look, but up close she was something like I had never seen before.
"Why are you staring into my ocular receptors?" she asked.
'Wait, was I staring?'
"For no reason."
"Why is your heart rate increasing?"
"I don't know."
Right below my arm where I was hit I felt a tiny sensation, like a needle. She must have been stitching me up.
"Your wound has been sealed, now tell me why you helped me and how did you know about Stanley?"
'Oh, that...'
"Umm, well I met him, I met in Stanley in..."
"Don't lie to me Manuel Amano, I have a built in lie detector."
'Damn, I guess she comes with everything.'
"Ok, I spoke to this woman and she told me who you were and where you were. She also told me about Stanley ok, I helped you out because she asked me to because you're supposed to help out some group of people called Red's Army."
"Well isn't that some story" said someone behind me. "Because we're here to look for you."
Behind me a faceless man in a blue trench coat and fedora walked up behind us with three other people that I didn't recognize.
"And you guys are?" I asked.
"We're here to bring you with us and now that I think about it, this girl can come with us too." said the man in the blue and orange armor.
"What I want to know is who you guys work for first before I go anywhere!" I said backing up.
"Take it easy, we're from Red's Army an we're here to recruit ya." said the one with the hawk on his shoulder.
'So these guys must be the ones that the woman was talking about. Hopefully i'm right on this because i've had enough fun in one day.'
(Holiday Inn, Tokyo, Japan)
Archer's POV
I didn't really expect these two to show any detective skills at all, but they put on a nice show for me back at the museum. Like me, they couldn't find out who had done it by the evidence that they had gathered, but unlike me they found out some new things with the computers that they had. So far the new evidence suggests that the culprit entered through the ceiling, the only thing is that the entire room was covered in security beams so I ruled that out as the main entrance. They not only found it out, but proved through replays with simulations and dummies, the question was where someone with that kind of skill could be?
The only person that could have that kind of skill would be none other than Catwoman, a Gotham native that loves her pets and her bat boyfriend. Then again, the precision needed to even do what they had suggested is something that Selina Kyle doesn't have so that blew everything wide open, that was until the crippled one, Temarius I believe it was, found a key clue. At the scene a powder was found and I don't mean the kind that police used to look for fingerprints. It was a mix of salt, concrete, rust, and asbestos. It wasn't an odd combination, but it gave us a clue as to where the thief may have come from, which may have been a coastal area. This narrowed it down to the entire coastline of Japan, which helps a lot, but at least the search area was narrowed.
In just a few hours I visited them again for an update and arrived to a new discovery. In the substances that we found they had somehow found trace amounts of xenothium, a rare but volatile substance. I did my research and found out that Tokyo PD busted a major smuggling operation by the Hashido pier, which is closed to the general public but not to the gangs of the city. Officers reported that there was still smuggling going on there and the things that were being brought in were just as crazy as xenothium. Two officers that were on duty around that area reported gang members with cybernetic limbs which was unheard of in the criminal element around the area and gave us a hint on where to possibly find our thief.
(Hashido Pier, around midnight)
I stood on the roof for about thirty minutes waiting for them to arrive and Gargoyle was the first to swoop in.
"About time." I said.
"Sorry, it's hard to put this armor back on once you've taken it off." he replied.
"Where's the red head?"
Something sounded in the distance and a blast of cold air hit the back of my neck.
"Either a winter storm suddenly blew in, or your friend just arrived."
"Very funny archer, very funny, now what are we doing here again?"
"We're waiting for some signs of the gangs that make deals around here." I replied.
A calm breeze passed over us from the ocean as we sat there and waited for any sign of life other then the seagulls. The whole pier was dead and the area around it was closed off. Buildings had dilapidated and the infrastructure of the rollercoasters on the pier were crumbling and falling to pieces and there was aslight hint of radiation in the area from the xenothium that was stored in hidden areas to top it all off. It's amazing that anything would even want to stay here for an hour at least.
Then there was something that started moving under the pier. I pointed at the spot where I saw the movement and pulled out my binoculars. Zooming in I could see the source of it which was a group of people wearing protective suits and gas masks. Both sides brought in the tools of the trade, suitcases full of money and the products that the other one was selling, which I suppose were the high quality robotic limbs. I signaled for Gargoyle to go but he just sat there focusing on the group I almost shook him to see if he was paying attention, but he handed me his earpiece. This is what I heard translated to me.
"So, you have more limbs for us?" said one one of the gangsters.
"We do, but I must say that this is your last shipment that you will ever receive." said the provider through his gas mask.
The gangsters looked a little taken back by this and held back the suitcase that they had opened and pulled out a few handguns.
"What is this treachery? I thought that we had a deal!"
"I am truly sorry, but my boss has told me that you aren't putting our products to good use so we are canceling the agreement."
In the next few seconds things were about to escalate and we needed to move if we were going to anybody alive so waved Gargoyle to move in while I ride with Subzero on one of her ice trails. Gargoyle was the first to arrive and smashed into the ground with one of his gauntlets charged up and sent everyone flying. Once me and Subzero came in she started freezing people where they were while leaving room for them to breathe. While they interrogated the dealers I grabbed the leader of the group and unfroze him with my handgun, which may sound weird, but if you knew what this thing was then you might understand.
Up on top of the rotting wood of the pier I dangled the gangster over the rocks below and pointed my gun at him.
"All right chump, are you going to tell me which one of your upgraded buddies robbed an artifacts museum around mount fuji?"
The tough guy didn't answer me. I thought that since he acted the way that he did when the deal went sour that he was going to be pulling the tough guy act on me, but I was sorely mistaken. He was actually more worried about how high from the rocks below than he was about the fire-spewing weapon that I had in my hand.
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about! I didn't order anybody to rob a museum, besides we only buy guns and then trade them to the Yakuza and other gangs like that ok? Please don't drop me!"
Footsteps came up behind me and told me that Gargoyle and Subzero were done at their end.
"Let me guess, the dealers story matched?"
"Pretty much, and get this, some of the guys below brought up rumors about a cyber ninja that stole something from the museum." said Subzero.
"Great, did they mention where he was?" I asked as I threw the gangster wannabe back onto the dock.
"Well, why don't you looke behind you and find out?" Yelled a voice in the distance.
All of us turned to see where the voice came from and saw three people standing on top of the building. One had large black metallic wings and had a pilot's helmet on to hide his face. Another had a red helmet with a skull on the front and had an arsenal on his person. The other one in the center had two katanas drawn and had tech from head to toe, and looked exactly like what we had all pictured as the thief.
"So you're the one that stole that armor?" asked Subzero.
"Yes actually, I was the one that stole it. Say, has Marcas told you about who I am? Because I think that he should remember me quite fondly." said the Cyber ninja.
"What's he talking about?" I asked Gargoyle.
"Miranda just sent me a few pictures along with a profule that she has. His name is Liu Kai-Shang, and he works for the Shadow Man."
"And the Order of the Blooded Crosshair, don't forget about that." said the winged one.
"We don't care! Bad guys are bad guys and you know what we do to guys like you?" yelled Subzero.
"And what would that be?" asked the one with the skull mask.
"We kick your butts!" she yelled as she started forming an ice bridge.
"Wait, we haven't even formed a plan of attack yet!" I said, though Gargoyle didn't help me at all by charging in with her.
Like a flash the ninja disappeared and teleported right in front of me. I was caught of guard for a moment, but right in the knick of time I was able to get my gun out to block one of the Katanas.
"Quick reflexes and no sword, too bad you don't have two guns." he said as he sliced into my side.
"AAAAAAGH!" I yelled in pain.
The freak in front of me just stood there and cleaned the blood off of his blade with his tongue while he watched me lie on the ground and cover the gash in my side.
"I guess the sayings are true, never bring a gun to a knife fight, HA!"
Then the maniac came in and attempted to come in for another blow an rolled out to the side. I tried to get up so that I could stand a chance and fight, but this stupid gash wouldn't help me with that so I used one of the support beams from one of the rotting rides around me and pulled myself up. Once the crazy guy had gotten one of his swords out of the dock I pulled the trigger on my wepon and held it down til I thought that he was crispy enough from the flames spewing out. When I let go and the flames diminshed he was gone, but that's not what I wanted at all. Through the moonlit night I could see the shadow of something above me getting bigger and bigger by the second. It had to have been the ninja guy, so I ran in the opposite direction, but somehow he still got me.
A sharp pain echoed through my body as I fell to the ground, losing grip of my best way to beat this guy. Even with the pain I crawled forward with my best hand to try to get a hold of the gun and had one of his katanas go straight through it.
"AAAAAAAAH YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I yelled out of frustration.
"Ooh, that looked like it hurt, and what's going to happen next is going to be more excruciating." he said with a sadistic grin on his face.
'Now how did things go to shit so fast in the first place.' I thought to myself as he raised a sword above his head.
(The previous day, San Francisco, California)
Apollo's POV
This case is important not just to the city, but also to Mr. Wright. He told me specifically to search the scene of the crime for clues, that is by myself, but now I have these two here. They already introduced themselves to me, which was no big deal, but there is something left to ask. That question is why is he allowing these two people that he just met onto the scene, and why does this girl keep on poking my hair!
"Hey could you stop that?" I asked
"Why would I, your hair looks very suspicious?" she replied.
"We're supposed to be looking for clues, not poking around my head."
"Well sorry, gosh." she said as she turned away.
'Finally, maybe I can finally get things done.'
"Hey uh, whats your name." said John
"Its Apollo."
"Come over here and check what I found."
Looking over at the nice pile of rubble that he had just made I looked over at what he had in his hand and grabbed it. It was just a piece of torn fabric and it was red. The first thing to come to mind was blood, but it looked like the cloth was already dyed that way.
"So, do you think that it could be useful?" he asked me.
Further looking at the piece of cloth I replied, "I think that we should have it checked out first, then we'll go from there."
"That won't be necessary, for I am with JUSTICE!" yelled a familiar voice from across the way.
'Not him.' I thought as he approached.
Officer fulbright, unlike his name, was not the brightest person in the world. His constant pursuit of justice constantly gets me, Phoenix, and Athena in trouble and in some cases out of it, but he always has trust in the prosecution. So when he snatched the piece of cloth out of John's hand, I only knew that this was going to get worse.
"Officer, if you can wait just a secon.."
"Nope! In order for justice to prevail, then all of the evidence needs to be presented to the court! I'll bring this back to the precinct to have them take a look at it. Justice away!" he yelled as he ran over to his police car and drove off.
"Well lets hope that the piece of evidence doesn't turn up anything against Warp, otherwise our goose is cooked." I said.
(Four Hours later, Courtroom number 4)
Phoenix's POV
Court had gone back in session and Apollo gave me the news of what he and those other two found at the scene of the crime. A piece of red cloth of all things in a building that had a blue interior, or used to. The building that the Golden Gamer crashed into was deemed by the city as uninhabitable or condemned, however you want to put it. Police supposedly found everything inside, but maybe this piece of cloth would provide a new avenue, hopefully something that would slow down this prosecutor.
Speaking of the man it actually looked like he was sweating from where me and Athena were standing, the first time that he's shown any weakness during this trial. It makes one wonder what would make him swear. Speaking of Athena...
"Hey Athena, how did your researching go last night?"
My youngest pupil summoned her holoscreen from widget, the little device with it's own mind that hung around her neck, and keyed it over to where I was at.
"It took me and widget a lot of searching in order to find this guy anywhere on the web." she said as she popped open a few windows. "I've never had to go as far as I did just to find information on this guy than anybody else that I have searched for in the past. I even had to call up a favor from a friend that I went to school with in Europe to help."
"Well that sounds like a lot of effort. So what did you find?"
"I found out that mister Beolomir Azlochec has never lost a case in his career and here's the kicker, he hates superheroes. For instance whenever there has been a Justice League related incident and someone is looking for a lawsuit and money, then he is your man because he has been at every one to make sure that the League is bled dry."
That sounds helpful and maybe we can...no, that would be stupid to do, after all we have no evidence to prove that point.
"Phoenix, what are you thinking? Your face is telling me that you're thinking about something."
"Athena, do you remember hearing about the case between me and Manfred Von Karma years ago?"
Her eyes widened as a memory was resurrected in that courtroom.
"Yeah, I studied that case over in Europe. What about it?"
In the end I was able to free my friend Edgeworth from all of the guilt. He had been accused of killing Robert Hammond, a defense attorney, and was being prosecuted by one of the toughest prosecutors in the world at that time, Manfred Von Karma. Von Karma had never been defeated before in the courtroom, but he did have a blemish on his record and that blemish was Edgeworth's own father, who he killed and hid the evidence for many years. Eventually I cracked him wide open like a walnut in the end and he was sent to jail, history was history and maybe right now history might repeat itself.
"Manfred Von Karma was found guilty of murdering Edgeworth's father and he wasn't the one being put on trial in the first place. Maybe, just maybe this guy has something to hide like Von Karma did, but what?" I questioned while I scratched my chin.
"Well, there have been rumors about him visiting the scenes of crimes before the police get there."
'Look what we have here.' I thought to myself.
"I have an idea, lets see what the forensics report has to say about the piece of cloth." I said as I flipped through all of the copies of notes and reports that I had been handed.
'Bingo!'
"The report says that the cloth does not have any signs of skinflakes or fingerprints, but it does have a trace amount of blood, and guess who's it is?" I said turning to Athena.
"It's his?" she said pointing to the prosecutor across from us.
"Yes, for once we actually have the upper hand."
Suddenly the door to the judge's chamber swung open and out came his honor in all of his bald glory.
"All rise for the honorable judge Benburt." said the bailiff. "You may all be seated."
Once everyone was situated the judge gave his summarization to the crowd that had gathered to watch part two of this trial unfold.
"The last time that this court gathered the prosecution made a valid argument that the defendant, mister Warp, intentionally attacked the Golden Gamer in such a manner that he was able to kill him. The defense did make a few suppositions yesterday, but as it seems every one of them contradicted the evidence that has been brought forward to the court. Right now as it stands I am ready to hand down my verdict."
And suddenly my stomach sunk, but only for a few seconds. The judge will have to ask for any remaining statements or arguments with new evidence if there is any, which I have some. The only thing is that the evidence isn't just to free my client, but it is also to pin the blame on the man in front of me, Beolomir Azlochec.
"So, does the prosecution have any further statements?" the judge asked.
"None your honor." he said in his naturally Russian voice.
"Does the defense have any further statements?" he asked me.
"Yes I do your honor, and it involves a new piece of evidence that has just now been gathered from the scene of the crime."
QUIET! he yelled across the courtroom.
"Your honor, the defense is just trying to bluff its way out of a corner. The prosecution has already proved that Warp did indeed have a reason to kill the Golden Gamer and the defense has bumbled and stumbled along the way."
Funny enough the judge was actually nodding his head at this, as he usually does with the prosecution, and said, "The prosecution does make a valid argument. Unless this new piece of evidence removes all doubt of Warp's innocence then I will hand down my verdict."
Now my stomach had fallen again. I almost felt like I was going to toss my lunch I was so nervous, but in the back of my mind I always remember what Mia told me. Always trust in your client.
"Your honor I believe that this piece of cloth is highly important, in the matter of the fact I believe that it will turn the prosecution's argument upside down!"
As expected the courtroom went into an uproar. People were debating amongst one another on whether or not this new evidence was real, or if I was just bluffing my way out. Then the judge started banging his gavel.
"Order, Order in the court!" he yelled as he banged the gavel a few more times. Once the audience calmed down the judge continued, "Now then, would the defense like t show us this new evidence?"
"Yes your honor. While looking through the scene of the crime once more, Detective Fulbright reported that he found a red piece of cloth at the scene of the crime. After having it fully examined by forensics they could conclude that it belonged to none other than the prosecution, Beolomir Azlochec!"
Once again the crowd erupted into fury of questions and curiosity and once more the judge had to instill order in the courtroom.
"Order, order I say!" he said as he slammed his gavel. "Mister Wright, this is obviously a shocking piece of evidence, but what does it mean?"
"Your honor, it means that what I argued about one day ago was true, that there was a possibility of someone else at the scene of the crime."
QUIET!
"You have to be joking. The prosecution has already proved that there was nobody else at the scene of the crime, the area in the crash site even proves it."
OBJECTION!
"Supposedly that is true, but remember Warp's testimony and I do quote, 'After we had crashed into the building, everything was like a blur. I tried to stand up and see if he was ok, but something hit me in the back of the head and knocked me down. Before I could fall out though I thought that I saw somebody, I saw something red.' This statement tells us that Warp had collapsed at the scene of the crime next to the Golden Gamer, but he saw someone else, the real killer!"
QUIET!
"Must I repeat myself? We deduced that what Warp saw was a figment of his imagination made up to cover for his act of murder and that the red was the blood from the Golden Gamer, the blood spatter on Warp's suit even proved it! So your little red piece of cloth is nothing!"
The man thought that he had me down right there, but after being in this profession for as long as I have, I know how to feed someone's ego. That is what I just did and now it's time to open the prosecution's eyes to what I have in store for them.
"Mister Wright, where exactly is this argument going?" asked the judge.
"Your honor, researching things I have discovered something. Mister Azlochec has a history of cases against the Justice League and small time crime fighters in general, which leads to me ask why he even came over here in the first place since his office is all the way over in Brussels. This piece of cloth, with it's proof that it carries, leads me to believe that mister Azlochec was at the scene, but not in the sense that everyone thinks."
During my monologue the entire gallery had gone silent, it must be like some kind of spectacle to them. Now since I have them al on the edges of their seats it was time to blow their minds.
"Your honor, I believe that with the record of visiting the scene of the crime before police do like mister Azlochec has, then I can only come to one conclusion. I do believe that prosecutor Azlochec killed the Golden Gamer and framed the defendant!"
Now I had expected the crowd to go into shock and at least do something, but this wasn't helping me at all. It was still as silent as before, except for a few whispers here and there, and the look on the judge's face said it all. Then the prosecution started laughing at me.
"What is this your honor? So you found a piece of cloth that had my blood on it at the scene of the crime, what importance does that have when it is clear when I visited it? I told the police when I was going to be there, they weren't there so I went across the street and ate at the diner there with my secretary, end of story. Your honor, I believe that this argument is the defenses last ditch effort in order to save it's case and ask that unless this evidence can be backed up by more evidence then there is nothing left to say. Your honor?"
His question once again reached the judge himself, but he didn't respond. I couldn't believe it but I think that he might actually be considering my argument! Now this is a big step.
"I do see what the prosecution is saying, I do, but then again Warp did say that he saw someone else at the scene and they did wear red clothing. I think that I will allow this argument."
If my Jaw could hit the floor, it would already be in the basement right now. I couldn't believe what was coming out of the judge's mouth and neither could Athena.
"Did he just?"
"Yes, I think that he did." I replied in a whisper.
"Mister Wright, I will allow this argument to go forward, but if you cannot provide a valid argument backed up with factual information then I will hand down my verdict, is that understood?"
I nodded my head and immediately started pulling out everything that I had gathered thus far during the trial.
QUIET!
"This is absurd!" he yelled. "I thought that justice was supposed to be blind!"
"It is mister Azlochec, but this is a new piece of evidence after all, that and he did make a pretty good argument."
Across the way I could see the look on the prosecution's face and saw that Azlochec was definitely not happy with the judge's decision, but I was.
"Mister Wright, if you will proceed."
"I will your honor, I just wish to ask that since we will be asking where mister Azlochec was during his wait and what exactly what he was doing, but as a witness."
"What!" yelled Azlochec. "That would be self-incrimination! It is illegal!"
"That may be true, but as it stands, there was a cloth with your blood at the scene. Warp testified and told us that he saw someone in a red suit before he fell into an unconscious state and to top it all off, you admitted that you were across the street with your secretary, where you could have walked out and tampered with the scene. It's your call."
Finally the ball was in my court! I had planted the seed out doubt in the minds of those watching from the gallery and I could hear what they were saying. They wanted this guy to testify and hopefully he would.
"All right Wright, I will take the witness stand, but I must request that my secretary take the stand first before I do."
"Mister Wright," said the judge, "do you agree to this?"
I nodded my head in agreement and said, "Yes your honor."
(Unknown location...)
Marcas' POV
I was running from something, something that frightened me. It was a long, dark, hallway that had no windows, yet I could hear a storm raging outside of the walls. Something was definitely chasing me though and I could hear it. It sounded feral, almost inhuman and it was catching up to me.
This was a nightmare and I knew what the end was going to be because I couldn't outrun the thing behind me. I really hoped that I could find a door and soon because I wanted to get out of there, and lo and behold there was a door at the end of the hall. Without haste I threw myself forward and crashed right through the door into a pitch black room, which became darker as the door reformed itself behind me.
"What is this place?" I said to myself.
"This is the darkest corner of your mind." said another voice.
"Who are you?" I asked the darkness.
Suddenly a light came into the room and the darkness was gone. There, standing in the middle of the room was actually me, except this me had all black on and tattoos on his neck and arms.
"Hello Marcas, I am you, well the darker part of you that is. I am the part of your conscious that makes you think naughty things." he said clapping his hands together.
"So you've been the one that made me think about Raven like I did!"
"Yes!" he said in a very giddy tone. "I also gave you the boner that you had back in Detroit. Basically i've been the one that has been breaking through that fortified wall that you call your conscious and have been gradually winning!"
"You've been trying to take over me?"
"Pffft, take over? Bitch please, I want to eradicate you so that I can use your true potential!" he said clenching both of his fists.
"What do you mean true potential?" I asked out of curiosity.
"What I mean by that boy, is that your morals have been restraining you from unlocking your full potential! For instance you could have killed Deathstroke and ended all of the guilt and sorrow, but all that you did was poke his damned eye out! You pussy!" he laughed.
"But I now have him on my team, and he's going to be a useful asset!" I shouted back.
My other self just shrugged it off and laughed, "One other thing is about letting your stupid relationship with your dead fiancé go! She's been holding you back from the pleasures of all the other fishes in the sea! I mean you could have persuaded Raven to go beyond her little pout fit and plowed her through! I bet that she would have definitely joined the team after that!"
I couldn't believe that this was actually a part of me. The more that he went on about what I should have done instead of what I did do made me more and more angry.
"NO!" I yelled as I stomped over to him. "I know that raven isn't like that! She is better than that and you know it!"
For some reason I must have given him a boost of confidence because he got in up in my face and said to me, "Oh really? Because the pheromones coming off of her at the time told me that she was ripe for the picking!"
The bastard laughed at the look on my face and even slapped his knee for effect. He was really starting to grate on my nerves now and I was about a few seconds from telling him how I really felt with my fists, but he spoke up again.
"You know, i've been waiting for this moment, the moment that you would come into your dreams and meet me, the real you!" he said pointing to me. "The best part that not that you're here, I can finally exact my plan and take complete control over your mind and trap you here! You see, we are in your subconscious, I am part of your subconscious and so are you right now. So if I kill you right her and now then I will take your place, and all that you will be is just a personality trait that will stay stuck in this box that you've put me in forever! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed as he then grew to the size of a giant.
"Now hold still so that I can squish you!"
My feet did what my mind couldn't do and ran before a giant steel-toed boot came crashing down. I tried to run away from him, which was a good idea, but it failed me when I realized that I couldn't reach the wall. it was the same effect that the hallway did before, the end seemed like it was near, but it really wasn't. It was then that I started panicking and ran around him as he stomped around me.
"Come on you little prick! Hold still so that I can squash you and get this over with, because I have a date with Raven's behind! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
For a second I stopped the panic going on inside me to think about this for a moment. Then a lightbulb appeared over my head. I realized that this is my mind, not his and that though he may have control over this space in my mind, I can still fight back. The one solution that I could think of at the moment were my desert eagles, so I reached into my jacket and found them.
When I had the chance I popped off a few shots and rolled out of the way of his colossal foot step. I checked to see if I had done any damage, but he looked all the same. Then just as soon as I had gotten them, he had turned my pistols into solid gold. The triggers wouldn't budge and I realized there that I needed something better to take him down with. Out of nowhere I saw a few things appear behind him and lo and behold it was a sight for sore eyes. It was the Shadow Warriors.
The team quickly swooped in to take down the colossal form of the evil in me. They must have been my internal defense, the thing that was keeping him at bay, because he just swatted them away like flies.
"Please Marcas, is this the best that you've got? I've fought these guys hundreds of times and beat them. Come on and give me a challenge!" he said as he tried to stomp me again.
'What can I do to beat him? He pretty much knows how I work, so what do I do?'
Behind the giant before me a bluish portal appeared on the wall and out of it popped a familiar girl in a blue hood. Her activity didn't go unnoticed by the evil in me though. The giant turned around to facer her and grinned.
"Ah, so I guess that I don't have to take over your body to have some fun after all." he said as he stomped over there.
"RUN RAVEN!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, but she didn't move.
'Why isn't she moving!' I thought to myself.
Suddenly I felt something grab my leg and everything went dark.
(Real World, Red's Army HQ)
"BAAAAAAH!" I yelled as I bolted up from where I was laying
"Marcas," said Miranda, "you're alive!"
"Whuh, what just happened?" I asked while holding my head.
"Well, Raven found you upstairs still asleep and you wouldn't get up." said Miranda.
"What happened to the children and where is Raven?" I asked.
"They're fine." said Slade from across the room. "She sent Cyborg to pick them up and told him that she would be leaving, and to answer your other question, she's in her room."
"Her room? Wait, did you guys already get the base finished?"
"That is correct." said Kevin as walked up the hospital bed. "Once we started bringing people back we were able to increase our rate of completion. So yes, the base is completed."
"What about the robots?" I asked.
"We pretty much turned them off and put them in the basement for something later, I mean how often is it that you get twenty robots to just tinker with?" said Hunter to my side.
"Not that often I guess, say, which teams have already come back?" I asked.
"Well, as you can already tell, Paul and Hunter have come back with Amano and an addition to that, you will meet her later. Kevin and Phil's team has come back with the alien that they picked up from the crash site. Now I heard from John and what he could tell me was that the case against Warp has turned around for the better."
"What about Temarius and Madison?"
"I haven't heard from them in a while, I hope they are ok."
Usually if nobody has reported in by now, then it is a bad sign. Throwing the sheets on me aside and pulling off the monitors on my head, I walked over to where my coat and combat vest were and slipped them on.
"Uhh Marcas, what are you doing?"
"There is no time to waste Miranda, get Raven and tell her to meet me, Slade, and whichever newbie that you can get your hands on first to come down to the hanger. Go get eveybody together because minutes spent could be the difference between life and death for our comrades across the sea. Let's move!" I yelled as I went running down the hall.
The clock is ticking as Marcas has regained conciousness. Archer's life hangs by a thread and is in the hands of the ruthless servant of the Shadow Man known as Red Saber. Warp's freedom is in jeopardy with the new and bold accusation made against the prosecution. Will it stick? Will Archer live? Those questions will be answered next time in the epic conclusion of divide and conquer in DIVIDE AND CONQUER: THE LAST 100 YARDS!
Also here are the profiles for Drak, Archer, Emily, and Warp:
Name: Drak
Species: Alien/ Race: Draganian
Sex: Male
Age: 28
Hair: None
Eyes: He has yellow reptilian eyes.
Height: 6'4
Weight: 230 lbs
Appearance: Drak looks like a cross between a human and a dragon, his entire body is covered in dark red scales, has dark brown claws, sharp fangs, two slits for a nose, two dragon wings coming out of his shoulder blades, and he has several spikes on the back of his head.
Outfit: Black biker pants and boots.
Personality: Drak gets annoyed very easily, he's also hot headed, and tends to act like a loose cannon, but he does care about his friends and will put his life on the line to save them.
Powers: Flight, Super Strength, Night Vision, Can breath fire.
Bio: Was born on the planet Dragania, a year later his sister Lilandra is born, but their mother died during Lilandra's birth, 8 years later their father was killed from an old dept he owed. Drak then was forced to grow up and take care of Lilandra and the two lived in peace for 17 years until the galactic gangster Kronos showed up and started causing caos. The Draganians manage to make Kronos and his men flee but not before he kills Lilandra. Wanting revenge, Drak leaves Dragania to pursue Kronos after a year of searching, Drak finally gets a lead, Kronos is heading to Earth. Drak then heads to Earth with one goal in mind, kill Kronos, slowly and painfully.
Danny Wilson: AKA Archer.
A agent of ?, he works human relations, with a brand of heroes, following the style of the olympian gods, (Like Gauntlet), He appears to be a mild mannered FBI agent, but in reality, he fought with the justice league during the battle with Black Adam, helping the civilians into subway stations to take cover. He was ordered to locate Gauntlet for a second try for recruiting (the first time I'll take care of), and bumps into Red on his way from a different branch of ? in Tokyo.
Weapon: Handgun of Apollo. A Wartime Browning Hi-power handgun, the gun was blasted during WW2, used and invented by another member of ?, John Browning.
Powers: None so far has been shown. but he has been able, at times, to set flash bang traps with a snap of his fingers.
Features: Skinny, but well built, with a rough and tumble uniform on. (Think Ben Affleck from Argo.) and has a gun jacket under a worn black leather jacket.
(This one is my OC)
Name: Emily
Alias: Emily
Sex: Female
Age: Unknown
Height: 6'0
Weight: 189 ibs
Hair Color: White
Eye Color: Red
Nationality: Unknown
Powers: Magnetic manipulation, warping effects on technology, has her own power core
Weakness(es): Strong Electro Magnetic Pulse?
Hero Outfit: To be determined
Civilian Clothes: To be determined
Personailty: Cold, robotic
Back Story: She was born and created in the facility that Manuel uncovered in Brazil. Little else is known for now that is.
Name: Warp
Alias: Steve Harris
Sex: Male
Age: 18
Height: 5'11
Weight: 212 lbs
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Nationality: Canadian
Powers: He can teleport to anywhere within a 5 mile radius in a flash of light.
Weakness: Becomes tired if he teleports too much.
Hero Outfit: black sunglasses, black duster coat, gray shirt, gray jeans, black boots.
Civillian Clothes: gray "Black Sabbath" baseball cap backwards, dark blue sleeveless shirt, black Jean shorts, white sneakers
Personality: Friendly, intelligent, and likes to read, and skateboard
Back story: Steve was born with the ability to teleport, over the years he trained himself until he mastered his power and decided he wanted to use it to help the people of San Francisco as the vigilante known as Warp.