Chapter 25:
Amanda Waller folds her arms while overseeing the fact that Grodd gets safely in the cell. It's almost tragic wha thappened here and she would like to strangle Eiling for causing this problem. Lyla and several of the other top ARGUS agents move the Gorilla into the cell.
"Get the psychic dampeners up."
The gorilla enters the cell and drops down onto the wall. His eyes still burn a hole through Waller and it's obvious by the look of him that he's not finished. Waller grumbles, this creature gives her the creeps. She steps closer towards him, trying to figure out what he has to do.
'Enjoy this moment.'
Waller shakes her head and returns back to the conversation at hand. Lyla steps closer towards Waller and obviously wants a word with her boss. Waller complies and walks several levels up. They move to a private corner of the room.
There's many questions regarding what Lyla has in her mind.
"The HIVE leader is Eleanor Darhk."
This causes Waller to remain stoic for a few seconds. Lyla decides to press on with the questioning.
"It seems impossible given she's a ten year old girl. And ARGUS is currently keeping very close tabs on Nora and her foster parents...and...well there's nothing out of the ordinary."
"We just captured a super-intelligent gorilla. There's plenty out of the ordinary here."
Waller leans back and considers the options.
"Clone, alternate dimensional counterpart, time travel...it could mean any number of things. I could only begin to guess."
Another couple of deep sighs come from Waller. This entire mess from what she's learned is putting the entire world in danger. Not just her world.
"HIVE is like cockroaches. We're going to have to work extra hard to eliminate them. And once we get the HIVE Queen in, we'll find out exactly who she is."
"We're chasing down several good leads now, Director."
Waller snaps her head back and responds with a very brisk nod.
"Keep it up Agent Michaels and keep me posted. I want to know the second when you have her in your crosshairs. And I wouldn't mind taking an extra look at Luthor."
"He's come up clean."
Waller tightens her fists in frustration. A couple of agents rush past them and move to the elevator. Waller waits until they clear the area before she responds to Lyla's assessment.
"Yes. I know. But, I still want to make sure he's not involved in this. He always tends to be in the center of a few recent events."
Something about Lex Luthor shifted, something changed. Waller walks down the hallway and moves back to the elevator. Goosebumps come on the back of her neck. It's an odd feeling, but she's been used to these odd feelings, the second she's returned back from the past, being restored by Flashpoint.
One step at a time, one movement at a time. That's what it's all about, as far as Waller is concerned. She walks out into the hallway and takes a deep breath before getting on the elevator and going down.
X-X-X
The fact Lena says it is so urgent puts Supergirl on the path to seeing what is up. If anything happened to Lena, well Kara will just have to deal with it. She goes so fast that even Flash and Jesse are a bit less closer to her. Of course they catch up in due time.
Kara holds up the phone and double checks the address. This is most certainly the spot where Lena is.
"Is it…."
"Yeah, this is where she told me to meet her. I don't have the slightest idea why."
The trio of heroes move into position. Kara scans the area to make sure there's no trouble. The sound of a dripping faucet puts her on edge about as much as one would expect. Kara breaths in and breaths out, waiting to see if anyone would come out.
"Lena?"
"I'm afraid not."
"It's not the Luthor she expects. A tall dark-haired woman steps out of the shadows. Kara puts herself on high alert, and both Flash and Jesse step forward to come face to face with her.
"You. What did you do to Lena?"
The woman answers with a smile and holds up her hand. An image of Lena working in her office.
"There she is. Safe and sound, working in her office, ignorant to what we're doing here. At least for right now."
Another wide grin comes over the face of the woman the very second she locks eyes onto the other two.
"I see you've brought friends. Can't say I blame you given your past dealings with us."
Kara snorts, yeah given that those past dealings ended up with her strapped to a table in a lab, until Alex and the rest of the DEO tracked her down, she's glad that Barry and Jesse are backing her up right here.
"Ms. Wells and Mr. Allen, I can't say it's a pleasure to meet you."
Another person who just casually drops his secret identity like it's nothing. Barry tries to remain it cool and Jesse tenses up. Barry reaches in and grabs her hand to stop her. His eyes fixate on the woman and while he does not glare at this woman at the same contempt as Kara does, there's still an underlying measure of agitation.
"Just who are you?"
"She's Lillian Luthor. She returns an illegal terrorist organization known as Cadmus."
Lillian just frowns at Supergirl's hostile assessment of Cadmus.
"We are a group of freedom fighters to preserve humanity's place here on Earth. Cadmus is on a mission of peace. We intend to make sure the aliens will not replace us. You cannot deny that some aliens are hostile and would wipe us out if we do not fall in line with our ideas."
Kara takes a few seconds to take a deep breath before responding through gritted teeth.
"Not all."
Lillian just smiles and nods.
"I've learned a lot about your planet, Krypton. How your council isolated itself from outside influences. Decided to regard the plights of other races with casual indifference. The fact that you're so accommodating to let people who would poison our culture in is hypocritical given your people reacted to anyone who tried to enrich them from their outdated philosophy of what roles Kryptonian men and women had from society. Anyone who did not follow the laws were sent to the Phantom Zone, not because they did wrong, but because they didn't follow the ways of Book of Rao. Your aunt knew about that, didn't she?
Kara's eyes flicker in danger. Barry can tell this argument is not going in a direction which is going to get there any. A debate of political philosophy would distract them from the real reason why they're here.
"You posed as Lena to draw us here, but why?"
"Because, I need your help."
"I'm here to warn you that the Lex that is on Mr. Allen's Earth is the Lex from this Earth. My son, brilliant boy he is, found a way to switch himself out. His Earth 1 counterpart is in prison while he roams free."
Lilian looks on, but Kara just folds her arms. Barry and Jesse look on as well, wondering how this one is going to pan out. There's a bit of a nervous situation between both sides of this.
"I questioned poor Lex's mental stability after Kal-El drove him insane."
Kara rolls her eyes and hisses like an angry viper. Barry grabs her hand to prevent her from lashing out.
"And now he might be a pawn of some sort of gorilla."
"We took down Grodd. He's locked up."
Lillian considers Barry for a second before nodding.
"If you did succeed, you have my sincere gratitude. But, pride comes before a fall….but we have a severe problem. Another one of the Gorilla's associates broke into a Cadmus vault and stole alien DNA samples we cultivated to study over the past few years."
"You mean the alien DNA samples you cultivated from my cousin and you son to create…."
"Yes, Project Kr, well, I'm sure that he's in a safe home."
"You shouldn't concern yourself with Conner. Because you won't be getting your hands on him again."
"How maternal of you."
"Not something you would know anything about."
"Technically he is my grandson…."
"No! You don't have any right to…."
"Ladies, enough!"
Both Lillian and Kara snap out of the discussion. Barry puts a bit of power in his voice and actually makes both of the women shut up and listen. He wonders if this is some kind of power that he did not know he had or if he just yelled loud enough.
"Who stole it?"
Lillian gains her composure and starts speaking once more.
"I didn't get a good enough look at his face, but the technology he used was so advanced it might as well have been magic."
This causes Barry to let out the breath he's been holding. Obviously, they did not see the last of this gentleman.
X-X-X
Lena puts together the last bit of paperwork for the deal which she hopes will go through today. It will make L-Corp a significant amount of money and hopefully erase some of the bad will given Lex's mental trip a few years ago.
"Ms. Luthor, a moment of your time, please!"
A quirky gentleman in a grey suit enters her office. Lena reaches underneath her desk and pulls the drawer open.
"Just one question, how did you get past security?"
"Come on, Ms. Luthor, there's no need to act like that. I have with me an idea which will change you life. It will make everything for the better. Just give me one minute of a time so I can wow your mind and razzle-dazzle you."
Lena reaches for the gun in her desk, only to find her attention caught by a glint of a golden ball out of the corner of her eyes. The ball keeps spinning and emitting a number of different, relaxing colors.
"Is it not pretty, Lena?"
"It's very eye-catching, sir."
Lena tries to fight it off. It appears to be some kind of hypnotic trick. No matter how hard she tries, the minute she catches sight of the man's ball, she cannot close her eyes. The bright colors emit off of it as a pattern and relax the parts of her brain which regulate impulse control.
The quirky gentleman smiles when Lena watches the bouncing bulb.
Abra Kadabra has Lena under his thrall right now and he could not be happier.
"So, if you could be a dear and bring me to Project XQR3?"
X-X-X
Kara is glad to get away from Lillian Luthor because it takes every fiber of her being not to want to punch the woman in the face for all she's done. Thankfully, Barry's there to help her reign in. And Kara realizes that by lashing out against Lillian, she'll be only justifying every one of her points by lashing out in violence.
Therefore, she's glad to focus on something else. Barry and Jesse move side by side with her as they begin to pick up Lena's papertrail. They're outside of L-Corp.
"Lena's got some good security. It could take us forever to get all of the co…."
Jesse's hand moves like a blur over the panel and in about three seconds cracks the code of the security.
"Done."
"I love you."
Jesse just smiles and decides to ask the question on her mind. The three of them move forward as she does this.
"So are we trusting Lillian at face value?"
"No."
"No."
Jesse sighs at both of their curt and quite blunt responses.
"Alright, but i just had to check you know."
Kara understands. Jesse and Barry do not have the same experience dealing with Cadmus as she does. She has an entire laundry list of reasons to want to see Lillian chucked in some kind of cell deep underground. She's just not sure it is going to stick at some point.
Someone with money and resources like that is going go very far in the world. Not to mention, Lillian is a strong and self-made woman, along with the fact she labels herself as a feminist, and playing that card is a way to drum up a lot of support in the current political climate. Some people will sell out their own self-worth based on a label and that much frustrates Kara just as much as anything these days.
Regardless, they move into the lab. Kara listens for anything.
"So, Abra Kadabra, what if he got to…."
Barry gives Kara a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"We'll deal with it."
A figure moves in to the underground vault. Jesse, Kara, and Barry move in quickly to take a look at the figure making her way to the vault.
Lena's accessing the vault. Kara notices a milky flash in her eyes when she shifts through the contents of the vault.
"Lena...snap out of it!"
It is almost like Lena Luthor is an entirely different world.
X-X-X
"Oh, this is unfortunate. I'm afraid Ms. Luthor's mind as left the building. She works only for me...to get what I want...and what the lovely Madam Hive wants."
Flash, Jesse Quick, and Supergirl turn their attention to Abra Kedabra. Last time Flash went up against him, he sent him several centuries into the future, to show him a world ruled by HIVE and by Grodd.
"What are you after?"
"Oh, obviously, I'm after the final part of the AMAZO. But, unfortunately, it's not here like I thought it would be. Mr. Luthor says he kept a small part of the alloy Ivo used to create his masterpiece."
Lena reaches into the vault. In an instant, Supergirl rushes in to grab her.
"Lena, snap out of…."
A blast of energy comes out of Lena's arm and sends Kara flying backwards. Her business clothes fade away and reveal it to be nothing other than a holographic illusion from Abra Kedabra.
Lena stands before them, wearing Lex's old battlesuit. Jesse cannot help and think that it looks like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon.
"Lena, my dear."
"Yes, Master."
"Hand me the alloy and finish off these intruders."
"Of course, Master."
There's a second between Lena getting the alloy and Abra Kedabra receiving it. Barry slows down time around them all, leaps in and snatches the alloy from between them.
They blink and Abra Kedabra turns his attention to Flash.
"Fiendishly clever."
While the two speedsters go to engage the sixty-fourth century criminal, Supergirl jumps up and grabs Lena around the wait before flying her up through the ceiling.
"I'm really sorry about this."
The two smash through the floor, around the bodysuit.
Abra Kedabra conjures two swords and shoots beams of high impact energy which turns anything it hits into concrete. Including the two speedsters if he can touch them.
X-X-X
Kara does not want to do this, she does not want to fight her friend. The front of the suit opens up and reveals a small piece of Kryptonite powering the suit. The sinister embrace of the deadly energy causes Kara to step back for a minute. Lena's suit packs a punch, especially to Kara's weakened body.
"Lena...you've got to snap out of this. You're Lena Luthor, you don't bow to anyone!"
A blast of energy shoots towards Kara. She feels the first beads of sweat rolling down her cheek. Lena sends a miniature rocket towards her and causes a pipe to explode. Water fills through the area and Supergirl flies above it.
"I'm serious about this. Your mind is stronger than this. You're not going to bow down before him or anyone."
Lena's eyes flash with anger and she channels the energy from the Kryptonite into one big energy beam. Supergirl floats out over the air. She cannot get close enough to the armor thanks to it.
"If you fold now, you're going to prove Lillian right. You weren't strong enough to take over. You were never as good as Lex. Because, let's face it, Lex would not allow himself to be a puppet for anyone."
Kara's harsh words give Lena some pause for a second. She starts shaking her head, in an attempt to clear the thoughts.
A struggle in Lena's mind, between her mind and Abra's control undergo. There's a part of her which wants to make her lose control, but by continuing to attack Supergirl, she becomes what everyone expects her to be. What some people hopes she will be.
Lena fights, her nerve impulses not her own. Lena tries to regain control.
If there's one thing that Lena Luthor is capable of, it is defying the expectations people throw down on her. There's a deep rattling the further and further she tries to keep her arm up and steady. Lena lets out a very hrash breath.
"You have to….I don't know how much longer I can…."
"You can because you're Lena Luthor."
The suit gets onto auto-pilot and prepares to engage the weapons systems on their own, given how Lena's vitals now go off the chart. Supergirl moves over to the wall and rips out a piece of the lead paneling.
After thanking Rao that Lex lined this place with lead, Supergirl flies as fast as she could. She smashes the lead over the Kryptonite power source, causing it to disengage from Lena's suit.
X-X-X
A beam of green light chases Barry around. Abra Kadabra holds up his gauntlet and rushes at at Barry. The ground underneath him starts to transmute into some kind of sticky goo which forces Barry and Jesse to stick down onto the ground.
"Magic trumps speed at any day."
"Oh, that was a dirty trick."
Jesse tries to move her legs just enough to get her feet off of the ground. Only she cannot do it. Instead, Abra Kedabra, holds up the piece and smiles.
"I've got it."
Lena drops down, dragging Supergirl in with her cape. The Girl of Steel's eyes blur over just as Lena drags her into the perfect position. Abra Kadabra breaks into a very wide and prominent smile.
"Good, job, my pet."
"You're right, he did fall for that one."
Suddenly, Lena relaxes a dart which hits Abra Kadabra in the neck. It drops him down to the ground, but only for a second. He activates the gauntlet and he disappears in a flash.
Speaking of flash, both Jesse and Barry break themselves of the goo. Kara rises up to her feet and looks a bit ragged. Jesse reaches in and grabs her by the shoulder.
"You okay?"
"Yeah...Kryptonite is...it's still a pain."
"You mean your race doesn't have anything like radiation shielding?"
Kara responds with a shrug.
"You know, I never asked. And neither did my cousin."
Jesse responds with a snort. Advanced race indeed, can't even get down the basics.
"Well, if you don't, I can build both you and your cousin something which should block out the Kryptonite while also allowing you to keep absorbing sun's radiation. And maybe some kind of filter, to filter any sunlight from any sun into yellow solar rad…."
"Jesse...now's not the time!"
Jesse turns her attention to Barry for a second.
"I got a scan off of the alloy. We better run though."
"Right."
"I'll stay here with Lena, make sure the Brain Trust does not get Amazo."
"Of course."
Barry and Jesse leave nothing other than their dust behind. Kara helps Lena out of the bodysuit, seeing that she's wearing nothing other than than her underwear underneath. Kara tries not to gawk too badly, although Lena's underwear is about as expensive as one would expect.
"Thanks for snapping me out of it, Kara."
"I'm Supergirl, remember."
"Oh, we're still playing that game?"
With those words, Lena passes out from exertion. Kara decides to get her out of the lab and to get some proper medical attention. Between the fight on the outside and the fight on the inside, Lena's taken a bit of a pounding.
X-X-X
Jesse and Barry follow the tracker back to the place where Lillian called them over in the first place.
"That's…."
The second they pass the doors,a glowing box engulfs both Barry and Jesse. The doors open to reveal Lillian Luthor. Somehow, Barry feels like they should have seen this coming about a mile away. Lillian looks over them. Barry tries to vibrate, only to feel every single nerve ending of his body shooting like it's on fire. Running at it is only like running headlong wall.
"Conserve those brain cells, Mr. Allen. They might be of use to you where you're going if you hope to survive."
"How?"
Lillian looks about as smug as smug can be.
"Ever since you showed up on this Earth to assist Supergirl the first time, I made sure that I was ready for you in case you became a complication. I made sure I had a weapon which was fit to trap a speedster...and when Ms. Wells showed up for the first time, I made sure to have a matching box. All I waited was to take the right moment to get you right where I wanted you."
"So, Abra Kadabra stealing from Cadmus, that was a trick."
"No...he did steal from us, but I sensed an opportunity to get what I want. And while I did not get exactly all that I want..give that Supergirl's not trapped alongside you two."
"Sorry to burst your bubble."
A few seconds pass with Lillian surveying both of the speedsters in their cages.
"There's one thing you two forgot. And that is a mother would do anything for her son."
Lex steps out of the shadows with a big grin on his face. Lillian is not done talking yet.
"And that self-righteous bitch thinks that she has any right to question my value as a mother. She has no right, I did anything for my children, I'm making a world a better place for my children. We're going to make this world great again."
"Oh, for crying out loud!"
Jesse wants to bang her head against the speed wall repeatedly.
"Well, you can disagree with my mother all you want, but I'm with her."
"And now I'm nauseous."
Barry gives Jesse a sympathetic smile before turning his attention directly towards Lex.
"It's a pity that you chose the wrong team, Barry. But, I don't expect you to make smart choices. Given that a simpleton like Thawne is one of your greatest enemies"
Lex raises his eyebrow and smiles. Lillian brings out a crate and opens it up to reveal the rest of the AMAZO.
X-X-X
The seconds tick by and our heroes realize the dire situation they are in. Jesse almost screams.
"There's no flaw in this speed trap."
"Of course it isn't, because I designed it."
Jesse wants to punch Lex in his smug face so badly right about now. She drops to her knees and breathes deeply.
Barry wonders what their options are and more importantly, at the end game for the Luthors is. Lex steps over and opens up the closet. A projector with a glowing red crystal is put into Lex's hands.
"This is a Phantom Zone projector. It took my team years to create it. And now it's going to blast you to the Phantom Zone in mere seconds."
Lex pauses for a second.
"Send my regards to Kal-El, if he's still alive."
A blast of light and both Jesse and Barry disappear. Their bodies contort into spectral energy before appearing on the crystal. Their faces imprint onto the crystal in open mouth shock.
"Now, we can go forward and we can purge the alien menace with AMAZO."
"We?"
Lex turns his attention and the Projector to Lillian before pushing the button and transporting Lillian Luthor into the Phantom Zone seconds after Jesse and Barry.
"And you should have known better to trust your son, Mother. I am a Luthor after all. I'm what you and Lionel made me."
Lex throws the Phantom Zone projector onto the ground, picks up a sledgehammer, and smashes the entire thing into pieces. He adjusts his tie and picks up the AMAZO box. He presses his watch and a beam of light engulfs returning to the base.
X-X-X
Waller exits the elevator, eyes faded over and head pounding immensely. She shoots the guard outside of Grodd's cell in the back of the head with no wasted moment.
"Yes, that's it. Now release our friend."
Abra Kadabra stands behind Waller, holding the glowing orb in his hand. Waller's fighting it, but he only needs to hold her under for a little longer.
"Someone will have to take his place, or every guard in this base will come straight here the second is empty."
"Just open the cell."
The cell opens and then Abra Kadabra motions for Waller to step into the cell. Grodd steps out of the cell and follows him.
'It's down the hallway. Cover me.'
An illusion field makes sure that no one notices a large gorilla roaming the halls of ARGUS without any trouble. Grodd reaches the end of the hallway and smashes open a large metal door. The door bends and gives Grodd the ability to access the vault.
Grodd comes across a large metal helmet. The gorilla snatches it into his hands and walks out, alongside with Abra Kadabra. He walks past the cage containing a docile Waller before snorting.
'Soon, all humans will share your fate. They will be in cages, much like you've kept my kind in cages for all of those years.'
Waller says absolutely nothing and Grodd does not pay her any mind at all. Madam Hive appears at the end of the hallway, waiting for the rest of her team to show up.
"Are you ready?"
'I have everything.'
She drops a black box down onto the ground. Several red lines manifest on the floor and start to infect ARGUS's system and anyone wearing their technology with a virus which would cripple them. She leaves nothing to chance.
X-X-X
The minute Jesse and Barry do not check in, Kara bolts off. Alex is keeping an eye on Lena, so she is not concerned with that fact. Still, there's plenty of concern when Kara enters the lab.
The Girl of Steel utilizes her X-Ray vision to scope out the area around the lab to try and pick out any patterns, trying to figure out what happened. There's just way too many questions raised right now and unfortunately, there's not a sufficient amount of answers on top of that.
Instantly, Kara notices a cracked piece of a familiar red crystal. She notices two more in the line of sight.
It's a Phantom Zone Projector Crystal, although one that's a bit more fragile than the ones which came naturally in the ARGO valley. Kara drops down a second later and holds the Phantom Zone crystal in her hand.
"Still hot. Which means it's been recently used."
Kara spends about three or four minutes hunting for the remaining pieces of the crude Phantom Zone projector. The one at the Fortress had been destroyed after Kal-El accidentally released General Zod and his minions from the Phantom Zone when he was still new to this entire Superman thing.
She heard the story through one of Kal's old friends, Lana, and it just showed how much much Kal grew as Superman.
Still, Kara realizes that she's going to have to find a way to fix this Projector and there's only one place in the world which may have the spare components to rebuild it.
X-X-X
Lex is not about ready to break out the best wine yet. One more time, Grodd, Nora, and Abra Kadabra joins Lex for this final meeting. Most of the AMAZO lays out on the table, with the exception of the Gauntlet which would complete the powerful android.
"So, what do we do about the gauntlet?"
Nora's words bring Lex's attention firmly over the attractive, but, dangerous woman.
"It's at STAR Labs."
"Which has paper thin security. Now that the Flash is out of the way and in the Phantom Zone now would be the time to strike."
"We don't want to overplay our hand just yet. And your information about STAR Labs security is very much out of date. Barbara Gordon upgraded it severely and given who she works for, you know she has access to some technology which would make breaking into STAR Labs problematic."
Lex loathes to use that word, but it is fitting in this situation.
"And there are other threats. It would be much better if we rebuild the gauntlet. You did get a good look at it when you had it in her grasp, I assume."
The very thinly veiled reminder about how Nora allowed the gauntlet to get away back in Jump City really digs underneath her skin.
"Yes, I held the power for a second. But there's someone else who may have gotten a better look."
Two HIVE operatives wheel a very tormented looking Gizmo into the room on a stretcher. Bubbles of drool come out of his mouth and knife wounds appear on parts of his body.
"Grodd, if you would see what he remembers and describe it to me and Mr. Luthor.
'Of course.'
Gizmo screams at the Gorilla attacks his mind, not bothering to care whether or not he destroys it. Not important by any means as far as Grodd's concerned.
X-X-X
A misty, red sky is the scene around Barry. Rocks, miles and miles or rocks as far as the eye can see, along with caves. A chill of something, whispers of creatures who are after their blood. Barry knows it, they're in the Phantom Zone.
"Barry...this isn't good."
"Yeah, I know."
He and Jesse hold hands when navigating towards the treacherous landscape of the Phantom Zone. They know from what Kara told them how this was a prison for many of the worst criminals in the twenty-eight known galaxies and likely many of the galaxies which were forbidden knowledge used this as a dumping ground.
A growl echoes from the area and a hideous monster appears. It has several tentacles and teeth and moves towards Barry and Jesse.
Barry turns to run, only to find himself tripping over his feet. Jesse hustles at a normal speed for a healthy young girl, but not super speed. She helps Barry to his feet.
"Powers…."
"I forgot!"
They find themselves about ready to be the midnight snack of this hideous creature.
A figure wearing a torn red cloak jumps out of air, plunging an axe in the back of the neck of the creature. Blood spurts out of the creatures neck, a sickly blue color.
The cloak flips from the figure jumping down and bringing the axe down onto the creature. A loud splatter of blood follows right before the figure turns around.
Despite the greasy hair and beard, there's no denying that Flash and Jesse Quick come face to face with Superman.
"Come with me if you want to live."
To Be Continued on 8/24/2018.
Thanks for the support and I'll see you for the next chapter.