Crimes of Passion
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to DC or Marvel. I own Farrah/Persiana, Lance/Diablos, Eve Willows, and Bast.
Chapter 28: Dealing with the Devil
Lyta woke up in a small children's room. Looking around, she wondered out loud,
"I wonder where I am. I wonder where Mommy is."
She turned and noticed a black-haired girl huddling in a corner. The purple haired girl looked at the other girl,
"Hi, my name is Lyta. What's yours?"
The scared little girl looked up,
"Lian. Lian Harper."
Lyta sat next to her,
"That's a pretty name."
She looked around,
"Do you want to play with a toy, Lian?"
Lian shook her head,
"No, I'm scared."
Lyta nodded,
"I'm scared too. Mommy is looking for me too."
Lian looked up,
"That woman hurt Daddy and that nice lady. She set my home on fire."
The purple haired girl was shocked,
"She did? The one that makes kissie face with Unka Sebastian?"
Lian nodded, making Lyta scowl,
"Oooh! Unka Sebastian is in BIG trouble when Mommy finds him."
Lian nodded,
"I heard something. That woman with the glasses says she's gonna speriment on us."
Lyta shook her head,
"No one is sperimenting on us. We just have to wait."
She stood up and picked up some crayons and paper,
"You should draw what your Daddy looks like and I'll draw what Mommy looks like."
Lian smiled,
"Ok."
The two girls sat at the table and began drawing.
Eve Willows watching through the glass window. She turned and noticed Hank Pym arriving. She smiled,
"I take it was a success."
Hank smirked,
"Yes, Joker would steal the War Machine, just like you said he would."
Eve laughed,
"Very good, Henry. Is the second phase of our operation in order?"
Yellow Jacket nodded,
"Almost. I will need more time to assemble it. Ultron is nowhere to be found."
Eve dismissed it,
"No matter. We're going to beat Luthor to the punch with this ingenious plan of ours. Now, if only SHE will hold up her bargain."
Meanwhile…
The Justice League was having their problems with the newly re-incarnated Loki, as well as the Wrecking Crew. The first one, wearing green overalls and a purple ski mask, wielding a huge crowbar, snickered,
"Hey, boys. Check out the outfit."
He was obviously looking at Artemis. Wonder Woman shook her head,
"Typical man."
The second, a man in green, wielding a ball and chain, rolled his eyes,
"Wrecker, this is hardly the time or the place for such matters."
The third, a man in yellow with a large metallic dome on his head, growled,
"Yeah, we gotta set these punks straight, startin' with that furry bitch Persiana!"
The fourth, a man in a white shirt and red pants, with two massive arms, shook his head,
"Bulldozer, Thunderball; we don't need ta go after her; let's get 'em all at once!"
The final man, a bald headed, bare-chested individual, shining in metal and wielding a similar ball and chain weapon, snarled,
"Anything to get back to Titania, Piledriver."
Thunderball surmised,
"Ah, yes, Absorbing Man; the love of your life."
Absorbing Man shouted,
"Hey, at least I have a girlfriend!"
Persiana asked,
"Uh, not to interrupt, but are we gonna fight or not? You guys are more boring than Pamela Anderson over here, and she gets boring quick."
She was talking about Miss Marvel. The blonde air force Major screamed,
"When I get my hands on you, you're gonna regret breathing!"
The white-haired lioness looked at her teammate and snickered. Carol stormed up to her,
"Just what do you think you're laughing at?!"
Persiana shook her head,
"Less talking, more fighting."
Artemis narrowed her eyes,
"For once, the animal and I are in agreement."
She charged madly at Piledriver and tackled him to the ground hard. Diablos and Bast took to the skies and went after Loki. The others went after the rest of the Wrecking Crew.
Persiana and Tigra acrobatically flipped around Wrecker, the two were-cats taunting the crow bar villain. The lioness crowed,
"You know something, pal; you're a bigger home wrecker than the Barbie over there!"
Miss Marvel dodged a punch from Piledriver, who had just managed to get Artemis off of him,
"Take that back!"
Carol would have spoken her mind, had it not been for Artemis getting thrown into her. The two powerhouses shook their heads and stood up. The red-headed said,
"They have the strength of Hercules!"
Miss Marvel cracked her knuckles,
"Yeah, they all do. In fact, just four of them almost killed Herc."
Artemis smirked,
"Is that a challenge? I accept."
She charged in again, delivering a shoulder tackle.
Sentry, Flash, and Hawkgirl were fighting Bulldozer. The drill sergeant huffed,
"You think a bunch o' puny punks like you are gonna do anything to me?"
He lowered his head and charged right at Flash. The Fastest Man Alive shook his head,
"No, I don't think so."
He side-stepped him and tripped him. Bulldozer fell face first. Hawkgirl lowered her mace and used it as a hockey stick, slamming Bulldozer's head hard. The impact was so hard that the Thanagarian fighter dropped her mace, the shock being felt throughout her hands. She tried to get the feeling out as she saw Bulldozer get to his feet, somewhat wobbling. He uneasily charged again, but Sentry came at super-speed and landed such a powerful punch, Bulldozer was sent flying across New York City.
J'onn and Green Lantern were fighting off Thunderball. Thunderball raised the ball and chain and threw it at them. Green Lantern got out of the way as the Martian Manhunter phased through the attack. The physicist smirked,
"It is quite refreshing to fight new adversaries, especially when they no nothing about me."
Green Lantern created a construct of a rocket launcher and fired at close range. The explosion of emerald energy momentarily phased the ball-and-chain-user. It was then, that particular member of the Wrecking Crew was succumbing to the effects of a powerful telepath. He held his head,
"What is happening?"
J'onn rematerialized,
"That is for attacking us. And this is for me!"
He launched his massive fist at Thunderball and knocked him cold.
Batman, Tigra, and Persiana were all fighting Absorbing Man. The criminal had turned into solid steel and smirked evilly,
"You're puny attacks won't work on me!"
Persiana laughed,
"Hey, Sorby! When's the last time Titania slept with ya? It musta been after the Bronze Age!"
Absorbing Man roared,
"You wise-cracking bitch! Get over here so I can crush you!"
Persiana narrowly escaped his grip, but kept up the taunting,
"Come on, Sorby, don't you get it? You're girlfriend moved on. I guess she didn't like a guy who can become anything he wants to be."
She perched on a street light, crowing,
"Sorby, come and get me!"
Absorbing Man was irate. Dropping his ball and chain, he attacked the street light Persiana was standing on. Acrobatically flipping away, the lioness spied a hydrant. She shouted,
"Hey, Bats! Get your rubber duckies out!"
Batman looked at the hydrant and launched a batarang. Tigra got Persiana out of there as water began erupting all over Absorbing Man. Then, the Dark Knight pulled out a capsule and threw it into the water. It instantly turned to ice, along with a now frozen Absorbing Man.
Tigra and Persiana began throwing stones at it, shattering him into pieces. The tigress smiled,
"All in a day's work. Good eye, little sis."
Persiana shook her head,
"Give the credit to Bats. He comes prepared."
Superman and Wonder Man were fighting the Wrecker. The two powerhouses had a hard time slowing him down, and it did not help matters that Wrecker's crowbar was magical. It dropped him, but the Man of Steel used his heat vision and intensified the heat of the crowbar. It grew so hot; Wrecker could not hold on to it and dropped it. He blew on his hands to cool them off. Letting his guard down, the powerhouse villain felt the impact of an uppercut across his chin from the ionic hero Wonder Man. Wrecker fell down as Superman got up and the Last Son of Krypton kicked him in the face, knocking him out. He muttered,
"I hate magic."
In the air, Bast and Diablos was launching energy against Loki, who had put up a defensive shield. The goddess of trickery shook her head,
"Now, now. This is rather pointless, don't you agree?"
Bast growled,
"Why would you say something like that? You don't know anything about my abilities or my champions."
Loki laughed,
"True, but I do know you are searching for the young mortal called Lian."
At this, Lance's eyes opened in shock,
"You know where she is?"
Loki nodded,
"Of course. All you have to do is surrender yourself and I will take you there."
Bast clenched her fists,
"How do I know you aren't going to trick my champion?"
Loki smiled seductively,
"I am a goddess of trickery. You know I will, somehow."
The red-eyed hero tried to broadcast this through telepathy,
Everyone, stop fighting.
All the combatants, as well as Speedy, who had been laying cover, could hear Diablos in their heads. He continued,
Loki knows where Lian is. She's offering to show me in exchange for my surrender.
Immediately, Persiana looked at him,
"No way, Lance. You can't trust her! If this is the same Loki I'm thinking of, it's a trap!"
Lance knew she was right, but he had to know. Finally, he said,
"Take me to her."
Loki was giddy,
"You won't regret this."
With that, the two disappeared in a bright light.
Persiana shrieked,
"!"
Next Chapter:
You knew this was going to be a trap, didn't you?
