Crimes of Passion
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to DC or Marvel. I own Farrah/Persiana, Lance/Diablos, Eve Willows, and Bast.
Chapter 29: You Had to See This Coming
At Cadmus Labs, Hawaii…
Agreeing to go with Loki to Cadmus, Diablos had his sword ready. When they arrived, Eve Willows was there to greet them. She said to Loki,
"You held up your bargain, Loki. I admit; I was somewhat skeptical of a deity of trickery doing anything…honorable."
Diablos cut in,
"Where's Lian?"
Eve shook her head,
"I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about."
Lance gritted his teeth and charged right in. It was pretty reckless of him to do so, considering he got blasted in the back. He fell down, mere inches from the scientist. The sword was too far away for him to reach. Eve stepped on his hand, looking down at him,
"If you really want to know, Lian is with a playmate of hers. The two are getting along nicely. However, I have all the necessary components I need for my latest experiment."
Yellow Jacket came through the door and noticed the downed hero. He smirked,
"Finally got you."
Eve ordered,
"Take him to the central control room. I want him to see this."
Diablos tried to power up, but another concussive blast from Loki stopped him cold. He was out.
Meanwhile…
Agreeing to meet in the Watchtower, the Justice League and Bast were trying to discuss ways of finding out how to track Diablos. A man in a gold helmet, wearing a golden cape and gold boots, was busy casting various divination spells. His name is Doctor Fate, master magician. He and Zatanna were busy trying to cast spells. Zatanna wiped her brow,
"No way. I can't find him. I don't get how he's hidden away."
Miss Marvel folded her arms,
"It must be a trick by Loki. He, or she, is infamous for this sort of thing."
Sentry shook his head,
"But, I always thought Loki was a man. How is Loki a woman now?"
Batman stated,
"Loki is a trickery deity. It's possible he can assume female shapes just to confuse us."
Persiana shrugged,
"I don't know, Bats. The scent was definitely a woman's, but, then again, this is someone than can alter the fabric of reality. Who knows what's real or not with Loki running around."
Doctor Fate had another spell fizzle,
"AAHH! This is getting us nowhere!"
Artemis scoffed,
"Typical male arrogance."
Tigra rolled her eyes,
"Here we go again."
The red-headed Wonder Woman folded her arms,
"I say, we let him handle the fate he is destined for."
Bast turned, snarling,
"Amazon, you are really getting on my nerves. All right, granted, he hasn't been exactly forthcoming with all of this, but I know, deep down, Diablos is the strongest, kindest warrior and friend I have ever met and will ever meet. He's genuinely concerned about Lian, just like Speedy is. So, quit being a bitch and do something useful, LIKE HELP!"
The red-headed bow wielder huffed and walked away, clearly not interested in wasting her efforts to find one person.
Persiana smirked,
"Nice, Bast. You really rattled her cage."
Bast grinned,
"Of course. I'm a feline. It's what I do."
Flash raised his hand,
"I got a question."
Everyone looked at the Scarlet Speedster. Hawkgirl smirked,
"This'll be good."
The Scarlet Speedster asked,
"How come Lance always has the feline chicks go after him?"
Everyone groaned at this, but Flash continued,
"No, I really need to know this. I heard about Cheetah flirting with him-." (1)
Persiana screamed,
"WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? I'LL GUT HER FOR THAT!"
Wally winced,
"Ouch, sorry."
Bast shook her head, explaining,
"That's easy. I like guys with red eyes."
Persiana rolled her eyes and said,
"I'm gonna check on Donna."
Elsewhere in the Watchtower…
Wonder Girl was in her room, sobbing her eyes out. She had just been told about Speedy's child Lian, and how he had a sordid past. The Amazon teen could not believe she was hearing this about him. She really liked Roy, a lot. The raven-haired teen was almost certain she loved him.
A voice called out,
"Donna?"
Donna turned and immediately recognized it. It was Diana. She wiped her tears and said,
"Come in."
Diana entered and looked at her sister. She sighed,
"By Hera, dear sister. What happened to you?"
Donna pouted,
"Roy happened. I can't believe he would do this."
Diana sat down on the bed,
"Sister, I know this is troubling for you. I can't imagine what you're going through."
Donna wiped more tears away,
"How is it he kept this from me? I had a right to know."
The former Wonder Woman shook her head,
"I can't imagine why. You should ask him to explain himself."
There was another knock,
"Donna? It's Roy."
Diana clenched her fist, but kept her composure. She opened the door and saw a timid Speedy looking up,
"Uh…hi…Diana. If…this…is…a…bad…time?"
Diana grabbed him by the throat,
"I should just snap your neck, but I want you to explain yourself to Donna."
Wonder Girl stood up from the bed and came near her sister,
"Diana, I want to hear what he has to say."
Diana dropped him,
"Make it brief."
Speedy rubbed his throat and nodded,
"All right. I'll tell you everything."
He cleared his throat and began,
"When I became an addict, I did some things that, believe me, I want to take back, but can't. My addiction got so bad, I was willing to do almost anything to get high. I just needed something to cope with the hero business and everything spun out of control. Amanda put me in touch with Checkmate. They helped me get clean and I met this woman there. We were physical for a while, until I found out she was carrying my child. I didn't care if it was a boy or a girl; I never even wanted a child, but I couldn't stand by and do nothing."
Donna asked,
"Who is Lian's mother?"
Roy swallowed nervously before continuing,
"Cheshire."
Diana was stunned,
"The assassin? How did you get involved with her?"
Roy shook his head,
"I don't know. It just…happened."
Persiana, overhearing this, scoffed,
"So do death, taxes, and California wildfires, but that doesn't make it right."
The three turned and saw Persiana, her arms folded, glaring at Roy. Farrah shook her head,
"Please, continue."
Roy did so,
"After she gave birth, she disappeared again on a mission for Checkmate. I haven't seen her since, and I'm the one with Lian. I want to take care of this child. I made this mess, and I have to be the one that cleans it up."
There was stone silence for one minute. Farrah just looked on; her entire attitude about Roy had changed from anger to shock. She never expected Roy to be a family man, but she could tell he was serious about raising Lian.
Diana glared,
"That still didn't give you the right to spy on us."
Donna said,
"Wait, sister."
Diana turned to her younger sibling. Wonder Girl thought for a moment before continuing,
"I want to see Lian for myself."
Persiana shrugged,
"That's gonna be hard, considering Loki's running around, hiding my boyfriend."
Donna remembered,
"You told me about that trickster. He will pay."
Persiana corrected,
"SHE."
Diana asked,
"Did you not say Loki was a man?"
Persiana shook her head,
"I don't know how it happened, princess, but I do know that, no matter the gender, Loki is dangerous."
She shuddered,
"The only thing we need now is if Thor showed up here. That's something I don't want to have happen."
Approximately one hundred miles north of the Cadmus Labs location in Hawaii…
A bright lightning flashed across the sky. As it diminished, a tall man appeared, wearing armor and a feathered cap. A red cape fluttered in the wind, and he was wielding a hammer with a short handle. His name is Thor, the god of thunder. He said to himself,
"Curse you, Loki. I know you are close by. I will find you and ensure that Midgard is safe from your tricks."
The thunder god picked up on a feeling,
"A fellow warrior is in trouble. I must go to him at once."
He flew off, making all do haste to the lab's location.
Next Chapter:
Torture, and not the humorous kind, either. Plus, an enemy thought to have been defeated returns to settle an old score.
(1) See the first Chapter of Titans East for details.
