4 Justice League Darkness
On the bridge of the Apokoliptan battleship Razorblade Luthor greedily anticipated his victory. He'd spent a better part of his life getting to this point and he was going to savor every second of the humiliation of his enemies. Starting with the Justice League and those treacherous Global Guardians, he bitterly thought.
The Guardians' liberation from the Crimson Queen's control, and therefore his, still galled him. The thought of the Queen returned the smile to his lips. His intelligence said she was in exile in Kazakhstan. Luthor had promised to make her Empress of the world. He fully intended to honor that promise. Perhaps then the flirtations would finally end and they could consummate their union.
Of course, he'd have to watch her carefully. She'd killed her husband with her own hand to acquire the throne of Bailya. She'd try that and worse to achieve sole control of the planet. God, but he loved a challenge! Subjugating her would be nearly on par with capturing Earth.
Luthor refocused on the present. He'd divided his Daxamites into cohorts of one hundred each. Using the earpiece communicators, the technology stolen from the JLU and improved by Luthor, he directed two cohorts to secure Metropolis. He then directed the other cohorts to disperse and subjugate the globe by eliminating resistance. He kept one on reserve for himself for his conquest of Washington D.C.. Darkseid had keyed a measure of their obedience to Luthor so they blindly complied as though Darkseid himself had issued the order.
He knew better than to test the limits of the Daxamites' loyalties. Like the Global Guardians before them, they were devoted to one master. For them there was the Master and then everything else, which paled in comparison. Their only reason for existing was to please the Master. Luthor knew you couldn't buy that kind of loyalty. To be frank, he was jealous.
Watching the first Daxamite cohorts engage the League, Luthor ordered the battleship to proceed to Washington. He didn't expect much of a resistance. The military would be reluctant to deploy inside of a city. Plus the conventional American home forces were depleted by the efforts of waging two foreign wars and a NATO occupation in Kosovo.
Besides which, he had one hundred Daxamites. The Capitol didn't stand a chance. Lead bullets would be useless. Luthor had spent the nine days waiting for Daxam to transit the stargate synthesizing his anti-lead poisoning serum. The Daxamites themselves had a rudimentary version of his formula. It lasted for 24 hours. Luthor's lasted for 90 days. By the time Daxam appeared in Apokoliptan space he'd had enough for six billion doses. In truth they needed far less than that. Every teenage youth and younger had been left behind to care for themselves. Darkseid anticipated losses and he wanted the next generation safe for future exploitation.
Luthor shoved these thoughts aside as he contacted Grodd, "It's time to implement phase 2."
Grodd chuckled darkly, "Yes, the news from Metropolis is coming in over the satellite. Our teams are preparing."
"You've got your fifteen targets listed out?" Luthor wanted to be sure.
"Yes, the nuclear club nations like the capitols of the US, the UK, France, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, and South Africa will be occupied. The German, Japanese, Brazilian, Australian, and South Korean capitols will also be captured." Grodd reported, "We're beginning tubing there even as you and I speak."
"Remember; let the Daxamites do the heavy work. You're just there to secure the governments." Luthor needlessly stressed.
"I do know how to do my job, Lex." Grodd wryly retorted, "We all do."
"I know. I really do." Luthor had to laugh at himself, "It just means so much to me."
"It means that much to all of us." Grodd pointed out.
A question suddenly posed itself, "Where are Ivy and the Weed?"
"Still with Ra's al Ghul." Grodd answered.
"Assign Amazo to watching them." Luthor commanded, "Have him report everything that they do."
Grodd thought about it for a moment and then conceded, "That's not a bad idea. I'll get on it."
"Knowing Ra's, it'll be a necessity." Luthor said. Grodd merely frowned as Luthor cut the connection.
"Do what you can to stop them!" Superman shouted as he leapt into the air to meet the oncoming Daxamite horde. Supergirl, Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, Steel, Mary Marvel, Hawkgirl, Kyle Raynor, Galatea, Wonder Woman, the Martian Manhunter, and Aztek joined him. The rest stayed at ground level to meet the Daxamites as they attacked.
In the Metro Tower, the Huntress nocked a bolt into her crossbow. She kissed the Question on the cheek, "Time to go, Babe. Wish me luck."
"Be safe." He exhorted.
"You've got to be kidding." She laughed with gallows humor.
Question turned back to the massive array of monitors that the tower's techs were watching. He addressed Gwen, "Keep one monitor on her at all times."
Empathizing with him, she addressed Tech Marumbi and gave her the instructions. Question watched all of the monitors but his heart drove him to that one twice as often as the rest. He also knew he wasn't clinical about the scenes depicted on that one. He had a personal interest vested there and he wanted to scream as the Daxamites confronted Helena. You're losing it Sage. She'll be fine. She's trained for this her entire life, he confronted himself. But it was no good. He still worried.
Vigilante and Vixen had been cornered off to the side of the intersection. As a trio of Daxamites landed in front of her, Vixen touched her animal totem and summoned the spirit of the rhino. She bowled through them like they weren't even standing there. She exulted in her victory.
"See Vig, they aren't so tough." She called out.
Vigilante, on the other hand, was shooting Daxamites out of the sky with his hyperkinetic rounds, "Shore `nuff Darlin', but they just get back up."
Mari noticed that he was telling the truth and swore. Having vented her spleen, she added; "That's not fair."
"Precious little is." Vigilante opined, "Now why don't you skedaddle on over here so's we can present a united front."
"Aw Vig, you want to protect me. How chivalrous." Vixen laughed.
"Tarnation woman, you can rip me apart with one hand. I want you over here so we can combine our efforts and be twice as tough." Vigilante explained, "And fer the love of God, how many times have I asked you not t'call me 'Vig?'"
"Keep asking and maybe I'll listen." She purred before channeling a mountain gorilla and attacked two more Daxamites.
Yup, she's a right regular spitfire, Vigilante thought to himself as he finished reloading. One of the Daxamites that he'd shot down started to approach. Vigilante put a round between her eyes. She stumbled as her head lashed back but she recovered and resumed her march. Ah think Ah'm in trouble, he miserably thought.
He emptied both guns into her and she still reached him. Having arrived, she ingloriously swatted him aside. He flew into a nearby wall. He hit with a sickening crack and then bonelessly collapsed. Vixen saw this and cried out, "Vigilante! Greg!"
She ran to his side and checked him out. He was alive but she couldn't tell how badly he was hurt. Growing angry, she summoned the essence of an elephant and stood guard over him, tossing aside each and every Daxamite that came her way.
Nightwing and the Little Mermaid made their stand up against the Federal building across the street. Nightwing tossed, flipped, and threw the Daxamites all over the place. Ulla used her incredible strength and flying ability to drive them into the ground. She'd managed to knock one of them out but two more were coming at her. Nightwing had his hands full with the one he was fighting.
Ulla was knocked out of the sky and she landed near Nightwing. He threw "his" Daxamite down the street and rushed to her side, "Are you all right?"
She wiped the blood from her lip, "Yeah, but these guys are strong."
"But they're easily confused and they have no real fighting skills." He pointed out.
"Gotcha." She had an idea, "Help me up will'ya."
"I hate to mention this." Dick said as he pulled her to her feet, "But the one you knocked out is getting up."
"Oh joy." Ulla grumped.
"At least they seem vulnerable to magic." Owlwoman noted, "That makes them vulnerable to us."
"Yah, my lantern and sending them packing and…God, Wenonah, you've just about gutted that poor bugger." Jack O'Lantern said with a note of concern.
"He stopped coming at me, didn't he?" an irked Owlwoman asked.
"There's always a bright side." Jack relented, "But try to leave a couple alive."
"Yes, Dear." She laughed.
Maxi-Man was the only Global Guardian outside of Galatea that was a sheer physical match for a single Daxamite. The Tasmanian Devil was as strong as Ulla so he could handle himself and stood a fighting chance. The problem was: neither of them was invulnerable. They were tough but the Daxamites were tougher.
Tasmanian Devil was grappling with a Daxamite when the alien suddenly went limp and collapsed. While the Australian puzzled it out, Praxis approached. "They are woefully confused. Their minds are almost a tabula rasa filled only with Darkseid and Luthor's instructions."
"That's great for your telepathy, mate. But for the rest of us these blokes are as savage as a pack of dingoes." Tasmanian Devil complained.
"And unfortunately I can only affect one at a time and even then only for a few minutes." Praxis warned.
"Then thanks for the breather and why don't you help out some of our less robust teammates?" the Devil suggested.
"As you say." Praxis wandered off. Tasmanian Devil's Daxamite started to stir. He kicked the alien in the head and it slumped again. "God, that felt good." Tasmanian Devil exclaimed.
Echo, Reverb, and Vapor were in front of the entrance to the Metro Tower. Vapor had become chlorine gas and she was choking the Daxamites trying to get by. Reverb's vibrational power shook them up while Echo's reflective field reflected every blow that they attempted. Fortunately, or inexplicably, they hadn't discovered their vision powers yet.
A Daxamite got past Vapor and knocked Reverb out. Echo slid next to him and extended her reflective field over him. He was protected but that left a gap in their defenses.
Wildcat had attempted to strike the Daxamite dealing with him. It nearly broke his hand. Fortunately the invader was a sap when it came to some of Wildcat's other moves. Nearby Black Canary was using the same techniques to subdue her opponent. He was proud of his greatest student. She was a natural born scrapper.
Green Arrow tried a few useless trick arrows before he landed on one that worked. It was a hypersonic arrow designed after Dinah's Canary Cry. Every Daxamite within five hundred feet clutched their ears and fell to the ground.
"Good work, kid." Wildcat commended Arrow, "How many more of those things have you got?"
"Five." Green Arrow grimly admitted.
"At least we'll save Dinah's throat for that long." Wildcat said.
"Thank God." Dinah expressed her relief.
"Cripes, they're already getting back up." Wildcat observed, "Time to go back to work people."
Hawk and Dove found themselves outmatched but they gave as good as they got. Commander Steel withstood the Daxamites' blows better than most but he was still being pushed back. Plastic Man and Elongated Man teamed up to entangle, trip up, and generally confuse the enemy. The Atom worked hand in hand with them. One of the pair would deliver the diminutive Atom to a Daxamite ear. Atom would enter in and proceed to the ear drum. Once there he would whistle as loud as he could. That generally incapacitated the Daxamite for ten to fifteen minutes.
Obsidian had been knocked out while he sought a shadow to merge with. Hourman stood vigil over him. His Miraclo born strength nearly equal to a Daxamite's.
Nemesis and Mr. Miracle stood beside the Question in the command center. They and the assembled ISA strike team were the last line of defense. They knew they didn't stand a chance but they had to try.
The rest of the Global Guardians fought as best they could. The Olympian wrestled the Daxamites to the ground. Godiva used her hair to befuddle them. Tuatara used his precognition to direct the others. The Wild Huntsman had fought valiantly but he'd fallen. Thunderlord's sonic abilities were holding Daxamites at bay. Solomon Grundy was going head to head with one. It seemed to be an even match.
The Super Friends stood beside Stargirl. They'd mutually sworn to protect Courtney at all costs. Apache Chief was fighting a Daxamite hand to hand. Black Vulcan and Samurai's abilities slowed the Daxamites but they didn't stop them. Stargirl was actually having the best luck. Courtney's Cosmic Rod and Cosmic Convertor belt provided control over gravity, interstellar energies, and repulsor and attraction powers that confused, battered, and bedraggled the encroaching Daxamites. She was using them with a courage and an expertise far beyond her years.
Question's eye fell on the Huntress's monitor. Three Daxamites swarmed her. Without a word to anyone he ran out of the Tower as fast as he could. When he reached her he threw the offending Daxamites off of her. She tried to punch him but he blocked her shot, "Helena! It's me!"
"Q?" she gathered her wits. It dawned on her what had happened, "Thanks for the save but here they come again."
Question threw down his trenchcoat and his fedora, "Bring it!"