7 Justice League Twice Shy
Giganta was in a fully fledged panic now that J'onn had doubled his mousy size and leapt upon her leg. That had proven to be a tactical error. Giganta's abject terror fuelled a homicidal impulse. She was stomping, throwing building ledges, cars, or whatever else came into her possession.
A large chunk of debris buried him. He phased through it in his semi-human form. Giganta saw this and stood there pondering the implications of such an event. At least the cursed mouse was finally consigned to hell.
Giganta was about to finally react when she noticed a hawk-like shadow coming up the boulevard towards her. She looked up in time to see Hawkgirl bash her with her mace. Giganta went down on one knee and then shrank to half her present size as Hawkgirl made another pass. Now only 50 feet tall, she utilized the fact that Hawkgirl had to travel between the buildings in a straight on approach.
Hawkgirl dove in but Giganta caught her and threw her against the building next to her. Hawkgirl was semi-conscious and she'd dropped her mace. Giganta cocked back her fist and prepared to finish the Thanagarian off.
J'onn intervened with an uppercut. Giganta went over backwards and crushed the two-story building behind her. J'onn examined Hawkgirl while Giganta regained her footing. She glared at the Martian Manhunter.
"Just stay put." She ordered, "I don't want to hurt you but I can't let you near the palace."
"You'll have to kill us to stop us." J'onn defiantly declared.
Giganta shrugged, "Okay."
Giganta's head suddenly snapped around and she went down. Wonder Woman floated where Giganta had stood. Worried, she asked; "Is Shayera all right?"
"She will be fine." J'onn assured her, "She is merely dazed. She is coming around even as we speak."
"Good. I won't have to severely beat Giganta." Wonder Woman decided. She flew down to where Giganta had shrunk down to her normal size. Giganta raised her hands, "I give up!"
Diana delivered a right cross. Giganta was thrown backwards into a brick wall. The wall caved in as she impacted it. Rubble from the building cascaded down atop of her.
Wonder Woman checked her vitals. She was alive. The Amazon strolled down the street and picked up Hawkgirl's mace. She returned it to its owner.
Hawkgirl accepted the gift of her weapon. She hefted it a few times and tried a few practice swings. Satisfied, she nodded to her companions; "I'm ready."
"Shall we proceed to the palace?" J'onn wondered.
"Stargirl and STRIPE are headed there now." Wonder Woman revealed, "Others are penetrating its gates as we speak. Superman is leading a resistance outside of its walls. It is tantamount to the League versus the entire Bailyan army."
"I say we go to where the fight is." Hawkgirl opined.
"I agree." Wonder Woman said.
"I will assist those penetrating the palace. They may have need of my particular talents." J'onn shared.
"They may also need a League lieutenant." Wonder Woman conceded, "Good luck."
"You two as well." J'onn wished and they went their separate ways.
Supergirl was flying over the city. Superman had sent her out to patrol the situation. Off to the outskirts of the city sat the Dome. She'd only heard of it but she knew it was the headquarters of the Legion of Doom.
She was tempted to crack the Dome open and shake out whoever was hiding within. She knew that little endeavor would have to wait for Clark. No one was going head to head with the leadership of the Legion without the veterans of the League being present.
Mary Marvel had confronted the Legion's leadership singlehandedly. Her methods had been severely criticized by most of the League. After all, Luthor ended up replacing his crushed hand with a cybernetic replacement. Grodd had been beaten to a pulp and, although Wayne GeneTech's surveillance cameras had proven that he'd deserved it, Mary had been widely condemned for it.
Now Kara knew the full extent of Mary's struggles. Her friend's admissions stayed with her. No one else would understand. Well…the Huntress and the Question would probably sympathize. If Mary would allow it, she'd speak with them and see if they wanted to mentor the young Marvel.
Her reverie was shattered as her super hearing picked up a sound that she'd dreaded hearing again. Solomon Grundy was awake and looking for trouble. Pouring on the speed she moved to intercept him.
Hawk and Dove were intercepted by Multiplex while on their way to the palace. They faced the original Multiplex and his 50 duplicates. Hawk went into them with both fists flying. Dove utilized Judo moves to disable them and nerve pinches to incapacitate them. When they'd worked their way through half of the crowd, Multiplex split again and 50 more duplicates emerged.
Each duplicate was weaker than their fission based progenitor. That still didn't help when the two brothers were tiring out while facing their seemingly limitless foe. The Lords of Order and Chaos granted them enhanced stamina but an army could wear them down…and it was.
A red blur began streaking between rows of Multiplexes. They each went down as the Flash ran by, punching each one. Finally he reached the original Multiplex. Being the source of the problem, when he went down all of the duplicates remerged with him.
Hawk and Dove approached the Flash. The Scarlet Speedster was catching his breath while rubbing his knuckles. He saw the avian themed brothers and he held up his hand, "Ow!"
"Yep." Hawk grinned, "Feels good, don't it?"
The Flash gave him a quizzical look. Dove spoke up, "Thanks. I thought we were going to get overwhelmed. How'd you do that?"
"It's a trick I haven't tried for awhile. Punching even faster than I'm running." The Flash explained, "If I get outta synch it gets messy."
"Enough talk." Hawk curtly demanded, "Let's storm the castle."
Dove rolled his eyes, "It's not a castle. It's a palace."
"Same diff." Hawk dismissively ignored the correction, "Let's go smash something."
"I don't know about the test of you but I'm going to find something to eat." A sagging Flash decided, "This hypermetabolism of mine wants food and it wants it now."
"I saw a falafel stand on our way here. Let's backtrack and hit that." Dove suggested.
"Oh, for the luvva…" Hawk bellyached.
"No one's stopping you from hitting the palace." Dove sagely pointed out.
"Well…I…oh." Hawk fell silent and began to follow them.
Nemesis and Mr. Terrific ran into Rag Doll outside of one the ancillary gates to the palace. Like Darkwing, Rag Doll and the Gentleman Ghost had escaped the converging law enforcement agencies that swept through Poison Ivy's wild animal park. Now he was here to confront these two presumptuous JLers.
Nemesis drew his dart gun and fired. Rag Doll contorted his body and evaded the dart. His triple jointed body gave him a distinct advantage in close quarters combat. He did a somersault that transformed into a roll. He came up off of the ground with an uppercut that nailed Nemesis square on.
Nemesis went over backwards, dropping his stunner. Rag Doll picked it up and tossed it over the palace wall. Mr. Terrific moved in.
The fight was short, furious, and totally lopsided. Terrific landed beside Nemesis. They looked up at Rag Doll while trying to figure out how to beat him.
That decision was taken from them as a tornado formed around Rag Doll. The cyclone spun him around for 15 seconds and then it dissipated. Rag Doll flew out of its embrace and collided with the palace wall. He was out.
Red Tornado approached them, "Are you gentlemen all right?"
For an android, Red had a lot of emotion in his voice. Mr. Terrific accepted Red Tornado's offered hand and got to his feet. Nemesis did the same.
Now standing, Mr. Terrific reassured Red Tornado; "We're fine. Thanks."
"Shall we proceed into the palace now?" Red Tornado inquired.
"Might as well." Nemesis smiled, "I need to retrieve my stunner."
Mr. Terrific chucked Nemesis on the shoulder, "Sure. That's your only motivation."
"Why not?" Nemesis grinned, "Who cares about nuclear annihilation?"
"You are joking." Red Tornado decided and then he wavered, "Aren't you?"
"Of course I am." Nemesis smiled, "We've had our fun. Let's go save the world."
"Amen brother." Mr. Terrific said.
"Very well. I will go ahead and clear the gate." Red Tornado said and then he rose into the air and went over the wall.
The Bronze Tiger dodged Vixen's rhino powered charge. When she stopped, she hit her with a flying kick. She slowly picked herself off of the ground. She angrily studied him. Deciding that he needed to meet a real tiger, she touched her animal talisman.
An avatar of a tiger formed around her and then faded. Empowered by the tiger's essence, she pounced upon him. Her nails had magically transformed themselves into claws and she roared as she came upon him.
Unfortunately for her, Bronze Tiger had been waiting for her to do something along these lines. He gripped the juncture between her shoulder and her neck and he squeezed it for all he was worth. She passed out with a yowl.
Bronze Tiger rolled Vixen off of him and he cautiously rose to his feet. As he stood, he realized that Wildcat was waiting for him. The JLer, along with Fire and Ice, had left Big Sir with Major Disaster while the Major thawed out. Wildcat had stumbled across Bronze Tiger but he wasn't going anywhere now.
"Walk away and you'll go free." Wildcat promised.
"I wish I could." Bronze Tiger admitted.
Wildcat recalled the rumors that Bronze Tiger had been brainwashed into being a member of the League of Assassins. The Phantasm had revealed that the Assassins were at Luthor's disposal which meant that the Tiger was under his control as well. Between the Bronze Tiger and the Global Guardians it seemed that half the Legion of Doom was brainwashed into joining.
Bronze Tiger rushed Wildcat. They exchanged blocks, blows, kicks, elbow and knee strikes, along with throws and trips. At first they seemed evenly matched. Bronze Tiger had been trained by Richard Dragon and Lady Shiva, the same instructors that had taught the Question.
He was good…very good. However, Wildcat's decades of experience and training soon began to manifest themselves. The battle shifted and Wildcat swiftly came to dominate the fight. Bronze Tiger went down shortly thereafter.
Wildcat knelt down and removed the tiger's head mask that shrouded Bronze Tiger's visage. Opening the man's eyelids Wildcat confirmed that Bronze Tiger was indeed out cold. Refusing to abandon Vixen to random chance, Wildcat took up station by her and waited for her to recover.
Vigilante ducked under the flame blast, "Dangnabbit! Ah'm getting' sick a this!"
"Heat Wave and Firefly seem determined to pin us down." The Shining Knight said from his side.
"Ah need a distraction." Vigilante said, "Ah managed to knock out the Trickster but Ah need Firefly to turn to his left for me t'get `im."
"Consider it done." The Shining Knight promised.
"Ah'll cover you." Vigilante informed him.
Vigilante stood and fired hyperkinetic rounds at Heat Wave and Firefly. Heat Wave was knocked over but the insulated suit that he wore shielded him from the full effect of the "bullets." Firefly's armor protected him as well. While Heat Wave was scrambling to his feet, the Shining Knight drew his sword and rushed Firefly.
Firefly turned and Vigilante put two rounds into Firefly's jet pack. It ignited and Firefly rose into the sky. It spewed its jet stream erratically and Firefly couldn't control his flight. He bounced off of buildings and the palace walls. Finally, his pack ran out of fuel and he plummeted to the earth.
Heat Wave aimed at Sir Justin. Vigilante was incensed. No one could threaten his friend if he had anything to say about it. So he fired twice. One round hit Heat Wave's flame blaster. It ripped the pistol out of the legionnaire's hand.
The second round slammed into Heat Wave's head. The kinetic force of the round knocked him out. Vigilante stepped out from behind the barrier he'd hidden behind.
Meanwhile, the Shining Knight confronted Firefly. Firefly shucked his jet pack and drew his sword. It ignited and he charged Sir Justin.
It soon became apparent who the better swordsman was. Justin swiftly disarmed Firefly and then he whacked the legionnaire upside the head with the flat of his blade. He repeated that a few more time but Firefly's helmet kept his head protected.
Suddenly, Firefly was encased in a ball of ice. Both JLers turned to see Fire and Ice walking up to them. Justin took hold of Ice's hand and kissed it.
"Thank you, milady." He said.
"Have ya'll seen a gate into this monster?" Vigilante asked.
"The Huntress, Catwoman, and Commander Steel are headed for a gate behind us." Fire grinned, "Want to join them?"
"You know it, darlin'." Vigilante said, "Lead the way."
The Shade intercepted Obsidian. The spectral hero tried to merge with the Shade's generated darkness but he found himself painfully repulsed. The darkness grabbed him and held him immobile.
The Shade smiled malevolently as Obsidian was slowly being smothered by his darkness. A bright searing light pierced the ebon bubble. Dr. Light strode through evaporating shadows. Reaching Shade, she delivered a backspin kick that knocked him out.
"Way to go, Doc!" Obsidian cheered.
"What are your plans?" she asked.
"I'm headed for the spot where Black Canary and Green Lantern penetrated the wall." Obsidian looked up and saw Stargirl flyby. STRIPE was hot on her heels.
"Seems they are too." He said.
"Then let's join them." Dr. Light commanded, "I'll follow you."
"Here we go then." Obsidian drew his cape around him and set out.
"I think we're in trouble." Elongated Man said to the Atom.
Before them stood Captain Boomerang, Plastique, and the Toyman. With the Toyman was a squad of life size green army men. They were clacking back the bolts on their machine guns and they sounded suspiciously real.
Ralph threw the Atom towards the legionnaires. They barely registered his presence. The army men opened fire and bullets pelted the Elongated Man. They harmlessly bounced off of him but they took a toll on him.
He was gasping for air when they ran out of bullets. The army men fixed bayonets and charged him. Using their bayonets, they tried to tear him apart.
"Now this is great sport." Captain Boomerang cheered.
"I thought that there were two of them." Plastique said, "Where's the other one?"
The Atom resumed his normal size and punched Boomerang in the nose. He ran towards Plastique. She ducked what she thought was going to be a punch. The Atom used his hand to vault over Plastique by using her head as a pinion point. She went down while he went for Toyman.
The Toyman pulled out a squirt gun and the Atom shrank down to his five inch height while the Toyman pulled the trigger. A stream of acid fired out from the squirt gun. Both Plastique and the Atom dodged the acid.
"Do that again and I'll blow you straight to hell!" Plastique yelled.
The Toyman was rattled, "Did I get him?"
The Atom grew and smashed his fist into Toyman's plastic "head". He followed this with a knee to the gut. He finished the Toyman off with a chop to the back of his neck.
"Shrink all you want, you won't escape this!" Plastique said with relish. In her hand she held a live grenade.
"Strewth woman, you'll kill us too!" Captain Boomerang shouted.
"What a way to go." She said with relish.
She's as bad as Deadshot, Captain Boomerang thought to himself.
Before he could protest further, she threw the grenade. It detonated 3 seconds later but the explosion was contained by an invisible field. Booster Gold landed next to the Atom, "Miss me?"
"That's not fair!" Plastique screamed as she threw her entire arsenal at Booster. The explosion was harmlessly deflected away from Booster and the Atom by Booster's forcefield. However, the concussion blast caught Captain Boomerang and Plastique. It knocked them out. They'd both wake up with ringing ears and terrible headaches.
"What about Ralph?" the Atom exclaimed.
"Watch." Booster instructed.
A red, gold, and flesh colored spring bounced its way to the Elongated Man's attackers. It bounced over them and then became a giant girdle holding them all. Ralph collapsed. Booster used his wrist blaster to detonate the heads of all of the army men. Plas released the broken soldiers.
He resumed his normal shape and knelt beside the Elongated Man, "Ralph, are you okay?"
"My insides feel like they've been through a cuisinart." Elongated Man complained.
"I'll watch him." The Atom decided, "You two go ahead. We'll catch up."
"We'll look for you." Plastic Man assured them. Then he and Booster were over the wall.
Nightwing and the Little Mermaid headed for the main gate. Behind it stood a dozen troops. In front of it were the Weed, Half Ape, and the Gentleman Ghost.
The Mermaid looked to Nightwing, "Dick, are you sure you want to do this?
"Ulla, I've managed to get myself in and out of places more closely guarded than this." He reassured her, "Besides, we have the Global Guardians on our side. They'll make their move in any minute now."
"All right. If you're sure." Ulla agreed, "But don't underestimate any of them. They're all lethal."
"I've faced the Gentleman Ghost before." Nightwing confided, "The other two look like Circus performers. Trust me, I should know."
She smiled, "I know you should. Just be careful. I didn't turn my brain inside out just to lose you now."
"You won't." he promised, "Now let's do it!"