Chapter 34
Lieutenant Hal Jordan grinned broadly as he piloted his jet fighter at a shockingly low altitude, far much lower than he was allowed by regulations. He was so low he could see the tops of the tress, and practically the birds' nests on them too. But what the hell, he knew what he was doing, he wasn't flying a desk like some of his old ROTC buddies from college. He knew what he was doing was 'against regulations' but what was the point of being a hotshot if you couldn't bend the rules a little bit? This was his job, really. He also knew he was meant for better things.
"Jordan!" His comm crackled. "You're too low! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Just a little testing, Sir," Jordan replied casually. "How else are we going to know what she can do unless we push her?"
"It's not your job to 'push' her! Your job is to obey orders! Your orders are to return to base at once!"
"I can't hear you, you're breaking up," Hal often thought his commanding officer would be better off at one of those desks.
Whatever his CO said next actually was lost, as half a dozen alarms suddenly sounded in his plane. One of the engines had given out, and suddenly he found himself struggling to control the craft. He could feel it rattling all around him. He gripped the controls harder.
"Come on, damn it!" Hal gritted his teeth.
Hal realized he would need to regain control before he could eject, otherwise the plane would probably crash into a populated area, and he couldn't let that happen. He had to turn and angle it just enough so it would divert away, back to the desert test site. But the ground was coming up fast, really fast. He heard more voices in his ears, shouting, telling him to wake up, but he was awake andwaking up was not what he needed to do right now, but the voices kept telling him that. Couldn't they figure out he had more important things to do?
Hal then realized that the voices that he was hearing were much louder and insistent than any dream. Perhaps he'd already ejected, or maybe he'd crashed, and that was why he felt like he'd hit the side of a cliff. The only way to know for sure was to open his eyes and do what the voices said, for once.
He opened his eyes.
Hal saw a woman's face hovering over him. Usually, that would be a very pleasing sight, but this particular woman had hazel-green eyes and her face was scrunched up in a mix of anger and concern. He recognized her right away - she had once smacked him for getting "fresh."
"You're still with us," Shayera Hol said. "Good."
Hal groaned. He felt as if half of his body had been dragged across broken glass, the other half on hot coals. Ejecting and hitting the ground at high speed might have been more preferable to what he felt. "What the hell happened?"
"You got shot," Shayera said bluntly. "How do you feel?"
"Like shit," Hal struggled to sit up. It took some effort, but his Justice League colleague helped him to a sitting position. Immediately he looked at his hand. He saw his battered suit; it was still activated and his ring was still on his finger - not even A.R.G.U.S.'s goons could take his power ring away if he didn't want them to, even unconscious. But it just sat there on his finger like a dimming lightbulb.
"Your power ring doesn't seem to be at its best," Shayera noted dryly.
"I figured as much," Hal grunted, but there was puzzlement in his voice too. It was evident to the others that he was just as surprised as they were. He looked around: Cyborg was sitting in a corner, looking out of it. He didn't look too bad, but there was some black square on his chest, which looked like a magnet. Whatever it was, it had the effect of making him look dizzy, or hungover. Something impeding his systems. The two Thanagarians were injured, it was clear, with bloody wounds on their arms and chests, their wings hanging droopily, but at least they were still good, sort of. One of Hawkman's arms was bound up in an improvised sling. Whatever had happened, it had effectively beaten the hell out of them...for now.
They were stuck in some kind of holding cell. It was hexagonal in shape, with a high ceiling 10 feet above their heads and as sterile as a lab. Translucent glass barred the exit, and Hal guessed it would be bulletproof and various other kinds of "–proof." No one was outside guarding them.
Hal glanced at his side, just below his armpit, where it hurt the most. A large dark stain was there, but it had stopped bleeding.
"Whatever weapon they hit you with, at least it immediately cauterized your wound, otherwise you would have bled to death in seconds," Shayera added. "Some strange caliber weapon, you're lucky you didn't get blown in two pieces. If it hadn't been for your power ring..." Hawkgirl shook her head. "Why didn't it work? Didn't you power it up before we left?" She accused.
"Of course I did!" Hal retorted defensively. With some more difficulty, he managed to get to his feet. "Let's get out of here."
"We're all wounded, and if you'd bother to look close, something's wrong with the Cyborg," Hawkman spat to the side. "Even if we could find a way out of here, we'd be overwhelmed."
"We've got to try anyway, we can't stay here," Shayera insisted. "They'll kill us."
"I don't understand why they haven't already. What are they keeping us alive for?" Hawkman winced at the pain in his arm again.
"I don't know, and I don't care," Hal struggled to his feet, Shayera grasping his arm so he wouldn't stumble and fall. "We're not sticking around to find out. Let's get the hell out of here."
Hal raised his first, ignoring the bolt of pain that radiated from his ribs, and concentrated, hard. He thought of a nice big club to smash through the invisible barrier. The power ring glowed on his finger, sputtered, but as much as he tried to focus, no construct appeared.
"Don't bother," Hawkman grunted. "They took our maces away when we were unconscious. Even so we tried to batter the glass but we couldn't break out. Victor's in some kind of shock thanks to that thing on his chest, whatever they've done seems to have scrambled his brains."
"I don't get how this is even possible," Hal grumbled, still trying. Flashes of green light would light and sputter out, like a weak match. "What could be blocking my willpower?"
"Yeah, it's hard to imagine someone with an even bigger ego than Hal Jordan."
"It's not funny, Shayera!" Hal protested. "And it's will, not ego!"
"Remember, when you said you were on Themyscira, and something was funking up your power there too? Whatever that crazy woman is doing here, she's tapped into something similar, obviously."
"Any other ideas on how to get out of here?" Ho Talak said.
"Let's think this through," Hal was certain that there had to be a way around this. "Anyone hear from the Watchtower?"
"That's another thing - we haven't. They didn't take away our communicators."
Hal's eyes widened. "They attacked them too?"
Shayera shrugged. "I don't know. It's just...nothing."
"No, not just nothing," Hawkman added. "There's something going on here, some energy's growing. I can feel it, and Shayera can too. They were sending messages over their broadcast system, the usual 'so-and-so report to the command deck' and such but in the last 10 minutes that's all ended."
Hal grumbled. "Well, whatever it is we better..."
Although Hal wasn't exactly sure himself what they had 'better' do, he never got the chance to finish his sentence. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a red blur, and he whirled around. He immediately relaxed in relief.
"Flash!" Hal almost shouted.
"Superman!" Hawkgirl felt almost dizzy with relief, seeing the Flash with him too.
"Thank goodness you guys are still alive," Flash said, relieved. "When we couldn't contact you or anyone on the Watchtower, we feared the worst."
Hal's eyes widened. "You've lost contact with the Watchtower too?"
"We can't communicate with anyone outside this place," Barry explained what had happened. "We had to break in using, um, a little more stealth."
That was when they suddenly noticed General Lane, looking incongruous among their Justice League friends.
"What's he still doing here?" Hawkman demanded.
"Saving your asses, it looks like," Lane growled. "I helped your friends get in here, no one 'broke' in. If they'd tried, they'd get their asses fried no matter what powers they've got."
"If you've been working for A.R.G.U.S. you know what's going on here," Hal said angrily. "What crazy damn thing are they up to?"
But Lane only shook his head. "I...don't know exactly. Pretty sure it's aliens, like your friend here," he nodded towards Superman.
"Hardly anything like him," Hal retorted. "If you guys had any brains, I'd think you'd notice the difference between Supes and whatever Waller and her goons are messing around with!"
"Come on," Clark said firmly. "This isn't solving anything. Let's find Waller and end this."
He looked at Barry. "Can you get them out of there?"
"Lemme try," Flash's hands were another red blur. "If they weren't so distracted by whatever they're doing, they'd notice but...there!"
There didn't seem to be any change in the cell, but Hal and the others soon found that they could leave through the opening, and nothing was blocking them. The Thanagarians helped Cyborg to his feet. He didn't seem to notice their help, and was mumbling incoherently, just as if he were on a drunk.
"Can you get that...thing off him?" Shear asked urgently.
Flash moved to try, but Superman grasped his hand. "Wait. We'd better not. It could hurt him more. It looks like they've invented something that could fry all his internal circuitry," he looked at the Hawks. "Can you get him out of here? Both of you are injured too, you need to get to safety."
Hawkman and Hawkgirl looked uncomfortable at the suggestion of leaving their comrades, but after a moment they nodded. "We'll get him out of there. But will you be all right?" Shayera asked worriedly.
"They have Wonder Woman here too, I know it," Clark said grimly. "I won't leave here until I find here and bring her home."
"How can you be certain?" Hal was getting frustrated at all the guesswork. "Batman and Zatanna..."
Lane spoke again. "If Waller could get her - any of you for that matter - she would. If you say Wonder Woman's missing, then I would think that's an affirmative. Perhaps she's with them. Waller isn't going to use her resources to contact whatever thing's down there. She'll use you all first. If it gets rid of you for her, she'd be just peachy with that too."
Clark clenched his fists, trying to stem the tide of panic and rage that was swelling deep inside him.
"Come on, then," Flash said urgently. "They've been distracted so far, but that's not going to last...and whatever's distracting them, well maybe that's something we're going to have to deal with sooner rather than later."
"I'll help you," Lane surprised all of them. "Don't send me back. I'm responsible for all this too. I want to make sure Waller pays for what she's done. She's used me too. We've got to put an end to all this, A.R.G.U.S. and whatever it is that they're doing."
"This isn't your personal vendetta, General," Hal said angrily. "This is-"
"He's right, Lantern," Flash said quietly. "I mean, our real battle isn't really with Waller, it's whatever mess she's helped create. Whatever alien thing she's awakened, or called up, down, whatever, we've got to stop it. Waller may think she's got a card to play, but she's wrong. I don't think whatever it is, is benign, do any of you?" No one there did, he saw from their faces.
Clark nodded slowly. He felt a sense of finality, an onrush of certitude. He knew that either he would leave this place with Diana alive, or he wouldn't leave this place at all. Thoughts of Jon crossed his mind.
"Then, we're wasting time standing here. Let's go."
To be continued...
[A/N: A short chapter before the final, conclusive battle! Will Superman and his friends prevail against Waller and her schemes. Will Batman, Zatanna and Wonder Woman fight alone against the Yith or will their friends be able to join them in time? What does the Yith want and will they able to stop it...and Dr. Fenderbrake's ultimate plan? What role will Baby Jon play in the end? Tune in next chapter to learn what happens next! As always, thanks for reading and please review!]