Mari loped through the camp with her heart racing.
Hours ago, she was a bride with a lifetime of love and commitment just waiting for her. Then, the world had turned upside down, and she had to face that everything she had assumed was true was just a mirage. One - the League was powerful beyond challenge and would be impossible to break. Lie, all it took was a few computer programs and a wedding to use as a distraction. Two - John loved her more than Shayera, he had proved it by disregarding the other woman's advances and proposing to Mari. False, Shayera was his drug, she had always been and always would be. His cheating only solidified that. Three - her life was mapped out surely and beautifully. No, in just a few short hours, her plans had been washing away like writing in sand. All it took was one wave, and everything she thought was set in cement tumbled like a tower of blocks. She felt broken, hurt, furious.
The hastily set up tents blurred around her into muted, pale tones. She barely noticed the faces of those she passed as she sought out the transport station.
J'onn was the first person she really saw. His large, imposing figure stood too straight and still while gently issuing orders into his ear piece. He stood like a lonely island while others rushed around him. Heroes with battered costumes raced to and fro while civilians flitted around. Even knowing he was a hero, they gave the strange man a wide berth.
"Where is John?"
She didn't realize she spoke until J'onn turned to look at her expressionlessly. Each word had been ground out, yet he seemed totally unfazed by her emotion. After a moment, he answered, "He just released his hold on the Tower. It's orbit has stabilized for the time being. He should be down to rest shortly."
The Martian immediately forgot her presence and his gaze looked past her to some unimportant point in the air.
Mari's mind was equally as lost. How was this her? She wasn't the girl whose heart was broken or the woman left at the altar. She was the strong, fearsome hero that any man would be lucky to have. In a crowd of people, she stood out not only for her beauty, but for her confidence, wit, passion, and grace. She was worth more than this.
There was too much energy in her body to stand still, so Mari found herself meandering forward slowly. The world around her was moving at a million miles an hour, but her thoughts felt groggy and exhausted. How did I get here? Yes, John was the one at fault in this scenario, there was no questioning that. But even before the present moment, she had her concerns. Somehow, she had convinced herself that there was no choice but to settle for good, when really she was worthy of great. She was worthy of someone who tested her, who fought with her over holiday plans and what artist's work should don their walls. After all, she had never wanted merely ordinary but amazing things. At what point did she decide that John was so good - so honorable, caring, gracious, and socially acceptable - that he was worth deferring all the things that got her heart beating quickly.
How had she truly believed that a stable life was more valuable than an exciting one?
At that moment, her earpiece crackled to life, "Mari. This is Batman. I need your assistance."
"What?" Her response came out short and harsh.
"A secondary attack is being planned as we speak. I've been manually cross checking every person who has entered the camp for the last several hours. There were three unverified persons. Diana's got one of them, I'm following a second. The third one should be heading your direction."
"How…" She started but stopped. It was Batman, that was enough explanation, "Give me a description."
"White, black slicked back hair. Has a dragon tattoo peeking out the top of his scrubs."
Mari turned and began scanning the crowds. There were dozens of people dashing past her at any moment and nearly half of them were wearing scrubs. Most of their faces were contorted in fear and determination, but she knew that whoever she was looking for was likely calmer and more alert. Still, there was no one standing out and time was slipping away.
It only took a minute for her to realize she needed a higher vantage point. Her eyes explored where the camp meant the pale grey sky, searching for some kind of perch. Tent, tent, tent…then, she stopped when she reached the cliffs that encompassed the camp on three sides. The entire site was nestled in a valley, and the rocky walls were rough and uneven to say the least. There were numerous pristine vantage points. Perfect.
The heroine took off at a sprint towards the closest escarpment before she could second guess herself. Her hand flew to her necklace and focused on her need for legs of steel and nails sharp as knives. Her legs carried her swiftly, and the moment she was close enough she released all the energy she could in one giant leap through the air. Her hair whipped around her face wildly for some moment before Mari caught herself on the jagged, red stone. Her hands screamed in pain, but she ignored the sensation as she climbed upward as fast as she could. All she could see was the next handhold or foothold, and she let her mind think of nothing else. It was sheer instant. There was no wedding, no crumbling Watchtower, only the next spot to grab or jutting rock to place her foot.
Halfway up, she stopped and surveyed the scene. With the wave of her hand, her eyes became as sharp as an eagle's.
Finally, she could see! The sea of people became hundreds of recognizable individuals, each with a clear face. She noticed every detail from the smallest freckle to the beads of sweat on their foreheads.
It only took her a few seconds to find him. His black, greasy hair was a sharp contrast to his powder blue scrubs which, despite the carnage, were unblemished. He was facing away from her at first, but she knew that he would look over his shoulders eventually. They always looked over their shoulders.
And so he did.
His bright green eyes surveyed the crowd around him, like he knew he was being watched. It would be per pleasure to inform him that he was very much correct. His shoulders were held straight and tense with nervous energy, and she could see the slight glimmer of sweat coating his neck and forehead. As he turned, the red scales of a tattoo peeked over the top of his shirt line. It appeared to be the twisting tale of a dragon, just like Bruce had described.
Mari couldn't stop the smug smile that spread over her lips, "Bruce, I got him."
"Be careful. He has a device that he can use to wipe out everything in a one mile radius. He's just waiting for the right moment when the most League members will be here. Don't give him a chance to warn the others."
"Never." She said smugly.
The fall was several stories, and it would have easily broken a human's legs. However, she tapped her necklace once more to provide herself with feline grace and the claws of a predator. The drop through the air was freeing, and she felt comfort from the way the air hummed dangerously across her skin.
She landed ten feet behind him in a threatening crouch. Her movement made no sounds, but caught the eyes of several around her. Before they could make a sound, she slid behind three tall men who practically made a wall on their own. Once again, she touched her necklace, this time for the stealth and fluidness of a snake.
Whispers caressed her ears, but she ignored them.
Her focus was entirely on the slim man ahead of her, now on his phone speaking in some kind of East Asian dialect. The crisp, candanced syllables sounded familiar to her, though she had no clue as to their meaning.
Still, she knew when to wait.
He moved slowly, methodically, as if waiting for something. Each move he made, she reciprocated with one of her own. Like a dance, he led and she followed seamlessly, though he was unaware.
She was patient, eyeing him constantly for any sudden or unexpected movements. His hands were what she needed to see. They needed to be away from his pockets and high enough in the air that he could reach for whatever device he carried when she pounced. It took a few moments, but once she knew, she counted to herself.
Three. She reached her hands to her throat.
Two. Her mind imagined the great, dangerous leap of a lion.
One.
Her body acted before her head finished processing the word. Energy surged through her legs and sent her flying towards her prey. The air coarsed around her as her fingers wrapped around the shoulders of the dark haired man.
Suddenly, what felt like a boulder slammed into her midsection and sent her reeling sideways. Her fingers stayed hooked to her target which meant she dragged him with her as well. The two of them tumbled to the ground, rolling about in the mud and dead grass while they both attempted to figure out which way was up. Whatever hit her knocked the breath out of her, and Mari felt the bruising already spreading down her back and hip bone.
No time to worry about that now. Her eyes flashed up to the dark haired man as he scrambled to his feet.
She shot out to intercept him once again, but a larger man blocked her path. His hair was dyed bright white, his eyes a stark black contrast. He was dressed similarly to his companion in dark scrubs, but Mari's eyes only roved over him for a moment before flashing back to her target.
The dark haired man had fallen to the ground and a silver cylinder had rolled only feet away from his outstretched hand.
"Move." Mari ordered darkly.
The second man stood his ground.
In the background, she could see the fallen man groggily look around. It would only be a matter of seconds before he found what he was searching for, and that could not happen.
Thousands of lives depended on it.
Mari feigned right, but dodged to the left. She already knew there was no possible way to avoid the second man, but nonetheless, she dove for the man she had followed. Luckily, she was able to get a grip around his ankle at the exact moment the other man gripped her around the waist and tossed her aside as if she weighed nothing.
Both Mari and the dark haired man flew through the air. She caught a flash of the bright sun overhead as she tumbled back to the muddy, hard Earth. The collision sucked the breath out of her, and she felt impact on her shoulders and in the deep cracking of her ribs. Despite the pain, she rolled so that she stopped on her feet and glared at the enemy combatant.
The second man forgot both Mari and his comrade and turned to grab the silver device. However, a dark figure dropped from above and snatched it up in his gloved palm.
White hair froze, but that was the last that Mari saw before she turned her attention back to the person she had followed. The other man rolled a few feet away from her, but managed to stop himself in an awkward crouch. Still, when his hands came up and he stepped forward, his stance appeared trained.
Mari smiled to herself. People constantly underestimated her, and for once she felt happy. It would be a pleasure to kick this man's ass into next week.
She allowed his first punch to get within inches of her face before she struck upwards with her palm followed by a kick to his midsection. A small pop indicated she likely dislocated his shoulder, but she kept her hands up in a defensive pose. Like she expected, he was quick to follow up with a punch from his other fist, which she deflected easily.
Then, she dropped down to sweep his legs out from under him.
The dark haired man fell, but somehow shifted to tackle her in the process. The pair rolled one over the other, Mari striking out against her opposite several times while he tried to right himself. No matter how hard she hit, however, the man's grip refused to release her.
"Mari, duck!" Diana's voice shouted over the rucus of battle.
Mari pushed the man upwards at the exact same time Diana threw a third person, a woman with the same powder blue scrubs as the first man, through the air. Sure enough, the two suspects collided in the air and flew away from the two heroines.
"I've got them!" Diana yelled as she flew past Mari, "Destroy that detonator!"
Batman was still beating down the white haired man when Mari rose. Luckily, the silver device was lying on the ground just feet away from where Vixen had landed.
Her heart beat loudly in her ear as she raced the few paces to where the device sat nestled in the dead, yellow grass. It was cool as she wrapped her shaky fingers around it, and held it tight. Such a small device that could cause vast amounts of pain and suffering. And the only way to make sure that it didn't kill all of them was to take the tracker out and demolish it without touching the ignition fuse.
As quickly as she could manage, Mari yanked open the bottom panel and pulled out the circular GPS chip she knew would be there.
In the background, Mari could hear Diana tossing the two attackers into each other again and again. The cries of pain from the West indicated that Bruce still fought against his target, buying her time surely. It all mixed together into a muted tone of horror as her hands patted the ground quickly and efficiently to find what she needed.
A moment later, the heroine raised a dull, gray rock high in the air.
All three of the intruders turned to look at her in synchronized horror.
One fell on the ground as Batman backhanded the distracted foe. Another dove for Mari, but it was clearly too little too late, while the third man's face crumbled in defeat. Months of planning, vast amounts of money and intelligence all went to waste in that one instant.
Mari smashed the GPS chip into hundreds of shards.
She should have felt victorious, adrenaline drunk. But instead, in that moment, she felt disappointment. The moment when you save lives, defeat the villains, win the battle should be a satisfying feeling, but instead, Mari felt tired.
Saving the base camp was just the beginning. The people the League had stopped here were just the tip of whatever organization had planned these atrocities. Then, there was a Tower to rebuild, a relationship to end, who knows what else. In that moment, Mari didn't feel like a hero, she felt like a bomb. Tense, impatient, angry...
Explosive.