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Legal disclaimer: I tend to liberally "borrow" character profiles and art from the Earth-27 wikia created by Roy Westerman with the LI Harper/Red Hood art coming from digital artist Phil Cho. Other creators and artists are found there as well and I will specifically list any creations with creator citations as I utilize them. In short, this is the single most comprehensive retelling of all things DC and beyond I have encountered. In short, it's worth your time to explore.
That having been said, the properties, and their variations belong to DC and its parent, AT&T, with notable exceptions. More on that in the epilogue. I do not own DC characters or their interpretations and reimaginings. My own characters are implied Public Domain since I have not included a copyright notice as required by the 1974 revisions of the copyright statutes and regulations. While an intellectual copyright is implied without the due symbols and language, all such considerations are generally voided under CC-BY-SA, which governs this site, unless duly noted otherwise.
One Open Source attribution is listed after the story concluded to satisfy legalese requirements. And all "super" characters other than Open Source have been seen in comic books before barring any original characters coming from the Earth-27 Wiki. You can look into Public Domain Superheroes Wiki and the DC Database Wiki's own vaults to verify this.
Although this is primarily set in the DCAU, I incorporate attributes of dozens of interpretations of each character, comic telling era, and medium into the telling.
Li Harper had her boots out the window and her sunglasses propped down on her nose so she could peer over the dark lenses, "Frankly, I'm surprised Oracle let you out on a road trip with me."
Frankly, Jason Todd wasn't surprised. Since he and Oracle had started dating, they'd been aware of Li's overt intentions. In a way, they both pitied her. Lian Harper had originally come from Earth-4, when it had still existed. The problem that all Earth-4 refugees had discovered was that their Earth Prime doppelgangers were fourteen years younger than they were.
So Lian, originally of Earth Prime, was only four years old. And the Multiverse had been obliterated and replaced with the New Universe. And on New Earth their were two Lian Harpers. Li had quickly shortened her name on arrival. As the third Red Hood, an identity she'd earned on her post-apocalyptic world, Li had been heavily involved with Jason Todd, her Arkham Knight. When the Monitor mysteriously brought Li to her new home, she'd immediately set out to locate this Jason only to find he was the same age as her now. He was not only younger than the man that had deflowered her at age fourteen but he wasn't interested in a relationship until he met the mysterious Oracle, whom the Outlaws had rescued courtesy of her association with the Squire.
Beryl Hutchinson had relied on Oracle's hacktivism for intensive target searches and cyber security. When she went missing, they looked into the problem and discovered the Injustice Society had kidnapped the young woman with apparently no given name nor was she inclined to give one out even to Jason. And they'd been lovers for months now. Oracle's Deadshot-delivered spinal injury being such that her legs were paralyzed but her sexual organs retained full sensation. Oracle's past had been erased by choice coupled with necessity.
Only Barbara Gordon had a reasonable guess as to who Oracle was and the GCPD Police Commissioner wasn't telling. Especially not her ex-husband nor the Outlaws despite her cordial relationship with Squire. Batman could well and truly eff himself as far as Babs was concerned. And Sec. For Meta-Human Affairs Amanda Waller still believed Deadshot's assassination mission for ARGUS had been completely successful.
"Oracle and I know you just want to hook up with me and we both positively know it isn't happening," Jason replied as he drove on from Gotham to San Francisco.
"My Jason and I didn't 'hook up'," Li was aggravated by the comment.
"No, he committed statutory rape when you were fourteen and he was twenty-eight. Real moral compass on that guy," Jason stated carefully gauging Li's reactions, "Just like we're headed out to help a couple of sexual deviants."
"Oh, give it up. Brianna and Valeria may be identical twins and lovers but they can't hurt anyone with what they're doing. And they certainly won't be having kids doing it," Li's past clouded her perspective. Which was one of the reasons Jason came with her when the twins sounded an alarm to Li.
"They're underage, ran away from home, have forged identities, and are breaking the laws of forty-seven states," Jason shrugged, "No biggies."
"Then why did you come?" Li's eyes narrowed.
"I gave you the same promise I gave everyone. I have your back. And no one else would even consider helping you," Jason explained.
"The twins need the help," Li countered.
"You said it, not me," Jason cracked.
"Spare me the lecture," Li was bored and slid her glasses back into place, "I promised them I'd help if they needed it."
"Fair enough. But they're messed in the head," Jason remarked.
"Says a guy sleeping with a cripple," Li spat.
Jason turned off the road so sharply only Li's seat belt kept her upright. , "Oracle is paralyzed but hardly a 'cripple'. She's probably the most capable member of the Outlaws and that includes you and me. I'm sick of your condescending bigotry. You want to keep the attitude and you walk from here. And there won't be a place for you with us any longer. Do you understand?"
Li was transfixed. Jason repeated through gritted teeth, "Do. You. Understand?"
"You really are in love with her," Li finally began to realize, "It's not some kinky fetish thing."
"No. It's. Not," Jason continued to grate.
"Okay, fine. I'll give you that. I'll lay off if you lay off the twins. They really are in serious trouble," Li bartered.
"You still think I'll fall into your arms," Jason deduced.
"I'm supremely confident based on life experience. You find me irresistable," Li boasted.
"Different Jason Todd from a different world," Jason reminded her, "Your guy was a Robin and the Joker tortured him but never killed him. Mine's a different story. My Batman kicked me to the curb while I was down and the Joker got jealous because I might have a relationship with his fantasy date. Therefore I had to die but I had to suffer first. And my Batman never rescued me from Arkham. Nyssa Raatko did."
"Did you two ever bone?" Li was curious.
"She's a very out there lesbian," Jason reminded her of the facts, "And I didn't start screwing when I fourteen."
"But you weren't a virgin when you met Oracle either," Li pointed out with a grin.
"This is going nowhere fast," Jason pulled back into traffic.
"My Earth didn't have a Near Apocalypse masquerading as the Crisis. We had the real deal when I was thirteen. Society worldwide collapsed. My parents were killed over a loaf of bread. Jason took me in. Bruce and Selina Wayne left Gotham after Batman killed the Joker with his bare hands. I didn't know about Helena until later when I got here. Your Batman is a dick. Mine ran out on Gotham when he was needed the most. Who got the rawer deal?"
"You said the twins were threatened by vigilantes," Jason changed subjects and Li rolled with it.
"They're being chased by some local super team," Li said evenly.
"The Outsiders operate there," Jason prompted her.
"Anyway, this is where it gets complicated," Li warned him, "Bree and Val aced their GEDs. Bree took paralegal courses and got job with a local firm. She's financed everything. Val aced th SATs and UC Berkeley's entrance exams and got a partial scholarship and early admission. But Bree is working while Val attends. The deal is Bree gets her undrergrad and her JD after Val graduates."
"The ironies of someone getting a law degree while being in an incestual relationship stagger me," Jason wryly commented.
"Hold on, it gets squishier," Li advised him, "Bree had been putting in ninety to a hundred hours a week at her firm for months on end. Val cheated on Bree. With a guy from her classes."
"That had to go over well," Jason predicted.
"Bree didn't know until she and Val both contracted syphilis and oral gonorrhea. "`Cept Val also got the vaginal version. They sought treatment at a clinic where it was then discovered Val was pregnant. The doctors approached Brianna because she's the legal next of kin about the whereabouts of their parents and getting prenatal care for Valeria. Bree's oral case is worse than Val's and she could barely talk otherwise she would've exploded right then and there. As it was they tore out of their before the doctors called the police over Brianna's slip that pregnancy was impossible because Valeria had only been sexually active with her."
"Big oops," Jason was amused so far.
"Anyway, Bree lost the ability to speak but she tracked down an underground clinic where some biochemist is running illegal experiments on a wonder drug. To cut it short, they visited, got approved, paid the ransom sized fee, and the Outsiders raided the place," Li explained.
"That wasn't random," Jason observed.
"No, it very much wasn't. The doctor, some Afrikaaner woman is a devout Neo-Nazi and was developing three secret formulas for some dude called the 'Masked Leader'. Supposedly the moron behind the Fourth Reich. The regenerative mix was in final trials, that's how the sibs qualified, and she took a phone call where she was arranging delivery. They overheard her entire end if it and that's when these Outsiders crashed in on the party," Li described the situation.
"There's more to it," Jason balked.
"Why do you say that?" Li asked.
"Because there always is," he evenly replied.
"Fair enough again," Li sighed, "The sisters grabbed the entire stash of serums and ran out while everyone else was getting arrested."
"Do they have the slightest idea of what they're sitting on?" Jason had to ask.
"Some super-soldier serums, a regenerative version, like I said earlier, and an immortality formula?" Li tried to recall.
"Was something else called mirakuru with them?" Jason went cold.
"Yeah, I think Val mentioned it by name," Li admitted.
"Damn effing shit!" Jason was more agitated than she'd ever seen him.
"What?" she was alarmed and it showed despite her usual brand of cynicism.
"This doctor unlocked the quartet of Holy Grails," Jason was almost frantic to get to San Fran and they were still two days out.
"I don't understand," she almost plead with him.
"The supersoldatenserum created Captain Nazi among others. The quartet created Captain Murder get it?" Jason was still emotional, "A variant of mirakuru turned a SpecOps soldier into Deathstroke. I don't know about any regen or immortality crap but these serums affect people on a genetic level and they pass it down. Or have you forgotten about Rose?"
Rose Wilson-Worth, or Ravager, was hard for Li to forget. Or anyone else for that matter. Especially not Beryl Hutchinson. Squire and Ravager had been dating since before the Outlaws formed up.
"Shit!" Jason struck his steering wheel with the palm of his hand. Li swore it gave a little. He was still fuming.
"Your problem children have attracted not only the Outsiders but the Fourth Reich will be on their asses. Did they mention when the hand off was to occur?" Jason sharply inquired.
"Today," Li was very quiet as to avoid provoking Jason further.
"We aren't stopping," he announced. He lobbed an empty bottle her way, "We stop for gas only. You have to piss any other time, that's what the bottle is for."
"I'm hardly equipped," Li protested.
"Life sucks," he grated.
They wearily pulled into San Francisco the next night. It had been hard traveling. Some drivers hadn't appreciated Li's emptying the full bottle out the window. And she hadn't appreciated steering for Jason while he needed accommodation and then played waste disposal. Modesty didn't factor in at any time.
Oracle had equipped all of the Outlaws with GPS disabled burner phones that she'd personally encrypted. Only the fact that Li had provided Brianna and Valeria with such a phone enabled them to speak together.
She called Valeria, "I got us into the B&B a day early. They had a cancellation and an early departure so we lucked. Give us four hours and then meet up with us there. Don't leave the motel otherwise."
"At least they're smart not to go back home," Jason allowed.
"Only `cause I told them not to," Li snorted.
"Figures. They'll get us both killed, y'know?" Jason offered.
"I don't and they won't," Li persisted.
"I never figured you for fatalistically optimistic," Jason admitted.
"You never saw my world. If I had a sister, how do I know she and I wouldn't be Val and Bree?" Li asked.
"That explains that then. You never seemed the type to pick up strays," Jason finally understood her basic motive.
"Neither did you," Li accused.
"I'm not your Jason," he pointedly reminded her.
"So I learn more and more every day," Li refused to take it gently.
Jason let her wallow in it until she broke her silence, "You're more easy going and fun than my Jason was."
"Me?" Jason couldn't buy into that description.
"He'd turned into your Batman," she commiserated, "There was no radio or television. The Internet was owned and controlled by rivaling cartels selling every vice. So we patrolled a lot. He was pretty obsessive."
"What did you do in any down time?" Jason asked.
"Lots and lots of dirty sex, and I mean that quite literally, roofs, alleys, and dumpsters mostly. You ever made it on a gargoyles back? Effin' freaky I tell you," Li complained, "This world is so soft. But I wouldn't go back. Even for him."
"Batman gets laid...a lot. Even though he's a self-righteous prig," Jason added, "He uses up women and throws them away. He actually married Batgirl until she figured him out. And Selina takes the worst of it. Word is, Bruce knocked her up and ditched her. Won't even acknowledge the kid when she's born."
"She?" Li straightened up in her seat.
"Yeah, ultrasound showed off the sex of the baby," Jason smiled, "Definite she."
"Helena," Li whispered, "It has to be."
"Like Helena Wayne?" Jason knew about the new, unendorsed Robin, thanks to Li.
"`Cept if Brucie refuses to acknowledge Helena, she'll be Helena Kyle in the New Earth," Li predicted.
"There's already a Helena Wayne here on Earth except she goes by Helena Lincoln March," Jason explained, "And maybe the kid will get a whole different name."
"Some doppelganging is inevitable," Li grumbled.
He knew being reunited with her parents and meeting her much happier younger self weighed heavily on Li, "Every Helena won't stack up to the Huntress."
"Yeah, Helena Bertinelli is pretty bad ass," Li grinned.
"And Bruce is an ass hat. Just so we're all in agreement," Jason offered.
"Done deal," Li grinned.
"Now, for directions?" Jason inquired. San Francisco wasn't unique in its highway system by having left-hand turnouts as well as those on the prototypical right. But it was damn annoying. Fortunately everything had snarled down into two lanes.
With every GPS device disabled or dismantled, they relied upon old fashioned Internet directions and a map. Li had insisted on footing the bill for the entire trip. But her accounts, while fiscally buoyant, weren't enough to cover all the expenses. And mysteriously, ten million dollars appeared, spread across ten accounts, the morning of the trip.
Li actually wanted to hug Oracle. And that was a definite first. She even missed Oracle's irrepressible personality on this trip. What the hell was wrong with her?
"Are you certain you want separate rooms?" the B&B hostess inquired a little too keenly.
"Uh….pretty sure," Li glanced at Jason. He was trying to blend in but who else had a "J" branded into their left cheek? Basically, Jason Todd was as inconspicuous as a rhino in a glasswares boutique, "Keys please?"
The hostess assigned room numbers with a smirk on her face. They lugged their bags up in two loads. They had an indefinite reservation so they could stay as long, or short, as necessary. Of course, Li was paying double the rate for that privilege. And she discovered why the hostess was smirking when they both reached their nearby second story rooms. The owner had given them two keys apiece. One each for their own room...and the other's room.
Jason shrugged, "Who knows? It could be useful."
"Um...sure," Li hesitantly agreed.
They slept for the first time in thirty-six hours but only for three more hours. Then they roused to greet the sibs in the common area, greet other guests, and meet up with Valeria and Brianna in Jason's room. Brianna's blackened throat prevented her from talking but Valeria, despite having a milder case, it had hit her vagina much harder. She took ginger steps to accommodate the STDs ravaging her body. The less said about the syphilis the better. That beauty could kill her besides causing great discomfort.
Antiobiotics could cure both but the police blotters had flagged them thanks to Bree's shell shocked confession after Val's pregnancy was revealed. And the git was eight weeks pregnant and they'd been infected just as long. If Brianna ever met Brendan Frazier she'd rip his dick and balls off and stuff them down his throat. And the effing shit had had gotten married two weeks ago according to Val. And she'd slept with him yet again during the ceremony preparations. She'd even met up with him during the honeymoon for a couple of quickies.
Brianna was more than happy to let the syphilis ravage Valeria's mind and body for a while yet. Her sister had been her life, emotionally and sexually, and this was how she was repaid for all of her sacrifices? Bree would get payback out of Val's hide if she had to. They were just turning eighteen and had been dating and sexually active for five years. And now this…
Jason could feel the anger rippling off of Brianna. He'd never met the twins. Li and Emiko Queen had posed as incestual sisters to infiltrate the Religion of Crime's sex cult. Ollie Queen and Conner Hawke had played brothers as well in the effort. Ollie was from Earth-27, where doppelgangers were typically half the age of their Earth Prime counterparts. But when the Prime Universe had been all that was left of the Multiverse and recrafted into the New Universe by the Zero Hour, Arrow was just another refugee left alive when everything and one he'd known had never existed.
Li, Victor Stone, Robin, an older and very married Bruce and Selina Wayne along with Regina Swann the Empress Penguin were all that remained of Earth-4. Lois Lane and Lana Lang, each a former Superwoman, alongside Marian Drews the Hellequin, and Stuart Mosely, almost revealed as the infamous Heckler, were the remaining survivors of Earth-2. Vic Stone was also from Earth-16, making two refugee Cyborgs whereas New Earth's had died on a Justice League mission even in the rewritten version of history. Renee Montoya, Starling and Sonia Alcona were the only known survivors of the Earth-5 universe. Only Danya Helstrom, better known as Sparrow Hawk, survived from Earth-49. Dakota City, as an entire population and infrastructure and been transferred from the Dakotaverse to the Earth Prime Midwest and still remained there otherwise unaltered. Silver Sorceress and Blue Jay were the lone survivors from Angor's pocket universe. And Supergirl, transformed into Linda Danvers through a fusion of the protoplasmic Matrix and the dying human girl, was the only survivor of the Glorith's Pocket Universe still in the 21st Century. Glorith had self destructed that doomed experiment after it met her needs in creating a Clark Kent Superboy and a replacement Supergirl. Now Pocket Clark and Pocket Lana Lang dwelt in the 31st Century as members of the Legion of Superheroes as Superboy and Insect Queen.
Red Hood and Arrow had joined the Outlaws as well since Emiko adopted the guise of Red Arrow and enlisting. Conner Hawke's Green Arrow and Mia Dearden's Speedy had stepped down due to Mia's HIV turning to AIDS and Conner having been infected by sex with her and his HIV immediately transforming itself into AIDS. With Ollie having no past on New Earth, Emiko would inherit Queen Consolidated. Otherwise, the Outlaw ranks had stabilized after a massive growth spurt after beginning with just Jason as the second Red Hood, Squire, Ravager, and Speedy and Green Arrow. Now the group was large enough to support multiple assignments.
The Outlaws were faux assassins and mercenaries. The fiction being close enough to reality to give it enough credence to pass a potential client's inspection. The Outlaws specialized in meta-human exterminations if the gen actives in question were of a criminal bent. Intergang and the Syndicate Underground were their most frequent clients. Knightfall and Julie Sazia being the most generous with high paying contractors.
Although the renamed Arkham Knight was the supposed "general", Squire, Arrow, and Red Hood herself were comfortable being squad leaders. Red Arrow, Black Bison, and Sparrow being too green for the role. Ravager was too aggressive, with friend and foe alike, to fit the billet. Shieldmaiden was too mysterious despite her claims of having three thousand years of combat experience. None of which which could be verified outside of Icelandic and Nordic mythology. And Oracle was bound to her wheelchair and her computers.
"You're staying here tonight," Li decided for the twins...and Jason.
He kept his composure even as Valeria whined. Brianna just continued to glare hatred daggers at her sister. Jason just saw the situation imploding any minute now.
"Stop it!" Val almost shrieked at Bree.
"Val, she has every right to hate you. You violated her trust, her body, and her heart. Give her time to reconcile that. And your current situation is pretty desperate, not even regarding your health issues," Li mounted a one woman intervention.
"If she'd ever been home taking care of my business this wouldn't have ever happened," Valeria started to throw a tantrum.
"Oh, grow up. You had means, methods, and motivations to screw over your sister and eff someone else's brains out. But you also had a big ass choice to make and you chose the absolute worst one. So, congrats. On the baby and every other result," Jason snapped.
"How...how dare you?" Val shrieked this time.
Jason caught Brianna mid-lunge. Li sheltered Valeria with her own body, "Stop it! This is useless."
Val subsided and Bree simmered as Li took up the banner again, "Well, you two are pictures of maturity. I know immaturity. I display it all the time. But, it's a choice. A bad choice, especially when you're living underground and on the run. You effing idiots painted a huge bullseye on both of your backs. Where are the effing serums everyone wants?"
"And which ones are they?" Jason was grim.
Valeria took a notepad and flipped it open, "They're labelled the supersoldatenserum , the regenerationsserum, the unsterblichkeitsserum and the whattichitcallit you mentioned, mirakuru."
"So they did perfect an immortality serum," Jason was displeased.
"We had mirakuru too. The side effects are deformity, insanity, and enhanced everything to go with it," Li recalled, declining to mention an Earth no one remembered because it had never existed in this reality.
"And that explains why Captain Murder wasn't affected in those ways. She was already sociopathic," Jason lamented, "It just made her more powerful than Captain Nazi and Madame Libertine. And we know Baroness Blood was considered a failure."
"But Ace of Blades was a success before Captain Murder even had a grandparent," Li objected.
"Which says what about her?' Jason wondered.
"It explains why she's dating Killer Frost," Li shrugged.
"Mirakuru does not sound German," Valeria protested.
Brianna face palmed while Li explained, "It's Japanese. The previously successful candidate before Deathstroke was Captain Nippon. It's alchemian sorcery. The Japanese tested it on a captured Chinese island named Lian Yu before they abandoned it and the men there in a submarine stranded in a lake. The name means 'Purgatory'."
"Like your name," Valeria brightened.
Li bristled, "I'm half-Vietnamese. Totally different translation."
"So you're an Amerasian," Valeria guessed.
Li clenched a fist and stepped towards Val. Jason intercepted her and whispered, "You wanted to help them."
"Not that badly," she growled.
Jason looked pained as he addressed Valeria, "What can you tell us about the biochemist?"
"She was rude!" Val stamped a foot, "She called us deviants."
"Most people would," Li glanced at Jason.
"They don't have to say it," Valeria demanded.
"Focus, Pinky," Jason was getting irritable.
Li, an animation connoisseur, got the quote even if Valeria just stared at Jason rather dumbfounded, "Say what?"
"Children these days," Jason tutted.
"Were you there during the raid?" Li asked.
"`Course," Valeria looked at her as though she were an idiot.
Brianna angrily snatched the pad from Valeria's hand furiously began scribbling. When she finished several pages she handed the pad and pen to Jason. He perused it.
"This is pretty damn thorough," he admitted, "Thank you."
"She's a legal assistant. It's what she does," Val bragged.
Brianna looked ready to kick her. Jason preempted the effort, "Li and I need to study this. You have your own room now, I guess."
He and Brianna shot dagger glares at Li. She sighed, "You two, follow me."
Bree helped lug Li's gear to Jason's room. He was studying the notes, "I have a reasonable guess as to which Outsiders were involved. Although, they've probably roped in the whole damn team by now. Us against the Justice League's covert action squad. Thanks a lot. Those girl are poison."
"Those 'girls' are a year younger than us," Li reminded him, "And I'm sorry `bout all of this."
"Valeria couldn't prove it," Jason said tersely.
"So she's a little immature," Li grunted a tacit admission, "But I'm sincerely sorry."
"I just wish someone else would've tagged alone," Jason admitted.
"Oracle would've," Li conceded.
"She wanted to. I talked her out of it," Jason confided, "But I approached Eve and John and they both shut it down. Even Laurel."
Evelyn Crawford was Starling, John was Black Bison. And Laurel Anne Hardy never backed down from a fight. It was insulting that Crimson Avenger, Protector, or Shieldmaiden hadn't simply volunteered. Even Wild Dog or Street Avenger would've evened some serious odds. Squire and Ravager also opted out, which was disappointing. Arrow and Red Arrow simply rode a moralistic high horse on this one. Arsenal and Cheshire, her own "parents", weren't even interested. But at least they were spending their time with young Lian instead.
"Here's copies of Brianna's report," Jason handed them to her, "I'll sack it out on the floor."
"I can instead," Li reluctantly volunteered, "Or we could share the bed. I'm certain we'll be chaste enough."
"I'm used to sleeping on stone floors," Jason reminded her, "This time I get hardwood and a pillow."
"Riiight," Li was saddened about not sharing the bed.
"Took down notes from an upload from Oracle regarding the Outsiders' roster. You should glance over it," Jason suggested.
She sat on the bed and reviewed while he went into the private restroom the room provided. He was still putting on a shirt when he exited and his legs and torso were so defined Li almost came. But, her Jason earned his scars beside her. This Jason Todd had 27% of his body covered in horrific scaring. The Joker had taken his time and been damn efficient about it. Rose and Beryl were their resident medics and both weren't surprised the amount harm inflicted had killed Jason.
The Lazarus Pit could resuscitate but couldn't heal all wounds. Which beggared the imagination considering the total extent of injuries Jason had probably endured. She found a glimmer of understanding of the physical attraction between he and Oracle.
"You okay?" he was staring at her because she'd been staring.
"Uh, yeah," Damn! Her panties were wet. She had gone wet without actually cumming. She raced to her bag and snatched it into the bathroom. Once there, she showered. But he'd probably sniffed out the sex smell. Damn it all to hell.
She utterly dismissed the idea of the thong she'd bought just for the trip. Damn things were irritating anyway. She always felt like something was crawling up her ass. She went with bikini briefs and a waaay oversized tank.
"I'll get the light after you turn in," he volunteered.
"`Kay," she lamely said before she absentmindedly reviewed the notes again. Then she went to bed without a word. As promised, Jason turned out the light but he stayed up reading by the light from a corner lamppost. Something nagged at her.
"How does Oracle go pee at night? It's gotta wake the hell up outta you," she asked at long last.
"She wears adult diapers. All the time," Jason calmly explained, "After all, it's not like she can always get onto a toilet in time."
"Oh," Li hadn't thought of that. She rolled ot her side and eventually fell asleep while Jason jotted down notes of his own. She dreamed of scarred washboard abs and wheelchairs. And pissing herself all day and night long.
Li awoke to find Jason gone. She wondered if he ever slept. She was dressed by the time he returned from the dining room with a tray of hot cereal.
"The guests say 'hi'," he reported, "And our beloved hostess knows Valeria and Brianna spent the night and charged extra. She also knows you bedded down here last night. Her mind is all aflutter with the possibilities of what went on."
"And our 'guests'?" Li asked.
"I heard crying last night so I assume some furious note passing went on," Jason told her.
A haunted looking Brianna blocked the doorway and thrust a note at Li. It said two words, She's gone.
"Gone where?" Li asked, "How?"
Brianna's next note was rather terse, I was asleep and she took the car. Duh!
Jason took the notes from Li and read them, "Is she stupid enough to go back to the motel or even even stupider to go back home?"
Brianna patted her own throat. Jason grimaced, "That's what I thought."
"We need the room. Be ready in twenty," Li ordered.
Jason and Li stripped to their underwear without noticing each other. Red Hood had less gear to assemble than Arkham Knight. But they mutually loaded pistols at the same time.
"Get the girl," Arkham Knight went out the window.
Red Hood made certain the hallway was clear despite wearing a domino mask. She pulled Brianna along, locked Jason's door, and went out the window. She helped catch Bree when she jumped out.
Arkham Knight pulled the truck up to the curb, "Get in."
Brianna got into the back of the extended cab. Red Hood retook the forward passenger seat, "Give me the address of the closest destination."
Which turned out to be the motel.
"Why are we here again?" Lightning whined from her vantage point.
"Because these idiot sisters took vials of stuff that will derange or kill them both," Thunder reminded her sullen sister...again.
"They're bloody deviants," Hawk accused from elsewhere.
"Aren't we all in some fashion or another?" Dove asked her own sister.
"Cut the radio chatter," Steel ordered.
"Aren't you sexy cool, taking charge?" her girlfriend, Girl 13 teased.
"You're both lesbians, Steel and Girl 13. Don't you recall the label being applied to you all your life?" Gimmix, the former Merry the Girl of 1000 Gimmicks, asked.
"Whose side are you on, Gimmix?" Lightning pouted.
"I think she picked a third side," Thunder was also a lesbian and knew the accusations and hateful discrimination that came with the sexual orientation. But she was who she was meant to be.
"What side is that?" Natasha Irons was cautious.
"The side that makes sense," Traci Badyopadhyay told her own partner.
"You're all effin' wankers," Holly Granger snorted.
"Not that you don't finger bang yourself but God forbid someone else does it for you," Dawn Granger sighed.
"I swear I hope Donna is getting further than we are," Jacqueline Pemberton grated.
Donna Troy, the fifth appointed Wonder Woman and the third still assigned to Man's World as Queen Diana's envoy to the world, had a team at the FBI's Oakland Field Office to interrogate the detained biochemist, Dr. Reeva de Boer. Hippolyta, the first Wonder Woman, was an exile after abdicating in favor of her eldest daughter. But even Diana couldn't wrest the title from one the gods had appointed.
A third team had been sent to the twins' apartment. No word had come from the either team.
Wonder Woman still found ut amazing that she was the commander of the Outsiders. On Hippolyta's recommendation, no less. The departing queen's last edict had appointed Donna to being a Wonder Woman. Of course, Diana delayed that appointment while she conned her half-sister, Nubia, into the same. And of all Themiscyra had objected to Diana attempting to recall their Champion, Artemis the Requiem and the only Wonder Woman to earn her role in direct competition, even beating out Diana herself. The ruling was deemed a grudge reflex. Diana saved face by rewarding Artemis with greater honors instead. But Queen Diana did not take loss well. As befitted a demigoddess of war.
Donna was the child of Chronos and Rhea, and the previously unknown sister ot Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Making her a goddess to Diana's demigoddess. Yet Donna's time as the original Wonder Girl taught her tactics and humility. Being a Darkstar had taught her strategy and restraint. Before the Darkstars, being a founding Teen Titan taught her the value of teamwork.
But when she returned to Earth after years of interstellar patrols and combat, the Teen Titans had all handed over the team to a younger version of themselves. And not for the better, Wonder Woman thought.
As Donna had become Wonder Woman, in her protracted absence Dick Grayson became Nightwing and stood down as well. Speedy became the first Red Arrow and was now Arsenal and had a four-year old daughter and an ex-assassin for a wife. Or they were both assassins and mercenaries depending on the news bites. Aqualad was just Garth and had become Tempest at her request. Wally West had gone from being Kid Flash to the third Flash and a founding member of the Justice League that now ranked above and beyond all super teams.
And now Wonder Woman was leading an interrogation rather than combat. One of the Outsiders' values to the JLU was their enhanced ability to extract information after the Justice League's dual losses of Batman and Diana. Donna had belatedly learned of Diana's marriage to Superman and had no doubts as to why that union had dissolved. She'd stretched for Apollo and got a Kansas farmboy. One that could never be a consort on an island forbidden to men. Much less a sex slave. Diana craved to be conquered and got equality. The arrogance that Superman had too defy her desires.
Lois Lane's untimely death had prompted that misadventure. And now Lois wasn't dead. But rather "missing" all these years. Wonder Woman thought it had've been a helluva hiding place because she came back with five children ages fifteen to three. The youngest were identical twins nonetheless. And everyone acted like it was normal. Donan caught herself thinking it at times. Yet she'd only been gone seven years and had three children over that age? And no noticed until now? It was certain Maj. Lucy Lane USAF and field commander of the PATRIOTS super team run by Homeland Security was staying out of the debate. She just mumbled about "national security" and fled every time she was questioned.
Wonder Woman brought seven teammates with her to question Dr. de Boer. Bumblebee and Omen were veterans from the original Teen Titans era. Tigress, Starfire, Batwoman, Hawkfire, and Cyborg were new recruits. Each had a significant story.
Hawkfire had belonged to the second era of Teen Titans as Flamebird. But when the team collapsed, she joined Spyral. And her costumed past made her an ideal operative. Katrina Moldoff beat out every qualifying candidate to become Spyral's Batwoman. Like Hawkfire and Talon, Batwoman found herself agency-less when Spyral ceased to exist. Talon resurrected the dying embers of the Court of Owls.
Koriand'r was an alien princess from Tamaran and a refugee from her sister that had seized the throne. Kori was known as Starfire and her sister as Blackfire due to the solar energy bolts they could throw. But Starfire, like every Tamaranian save Komand'r, her sister, could fly. But Blackfire could throw even more powerful starbolts. She'd also visited Earth while Dick was exploring the Batman-less world he'd created for himself and fathered a daughter he'd been unaware of. Mar'i "Mary" Grayson now attended Gotham Academy. Kori had been as stunned by Dick's marriage and retirement from Nightwing as he was of Mar'i's existence. Only Superman and Batman seemed to regularly discover they had unintended children they'd never bothered to learn existed.
Ulla Paske-Grayson quickly took Mar'i under a nurturing arm. Kori was bitter that Dick hadn't waited for her. But even she recognized that the former Little Mermaid was a far better pairing for him. And they had a daughter that was one-quarter Atlantean. Koriand'r needed to keep her distance from Mar'i so Starfire and Mary were born that day.
Artemis Nguyen Crock was the second daughter of Crusher Crock, or the Sportsmaster, to bear that name. One of her older half-sisters was also named Artemis, the daughter of the first Tigress, Paula Brooks. Her own mother, Paula Nguyen, had been the second Tigress after the first's death and was also the mother to Jade Nguyen, infamously known as Cheshire. Making Artemis Lian Harper's aunt. Between her mother and Artemis, Artemis Paula Brooks Crock had become Tigress. Now she was serving twenty-to-life in Blackgate while her husband, Icicle, served the same in Iron Heights. Their daughter had been kindly adopted by the wheelchair-bound Paula and the entire Young Justice support team. Artemis chose to redeem the title in honor of her mother and to spite her father. Paula looked a blind eye and watched over Lian while Cheshire and Arsenal were otherwise "engaged". Young Justice and their Justice Society instructors did the same out of courtesy. Roxy wasn't so ambivalent.
Karen Beecher as Bumblebee and Lilith Clay as Omen were considered first gen Teen Titans vets. Cyborg was unique amongst counterparts and doppelgangers alike. The Earth Prime Victor Stone had died on a Justice League mission. Now an older Victor Stone from Earth-4 had joined the Justice League. Vic Stone, from Earth-27, a much younger version had joined the Outsiders. But had decided to quit and join the Doom Patrol. He needed a team he could outshine to enhance his heroic reputation. Victor berated him with one word that summed up heroism: selfless. Vic stayed with the Outsiders.
Dr. de Boer was was obviously from South Africa. She was also a blatant white supremacist that still believed in an Apartheid that collapsed before her birth. Reeva had been recruited by the Masked Leader's usual representative since WWII, Baron Blitzkrieg. Given cell samples arduously derived from Captain Murder by Dr. Demon and an aging vial of mirakuru, Reeva replicated the traces of the formulas that had rewritten Captain Murder's genetic code and adapted her cell structure, Reeva managed to isolate each component and derive working samples of each "lost" formula. The head start with mirakuru had given her a baseline to begin with.
Reeva was a meta-geneticist whose work on chemically activating and deactivating gen factors was only rivaled by that of Dr. Caitlin Fairchild's work on all thing meta-gene related, formerly of NOWHERE, the Teen Titans, and now back to Gen13. Fairchild's own gen factor derived from her father's eventually fatal exposure to mirakuru made possible by John Lynch's, of CADMUS and then ARGUS, apprehension of the substance from the renegade Dr. Anthony Ivo. Who turned to robotics and nanotech to create weapons after his own deforming encounter with mirakuru's side effects. Ivo was a grotesque wanting to die and unable to. But he'd perfected androids with Red Tornado and nanites with the unwilling assistance of Maxine Hunkel. No one else would come close with nanites until Claire Connelly and Tessa Richardson's work with the SHIELD program became viable with Joe Higgins' successful integration of the nanites with his physiology. And now Reddy was destroyed, Cyclone had become the second Red Tornado, and Shield had stolen himself. And both the Shield and Red Tornado worked for the MLJ Initiative with the Mighty Crusaders and JSA respectively.
SAIC Fitzherbert informed Special Agent John Smith that the Dept. Of Homeland Security had Presidential orders to seize Dr. de Boer under the antiterrorist unlimited hold provisions of the PATRIOT Act, passed after 9/11. Smith already knew because he himself had called Pres. Lex Luthor's LuthorCorp Infinity3 imbedded hot line to rat out the FBI. But he was the agent in charge of Reeva's disposition so he made a good show of agency loyalty. Lena Luthor headed LuthorCorp and its consumer subsidiary L Corp but Mercy Graves 2.0 ran the Everyman Project that spawned Infinity3 and Team Luthor and was loyal only to Lex Luthor himself.
Smith warned Wonder Woman in hopes she'd escalate and prove that Task Force Z would be required to take charge of the prisoner for "her own safety". But Donna didn't bite. Starfire and Cyborg were ready to. Omen hadn't gotten anywhere against Reeva's Dr. Demon derived mental conditioning. Batwoman and Hawkfire warned Wonder Woman that waterboarding was kinder than what Sarge Steel had planned over any objections Col. Rick Flagg, Agents Alex Danvers and Cameron Chase levied against their legality. In the face of Executive orders even Sec. Bones and Dir. Gwen Cormaugh were in a legal quagmire. SAIC Fitzherbert ignored his superiors in the Bureau and the Justice Dept. and directly filed an injunction with the Federal District Court of Central California. Bumblebee offered to break Reeva out. Tigress seconded the vote. Wonder Woman turned them all down. Legalities had to be played out with the precarious position the Justice League, and thereby the Outsiders, were in.
The ugly truth was Reeva faced a lifetime of imprisonment and torture unless she surrendered the missing vials and their formulas. The nasty twist was that she could offer one option but not both. It had developed that Reeva was equally disturbed by the formulas being on the loose as anyone else concerned. And that had come out while under the influence of Donna's Lasso of Persuasion. But nothing could tear the serum formulas from Reeva's lips or make her auto-write it. Still, Starfire and Cyborg flew in the face of evidence and wanted to take her body apart to break the Afrikaaner's resolve. And as an illegal immigrant, Luthor would throw all legal niceties aside even if he was forced to recognize them. All to make the country "safer".
Lex and Lena wanted to mass produce the serums and weaponize them even further. Luna Luthor could care less. His estranged wife, Countess Erica Portenza-Luthor had never forgiven his dalliance with Amomodat Ashtad better known as the Crimson Queen of Bailya. But only because it superseded an heir named Luthor El-Fadil's claim of inheritance over his half-sister, Lori's. Legally, in western countries, Lori's status as eldest and a legal daughter of Lex's, and "Alexander's" limbo-like legal status as illegitimate, canceled his "superior" claim. But many more nations recognized any male heir over a female, legitimate or not. And Lena was furiously transferring holdings and assets to them. And Luna, the eldest of the three elder Luthors, was blithely unaware of any of it, being an autistic genius with no scope of the world beyond her design firm walls in Smallville or her home lab.
Reeva's baseline was to lie. Polygraphs were useless. The Lasso of Persuasion had barely persuaded any cooperation from the biochemist. And Omen's telepathy would trigger a lethal biofeedback response if she probed any deeper. So everyone was at an impasse except to tell Reeva flatly what was coming for her.
"She's happy to die for this Masked Leader now that she knows who he really is. She views him as a savior of humanity," Omen clued them all in.
"Let's oblige her," Starfire growled.
"We don't even know who the Masked Leader. If she wants bragging rights, maybe we negotiated safety in exchange for that information," Batwoman suggested.
Everyone stared at Katrina. Even Bette Kane, who knew her the longest, "What? I'm an heiress. I'm not stupid."
"Okay, I'll negotiate on our behalf. Inform Special Agent Smith that we're taking her if she agrees to it," Wonder Woman instructed.
Agent Smith hurriedly made another call upon receiving the ultimatum.
The final Outsider team observed Brianna and Valeria's apartment from four sides. For the most part, most of the neighbors didn't even realize they were hosting superheroes in their yards, rooftops, or even in their dwellings. It was called a covert team, for reasons unbecoming the JLU. Not that the Justice League wasn't being legally persecuted anyways. Caught harboring fugitives from justice, for "higher causes" had discredited the JLU's legal standings. The United Nations and United States disavowed them. Financial supporters withdrew. Even MLJ Dir. Jack Latham's unflinching support had to wither or close the agency. Luthor had even ordered the seizure of the Hall of Justice properties as he'd once had every JLer parent arrested for "child abuse". The Supreme Court quickly, and unanimously, struck down the order as unconstitutional citing the right to own property which Luthor cherished above all else. The Agents of SMASH were losing their influence with their sponsors in Congress just as the THUNDER Agents were being turned a blind eye at the United Nations. Only Luthor and Max Lord seemed to politically profit from all of it. And the Outsiders' legitimacy derived from the Justice League's coattails.
Raven and Beast Boy were posted at the end of the block due east. Argent and Blue Devil held the west behind a neighboring building's fence. Tempest held the north. A triad composed of Black Bat, the second Nightwing, and the second Batgirl were next door to the south.
Tempest, as the decided veteran of the group, held himself aloof and alone. Tula's death as Aquagirl had struck a mortal blow to his heart a decade ago. He'd left the surface world afterwards. Only Donna had persuaded him, even without her damn lasso, to care again. He'd always held a soft spot for a fellow traveler outside her home wherever she went because she had no real home. Themiscyra, Man's World, and even outer space had failed Donna as both the surface and undersea kingdoms failed Garth. So her passion in this cause had ben his undoing.
Gar Logan had held a remnant of the Teen Titans together after Protector's death before they collapsed after ARGUS' arrest efforts. Now there was a second Protector and he was even younger than Garfield. Rachel Roth had joined in as Raven because frankly she had nowhere better to be.
Cassandra Cain, the former Orphan, was Black Bat. The daughter of the League of Assassins' David Cain and Lady Shiva, her upbringing had been one of Cain's training experiments. Cassandra spent the first ten years of her life without any language except kinesiology. Black Bat had developed an extensive vocabulary since then but hadn't shown it to few outside of the disbanded Batclan. Cassandra had been reared to be Cain's ultimate weapon even capable of killing her own formidable mother, and Sandra Wu-San was arguably the best melee fighter in the world
Stephanie Brown was the daughter of Arthur Brown, the wannabe infamous Cluemaster. A failed game show host, Brown had become a criminal to become famous outwitting the Batclan and the GCPD. There was no more Batclan and still he miserably failed at both. Steph had learned of her father's double life and her mother's greedy complicity and ran away to become the Spoiler to thwart their ambitions.
She roomed with Harper and Cullen Row. Harper also coming under Kathy Duquesne and Rocki Ballantine's radar to train as the next Batwoman. But the tech savant Harper chose to be Bluebird and Stephanie stubbornly clung to her original identity until Dick Grayson came calling. Barbara Gordon, well away of Harper and Steph's extra-curricular activities had Dick try to dissuade the pair but instead he bequeathed the Nightwing name to Stephanie and Rocki and Kathy outfitted her.
Harper confessed falling in love with Stephanie. A love that wasn't reciprocated. But the falling out occurred over Nightwing being assigned to the Outsiders while Bluebird stayed within Young Justice's ranks. So Nightwing moved to San Fran to be with her new team. It wasn't her fault the Justice League and Justice Society both felt she was ready for the promotion. But Harper's angry words still haunted her.
After her induction as Spoiler to Young Justice, she'd briefly become a Robin, without Batman's consent. Or Helena Wayne's, who felt it was a birthright. Her birthright. So her graduation as Nightwing had been a welcome relief on many levels. Of course, graduating with Carrie Kelley had helped ease the transition.
Babs Gordon herself endorsed Carrie as the next Batgirl. Carrie had begun the streets in a handmade Robin costume. Her parents' drug induced haze insured they never recalled having a daughter even before she moved out to enlist with Young Justice. Barbara attended coaching sessions held by Kathy and Rocki even before that. Sonia Alcona even flew in for some.
And Batgirl had a rough transition into Young Justice. Robin and Red Robin resented the hell out of her. So her early graduation was a relief. Helena Wayne and Ulysses Armstrong could suck her tit. She hadn't asked to be bumped up. It just happened because she earned it and Barbara advocated it just as Dick lobbied for Nightwing's early graduation. So the two shared a special bond because of it. And Black Bat crashed on the couch of the two-bedroom apartment. The girls had requested a three-bedroom lodging but Cassandra vetoed it. Couches were grand compared to stone floors.
The burgeoning state and local anti-vigilante laws had been federalized. Non-deputized teams and individuals were outlawed. Notorieties such as Batman, the Question, and the Huntress were at the top of the wanted lists. Many, many others, such as Manhunter and the entire Birds of Prey staff, were also considered criminals by law enforcement and idolized by the public. The Justice League fell into that classification as well now but avoided arrests because the JLU could literally become a Justice Lords without anyone ever being aware of Earth-2's history in the New Universe. A single universe that had solely existed since the fires of Creation with a single history.
Since the Outsiders existed on the JLU's coattails, the FBI and the MLJ stubbornly refused to bring them in and in instances, such as the Reeva de Boer case, brought them in to "consult". The MLJ Initiative's own WEB Agency was threatening a mutiny over the discrepancy but Dir. Latham threatened to dissolve the agency in its entirety. And so a stalemate had been reached. Latham having been granted the power to do so by former Pres. Olivia McKay and Luthor hadn't rescinded it...yet. McKay was still wanted for treason on the merits she was a Durlan in disguise and had not been born in the UNited States, much less Earth, thereby violating Article II of the Constitution. Agent Liberty had gone underground with her to protect her from assassins and capture by legitimate agencies. Now the reward on McKay had escalated to a one billion dollar amount to rival that on Squire and Ravager's heads. But the Outlaws were considered a more prestigious prize owing to the supposed greater difficulty in collecting.
The Justice League's own membership warranted their legal woes. Azrael, Sister Lilhy, Killer Frost, and Owlwoman were all tied to murders. Jack O'Lantern was wanted by the UK for terrorism. Silver Sorceress and Blue Jay were wanted on unspecified charges in Russia. Lady Marvel was connected to Black Mary's global terrorism. And Ace of Blades was wanted on war crimes trials throughout Eastern Europe but not, oddly it seemed to most, by Israel. Luftwaffe pilotenkommando Maj. Katharina Steiner having never participated in crimes against those of Jewish descent or taken part in the "Final Solution". The Masked Leader having disavowed her for betraying the Fourth Reich and her "race" by having a Jewish lover as a teen and for her bisexuality. Her current relationship with Louise Lincoln having warranted a death sentence proclamation from the Masked Leader's puppets.
Everyone but the Masked Leader, who was secretly Adolf Hitler, forgetting that Ace of Blades had disobeyed direct orders from the Fuhrer to obtain the Holy Grail from its hiding place where Sir Ystin and Maid Maleen had hidden it. Ace of Blades relinquished the artifact to the American archaeologist, Dr. Cairo Jones. And so, Ace of Blades, already enhanced by the super-soldier serum became the test subject for the immortality and regenerative serums to artificially extend Hitler's life and grant him Marvel-class super powers. And so Hitler "died" beside a willing Eva Braun and the Masked Leader was born and went into hiding to reactivate Baron Blitzkrieg and slowly build a Fourth Reich.
The New Earth's history with regards to the former Multiverse was complicated because Glorith left the former 21st Centuries largely intact. Concentrating on making Lar Gand Valor, and then M'Onel, to strike down Mordru in the 31st Century. So the Multiversal refugees were left in place. Including Terry Sloane's Master Terrific from Earth-3 alongside Atomixca, Blackwing, and the Other. Dakota City's own super team, cleverly named the Heroes, weren't affiliated with law enforcement agencies, but thanks to Icon's persuasion, the city officials defied the national anti-vigilante laws. As did Central City and Chicago. San Francisco was well on its way to declaring itself a sanctuary city itself. Now everyone was left to see if Luthor would mobilize the governors of each state to send in the National Guard. So far the glaring failure of his "child endangerment" initiative stayed his hand. But how long until embarrassment faded and ego won out?
Lois found herself occupying her dead counterpart's life at the Daily Planet while raising Lord Superman's five children and rebuffing Clark Kent's efforts to assist her. She was terrified of going down that road again. And Mia Kent, the eldest, wanted to meet the doppelganger of her mother, Lena Luthor. Despite her protestations of neutrality, no one dared think the CEO and Chairwoman of LuthorCorp and L Corp wasn't embedded in her brother's plans and strategies.
Mercy, the new Mercy Graves, still ran the Everyman Project after the original Mercy's disappearance. No could explain how Mercy became Japanese overnight. But everyone suspected Lex's involvement and Lena's complicity. Samantha "Sam" Arias was the CFO for both corporations that took care of the financials before they reached Lena. And strained her relationship with her daughter owing to her gigormous workload really meant for teams of people. Fortunately, Eve Tessmacher took a great deal of the caseload onto herself even with being Lena's administrative assistant.
Former Army general, Sam Lane, was standing trial for treason. He'd exposed McKay but then staged a military coup. Luthor couldn't pardon him to rouse the Joint Chiefs into tacitly consenting to a second one. Lucy still served TDY from the Air Force Security Police with Homeland Security heading up the PATRIOTS super team of operatives. A former Superwoman herself, she readily empathized with Lois and Lana's recent loss of their powers but she was also delighted to get an almost-sister out of the bargain.
Mia and Laura Kent were uncertain how to respond to their kept-at-a-distance proxy "father". Jonathan took to him like a puppy. Carol and Jane just appreciated the attention. All the children knew for certain was that this Clark Kent/Superman was nothing like the dimly remembered Lord Superman. Whose very existence became more difficult to recall every day. Now there was only Papa Clark.
The Outsiders stood by while waiting for Brianna and Valeria to return home. They weren't the only ones. Scarlet Skull was agitating not only the white supremacists but also any other ethnic and sexual supremacist groups that would listen. The bounty for capturing the girls was a sample of each serum to do with as they pleased. A blatant lie but it served its purpose. He'd learned from the very best, the Masked Leader himself.
Along with the Scarlet Skull's populist approach, Baron Blitzkrieg and Captain Murder were on the scene as well. Baron Blitzkrieg and Captain Murder floated well above the neighborhood.
"Die Dummköpfe wissen noch nicht einmal, dass wir hier sind. Umso besser für uns"Baron Blitzkrieg chuckled to himself.
"Yo, dipshit. You recall that I don't speak German?" Captain Murder snidely asked
"Dumme, verdammte Fotze. Ich spreche immer schlecht gegenüber ihren offensichtlichen Bittern. Ich kann nicht verstehen, warum der maskierte Anführer diese verrückte Mischlingsschlampe herumhält."Baron Blitzkrieg unconsolably muttered to himself.
"I will cave your bucket head in if you don't start self translating," Captain Murder threatened, "And you know that I'm faster, stronger, and tougher than you. That's why Herr Adolf keeps me around,"
Captain Murder saw his surprised posture, "Yeah, I know. I speak tone if not your mother tongue. And your slavish devotion to the Masked Leader and Uncle Adolf both told me who our mystery benefactor was."
"It seems I have underestimated you after all, Kapitan," Baron Blitzkrieg allowed, "Perhaps Dr. Albrecht's experiment with you was not a failure."
"Captain Nazi and Madame Libertine are both dead yet here I still am," Captain Murder coldly put it, "How could that possibly be a mistake?"
"Yes, you alone had the Aryan derived serums and that Japanese trash in your veins transforming you. Perhaps Dr. de Boer's successes will transform our future troops into likenesses of you," Baron Blitzkrieg was forced into the give.
"Baron, there's only one of me. Always remember that," Captain Murder hostilely recommended.
Ah, aber du wirst bald ersetzt, nachdem ich dich zu Tode gefickt habe, du psychotische Fotze, Baron Blitzkrieg gleefully thought to himself.
Captain Murder spoke that body language as well.
Valeria got home and called Brendan Frazier, "I know you're a complete shit and an equally complete asshole. You infected with two STDs and knocked me up while cheating on you're then fiance and after she was your wife. We effed during your engagement and on your wedding day and honeymoon for Christ's sake! But you not only gave them to me, I gave it my sister. Not the preggers part."
"Waitaminute! You gave STD's to your sister? Omigod! Are you effing effin' her? That is so hot!" Brendan frantically undid his pants while trying not to make his newlywed wife aware of the fact he'd been cheating and she was also infected now.
He hadn't gotten shots until after the honeymoon Valeria had followed them on to keep effing Brendan. He'd blame Grace's STDs on a former boyfriend despite her being a virgin when they had sex for the very first time. He'd only married the bitch to score with her. But if he could get Val and her twin sister in the sack together? He almost came on that thought. Too late, he'd shot his wad wanking too hard.
"Brendan…? Are you beating off on the phone? Who is that?" his wife demanded to know as she entered the room.
"Val...Victor," he thought fast.
"Put it on speaker," she insisted.
"Brendan? Doesn't she know about us yet?" Valeria's voice asked across the whole room.
Stupid cow, Brendan angrily thought, "I can explain."
While his wife was relieved he didn't have a boyfriend she was on a slow simmer rising to boiling over because of his obvious infidelity. And mainly because he was a lying sack of shit.
"Grace, you don't understand. Valeria is sleeping with her identical twin. Imagine a four-way!" his erection was rising again.
Grace smacked it with a nearby and very handy coffee table book. Then stormed out never to willingly see him again. But because she didn't believe in divorce, she wouldn't sign any papers later either. Her tale would bankrupt him front of the judge.
"Val? Are you still there? Is your sister? Are you two getting it on?" Brendan asked through the pain.
But she didn't answer. The truth was she couldn't have if she'd even been remotely inclined to.
Before the beginning of the Second World War, Baron Blitzkrieg had been the Kommadant of a concentration full of political prisoners. German citizens, Austrians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Russians, Communists from any country, the religiously devout, legal and illegal aliens of every ilk and origin, basically anyone that overtly or covertly opposed Hitler's racial or political agenda by merely existing. They were drug in by the newly created Gestapo and SS. Any prisoners deemed unworthy of immediate execution.
Citizen Steel had been deployed to rescue select prisoners as a private citizen on a humanitarian mission. As political prisoners, they weren't subjected to the same levels of experimentation as the Jews would face. But the horrors still occurred. And the captured Citizen Steel's metal skeleton beggared the question of how did he survive the process of implanting it?
Citizen Steel led a revolt whereby most of the prisoners made it to a ship offshore in the Baltic near the Danish border. Blitzkrieg had been badly burned in the attempt. Those experimental surgeries were employed upon him and it unlocked his gen factor. He gained the psionic ability to access any one of four super powers at a time. Super strength or speed, flight, and sensory enhancement were those powers. Only mental fatigue could wear him down. Over the following decades and with great discipline, Baron Blitzkrieg learned to harness two powers at the same time.
And he was one hundred and eleven-years old when his youth and vigor were restored to him with the last of Hitler's stores of the regenerationsserum and the unsterblichkeitsserumbut none of the supersoldatenserumsince its supply was exhausted before the war ever ended. And given that Baron Blitzkrieg would refuse having the Japanese mirakuru filth in his veins despite the supersoldatenserum deriving from the Japanese scientists' work. The regenerative serum even healed his seemingly permanent burn scars. Baroness Blood was the last surviving test subject injected with a half-strength supersoldatenserum distilled from Captain Nazi's blood work up.
And Baron Blitzkrieg's gen factor had been unpredictably handed down through the generations. Baroness Blitzkrieg gained his super speed. And his namesake heir, Baron Blitzkrieg II only had his strength. Only the Masked Leader knew that Baron Blitzkrieg's great-great grandchildren were mongrels, more Incan, Portuguese, Latino, or Negro than blessed Aryan racial stock. Baron Blitzkrieg had thrown away all of National Socialism's holy writ in search of a favorable heir to carry on the Great Work for the Masked Leader. Stooping so low as to have sexual congress with sub-humans.
Captain Murder's own infusions had defied implementing the Japanese protocols for mirakuru injections but the regeneration serum prevented any potential physical defects from occurring. But her delusional status resulted from an already unstable mind. But Baron Blitzkrieg had to admit Captain Murder could very well be the most powerful member of the Fourth Reich, barring any challenges for supremacy stemming from Satan Girl. Only the great and revered Fuhrer himself, the Masked Leader could surpass her. For he was a son of Wotan and therefore infallible.
Captain Murder was a blur as she crashed through the front door to the apartment Brianna shared with her sister. Baron Blitzkrieg was more circumspect in his approach. And it seemed he was wise in doing so. Black Bat, Nightwing, and Batgirl emerged from the neighbors' apartment next door and rushed in after hearing Valeria scream bloody murder.
Black Bat used Captain Murder's strengths against her, every one of them. She couldn't subdue her opponent but she could keep Captain Murder preoccupied while Batgirl and Nightwing rushed Valeria to safety. But the building was one of their first built in 1907 after the Great Earthquake of 1905. Its lack of safety exits had been continually grandfathered in over the century-plus since then. So the only exit was blocked by Baron Blitzkrieg.
"Give us the girl and let us leave and everyone shall live," Baron Blitzkrieg seemed reasonable until he added, "Now!"
"No!" Black Bat threw Captain Murder into Baron Blitzkrieg and they sailed through the breaking walkway railing.
Raven appeared in a flurry of erupting smoke and Beast Boy arrived as a raven. Argent, Blue Devil, and Tempest arrived while the Nazis incessantly argued one story below in the parking area for this side of the building.
"Kill box," Black Bat warned.
"Take her out the back," Tempest instructed, "We'll cover."
So Nightwing and Batgirl attempted to alert the neighbors to their rear and applied the explosive gel and det caps before blasting a hole.
Black Bat sheltered Valeria while Nightwing and Batgirl scouted ahead. A protective detail was necessitated as much for Val's screaming Briana's name in the throes of passion as a potential Nazi attack. And the neighbors were all too aware of the twins' incest but it was San Fran, where everything went. At least, usually.
At the motel room Brianna had paid for, because Valeria refused to work part-time while pursuing a "prestigious" education. And the git wondered why Bree worked 90+ hours a week. And the legal firm she worked for and enough junior partners to warrant her extra hours. There was already talk of bumping her up to legal assistant and assigned to just one partner exclusively.
Red Hood and Arkham Knight had rousted pay-by-the-hour squatters sublet by the manager when the twins hadn't returned last night. Red Hood threatened to shoot him while Brianna packed her things, at least what was left by looters. In her mind she planned every damning word of her police complaint and her pending legal action.
Arkham Knight drove on to the further address. The motel had been closer to their B&B accommodations. So the apartment itself was next. Thanks to Valeria's willful ignorance.
Tailing the Outlaws was made easy because of Dove's seemingly inerrant capacity for predicting what a target would do. She guided them from nearly out of sight as Thunder drove the Orb-14 "van" they occupied. And Hawk deftly pointed out the supremacy groups led by Scarlet Skull following them.
Special Agent Fernando Martinez had a secret from the FBI just as Agent John Smith did. The Masked Marvel had embedded three WEB agents inside the FBI. Agents X, Y, and Z. Martinez was Agent Y. So he alerted the Shadow Crusaders to Task Force Z's impending arrival and Latham reported it to SAIC Fitzherbert. Who dutifully informed Wonder Woman but her time was cut short as Sarge Steel led the force into the field office three hours early sans Flagg, Danvers, or Chase. Or Spy Smasher or Phantasm who were already on specialized assignments and worked better solo anyway.
"I don't know why we just don't stomp these murdering bastards," Hawk admitted.
"To which ones are you referring to?" Dove asked her permanently aggrieved sister.
"The ones in the truck!" Hawk snapped.
"Technically it's a bastard and two bitches," Girl 13 offered. Steel facepalmed.
Lightning had enough, "Will you all shut up and give Anissa directions?"
"Hawk, shut your hole. All of them," Thunder demanded, "Dove? Next?"
"Take a right at the second light," Dove instructed.
Gimmix wished she were anywhere else.
"I have a writ signed by President Luthor remanding your prisoner to my custody," Sarge Steel thrust the paperwork out as though it were a stone tablet engraved by God Himself.
"Which prisoner?" Fitzherbert inquired, "Because our holding cells were emptied because of over capacity. We transferred them to San Quentin."
"Reeva de Boer better not have been among them," Sarge Steel snarled.
"I haven't heard of a de Boer bring processed all day long," Fitzherbert was honest enough, "Maybe she came in the south entrance."
Dr. de Boer had never been charged much less processed. And no arrest reports had been filed because the Outsiders had delivered the various suspects.
The pop culture reference completely eluded Sarge Steel's comprehension, "Do you even have a south entrance?"
"Why don't we find out?" Fitzherbert suggested, "I think we have a south entrance on the north side."
"He's dicking with you," American General had had enough. He stormed through the sea of snickering agents.
"I think he's just dicking with himself right in front of us," Miss Fury snickered. She'd dropped the "Black" for the media favorite "Miss". Marla Drake's civil union with a pre-op transwoman was still not accorded the same legal protections and titles as a marriage. Though she'd dated both Gary Hale before the transition began to blossom as Giselle Hale.
"I sent Mr. Risk on ahead of American General. He will discover this truth," Abdul was the brains to Mr. Risk's brawn.
"You're obstructing justice," Sarge Steel stepped aside for Task Force Z, "Agents, arrest him."
"We don't 'arrest' people as a rule. We just kill them," Miss Fury pointed out.
Sarge Steel face palmed with his metal hand and lived to regret it, "Agents of the FBI, arrest your supervising agent."
The assorted agents were spectacularly unimpressed. Sarge Steel shouted, "That's a presidential order. You will comply!"
"I shall apprehend the villain," USA volunteered.
"No, let's kill him," Majestic cracked his knuckles.
Between 1777 and Dec. 21, 1941, USA had been the disembodied ghost of a sixteen-year old maid sent to ferry magicked cloth to Betsy Ross. But she'd been intercepted by Redcoats who then raped and killed her. And she hovered near her grave ever since. But a young naval widow, whose husband had been killed on the 7th of that month at Pearl Harbor was visiting her husband's grave when centuries of soil erosion revealed USA's locket to the widow. Upon opening it, she was possessed by USA's spirit. The facts, not the fiction she'd spun for Uncle Sam, the Spirit of Lady Liberty, and Father Time.
USA activated the gen latent's meta-gene and caused her to become a Majestic-class human being before there was such a classification. Captain Nazi was the first acknowledged Majestic-class. Ace of Blades secretly became so two years later.
"But we costumes are in the building," Freezum reminded them.
"Perhaps we should return with regular agents and a court order," Buckskin suggested.
"We don't need an effing court order!" Sarge Steel yelled, "We have the President's signature."
"It could be on a napkin," Subzero remarked.
Little Bear looked uneasy while the two Inuit detectives and Buckskin looked uncomfortable. Miss Fury had dinner planned with Giselle this evening and wanted to get straight to the sex. Majestic was horrifically bored. USA was horrifically confused. American General wanted to assume command and Abdul was scheming and only Mr. Risk knew what game was afoot. Miss Fury missed Spy Smasher's stoicism in the face of Sarge Steele's volatility. Or Phantasm's chilling presence to cow him.
The former Lt. Gen. Joseph K. Parsons had been commanding divisions approaching Berlin when Red Army factions attacked. Nazi biochemists escaping the burning city offered Parsons the supersoldatenserum in exchange for safe passage to the United States. The mortally wounded general agreed but his terms were he would be injected with the sample. So Parsons officially died during an engagement between allies that never officially occurred. A staged "execution" of the biochemists for his murder cleared the way for them to join in the US' Cold War efforts.
American General became a government Cold War agent, serving their dictates, even as the Justice Society became increasingly resistant to McCarthyism and vanished in 1952. Only they had traveled to the Realm of Limbo to thwart Surtr's designs to merge it with the Multiverse. And there they remained for thirty years only to reemerge much younger men. And they aged normally once again.
American General aged one metabolic year for every ten subjective years. So he'd been injected at age fifty-five and was a subjective sixty-two years of age now. He'd agreed to join Task Force Z now that it had replaced Task Force X and was completely independent from relying on condemned convicts. Only Miss Fury had been blatantly blackmailed into service.
"Do you have anything tangible to report?" he brusquely demanded from the milling Mr. Risk.
"A squad of Outsiders is just around the corner were the interrogation rooms are located," was the proffered report.
"And you know this how?" American General was still gruff.
"I've seen them both," Mr. Risk half-heartedly shrugged.
"Stay out of my and prep to escort Dr. de Boer to safety," American General ordered.
"If you can call it that," Mr. Risk scoffed, "And I'm not one of your GIs, Parsons."
"What. Did. You. Just. Call. Me?" American General grated between clenched teeth.
"Abdul deduced who you really are by reading East German reports," Mr. Risk shrugged again, unfazed by the General's wrath.
"You!" Batwoman had turned the corner. Hawkfire looked stricken. As former Zs, they knew who Task Force Z truly answered to and not the paper fiction.
Starfire wheeled around and her hands glowed, "It's about time."
Tigress had nocked an arrow to her bowstring, still preferring a bow to a crossbow, "Oh, hell."
"Hell indeed," American General growled.
Mr. Risk decided to consult with Abdul and leave American General to his well deserved fate.
Captain Murder flew back to the apartment only to discover Beast Boy and Raven had opened every tap. Tempest hit her with a water ram. That made her sputter and little else. Other than get homicidal. Baron Blitzkrieg was not with her.
"Beast Boy! Raven! Mind the girl," Tempest ordered using the term "girl" despite the fact that Valeria was almost three years older than either of them. Raven vanished in a billow of smoke while Beast Boy transformed into a tiger. And leapt down from the second exit, after scaring the life out of the irate neighbors, that the fateful trio had availed themselves of. Tempest had to assume the remaining Outsiders could take Captain Murder on.
Argent formed a shield and cudgel crafted from silver plasma. Blue Devil twirled her trident until it was aimed at Captain Murder and its tri-forks ignited with hellfire. Her tail twitched expectantly.
"You all are sooo cute," Captain Murder had to chuckle, "I really will get my jollies off killing you all."
Raven appeared before the foursome's mad dash through the lot to the waiting street. The majority of the residents paid for assigned parking here or on the other side. Brianna and Valeria had no such luxury. Brianna used mass transit and Val used the car. Another concession Bree had made out of her love for Valeria. Val parked where she could and Brianna hoofed it six blocks from the closest bus stop. After all the transfers it usually was a three-hour commute round trip.
"You have a hunter," Raven warned them.
Gar bounded and became a bloodhound and he bayed at the sky. Baron Blitzkrieg was above them but still far enough upwind to give his position away. Beast Boy resumed his tiger form and pounced.
Raven stopped the others, "She's sick."
While Raven empathically healed Valeria, Black Bat stood vigil over Beast Boy's fight while Batgirl And Nightwing stood for Raven and Valeria. A breaking sweat on Raven's body announced Valeria was cured.
"I need a minute," she announced.
"Go!" Black Bat demanded as a yowl announced Beast Boy's defeat.
Baron Blitzkrieg believed he had vanquished but Black Bat taught him otherwise.
"I hope you're pinning your career on this, Sarge," Cyborg announced as his JLU squad followed him into the field office.
"I refuse to recognize your authority here," Sarge Steel chided the elder Victor Stone, "You know the laws. I can have you arrested for just showing up."
"Arrested versus killed, remember?" Miss Fury sing-songed.
"The Director tacitly concedes their jurisdiction in this matter," Fitzherbert revealed, "And as regional Agent-in-Charge, I certainly do."
"You just ended your career in any law enforcement agency. Except the Post Office. I hear idiots are required to be postal inspectors," Sarge Steel snapped, full of rancor.
"I won't fight them," Buckskin suddenly announced.
"Neither will I," Freezum and Subzero said together.
"Not a chance," Little Bear concurred.
"You can eff yourself first, Sarge," Miss Fury gladly said.
"I will," Majestic looked forward to it.
"I will if I must," USA decided.
"This is all arbitrary posturing," Abdul criticized as Mr. Risk reappeared.
Sarge Steel mulled it over, "Any more conscientious objectors?"
There was Majestic and USA against Cyborg, the Green Lantern Corpsman who was secretly wanted by Homeland as Simon Baz, Trajectory, Captain Marvel, Killer Frost, herself an ex-Zer as was the case with Ace of Blades, and the buffoonish Elongated Man. And Marvel and Ace of Blades could take both Majestic and USA. Why the hell hadn't American General returned with de Boer in custody yet?
"But, on my oath, I shall only do so to protect this great and imperiled nation," USA vowed.
"Imperiled by who?" Trajectory wondered.
"Um...evildoers?" USA asked.
"Like us," Trajectory clarified.
"Of course they're evil! They defy Pres. Luthor," Sarge Steel heckled the young/ghostling woman.
"Why are they called the 'Justice League', then?" USA's brain scrambled.
"Outta my way!" Majestic thundered.
Ace of Blades flattened him with a single punch.
"Give me strength," Sarge Steel prayed to Luthor's White House.
Wonder Woman blocked Starfire's aim, "Not. The. Way."
"She's dead anyway," a shaken Omen reported.
"What did you do?" American General's adrenaline spiked.
"She had an explosive in her neck. Rice sized piece of hardware. I detected the radio signal just before her head and shoulders blew apart," Vic Stone explained.
American General wanted to call down curses on ARGUS right then, "We're not finished. Just delayed."
But apparently they were as he stomped off in the opposite direction. Donna announced, "By the way, I called in the Justice League."
They heard Sarge Steel's verbose tirade from across the building. Omen pulled her mask off, "Aaand that would be Task Force Z receiving orders to stand down."
The Outsiders' exit to meet with the Justice League was hindered by a woman apparently made up of green glass, "Hi! I'm Audrey Spears but my code-name is Prysm."
"With a 'Y'," Omen clarified.
"Right!" Prysm happily verified it, "I'm your new teammate."
Donna scowled, "No one consulted me."
"Do they have to?" Prysm worriedly asked.
Now Wonder Woman called down curses on Sue Dibney's head.
Captain Murder licked the blood from her knuckles, "None of you are vaguely human."
"I was," Argent argued.
"So was I once," Blue Devil added.
"I'm grateful I'm not," Tempest confessed.
"Well, I'll keep it simple," Captain Murder offered, ":The girl either has, or knows how to get, what I want. Let me be and I'll even leave peaceful-like."
"You're lying," Tempest knew her type.
"Shit, you've got me," Captain Murder super sped towards him. Tempest could direct water against when he wasn't being beat on. Argent's plasma blast saved him as it blew Captain Murder back outside through a window this time. Cramped quarters dealt themselves in Captain Murder's direction whereas Blue Devil and Argent had to prevent themselves from burning the building down.
Argent and Blue Devil vaulted off the landing to meet Captain Murder one story below. Her costume was still smoldering, "I hafta admit, I didn't think you had the balls to cut loose like that."
Antonia "Toni" Louise Moretti did finally cut loose. And Danielle Cassidy joined in. Tempest remained where he was, silently recuperating. But when they relented, Captain Murder's partially exposed flesh instantly began to heal up. She toyed with her short hair and bit her lower lip as if aroused.
"She's insane," Blue Devil deduced.
"Ya think?" Argent was exasperated.
"Devil-Girl, take a step back. Silver-Girl, a step to your left," Captain Murder had a thumb up like she was composing a picture. And bursting into Marvel Family speeds she knocked them both out with a single sweep. Then she flew over the building.
"Now where did Baron Beeswax get to?" she spotted him, "Figures. Useless as a boar's tit, that one."
She poured the speed to relieve Beeswax from Black Bat's ministrations. He healed as quickly as she did but the injuries still initially caused pain thanks to his refusing the soldatenserum, or even to a lesser degree, mirakuru. Besides she owed Black Bat some broken bones and hemorrhaging internal injuries.
While Raven healed Gar's injuries, Valeria stood nearby while Nightwing and Batgirl assisted Black Bat's efforts. And she angrily resisted them, "Take the girl. Run!"
Then she spun Captain Murder in an infinity loop and released her face into the pavement, "Go!"
The Outlaw truck screeched to a halt and everyone scrambled out. Brianna marched straight on Valeria like she was mounting an offensive campaign. Arkham Knight retrieved a Barret .50 calibur sniper's rifle and five magazines. Red Hood voiced her concern.
"She's effing bulletproof," Li complained.
"These are tungsten coated spent uranium rounds. They go through tanks," he sighted in Captain Murder, "Just get Black Bat to clear out."
Red Hood fired a few warning shots, "She's clear!"
Arkham Knight put twenty-five rounds through Captain Murder and she still got up.
Raven intercepted Brianna and struggled with her while the healing took place. Beast Boy caught the fainting Raven, "Rachel!"
"You effing effed up bitch!" Brianna slapped Valeria across the face.
Val's eyes teared up from more than the physical stinging. Throughout their lives, they'd never come to blows. Even in jest.
"You. Are. Gone! Today!" Brianna yelled at her sister, "I sure as hell won't be effing you anymore and I won't get effed over by you either."
"Um...can this wait?" Red Hood asked, "We're on a party-line."
"Bree...I…" Val started wail.
"No!" Brianna shot the effort down with a single snarl,"I've been protecting you my entire life. God, I've sacrificed my entire life for you. It's time you grew up so you can get your own life. We. Are. Done. I'm not you emotional, sexual, or I'm damn sure not your financial anchor anymore. If you ever grow up, maybe we can be sisters again."
Brianna stormed off. Arkham Knight followed as more Outsiders began arriving. Valeria went to sob on Red Hood's shoulder but was blocked by an outstretched arm.
"Oh, hell no," Red Hood told her.
Hawk and Dove charged out of the opening van and went straight for Captain Murder. Lightning and Thunder followed close behind. Steel flew into the fray as well. Girl 13 and Gimmix were less anxious and more thoughtful.
Thunder and Lightning stopped Arkham Knight and Brianna, Lightning warned, "I will shock your asses into the ground."
"We're actually on your side," Arkham Knight shared.
"Hold them here," Thunder instructed as she jogged off.
"Yes'm, Miss Daisy," Lightning saluted her back with her middle finger alone extended.
"Get back up, you pussy," Captain Murder demanded of the rousing Baron Blitzkrieg. Hawk charged headlong into her. Dove remained overhead. Steel dented her sledgehammer against Captain Murder's head as Hawk rolled away, ducking under a punch. Girl 13 hexed Baron Blitzkrieg and his powers distorted. When he sought strength he got flight. Flight wrought senses. Senses turned into speed. And speed was twisted into strength. And just when he normalized the pattern, she scrambled it again. Steel's concussion blaster took him down.
Batgirl and Nightwing came to "defend" Valeria from Red Hood. But Red Hood was more than done with her, "She doesn't know where the vials are."
Black Bat looked askew at Red Hood's body language and knew whatever she said had been a lie, but not an overt one.
Thunder took a deep breath and delivered a rock hard punch to Captain Murder's jaw. Hawk delivered the second one in succession. Black Bat and Dove kept her disoriented and set her up for Hawk and Thunder and the occasional concussive blast from Steel. Girl 13 stood watch over Baron Blitzkrieg beside Raven and Beast Boy.
Supremacists of every color and sexual orientation arrived with Scarlet Skull directing them at Lightning, Arkham Knight, Brianna and the fast approaching Red Hood. Nightwing and Batgirl formed a two person hedge around Valeria. Scarlet Skull let his pawns absorb the lightning and bullets hailing their way into the surging crowds. The hate groups couldn't even cooperate long enough for a concentrated effort and instead devolved into brawling factions.
It was into this environment the Orb-14 and Oracle-5 delivered the JLU and the remaining Outsiders. The Oracle-5 developed for the Blackhawk Squadron to ferry the Justice League about. Thanks to Deborah Camille Darnell, Ferris Aircraft funded the project despite legal measures being enacted to try and block corporate sponsors.
And Claire Montgomery had licensed the Young All-Stars as private security contractors and was attempting to gain corporate sponsorship for the Justice League much the way she had previously done for the Conglomerate. TylerChem, the Dodds Foundation, Kord Industries, Queen Consolidated, Smoak Tech, and Palmer Tech led the way. Even Lena Luthor had made private donations as had Max Lord, Charise Carnes and Jaina Hudson. Concerned Congressmen and women rallied for public support against the Luthor administration's policies, having lost the vote in Congress. Sen. Henry Ballard led that charge. Many of the private donors either being active competitors to the JLU program, direct frenemies, or covert enemies. Claire especially didn't reveal Lord's contributions seeing as how her ex-husband was actively tearing down the Justice League Unlimited in lieu of his own Justice League Task Force in the United Nations. The JLTF's only loyalties being to themselves and nominally to Max Lord.
"X'Hal!" Starfire swore as the flying van-like vehicle converted back to its street-legal state, "We've been missing this?"
She went airborne and used precision starbolts to scatter the fighting clusters of rival ideologists. Wonder Woman briefly conferred with Cyborg to learn what he suggested as a course of action. They divided in an arrest team and a crowd control team. Vic Stone used his white sound blaster to further disorient the hate groups. Starfire maintained her aerial bombardment. Omen attempted to enforce calm. Killer Frost created barriers to corral the fighting groups and separate them from the various competitors to stem said in-fighting. Tigress, Batwoman, Hawkfire, and Lightning patrolled the barrier walls as makeshift wardens.
Cyborg, Ace of Blades, Simon, Captain Marvel, and Wonder Woman contained the vastly outnumbered Captain Murder and Baron Blitzkrieg. Donna dispatched Raven and Girl 13 to locate Tempest, Argent, and Blue Devil. Nightwing, Black Bat, Dove, and Batgirl had secured Valeria's safety from Scarlet Skull and his chosen elite cadre. And just where the hell had the twin sister gotten to? And what about the Outlaws? Or even Bumblebee, for her father's sake?
Prysm was already tending to Argent and Blue Devil's concussions. Tempest turned out to the most severely injured so Raven dealt with him while Girl 13 used medicinal hexes to cure the headaches and blurry vision the two Outsiders suffered from Captain Murder's brutal treatment of them.
"Do I know you?" Argent asked Prysm.
"It seems I should know you, too," Prysm shrugged, "But I don't know why."
"I can explain that," a blue skinned and pink haired teen floated down to them.
"Who the hell are you?" Blue Devil was sick of the day's surprises.
"Brainiac-8, but you can refer ot me as Indigo," she answered, "And I need a home and can provide answers in exchange for it."
"I thought there was already a Brianiac and he was evil," Girl 13 opined.
"There are actually two in this century. The AI and Vril Dox also called Brainiac-2 of the LEGION. Brainiacs -3 tand -4 weren't historically consequential. Querl Dox, the fifth Brainiac in the 31st Century was likely the most important of all thus far. I hail from the 38th Century but am needed here for a time. Will you give me a chance?"
"She did ask nicely," Raven said as she appeared out of her customary cloud of smoke.
"If you convince TPTB, you're in," Girl 13 offered.
"That's all I can ask," Indigo smiled slightly, "Do you realize that acronym still exists in my time across a thousand worlds?"
"No shit?" Blue Devil's good humor rallied.
"That expression too," Indigo smirked.
"She has my vote," Argent relented.
On the upper walkway, Tempest scowled.
Arkham Knight and Red Hood snuck Brianna back to the truck while no one seemed to looking. Except for Gimmix. She kept her hand away from her courier bag and he away from his pistol.
"You used to be Merry, Girl of a 1000 Gimmicks," he recalled.
"I got a name upgrade," she replied jovially, "So did you and your little sidekick. How've you been, Jason?"
"Better than usual, Jacqueline," Arkham Knight shrugged.
"You gonna fight for the girl?" Gimmix inquired.
"Yup," Arkham Knight flexed his dominant hand.
"Get outta here," Gimmix relented. She stepped away to give them road space and an exit, "Keep her safe, Jas."
"Stay healthy, Jackie," Arkham Knight pulled away as Red Hood slapped her door twice.
"I am no sidekick!" Red Hood's temper was festering.
"I thought you wanted to be Arkham Knight's sidekick," he teased.
"I don't know why I would," Red Hood paused, "I don't remember why I would. Something's wrong."
History was righting itself. When it couldn't change physical facts like Li Harper's existence, Glorith enchanted it to rewrite memory. The Multiverse was inexorably becoming less than a memory. It was fading to nothingness.
"Did Val give up the serum location?" Red Hood asked.
"She never knew," Brianna stewed, "I locked away the bag because Val, being Valeria, was utterly useless and unreliable."
"You're talking again," Arkham Knight realized.
"No shit," Bree said dourly, "Here's the key."
She fished a locker key out of her shorts pocket. It could go to any generic rental locker, "It's at the bus terminal. Let me out at the next transit stop," Brianna insisted.
"Bree…" Red Hood began.
"Save it," Brianna warned her, "I'm clearing out my accounts and moving back home. Val's too proud to go back. She's a Berkeley girl. We'll see how long she lasts on her own."
Arkham Knight pulled over when directed to. Red Hood realized that Brianna and Valeria had originally run away from home to join the Religion of Crime's sex cult in Hub City. She had no idea where they were actually from.
"I can give you my phone," Li offered.
"No more phones," Brianna glared, "No more anything. I may not be hetero- or bi- but I sure as hell am not into Val. Not anymore. Not ever again."
"Be sure to care of yourself. And I mean yourself," Red Hood offered as parting advice, "Don't carry the world with you."
"You're one to talk," Bree snorted as she exited the cabin and slammed the door shut.
They eased into traffic and Bumblebee resumed her full stature.
"Give me that key," she demanded.
"Gah!" Red Hood went for one of her pistols.
"Fire control!" Arkham Knight barked at her, "I was wondering when you'd reveal yourself."
"You knew?" Karen was surprised.
"A bee conveniently tailing Brianna? Far too convenient when I saw you with the Outsiders," Arkham Knight explained.
"Maybe you are half as good as you think you are. Now, the key. Don't make me threaten you," Bumblebee warned.
Red Hood clubbed her with the butt of a pistol and Arkham Knight chuckled, "And don't let me distract you too much."
He pulled over at another transit stop and they dumped her body and headed south past Oakland to San Jose where they dumped the truck and the gear at a League of Assassins' safe house and caught a ride to the airport where they bought standby tickets for Gotham. Even the Justice League wouldn't be looking for Jason Todd and Li Harper.
"All of these prisoners are mine!" Sarge Steel demanded as soon as he was on foot.
SAIC Fitzherbert and the FBI was with him, "He has very legal writ from the Federal District Court of Central California this time."
Baron Blitzkrieg broke free of the agents and roused Captain Murder so she could escape as well, taking Scarlet Skull with them. Sarge Steel almost had an aneurysm he was so apoplectic, "Well?" Stop them!"
"Your prisoners. Your jurisdiction. We're just civilians on our way to comic-con in cosplay," Vic snarked. For once the Cyborgs agreed.
"I'll end you," Sarge Steel vowed.
"That's murder," Killer Frost sang.
"It's what I do," Sarge Steel roared, "For Pres. Luthor and for the good of those that run this country. Those that really run it. Not those preening clowns in Congress."
Cyborg uploaded the clip to Wikileaks and the media outlets along with Sarge Steel's redacted personnel file. Which was twenty thousand pages of blacked out lines.
"Somehow, I think you should've kept your mouth shut," Fitzherbert predicted. Sarge Steel was about to be in a shit storm and abandoned to the wolves by the President he worshiped in a scandal that woulds eclipse the Justice League's legal travails.
By the end of the week, six months after the "Near Apocalypse of 2009", and once called the "Crisis of the Multiverse", had ended Zero Hour had erased everything but a muddled memory of a worldwide crisis and of having survived mass hysteria over it. The world and the universe hadn't ended. Instead it had thrived over the last six months as renewed senses of security and vigor unwittingly ushered in a new Age of Chaos. No Lords of Order would interfere in mortal affairs during this age. Merely their Avatars and Agents: Dr. Fate, Anna Fortune, the Marvel Family and perhaps even Kid Eternity. But the Agents of Chaos were replete and included the Black Marvel Family. So the lines were drawing. Even the Lords of Balance left affairs to their Avatars of War and Peace.
The MLJ, Sec. Bones, and the FBI were forced to publicly decry the vigilantism of the Justice League Unlimited. Col. Steve Trevor and the MLJ personnel were permanently reassigned. Trevor resigned over the affair. Even Waller found the move unnecessary.
Superman, fresh from his traumas on Raan and Almerac, had returned to guide the JLU. But he abandoned his usual togs for a new, capeless uniform in black emblazoned with silver. The Justice League Beyond was born.
Footnote: I will once again digress into fretting about DC's future within Warner Entertainment now trapped within AT&T's debt bloated corpse. AT&T now owes in excess of $900 billion US. With an interest payment to investors due in Sept. worth $70 billion US. Having already sold of Warner Games, the even lower income yielding DC Comics is threatened. Merchandising and television righjts are saving the company but can be spun away from it of AT&T decides to shutter the print functions or sell them outright. They can keep mutual rights to the catalog of characters indefinitely. Look at the fiascoes Valiant endured between 1994-2012. AT&T fired most of the senior editorial staff at DC and is largely relying on freelancers for art and scripting chores with a few "exclusive" contract writers and artists. Geoff Johns moved to the DC Entertainment cinema and television production side of the business before the acquisition and Jim Lee remained with DC Comics afterwards but for how long?
AMERICAN GENERAL is an "Open-Source Character" and has been deemed so, specifically, for use by anyone by the original creator. The only rule about using him is that your work must have this notation:
"The character of the AMERICAN GENERAL is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving AMERICAN GENERAL, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed."