Chapter 1: Assembling the Crew
Floyd Lawton. AKA—Deadshot, the man who never misses. Known as the best sharpshooter in the world, now sitting in a cell at Blackgate, reduced to throwing a ball against a wall and catching it over and over.
However, his eyes flickered over to a shelf by his cot, where a picture of his ex-wife and daughter sat. He let the ball fly past his hand, as it just wasn't worth it anymore. Floyd picked up the picture and stared at it, sadly smiling at his daughter, Zoe.
'I wonder how big she's gotten,' he thought to himself, 'She might finally be able to ride that rollercoaster she'd always tell me about.'
Suddenly, his cell door slid aside with a load groan, allowing the hallway light to flood into the room.
As Floyd shielded his eyes, he said, "Ah, gentlemen, to what do I owe the honor?"
"On your feet, Lawton!" barked a guard.
"Alright, alright!" he said as he sat up on the cot.
Suddenly, two guards grabbed his arms and forced him up, pushing him out of his cell.
"Easy! Watch the suit! You guys only give me about 800 of these every day!"
"Quiet!"
With that, the guards led Floyd down the hall, and no one spoke for a while. Floyd noticed that they kept leading him further from the other cells and towards an exit.
"Hey, where are you guys taking me?" he asked.
"Relax, Lawton," replied a guard, "You're not in trouble. You're just not gonna serve time in the big house for a while."
"What do you mean? Wait . . ." Then Lawton smirked and said, "It's Waller, isn't it?"
None of the guards said a word.
Floyd laughed and said, "Well, this outta be fun!"
Hours later, Floyd was escorted to the location of A.R.G.U.S. headquarters, and then to the assembly room where Waller met with the SECDEF last night. Waller sat at the head of the table, while Floyd sat to her right.
"So, what crazy mission do you have for us this time?" asked Floyd.
"That will be discussed when the rest of the Task Force arrives," replied Waller.
"When will they get here already? We've been waiting all night!"
"They'll be here soon, Lawton, so quit whining."
Floyd sulked back into his seat.
A few minutes later, he heard the door open behind him.
"HIYA, DEADBEAT!"
Floyd's eyes widened as he recognized the voice, so he quickly looked behind him and saw Harley Quinn, rocking an orange jumpsuit.
Harley immediately ran over to Floyd and hugged him around the neck, and Floyd hesitantly hugged her back.
Then Harley let him go and said, "Why have ya never replied to any of my letters, Deadbeat? I've sent hundreds! I was beginnin' to think ya died!"
"Okay, first, it's Deadshot, and second, the, um, prison . . . doesn't let me send mail or anything. I . . . really did appreciate all the mail you sent me."
Harley smiled and gave a quick peck on the cheek and sat down, leaving Floyd to awkwardly rub his cheek. Ever since Floyd saved Harley's life on the last Suicide Squad mission to Moscow with different members (Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc, Polka-Dot Man, and Mirror Master), Harley seemed to have grown a thing for him. Honestly, Floyd was flattered, but he knew he couldn't return her affections if he wanted to. And deep down, he did.
"Hey, if it isn't the man who never misses!"
Floyd looked up and saw Leonard Snart in another orange suit being led into the room.
"And if it isn't the blue iceman!"
"I didn't realize Waller was so desperate she needed to go all the way to Central City for a guy with an ice gun."
"Hey, it's way more effective than yours! That thing can beat the Flash!"
"True, but it hasn't kept you from prison!"
"Will both of you shut up?" asked Waller "Sit! Now!"
Snart nodded to Floyd and he nodded back, and the two sat down. Eventually, Garfield Lynns was led to the table and sat down opposite from Floyd and Harley, right next to Snart.
"You've gotta be kidding me," said Floyd.
"You got a problem with me?" asked Lynns.
"I'm just wondering how much useful a pyromaniac is gonna be in a deadly, serious mission? I mean, the second a fire is lit, you'll be drawn to it like a moth and forget about anything else."
Lynns stood up. "Ya know, if I had my flamethrower, I would make you eat those words, medium or well-done!"
"I can't believe I'm getting death threats from a human candle."
Lynns growled and was about to storm over, but Waller slammed her hands down.
"KNOCK IT OFF!" Then Waller sat back down and said, "Either all of you behave or I'm sending you back to the holes you rotted in and find others to take your place, then they will get the shortened sentences you all would've had!"
Everyone sat down and got quiet. Soon after, Cheetah and Black Manta (without the armor, of course) were led in as well and sat down.
"Where's our last recruit?" asked Waller to one of the guards.
"Well, ma'am, he's a bit . . . big to fit through the door."
As if on cue, everyone heard a loud thud, so they turned to the door and saw King Shark (he looks like his Dark Apokolips War version, except they're not the same character and this isn't the same universe as that), trying to squeeze himself through the door.
"Grrr, King Shark is a shark!" growled the shark humanoid.
A few minutes later, King Shark finally got himself through the door and stood by Floyd.
"Please tell me you're not serious, Waller," said Floyd.
"Lawton, if you have a problem with everyone in the squad, I can always send you back to Blackgate."
"No, no, I'm good. It's just . . . ya know . . . King Shark isn't exactly the, um, sharpest tool in the shed."
King Shark let out a loud growl. "King Shark . . . is a shark!" KS raised a clenched fist at Floyd's face.
Waller cleared her throat, and KS stood down.
"Now then, if we're all done with the pleasantries, allow me to debrief you on the mission . . ."
Nearly an hour later, Waller told all the villains basically what the SECDEF disclosed the other day.
"Whoa, I gotta admit, that sounds pretty bad," said Floyd.
"Oh, come on!" said Snart. "I heard about this Hawk Moth guy, he's the absolute lamest! He makes the worst supervillains and they always fail! I mean, I know we fail but these guys give failure a whole new meaning!"
"Besides, if a few kids in costumes couldn't take care of everything," said Lynns, "Then what hope do we have?"
"The difference, Lynns, is that you're all more experienced than them, you all have skills that they don't, and we're more coordinated than them."
"You'd better be right, Waller," said Cheetah, "Or else this whole thing is going to go up in more smoke than Paris is."
"I am right, because when I give a plan, you all execute it."
"Right, I forgot you always put bombs in your Squad's necks," said Manta.
Some of the villains either grumbled or worried over this, but Waller quieted everyone down. "If I were you, I would spend more time worrying about the mission than the bombs. Besides, if you all do what you're told, you won't have to worry, won't you? Now, anyway, here's the plan."
Waller clicked the remote to the slideshow and displayed an image of Paris viewed from the top, with an outline of a plane on the ocean and a red circle and arrow highlighting the craft and a certain spot in the ocean.
"This is going to be the first drop-off point, just a few miles from Syren's territory. With her powers to control and manipulate water, we're going to need to take care of her before we can go through to get rid of the rest of Hawk Moth's defenses. That's where Black Manta and King Shark come in."
The two villains perked up after hearing their names.
"With Syren's attention focused on you two, the rest of the Squad will advance to the next drop-off point." She clicked the remote and displayed the same image, except the plane and its highlights were moved to an area very close to the city. "Here, Firefly will deploy and engage Stormy Weather. While he has her occupied, Deadshot will fly to a far off position, where he can shoot the parasol hosting her akuma, thus deakumatizing and neutralizing her." She clicked the remote and the same image appeared, but with the highlights moved just inside the edge of the city. "Here, Captain Cold and Harley Quinn will deploy and neutralize Anansi, destroying some of her webs in key locations spread across the boundaries of the city so that Hawk Moth won't find the gaps so easily, and this will allow us to send relief efforts and reinforcements for you guys."
"Um, I think you're forgetting something," said Snart. Everyone, including Waller, stared at him in silence, so he said, "Uh, Queen Wasp? The mind-control wasps? Don't tell me you don't have a plan for that!"
"I do, actually," said Waller. Then she nodded to a guard in the room, who walked up to her and handed her a syringe full of a bright yellow liquid. "Special French agents managed to get a sample of the wasps' mind-control venom and reached out to us to analyze it. In our research, we have developed an antidote for the venom, so when you're injected with this, you'll be completely immune to the wasps' stings.
"Anyway, from here, your mission is to find Ladybug, since she is the only one who can defeat Hawk Moth and repair the damage. Then, your objective is to find and neutralize Hawk Moth, who we suspect is holding himself in the Mayor's office building."
"Oh, is that all?" asked Floyd, "I was starting to worry." Waller glared at him, so he said, "Geez! I'm kidding! But seriously though . . ." He stood up. "I'm in, if it'll give me a chance to see my daughter again."
"Me too," said Snart, also standing up, "As long as Lisa gets her sentence cut short as well."
"Beats rotting in Arkham," said Lynns, joining the others.
"Here here!" said Harley as she did the same.
"I've been dying to get out and hunt again!" said Cheetah.
"And I'd rather be out there than in prison as well," said Manta.
King Shark walked over to the others and clapped his hands on Floyd and Harley. "King Shark is a shark!" he smiled.
"Alright then," said Waller, "These men will show you to your quarters for the week."
"Wait, we're not rolling out tonight?" asked Floyd.
"No. I need to talk with my superiors before we do anything else. Until then, enjoy your stay at A.R.G.U.S. facilities."
With that, Waller walked out of the room and left the men to take care of the newest Task Force X.