Chapter 34
Had A Little Talk...
Polybius was exceptionally unsure of what he was doing. However, seeing as Savage wanted to talk to him, it only made sense for Polybius to march up there and distract him while the Team ran around and cure the League, knocking out as many as possible before Savage realized what was going on.
Red Tornado, Red Arrow, and Black Canary would be on standby near a Zeta Tube entrance so that way if Polybius suddenly had a problem, they'd be there to help him solve it. He had been given a small button that he clipped to his belt to press when he needed them.
Emerging from the Zeta Tube entrance into the Watchtower, Polybius took a brief moment to look around and take in everything as he walked out.
"Sure, it's big enough." Polybius commented to himself, announcing his presence, "But look at the location!"
Polybius then began laughing to himself as he had a general disliking for space. He would much rather be on Earth, where his body was stable, and he wasn't in a constant free fall. That, and if anything were to go wrong on a space station, which happened more commonly than most people realized, the avenues of escape were next to none.
Getting over himself, Polybius then saw Savage looking at him. He was standing by the window looking out at Earth.
"I think it's a great location." Savage countered, "Easy to deploy from, with a quick and rapid response."
"And if something goes wrong, and these tubes are down for one reason or another, we'd all be dead." Polybius countered.
Polybius's eyes then drifted upwards to someone he didn't recognize. A very pale-skinned boy floating in the air in front of some sort of screen.
"And look!" Polybius began sarcastically, "You brought…. Uh…"
Polybius's mind went blank for the name.
"You better know my name!" The boy warned.
"I do." Polybius said, "Uh…"
Polybius honestly couldn't think of his name. But decided he would try and guess it to drag out the time.
"Uh? Don't tell me! Don't tell me! I know this!" Polybius started, "Uh… Give me a hint! Begins with, uh, uh, C right? Or maybe a K? Something like that, right?"
"It does begin with a K." The boy gave away.
"Yeah, now it's coming to me!" Polybius said, "You had a, uh, a girly name, right! Clarie! Yeah, but with a K, Klarie! Yeah, that's right! You're Klarie with a K!"
"I do not have a girly name!" The boy shouted.
"But am I close?" Polybius asked, "Hot or cold?"
"His name is Klarion." Savage said, having enough of Polybius's stalling.
"Aw, you're no fun." Polybius said, "But hey, at least I was close."
"Close but no cigar." Savage said, "And I see that you have not fallen to one of our Starotech chips."
"Man, could you guys have made it more obvious that something was up?" Polybius asked, "I mean, Batman freaking called me 'Guy!' Nobody calls me 'Guy!' And Batman has only ever referred to me by my name! Polybius! Come on now, say it with me!"
"Polybius." Savage started, "The last of your kind, most fearsome soldier in the entire resistance army. Had the highest bounty on your head for any soldier during the war on both sides. Loyalist enemy number one. Yes, I'm very familiar with you."
Savage rattling off that kind of information did startle Polybius. He wasn't expecting to hear that from him, as he thought only the League knew any of that stuff as they were the only people he told.
"Well…" Polybius started, "Thank you for reading off a few of the highlights on my resume. But you forgot the most important one, and that's Purple Eagle."
"Yes, your call sign." Savage said, "Or maybe I should refer to you by your birth number, 1453."
Polybius hated being called by his birth number. Out of every name he had ever been called, even the derogatory ones, his birth number was the one he hated the most. For him, it was a reminder of just how expendable he was and how little the people he used to fight for care for him or any clone for that matter. They were all just numbers to them.
"Yeah, you got me there." Polybius admitted.
"Black Canary was more than happy to sing like a bird about you!" Klarion teased, "Shame she couldn't bring you to us."
"Oh, so you got the information out of my adoptive mother." Polybius said, feeling a huge weight lifted off his shoulders as now he knew how much they knew about him.
"She did try to resist us." Savage explained, "It's clear that our Starotech chips are not as complete as he thought. People the host deeply cares about seem to be able to resist the chip when they are directly involved. We thought we had hammered that out of her when we sent her after you, but clearly, we didn't."
"But there isn't anything a little torture can't accomplish." Klarion said.
"Oh, torture!" Polybius said, suppressing his anger, "That must have been a lot of fun, knowing you were gonna piss me off."
"It sure was!" Klarion countered.
Polybius wanted to shoot the smirk off that kid's face. He knew he could, too, as his pistol would drop him faster than he could react. However, Polybius's objective was not to take him down but was to distract, and he stuck with his objective.
"Alright." Polybius said, now shifting the subject, "You've told me a lot about myself, but I still don't know anything about you other than your name and that you're immortal, right?"
"And just about all you need to know." Savage said.
"Gosh, immortal." Polybius said, "Well, I'm sorta immortal too. I mean, I'm immune from aging. I won't ever grow old just like you. However, from my understanding, you're immune from physical violence too, right?"
"I cannot die." Savage told him.
"That must be terrifying." Polybius commented.
"How so?" Savage asked, genuinely curious.
"Well, I shouldn't get too ahead of myself." Polybius said, "That is unless you feel pain? Do you?"
"I do." Savage said.
"Wow…" Polybius said, "Well, if I were you, with seeing everything I've seen and knowing what I know, I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night with how scared I would be."
"Scared?" Savage asked, "It takes a lot to scare me."
"There are fates, far more frightening than death." Polybius warned, "I know, I've seen them. And experienced a few of them as well."
"And that's supposed to scare me?" Savage said, "I've gotten this far because I've always been the smarter one. Outsmarting my opponents at every turn."
"Well, you've never met an opponent like me." Polybius said, "Cause I'm telling you right now, I'm smarter than the average bear. And between you and me, I am the Yogi Bear."
"That may be." Savage admitted, "But that isn't what I want to talk to you about."
"Oh really?" Polybius asked, "Then what is it?"
"Before I say, I have to admit, I've always been interested in you, Polybius." Savage told him, "When I found out about how you came from another Earth, ravaged by a war, a civil one nonetheless, I wondered what your world was like. And what was the final nail in the coffin for your side."
"And it should be no secret that I don't like to talk about this stuff." Polybius said.
"Yes, Black Canary's knowledge of you was surprisingly limited." Savage said, "You've hidden a lot more than about yourself than I think anyone besides myself realizes."
"My mother knows pretty well." Polybius countered.
"Which brings me to the only reason I wanted you here." Savage said, "You said that during the final battle, the Loyalist unleashed something so terrible that you still have nightmares to this day about it."
Polybius felt his heart drop as his mind suddenly flooded with horrid images. Horrid memories.
"And for someone as fearless as you to be so scared of something, one can't help but wonder what it is." Savage said, "And also if it can be used."
"No." Polybius immediately said, dropping all sarcasm from his tone, "You have no idea what those things were capable of! I've never seen anything so efficient at killing people. Or maybe what happened to them was worse. This is one of those 'fates far more frightening than death' I was talking about earlier as I'm not sure if they actually died or not."
"But it certainly was efficient." Savage pointed out.
"That it was…" Polybius said as he remembered watching those things get ahold of one of his squadmates, "Holy fuck! No! Dude, you have no idea what you're talking about! Those things, whatever they were, are by far the most horrifying thing I've ever seen and had the displeasure of fighting against."
"Tell me more." Savage demanded.
"No!" Polybius said, "Look, I've seen a lot of bad ideas in my time. But trying to bring those things here!? For the record, the Loyalists had no control over them, and if one of those things were to get loose in like a city? That could be a world-ending event, as I can promise you. There is no one that I know of, superhero or supervillain, that could stop those things. There is no god, no entity, no one in this universe capable of controlling those things. It almost ended in a disaster for the Loyalists, as after those things were done with us, they then turned on them! Hell, I still don't know how I survived that battle… I should have ended up like the rest of my squad."
"Then, if something like that exists, the Light could certainly use it." Savage said.
"If you do, I'll swear to whatever god or devil you believe in, and if not, then to the greater good of humanity, that I will get involved, and I will bring you down." Polybius warned, "And I will stop at nothing, and I promise you, I'm not held by this 'no killing' bullshit that the rest of the League is. I will stack as many bodies as necessary to stop you. And I will personally hand you a fate worse than death, so you will never become a threat again, should you pursue this."
It was clear to the clone veteran that Savage was taken off guard by his sudden change in attitude. Polybius could tell that Savage knew that he wasn't bluffing either and that Polybius wasn't making a threat. He was making a promise.
"You seem to misunderstand my inventions." Savage said, "I do not intend to unleash it on humanity."
Savage then turned away and looked back out at space.
"There is a war coming." Savage started, "One day, Earth and Apokolips will be the only two left standing in this universe. I will lead humanity, and Darkseid will lead our enemies. And if what you have said is true, then unleashing one of those things on Apokolips would end the war before it even began."
"No." Polybius said, "You can't control it, and I can promise you that you too would fall victim to it. Your immortality means nothing to this. You, too, would fall victim to it, just like myself, Superman, Darkseid, or anyone else for that matter. I'm telling you, that thing is not worth it. There is way too much risk for you to even consider trying to recreate it here. Much less actually use it, cause it will end not only humanity but all life on Earth if it gets loose. I'm telling you right now, Hell sounds like Heaven when it's compared to these things."
Savage then took a moment to think about Polybius's words. As he was doing this meanwhile, the Team had been running around the Watchtower and had now cured more than half the League. However, the more powerful half was still under control.
"Listen to me!" Polybius begged, "Bringing those things here would be the worst mistake anyone in the history of ever has made, aside from the people who created those things. I don't know what I need to say to get the message through to you, but don't do it!"
Savage didn't respond to Polybius as he processed what the clone was saying. Polybius could see the gears turning in his head as he thought about what Polybius was saying.
"I think we should do it!" Klarion teased, "Could be fun."
"You would die too!" Polybius shouted, "We would all die!"
"Yet you survived." Savage spoke up, "And while you are an extraordinary man, I believe that there is a reason you survived."
"Dumb luck?" Polybius said, however, before he could continue, Klarion interrupted him.
"Hey Savage, we're losing my toys!" Klarion said.
"That's rude!" Polybius jumped in, trying to regain their attention, "I was in the middle of talking."
"To distract us." Savage said, "Recall all League away missions."
"Don't do that!" Polybius warned, "I've got a bomb strapped to my hip!"
Polybius then gestured to the small, mushroom-shaped object he had grabbed from his room earlier. It wasn't a bomb, and he was bluffing to buy time. He just needed them to buy it.
"You came up here with a bomb strapped to your hip?" Savage asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
"Yeah." Polybius said, "And if this all goes downhill, I'm blasting all of us into space and oblivion!"
Savage scoffed before saying, "Nice bluff. You almost had me."
"Shoot." Polybius cursed.
"And while you are an extraordinary man, since you can reproduce superior offspring, there is no reason to keep you alive." Savage said, "Send the Leaguers after his child allies after we take care of him. I want no survivors."
"Goodie." Klarion cheered.
Polybius then pressed the button he had clipped to his belt, signaling Black Canary, Red Tornado, and Red Arrow that he needed help. As he did this, a portal opened up, and from it emerged Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern John Stewart, and Martian Manhunter.
However, Polybius didn't wait for them as he quickly drew his gun, set it to stun, and began taking shots at the oncoming Leaguers while retreating.
Being the first to emerge from the portal, Superman was the first one to begin taking fire. And much to the surprise of everyone in the room except Polybius, the stun shots being fired at him were affecting him the same way it affected anyone else.
"Hope you're all locked, glocked, and ready to rock!" Polybius shouted as Black Canary, Red Tornado, and Red Arrow emerged from the Zeta Tube to join him, "Cause if not, you're gonna get shot, dropped, and ready to rot!"
Polybius then shifted his aim towards Hawkgirl, who was flying towards him. He began firing at her. However, she used her mace to absorb the shots. The clone veteran, however, responded to him by shifting his aim slightly every shot while maintaining his rate of fire. He looked as if he were controlled by a computer with how rapid yet controlled his movements were.
This tactic proved to be effective, as Polybius hit her with one stun shot, which was enough to put her drop her.
Taking advantage of the moment of relief, Polybius fell back even further to create distance between himself and the Leaguers, who appeared to be overwhelming the other three. Red Tornado already had his arms and legs ripped off and was now just ahead and torso on the ground. Red Arrow was on the losing end of an engagement with Wonder Woman, and Black Canary was being overwhelmed by a combination of Batman's melee and Green Lantern's ranged attacks.
Polybius pointed his gun at Green Lantern in an attempt to stop him. However, before he could fire any shots, Polybius's sixth sense suddenly kicked in, and he felt a presence behind him.
Spinning around and using the bottom of his gun as a means to smash, the veteran clone spun around, and his weapon smashed into Martian Manhunter's jaw.
This caused the Martian to stumble over, and Polybius was able to take a clean, point-blank, headshot at the Martian, dropping him as well.
"He's pretty good." Klarion commented, watching Polybius fight.
"He is extremely good." Savage said, "It's clear that his cloners enhanced him."
The clone veteran then turned his attention to Green Lantern and began taking shots at him. However, he saw this and formed a shield to protect himself.
Not saying a word, Polybius used his thumb to manipulate the dial on the side of the weapon from stun to medium power. He then fired another shot that was far more powerful than any stun shot, and when it made contact with the shield, it shattered it and sent the Green Lantern behind it, reeling back.
Shifting back to stun, Polybius then lined up his shot on Batman, who had finally brought down Black Canary, being overwhelmed when Wonder Woman, who finished off Red Arrow, joined the fight. However, when the clone took his shots, Wonder Woman jumped in the way and used her bracelets to defend the two of them.
Fortunately for Polybius, due to the nature of stun shots, they could not be deflected, and they were all just dissipating in her bracelets. Also, fortunately for the clone veteran, He was able to throw enough shots at her to keep her pinned, as she found it hard to advance under the nearly rapid-fire barrage Polybius was laying down.
"Klarion put an end to his." Savage ordered.
Hearing this, Polybius quickly stopped firing at Wonder Woman and lined up his shots at Klarion. Polybius fired multiple shots at him. However, what Polybius didn't know, is that the shots would just phase right through him and harmlessly into the window behind him.
"You'll be sorry." Klarion teased.
With a wave of his hand, Klairon then shot a beam of dark magic at Polybius. The clone veteran, however, had a nasty surprise up his sleeve for the witch boy.
Turning on the device on his hip, as soon as the beam got within ten meters of the device, it dissipated into nothingness.
"What the!?" Klarion demanded as he watched as his magic vanished.
"Reality anchor, bitch!" Polybius shouted as he began firing at Wonder Woman again.
According to the science of the world Polybius came from, magic, at its most fundamental level, was nothing more than a warp in reality. With this explanation, scientists were able to develop 'reality anchors.' These devices varied in size, but all do the same thing, stopping all reality-warping effects in a localized area. And the little one on Polybius's hip had a ten-meter range on it.
However, the biggest problem with these things is they required an immense amount of energy to run, and the little one on Polybius's hip, fully charged, only had about fifteen minutes before it ran out of power. And Polybius knew this one wasn't fully charged as there was nothing that could produce the electricity needed to charge this thing. At least not without taking down a large city's power grid for a day.
But that wasn't the biggest concern of Polybius's. What was his biggest concern was what would happen if Wonder Woman was exposed to it. Since she claimed she was brought to life by clay through a MAGICAL process, Polybius theorized that she would revert back to clay if she were ever exposed to one, effectively killing her.
This left Polybius in a tight situation, as he didn't want to shut it off, as Klairon, enraged at seeing this, began throwing more and more magical attacks at him, but also didn't want Wonder Woman to get too close.
Knowing that staying in that room would be a death sentence for either himself or Wonder Woman, Polybius elected to slowly retreat into the nearby conference room. He would have moved faster if he could. However, he couldn't let up his fire on Wonder Woman. Batman also tried throwing an array of various items at him, but Polybius shot them all out of the air. But with each one, Wonder Woman got closer.
Polybius managed to make it to the conference room without letting Wonder Woman get too close. And once he was out of range of Klarion's attacks, the witch boy stopped. However, Diana was now dangerously close to getting within range of the device.
Polybius moved to shut it off. However, Batman suddenly dashed right and threw two batarangs at him. This forced Polybius to lay off Wonder Woman again and address Batman. Polybius shot the incoming projectiles out of the air again and finally managed to land shots on Batman. However, in doing so, Wonder Woman got within range of the device.
Much to Polybius's surprise, Diana didn't revert back to clay. However, Polybius didn't have time to process what this meant, as he had to dodge a punch from her.
Going low, Polybius dropped under her, and now finally able to get a clean shot without those bracelets in the way, Polybius was able to bring down Wonder Woman with a few stuns shots placed on her exposed legs.
As Wonder Woman fell unconscious, Polybius looked down at her and then back at his reality anchor, which was still on. However, as he moved to turn it off, it ran out of power and shut off itself.
"Huh." Polybius questioned as he looked back at her, "Who's your daddy?"
Pushing the question aside, Polybius then rushed back into the main room. He wished he had been given vaccine chips to cure the Leaguers. However, he had been given none. The reason was, he was afraid that if he were to get overwhelmed and Savage got ahold of one, it could spell disaster for the mission.
When Polybius had gotten back to the main room, both Savage and Klarion were fleeing through a portal Klarion had opened. There was not enough time for Polybius to react and land shots on Savage.
"Damnit!" Polybius cursed just as the Team entered.
"Woah." Superboy said as he looked around at all the downed Leaguers and Polybius, the only one left standing.
"How'd you manage this?" Kid Flash asked as the Team began to move to plant cure chips into the downed Leaguers.
"Stun shots." Polybius said, holding up his gun, "It doesn't matter how powerful they are. A stun shot will bring them down."
"How?" Zatanna asked.
"What a stun shot does, is it overloads the target's nervous system." Polybius explained, "It puts them into a temporary state of neurogenic shock. It won't kill them unless they are repeatedly exposed to it. And the effects are designed to only last for thirty minutes."
"Man, I wish I had one of those." Kid Flash said.
"I bet you do." Polybius said, before using motioning to the conference room and saying, "Two went down in there."
After curing Batman and Wonder Woman, Kid Flash came back out and joined the rest of the Team just in time for the computer to wish the Justice League a happy New Year.
What happened next baffled Polybius as suddenly, all of them began making out with each other. Never had he seen people kiss after a hard-fought and hard-won battle like this.
"Human customs still elude me." Red Tornado said.
"Not human." The clone veteran corrected, "Cause I have no idea what's going on."
And there you have it! Chapter 34, and the end of season 1! I'm not gonna jump five years like they did in the show, as there are a number of events I want to show during that time, and another character I want to introduce. And if I do the five year jump, none of it will make sense due to what I have in mind.
Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, as well as the first season. Don't be afraid to let me know what you think of all this, I am trying to find other ways to describe Polybius other than his name since this is a very dialogue drive story. And as always, have a good one!