Chapter 6
That week the new Injustice League attacked.
Thirteen teams, including twenty-seven metahumans, simultaneously began rampaging in London, St. Petersburg, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Melbourne and Beijing in a coordinated effort to disrupt world trade and cause as much devastation as possible.
Diana had called in every reserve League member as well as the new Outsiders, the Metal Men, the Supermen of America...in short every team and lone hero she could find. Still chaos rampaged across the globe.
She was very tired.
"...I don't know," she was saying, a despair filling her voice. On the comm monitor Kyle grimaced in frustration. "Well I can't seem to get a fix on them," he replied. Behind him, a warehouse on Lake Michigan burned. "One of these metas has some sort of cloaking power or something. I keep chasing explosions, but by the time I get there they've moved on."
Diana ran a hand through her hair and tried not to punch the monitor. She was the leader, she was supposed to have an idea at least. She couldn't remember being so frustrated.
A rough hand landed on her shoulder and she spun around. A grim faced man with white hair faced her.
"Bruce?"
"I heard the commotion, thought I'd lend a hand. Lantern," he said, suddenly addressing the monitor. "Use your ring to look for heat signatures. I doubt that InvisoBoy has figured out how to trick physics that much."
"Right," Kyle answered. Diana tried to pretend that the relief in his voice was over having a solution, rather than having the Bat at the helm. His image blinked off the screen.
"Hup," Bruce said, indicating that Diana should relinquish her seat. To her surprise, she did. As Bruce settled into the chair and began surveying the monitors, she stood ill-at-ease, suddenly lost as to what to do with herself.
"You could assist Huntress and Batgirl in Gotham," Bruce suggested, as though reading her mind. "They could use a hand. I've sent Dick and Tim to Kuwait."
"Kuwait?"
"This is too well coordinated to be the work of any but a handful of bad guys," Bruce explained. "Lex isn't behind it; I've been monitoring his communications. Brainiac wouldn't work like this. My money's on Ra's Al Ghul, and a quick check of Keyhole satellite surveillance of the Middle East revealed an unidentified base in Kuwait."
Diana turned to head for a transporter tube, then turned back. "We should have let you lead us," she told the older man.
Bruce snorted. "Like I'd want the job. Don't feel too bad, Princess; you're a fine leader. I'm just a better strategist." Though the statement sounded arrogant in content, Bruce's matter-of-fact tone communicated that it was irrefutable truth. And Diana had to concede that.
With a nod, she headed for the tube.
Captain Marvel finished wrapping battleship armor around Raging Bull and turned to find Wally standing behind him. "That takes care of L.A. What next?" the Scarlet Speedster asked.
Marvel cocked his head, listening to some internal voice. "The Mastiff is chewing up London," he suggested.
Wally threw Marvel a weary grin. "Race you?"
Captain Marvel grinned back and was about to reply "Sure" when the Wisdom interrupted.
"Good God," he whispered. "Mary."
Flash blinked and Marvel was gone.
"Maybe I'm glad we didn't race," Flash muttered, before he sped off across the Atlantic.
Diana joined Huntress, Batgirl and J'onn J'onzz in Gotham. The Martian Manhunter had chased Amygdalla and Blockbuster from Manhattan to the Bat's territory, where unfortunately the two villains had met up with reinforcements. As Batgirl and Huntress dealt with the normal human terrorists, J'onn was having a difficult time dealing with two super-strong opponents.
He was so wrapped up in that that he didn't notice the henchman leveling a flame-thrower at his back.
The terrorist raised the wand, the blue pilot flame flickering at the end. He had been well briefed. He was looking forward to seeing the green juggernaut go down.
As he pulled the trigger, his view of the Manhunter was suddenly blocked by a golden eagle and an impressive cleavage.
This vision was immediately awash in flame. The terrorist didn't have the time to consider what had happened; the backwash from the inferno he had unleashed boiled back at him and in that instant he knew he was about to die.
So full of terror was he, that he also didn't see the braceleted arm reach out of the conflagration and pluck the wand from his hand. He barely had time to register the heat before he was knocked across the room.
He finally put two and two together when he caught a glimpse of a scowling Amazon princess holding his flamethrower, moments before his consciousness faded. When he awoke, it would be in a cell, but he would be alive.
*Thanks for the assist,* J'onn's voice rang in her head.
*No problem,* Diana thought back. *Anything else you need a hand with?*
There was a loud thud and a crunch. Amygdalla flew past her to crash into a wall.
*No, not right now,* J'onn replied nonchalantly.
*I'll go help Huntress then.*
Fawcett City, his city, was in trouble.
Captain Marvel landed on Mary and Freddy's front lawn as Mary was being loaded into the ambulance. The front of their house was demolished, a large gaping hole replacing the bay window that had looked in on their living room.
"What happened?" His voice was tight and low.
Freddy turned worried eyes to his former mentor. "Some kid, called himself Blitzkrieg. Blasted through our window, hit Mary..."
"How is she?" Marvel barked at the EMTs.
"She's unconscious, low blood pressure...we'll have to see. If she goes into shock..."
Marvel turned to Freddy. "Where's C.C.?!"
"School..."
Marvel was gone.
Blitzkrieg was three blocks from the school. Marvel saw the damage the villain was causing with his lightning bolts and thought of the burns he glimpsed on Mary's body.
He saw frightened children through the windows of the classroom.
"I am the Lightning War!" Blitzkrieg shrieked, electricity arcing from his body to touch off fires and blow up cars. "I am divine devastation!"
"Hey."
The voice was almost too quiet to hear. Blitzkrieg turned.
Captain Marvel stood there, his fists clenching and unclenching, his jaw bunched with anger.
"You like lightning?" Marvel asked. Considering the rage evident on his face, in the way he stood, the polite sounding inquiry was doubly unnerving to the villain.
Marvel strode up to Blitzkrieg, standing within inches of him. "I like lightning, too," Marvel said. And then he said something else.
When the paramedics got to Blitzkrieg, he was going into near-terminal shock. Second and third degree burns covered 75% of his body. By then C.C. had been safely delivered into Freddy's care and Marvel was racing toward the Middle East.
Diana wondered, occasionally, if there was some sort of cosmic law at work, or if the supervillains had union rules or something, but these things always culminated in a big showdown.
Dick had called, alerting them to a) the fact that Ra's Al Ghul was indeed behind the attacks, b) his location and c) that he had an army of supervillains surrounding him. Time for the cavalry, Justice League style.
Diana scanned the assembled heroes, taking mental attendance. She leaned over to J'onn.
"Where's Bi...Captain Marvel?" she asked.
The Martian Manhunter quirked his overlarge brow at her slip of the tongue. "Flash said he took off after Chicago."
Most of the supervillains were new breed, having only appeared on the scene in the past three or four years. They had probably jumped at Ra's call, a chance to make a name for themselves as major players. And they were eager to take on the Justice League.
The heroes barely had time to make their entrance when all hell broke loose.
It was an ambush, and everybody became very busy, very quickly. Diana found herself facing five opponents, all of them with differing powers. She couldn't remember their names, couldn't recall their files. It didn't matter. She fought.
It all happened so quickly.
Having dispatched her third foe, she whirled, looking for the next opponent. She had a quick vision of Batman tackling Ra's from behind and holding him, heard Ra's cry out "Hold!" to his minions.
That was when the ceiling caved in.
Marvel hovered in midair, his face contorted in rage. "Ra's..." she heard him growl, when Ballista shot her from behind.
It was a grazing wound, barely creasing the flesh of her shoulder, but she gave a small cry and tumbled, diving to roll up and face her attacker.
"Diana!!" The cry was deafening, causing the walls to tremble. Marvel shot towards the floor and landed as hard as he could, shaking the building like an earthquake. Villains and heroes alike tumbled like tenpins.
Wonder Woman flipped in midair and deployed her lasso, neatly snaring Ballista. And it was a good thing, because Marvel snatched the shooter milliseconds later, his fist pulled back.
"Sleep!" Wonder Woman cried out, and the terrified woman promptly went limp. Marvel lowered his fist and turned towards Ra's. He began stalking toward the raised dais where Batman held Ra's with the expedience of bat-cuffs.
"I've got him, Captain," Dick growled in his best business-like Batman voice. Marvel didn't appear to hear him.
"I've got him," Batman repeated, but by then Marvel was standing in front of the two. With one swift motion Captain Marvel grabbed two handfuls of Ra's tunic and hoisted him into the air effortlessly.
Diana became aware of a growling noise, an animal snarl building in intensity. With horror she realized that the sound came from Captain Marvel. She moved closer and stopped in shock. The Captain's face was suffused with fury, an unreasoning anger. The growling got louder.
Around the room, nobody moved, transfixed by the scene before them.
Diana's blood turned to ice when Marvel moved one hand to Ra's throat.
Shaking off her paralysis, she moved to Marvel's side. She could see the tendons in Marvel's hand slowly tighten. Ra's looked frightened, for the first time she could recall.
Putting her mouth next to Marvel's ear she whispered fiercely "Billy! What are you doing?!"
A muscle in Marvel's jaw twitched, once. He slowly took his hand away from Ra's throat and put him down.
Without a word, he flew away.
Leaving Batman in charge of rounding the criminals up, Wonder Woman flew after Captain Marvel.
She found him among the Himalayas, floating in the chill air. She noticed his fists quivering at his sides, his unblinking furious stare at the horizon.
"Billy? Are you okay?"
"He...he..." Billy choked out, then subsided.
"He what? Billy?"
"...Mary..." he said. Then that growling started again, rapidly building into a rumble, then getting louder. Billy opened his mouth and gave vent to a deafening scream of rage.
Diana had to cover her ears. The mountains trembled around them, avalanches catapulting down their slopes.
When it subsided, Diana heard Billy sobbing.
Like a child, Billy hung there in space, sobs wracking his body, tears freezing on his cheeks unnoticed. Diana gathered him to her, smoothing his hair and murmuring soothing nonsense noises. Finally, the shaking quieted and Billy pushed her away gently.
"I was just..." He swallowed, then tried again. "I saw her and...she was burned. I was so scared that I hadn't been there, that it was too late. I felt so guilty, and then I got mad..."
"It's all right, Billy."
He looked up at her with teary pleading eyes. "Diana, what's happening to me?"
She hugged him again, wrapping her arms around him. "I don't know, Billy."
"She'll be fine," Freddy said. "She just needs some rest."
Captain Marvel nodded. At his side, Diana squeezed his hand.
"I'm sorry, Freddy," he muttered.
"For what?"
"I wasn't here."
Freddy gave a little laugh and punched Marvel in the shoulder. "I hate to break it to you, Billy, but we didn't count on you being here."
Billy lowered his head, gazing miserably at the floor. "I know."
Freddy furrowed his brow. "I don't think you do," he said. "Billy, you're a superhero. You have responsibilities to the world. We don't expect special treatment."
Billy looked up. "You don't?"
"No. What happened today was bad luck. Thank God it wasn't worse. And, hey," Freddy said giving Billy a warm smile. "You saved C.C. I can't ever thank you enough for that.
"Mary will be fine. This sort of thing happens to people every day. Don't kill yourself over it."
Billy nodded, his eyes troubled and distant. "Will you tell her I came by?"
"Yeah, sure." Freddy stepped up to Billy and opened his arms.
"What?" Billy asked.
"Give me a hug you big doof. I am your brother-in-law, you know."
With a tentative smile Billy hugged Freddy. Stepping back, he said "I know. And I'm happy about it, too."
Freddy's eyes widened a bit, but his smile stayed in place. "Good to hear," he said.
"I'm worried."
"You say that a lot these days."
Bruce frowned at his successor. "I'm serious, Dick. What Marvel nearly did."
"But he didn't."
"Damn it, Dick, you know that's not the point!" Bruce took a deep breath, quelling his frustration with his former protégé. "Marvel has no protocol. He has no sanction that would work against him. Not unless he changes back to mortal form, which he hasn't for..."
"Around five years," Dick finished. "I know."
"If he starts losing it, it'll be a worse nightmare than Clark."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Just keep an eye on him. Report back to me."
Dick snorted. "I thought you were retired."
"I'm changing it to semi-retired. Now go patrol. I have to think."