:Luthor, that bloody idiot.: The man previously identified as Ornota snarled mentally. He floated high above the ground, just outside the Wayne Inc HQ building. The thirty-seventh floor was before him. He swept sideways, searching for the office he wanted. He found it, and the molecules reacted again, opening into a door. He swept through it, and landed the window closed over the air molecules wrapping around it to form a perfect picture of what was inside the office, minus him, and the computer he activated. A second wall surrounded the door. The computer flashed to life, and flickered at several times normal speed through the start up sequence. The screens flickered, until it reached a password screen. A second set flashed up, and the password was reset to a blank screen. The computer continued, dodging security protocols with inhuman ease. Then it stopped. Ornota smiled. A progress bar marked, download, snapped to life. A moment later it was gone, and so was he. The air molecule walls dispersed, and he stepped into the hall, as invisible as the molecules themselves. The computer's sensors registered a heat source, but when the guards checked, and found nothing it was written off as a system error. He slid along the corridors, without effort, sliding even through the lasers and into protected areas. He stepped into the hangar, and smiled, looking at the short, squat ship. He slipped into the cockpit, ignoring the alert's it triggered, and over-rode the computer allowing him to launch. The engines exploded to life, and he blew out the hangar, not bothering with the doors.
Far over head, Booster Gold saw the launch on the tower radar. In a fit of boredom, he ignored the Javelin's and tripped the weapons systems, and launched a trio of missiles. The weapons broke from orbit, jettisoning their first stage rockets, and snapped forwards as the secondary chase engines engaged.
Back inside the stolen aircraft, alarm warnings went off, as the missiles were detected. Ornota swore again, and hammered the yolk to the right. The lead missile blew past on the left, and he saw on the radar as it swung around.
Booster sighed. "Sir? Might I suggest altering missiles two and three to come in from the sides?" Skeets offered.
"Good idea." He grinned, and punched in the commands. The two trailing missiles split off, and swept around aiming for the small ship, speeds of all three adjusting for staggered hits, so they wouldn't impact each other if they missed. As they approached, the ship pulled ninety-degrees to the plane the missiles were on, and they cranked up, following him and each other. They hid in each others' slipstream, conserving fuel. The craft began to stall, and the lead missile dumped all power in one last burn, racing up, and slamming into the ships engines. A moment later the other two, using the same maneuver impacted and smashed into it. The craft exploded, and no one noticed the puff as Ornota flew from the explosion, still swearing.
---
"OH...." Kara hit the ground. Shayera turned from Nyran towards her as Diana crossed the distance. Kara was bent over, clutching her stomach.
"What's wrong?" Diana asked.
"Something's.... happened to Adam." Kara groaned. "I don't know what."
"Let's go." She lifted her up, and flew out, followed by Shayera. Reaching the landing pad, Ory was waiting for them.
"I've got some bad news." She said, then saw Kara. "I'll tell you inside." The hatch slid open, and the three entered. The door shut, and the ship lifted smoothly off. "Adam's been killed."
"No..." Kara responded. Ory lifted a hand.
"That doesn't mean he's dead. It was an internal defense that did it, so he's still alive, sort of." Ory stopped speaking as the entire ship vanished.
---
The pressure wave from the explosion, caught all three of the others, Batman, Lantern and Sinestro by surprise. The latter two lashed up with personal force fields, and were largely unaffected. Batman dove behind Lantern, and was protected. The pressure wave pitched the two glowing warriors for several miles, then the second blast leveled the bar, and most of the other occupants. Batman was caught in the second blast wave, but survived, though how, is a mystery. With Sinestro, and Lantern knocked out, Batman took it on himself, to aid the police, in picking up survivors, and searching for Adam. He felt the entire time, two things.
:Diana is going to kill me. Then Kara will revive me, just so she can kill me again.: Then he saw a hand sticking out of the rubble. He recognized it as Adam's. He approached, and found it was just the hand, and all that appeared to be left. It was clutching something, but he couldn't tell what. He simply carried it away, in the general direction of where he had seen Lantern land. Along the way, he saw Sinestro awaken and fly away. He made a note to himself to help hunt down the man, or whatever he was. Lantern was just coming around as Batman arrived.
"What happened?" He asked. "Where's Adam?" Batman held up the hand, with the bloody stump. Lantern stared in shock.
"He seemed to explode, I don't know what happened." Batman confessed.
"I do." Adam said, appearing around the corner.
"How, did you?" Lantern asked, waving at the hand.
"I'm not the same Adam." Came the reply. He took the hand, and lifted it on his palm. "Girls, I need power." Two women, a red head and a dark haired one stepped out from the same corner, followed by a young blond man.
"Do we have to do this?" He asked. "It's creepy."
"He'd do it for us, so this is the least we can do." The red-head replied.
"Besides, I owe him." The black haired woman nodded. The two joined hands, and laid free hands on the second Adam's shoulders. "Our power to you." They intoned in unison.
"Our power, into magic's flame." He responded. Green fire lanced along his arms, and into the hand he was holding. After a moment, the flesh melted, then the bones. All that was left, was a small silver crystal. "Place this within the care of the Adamantium, she will know what to do." He turned, and started to fall. The two women caught him, and leaned against him as they walked away. The second man cleared his throat.
"Ready?" He asked. The dark haired man nodded.
"Yes, Ron, let's go." Light flashed, and they were gone.
"That was weird." Lantern commented. Batman nodded. "Let's go back to the ship." Green light fused the area as he lifted them both back to the landing pad. Addy was waiting outside. "What is going on?" He asked.
"One of Adam's internal magical defenses won't let him die, it will kill him automatically. His entire being is saved onto a small silver crystal. I can use that to regrow him from a clone. Do you have it?" She asked. Batman nodded, and pulled it out. "Odd, it's usually clenched in one of his hands."
"It was, another him appeared." Lantern replied. Addy sighed.
"That would explain his mood. Climb aboard, I'll need a little help." They entered, and followed her instructions. As the ship lifted off, the clone was well on it's way.
---
"Guess I wasn't fast enough?" Flash queried. He laughed carefully.
"Nah, you just got distracted." Green Arrow replied, flipping his page. The league had decided that as long as Flash was in the hospital, and not yet stable enough for transport, that someone should stay with him. Arrow and Booster Gold were elected, and taking alternate shifts. Arrow took nights, so Booster could play with his girlfriend. The door opened, and three people entered. Alexia, Peter, and their uncle entered. Flash grinned. Arrow glanced at him. "Should I wait outside?" He asked. Flash shook his head.
"How are you?" Peter asked.
"Better than I was yesterday." He responded. "Much better now that you're here." He smiled.
"Does your speed include healing?" Dr. Krochev asked.
"Sort of." Flash replied, not trying to be mysterious.
"I'm sorry about that." Alexia said.
"About what? It wasn't your fault. Besides, I should be sorry, we didn't get to finish our date." He replied, with a grin. She smiled back at him.
"Well, we can do it again." She smiled. "I obtained a passport, with a bit of help from your friends. My brother and uncle are returning home, but I'm going to stay for a while." She stared at him for a moment. "Perhaps when you're better, you'll show me around this country of yours."
"I'd be delighted." Flash replied.
"We will go now, and leave you to your rest." Peter commented politely, and he and his uncle walked out.
"Flash and Alexia, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G..." Arrow teased laughing. Flash blushed, producing further laughter as he and his costume became the same shade. Alexia glared at him. "I'm sorry, just teasing." He apologized. He needn't. She leaned down, and kissed Flash. He was so surprised, she was finished before his thoughts oriented themselves.
"I will go now as well, enjoy your rest." She smiled, and walked out. Both watched her go, because she went ever so slowly. Flash closed his eyes, and seemed to be straining.
"Are you alright?" Arrow asked.
"Just trying to heal faster." Came the laughing reply.