Chapter 11: Explanations
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I ushered Senator Connelly and Representative Zabrowski into the main conference room. The seating was arranged auditorium-style, facing a podium on a raised platform. Behind the podium, the curved transparent wall gave a stunning view of Atlantis, with an amazing variety of fish swimming by. I seated them in the front row. I saw other people drifting in, talking among themselves. A number had come back with me on the invisible plane; Zatanna must have brought others. One in particular caught my eye and I hurried over.
"Supergirl!" I exclaimed, grinning. "I hadn't hoped to see you here. Kal told me that you had..."
"Run away? Turned into an angry, hate-filled bitch?"
"... taken some time off to come to terms with things."
She laughed gratingly. "That's one way to put it. Except I never intended to come back."
"But you have."
Her smile was filled with venom. "Batman made me an offer I couldn't refuse."
I looked at her questioningly and she added, "A piece of Luthor. I owe him and I intend to collect."
She walked off. I wondered if Batman thought he could control her.
Major Disaster strode into the room, his shoulders thrown back and his chest thrown out. I had told him the first row was reserved for the JLA and he clearly liked the idea. I walked over to join him as he stopped and stared suspiciously at the two congressmen.
He turned to me and whispered, "They aren't JLA."
"They are congressmen," I whispered back, amused in spite of myself.
"Ah." He nodded knowingly. "I guess they can sit anywhere they want." He continued on to the front of the room and sat in the middle of the first row. I sat between him and the congressmen.
The room was starting to fill up rapidly. The costumes of the superheroes were bright splashes of color in among the civilians. The JSA came in together and sat down one of the middle rows. There were pitifully few of them: Wildcat, Power Girl, the Star-Spangled Kid, Hourman. S.T.R.I.P.E., Courtney's mentor, sat with them. Dr Mid-Nite was with his patients, Sand was still recovering and the rest were captured, missing or wounded. Lois Lane smiled perfunctorily at me and sat down in the middle of the second row.
I saw Gypsy take a seat at the back, not far from Lian Harper and her nanny, Rose Hunter. Lian waved but, even from this distance, she looked scared. I waved back as cheerfully as I could manage. Nightwing sat down next to Lian and said something that got a laugh out of her. Robin and Batgirl, I knew, would not be present. I saw Helena Sandsmark slip quietly into one of the rear seats, a determined look on her face. I had only time for a few words with her earlier. She told me she would come in hopes of understanding why they would hurt Cassie the way they had. I hoped she got the answers she needed, for I had none for her.
Only a few people were still trailing in when the double doors at the back were thrown open by two Atlantean guards and Queen Mera entered. She marched down the center aisle and up to the podium, her red hair swirling around her and setting off the gold coronet she wore. Her green eyes flashed, her face was stern. Angry though I was at her treatment of Arthur, I could not deny she looked every inch the Monarch. She turned to face her now-silent audience.
She looked at the congressmen and nodded. "Senator, Congressman, welcome to Atlantis."
She scanned the audience. "All of you are welcome in our city. We Atlanteans do not forget all that you have done for this world, nor what so many of you did for Atlantis. We reject the claims that you are criminals and terrorists. But we have no desire for war with the United States. You all may have asylum here for as long as you require, but we will not involve ourselves in this matter. You must resolve it for yourselves."
With that, she turned away from the podium and, flanked by her two guards, marched back down the center aisle past her stunned audience. Every eye watched as the double doors slammed shut behind her. When our attention returned to the front of the hall, Batman was standing at the podium. I doubt more than two people saw him enter.
He looked at our two guests.
"Senator Connelly, Representative Zabrowski, I promised you an explanation of what's going on. Now is the time for that explanation."
"The rest of us would like to know, too," Changeling called out. Batman ignored him, focusing his attention on the two congressmen.
"It started shortly after the Imperiex War, when Luthor created the Human Defense Corps, ostensibly to defend against future alien invasions."
"Ostensibly?" interjected Zabrowski. "Why do you say that?"
Batman leaned over the podium and fixed the Congressman with his gaze. "What use would ground troops, even hi-tech ground troops have been against the Imperiex probes?"
"Well…."
"Even if they could have defeated a probe, the destruction and devastation would have been immense. Why not stop them – or any other invader – out in space, where there would be no collateral damage? Why not build space ships, killer satellites, laser battle stations instead of armored hover vans and hand blasters?"
I could tell the congressman had no answer to that.
"From Day One, the HDC has trained to fight super-powered opponents. That might help against Daxamites, but most potential invaders don't have super powers, just very advanced technology. But metas do. Whether they realize it or not, the HDC has been training to take on the metahumans, the 'super heroes'."
Batman let that sink in for a moment. "Creating a new armed service cannot be done by administrative fiat; it has to be authorized by Congress."
Zabrowski nodded. "Yes, I remember."
"And the head of an armed service must be approved by Congress. Do you remember who was the first head of the HDC?"
"Of course. General 'Chuck' Bingham. But why do you say 'first'? Isn't he still…?"
"General Bingham was decorated for valor in Vietnam and served with distinction in Desert Storm. He's known for his rapport with the troops and his absolute incorruptibility. Just the sort of man Congress – or anyone – would want in such a position of authority. His appointment sailed through Congress without a hiccup. Too bad he was forced to retire six months ago. Bad bill of health – although his health seems to have improved greatly since then. His doctor can't find anything wrong with him.
"Normally command would have passed to General Austen, his second in command. He is another like Bingham – except for one thing. He holds grudges. One of those grudges is with Admiral Byrnes, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. So it seemed a little strange when Austen was appointed as Vice-Chairman – Byrnes' second-in-command. Those two have been constantly feuding ever since the appointment – which, incidentally, was less than a month before Bingham retired. As a result, Byrnes and his staff are too busy bickering to provide adequate oversight of the HDC, which is being run by the man who originally was only third in the chain of command.
"You'll remember him, Congressman. He figured prominently in your probe into bribery and kickbacks in Army procurement a few years back. General Amos Danforth."
"Danforth!" Zabrowski's eyes snapped wide at the name. "I thought they had stuck him away someplace where he couldn't do any more harm."
"They did, but Luthor brought him back. Luthor has also been stalling on naming a new permanent head of the HDC, since that would require the approval of Congress. So Danforth has been acting head for the past six months. By the way, do you remember who Danforth was accused of accepting bribes from?"
"Sure. It was … LexCorp."
"If you have been wondering why you were on Luthor's hit-list, that's why."
"That's ridiculous. It wasn't personal, it was just politics."
"Luthor doesn't see things that way. He takes everything personally." Batman leaned back. "That was Step One. Step Two was reopening Belle Reeve."
I saw blank looks from more than just the two congressmen.
"Belle Reeve was used for many years as a federal prison for super villains. It was replaced several years ago by the Slab, which is more secure. However, the Slab is full up. Belle Reeve was reopened to handle the less dangerous convicts. It probably didn't seem important that the new head was another Luthor crony. But then some very dangerous convicts started being shipped there. You met one today – Gorilla Grodd. Actually, you met a number of them. We'll get to that shortly."
Zabrowski grimaced. "How can you keep implying that Luthor planned this, when he was killed by the attackers?" he demanded. He evidently remembered the newscasts he had seen, for he added doubtfully, "…or badly wounded."
"He was killed," Gypsy called from the back. "I saw it. A plasma bolt at least half a foot across burned right through him. He's dead."
"Is that what you saw?" Batman demanded of the congressmen. Connelly looked uncertain; Zabrowski grimaced but nodded.
"Yeah, I saw it go all the way through him. I don't know how he could have survived it."
"He didn't," Batman told him, "but it wasn't Lex Luthor. It was a clone."
"A clone?" the Congressman repeated in surprise. "A clone?" He sounded skeptical now.
"Yes. It's not the first time Luthor has used clones. Do you remember the incident the press called 'The Fall of Metropolis'?"
The senator looked puzzled; but Zabrowski responded, "Wasn't he cleared of all charges?"
"He blamed everything on an evil clone."
Batman let that sink in and then added, "So step three was establishing a clone factory. He needed at least two clones: one to be attacked at the Capitol and a second, wounded exactly the right amount, to present to the world as Luthor. The second was important, not just because he couldn't depend on the first surviving the attack. Everyone has to think Luthor is incapacitated, but not so badly that his later 'miraculous recovery' is unbelievable."
The Senator looked confused. "I don't understand."
"You heard Pete Ross. Tomorrow morning, he is going before Congress to ask for sweeping powers to deal with this crisis. Is he going to get them?"
"Yes," the Senator replied with certainty.
"Would they agree so readily if it was Luthor? If Luthor hadn't been injured, how many would have smelled a rat?"
"Well…."
"You don't know, and neither does Luthor. There are plenty of people in Congress who don't trust him. But they trust Pete Ross. He was one of them and they know he is as honest as they come. While Luthor never hid his disdain for super heroes, Ross has always been friendly with them, especially Superman. So when Ross claims that the super heroes are a threat, they'll believe him and grant him the powers he asks for.
"Then Luthor will suddenly recover – not completely, not all at once, perhaps, but enough to resume the Presidency. At that point, he will have what amounts to dictatorial powers and he won't have any further need of Pete or Congress. How long do you think either will survive after that? A second attack that wipes out Congress will bring the fear and panic to a fever pitch. It will also eliminate the danger that Congress might rescind his powers. Luthor will be left unchallenged and unchallengeable. All he has to do then is stop the 'evil metas' – easy since he created the threat in the first place – and people will not only accept his rule, they will idolize him. And the United States will cease to be a democracy."
Silence, as people digested his words. The Batman continued.
"Of course, Luthor won't want to completely eliminate the metahuman threat, because then he might be expected to give up the powers he had been granted to deal with the crisis. Less than half metas we know have been captured were reported on the news. He can use the rest to keep the 'crisis' going – releasing them one at a time and then publicly 'capturing' them as needed. And Ross reported an attack on Belle Reeve that released a number of super villains. No super hero has been near Belle Reeve since this started. That was Luthor covering his ass – it explains any of his fake Justice Leaguers who happen to get captured, like Gorilla Grodd. But it also gives him a way to produce a super villain whenever he needs one to terrorize the populace. He'll say they escaped when Belle Reeve was attacked.
"And when those sources run dry, well, that clone factory can be used to produce other things besides Luthor clones. I know he has DNA from a number of metas. He can 'mix and match' DNA to create new threats."
Zabrowski stirred. "But how do you know this? Or is it just a guess on your part?"
Batman grinned viciously. I heard more than one sharp intake of breath from around the room.
"I know because we've located his clone factory. We know where he's been doing all this."
Batman took advantage of the silence this produced to continue.
"The next step was to use the abilities of two of Belle Reeve's most dangerous inmates: Jervis Tetch and Jonathan Crane, better known as the Mad Hatter and the Scarecrow."
"Those two clowns?" laughed Flamebird. Many others joined in. Flamebird abruptly stopped laughing under Batman's annihilating glare.
"They may not be physically impressive, but consider what Luthor can do with Crane's ability to artificially induce terror and Tetch's mind control technology."
Nobody was laughing now.
"Luthor has already used their expertise to build and put in orbit a series of satellites which beam emissions on a frequency that stimulates the central nucleus of the amygdala in the temporal lobes of the brain. In layman's terms, he's beaming fear into the brain of everyone in the U.S. who isn't properly shielded.
"Senator, do you remember the budget request to purchase new helmets for the military on an expedited basis? It went through your sub-committee."
Connelly nodded, but face told me a different story.
"There were plenty of congressmen who didn't understand the rush – and the extra cost that involved – nor why the DoD wanted to go back to metal helmets. But it was shortly after the Imperiex War and no one wanted to appear to be pinching pennies at the expense of 'our men and women in uniform.'
"The new metal helmets stop the fear transmissions. Heavily armed and terrified soldiers are not a good idea, unless you want 'incidents'. Interestingly, the First Special Armored Division of the HDC hadn't gotten their new helmets yet. That division provided the troops at Washington and New York. Now that Luthor has the incidents he wants, I expect they are receiving their helmets as we speak.
"Unfortunately, the satellites are shielded from our scans. We can determine their approximate positions from their transmission 'footprints' but…."
"So you can't actually see these satellites, but you know Luthor put them up?" Zabrowski interrupted, looking skeptical.
"We can detect their transmissions. Moreover, you felt their effect."
"Fear was natural under the circumstances. I don't need some mythical 'fear satellites' to explain it."
"Such extreme fear? Do you remember how it suddenly disappeared, or at least diminished to more reasonable levels, when we entered the JSA mansion? Or how the same thing happened when the invisible plane passed out of the transmission footprint halfway to Atlantis?"
"Well…."
"Never mind. I can show you more concrete evidence than that. Let's move on."
He stopped momentarily and I could see the strain etched in the corners of his mouth. If the plan was to have any chance of success, he had to convince these two men. And persuasion – at least this sort of persuasion – was not his strong suit.
"The last step was to wait for the bulk of the JLA to leave on a mission in space. That happened 52 hours ago. We took great care to avoid being spotted by the HDC's Deep Space Monitoring Network, but Luthor knew they were gone almost immediately. Twelve hours after their departure, Mr. Terrific was shot. The shooter's M.O. matches Deadshot, who is supposed to be locked up in Belle Reeve. Twenty-four hours after that, Jakeem Williams disappeared."
That caused a stir, as I had expected.
"Jakeem? But…."
"Good God. That means Luthor has the Thunderbolt," Blue Beetle exclaimed. "All he has to do is have Tetch 'hat' Jakeem and then…. The Thunderbolt can do anything! It can warp reality, change physical law, make entropy run backwards!" From Beetle's tone of voice, that was the ultimate accomplishment.
Batman interrupted. "Luthor may have Jakeem mind-controlled, but Jakeem can't do anything without the Thunderbolt. That's why I broke into Jakeem's room last night and replaced the Thunderbolt's container with a pen filled with phosphorescent ink."
"You what!?!" Wildcat, Power Girl and Hourman jumped to their feet. Hourman looked aghast; Wildcat and Power Girl looked ready to take a swing at Batman. Courtney had not stood but she looked furious and frightened at the same time.
"It might not have been necessary, if you had taken my warning more seriously, but I could not risk the Thunderbolt falling into Luthor's hands."
"If you hadn't stolen the Thunderbolt," Power Girl shouted, "Luthor could have never have grabbed Jakeem in the first place!"
"Nonsense. I can think of more than a dozen ways to take Jakeem down before he could call the Thunderbolt. You think Luthor couldn't come up with one of his own?"
Wildcat scowled and raised a clenched fist. "I oughta…."
I stood abruptly. "Enough!"
Silence. "What's done is done. Fighting over it only wastes the little time we have left to fix matters. You might remember that, if not for the Batman, you three would be dead or in Luthor's clutches. Now sit down."
They sat down.
Batman continued unfazed.
"That brings us almost to the assault on the Capitol. But a couple of things happened just before that. At 4:56pm Eastern Standard Time – two minutes before the attack – the JLA communications net went down. Other channels of communication were heavily jammed. I had set up a separate back-up system against such a possibility, which was supposed to come on-line if the primary comm net went down. But it did not come on-line, because it was getting a signal showing the JLA comm net was working and we couldn't manually activate it because of the jamming. Fortunately, the Lansinarian technology of Wonder Woman's invisible jet was advanced enough to overcome the jamming, but the warning went out almost twelve minutes late, giving Luthor enough time to take out key targets before they could be warned."
Batman did something and the wall behind him suddenly became a giant view screen. An image of a small suburban town appeared. In the lower right corner time, longitude and latitude were indicated.
"These images were taken by a U.S. spy satellite earlier today. Note the time. We are now down to 4:57pm, one minute before the attack."
"Do you routinely intercept the transmissions of American military satellites?" asked Zabrowski sardonically.
"Yes." I rolled my eyes. I told him to play down that aspect.
The images kept zooming in, first on a tract of houses and then on a single house, as the time ticked down second by second.
"The government doesn't monitor every house in the country, does it?" asked Connelly confusedly.
"No, just this one. This is the residence of a member of the JLA presently on leave – the Martian Manhunter. Watch."
The details of the suburban ranch house were clear to see now. If I strained, I could almost make out the street number on the mailbox. The screen suddenly split. The second image was of a satellite. A large one, I guessed, although scale was difficult to determine. The time on both images matched.
"This is Whitehorse – a prototype space-based laser system to shoot down ballistic missiles. It can also be used for other things, as we are about to see. We are now down to forty seconds before the attack on the Capitol."
Suddenly, a bolt of light shot out of Whitehorse. At the same moment, the house exploded in a fireball. My breath caught in my throat.
"The Martian Manhunter is, of course, vulnerable to fire. Although the explosion wouldn't have hurt him, the house was made of wood and, as you can see, burst instantly into flame. He had absolutely no warning and the fire was so hot that, well…. We know he lasted several seconds as he contacted several of us telepathically. His agony was indescribable. The other inhabitant of the house was more fortunate – the explosion would have killed her instantly."
"His girlfriend?" asked Zabrowski flippantly in an attempt to ward off horror with humor.
I bristled at his attitude as much as his implication that a green-skinned Martian couldn't have a girlfriend.
Batman leaned forward and his blank eyes narrowed.
"I felt his pain, Congressman."
The image of Whitehorse winked out and the image of the house started zooming back out. I breathed again. Batman froze the image when it covered about a square mile.
"You see those vehicles heading towards the fire?"
"Fire engines?" hazarded Connelly. "That's a quick response."
"Not fire engines." Batman used a cursor to mark the area and expanded it. Detail started to get a little fuzzy but it was clear what they were.
"Hover tanks and armored hover vans of the HDC. Note the time. We are still seconds away from the attack on the Capitol, but they were already in position." Batman unfroze the images and we watched as they moved to the house and surrounded it. Ant-sized figures disembarked and, guns ready, approached the burning remains of the house.
"Wonder Woman passed over just under an hour later. They were still there, digging thru the embers. Luthor was taking no chances that the Martian Manhunter might have survived."
The image switched to the interior of the Capitol.
"That brings us up to the time of the attack. Although the session was closed door, it was videotaped for the Congressional record. These images have been broadcast, repeatedly, since the attack."
Luthor was at the podium speaking, but Batman had the sound turned down too low to understand the words. Suddenly, the roof caved in, or so it appeared. In fact, as the camera panned up, it became clear it was only a small part of the roof. Thru the opening came… it was hard to remember this was not the JLA.
"Quite convincing, aren't they?" asked Batman as Superman, two Green Lanterns (Kyle Rayner and John Stewart) and Captain Atom drifted down through the opening. Kyle's ring was projecting a green platform on which crouched Arsenal, Major Disaster and Green Arrow. Firestorm flew thru right behind them.
He continued, "However, notice how the camera pans away before we catch sight of the 'Martian Manhunter'. In fact, he isn't on any of the released footage. The reason, of course, is that he's really Gorilla Grodd and – while Grodd could convince everyone there that he's the Martian Manhunter – the camera would show his real appearance."
The camera followed Firestorm as he zoomed to the back of the chamber, where he turned the doors, and the guard standing in front of them, to gas. The Flash and Jesse Quick zipped thru and paused momentarily in the doorway. A cry could be heard and the camera jerked back to the podium, where two Secret Service men carried Luthor's smoking body away while the others fought – and died – to cover them.
"Note also that we don't get to see the beam burning clear thru 'Luthor'. We only see that he was badly wounded. Nothing to contradict the official story. Now let's examine the 'JLA'.
The camera had swung back up to take in the JLAers, hovering above the chamber.
"First Superman." The picture froze and a section showing Superman's right hand enlarged. Something looked not quite right about one knuckle. Batman expanded that section and a very grainy knuckle jumped out at us, looking malformed with a spot of white in the middle.
"We did some computer enhancement and got this." The image snapped into clear detail. A flap of skin had been ripped back from the knuckle; underneath was white and crystalline.
"The crystallization is typical of the imperfect Superman clones the press have nicknamed 'Bizarros'. LexCorp developed the process for creating Bizarros – in fact Luthor actually patented the process. Evidently, the artificial skin used to make the Bizarro look more like Superman wasn't strong enough. The Bizarro is presumably being controlled using the Mad Hatter's mind control technology, as they are not noted for their docility."
The view expanded to include the two Green Lanterns as well.
"Green Lantern presented a bit of a problem for Luthor. The well-known one is the one on the right with the weakness for Manga. Knowledgeable people would know he had been replaced, but others might just think the other one was an imposter. His solution: have them both present. It would be assumed the one on the right had returned from his journeys in space."
Batman pulled out a rig from inside the podium. It consisted of outsized shoulder straps supporting a wide, thick metallic belt. He handed it to Zabrowski, who handled it gingerly as if wondering if it might bite. Connelly watched quizzically.
I stood. "I took that rig off Grodd," I told them. "According to our resident expert, it is derived from the propulsion system in the Team Lex power suits."
"That's right!" shouted Blue Beetle, just in case anyone was in doubt as to who our resident expert was. I sat down again.
Batman focused the view onto the two Green Lanterns. "The outfit of the one on the right might almost be designed to hide a rig like this underneath it, but if you look carefully, you can see the outline of a similar rig under the costume of the one on the left."
The image expanded.
"By Jove!" exclaimed Connelly, "you can see it." Zabrowski nodded.
"Then," Batman continued, "there is the matter of the green 'plasma bolts' they are firing. Watch carefully."
'John Stewart' slowly extended his arm, rolled his fist slightly and a green beam shot out.
"He's doing something strange with his hand," Connelly realized.
Batman nodded, backed up the image and restarted it slower than before. He paused it just as the beam shot out.
"The beam isn't coming out of his ring," the Ray called out, "it's coming out of his fist!"
"Something held in his fist," Batman corrected. He backed up the image again and reran it in even slower motion. This time, based on the surge of sotto-voce comments, everyone caught it.
"It appears," Batman commented, "to be something like the plasma pulse rifles of the HDC, only much more compact." This time he didn't stop the image and it continued moving, very slowly. "Of course, those fire a yellow-white beam, but if you place the correct filter over the aperture it would tint the beam green. The filter would burn out after two or three shots and have to be replaced. That is what is occurring now."
'John Stewart' had pulled his fist back to his chest and was slowly, stealthily, putting his other hand over it. It was impossible to tell just what he did, but he could have been replacing the filter on the blaster hidden in his fist.
"Although a power ring can do just about anything the wearer wants, the two Green Lanterns do nothing but fire simple energy bolts," Batman concluded.
"Wait a minute!" Zabrowski objected. "One of them created a platform to carry the others!"
"No," Batman contradicted, "it just looks as if he did." He pulled a chunk of something transparent out of his utility belt and tossed it to Zabrowski, who caught it reflexively.
"As 'Tail-end Charlie' in our little parade out of the Capitol building, I had a chance to look around without being obvious about it. I found that. What does that look like to you?"
The congressman rolled it over in his hands. "It's plastic of some sort. Maybe Plexiglas?"
"Close but not quite." Batman fished out a flashlight and tossed it to Zabrowski. "That's a penlight with a green filter on it."
Zabrowski looked it over suspiciously, turned it on and pointed it at various objects. "Okay, I believe you. What am I supposed to do with it?"
"Use it on the plastic." Zabrowski did as he was told. The plastic suddenly glowed green.
"That is a piece of the platform that carried 'Arsenal', Major Disaster and 'Green Arrow'. It evidently shattered when the rest of the roof fell in. The platform did not hold them aloft; they held it aloft."
An image of the three pseudo-heroes on the platform appeared behind him. It expanded until we could just make out what could have been the outlines of rigs similar to Grodd's under their costumes. We could also see that each was grasping the edge of the platform.
"Let's move on to 'Firestorm'. It certainly looks like Firestorm, but there are several pyrokinetic reactions that could produce his characteristic hair and 'wake'. There is the matter of his transmuting the door and guard, but Firestorm is not the only one capable of doing that."
"Ooh!" Blue Beetle waved his hand furiously. "I know the answer! Call on me, teach!"
I couldn't help grinning at his antics, or the way Batman's glare abruptly shut him up. Batman turned his attention back to the congressmen.
"As Blue Beetle would no doubt tell you, Doctor Alchemy – a long-time foe of the Flash – can also transmute objects. He uses a 'wand' but, as you can see in this later image…."
A picture of 'Firestorm', frozen in flight outside the Capitol building in the process of transmuting a tank, appeared behind him. His arm was stretched out towards the tank, palm out. Batman enlarged the image of his hand and we could see a small protrusion at the wrist.
"He just stuffed the wand up his sleeve!" cried Elongated Man. "Sonuva…."
"Exactly," Batman replied. The image enlarged to show all of 'Firestorm'. "You can see that he is wearing one of the Team Lex rigs under his uniform, as well."
The picture behind the Batman changed to the Flash and Jesse Quick frozen in the doorway of the chamber. The Flash looked very unhappy, Jesse grinned as if anticipating a treat.
"Let's move on to the two speedsters. We did some comparisons. Since the height of the doors is known, we were able to …" the image split, to show the real Flash and the fake Flash with scales next to both "… calculate the height of the 'Flash'. The perspective is a little difficult but, as you can see, this Flash is two to three inches shorter than the real one. Also …"
We now saw slow-motion images of the fake Flash outside the Capitol. Alongside it was the real Flash, also moving in slow motion.
"… you can see they have very different gaits. The fake Flash lopes, swinging his arms, while the Flash has a shorter but much faster stride and holds his arms in close to his body."
The real Flash disappeared, replaced by another speedster in a different red and white costume. Batman let the two – the fake Flash and the new speedster – run alongside each other in slow motion for a minute. Nobody could miss the identical gait of the two images.
"Anatole is a Russian émigré. He was part of a Soviet experiment to create their own super heroes. He came to the United States years ago and helped found 'Kapitalist Kourier,' specializing in small packages that have to get there immediately. He was on his way to receiving his citizenship when Luthor became president. Within two months, he was turned down for citizenship and started having visa problems. He was threatened with expulsion. Then he disappeared. It seems he has found a way out of his visa problems. It's worth noting that he is the only one of the fake heroes who does not injure or kill anyone on any of the released footage. He merely runs around, pretending to be the Flash.
"But Luthor didn't limit things to the JLA. That is too finite a threat. Once the last member of the JLA is captured, the crisis is over. So he had to include some non-JLA metas so he could claim that all metas are a threat. You know how he dragged the JSA into it, but he also needed to implicate the Titans as well as metas not affiliated with any of the teams. He chose to ignore Young Justice, but Superboy and Impulse showed up on their own."
Anatole was replaced by an image of the fake Jesse Quick.
"Christina Alexandrova is also a product of the Soviet super hero program but, otherwise, she could hardly be more different." Batman showed a similar set of images of the real and fake 'Jesse' plus Christina while explaining, "She is a psychopath and a murderer. She has worked for such super villains as Vandal Savage and Savitar. She is supposed to be in Belle Reeve."
The speedsters were replaced by the fake Green Arrow, the real Green Arrow and another, all three frozen in the act of shooting an arrow.
"Notice the difference in the grip. 'Green Arrow' is actually the convicted assassin Merlin, another Belle Reeve 'alumnus'. That is presumably the reason for including Green Arrow, since he is not, in fact, a meta."
I could see the difference, but I doubted the congressmen could. They nodded anyway, apparently on data overload.
"We haven't been able to identify the fake Arsenal. The real Arsenal didn't return home last night. This is… not unheard of, so no alarm was raised until it was too late.
"Luthor could not risk the real super heroes showing up. Nothing would wreck his plot more surely than footage of the real super heroes fighting the fake ones. Jesse Quick runs her own business and would be missed, so she couldn't disappear ahead of time. That might seem to make her a strange choice, but – given the identical costumes – it would be almost impossible to tell whether there were two super speedsters present or whether there was one who only appears to be in two places at once because she's moving so fast. DEO agents showed up at her place of work within minutes of the attack. It is very difficult to take a super fast meta by surprise, but they managed it. Her administrative assistant swears Jesse was working in her office all afternoon.
"In the case of the JLA, Luthor used members who left two days ago on that mission in space."
Paul Booker shifted in his chair. "You forgot me. They got a fake Major Disaster."
Batman turned his gaze to Major Disaster. "I didn't forget you," he told Booker. "You're a special case, so I will leave you to last."
Booker nodded and lapsed back into silence.
Batman continued, "Luthor apparently knows just who left and who stayed. He didn't include Faith or Raven Manitou in his 'JLA', but their powers are particularly hard to fake and they aren't widely known."
From their faces, I doubted either congressman knew who they were.
"Green Arrow always takes a nap in the afternoon before going out on patrol."
I suppressed a smile. Poor Oliver was finding it difficult to keep up the strenuous life style of a super hero now that he was on the wrong side of forty. Bruce could probably sympathize.
"DEO agents captured him in his bed in Star City," Batman continued, "again, minutes after the attack on the Capitol, three thousand miles away."
"You haven't mentioned Captain Atom," Zabrowski pointed out.
"Because we don't know the facts in his case. We can only speculate. But he is known for his staunch patriotism. It would be easy for Luthor to lure him in with a request for help and then use the Mad Hatter to take control of his mind and work him like a puppet."
A hint of worry crossed Booker's face.
Batman shrugged. "But we don't know."
"That really is Captain Atom?" demanded Zabrowski.
"It appears to be. His powers are quite distinctive and there is plenty of footage of his using them outside against the HDC."
"You admit that one of your number attacked us and you still expect us to trust you?"
"What about me?" Booker broke in loudly. "You've talked about all the others. Who's the fake me?"
Batman turned his gaze on Major Disaster and I tensed.
"It's no fake, Booker. That's you."
"Huh? You… what do you mean?"
"You disappeared for thirty-six hours immediately after the mission to Kylaq. You showed up at the next meeting looking hung over. We all thought you had been on a bender. But that's not what happened. They grabbed you. The Mad Hatter normally needs an electronic device next to your skin to control you, but Luthor knew that would never get past the Watchtower's security systems. So the Scarecrow ferreted out your every fear and turned them against you while the Mad Hatter brainwashed you. And afterwards they didn't need any electronic device because your programming was burned into your subconscious."
"You're lying!" Booker jumped to his feet and took a step towards Batman, his fists clenched. Sweat broke out on his forehead. I stood and stepped behind him – waiting for the signal, praying it wouldn't come.
"You told Luthor about the mission to D'K'Nor and who had gone on it. Then, at 4:50 pm this afternoon, you teleported up to the Watchtower. There you sabotaged the comm system, booby trapped the Watchtower and attacked Dawn."
"NO!" Booker cried, taking another step toward Batman. "I would never…."
"Yes."
I had not seen Dawn approach. She stepped towards Booker, her face as grave and emotionless as ever. He turned towards her and seemed to collapse in upon himself.
"You seized my arms. I thought you intended rape. I stepped between to escape. Now I understand it was not your doing, that others controlled you. I forgive you."
"NO!" Booker turned towards Batman. "You turned her against me, too! You think I don't know how all of you laugh about me behind my back and call me 'Major Dork'? But she liked me anyways. She was the only one and now you got her thinking I'm crazy. I'm gonna…."
The ground quivered under our feet. Batman stepped up to Booker and put his hands on his shoulders.
"This isn't you, Booker, this is their subconscious programming. I know you can fight it. I know you are stronger than this."
"I…."
Booker started shaking and the quivering escalated into a continuous rolling. I heard mutterings from behind me and now I prayed Batman would not wait too long before he gave the signal to take Booker down. What a poor return on their hospitality, I thought, if Booker lays waste to Atlantis.
Batman gripped the man's shoulders. "You can do it, Booker, you can beat them. Or are you the puppet they think you are?"
There was a single sharp shake and someone screamed. Then it stopped. Booker slumped against Batman who said, quietly, "Good man."
Batman turned his head. "Jade, give Booker a hand to the hospital wing." He turned back to Booker. "They can help you."
Jade, glowing slightly green, came up and stretched out a hand towards Booker, but he brushed it off.
"I don't need your help," Booker snarled. He straightened slowly and trudged down the center aisle, followed uncertainly by Jade.
"How do we know," Empress wondered, looking around worriedly, "who else Luthor has gotten to?"
"Because," Batman replied coldly, "everyone got an EEG as part of their medical exam – except Dawn, who refused on religious grounds. And since she not only warned us about Major Disaster but has not left the Watchtower – the one place I know Luthor can't get into – since before the Mad Hatter disappeared from Belle Reeve, she's safe. Only Booker failed his EEG. The rest of you are clean."
"Oh."
"Well, I'm not satisfied," Zabrowski announced loudly. "How do you expect us to trust you after that display?"
Batman turned his attention back to the congressman. "You want to know? Fine, I'll show you."
A new image took shape behind him. Even frozen, with maximum computer enhancement, the figure was little more than a blur.
"This is Kid Flash, formerly known as Impulse." A murmur spread across the room as the name change sunk in. "He was summoned by Gypsy shortly after the start of the attack. Since he was coming from Keystone City, over a thousand miles away, it took him about ninety seconds to arrive; time enough – unfortunately – for the fake superheroes to make their escape.
"On his approach to Washington, he tripped sensors Luthor had emplaced to detect the approach of super fast metas, triggering force beam projectors around the Capitol."
The image shifted to the Capitol. Everything moved in ultra-slow motion.
"The force beams themselves are invisible but you can see their effect on the soldiers. Note Kid Flash hasn't even arrived yet."
Soldiers started being knocked over and flung away from the building as Bart's blur entered the far side of the picture.
"The effect of the force beams is roughly equivalent to running headlong into a brick wall. Most of the soldiers are just knocked out, but that one there…" a circle appeared around one of the soldiers "… has clearly broken his neck. And there remains the impact with whatever they are flung against. Imagine what the impact would be for someone running at hypersonic speed. Actually, you won't have to imagine – you'll see in a moment."
"I'm sure it's bad news," Zabrowski replied acidly, "but I don't see how any of this answers my question. Either answer it or I'm out of here."
The image froze and Batman leaned over the podium and speared the congressman with his coldest, most dangerous glare.
"You will sit there and watch this or I will tie you down. If you want to leave afterwards, you're free to go but you WILL watch this."
I closed my eyes. I knew I should have given the briefing.
"The force beams," Batman continued as the images started moving again, "are broad – they have to be to catch a speedster like Kid Flash. That means they also caught a lot of soldiers. Since even in slow motion he's just a blur across the screen, it would appear that Kid Flash attacked the soldiers and sent them scattering pell-mell. If some are killed or seriously injured, that just makes it all the better from Luthor's point of view. When Kid Flash is squashed flat by the force beams, it will be assumed that some soldier got in a lucky shot. Only it doesn't work out quite that way."
The blur that was Kid Flash suddenly detoured and disappeared from the screen.
"He brushed the front of the force beam and changed direction before it could affect him. That is incredible reflexes, even for him." Batman's voice now took on a commanding edge. "Now watch."
The blur reappeared briefly, disappeared, reappeared, then disappeared again. Each time he disappeared, one of the soldiers disappeared with him.
"He is grabbing the soldiers off the front of the force beams. Rescuing them at the risk of his own life. Any miscalculation and he hits the force beam and…."
Batman left that hanging. "The seventeen most badly injured he took to the emergency room. Actually several emergency rooms, once the first one filled up. All are expected to live, even the man with the broken neck. More than thirty others, less injured, he deposited in safe locations around the capitol, such as the National Mall.
"Ah, here it comes." A second blur appeared. It hit the force beams and…. Batman froze the image. Oracle had done an extra careful job of enhancing this image, I knew. Batman spoke into the sudden hush.
"That is Jay Garrick, the original Flash. He wasn't as lucky – he collided with one of the force beams. Fortunately, Kid Flash plucked him off the beam before he took the full brunt of it."
Oracle had told me what happened, but it wasn't the same as seeing it. Jay didn't look 'fortunate'; he looked broken.
"Jay is in critical but stable condition at the Keystone City STAR Labs."
A muted cheer met the news. Batman continued.
"Kid Flash didn't stop there. He rescued Hourman, Hawkgirl and Superboy. He broke his ankle while rescuing Hourman; he wrapped it with a rag and went back. He broke his shoulder catching Superboy after Superboy was blasted out of the sky. He would have gone back again even so, but Joan Garrick forbade it."
The screen turned back into a view of Atlantis. Batman looked Zabrowski in the eye.
"That is what I expect you to trust, Congressman. I don't give a good goddamn whether you trust me, but I expect you to trust a young boy who would put his life on the line, repeatedly, for people who were shooting at him. I expect you to trust Gypsy, who saved your lives in an impossible situation at great personal risk. I expect you to trust Wonder Woman, who put her body between you and soldiers who were trying to kill you. I expect you to trust Zatanna, who saved people from Luthor's attack until she was totally exhausted, then went out and did it again.
"I expect you to trust Major Disaster, who fought the hardest battle of his life just now when it would have been so easy to give in and destroy people who do make fun of him behind his back – and, incidentally, destroy you two as well.
"That's what I expect you to trust."
Zabrowski looked hesitant. "None of this is proof of anything."
Batman gave him his almost-smile – a teacher who is surprised at what a good study his student turned out to be.
"No, it isn't. It isn't intended to be. It is intended to convince you to give us a chance to obtain proof. It is almost midnight in Washington. That gives us six, maybe seven, hours before Ross reconvenes Congress. We can get proof in that time, but we need unimpeachable witnesses who can stand before Congress and swear to what we've found. We need you. Both of you."
"It sounds dangerous."
"It will be. But it's dangerous either way. We recorded this just over an hour ago."
Two news anchors – one male, one female and both looking tired and rumpled – appeared on the screen.
"This just in," said the man. "The White House has reported that they have recovered the body of Representative Arlen Jackson from beneath the rubble of the Capitol building. That brings to five the number of members of congress known dead in this heinous attack."
"And Senator Connelly and Representative Zabrowski are still unaccounted for," the woman added. "The White House spokesman admitted that they had little hope of finding either alive. They are almost certainly buried in the remains of the House Chamber."
"But, but…." Zabrowski stammered.
"Luthor can't afford any contradictory voices and he couldn't know what Jackson had learned," Batman told him. "If you choose not to go with us, I suggest you make your return to Washington as public as possible. It will make it more difficult for Luthor to have you murdered that way."
Zabrowski shook his head, not in negation but incomprehension.
"I don't know what to do," he whispered.
"I do." We all turned our attention in surprise to Senator Connelly. "I know I'm not as smart as you, Piotr, but I do know this: we swore an oath to support and defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Unless you're sure these people are lying to us, it's our responsibility to investigate and bear witness to what we find."
I understood, now, why Luthor had felt sufficiently threatened by this man to want him dead. He had the moral authority to rally opposition against Luthor's attempt to stampede Congress. That was a rare quality in a politician.
Zabrowski looked at Batman. "What do you plan to do?"
"Luthor's clone factory is the only place we can get the proof we need in time. That's where we'll go." He looked around the hall. "All of us."
"Hey!" interjected Power Girl. "Some of us have to rescue the people he's captured. Jakeem, Marvel and the others."
"We can't afford to split our forces. For every hero we have gathered here, Luthor has taken at least one out of play; either captured, hospitalized or missing."
"All the more reason to go rescue them!"
"No. First off, we don't know where he's keeping them…."
"Belle Reeve," stated Hourman. "I'll bet anything it's Belle Reeve."
"Quite possibly," Batman conceded. "Do you know for sure? Neither do I and we have only six hours. It's far more important to get the evidence to stop Luthor. If we do, they'll be freed automatically. If we don't, it won't matter how many of us there are. We'll have lost."
"Who needs Congress?" cried Supergirl. "We can take Luthor out ourselves!"
"That," said Connelly in a voice that commanded attention, "would be an act of war against the United States."
"Exactly," added Batman. "It would make Luthor's accusations true."
Supergirl did not reply, but her eyes smoldered.
"There will be two assault teams," Batman continued, "one to draw the defenders' attention and one to insert and protect the people collecting evidence. Nightwing will lead the diversionary team and I'll lead the insertion team."
The JSAers stirred at Nightwing's name, but everyone who had been involved in the Atlantis incident nodded in agreement.
"Wonder Woman will accompany the congressmen and be responsible for their safety. Team One will consist of myself and…."
"I'm coming with you," Lois Lane stated loudly. She had been quietly scribbling away up to this point. Now she looked up and faced down the Batman's coldest stare. "The people need to hear this story and you need the power of the press on your side."
"Given your friendship with Superman," Batman retorted, "your objectivity is likely to be questioned."
Lois Lane narrowed her eyes. "I'm coming with you," she repeated.
Batman scowled. "Fine. You can accompany Nightwing's team."
Nightwing, seated in the back between Lian and Changeling, looked up in dismay. Then he pasted his best smile on his face and shouted, "Sure. Welcome aboard, Lois."
"Thanks, Nightwing," she called back, never breaking eye contact with Batman, "but I won't be palmed off on the diversion. I want to be inside seeing what Luthor is up to."
Batman growled menacingly. Lois was unmoved.
I laughed. "Enough, Batman. Lois, you're with Team One."
Lois nodded and leaned back in her seat.
Batman continued to scowl but went on quickly, before anyone else could interrupt. "Team One will consist of myself, Hourman as second-in-command, Power Girl, Wildcat, the Star-spangled Girl, S.T.R.I.P.E., Elongated Man, Blue Beetle and Jade. Team Two will consist of Nightwing, Supergirl as second-in-command, Flamebird, Changeling, Steel, Mary Marvel, Jason Blood, Empress and the Ray."
"Me!" yelped Supergirl. "I don't want to be…."
"Supergirl!" yelped Wildcat. "What the f…."
"Hey!" cried Supergirl, turning on Wildcat. "You got a problem with me? Because…."
Batman's deep baritone drowned out both voices. "Nightwing, Hourman, Supergirl and Wonder Woman will come with me. We need to finalize plans. The rest of you get ready. We leave in twenty minutes."
He stepped from behind the podium and strode determinedly down the main aisle. He ignored the cacophony of competing voices. I followed right behind. Even so, we were not fast enough to avoid Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man. He stretched his legs to reach the center aisle in one step. I checked and, yes, his nose was twitching, Hades take the man.
"Yes, Ralph," Batman growled, "you can sit in."
As we reached the doors, Nightwing extricated himself from the crowd and joined us. I heard the soft thump as Supergirl landed behind us, having simply flown over everyone. Gypsy appeared right in front Batman, staring up into his eyes.
"You said you needed me," she said accusingly, "but I'm not on either team."
Batman's grim half-smile should have warned her to be careful what she asked for.
Batman merely said, "Come." We left the hall, and the milling crowd, behind.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the long delay. I would blame it on the length of this chapter (which did take a couple of weeks to write plus time for beta reading & revisions) but most of the delay was due to other things. While I am not foolish enough to make any more promises, I will do my best to keep the story on track. Supergirl is not the one now appearing in Superman/Batman but the one who appeared in 80 issues of her own comic until it was cancelled in 2002. Whitehorse is featured in any number of issues of Birds of Prey. Ralph Dibny's nose twitches whenever he 'smells' a mystery. Daxamites have super powers comparable to Superman's. The Atlantis incident referred to is, of course, "The Obsidian Age" where Nightwing led the alternate JLA. Luthor states he patented the Bizarros in the trade paperback, "Bizarro's World". Anatole appeared in Flash (3rd series) #7, 8 and 12. Christina Alexandrova appeared in Flash #8 and the trade paperback "Dead Heat".