I really should have planned this out beforehand, thought Hawkgirl ruefully as she fled down one of the compound's many corridors. In the heat of escape, she had assumed that she would be able to just rush in, grab John, and get out ASAP. That option, for a number of reasons was no longer viable.
Her knuckles still hurt from the workout they'd just been put through, but combat had been necessary for an escape, and knocking out both guards was vital if she wanted to conserve time.
"Hey!" came an alarmed shout from behind her. She turned, a scowl permeating her features. There were two Adepts giving hot pursuit, and they were going much faster than she was capable of. The closeness of the corridor's walls made flying an untenable option, so Hawkgirl's only choice was to face them.
She ground to a sudden halt, using her wings to create wind resistance aiding in her stop. Then she extended both those wings so that they spanned the length of the hallway.
Neither Adept was able to stop as fast. The first collided head on with the outstretched wing, the air whooshing from her lungs and consciousness deserting her. The second, who had been in mid-jump, clipped her shin on the other wing and went flying forward, landing painfully on her shoulder in front of Hawkgirl.
To her credit, she got up with an impressive quickness and went into a fighting stance. Centering her balance and preparing for a fight. She might have been able to win . . .If Hawkgirl had been playing by the rules.
But she wasn't. With a blinding efficiency, Hawkgirl pulled out a plasma pistol she had stolen from one of the prison guards earlier and shot the Adept right in the throat. The firearm was on stun, but even that setting was enough to knock the Adept unconscious and render her incapable of so much as a whisper, much less a cry of alarm for the foreseeable future.
A firearm was nice, but her mace would be better. Not to mention the unstoppable force John would become if he could get his ring back. She walked over to the first Adept and grabbed her by the collar, slapping her a few times across the face until she came to.
The Adept's first instinct was to shout, but the cold hard metal that felt suspiciously like a blaster barrel pressed against her throat stopped her.
"Listen," Hawkgirl said coldly. "I don't have much time, so I need you to be as honest as possible with the answers to the questions I'm about to ask you. If you lie, my hawk Vision will be able to sense your body's duplicity and I will be forced to kill you and find another source of information."
"It was probably one of the biggest loads of BS Hawkgirl had ever spouted off in her life. She was not going to be killing anyone and she sure as heck didn't have any kind of Hawk Vision. The Adept bought it hook line and sinker though, so Hawkgirl was happy.
"Where are Green Lantern and Aja?" she asked.
The Adept's eyes smoldered with fury, but she still answered. "They are completing the . . . Ritual," she gasped.
Hawkgirl had a sinking feeling she knew what "The Ritual" was. "Where is it?" she demanded. "Here?"
"No," came the choked reply. "In main courtyard, approximately a half kilometer south."
Hawkgirl silently absorbed this information. "Now, do you know where Green Lantern's ring and my mace are?"
The Adept nodded, careful not to press too hard into the plasma barrel.
"Great." Hawkgirl grabbed the other woman by the collar, yanked her to her feet, and spun her around so that her back was to Hawkgirl. She jammed the plasma blaster into the base of the Adept's spine to keep her from doing anything stupid, and then leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "You're going to take me there. But first . . ." Hawkgirl reached for the woman's communicator and flipped it open. "You're going to make a call."
"Are you sure it wise to proceed with the ceremony when Hawkgirl is still at large?" asked Bela, a blanket of apprehension on her face.
"Dere is nothing to fear," replied Aja confidently. Dere is still a formidable Adept presence at de base, and even if she were to miraculously defeat dem, she will be tired and worn out, especially without dat blasted mace of hers. Relax and enjoy de celebration-I'm getting married after all.
"A pity that the groom does not share your enthusiasm."
Aja merely smiled. "He will, Bela. Trust me, he-" Her sentence was cut off by the faint but still discernible hip-hop stylings of a certain bling-obsessed 'gangsta rappa'. Bela stared.
Aja gave an embarrassed shrug. "Ringtones," she said apologetically, pulling out her communicator and flipping it open. "Dey're all de rage on de outside. Besides, its rather catchy, don't you think?" She held the communicator to her ear. "Hello?"
"Aja, this is Mrena. I-I called to inform you that we have s-successfully recaptured Hawkgirl."
Aja frowned at the strange lilt to her lieutenant's voice. "Mrena, is everything alright?"
"Yes. Its-its just a cold."
"Very well then. Have her suitably attired for the ceremony. She is the maid of honor, after all."
"Understood. Mrena out." The connection vanished, leaving Aja to smile triumphantly at her subordinate.
"You see," she said. "Nothing to worry about."
Hoping that Aja had bought the coerced conversation, Hawkgirl allowed the connection and then prodded Mrena with the gun barrel. "Now take me to my mace."
John Stewart had always figured he'd suffer at least slightly from cold feet when he was about to get married. Who didn't. after all? However, his apprehension now was anything but ordinary.
He was not going to spend the rest of his life here inside of this haven for criminals married to a beautiful, yet completely certified psychopath. It just wasn't an option. Couldn't happen, and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure it didn't.
His thoughts drifted to Shayera, wondering if she was OK. He hadn't seen her for quite some time, but it didn't sound as though Aja planned to kill her. Not yet anyway. As for why she wanted Hawkgirl to even be present, much less as the maid of honor . . .that was definitely beyond him. Certifiable indeed.
"I don't suppose you're gonna want a ring now," John muttered when Aja moved closer.
"I already have one, or have you so soon forgotten. I imagine it is de most valuable wedding ring a woman could hope to receive, no?"
John said nothing.
"Cheer up," Aja entreated. "Can't you see that this was meant to be? You and I, John Stewart, we have both tasted real power. Our intellects, our minds. . .we are indeed perfect for each other. So superior to de worthless rabble that you feel compelled to protect. Together, we could rule this world."
"Under Lucas's thumb?"
A gleam sparked in Aja's eye as she leaned closer to John and brushed her lips across his forehead, making a trail of light kisses to his mouth. "Lucas is a means to an end," she said, her lips brushing his with each word. "Nothing more. He will soon have outlived his usefulness." She pulled back. Put her hands on his shoulders. "But enough with such morbid thoughts, dey are for another time. For now, de ceremony's about to start."
Hawkgirl thought she had a plan, a good one too, given the amount of time she'd had to work on it. Of course, the fact that she now had her mace in her hand and John's ring in her pocket, made her feel a lot more confident.
Even if she got John his ring, a direct confrontation wouldn't work. The combined might of all of the Adepts would overpower them, if only by sheer numbers. A head-on fight was out of the question.
So what she needed was a diversion. . .
"I guess you guys have never heard of courtship, huh," muttered John as he stood next to Aja, ready to get the stylized tattoo that would complete the marriage ritual.
"What is dis 'courtship'?"
"Never mind."
"If dere is something you need me to say or do dat will make you more comfortable, John Stewart, all you have to do is tell me."
"The only thing you can do to make me more comfortable is to release me from this."
"De alternative is prison, perhaps even execution. Surely being my consort is such a horrible fate."
John didn't answer. Aja had a point. He'd been beaten. He was a prisoner of war and by all rights should be enjoying the accommodations of a dungeon or worse, dead.
Aja smiled. "I dink it is beginning to . . .how you say . . .sink in , just how fortunate you are, John Stewart."
"What about Shayera?" John asked, changing the subject.
"Forget about her. I will keep her alive, if dat is what you are wondering. Her escape attempt, however, takes matters out of my hands. But that is irrelevant. She was your past, but I am your future."
John didn't answer. He paid no attention to the dull, utterances of the priestess who officiated the ceremony. Instead, he prayed for a miracle.
And that was when he heard a voice he had never expected to hear again.
"What is it with men and weapons?" mused Diana as she typed instructions into one of the station's many computer relays. "Like little children collecting toys, except replacing those with weapons of mass destruction."
"Am I supposed to answer that?" asked Batman from the front of the room. He was busy poring over the latest satellite atmospheric data.
"You could try. It is a question that genuinely perplexes me, why anyone should want to have so much destructive power. Take those in the Pentagon for instance, who have enough raw weaponry to destroy the planet a dozen times over. That kind of might borders on the obscene. And this from a so-called humanitarian government."
"'Speak softly and carry a big stick'", Batman quoted. That is the basis for America's weapons policies. Our military might is not intended to be used for simply throwing our weight around in the world. Or even at all. But it is necessary to be able to defend a nation, especially a nation that has so many enemies. There is a limit, however, and I agree with you. The kind of weaponry that President Groenig just described is obscene, and definitely illegal. After Lucas is dealt with, whatever rogue government personnel and organizations responsible for amassing it will have to be dealt with as well."
"I certainly hope so," said Diana.
Batman nodded. "That said, I think I know now Lucas needed three days."
"Do tell."
"His control over the earth's atmosphere isn't stable yet. He can create some chaos, sure, and localized effects, but the process that his operatives are undergoing isn't complete. Not yet. By the deadline though, it will be."
"Which means that if we are going to take action, it needs to be the next few days," Diana finished.
"Precisely."
"Shayera?" John queried as the winged form with the oh-so-familiar voice swooped down.
"Impossible," seethed Aja, her features clouding with rage. "She's supposed to be in the dungeons."
"So hard to get good intelligence these days, huh," yelled Shayera, even as she incapacitated the two nearest Adepts with her energy-charged battle mace, which she had somehow regained.
"Adepts, kill her!" Aja shouted, stepping away from John. Her eyes began to glow and dozens of Adepts took to the skies to subdue Hawkgirl.
"John!" Hawkgirl yelled. "Catch!" She withdrew an item from her belt and threw it in a perfect arc towards John. Even if he hadn't been able to see it, he could have felt the energies burning inside of the small object. It was his power ring.
He summoned it to him with all the willpower he could muster, and the ring complied wholeheartedly, sliding onto his finger and instantly giving him his green aura as well as changing his forced ceremonial garb into his costume. Aja had only seconds to stare before he slammed a green energy hammer into her head so hard it spun her 360°. For all of her power, such a brutal blow was too much for even Aja and she immediately crumpled, like a marionette whose strings had just been cut.
"Shayera," John called as he flew up join her in the air, his beams swathing a path through the Adepts. "Thanks for the ring, but how were you intending to escape?"
Hawkgirl's mace connected solidly with an Adept's face, removing that one from the fight. Simultaneously, her foot lashed out to strike another assailant on the back of the neck, the blow resounding with a loud crack. "I had a diversion planned," Hawkgirl panted once they got close enough to fight back-to-back. "It should have gone off by-"
Her words were interrupted by an earth-shattering boom from the distance. The explosion was almost blinding at first, but then something else interesting happened.
The shimmering haze of Grenat's protective force field disappeared.