CHAPTER 2: This Does Not Bode Well
"Wow, this was a totally nice idea, Peter. Just you and me under the sun and like watching to clouds roll by," Kitty sighed as she and Piotr sat on the cotton blanket on the crest of a small, grassy knoll on the Institute's grounds. It truly was a lovely day, with a soft cool breeze from the neighboring ocean and the only sounds were chirping larks flying overhead. Even the X-Mansion was serene without a single explosion or screaming ruckus.
Piotr was inwardly cheering as his wrapped his strong arms around Kitty's waist as she leaned backwards against his body. As a surprise, the Russian mutant decided to give Kitty an enjoyable picnic (in which he insistently made the entire lunch) not too far from the Institute grounds. Kitty was completely taken aback and touched at the romantic gesture, and she readily agreed to go along wholeheartedly.
And the best part of it was it was just the two of them, sharing watercress sandwiches, hummus, and watermelon, alone and with no Misfits, no nosy X-Men comrades, no Lance.
"Thank you, God," whispered Piotr as he brought his cheek against Kitty's soft hair, enjoying her scent. His prayers had been answered at last, after so much grueling and racking
"Lemme guess, this is the calm, romantic scene where you spew out some lame poetry and declare her the world on a pedestal before you succeed in getting her panties around her ankles, Mr. Gigolo?" an unfamiliar voice, rough and wise-cracking drawled behind them. Piotr, even though he didn't know why, knew on some sixth sense that a strange voice on the grounds of the heavily guarded X-Mansion was not a good thing, and without a hesitation, he switched into full-armor mode, the organic steel immediately layering itself over his body as he shielded Kitty.
He was right. A split-second later, a white, hot and lethal burst of electricity shot out and struck his back, causing Colossus to wince. Damn, even with his indestructible and energy-resistant steel safeguard, Colossus could feel a considerable amount of pain underneath. That was a powerful energy attack.
"I want a refund…" hissed Colossus with cheated antagonism at any deity who just loved putting him through the wringer as he and Kitty angrily whirled behind them with much offended and dangerous hostility. There, standing on the grass with streams of crackling electricity snaking around her body was a slender, white-skinned woman in a skin-tight suit and boots made of ionized air and with her blue, nefarious eyes matching her spiked blue hair piled high and pointing upwards in the heavens.
"Hey, I'm impressed," sneered Live Wire as she readied another ball of energy in her gloved fist, "Not many people was still remain standing after handling one of my best shots, but I'll give it time before I can break a nice, hunk of Russian steak such as yourself, stud-boy."
She shot another wide flare, aiming for both Kitty and Piotr, but Kitty growled as she grabbed her boyfriend's hand, phasing the both of them through the stream of lightning as the energy simply cremated the evidence of the picnic and the grass, sending all of Piotr's hand work for naught.
"Something's like going to break, all right!" snapped Shadowcat as she and Colossus charged with fists and karate-skills ready, "How about I use my foot to totally lodge like whatever pipe's that stuck up your butt even further, you tramp!"
Shadowcat leapt, hoping to tackle the strange woman and phase her partway into the grassy terrain, leaving her stuck, but without fail, Live Wire grinned before turning into a being of pure electromagnetic energy, a white intangible specter before sinking into the underground power cables that supplied the X-Mansion and headed directly for the Institute.
"She's like headed for the Mansion!" gasped Shadowcat as she and Colossus ran towards the Institute, hoping that they could get there in time to warn the Professor and the X-Men as Piotr screamed as loudly as he could in his head, hoping that Xavier could pick up on his thoughts via telepathy.
Professor Xavier, Professor Xavier! We have an alert! A strange woman with electrical powers just attacked me and Kitty! And she's headed for the Mansion! She's going to try to attack everyone in the Mansion!
I know, Peter! The Professor practically roared that one statement loudly enough to even be heard by Jean who was far in the opposite wing of the manor, ready to rush in with Scott, Kurt, and Remy in alarm as Live Wire was now suddenly creating havoc in the living room, causing a few noticeable fires and sending many of the mutant to duck behind non-conductive wooden furniture and diving for cover through doorways.
"Who the hell are you, you little homewrecker?" snarled Wolverine, already suited up for a practice Danger Room session when he was alerted of the scuffle and forgot his daily exercise routines he bolted out only to see the commotion. Logan lunged, dodging the beams Live Wire shot at him before twisting his body into a full spiral with his clawed arms stretched outwards the enemy. Live Wire managed to change herself into a bolt of lightning as Wolverine passed by, saving herself from being severely cleaved into two large body parts. Enraged, Live Wire re-solidified into human form before blasting Wolverine at full-strength. Logan howled in rage and spasmodic, racking throes, and the inimical woman thought she had killed him.
Yet to her surprise, Wolverine just grinned, his healing factor kicking in, as his ashy and blackened skin diminished, his flesh regenerating itself underneath the layer of flaky, charcoal skin . Live Wire eyes widened in shock before smiling to herself.
"So there's one of them," she muttered as she flung another barrage of electrical blitzes, but Bobby, now intent on protecting everyone, brilliantly made a wall of ice in front of Wolverine, Tabitha, Bobby and Ray, blocking the searing heat-waves. And since frozen water molecules were not conductive like its liquid form, Live Wire was unable to get at them.
"Leave us alone, you meanie!" Jamie yelled as he and four other clones aimed their yellow and red glovatrixes and fired simultaneously, yelling in unison, "Crossbow missiles…AWAY!"
Live Wire made the mistake of thinking she could simply obliterate the incoming shafts, but to her surprise, the X-Man fired petrified, wooden arrows at her, and unlike metal, wood didn't melt nor succumb to electrical attacks. And with them being petrified, she couldn't burn nor singe them into ashes. Dodging like mad, Live Wire managed to avoid the five mini-spears, but one managed to graze her right side painfully, causing her fury to go to absolute bloodthirsty savageness in seconds.
"Now you made Live Wire mad, you little snot-nosed rugrat! Die, you brats!" she screamed as she blasted at the clones. In torment, the clones could only scream in pain as they were all electrocuted and vanished into thin air, the kinetic energy of the doppelgangers fading into nothingness. Now only the original Multiple was next and he cried out in alarm as Live Wire sent the killing blow.
"Multiple, duck!" cried out Jake as he brought out a Tesla force-field with his glovatrix and tackled Jamie to the ground. Jamie hugged Jake gratefully as the protective older kat-brother managed to use the oval-shaped disc to cover both himself and the younger adolescent, and like clockwork, the powerful electrical beam ricocheted off the resistant arm-guard of Razor.
That was when Rogue had enough.
"That's it! The gloves are comin' off, Sparky!" Rogue snarled as she dive-bombed with an uncovered fist outstretched. Live Wire made a move to blast her, but she found herself held in place by Jean's telekinesis, unable to move. Which was how Rogue managed to graze the smooth skin of Live Wire's forehead with her knuckles. Both Rogue and Live Wire screamed in pain upon the contact, and it wasn't the least bit pleasant, especially since Rogue felt like she was going to explode with so much energy rushing into her psyche and body. Even though the touch was only a split-second, the Southern-belle was amazed at how much power Live Wire actually had. Having enough, with all of her strength, Live Wire managed to send the both of them flying with a sudden discharge of electricity that literally engulfed the entire room, and gasping, Jean lost her hold on the savage electrical wretch as she used her telekinesis to shield everyone from being shocked to death. Sensing freedom, Live Wire managed to transform into a being of electricity and traveled out of the room in a flash before materializing and hoping to attack the building itself with her electrical pulses, hoping to cause a cave-in.
No such luck.
"Begone, Jezebel!" growled Storm, now incredibly angry as the winds around her dropped to sub-zero temperatures and picked up the speed and intensity of a typhoon, "You are not welcome here at our haven!"
Live Wire contemplated on trying to kill Storm right then and there, but a series of explosions from close-by caught her full-attention. Looking up, she saw the X-Men Boom-Boom, Magma, and Gambit up on the roof of the X-Mansion alongside Kurt, managing to hurl a series of plasma time-bombs, lava fireballs, and bio-kinetic cards directly upon Live Wire, raining down on the electric monster in a deadly hailstorm. Kurt had grabbed on all three of them and teleported the girls and Remy outside on top of the mansion for a good, aerial, bird's eye view of the field. And Amara, Tabitha, and Remy were teaming up their attacks for a deadly a precise combination that would have been enough to take out a Sentinel instantly, uniting their mutant powers as an unstoppable front exactly like Cyclops and Wolverine had taught them many times in the Danger Room.
Sensing the odds were against her, Live Wire did the next best thing. With a smirk, she transformed into an electrical being before immersing herself into a nearby power-line and traveled away from the mansion and towards the city in a hasty retreat.
"Merde!" snarled Gambit in rage, "The femme is retreating! She's getting' away!"
"Like hell she will!" snarled Rogue as she and Storm took to the skies to track her down, flying as fast as they could in the direction Live Wire ran off in.
The Professor then telepathically told everyone, X-Men, suit up and be prepared to leave in the X-Van. Wolverine, Razor, follow Rogue and Storm through your motorcycles and scout the areas up ahead, providing both of them additional support and backup. Cyclops, Jean, Bezerker, Iceman, Shadowcat, Colossus, Gambit, Nightcrawler, all of your come with me. Forge, Hank, both of you put the X-Mansion on high alert and keep the rest of the X-Men inside. If this is a ploy to trick us into leaving the X-Mansion vulnerable, then the rest must stay behind to guard Cerebro and our home from any hostile invaders and spies.
"Hey! That's not fair! We should get to come too! We fought the Alliance at Megakat City! We have a right to get this witch too! She attacked all of us!" protested Roberto, but Logan, not in the mood for any arguments, shot the remainder of the New Mutants the evil eye.
"No arguments, any of you!" With Logan being seriously annoyed, none of the X-Men wished to antagonize the elder even more.
"Aw, don't take it too personally, Roberto," crowed Ray, almost sneering, as he passed by, not resisting the urge to twist the knife, "I'm sure you'll eventually get a chance to prove your worth in a mission…one of these days."
Roberto angrily made a mental reminder to booby-trap Ray's bed again, but he made the most innocent smile he could muster and grinned, trying to suppress the urge to take his fist and ram it directly into Ray's mouth.
Within minutes, Wolverine and Razor managed to hurry to the garage where their personal, revamped and renovated X-motorcycles were. Logan's was pure, shiny black while Razor's was black, blue, and red, a similar design to the Cyclotron from his days as a SWAT Kat. Wolverine had to rib the kat a bit as Jake placed the red helmet over his head.
"You ready for your first mission, hairball?" Wolverine sneered, "It's not too late to back off now and save face to admit you're a coward openly."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Razor shot back, his voice a bit aloof as he positioned himself into the seat of his motorbike. Wolverine smiled ever wider.
"It's one of the top ten in my most-wanted list, Clawson, along with you getting a flea collar and being shaved bald."
"You're just sore because the Professor, Hank and Ororo are forcing you to share half of your beer and booze supply with me…unless if you don't mind giving Kitty her driving lessons from now on," Razor shot back with fake sweetness. Logan had to irk; that one reason was enough to force him to comply with the others' ultimatum.
"Just try not to fall too far behind, hairball."
"Funny, I was about to say the same to you…old man," and with that, Razor smiled impishly, showing his fangs, gunned the motor of his bike and flew out towards the road before the stunned Wolverine could even react with his own motorcycle.
"It'll be a cold day in hell, punk!" snarled Logan to himself as he tore through the air after Razor, trying his best to close the gap between the two riders. And in a few minutes, all of the requested X-Men took off in the X-Van with the Professor, tracing the signal of Rogue and Storm's radio-communicators as they honed in to the carnival grounds on the outskirts of the city.
Meanwhile, back at the mansion…
"You do realize that there's no way we're going to miss getting back at that witch," Tabitha smiled meaningfully at the rest of the New Mutants. Amara, Roberto, Jamie, and Lockheed all smiled wickedly in return…
"What in the name of Shakespeare and Whitman?" gasped Hank as he and Forge felt the secret door to the hangar's passageway leading out directly into the public streets in front of the X-Mansion, and both Beast and Forge were horrified to see the Aquain tank-submarine come roaring out of the hidden alcove before going directly into Mach-2 and driving towards the carnival at Bayville Commons at sub-sonic speeds.
"How much do you want to bet that we're going to get blamed for this one?" Forge groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead.
"That is probably a most astute presumption," Hank sighed, "and I think I am beginning to see why Logan was so thoroughly against Jake teaching the New Mutants how to drive the Aquain last week along with Kitty."
"Just be grateful Razor didn't get to teach them how to handle the Blackbird as he originally asked the Professor."
000-
"People! We have an alert! Live Wire's been spotted in Bayville, and civilians are going to be in world of hurt!" yelled Roadblock in the living room of Misfit Manor.
"Live Wire!" gasped Cover Girl as she and the rest of the Misfit team rushed into the living room, "Aw geez, anyone but that loud-mouthed tramp!"
"You know her?" asked Lina.
"Let's just say that when she used to be Leslie Willis, an annoying DJ on one of the radio stations in Metropoilis, she said some very unflattering things about G.I. Joe and how Cobra should be regarded as liberal heroes against oppressive government fascists that kind of led to…a messy debate."
"Like she didn't deserve it, and she could never prove that G.I. Joe was responsible for the pig dung and African killer bees," Low Light smirked, "and if I recall correctly, you were the one who sent her a novelty, squirting toy toilet as a present when she was being incarcerated on Stryker's Island."
"Hey, she should be grateful I didn't send her that gag-gift of a rubber diaphragm," retorted the female G.I. Joe, smiling wickedly.
"What in the seven blue seas is that witch doing?" Shipwreck gaped as he watched on the radio-monitor the furious turmoil descending upon the happy, public gathering, the speakers echoing the screaming pandemonium as people scurried and ran for their lives, trampling some and pushing each other in a panic.
"Whatever she's doing, it's not good!" Spirit said as he and the rest of the Joes and the Misfits viewed the horrific scene of Live Wire attacking many men, woman, and children without remorse or guilt and managing to destroy the Ferris wheel and the merry-go-round with a simple flick of her hands, "She's attacking the carnival off Bayville Commons, a half-mile on the off-skirts of Bayville, north-northeast of the city's limits!"
"Then what are we waiting for, slowpokes!" Pietro said impatiently, "Let's move out!"
"Hey, that was my line!" Althea said with a bit of irritation as he gave Quicksilver a swat upside the head.
000-
"God help us," murmured Maggie Sawyer as she and the chief investigators from Gotham City, Commissioner Gordon, his daughter Barbara Gordon, and Detectives Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya surveyed the entire facility of Stryker's Island, its bloodstained grassy fields and putrid aroma of decaying corpses starting to decompose as the last of the victims of the attack were properly bagged and tagged. It was the very next day after the attack on Stryker's Island when Maggie was alerted about the massacre, and even now, they were trying to make sense of all the senseless bloodshed.
That was why the Chief called in her friends and fellow cops from Metropolis; not only has Gotham had its share of ruthless and highly irregular criminals, but she was hoping that perhaps Commissioner Gordon and his posse could help shed some light and identify the criminals who committed the atrocious acts. And in addition, Gotham City and Metropolis had recently become close, almost as cities in tandem due to the strong friendships Maggie and Gordon had developed along with the team-up of Batman and Superman. Any trouble that arose in Metropolis would likely come to Gotham as well, and the Commissioner was grateful for the chance to prep up his city in case of such a similar attack with such insight and knowledge.
After all, knowing was half the battle.
"Dios Mio," murmured Renee Montoya as she surveyed the gruesome scene. She was a middle-aged Hispanic brawler, powerful and sharp, and who had endured enough crime and villainous activity like Joker and Poison Ivy and Clayface to be an experienced and dedicated cop. And unlike her partner, Harvey Bullock, Detective Montoya also knew that vigilantes such as Batman and his posse, though illegal, was something that strengthened and complemented the law rather than made a mockery of it.
"We'll have to alert the families and next-of-kin," whispered Barbara Gordon, her blue eyes quivering at the sight of a young man, no more than twenty-five, whose head was cleanly snapped from his neck, the veins and remnants of the spinal cords still dangling gruesomely. She put a hand over her mouth to force the urge to vomit to subside.
"That will be my jurisdiction, Barbara. You don't need to worry about it," Maggie said wearily, though she was not looking forward to informing them. She was an athletic woman with blond hair as short as a boy's, and her mind was as sharp as a sword when it came to the law and how to run the Metropoilis Police Force. She didn't blame the girl for feeling the urge to cry; she herself would have broken down and wept if it had done any good, if it had offered any chance of bringing back the lives that were ruthlessly cut short. All for that insufferable, disgusting, electric egomaniac.
"Whatever happened, it certainly doesn't seem to be the work of regular psychopaths we've dealt with," Commissioner Gordon stated as he looked at the landscape with his hands in the pockets of his trench-coat, "No laughing gas, no biological toxins or vegetation, we've yet to find a single bullet shell, and I'd doubt that even Croc can murder this many people so quickly. One or two yes…but not over one hundred men and women. And this was done so effectively and strategically, it spells out people who have fighting and warfare expertise, someone who has a lot of training and resources. This isn't you typical gang-shooting or mafia robbery. I mean, non-projectile laser discharges? Bodies burnt from the inside out? People hacked and torn apart? Whoever did this was sick…and powerful."
"Like Cobra? Or Hydra? They may have taken Live Wire to be used as their own super-soldier. Or it could have been done by some other terrorist or mutant group. You know how Magneto is always looking for powerful recruits," Maggie offered.
"I don't think so," admitted the white-haired, mustached man, "But whoever did this isn't human."
"It gets worse," Bullock muttered as he chewed on his toothpick with loathing and disgust at the thought, "The security cameras may have been trashed, but the surviving inmates were able to give some eyewitness accounts on the IDs of the bitches who broke that Willis tramp out. And when our units traced the residual DNA stuff from the brawl left at the scenes, they got a positive match in our databases of where these sluts are from. Let me give you a hint: they're not from this Earth, they've got unnatural weapons and abilities like mutants, and are led by some crackpot granny who used to back Intergang and calls the broads her 'Female Furies'. That rings any bells?"
"Apokolips!" gasped Barbara, instantly recognizing the name as it came to her who was involved.
Maggie's eyes hardened as she clenched a hand into a tight fist. She herself had a personal vendetta against Darkseid and his entire damned legion of hell, ever since her trusted and brave partner, Daniel Turpin was killed by Darkseid's Omega beams when he tried to attack Metropolis. Ever since that day of Turpin's death, she swore to herself that she would do everything in her power to ensure that the evil sides of the Fourth Dimension would never lay a foot on this planet and that Darkseid would regret messing with Earth. If the inhabitants of Apokolips think that she and the rest of the brave people of Earth would just simply give up and let them screw around with their home, they were going to get another thought coming. Dan Turpin died to refuse to submit to Darkseid, and she herself along with countless others will see to it that the legacy of his courage would continue on.
Commissioner Gordon, Barbara, and Detective Montoya also guessed the connection as well. Ever since that fateful day when Darkseid had his armies try to storm and destroy Metropolis, the name Apokolips became a worldwide paranoia, with the inhabitants of the Fourth Dimension being just as feared and infamous as Magneto and Cobra, if that was even possible.
"Then if Darkseid is involved with this…" Commissioner Gordon began.
"…then the Furies and that bastard master of theirs are going to get a little lesson in what happens when they screw with us," Maggie growled, already formulating what she needed to do quickly if they wanted to catch Live Wire.
"I'm sure Turpin would have been proud to hear that one," a figure spoke in a fond tone from behind and all five of them turned to see a familiar G.I. Joe general walking towards them.
"General Hawk." Both Maggie and Commissioner Gordon smiled at the sight of the G.I. Joe general, and it was common knowledge in the police forces in both Metropolis and Gotham City that General Hawk, Maggie Sawyer, and Commissioner Gordon knew each other from their teenage years, practically childhood friends. Even Dan Turpin liked General Hawk; General Hawk was former drinking buddies with Dan Turpin, and he attended the noble man's funeral after that fateful day. And it also came to no surprise that Maggie and Gordon were staunch mutant supporters and firm believers that the X-Men and Misfits were fighting for good of humanity, a good that was not made by the F.O.H or H.A.T.E.
Unfortunately, that move for advocacy has made Maggie and Commissioner Gordon has made more enemies than friends, both socially and politically. But there was little time to dwell on that.
Bullock's face was grim as he flatly said, "So what are you doing here, Hawk? I thought playing babysitter for a bunch of immature mutant kids would have tied up all your normal free-time with wasting government funds with your little Joe troupe there. And let me remind you, chump, that this isn't mutie-town; this was the work of those Apokolips freaks, so you're out of your jurisdiction here."
"Missed you too, Detective," Hawk smirked, not letting the brash man's words affect his goat in any way.
"You haven't been by recently," Commisioner Gordon said in a tone reminiscent of happy childhood memories, a past where they didn't have to worry about the sake of the world going to the shambles of hell, "Hell I haven't seen you over at the pub since you took it upon yourself to house the Misfits. But let's get to the real point; you're not here for a social call, I take it."
Hawk drew his mouth into a grim line as he asserted, "My Joe Mainframe was able to intercept an APB from Bayville's police headquarters. Live Wire was last spotted there a few minutes ago, and right now, she's probably causing a lot of havoc and destruction. We just sent out Misfits and some of our G.I. Joe soldiers over there to help contain her and protect the townspeople."
"Bayville? Isn't that the town in New York where the X-Men are?" Montoya asked, realizing what Live Wire would want to do in such a town. General Hawk nodded forlornly.
"She couldn't possibly be that stupid to take those crazy kids on," muttered Bullock, "All right, those kids are amateurs, delusional, and at best rookies playing a man's game of war, but I'd doubt that even Joker is off his rocker enough to mess with those mutant vigilantes. So what the hell could that blue-haired electric bimbo even want from the X-men and that Xavier stuffed shirt? Last time I checked, she doesn't even show any interest in anything not related to Superman or Bats back in Gotham. And to fight against a team of kids who are probably just as tough as she is is definitely a sign that she's not right in the head."
"Maybe she isn't doing this because she wants to," Montoya mused, rubbing her chin, "Remember, the Furies broke her out, and chances are, she's working for them now, so if she's in Bayville, then she's taking orders from them and Darkseid."
"True, but it doesn't fit their usual MO. Live Wire would only work with people if she was willing, like she had done before with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy or when she, Metallo, Kalibak, the Toyman, and the Weather Wizard attacked the Daily Planet and nearly killed Superman. And even then, Live Wire is, at best, almost as powerful as the bad guys from Apokolips; they would never try recruiting an Earthling for their services, especially since she doesn't serve much of a purpose to them. And the fact that she's going for mutants now doesn't make sense as well. I mean, the X-Men don't have anything to do with Superman or the Justice League, so why would they even be interested in them? They may be powerful, but there are many more powerful mutants or super-beings like Magneto, the Acolytes or the Avengers to tide them over. So, why not them and instead target on mutant teenagers who are probably not in full potential of their powers?" the Commissioner pointed out.
"Whatever it is, it can't be any good," Maggie said.
"What about the Justice League? They should be aware of this," Hawk asked.
"We tried contacting the Watchtower up in orbit when it was revealed that Live Wire broke out, but we didn't get any sort of response back. As far as we can tell, no one is on current active duty back at their satellite headquarters and, as for the moment, it's deserted, but it probably may be because they're all busy with their own separate missions and lives. I mean, isn't Wonder Woman still trying to convince her Amazons to revoke her exile with her home island, and weren't the other members of the Justice League investigating another possibility of Brainiac emerging again?"
"Hmph, probably think that they're too good to bother with lesser criminals and nutcases. Always knew you couldn't trust those kinds of freaks," muttered Bullock to himself as he stewed and glared off to the side. Barbara was inconspicuously silent, but General Hawk gave her the briefest glimpse out of the corner of his eye.
Maggie then said, "And besides, we just found out about the role Apokolips and Darkseid's Furies took in this little jailbreak, so even if the Justice League did get our message in time, Live Wire's still going to cause massive amounts of damage. Thank God for your Misfits and Joes to help us out…if that was what you were planning in the first place."
"Wild Bill's waiting for us over at one of the Joe's jets. We estimate we'll be able to arrive in Bayville in less than an hour," Hawk said encouragingly.
"You just know exactly what to do to get me started for a fight," Maggie grinned as she made a beeline for the airship. Commisioner Gordon and Hawk then spoke to the two Gotham detectives and his daughter before taking off to join her.
"Montoya, Bullock, you two are in charge of the investigation until we get back, and Barbara, continue with your help to get the Stryker's computer mainframe back on and in running order," the Commissioner ordered lightly, knowing that he could trust this responsibility with the trio.
"As if I wanted to go help out a bunch of army freaks, Commissioner," scoffed Bullock. Meanwhile, before he left with Gordon and Maggie, Hawk was discreetly whispering something to Detective Montoya before handing her a folded piece of paper. The female Gotham officer looked a bit taken aback as she took the piece of written instruction and held on to it in careful guardianship while Hawk and Gordon went towards the jet with Wild Bill. This was not lost on either Barbara or Harvey Bullock.
"What did General G.I. Jerk give you anyways, Montoya?" Bullock asked as they headed back to the main control room of the maximum security prison.
"He wanted me to investigate a lead for him, and since we're from Gotham City, he felt it would be best if we could look into it, especially since it might provide an explanation about why Apokolips is even involved in this mess in the first place," the Hispanic woman explained, though she was definitely flustered at what Hawk had confided in her.
"Well, I'll go into the rooms where the main servers are kept for the computers and make sure that my assistants are doing their best to reintegrate and restore the databases and security systems," Barbara said, and Montoya nodded while Harvey couldn't help but smile as he tussled the girl's red hair affectionately, like a little kid. It was no secret that he cared for Barbara like his own niece, and despite the fact that he as boorish, crude, and slightly tactless, had he been married, he would have been a devoted father figure.
"Just take care of yourself, kiddo. The Commish's going to have our heads if you should ever slack off your duty here, and that's only if he's in a good mood."
"Don't worry, I will. I let you guys know if we can catch anything incriminating in the security footage."
The Gotham detectives nodded, and the three parted ways. Yet Barbara, instead of going back to the computer center, took a detour behind a dark corner, before taking out her cell-phone from her pocket and dialing a number on speed-dial. The phone rang twice before another girl's voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Kara? It's me, Barbara Gordon," the redhead whispered carefully over the phone, her eyes darting warily around her to ensure she wasn't being eavesdropped or spied upon, "Listen, we've got a big problem, and we need to get to Bayville as fast as possible…"
000-
"Lord Darkseid, the X-Men and Misfits are converging over to where Live Wire has been instructed to do so, just as you have requested," the old lady spoke as she knelt down on one knee to the back of her omnipotent and all-powerful master of Apokolips. A massive hulking figure with rocky, cracked grayish-brown skin, searing glowing eyes of the Omega effect, and dressed in a black, sleeveless jumpsuit which did little to hide his incredible physical build, just stood by silently with his arms clasped behind his back and stared at the globe of the planet Earth from his throne window. Yet was most noticeable about the former alien, Uxas, was that his eyes, once a testament to his awesome might and power, were heavily scarred with horrific pink tissue growingly wildly underneath his concrete face. A reminder and a humiliating battle-scar of when he lost to Superman after coming close to conquering Earth.
Darkseid just remained as soulless and cold as his hardened heart as he gave no indication that he heard the elderly, sadistic ogress as he looked over his realm, with the pits of hellfire spewing massive columns of flames amongst the poor, unfed, and miserable slaves forced to do excruciating labor all for his name's sake. Yet despite every inch of the planet Apokolips being strewn with misery, hardship, cruelty, and cold, final nothingness, it was his kingdom where he would always remain ruler with an iron fist of oppression. This was his land, his home, his proud display of his omnipotent authority, and it pleased him. Here, he was lord and God of all. And it wouldn't be long when Darkseid would be even further pleased…
Who would have thought those lowly, plebeian Earthlings known as "mutants" would actually be of use to him now?
"You will be allowed to carry on with the X-Men and Misfits…for now," Darkseid literally growled those last two words in warning as he then said, "Move to Phase Two: Research. And do not fail me for if you do…you and the Furies will find your punishment to be painful…very painful."
"I will not fail, Master Darkseid," Granny Harkness said in a hard voice, "I will not rest until I seek revenge on Superman and his allies for what he did to you, to me and to my Furies. These mutants I shall gladly manipulate and kill to get that chance of vengeance and redemption."
With that, Granny left with the utmost respect and caution, the illuminating light catching a glimpse of the miniscule metal plates screwed into the back of her skull in a region devoid of any hair but secretly hidden. The master extraterrestrial continued to observe the daily routines of his kingdom before he then turned his attention to the girl in a separate chamber next-door to his, their rooms separated by a clear, durable plate of clear glass, and it was through this pane that the alien-tyrant watched Granny's brainwashing machine do its slow, agonizing work to the human girl strapped to it.
The girl then managed to stop her shrieking as she gave the demigod a look of untold fury, vengeance, and hate.
"When I get free, I will kill you, monster!" screamed the girl hoarsely, her throat dry with blood and cracked flesh, as she fought the urge to whimper and cry underneath the immense torture.
Darkseid just smiled patiently as he continued to watch the girl suffer to her brainwashing underneath the light of an enormous crystal, glowing ominously and bathing the room in crimson light…
Author's Note: Yep, check back next Friday for the chapter, "Dirty Wars" in which the X-Men, the Misfits, and Joes have a VERY unpleasant surprise waiting for them at the carnival, and I don't just mean when they run into each other (which will be awkward to say the least)! And to clear things up: I'm placing this story during "Justice League", not "Justice League Unlimited" and though JL will have a part, as you have just seen, Batgirl and Supergirl have a big role in this story. What is it? You'll just have to wait and see! Until next Friday, read and enjoy! And constructive criticisms are welcome!