42
Superman flew high over Argento City. The metropolis was one the largest Talokian cities. The Dark Circle didn't have warships in the system but the sector patrol was on its way. The native insurgents had taken several fortresses and learned of the orders to quell the rebellion or destroy the surface of the planet. But even before those sieges began, grav carriers with thousands of troops had been deployed to the largest cities.
Superman spotted a wave of six bombers and twenty-four fighter craft escorts. The three carriers were still off of the horizon. He ignored the fighters to strike at the bombers. He dealt with each by flying through them. The wreckage freefell to the streets below. The fighters split off and requested further orders.
The carriers sped across the plains to Argento's southern approach. These he applied heat vision to their driver coils to force them into the ground some distance from the city and its inhabitants. Soldiers deployed alongside lightly protected crewmen. This increased the policing manpower by an extra third. Superman railed against the invasion inside an occupied world. It made him angry enough to seek to stop them with harsher methods than he would typically employ.
Barda boom tubed to Kameron to find an identical situation. She recognized the fact that the Dark Circle was throwing everything they had into suppressing the uprising. According to Power Girl arriving at Talok VIII had been pure chance. But the events that arrival had led to were all part of a master plan by this "Dox". Talok VIII had become the epicenter of a much larger storm. Because with all eyes on Talok VIII, those planets in rebellion could overthrow their clerical masters and in turn liberate their closest neighbors.
Which meant the Papal Father and the Holy Mother had to throw down and beat back the resistance om Talok. Everyone, cleric and freedom fighter alike, had eyes on and the fate of a quarter of the galaxy whose fate possibly rested on the Justice League and the Sovereign Seven. Superman had difficulties with the Sovereigns but Barda already respected them. Their pragmatism and willingness to do anything for their cause sat well with her.
Barda wisely used her mega wand to destroy the bombers and disable the carriers. But as the local resistance cells rallied to repel the incoming troops, the fighter craft began to make Barda's life hell. It was moments like these that she wished she still had access to Apokolips and its foundries and armories. Her armor had been destroyed beyond all human efforts to reforge it. Even the Amazons were of no help because Diana refused Barda's entrance to Themiscyra just as she refused Superman access to their daughter, Alexandra. So another child of Clark Kent/Kal-El would grow up fatherless.
The locals had stolen military grade anti-aircraft weapons and relieved Barda by knocking her oppressors out of the sky. She in turn joined their struggle on the ground as three thousand troops and crewmen descended on Kameron.
Supergirl's life had recently upended. She'd lost her shape shifting power, except for one other humanoid form, and even then that change was nearly impossible now. Her invisibility was fading as well. But Matrix still knew how infiltrate. Even her baseline appearance had changed. Originally imprinted on the Lana Lang of her Earth, gone were the days when Supergirl was a anonymous blonde. Now she identically resembled Lana again. A situation which accutely disturbed Insect Queen who believed there were already too many Lana Langs on Earth Prime.
When Kara In-Ze abandoned her role as Supergirl to join the Red Lanterns, Matrix returned to the identity she'd been created for available to her once again. And with Superman's blessing, she adopted it once more. But even then, the transition had been fairly easy because she resembled Kara. Now that her base imprint was back with no other options, the world had taken notice. And poor Lana Lang of Earth Prime had taken the brunt of the press inquiries.
Superman had intervened on behalf of his closest friend and downplayed the very notion that Lana could possibly be a superhero. Lana had been relieved and insulted all at once. Insect Queen held it against him. But the League barely knew her or about her life on Earth-2 fighting the revived Justice Lords and their Apokoliptan allies.
Earth-2 hadn't been the first world destroyed by the Anti Monitor nor would it be the last. But transdimensionally, it had been the closest paarallel universe next to the Prime Universe until the adjoining losses of Earths-3-5. From witness accounts from survivors mysteriously brought to Earth Prime, the closest ring of vibrationally separated Earths had fallen to obliteration. The other rings were being eliminated one by one. And by intelligence compiled by Insect Queen and her allies, ten universes, including the Prime, remained. And no one could account for how long that status quo would remain.
In short, everyone was running out of time and no one seemed willing to grasp the totality of the threat. And apparently they wouldn't until it was too late. The Monitor had rescued the refugees but even he had fallen silent. And everyone had to wonder how many universes had died along the way.
Supergirl followed the basic strategy laid out by the Shadow Lad, per "Dox", and became a mobile support column for the rebels as the Dark Circle marched on Loges.
Wonder Woman hadn't brought her customized bow given to her by Col. Steve Trevor. Instead she had brought a mystical bow forged in Egypt by the god Set. It was meant to be the destroyer of all things. A fact Artemis found entirely appropriate right now as she defended the city of Sceranto. Placing her fingers where a bowstring would be, she pulled back and a gossamer thread of energy was pulled into position. A shaft of light comprised the arrow. And as Artemis aimed and released, things were destroyed on an epic scale. Only one of the troop carriers survived to release its living payload. All of the airport was mere wreckage fallen from the sky.
Artemis touched the bow to her back and it adhered there. Then she held out a hand, "Mistress, come to me."
A massive axe appeared from nowhere to fly into her hand. The handle was as long as a fighting staff and the blade head was almost as large as Artemis herself. Wonder Woman hadn't told anyone at the Justice League about her all crushing weapons. Diana and Hippolyta had made clear they wouldn't understand, even before Hippolyta had left Themiscyra to live in exile as the original Wonder Woman once again amongst the Justice Society. As a returning Founder, they happily embraced her presence. Artemis finally understood why the blonde World War II Hippolyta/Wonder Woman was seen as nearly identical to modern Diana. When the former Amazonian queen departed from Themiscyra, her tresses became raven black.
Artemis counted herself fortunate she hadn't been born on Themiscyra so her hair color wasn't altered. Though she'd wondered why fair haired women were so rare amongst Amazons. But since personal enchantments, such as immortality, didn't survive in Man's World, Hippolyta's hair was its natural color again and she would age and die just as Artemis was destined to.
As Jessica Cruz defended Lillipuk, she'd assumed she was the last Power Ring. But her Ring of Volthoom seemed increasingly confused about that "reality". So much so, Jessica feared a new Power Ring Corps would arise. She was unaware of Spencer Hawk having a ring or that the Dominators were currently using the surviving rings against the Lanterns.
Jessica downed everything over the One True Sea. The carriers managed to go into a guided freefall to crash onto an island near the shore. As the troops debarked, they deployed rafts and other flotation devices to attempt a beachhead. Jessica stood with the Talokians as they prepared a defense.
At Arkon, Killer Frost had been miffed to be paired with Power Girl. She hadn't known Galatea well when they'd both belonged to the Legion of Doom. Tea had always been sullen and somewhat elitest in Killer Frost's not-so-humble estimation. But Karen Starr was personable and unafraid to get her hands dirty. Something Louise Lincoln could get behind.
After following the plan, Power Girl whisked Killer Frost into the city center plaza, "They landed on three sides. I'll deal with as many as I can. Mop up is yours."
"Which way are they coming from?" Killer Frost asked.
Power Girl pointed south, "They're not coming from thattaway."
"Good to know," Killer Frost murmured.
"The locals are setting up ambush points and the populace is headed here. They have to be protected," Power Girl insisted.
"And if a few hundred should freeze to death?" Killer Frost asked.
"I'm so okay with that," Power Girl confessed.
"Good to know," Killer Frost grinned.
Network turned the bombers against the carriers. Two were destroyed outright. The crash of third resounded for hundreds of miles. The fighters downed the treacherous bombers of their own accord and then she threw the fighters against each other.
"There are still over five hundred survivors," Network told Cascade, "I'm probably the most powerful human telepath outside of Saturn Queen but even I can't manipulate that many at once."
"You don't have to, Taryn. Pick a dozen and turn them against their fellow soldiers. When they're gunned down, pick another dozen and so forth. I'll protect you while you're engrossed in it," Cascade promised.
And Ballywine became a bloodbath as Dark Circle Believers turned on one another to an even greater degree.
At Hygrath, Cruiser was teamed with Finale. A choice Cascade made because the two were often in opposition. But after Cruiser dropped everything out of the sky, he needed food to recharge his telekinetic power. Finale drew her sword.
"Eat well, Nicholas. I'll assist the defense until you can rejoin us. But don't take too long," Finale requested.
Cruiser could almost swear she respected him now.
Indigo directed the strategy of the resistance fighters in Cyreno. Rampart's shields caused massive collisions in the air. Only a few hundred survivors rallied to march on the attack. Rampart himself was spent so the local cells took him somewhere safe to recover so that he could assist them once again later. After he rested and bedded several local women.
Shadow Lad brought Reflex to Thoron. The local rebel cells activated sensor jammers while Shadow Lad engulfed every flying machine in utter and radiationless darkness. They began colliding with one another and one carrier was destroyed at the other two boxed it in and crushed. Then the heavily damaged pair fell to the planet below.
The fighter craft wildly maneuvered, seeking daylight and instrument readings. They self-destructed by impaling the bombers. The few fighters to escape Shadow Lad's trap plowed straight into the ground. And reflex, who was as fast as Kid Flash and built like Solomon Grundy, prepped himself to go to war once again.
"My Empress, what are your orders?" Kalea-El asked Maxima's image.
"Did you or did you not apprehend Ultraa?" Maxima asked without preamble.
"Briefly," Kalea answered, "But he set the self-destruct off and I couldn't salvage the ship."
"Damn you, girl! Ultraa was a symbol of the nobility's last grasp at derailing the democracy I'm building. His trial would have sent a signal to everyone," Maxima angrily explained her position.
"And his acquittal would have done the same only worse. The Tribunal has no love for these new laws. But they can't openly defy you because the laws were imperial dictate. Now that things of been democratized, they can subvert criminal law as it suits them," Kalea replied.
"What aren't you telling me?" Maximna asked.
"You appointed the tribunes after Marcus died and the Tribunal we set up was dismantled. These tribunes were loyal to Ultraa and his death ensures that they will reveal their true allegiances," Kalea told her.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Maxima wondered.
"With Ultraa alive and in their grasp, they wouldn't have just exonerated him, they would've launched the very imperial coup Ultraa was creating. The nobles would destroy themselves in the end but at great cost to civilian lives," Kalea reasoned it out.
"You keep too many secrets," Maxima accused.
"And you don't keep enough," Kalea replied.
"How long have you known all of this?" Maxima almost feared to ask.
"Since before I met Ultraa on the front lines against Gordania," Kalea revealed, "I began investigating him then and making my plans."
"Why didn't you tell me any of this?" Maxima was exasperated beyond measure.
"Empress, you're many things but you will never be an actress. Ultraa tipped his hand when he sought to marry you. He had to believe you were clueless."
"A role I played too effectively it seems," Maxima bitterly complained, "Our scouts have detected the enemy fleets at the next jump point. But there no signs of the Lanterns. We face a force twice our size after I get done killing ULtraa's loyalists. It seems they fear his ghost more than the Khunds or Dominators."
"Alert Almerac," Kalea instructed, "If we fall, they'll be invaded. Even we don't fail, an army of Kandortians are on their way."
"The Kandorians were exterminated," Maxima argiued.
Kalea looked pained, "Not precisely. I modified your orders so that only the military portions of their society were executed. A woman called Saturn Queen united the Khunds and Dominators against us and liberated the Kandorians left on New Krypton."
"As much as I admire your baffling display of mercy, that is why they had to die. Even a Kryptonian child can defeat our strongest warriors," Maxima was irritated again.
"That's why we've taken precautions against Kryptonians and Daxamites," Kalea reminded her.
"But we weren't ever supposed to need them," Maxima sighed.
"Take this, ya bastards!" Guy Gardner split off one hundred beams of pure force and punctured Khund fusion bottles. The ships exploded as the reactors became miniature stars, "Yee fraggin' hah!"
"I hate to admit it but he's on to something," Bekka shared, "We can strike from beyond their psionic field.
"Let's do it," Carol Ferris ordered.
Miss Bloss and Race eagerly complied.
Hal Jordan and Kilowog discovered the same principle against the Dominators. Lyssa Drak, Karu-Sil, and Miri Raim joined in. Hal bitterly watched as Rings of Volthoom escaped his grasp. And Miri unhappily wondered where Remoni-Notra had gotten to.
"Take that!" Kyle Rayner bolstered his human strength with his white power ring against Ultraman. Then he'd switched up with imaginative constructs that baffled and bedevilled the simplistic Kal-L. But in the end, Ultraman was simply too powerful for Kyle to restrain indefinitely.
"Gah!" Ultraman cried as he beat his fists, full strength, hundreds of times a minute against Kyle's shield construct.
Kyle repulsed him, hurling him towards the local star. Kara In-Ze knocked Ultragirl out but a dozen Kandorians flew closer to replace her. Kyle was in an identical situation.
"Time to move to Almerac," Kyle insisted. He opened a rift and closed it as soon as he his fellow White Lantern cleared it before a Kandorian could come through. Or at least the rest of the body a dismembered arm belonged to.
Saturn Queen was hardly surprised nor disturbed when Laira Omoto, Arkillo, and Bleez came crashing down upon her sanctum within the Shrike Queen's former palace. With a thought, she immobilized them. For pleasure's sake, she had Arkillo forcibly remove Bleez's power ring. The Red Lantern was consumed by the power it had placed within her heart. Just as the ring self-destructed and its energy discharge immolated Arkillo. Saturn Queen caught his yellow power ring and it crumpled in on itself as her mastery of fear was even greater than that of a Fear Lantern.
"Now for you," Eve Aries gloated over Laira's paralyzed mind and body, "Let's see how strong your will is."
Fatality, Saint Walker, and Munk found the blockade dismantled and all its warships reassigned. So their journey to Daxam was unmolested. But they were swarmed as soon as they touched down. The Daxamites were almost rabid in their intentions and declarations regarding Darkseid's will for the intruders. As they were arrested, even Saint Walker was discouraged by events.
An inter-agency task force relieved the Justice League and Mighty Crusaders of their prisoners even as forensics teams and detectives of every kind poured over the crime scenes. FBI Special Agent Carol Anne Strander was the MLJ law enforcement agency liaison. CPD Captain Margo Collins headed up the task force. While Carol cleared the way for statement to be made by the MLJ sponsored personnel, Margo was much more hands on.
She took reports and assigned investigators while tapping notes into a tablet. She heard someone being cleared through police lines to each her. So she turned and her heart almost literally stopped.
"Sonia?" she managed to gasp.
Sonia Alcona managed to steady her, "Easy, Margo. I have you. Just focus on my voice and breathe."
"How…how're you even alive?" Margo managed to gasp out.
"I never died," Sonia explained, "Or at least your Sonia died but on my Earth I survived Catman's attack."
"Your Earth?" Margo was still reeling.
"I'm not from here," Sonia started to smile.
"You're from Gotham," Margo was still having difficulty processing the situation.
"Yes and no," Sonia tried to clarify, "Both your Sonia and I came from Gotham. But she came to Chicago to become a private investigator. I joined the CPD."
She unclipped the badge from her belt, "See" It's like yours but subtly different. That's the way it was between the fifty-two Earths. There are big differences and a lot of small ones."
"Which one are you from?" Margo wondered.
"I was from Earth-4. Only it and a lot of others don't exist anymore. I was given a second chance and brought here. And I couldn't wait another day to meet you," Sonia explained.
"Were you and I a couple?" Margo almost desperately asked.
"Of course we were. I'd love you in any universe," Sonia promised, "But you died in mine in the line of duty. I cried for two years."
"We need to sort this out. But after. I have a really big investigation going here," Margo realized.
"Of course. How can I help?" Sonia asked.
"What?" Margo halted mid-thought.
"I'm not with your CPD but I'm still a police detective," Sonia told her, "Use my skills. They need it."
There was a pleading quality Margo couldn't ignore, "All right, I'll put you with the Web agents. They won't know you."
"Thank you," Sonia was grateful, "And congrats on the promotion. I'm proud of you."
Margo didn't know whether to feel elated or scream. She considered doing both.
The Shadow Crusaders encountered a pair of security guards. Shieldmaster hurled his shield and the impact knecked a guard out. Flag Bearer's staff broke the other one's hand as he attempted to raise the alarm. But her second strike with her quarterstaff broke her nose and she received a concussion as her head bounced off the concrete wall. Blood smeared as she sank to the floor.
"Denise," her father admonished her.
"She'll be fine," Flag Bearer hoped.
"She'd better be," Shieldmaster warned her.
"I've jimmied the electronic lock," Web announced. Everyone was learning to appreciate Jane's skills with computers.
All three elevators opened and the Crusaders held them that way. Shieldmaster got everyone's attention, "At this we split into three teams of two."
Marvel drew his pistols and spoke to them. Denise was weirded out, "You named your guns?"
"Doesn't everyone?" he asked, totally serious.
"Um…I don't even carry a gun," Denise reminded him.
"Your loss," Marvel replied.
"Man's got a point," Press Guardian drew his pistol, "Handy to have in a defensive position."
"Next you'll tell me I need Bob Phantom's trained poodle," Flag Bearer quipped.
Web chortled as Shieldmaster directed the upcoming effort, "Marvel, you and Press Guardian split up. I'll tag along with Press Guardian. Hangman, will you ride with Marvel?"
"Certainly," Hangman answered.
"Girls, you know the floor the accounting department is on. That's your target. We'll divvy between the lobby and the executive level," Shieldmaster reminded everyone of the plan, "We'll buy you time but this is LuthorCorp. You won't get much of it."
"We've got this," Web promised.
"People, this is Task Force X Director Gwenyth Cormaugh. She's formerly with the Cardiff Constabulary, the International Security Agency, and now with ARGUS. With her are agents of Task Force X who have learned of a plot against the President and her life," Jack Latham announced to the Mighty Crusaders and selected MLJ staff, "You know but you really don't."
"I also have to warn you that Amanda Waller has dispatched the Suicide Squad to kill us and now you," Gwen shared.
"Why us?" KitCat asked.
"Because she's complicit in this coup attempt and now you know it as well," Gwen advised her, "They'll have orders to murder every agent and support personnel in this facility."
"But why would they do it?" Jaguar asked.
"Because they're convicted murderers on death row seeking clemency. Or more basically, it's what they're good at and they enjoy doing it," Gwen clarified
"So how long do we have until they arrive?" Kenny Wisdom asked.
Alarms began to sound announcing the ferry had been hijacked. Lathem answered the question, "We have until that ferry crosses over."
"How long until you penetrate their firewall?" Achilles Milo pestered Hack and Calendar Man back at Belle Reeve.
"Why do you care?" Calendar Man asked, "You're a virologist."
"But I've weaponized a computer virus to infect the centra nervous system through visual input. In short, once I release it, every man, woman, and pet inside Liberty Station will die an agonizing death," Milo was inordinately pleased with his work's potential, "There's no victim like a dead one."
Unlike Calendar Man, Hack was a technopath. Her gen factor allowed her to communicate directly with computers with only her mind. She could digitize her body and others to travel through wired and wireless communications but her implanted bomb was keyed to that eventuality. Julian Day was an old school hacker but he was also brilliant. Of his peers, Only the Calculator surpassed him.
"And our people are clueless," Calendar Man surmised. A pistol cocked behind his head. It was Waller herself.
"And they'll stay clueless. Understand?" she queried him.
"Understood," he dismally replied.
"I'm getting through!" Hack was ecstatic.
The Mighty Crusaders and Task Force X loyalists awaited the Suicide Squad in a skirmish line that stretched across the island. The ferry, normally dedicated to runs every four hours between Seattle and Destruction Island plowed through the pier since no Squader had the wherewithal to reasonably pilot the ship. Powerful diesel turbines drove the ship onto shore and tens of feet into the sand. If the vessel were at all salvageable, it would have to be refit and repaired in a drydock.
Shrapnel was the first off and was immediately confronted by the Shield. Shrapnel "detonated" the metal fragments of his body in every direction. But none of them pierced Shield's skin. The pieces imbedded in his armor wiggled their way free and dragged themselves towards where Shrapnel had stood. While his body recollected itself, the Suicide Squad deployed.
Joe Higgins was embarrassed to trampled into the sand by overeager convicts. But Gwen had suggested he stay on target with Shrapnel. So he remained behind as the Suicide Squad met with the Mighty Crusaders and Task Force X.
Psi met War Eagle in the air. Unlike Theresa Shane, she didn't rely on wings catching air currents and thermal updrafts to fly. War Eagle tried three separate attacks but was always repelled by Psi's psionic ability. So she headed out towards the greater Puget Sound. And Psi, wisely or unwisely, chose to pursue.
Two razorangs embedded into Black Hood's armored chest plate. Capt. Boomerang was incensed, "Crimeny! Just bleedin' die already."
Two more razorangs returned to impale Black Hood's armor on his back, "You're such a sweet guy, I'll return the favor. But with a shotgun."
"Shit!" Boomerang yelled.
"So they call you the Web," Black Spider was amused.
"That's what they call my niece," Web corrected him, "Me they call, 'lord god almighty'."
"Pretentious," Black Spider drolly commented.
"That's what my wife says," Web admitted.
"I'm surprised anyone can stand you," Black Spider commented.
"We're separated," Web shared.
"I hear Batman put you away," Web goaded his opponent.
"And I hear some bat girl clocked you," Black Spider referred to Black Bat.
"So why are we having this conversation?" Web's mood had soured.
"I'm just being polite before I kill you," Black Spider revealed.
John Raymond's day just collapsed in on itself.
Fox was amazed that Afterthought seemed to react five seconds before he moved. No one except Black Bat could harness that much concentration. And Afterthought seemed to be disoriented by the situation. Which meant he was a precog and able to see just those few seconds into the future. So Fox decided to ground him in the here and now.
"Just die!" Light screamed as she projected lasers at Fly Girl.
"What's your deal anyway?" Kim Brand asked.
"They made my sister and I slaves and then they executed her," Light started bawling, "I don't want to live anymore."
"I'm not going to kill you," Fly Girl promised.
"Then I swear to God I'll kill you," Light snarled. And Fly Girl knew she meant it.
Hangman, the Robert Dickering kind, found himself faced with a annoyingly smirking Enchantress. Only her appearance had reverted back to its traditional form. Gone were the hoodie and lace opera gloves. Her hair had shifted back from red to raven black and she wore her favorite witch's hat. Even June Moone had been altered as her blonde locks had turned coal black.
"I thought you'd found balance," Hangman was disappointed.
"June gave up. She prefers me being in charge now. Don't you?" Enchantress asked, "With another host body, I met one of your precursors. Ghastly fellow."
"One does what one can," but Hangman had been unaware of any Hangmen before he was chosen in 1865.
"You didn't know," Enchantress gloated, "I'm so glad it was me breaking the news."
"Why are you here?" Hangman tried to asset his masculine authority.
"To assess the situation. I think it's well in hand. I'll be going now," Enchantress began to weave a teleportation spell. Hangman shattered it. She sighed.
"Really?" she was annoyed.
"I forbid you to leave," Hangman declared.
"Part of my parole involving inhabiting hosts is my magic can't harm a living thing," Enchantress began to wear a wicked smile, "But you hardly qualify, hell spawn."
She thrust her hands out and the enchantment lit him ablaze. While he suffered, she teleported away. "Damn you, woman. I will hunt you down," Hangman vowed.
Inferno blazed an ever widening wall of fire to prevent Zoom from reaching him, "Are we done yet?"
"I've just started," Zoom decided.
Jaguar tore into King Shark…quite literally. And she was faster than he was only partially because he was on dry land. But both relied on animalistic, predatory instincts. So the outcome was guesswork.
Nightshade confronted Karin Grace. The Special Agent-in-Charge had arrested Col. Rick Flagg on Waller's trumped up charges of treason. Lt. Grace had been a member of the very first Task Force X. Once she was discharged from the military, Karin was a natural fit for the FBI. And Flagg's heir apparent it seemed.
Eve Eden had always found Karin cold and standoffish. And now she knew Karin was a mere functionary. As an advisor to the Suicide Squad, Karin had watched training sessions but she'd never experienced Nightshade's power. A fact she was swiftly going to regret.
"I'm gonna bite that sword in two," Killer Croc promised.
"People have tried to destroy the SoulTaker for over a thousand years. All have failed," Katana advised him, "Do your worst, monster."
"I'm gonna enjoy this," Croc promised.
Katana allowed herself a small smile, "So will I."
El Diablo aimed his pyrokinetic power into the air at Firehawk. She merely yawned. But he was heartened to see her flesh burn but then realized it had already been burning. Lorraine Reilly smirked.
"My turn," she warned him.
Jester was bowled along across the shrub grass by the beating of Silver Swan's wings, "Stay down."
"No problem," he weakly complied.
Phantasm was unusually surprised. First was that James "Jack" Gordon Jr. was on Destruction Island. Barbara was nearing thirty but Jack was barely twenty-five. And already a career mass murderer rivaling Red Alice/Elizabeth Kane. He'd lost an eye in Arkham but had killed every assailant through minions.
Waller sought him because he was a psychotic genius and mission planner. She'd recruited Deadshot and Phantasm because they were half of the deadliest quartet for hire. Deathstroke and Deathblow were the other half. Only specialists amongst the League of Assassins were remotely in their class. Andrea Beaumont had to grudgingly admit Slade Wilson would always be deadlier. Potentially the only non-Majestic-class individual on Earth to be so classified.
Deadshot and Scandal Savage weren't close to it. Vandal Savage was a literal barbarian and had longevity to his record but Slade still had a stronger success rate and the fiercest reputation. And the mercenary/assassin game, rep was everything. Street punks wanted street cred but employers paid for reliability. And the most reliable were paid the most handsomely.
But Jack Gordon's street cred was that he was invariably smarter and more lethal than any target or opponent. So as he skulked inside of Liberty Station, Phantasm was out to prove his reputation was bullshit.
Fighting American, Speedboy, and Freedom arrived by boat from the naval dockyards across the Sound at Bremerton. The Navy had shifted active operations north the Everett. But a mothballed fleet of ships dated from the Sixties through the Eighties were docked as an emergency naval reserve. Poorly built vessels from the Nineties were already joining them. The principle being the fleet could be manned and deployed within three days. The reality was the Department of Defense would be lucky if it happened within three months. But the naval yards held an excess of small craft. So Superwoman and her force had merely "borrowed" a few.
Guardian and Superwoman rode together. Lucy Lane was affixing her mask and drawing up her hood. She may have made peace with Superman and the Justice League but that hardly made her a friend of the MLJ. Especially given the lies her father was spewing forth. The group of them were America's most wanted fugitives. Lucy most of all. There was a "kill on sight" order for her. The others were considered potentially salvageable assets.
"Hold on to something," Lucy told Jim Harper. Then she exploded into the air. His poor boat bucked and rocked as though it would capsize. And considering the copious amount of rust, that still held it together, it probably would within further sight of shore.
"I've eyes on," Lucy radioed, "The Suicide Squad appears to have engaged the Mighty Crusaders as well as some of their own. The rumors of defections seem to be true."
"Orders?" Guardian asked.
"We guard their flanks and move as hostiles proceed," Lucy instructed.
"What's that mean for us people that don't talk 'soldier'?" Freedom asked.
"We hold this beachfront and that exit facing us. If they need help later on, we give it," Maj. Lucy Lane kept forgetting her de facto unit was made up of civilians. Fighting American had been subliminally programmed to fight during his thirty year slumber. But Speedboy and Mary Loo were telejournalists. But Jim Harper had been a cop…in the Thirties and Forties. She didn't have the heart to tell the clone his program had been scrapped in favor of a new agent. He would be the last Jim Harper.
"So we stop anyone sneaking around back. And if Latham asks for help, we gladly supply it," Freedom grasped it.
"He will if he has anything more than Turtlewax for brains," Lucy said sourly.
Julia Sazia was now residing in the home of a prominent adult film producer. She'd brought in her own army of cleaners to sterilize the place three times over. The Outlaws had been invited to offer a progress report.
"Our secondary task of protecting you has been successful so far but local intelligence suggests Pirate Blue will escalate things considerably in the next few days. Once you conclude your business and get on that plane to Boston, we can undertake our primary mission," Red Hood told her.
"Do you always have a stick up your ass?" Sazia complained, "She tried to kill me."
"Which isn't the first time someone has," Knave recalled.
"No one ever got this close before," Sazia admitted, "If I hadn't listened to Knightfall I would have relied just on my private security contractors."
"Military training isn't the best at protective details," Ravager informed her, "You want get to someone, make sure they're guarded by a soldier."
"What she's saying, in her own delightful manner, soldiers are trained to kill and they do it very well. But they fight wars, not protect dignitaries. Same goes for your average trigger man. Great at killing hordes of people but lousy at defending anyone," Red Hood dissected the statement.
"Where are your two Robin Hoods?" Sazia asked.
"Scouting fields of fire and access points. We need to know where they'll shoot from and where they'll breach," Knave explained.
"We can meet them outside that way," Ravager stated.
"No," Sazia insisted.
"Excuse me?" Red Hood thought he was losing his hearing.
"The cannon fodder will deal with the great outdoors. I want you all inside with me," Sazia demanded.
"Do I need to even bother telling you how stupid you're being?" Red Hood asked, "Or will you just ignore me?"
"I'm already ignoring you," Sazia said coldly.
"We could walk," Knave persisted.
"But you won't. Knightfall said you stood by Charise Carnes when Knightfall's forces were overwhelmed and it looked hopeless. People don't earn that recommendation 'walking away'," Sazia retorted.
"I could learn to hate you," Red Hood was irked.
"Feeling's mutual," Sazia shared.
"I want a bonus," Red Hood bargained.
"Cash is no object," Sazia promised, "But I have to be alive for you to receive your payout."
"You're paying us enough," Red Hood countered, "I want someone's location."
"Intergang can do that. Who do you want found?" Sazia thought she was getting a bargain.
"An associate, goes by Red Arrow," Red Hood told her.
"Done and done. If I survive, you'll have them," Sazia was eager to promise.
The three Outlaws excused themselves to inform Conner Hawke that Intergang would locate his half-sister, Emiko, after she'd been teleported across the world and seemingly vanished.
"Sometimes I believe there's hope for you, Jason," Beryl Hutchinson admitted.
"I don't," Rose Wilson-Worth added to her girlfriend's comment.
"I agree with Bekka," Carol Ferris, the Sapphire Queen, admitted, "Guy's plan is actually effective."
"Of course. It's pure brute force," Race critiqued. But Carol and Miss Bloss detected a note of approval.
Bekka flew close, "They're going into hyper jump."
Hyperspace lanes were naturally occurring conduits for otherdimensional transit. A hyper jump drive could theoretically navigate anywhere but the time allotment increased exponentially outside of a lane. Almerac had five lanes feeding into it. But only two from the direction of the Khund Empire and Dominator space. Another lane was perforated with spatial anomalies and wasn't safe for transit. It was widely used by smugglers. The final two led to friendly stellar nations.
"Dammit! They're gettin' away," Guy Gardner fumed.
"But we destroyed half of their fleet," Race pointed out.
"Still a match for what's left of Almerac's depleted naval forces. Add whatever the Dominators throw at them and they're vastly overmatched," Bekka assessed.
"So we're not finished," Carol created a spatial rift, "So are you staying behind?"
"I'm comin' wit' ya sister," Guy enthused.
"Calm me 'sister' again and I'll change your gender," Carol warned him.
"Where's the fraggin' love?" Guy wondered as Bekka and Race followed Carol.
"She loves you enough to leave you alive," Miss Bloss informed him.
"Damn. An' here I wuz hopin' fer some nookie," Guy followed Miss Bloss through the rift.
"John Stewart says Jessica Cruz mastered her Ring of Volthoom through sheer willpower," Hal Jordan recalled, "And no one has greater willpower than a Green Lantern."
"Nice for you," Lyssa Drak was disgruntled.
"Grrr," Karu-Sil growled.
"I detect that they feed off fear and we master fear," Lyssa proclaimed.
"Then I guess we're buds," Kilowog decided.
"Rrrr," Karu-Sil snarled.
"We'll be friends, Green Lantern. But we're temporary allies at best," Lyssa warned them.
"It took them too long to recharge their engines. I suggest we hurry," Hal stated.
"Rawr!" Kau-Sil manifested her usual lupine constructs but she created hundreds of them that tore Dominator ships apart.
"Surprisingly…effective," Hal allowed.
"Ya got that one," Kilowog was undeniably impressed.
"They're splitting off half their fleet to interdict us," Lyssa observed, "Shall we?"
And as they destroyed those warships the rest of the fleet jumped. The Rings of Volthoom, once liberated from their Dominator task masters, flew free to claim new hosts. Hal desperately tried to contain one but failed every time.
"Seeking a weapon of fear?" Lyssa sneered, "Perhaps Lord Sinestro would deign to grant you a yellow ring of power. If you could survive the Fear Lodge."
"It's none of your concern, Drak," Hal grated.
"But you reek of fear, Jordan," Lyssa laughed, "We're done here."
And the Fear Lanterns translated into the Antimatter Universe. Kilowog asked the obvious question, "Whut're we doin' now?"
"We strip John of his ring for disloyalty and force Cruz to accept one," Hal informed him.
"If a ring chooses her, ya mean?" Kilowog sought clarification.
"I'll force one to choose her," Hal vowed.
Kilowog didn't see this ending well.
Miri Raim of the Star Sapphires was left alone to pursue the invading Dominators.
"My Empress, two fleets have emerged from the edges of the hyper lane. A mere handful of Lanterns have engaged them," General Hobb reported to Maxima.
"But note the wreckage dragged along with the enemy. The Lanterns have been busy. And I'm afraid we don't have time to learn just how busy," Maxima pointed out, "Alert the fleet. We're engaging the enemy before their sensors adjust to this reality."
Navigation, detection, and targeting scanners went offline during and just after a hyper jump. It was simply because the detection equipment would overload during a jump owing to the unreality of hyperspace. Everything had to be reset upon arrival. Like throwing a tripped electrical breaker.
"Intelligence reported four enemy vessels to our one. That number has been reduced by half," Hobb received the reports.
"So the Lanterns were very busy. I wonder though, why didn't more of them engage the enemy?" Maxima had to wonder.
"Perhaps they did and fell in battle. The Lanterns are engaging from a distance and we're detecting unique psychoreactive weaponry. Some of it even a hybrid of Lantern tech," Hobb explained.
"Then I can only hope their losses weren't severe," Maxima said.
Miri joined with Carol, Miss Bloss, and Race, "I see your losses were as horrific as ours."
"Any other survivors?" Carol dismally asked.
"Only Remoni-Notra and she fled for wherever she went off to," Miri was bitter.
"And the Corps?" Miss Bloss wanted to know.
"Hal Jordan, Kilowog, Lyssa Drak, and the detestable Karu-Sil all survived. Sinestro fled," Miri reported, "Although some Blue Lanterns and Indigo Tribesmen may have cut and run. No Red Lanterns stayed in the fight so I assume they all died."
"Same here," Race stated.
"And where are they?" Carol was slightly cross.
"The Fear Lanterns retreated to Qward. Jordan dragged Kilowog with him back to your home world," Miri hated to inform her queen.
"Why did he do that?" Carol was stunned.
"He's obsessed with the Rings of Volthoom and Lyssa Drak accused him of reeking with fear," Miri revealed.
"Hal, what are you doing?" Carol felt pity for her former lover.
"It seems the solutions to these behemoths are the same in any fleet," Bekka flew closer.
"Where's Guy?" Race wondered a little too keenly.
"Happily killing tens of thousands," Bekka shrugged.
"Activate the prototype shields," Kalea-El ordered, "Approach at flank speed. Bring us within one thousand kilometers of the Dominators and slow to half."
Hero knew the plan and still found it too risky, "Milady, we could lose our entire fleet."
"As long as we take them with us it's a fair trade," Kalea told her.
Hero disagreed but carried out her orders. The Dominators held a slight numerical advantage but their Rings of Volthoom weapons affected even average Almeracians. Kalea responded with coventional weapons. Almerac's missile technology had yielded the most powerful X-Ray Laser tech available. The nuclear charged X-Rays would slice through shielding and alloys like tissue. The resultant exposure to flesh was an almost instant molecular breakdown as atomic bonds were broken.
Kalea's fleet slowed as they came paarallel with the enemy. And then they not only committed to the improbable but to the utterly insane to conventionally thinking minds. Her fleet engaged their phantom jump engines and vanished taking all but a few dozen Dominator warships with them. Shards of wreckage sheared off of Dominator ships fouled the travel of the surviving vessels.
"Brilliant," Maxima commented.
"They probably didn't survive expanding their Phantom Zone projector fields like that. The stress should have destroyed your daughter and everyone under her command," Hobb remarked.
"Kalea would find that equitable," Maxima told him.
"The Lady Kalea is a piss poor commander," Hobb couldn't refrain from saying.
"But she's a damn good weapon," Maxima had to admit.
"I'm afraid your companions died due to your recklessness, Ms. Omoto," Saturn Queen taunted that part of Laira's mind that was still her own…for now.
"I know you'd never willingly serve me," Eve Aries admitted, "But I don't expect you to. I expect you to transfer my Kandorian troops to Almerac and kill your fellow Lanterns and then hopefully die at their hands. Sweet irony abounds, doesn't it?"
Laira railed inside. Saturn Queen wore a victorious smirk, "I hear that. If it's any consolation, my voice will be with you as that moment arrives. And when it does, I want you to think about this moment when I proved just how pathetic a Green Lantern is,"
Saturn Queen cocked her head to one side, "But you're wondering why? It's simple, I serve the Blue Flame, the energetic personification of sheer anarchy. My goal is simply to watch the universe burn to the ground. After that, things can regrow as life always will. But not these lives we're saddled with now."
And Laira realized her new mistress was utterly insane.
"I can't use my staff," Munk complained.
"They have a field inhibiting our minds, "Yrra Cyvil explained, "My people did the same to prisoners. It keeps us docile."
"But we have no reason to fight them," Saint Walker was befuddled.
"They fear us and what we represent," Yrra explained, "So they won't afford us any opportunity to lash out at them."
"But why would we even want to?" Saint Walker was apparently greatly affected by the inhibitor field.
"That's the definition of irrational fear," Yrra explained.
"What happened to these people? Daxam was a place of learning and great biomedical innovation," Saint Walker dimly recalled.
"Darkseid happened and it distorted their beliefs," Munk accuratelly realized.
"Which is probably why Lar Gand left his world," Yrra guessed.
"So how do we free ourselves?" Saint Walker asked.
"We don't. We fight their fear by standing trial and proving they don't have cause to fear us," Fatality told him.
"And they're probably listening to us," Munk realized.
"Get behind me," Shieldmaster knelt. Press Guardian was grateful as the Zither guards opened fire from behind barricades. The alarms in the shelter hadn't been tripped but the cameras in the elevator had alerted security to their presence. They were bringing up heavy weapons in the lobby.
"We just need to hold until the girls get clear," Shieldmaster reminded his comrade.
"Then it helps if I shoot back," Press Guardian decided.
"Feel free," Shieldmaster agreed.
The Zither Group had two security control offices. One at the lobby and one at the executive levels. So the Marvel and Hangman chose to confront the second level directly. Hangman's crow perched on an exit sign to afford Eric Adams a clear view of what was coming. His shamanistic powers were contrasted by Marvel's pureley ballistic approach. Hangman used his medicine pouch to create a fog that blinded the Zither guards but he and the Marvel could clearly see through.
Web and Flag Bearer entered the accounting department, "Attention everyone, we need a terminal and access to all financial records as well corporate officer disclosure ledgers."
One particularly motivated individual tried to tackle Web. Denise Madigan smashed her quarterstaff into his face before he reached Jane Raymond, "I'd prefer not repeating that."
Web stripped the stricken man of his keycard. Another foolish soul attempted to accost Web. She handily twisted him face first into the floor. A simple kick to his jaw took him out.
"Seriously people, are we done yet?" Denise wanted to know.
Jane sat at one of the abandoned computer desks and inserted the key card to peruse and copy the data to MLJ servers. She finagled her way past access limitations to reach even the heights of Lena Luthor. But the sheer volume of information required time to upload to Liberty Station, which had problems all its own.
Project Everyman was already producing meta-humans on LuthorCorp's payroll. The first subjects had been organized as a team and named the Retaliators. Unfortunately for the Shadow Crusaders, they happened to be on site and working in association with the Zither Group that day. The project had been vastly improved since the foolhardy days of Infinity, Inc. Much to the alarm of the intruders.
The leader of the Retaliators was called American Crusader. He was an ultrapatriotic "Power Soldier" meant as a prototype for military applications. His implanted gen factor was to create psionic constructs. A gif the generally used to create shields and disc-like weapons. His first field assignment was to deal with Shieldmaster and Press Guardian.
"Halt! Surrender immediately!" American Crusader demanded as though he were the only righteous authority.
"Not happening," Shieldmaster advised him.
"I'll forgive your impertinence once because of your patriotically themed attire. But do not press me. I will force you to comply," American Crusader pontificated.
"I grew up working alongside the Shield. I've seen the best America can offer. You're a poor excuse of an imitation," Shieldmaster replied.
"What he said," Press Guardian was impressed.
American Crusader created his shield, "Be it on your own heads then."
"Where did Luthor find this guy?" Press Guardian had to wonder.
"Begin backing up now and provide cover fire while you do so," Shieldmaster ordered.
American Crusader yelled a battle cry as he charged at them. His shield struck Shieldmaster's confident that it would shatter. But he'd never dealt with Amazonium before. His psionics overloaded in his brain and he staggered backwards clutching his head.
"Step aside," Press Guardian requested. He emptied both pistols into American Crusader's literal armor. The man went down with an agonized cry. The Zithers opened fire again.
"I think I pissed them off," Press Guardian was delighted, "Trigger happy fascists."
Shieldmaster thought he could make a few comments about being gun happy," Just get the elevator open before they wise up and go for our legs."
"Duck!" Hangman yelled at the Marvel. As he did so, Marvel gazed upon the ceiling to find Ladybug crawling across it. She discharged an acidic compound at his pistol. The corrosive agent began melting it before it hit the floor. She swung her legs down and wrapped them around his throat. He found her to be inhumanly strong, proving she wasn't just a female wallcrawler.
Hangman threw dust in her eyes and she screamed. Marvel pulled free as her fingers detached from the ceiling and she fell to the floor writhing in pain. He cast her one worried glance.
"Did you…?" he asked.
"It's temporary," Hangman assured him, "But I believe she will be very, very angry in a minute when the effect wears off."
"Elevator," Marvel said.
"Well put," Hangman's crow flew to his arm and guided him to the awaiting passenger car.
Deadeye and Red Dragon burst into the accounting floor. Deadeye barely registered the room and its occupants before loosing his arrow. Which unerringly pierced Web's shoulder. Or it seemed uncannily unerring. In truth he counted as a complete miss because he'd aimed at her head.
Red Dragon held fighting sticks but Flag Bearer managed to disarm her and drive her back. Red Dragon backflipped away and drew her twin pistols. But Jane stood and pulled the arrow free. Red Dragon put six rounds in her.
"Are you forking insane," Denise screamed as she brained Red Dragon and then swatted away an arrow from Deadeye.
"Good reflexes," he acknowledged.
Jane collided with him and a backspin kick drove him to his hands and knees. Denise was aghast, "How?"
"Just finish the download," Jane ordered. She ran, tucked and rolled as she scooped up Red Dragon's pistols and returned the favor. Following that she emptied them both into Deadeye.
"Did you just kill them?" Denise asked.
"No, they're wearing body armor. But excuse me for wanting to," Jane shared.
"How are you even alive?" she had to ask.
"My secret gen factor isn't secret anymore," Jane confessed.
"Why a secret?" Denise had to wonder.
"Would you tell Latham you could take anything lethal and walk away from it?" Jane had to ask.
"Good point," Denise heard the chirp, "And we're done."
"Good. `Cause they're getting back up."
"Not for long," Denise swung a head shot into each of their opponents putting them down again.
"Nice," Web appreciated Flag Bearer's work.
As the Shadow Crusaders exited the elevators they found more Retaliators waiting for them in the underground shelter. The three more powerful members. If deceptively so.
Machinehead wore an armored suit akin to Team Luthor or the Rocket Red Brigade. But his suit ha b een designed and built by his technokinesis. It was literally held together and crafted by his mind utilizing random junk he modified in midair.
Press Guardian's pistol's were utterly useless. Machinehead concentrated his pulsor blasts at Shieldmaster, who walked through them to reach Machineheed and smashed his shield into the armored man's throat. That was one of the few vulnerable sites. Machinehead's armor fell to pieces as the man inside choked.
Web and Flag Bearer faced an very nonthreatening man in a suit and tie. But he was a renowned researcher into cosmic rays and had repeatedly exposed himself to them, "I can't let you by."
"Your buddies shot my friends here with an arrow and six bullets. What do you have to offer us?" Flag Bearer demanded to know upfront.
"Let me guess, a blind archer and a Kaznian woman," he sighed.
"I'll be polite for ten more seconds," Denise warned him, "Please move."
"I can't do that. I'm sorry," he truly was regretting that fact considering where this was headed.
"Move!" Denise yelled at him.
"Don't scare me. You won't like me when I'm scared," he warned them.
"I'll make you afraid," Denise promised.
"Flag Bearer, enough!" Web intervened, "He's more afraid of being afraid then of either of us."
"I'm getting by him," Flag Bearer promised.
He caught her arm. It incensed her, "Last move, pal."
She twisted his wrist and he yelped and then she drove him into a knee and cracked him one in the jaw with her other fist. Scooping up her staff, she proceeded to walk past him.
"Oh frak," Web hissed.
"What?" Flag Bearer turned back to see the man she'd wounded. His brown eyes now glowed blue and his body began to swell as his hair sucked into his body. And the child-monster called Behemoth was unleashed.
"WAAAAGGGHHH!" he screamed.
"Is he crying?" Flag Bearer asked.
"Wouldn't you if you looked like that?" Web wondered, "All that's left his clothes is a makeshift diaper."
"I'm not changing him," Flag Bearer promised.
Behemoth dropped onto the ground and threw a tantrum. A tantrum that shook the foundations of LuthorCorp. The girls stared at each other in horror as tiling fell from the ceiling and walls.
"Move!" Shieldmaster yelled as he and Press Guardian made it past Behemoth.
Wundajin had blocked Hangman and Marvel's progress. He bore an axe frighteningly similar to Storm-God's. Marvel was fascinated by this twist.
"I guess the reports of your death were greatly exaggerated," he said.
"I am not the extradimensional being known as Wandjina the Wanderer. I am Wundjin the Thunderer. And I am a god among men," he proclaimed.
"Hardly," Hangman created a tornado that swept Wundjin out of the tunnels while he arced lightning everywhere.
"I need to get one of those bags," Marvel decided.
"No, you really don't," Hangman replied as Behemoth began his tantrum.
"We need to exit! Now!" Shieldmaster ordered again.
Racing through tunnels they exited through the same access they'd entered through only two have the final Retaliator pair swoop down upon them. They'd been held in reserve, patrolling the tunnel access points in case the Shadow Crusaders escaped. So it was they met the winged Kite and the cosmic Major Max.
The shelter collapse kicked up dust and debris through the entire tunnel network. And it temporarily obscured the Retaliators' vision. American Crusader led most of the Retaliators on foot to rendezvous with their position. Machinehead flew ahead to apply his sensors to detecting where the Shadow Crusaders had gotten off to.
Red Dragon sang a lullaby to Behemoth and lulled him to sleep whereupon he turned human again. Deadeye travelled with American Crusader while the three flyers patrolled the surrounding areas. As the did so Wundjin reappeared, angry and resentful at having his claims of godhood challenged.
Kite buzzed Web and Flag Bearer from the air. Her wings were electrically charged. Flag Bearer evaded the sweep but Web got zapped. She lit up with a litany of profane curses.
"Bitch," she ended her tirade. She activated the wrist comm/internet interface her uncle had provided. The holo screen floated above her arm as she furiously tapped at virtual controls, "Keep her busy."
"How?" Flag Bearer wondered.
"Be a target," Web offered as a solution.
"I hate you," Denise grumbled.
"Love ya, bye bye," Jane retorted.
Kite began her dive and Flag Bearer stood her ground between the flying menace and Web. As Kite approached, Denise held her staff ready to strike and possibly impale the Retaliator. Jane kept busy.
"C'mon," she muttered.
"Any time now," Denise yelled after warding Kite off.
"C'mon, you can't be this secure," Web murmured to herself.
Kite made another pass only to veer off as Denise tried to take her head off, "Will you hurry up already?"
"Working on it," Jane yelled back.
"Oh, for God's sake!" Flag Bearer fumed.
Kite made a high speed dive, not intending to bank away this time. Web finally cried out, "Got her!"
Kite went from a controlled dive to a helpless plummet. Hitting the pavement, she rolled to a barely conscious stop. Flag Bearer liberally applied her staff to insure the Retaliator was down.
"You couldn't hurry that up?" Denise complained.
"LuthorCorp has some of the best cyber security on the planet. Just be glad I did it at all," Jane advised her.
Major Max held off Shieldmaster, Marvel, Hangman, and Press Guardian by herself with her photon blasts, aerial agility, and super strength on her own. She was the single most powerful Retailator. Flag Bearer and Web were left to fend off American Crusader, Deadeye, Wundjin, and Machinehead.
"Retaliators Ready!" American Crusader cried aloud.
"You gotta be shittin' me," Web complained.
Wundjin's axe began to stream lightning and Hangman seized the opportunity. The axe bucked in Wundjin's hand and he arced electricity into Machinehead. The armored Retaliator went down hard. Deadeye was the next victim. Red Dragon took a jolt as she arrived on scene. Major Max blasted Wundjin out of the sky. Hangman dealt with her next with a sleeping powder that swirled around her and entered her body despite her holding her breath.
"You shall not pass!" American Crusader lit up his shield and faced the men. Flag Bearer concussed him from behind.
"Honestly, pop culture quotes in the middle of a fight?" she was incredulous.
"You're young. You'll learn," Press Guardian promised her.
"Can we get the hell out of here already?" Web wanted to know.
"It's a plan," Shieldmaster assured her as he called for a teleportation extraction.
Achilles Milo tried to upload his virus as Hack and Calendar Man worked to breach the MLJ's firewall. But KitCat and Kenny Wisdom were a step ahead. Milo uploaded his virus into the ARGUS servers but it was deflected and displayed the visual disruption patterns at ARGUS sites. Thousands died including Milo, Hack, and Calendar Man. The MLJ and Web Agency servers blocked the invasive program.
KitCat and Wisdom had built the MLJ's computing world. She remarked, "I don't what it was they tried to penetrate into our systems but they just stopped."
"There's no activity from ARGUS at all," Kenny agreed.
"I've analyzed the virus they tried uploading. It actually has a DNA signature like a real virus," KitCat told him, "I think that this would make terminal displays lethal to whoever looked at them."
"And ARGUS seems to be displaying this all over every system they have," Kenny realized.
"Call the Web Agency and have them dispatch agents to ARGUS sites and warn them to cut the power first," KitCat instructed, "I'll check with Oracle and see how she's doing. She feeds intel to Gen. Lane and ARGUS. I need to know she's okay."
"I'm on it," Kenny patched into the Web Agency in Arizona.
"Come on, girl. Be all right," KitCat murmured as she reached out to the otherwise mysterious Oracle.
Shrapnel reassembled himself and Shield grabbed ahold of him and bounced off towards the mainland. He dropped Shrapnel into the Puget Sound halfway across but he failed to reach the Seattle port before plunging into the waters himself.
Psi found herself mentally exhausted as she failed to catch War Eagle. And like Shield, she plummeted into the cold waters. Only she was miles from land. War Eagle took grim satisfaction as Psi drowned.
"Why can't I hit you, mate? Whut are you doin'? `Cause I don't miss," Capt. Boomerang remarked.
"I'm doing this," Black Hood ducked under an explosive boomerang. It detonated behind him. He shot the next two out of the sky as though he was skeet shooting.
"Bleedin' hell, man! Whut the effin' hell are you?" Capt. Boomerang demanded to know.
"I'm the Black Hood," he said, "And I will end you."
And a cold chill ran through Boomerang as he began to believe Black Hood was correct.
Black Spider fought Web and he discovered John Raymond was very skilled at martial arts. He was good enough to drive Black Spider to resort to weapons. As he drew to sickles from his back sheaths, Web drew back and activated his own tech interface. While he dodged Black Spider's attacks, he activated the teleport system. He locked onto Black Spider's bio sign and prepped to transport him away. He just had to pick a desirable location.
Fox changed up his approach and rather than precisely plan every attack, he turned into a flurry of activity to thwart Afterthought's precognition. He pummeled his foe. After knocking Afterthought out, Fox began surveying the overall situation.
Fly Girl saw Fox was fine so she disengaged. She flew across the battlefield and assessed where she was needed most. So Kim Brand made her choice and set out to assist her choice of necessity.
Hangman extinguished the infernal flamed consuming him. Sensing that it was a brand of hellfire, he had to wonder why he was vulnerable to it. So he transferred himself to Hell to confront Lucifer Morningstar.
Zoom raced through Inferno's flames and hit Frank Verrano so hard the android's head separated from his body. Seeing the holographic system's human appearance deactivate, Zoom realized Inferno was a machine. He chose to assist any Suicide Squader in difficulty.
Killer Shark retreated into the water. He sensed Shrapnel's plight and swam off to assist. Jaguar was left behind to curb her bloodlust.
Nightshade impaled Karin Grace with a night force blade. Karin was coughing blood while Nightshade suspended her with the dark force construct. Eve Eden pitied her former ally.
"I'm sorry. But you forced me into it," Nightshade said.
"Tell…t…tell Rick,,,that I,,,always loved,,,him," Karin managed to say before she died. And Eve felt a great sorrow that Rick Flagg and Karin had never managed to fulfill their potential together.
"I got ya now ya little…" Killer Croc was silenced as Katana sliced his head off of his shoulders. The SoulTaker absorbed and trapped his spirit. She could hear him bellow his impotent rage. And she was glad for it.
Firehawk constructed a water tank around El Diablo. She lifted high off the ground to observe the situation and she was met by Silver Swan who had rendered Jester unconscious, "Hello, Valerie."
"Are we done yet?" Silver Swan asked.
"No, it's still a mixed outcome," Firehawk replied.
"What do we do?" Valerie Beaudry asked.
"Let me get back to you," Lorraine Reilly said.
Phantasm wondered what Jack Gordon's end game was. He'd killed his own mother to drive Batgirl into being an outlaw in their father's eyes. But Barbara Gordon's death hadn't driven Jim Gordon against her namesake daughter. Gordon was too great a detective to believe Barbara was a murderer or would even kill anyone much less her mother. Batgirl would regret even killing an animal and her father knew this.
For a time no one knew if Jack had survived his plunge into the river. But Waller had found him and utilized him as a strategist for the Suicide Squad. And so it was, he'd convinced her he could kill Latham and seize control of Liberty Station and by extension the MLJ Initiative itself.
All things Andrea Beaumont would fight to prevent. And Jack didn't know she was stalking him. He'd rudely learn Phantasm was a superior strategist and tactician to Jack Gordon but she was also a better killer. She just had to insure Latham's people stayed out of her way or she'd kill them too.
Gen. Sam Lane had dispatched gen active and highly trained agents against Liberty Station and it was up to Lucy Lane, Guardian, Fighting American and his sidekicks to stop them. Superwoman and Guardian went inside the Liberty Station in response to screams heard through opening escape exits. The others faced a deranged vigilante called Free Association he felt he best served national security by killing non-governmental meta-hummans and mystery men and women.
Ravager spotted the muzzle flash from Vigilante's rifle from atop a hillside behind the porn magnate's mansion. She tackled Julia Sazia owing to her enhanced reflexes and the shot missed. Several more shattered the bay windows and punctured furniture.
Gunfire and screams could be heard from the bodyguards outside as Ravager hustled Sazia into a hallway. Green Arrow and Speedy moved her towards a bedroom. Persian teleported into the house and began shooting at the archers as they cleared their employer out of the hallway. Persian reappeared in the bedroom.
"Get her out!" Green Arrow shouted as Speedy pulled Sazia from the room. He took his shot but Persian vanished before the arrow could puncture her, "Damn it all to hell!"
The broad double doors burst open to reveal Eraser, Deadly Force, and Martial Law. Red Hood moved to block them. Eraser chose him as a target. Knave took control.
"Ravager, Deadly Force is yours. I'll deal with Martial Law and our archers can cope with the Persian. She's the deadliest person in this house."
"Hey! I resent that," Rose protested.
"If you were out to kill us, you'd certainly be the deadliest, luv," Knave mollified her lover's bruised ego.
"I miss you being Red Robin," Ravager revealed.
"Batman doesn't," Knave sighed.
"Tell him to piss off," Rose decided.
"What is this? An effin' rom-com?" Martial Law demanded to know, "Are we going to fight or what?"
"Now we deal with the very bad men," Knave told Ravager.
"Good," Rose said.
Eraser "caught" Red Hood's bullets and they vanished. Jason Todd decided try hand to hand. Eraser made a wide sweep and Red Hood watched as the door was missing itself where Eraser's hand and brushed against it. At point blank range, he drew a pistol and emptied it into Eraser. It staggered him but he didn't go down.
The next attempt to grab Jason exposed electrical wires. Red Hood yanked them through the sheet rock. Jamming them into Eraser's chest he was relieved when the man, or at least he assumed the nebulous being was male, spasmed and went down. Red Hood drew a pistol again and prepared to see if a head shot would be permanent.
Knave split her bo staff into two staves to meet Martial Law's nunckukus. While he was proficient, they weren't his most effective weapon. He'd mastered seven martial arts, from the popular to the obscure, and done the same for a variety of weapons. His most damning weapon was his own body. So when Beryl disarmed Martial Law, he came at her with his entire body. But she'd been sparring with Rose and her already considerable skill was vaunted now.
At a disadvantage against her own hand melee weapons, he unstrapped the sansetsukon from his back. The three bars connected by a chain bore a sickle blade at the extreme ends. Martial Law could spin and throw the ends faster than the eye could see. Knave watched his eyes and body to see the brutal attacks before they were in process.
Beryl had learned, as Red Robin, that she was worthy of succeeding the Knight rather than Cyril Sheldrake. She'd learned he'd lost his father and taken the mantle of Knight. But the witless bastard hadn't asked her to take on being the Squire once more. Beryl no longer cared about succession but the Squire was her role. Even if she operated independently of Cyril, she'd grown into being a woman and the Squire simultaneously. The whelp pretending to be a worthy Knight had barely trained and had no field experience.
There would be a reckoning when their contract with Sazia concluded. Beryl would confront Cyril and whatever sap he'd made his Squire and retake what was hers. And she'd break Cyril in half if need be. But first she had to apply that same lesson to Martial Law.
"Ravager, we meet again," Deadly Force's amplified voice conveyed respect.
"Not my first choice," Rose admitted.
"Do you really expect to beat me?" Deadly Force asked.
"Do you really expect to survive the attempt at killing me?" Ravager bluntly asked.
"You really shouldn't challenge me," Deadly Force warned her.
"Actually, that is my first choice," Rose drew her twin swords.
"I'll send Slade my regrets," Deadly Force offered.
"I'll be sure to send flowers to your funeral," Ravager counteroffered.
"Now that we've postured, let's get to it," Deadly Force demanded.
"You should live so long," and then Rose moved faster than Deadly Force could track and her first attack nearly killed him.
Green Arrow and Speedy hustled Sazia into her armored limo. As they stepped away, Persian teleported all across the room. A blue static discharge and a scream alerted the archers to Persians attempt to penetrate the limo. Persian ran towards a wall, shooting at Conner Hawke and Mia Deardon. She vanished in a violet flash as she reached the wall.
"She'll be headed for the antitanlk weapons," Julia Sazia's amplified voice broadcast.
They'd had a tour whereas Persian hadn't. But what a porno producer would be doing with antiarmor weaponry was beyond them. Apparently Intergang's interests in pornography were more vested than peripheral.
As they cautiously proceeded through the house, arrows nocked but not drawn, Green Arrow asked the obvious question, "Why does this lady have an armory?"
"Because the studio is front for Intergang's drug cartel. What do you think they shoot the 'actors and actresses' up with?" Speedy replied, intent on ignoring all the erotic photo "art".
Green Arrow had bust quite a few amateur porn shoots in Los Angeles were there'd been more drugs and alcohol than your average rave. Obviously the practice was endemic to the trade. No wonder drug overdoses were such big news in L.A. and Vegas. If it weren't for the larger mission, Conner would put a dozen arrows into Sazia and a dozen more into the complicit home owner.
"Freeze!" Speedy drew her arrow back as she confronted Persian trying to foil a large, locked vault door. It was electrically charged so Persian couldn't get through the walls.
"I really don't think so," Persian spun and fired. Speedy shot off her arrow and ducked back. There was a grunt of pain and Green Arrow came past Speedy to strike Persian with a second arrow. Speedy came back around the doorframe to find Persian with two arrows in her abdomen. She put a third in the Iranian's leg while Green Arrow put a fourth through Persian's bicep. She dropped her pistol.
"Well played," Persian admitted through gritted teeth. With a gasp she vanished.
"Think she's coming back?" Conner wondered.
"God, I hope not," Mia groaned.
Vigilante found an arrow penetrate her rifle scope. She rolled and drew her side arm. But Patricia "Pat" Trayce was astonished when a second arrow split the barrel and embedded itself. Red Arrow already had a third arrow drawn.
"Surrender or die," Emiko Queen advised her.
"I prefer a third option," Trayce drew a knife and charged Emiko. Red Arrow put the arrow through Pat's thigh. Then Emiko used her bow as a weapon to beat Vigilante senseless.
"Get a little lost and everything goes to hell," Emiko muttered.
Green Lantern regrouped the JLU. He reported directly to the Infirmary since Silver Sorceress' spell couldn't heal everything and Shayera Hol stood by as her husband recuperated. As John Stewart's grunted, she sagged in relief.
"Idiot man child," Shayera accused, "You can't orphan our son before he's even born."
"I know," he said wearily, "Did they say I could go?"
"Dr. Santiago said you could self-discharge because Sharon knows you won't be smart and recover," Shayera said dismally.
"I need to talk to Steve," John told her.
"General Glory and Owlwoman are helping out the intel end of things. Intergang runs the warehouse district you stumbled across. Capt. Collins said two interesting things. The first being Queenie Hart runs the Chicago district and that she was guarding two precious items that Goldilocks meant to steal. The second is Sonia Alcona is alive," Shayera revealed.
"Batwoman?" John sputtered.
"One of the original three," Shayera confirmed it, "But this one is from Earth-4."
"More interdimensional refugees," John looked weary to the bone.
"Meaning this brewing 'Crisis' is real," Shayera surmised.
"But what is it?" John wondered.
"I don't know," Shayera hated to admit, "And that irritates the hell out of me."
"Any idea what Goldilocks wanted?" John asked.
"E Dials, like the Dial H for Hero wrist dials but the polar opposite when you dial EVIL. ARGUS had one in custody but Catwoman stole it," Shayera was disappointed in Selina, "Word is she and Catgirl met with Queenie Hart in Louisiana to sell the dial. Intergang already had acquired one off the literal dead body."
"So these things can create a super villain for one hour," John thought dourly.
"Unless they redial and acquire totally different powers and alias," Shayera reminded him how the H Dials worked, "The strange part is, Amanda Waller buried any investigation into the theft and Selina's penetration and extraction from Belle Reeve. The MLJ and Web Agency are in the cold."
"And ARGUS and the MLJ jointly sponsor the Justice League," John understood, "How's Steve taking the news?"
"Col. Trevor wants to mount a full incursion into Belle Reeve and beat the information out of the Wall," Shayera chuckled.
"She'll never give anything up," John stated.
"But he'd still get the satisfaction of the beat down," Shayera understood all too well, "If you're going to be stubborn rather than smart, walk me back to the Ops Center."
They reached to Find Trevor incensed, "Waller has dispatched the Suicide Squad against Liberty Station."
"She's attacking a fellow US agency?" Shayera thought it was stupid, incredibly ballsy, but stupid nonetheless, "What's her end game objective?"
"Who knows?" Trevor sounded defeated.
"Does Latham want assistance?" John asked.
"Not at this time. And you wouldn't be going even if he did. I'm not orphaning an unborn baby," Trevor replied.
Shayera elbowed John very harshly in the ribs, "This will be incredibly ugly."
"Then its good the Mighty Crusaders are all hands on deck," Trevor commented.
Superman was faced with four intertwined dilemmas. The carrier crews were marching on Argento City in three separate columns. He dug a massive trench to slow them but it was only a stopgap. A found a storage depot filled with deuterium, an enriched hydrogen. A sprayed the slush across the trench and ignited with his heat vision. It detonated, discouraging further egress into the trench. Next was the fact that half the city's population hadn't managed to evacuate yet. And last, the rebels here only numbered six dozen people.
He approached the one everyone was deferring to, "I need you to get these people to safety. I'll buy you your time."
She seemed suspicious, "Name your people."
"Kryptonian," he answered.
"I thought they were an urban myth," she replied.
"Not yet," he told her.
"You've already done things no species in Dark Circle space can. Buy us whatever time you can. We'll get the people out," she promised.
"I appreciate it," Superman replied and was off.
"Faster than a plasma discharge," she murmured, "Strange visitors from another world, meh."
Barda missed her Apokoliptan armor. The Dark Circle weaponry was Apokoliptan in origin and could burn through even her high density flesh. But they had idea of what boom tubes were capable of. Mother Box had swallowed up an entire column. But their last communiques alerted the others so she was only able to transport away single platoons afterwards. And she could the majority of the soldiers and sailors were conscripted.
They had no real vested interest in the fight. Just the fear of the rearguard Believers and Faithful that would execute them if they slowed their advance or turned to retreat. Her battle was truly with them. She ordered Mother Box to create a massive boom tube in the city's edge.
"Get your people to safety," she instructed a local resistance cell leader.
"What about the troops?" he wondered.
"I'm about to change their perspective on warfare," Barda shared, "It's what I was bred to do and my mother, Big Breeda, before me."
"All of Kameron thanks you for this," he said.
"Thank me by surviving," she implored.
With telekinesis aiding her effort, Supergirl lifted a troop carrier and threw it down atop an advancing column. The other remaining columns halted their advance on Loges. Matrix found her strength boosted these days even without her TK abilities. But even with them combined, she was still less strong than either Kal-El or Kara In-Ze. She estimated she was closer to Conner's strength. Superboy had roughly a half measure to Superman's physical attributes. But he lacked the more exotic powers. Conner couldn't fly, just "leap tall buildings in a single bound" sort of thing. He did have a measure of super speed. Like Supergirl, Superboy lacked freeze breath and most of the vision powers. He did have an infrared vision ability that Superman lacked. And he had enhanced hearing and stamina.
Supergirl felt a pang of regret that she'd lost her shapeshifting ability alongside her invisibility. She'd even lost the ability to appear buxom and blonde. In fact, she'd reverted back upon her Lana Lang template. Insect Queen seemed to think that was a form of mockery. Earth Prime's Lana Lang found the two new "Lanas" in her life somewhat disquieting yet also very flattering. Growing up with Clark Kent and knowing his secret, she'd often dreamt of possessing super powers so she could share in his adventures as Superman. And here two women identical to her had realized that hope and fantasy and brought to life. But she did find Matrix's reversion rather odd. But Superman had fought alongside the "Lana" version of Supergirl. It was only after reaching Earth Prime that she'd fallen back on her blonde appearance in order to avoid confusion with Lana.
But there was one form Supergirl could change into. But she hadn't shared that to anyone or the circumstances of why all of these changes had come upon her. And this current crisis hardly seemed the time to start.
She landed before a column and thrust her hands at them and a powerful telekinetic burst flatted the thousand troops. A second effort bore the same fruit. Afterwards she had to lean against a wall to stay upright. A rebel approached.
"We've evacuated all but a third of the populace. Is there any possible way you can buy us more time?" she asked.
"I can, but you'll need a lot of civic improvements afterwards," Matrix concocted a new plan.
"Anything, just slow them down until we can reach the caves we've fortified," the young girl said.
"Go," Matrix instructed, "This will be dangerous for you."
"And you?" the teen hesitated.
"Even more so," Supergirl warned her. The girl ran and Supergirl flew to the city's edge. The three enemy columns marched down the center of the city's three broadest streets to reach the civic center and then fan out in every direction. Supergirl had a mad scheme of how to slow them down.
She focused on the base of the closest buildings and skyscrapers. The she unleashed her TK Vision and began pouring psionic energy out as hard and fast as her body and mind could tolerate and well beyond that. She maintained the barrage for as long as she could then she sank to her hands and knees and desperately tried not to pass out. And she heard buildings collapsing as every structure across the entire edge of that approach had had their moorings sheared away. With nothing holding the edifaces up, they collapsed into the streets below. And created barriers that would massively slow the enemy down as they either traversed the all-encompassing rubble or made to go around. Either decision would cost the Dark Circle hours they couldn't afford to lose.
Wonder Woman's bow destroyed the three carriers so there was nowhere for the enemy to retreat to. Then Mistress began cutting them down in swathes as Artemis swung her. The massive axe never dulled, never met an object she couldn't cleave through, and happily lightened her own weight and applied perfect balance for Artemis to eagerly use her.
The streets of Seranto ran with mixed aliens' blood. The Talokians completed their evacuation as all three columns converged on Wonder Woman and all three columns were equally brutalized. Artemis spared no one and nothing. Thanks to her enhanced Amazonian heritage, Artemis was just beginning to tire when the columns halted their advance and began to move back towards the city's edge. But the Believers and Faithful behind them began gunning the wavering troops down. Artemis decided to deal with that particular problem.
Jessica Cruz's Ring of Volthoom sensed the fear reeking from the Dark Circle and it begged to be sated. So Power Ring unleashed its malevolency. It drained the life forces of over three thousand individual beings. Even their bodies were shriveled husks afterwards.
"That was terrifying," a cell leader told her, "Satisfying but terrifying."
"I'm done here," a sickened Jessica announced.
"You're leaving?" was the indignant question.
"I don't think they pose a threat," Jess pointed at the thousands of mummified corpses, "And other places need m help as well. You're hardly the only target."
She flew away and the cell leader bitterly spat on the ground, "Lanterns, loftier and wiser than the gods."
Power Girl was as good as her word. She funneled all of the enemy troopers into a single column. A column designed to maximize Killer Frost's predations. Drawing a deep breath and releasing it, the thermal vampire known as Killer Frost froze every soldier by drawing every erg of heat out of them. Power Girl landed next Louise Lincoln while her head swam.
"You look…rosier," Karen Starr remarked.
"It's from thermal absorption," Killer Frost shared, "The more heat energy I absorb, faster than I can metabolize it, for lack of a better word, I begin to kind of revert to being human."
"You are human, Louise." Galatea promised, "We're all basically human, Shayera, Laura, Jay, Matrix, Su…well, maybe not Superman…or Artemis. But in what makes us what we are, 'human' is as good a label as any other context."
"I always thought you were a stuck up bitch in the Legion," Killer Frost alluded to their shared history in the Legion of Doom.
"And I thought you were the ice queen of psychotic mass murderers," Power Girl, "Who knows what we'll think tomorrow?"
"I dunno. But I can tell you the Starrware 3.1 operating system rocks. I so prefer it over Windows Vista or Mac OS," Killer Frost told her.
"Windows 7 comes out in six months and we'll have real competition again," Power Girl stated, "Everyone's kneejerk to hate Vista tripled our expected sales figures. Maybe you would do some product endorsements."
"Yeah, about that, most everyone still sees me as the 'ice queen psychotic mass murderer'," Killer Frost demurred.
"Give it time," Power Girl advised, "Galatea wasn't widely accepted at first either."
"How do you maintain a secret identity when everyone sees your face?" Killer Frost asked.
"It's all about expectations. No one expects tech guru Karen Starr to be Power Girl so she isn't," she shared.
"And no expects Galatea to be Power Girl," Killer Frost ventured.
"Nope, there was a media blitz when I adopted a code name and new uniform. The public ate it up because they want everyone to have a code name. John Q Public assumes Anna Fortune is a cover name hiding a secret identity rather than her actual name. when she and Al step out, everyone thinks she's a ditz trying to be cute with the name. They probably think she's hiding her name to carry on a clandestine affair with a married man," Power Girl sarcastically made it sound like a conspiracy, "I'm leaving now. Coming with?"
"More than anything else," Killer Frost implied the 'more than'.
"You don't know how glad I am to hear that," Power Girl admitted.
And that warmed Killer Frost more than any heat energy could. And so they departed Arkon.
Network coordinated dozens of ambushes that Cascade planned and she led several at once. But even with civilian volunteers arriving, they were hopelessly outnumbered. But Sovereigns never gave up.
Finale held off a column by herself. Cruiser dealt with another between meal breaks and the locals stymied the third. The carnage was so intensified the troopers began to withdraw. Only to be fired upon by their own spiritual leaders. Situations while Finale and Cruiser intended to fully exploit.
Rampart's force fields protected the resistance fighters and late coming volunteers while Indigo directed the defense. But the sheer weight and intensity of the enemy fire was draining Rampart's mental reserves. It had devolved into a war of attrition. And despite their vastly superior numbers, the confidence of the front line Dark Circle troopers had broken. But they had no avenue or allowance for retreat. But they no longer wanted to push forward. So the conscripts faced a hard choice.
Reflex outran soldiers' aims and caused many disastrous crossfires. His immense strength delivering hammering blows from confiscated weapons that had too small of trigger guards for him to fit his massive fingers in. He acquired an open trigger squad assault weapon and mowed troopers down as he raced up and down the lines causing them to fire upon one another. And Shadow Lad would receive his signal and blanket the area in darkness as Reflex retreated and rearmed.
The toll in lives in Ballywine, Higyrath, Cyreno, and Thoron began to sicken those fighting. Loyalties were questioned and decisions had to be made. And all the while, the Dark Circle clergy slaughtered their own people for lacking faith in an absolute victory and for questioning the omniscience and perfection of the Papal Father, the Holy Mother, and the great god of darkness itself, Darkseid.