47
"What does it take to stop these things?" Superman wondered as another riot wagon crossfire [plowed him through the permacrete grand portico of the Temple Mount. Power Girl had been cowardly and run away. Jessica Cruz was inside the Temple Mount helpless and alone. Wonder Woman, Killer Frost, and Supergirl were in immediate peril with no hopes of survival. And Barda had abandoned him on Rimbor. Why did everything always devolve into: A. Job. For. Superman?
Power Girl fell straight from the sky and crushed a Apokoliptan riot wagon under her feet. Then she ripped a side panel off of the armored wagon next to it and entered into it. Crashes and clangs could be heard across the square. It collapsed, a smoking ruin gutted from its interior.
"You thought I ran away," Power Girl smirked at him as she exited the wreck.
"What?" he was caught and knew it, "Of course not. Are they…?"
"All alive. I'm nothing if not precise," Power Girl's smirk was insufferable now.
"We'd best rescue the others," he insisted.
"Those others?" Power Girl nodded towards where the other JLers "fought for their lives". But as Superman turned he saw that even that hadn't been happening. One riot wagon had shattered from Killer Frost's cold. Supergirl's psionically boosted strength had crumpled another. And Artemis' Mistress had hacked the third into slices.
"Where did she get that enormous axe?" he was baffled.
"I dunno. But I'm glad she has it…and it's on our side," Power Girl confessed.
"Why hasn't Killer Frost absorbed too much heat energy?" he wondered.
"Louise underwent some genetic modification at STAR Labs," Power Girl explained, "Dr. Harrison Wells is the new wunderkind at STAR Labs Central City and has taken over half of the projects leaving the others to dad's supervision. Tina McGee has been spearheading the overall administration in her role of chief researcher," Galatea Hamilton still considered Emil Hamilton her father even after transforming her entire life into Karen Starr and her Starrware tech firm. Clark Kent knew Karen Starr was the wealthiest woman in America next to Lena Luthor.
"What about Jessica?" Superman worried.
"You really don't think anyone can cross a street without you helping, do you?" Power Girl accessed.
"I'm going in," he announced and stomped up the steps back under the portico to punch Temple's Mounts massive double doors. Only they didn't budge, "That doesn't happen."
"I bet you say that to Barda all the time," Killer Frost snickered.
"Stand aside, weakling," Artemis pushed past him. A single axe stroke separated the doors.
"Feeling a tad impotent?" Killer Frost kept snickering.
Superman rightly felt insulted. And he'd only had to tell Barda that once…twice…he really refused to remember any other times. He entered to find the LEGION all downed. But there was no sign of the Sovereign Seven.
"If you were a despotic clergyman, where would you hide?" Supergirl asked.
"As far from here as possible," Artemis remarked.
"Look for underground tunnels," Power Girl instructed, "Maybe Jess left a marker."
Power Ring had found the Sovereigns knocked out but jolted them awake with her Ring of Volthoom. Cascade wondered why she and her merry band got the treatment while the LEGION remained insensate.
"You're all human. I don't know how to wake the others," Jessica confessed.
"Wisdom," Rampart beamed a smile.
"You just want to sleep with her," Cruiser grumbled.
"True, but it doesn't make my observation any less true," Rampart tried to bedazzle Jessica. All it did was unnerve her.
"Your charm isn't working, lad," Reflex advised him, "You seemed to have flustered her."
"A fluster is a good beginning, eh Indigo?" Rampart cockily asked.
"I'd advise a retreat," Indigo replied.
"We do not have time for this foolishness!" Finale snapped.
"Network?" Cascade asked.
Taryn searched the planet with her mind, "I…I think I've found them. Despite their looks they aren't remotely human. Their minds are disciplined beyond an inhuman degree."
"Just show me where they are," Rhian requested. Her eyes narrowed, "I see. Prepare yourselves."
And the S7 cascaded to the Papal Father and Holy Mother's position.
But when the Sovereigns arrived, they found a human teenage girl waiting for them. "Cascade was baffled, "Who are you?"
"Daisy Miller. You met my cousins Violet Jones and Pansy Smith," she answered and saw their bafflement, "At Crossroads Coffee Bar back on Earth Prime?"
"Where we started this misbegotten venture," Finale hissed.
"Um…I don't know about that," Daisy was defensive.
"How old are you?" Network was amazed she couldn't just read Daisy's mind.
"Fifteen," Daisy said rebelliously, "Got a problem with that?"
"She's a teenager," Reflex decided, "And as human as the rest of us."
"Jessica?" Indigo prompted Power Ring.
Her ring flared, "She's human…and more."
"Why are we just waiting here?" Cruiser was impatient again.
"I have to wait for your friends before we return to Crossroads," Daisy stated.
"Why there?" Rampart wondered.
"Because the easiest place to get to from here," Daisy was nonchalant, "And Violet and Pansy offered you a place stay and work."
"I am not a servant," Cruiser insisted.
"No, you'll be an employee," Daisy clarified.
Cruiser looked to Rampart for an explanation, "What does that even mean?"
"A servant is given wages. Frankly, my father, the Caliph, just forewent the middleman and just bought slaves. Or took them in military conquests," Rampart tried to fathom it himself.
"Don't boast, Jafar. Try to enslave me and you'll lose body parts, one by one, starting with your favorite," Finale cautioned him.
"Yeah, so…when is everyone arriving?" Daisy was extremely uncomfortable.
"Now," Jessica's ring pulsed a warning.
"Is she…?" Superman asked.
"Yup," Power Girl confirmed Daisy was human.
"Where did she come from from?" Artemis hefted her axe.
"Whoa!" Killer Frost and Supergirl blocked her, "We're not killing any kid that isn't trying to kill us first."
Supergirl looked disturbed, Superman looked pained, Power Girl looked proud of Killer Frost, Jessica looked confused and Artemis was obviously disappointed. Cascade interrupted, "Daisy is the cousin of Violet and Pansy, the sisters who own the coffee bar where this all started. She says she was sent to retrieve us."
"Retrieve how?" Artemis asked through clenched teeth.
"Nicely?" Daisy ventured.
Jessica especially couldn't detect fear emanating from Daisy, "So how does retrieval work?"
"You have to understand, Crossroads is a literal crossroad. Everywhere leads there and Crossroads leads everywhere," Daisy stated as simply as she could.
"Where did the Papal Father and Holy Mother go?" Reflex wondered.
"They went by here a while ago," Daisy shrugged. "They've probably already ordered coffee."
"So how do we pursue?" Superman asked.
"Simple," Daisy tapped the wall she leaned against and a doorknob emerged. She pushed herself from the wall and turned the knob. A door was illuminated at its edges and she swung it open. And everyone stepped out of a closet into a guest room.
"We're back on Earth Prime," Cascade's spatial sense told her.
"Follow me," Daisy left the room and proceeded to a flight of stairs with the entire walkway suspended over the walls of the coffee bar. And each wall possessed rooms.
"Pansy, Violet, I brought them," Daisy boasted.
"It's good to see you all again," Pansy offered, "Want to order up?"
"Maybe in a moment," Power Girl said, "Where did the Papal Father and Holy Mother get to?"
"Their home," Violet stepped up, "Their real home."
"And that is?" Supergirl asked.
"Apokolips," Violet answered, "You see, Glorious Godfrey and his sister, Amazing Grace, are the clerics you seek."
"Artemis, put that axe down before I drop you," Pansy wasn't threatening, just extremely certain.
"I need to call in," Superman told everyone.
"There's a quite corner behind the kitchen," Violet offered.
"I think I'll buy everyone whatever they want," Power Girl offered as well.
"On it!" Pansy grabbed an order pad.
"Cascade, we need to speak about your stay on this Earth," Violet ushered the S7 leader to her office.
"Whatever happened to the LEGION?" Jessica asked.
"Dunno," Daisy shrugged and she didn't remotely care.
"Typical," Brainiac 2 snorted.
"At least the Papal Father and Holy Mother seem to be gone," Stealth consoled him.
"They were to be our prisoners," Dox complained, "My prisoners."
"It could've been worse. Wildstar reports we've broken the Dark Circle," Phase shared.
"Vril?" Stealth was cautious.
"Mmm?" he was still distracted.
"You impregnated me," she announced.
Dox passed out again.
"I guess that went well," Phase shrugged.
"Explosive artillery burst all around. The Zither and Meridian forces employed by MARS Corp, LuthorCorp, Hauser and Caldwell Arms tech and munitions to barrage the JSA. Robotman dug a trench in the soil beneath the sands. Hourman, Whip, Tarantula and Spider Queen waited t out. Finally the artillery lifted. Whisper tanks could be heard hovering over the sands.
"Robbie and I will handle the armor. You three deal with the ground troop," Hourman instructed.
"Robbie?" Robotman was irked.
"Do you people fight wars every day?" Spider Queen was regretting joining up.
"Not since World War II," Hourman promised.
"Okay, do it," Tarantula began to take charge of the trooper defense, "We'll hit their center and bring them to us."
"Brilliant or extremely stupid," Whip remarked.
"They can't get us in a crossfire, at least," Spider Queen recognized Tarantula's strategy, the first tanks began to go by overhead. Hourman flipped one over, "Then let's get to it."
Robotman happily smashed armor beside Hourman. Rex Tyler warned Bob Crane, "I only have sixty minutes before I need twenty off to recharge. And I can do that a maximum of four times before I need twenty-four hours off."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that, friend," Robotman said as he demolished tank after tank. They were lightly armored to enable the hover drives to work.
Tarantula knocked the first mercenary out and stole his weapon. She didn't spare anyone. And when she ran out of ammo she just picked up a new rifle. Whip used her bullwhip to disarm soldiers and then blinded an eye here and there with the whip's stinger. Spider Queen used a spider silk web gun to ensnare hapless mercs. The primarily male merc force was embarrassed to be losing to just three women.
STRIPE and Stargirl blew apart hover tanks one by one apiece. Dr. Mid-Nite's blackout bombs occluded the full moon. And he relentlessly used assault rifles as clubs. Pieter Cross was a superhero but he was a physician before that and had sworn an oath to not kill people.
Sand swallowed up ranks of mercenaries. Those that managed to shoot at him while half buried, he simply gassed into unconsciousness. Judomaster couldn't be touched. She deftly waded through soldiers, knocking them out or permanently disabling them. The nearby platoon commanders were each incredulous.
Atom Smasher created such waves that they deluged and sank Iranian attack boats. Hawkman enjoyed swooping at the as yet unsunken crews and battering them senseless. Hawkgirl was glad to finally cut loose. Red Tornado created a typhoon to deal with the larger naval assets. Destroyers and frigates were being swamped and sunk.
Anna Fortune floated in midair pondering the ridiculous situation. Something had provoked the Iranians to invade yet no news channel in the Middle East had covered why. Which in the Information Age seemed impossible. Someone always talked. Anna wanted to return to the JSA Brownstone and consult her scrying stone. But she was the weapon of last resort and she refused to disappoint Albert and Maxine.
Mummies roamed the countryside but the JSA had larger issues to deal with. They were met with Disco Mummy's followers, who included a Lord of Chaos, three human sorcerers, two mummified meta-humans, a cursed mummy with control over the sands, another gen active, and a zombie-creator/controller. So it turned out that the Iranians were in as much danger as the Bailyans.
Green Lantern was faced against the Black Pharaoh. In many respects he was a sad figure. Slavishly devoted to Disco Mummy because he wished to woo, she simply manipulated him at every turn. And as Alan Scott was discovering, Black Pharaoh's Ring of Set wasn't a Black Lantern ring but its emissions closely resembled one. It couldn't resurrect but it could create black light constructs and force fields.
The other hidden resource within the Ring of Set was to bring forth reincarnated lives within a current incarnation. It would completely alter a person's life and personality and enslave them to Black Pharaoh's will. So again, the Iranians were in as much jeopardy as the JSA. Fortunately, there weren't many migrant souls within the multiverse. Most, but not quite all, were fixed in a single being unless they were cursed to reincarnate.
So while Black Pharaoh startled Green Lantern with his Black Light abilities, he strobed the font ranks of the Iranians. When a dozen out of a thousand stepped forward to serve him, he created ancient weapons out of Black Light and they surged towards Green Lantern. And Black Pharaoh chose to explore whether or not Alan Scott had a transmigrating soul as well.
The Green Mummy startled the Flash by racing beside him and attacking him. Flash hated to use his vibratory powers as a weapon but he grew desperate to try it. Vibrating into the mummy's side, he discovered the void where Green Mummy's organs had been. And was on the reciving end of left hook as well.
Aten Khalis was the bodyguard the betrayed Khufu and Chay'Era to Hath Set. But even as Hath Set cursed the dying Pharaoh and his bride, Aten killed Hath Set as an act of redemption. But instead he was damned by the priests who'd loyally served under Hath Set. Like Disco Mummy, he'd endured thousands of years of entombment and isolation. But his pain had called to her and he thought he could serve her faithfully and finally die.
Disco Mummy sensed the greater curse entrapping "Wraps" as she called him. And under her tutelage he learned he could manipulate the extra wrappings around him and employ them as tentacles. Now, Wraps faced the greatest hand to hand combatant of the 20th Century going into the 21st.
Wildcat was utterly baffled as Wraps extended his wrapping in ribbon trailers. Only then did he discover how hard they could turn into and how tightly they could grasp. And Wraps himself had a been dedicated living weapon for Khufu. After a dozen staggering blows, Wildcat spat blood and smiled. He'd enjoy this challenge.
Scarlet Rose chose Hippolyta as her opponent. Possessed of her full faculties and a complete knowledge of the damnation imposed upon her by her sister, she lusted after Crimson Queen's abject humiliation and tortures. She'd happily sacrifice all of Bailya to get that opportunity to inflict those pains. In addition, her gen factor was retained.
She created a crimson energy rose and then fired the petals at Hippolyta rapid fire, as quick as thought. Hippolyta's Amazonium bracelets held against the psionic weapons. And she recalled Diana speaking about a woman with such ability. The Crimson Queen's own sister. But she lived and wasn't the wretched creature that now faced her.
She drew her sword and launched into an attack.
The King of the Undead, zombified hundreds of Iranaian soldiers as they fled the field of battle. And then he commanded them to attack Mr. Terrific. As desperately as Michael Holt wanted to find a cure for this condition, survival dictated he be merciless. So his bevvy of T-Spheres opened fire and teleported Mr. Terrific from location to location only to draw the zxombies' immediate attention.
Jade thought aloud upon seeing Myra Pyram, "Curioser and curioser."
Here was a modern woman amidst dusting rags. She didn't know Myra had killed her Egyptologist husband whom she'd only married to accompany him in-country. He'd found the tombs whose knowledge she coveted. So creating a cave-in, Myra studied the ancient scrolls and hieroglyphics until she'd mastered Egyptian sorcery. And as she liberated herself, Disco Mummy was outside to greet her.
"Should I bother asking you to give up?" Jennie-Lynn Haden inquired.
"No," Myra replied with stark honesty.
"So what's your annoying specialty?" Jade asked.
Myra cast her first enchantment in ancient Egyptian. The sands gathered up and took the form of Anubis warriors, "That's a start."
The fact that Myra was gloating seriously pissed Jade off. She went airborne. The Anubis warriors grew wings and followed to attack.
"Nuts,' Jade complained.
Obsidian met Zenobia. Zenobia was a powerful mage who was even more mercenary than gifted. And she was an exceptional sorceress. She immediately began hexing Obsidian. But Todd Rice simply merged with the all-encompassing shadows and evade her hex bolts.
"Clever," Zenobia admitted, "Let's start with this instead."
Her next spell created a large burning orb that cast light as powerful as sunlight, "How do you fancy that?"
Obsidian's reply was a profane litany for the ages.
Ghazia, reincarnated chief priestess of Ra, had selected Jonni Thunder as her foe. But now she faced Yz the Thunderbolt, "Curious magic."
"It works," Yz unleashed an electrical storm at Ghazia.
She yawned, "I hope you can do better."
Yz thought about reverting back to Jonni and shooting the shit out of her.
Sandman had known who would face Hath Set. Elevated to a Lord of Chaos, Hath Set's power had grown but not his humility or the scope of his spell casting knowledge. Wesley Dodds had returned to rejuvenated life to face very specific challenges. Hath Set was the first.
"You've been touched by a greater power," Hath Set realized of the Sandman.
"So you know," Sandman replied.
"Of course I know," Hath Set said haughtily then he wavered as doubt crept in, "What do I not know?"
"Everything," Sandman told him.
"I sense you are a seer of things to come," Hath Set stated, "So you've already lived your defeat."
"Actually, I haven't," Sandman admitted.
"Surely you haven't seen mine," Hath Set raged.
"That's the question, isn't it?" Sandman inquired.
"Die, insolent worm!" Hath Set prepared his onslaught.
"I think you're referring to Mr. Mind," Sandman retorted.
"Gah!" Hath Set released his power. Only the Sandman wasn't there to receive it, "By the dark gods, where has he gone?"
In the Endless, Morpheus observed Wesley studying Hath Set, "You know, the Almighty asked for you to return to serve an actual purpose. Not just to plague your enemies."
"I can do both," Sandman said casually, "He'll wear himself out before I return."
"My sister is accustomed to receiving lives not preserving them," Dream stated.
"Tell Death I appreciate her effort," Wesley said.
"I suppose Delirium touched you as well," Morpheus sighed.
"There was that too," Sandman confessed.
"You know she isn't right because neither is humanity," Morpheus warned.
"Madness has become her nature. She embraces it. Why can't you?" Sandman asked the Sandman.
Morpheus grimaced, "I believe you should return now."
"Eager to get rid of me?" Sandman chuckled.
"You are far more trouble than the expected yield is worth," Morpheus declared.
"I love you too," Sandman returned to the mortal plane and surprised Hath Set. Again.
"Take arms!" Sir Ystin shouted from Vanguard's saddle.
Mummies were digging themselves out of the ground. Wonder Girl momentarily froze. Ystin filled the gap.
"Miss Quick and Secret, they are rising within the city's walls. Tend to them. Arrowette, target objects that can be used to block or hinder our quarry. Wonder Gil, meet them head on but do not be swarmed by them. Black Kitten and Rave Red, the gates are yours to defend," Sir Ystin ordered as Vanguard landed and she could dismount.
"That was quick thinking," Cassie Sandsmark ruefully applauded.
Ystin drew her primary sword as Vanguard took flight once more, "I have a thousand years of experience you yet lack."
How can that be?" Wonder Girl asked.
"Remind me to tell you of the Holy Grail," Ystin suggested, "Meanwhile, they are upon us!"
Wonder Girl crushed skulls while Sir Ystin lopped head off. It seemed Mummies basically needed their heads. But carcasses would crawl around aimlessly.
"This is so very gross," Wonder Girl lamented.
"It always gets worse before we vanquish," Ystin predicted.
"So much for a pep talk," Wonder Girl complained as she used her Lasso of Thunder to blow groups of mummies apart.
"I think I know what a 'pep talk' is," Sir Ystin seemed confused, "Tell me later."
Cassie was relieved that Ystin wasn't perfect after all.
There were dozens of structures outside the city gates. Arrowette would lure groupings of the undead into portions of sandstone structures and use broadheads to sever the ropes tying the corners together. The inevitable collapse would pin down her enemies. And she could retrieve her spent arrows. But it seemed dead corpses could learn because it was getting increasingly difficult to lure any significant numbers into her traps. And she'd nearly collapsed every building. It time for a new plan. But what?
"They aren't very smart," Raven Red commented at the north gate.
"They don't have to be. There's just too many of them and they don't stop," Black Kitten complained.
"Neither will we," Raven Red promised.
"Why are you so optimistic?" Black Kitten asked.
"I grew up in abject poverty on a reservation. My father is Chief Man-of-Bats and my brother died and yet I'm still here as Raven Red out of sheer stubbornness," Raven Red explained.
"Okay, now I feel horrible," Black Kitten shared.
"Only feel horrible if we fail and we won't," Raven Red reassured her. And she felt encouraged.
Miss Quick's impacts shattered mummy bits to pieces. But the pieces would crawl and snare people in their path. Secret dealt with them. Her gaseous form permeated husks and split them apart to smaller pieces. But it could only work on a few at a time.
Miss Quick skidded a halt near Secret's cloud, "I'm out."
"Out of what?" Secret was testy.
"Get up and go. I only kind of tap into the Speed Force. The knowledge of how to do it was lost in the 29th Century when Reverse Flash learned his technique and killed everyone and destroyed every scrap of data," Miss Quick revealed, "And the last Allens are the Tornado Twins."
"Why an 'Allen'?" Secret burst a few more corpses open.
"Um…never mind?" Shira Torr realized the potential gravity of her blunder.
"How long will this take?" Secret was getting irritable.
"Until…now!" and Miss Quick was racing again.
"Great we're living every bad TV show that ever was," Superboy complained as mummies surged towards the team's position.
"But they should be easy to defeat!" Kid Flash laughed as he streaked away into the mounting fray.
"He couldn't be more wrong," Zachary Zatara explained, "Their mental locus is inside their skulls but the bodies can operate independently if somewhat aimlessly."
"Sinistro, what do you have?" Superboy inquired.
"An empty bladder," Sinistro quipped.
"Not helping much," Superboy accused, "Blue Beetle?"
"The Scarab says my sonic blaster and my plasma pulser should be able to knock them around. Maybe even kill some," Jaime Reyes shared.
"They're already dead," Sinistro reminded him.
"At least I'm not pissing myself, hermano," Blue Beetle retorted.
"Vic? Pixie or Trixie?" Superboy included Victory Girl and the Liberty Belles.
"A good offense always seems to be an excellent defense," Victory Girl opined, "I say we hit them with everything."
"Yeah!" the Belles said in a scary stereo.
"Zachary, you and Blue go into the city. I hear all hell breaking loose inside the walls," Superboy instructed, "Kid Flash and I will take as many out as we can. You four have the most important and roughest job. Keep them from this gate."
Even Victory Girl frowned. Superboy tried to bolster morale, "Have you met Stargirl? She was younger than any of you and helped save the world every other week. Sinistro, you're supposed to be a tech genius. Now show off. Victoria, and Pixie and Trixie, have beaten incredible odds against the American Bundt. Now you're here and the enemy is just as stupid but twice as ugly."
"I wouldn't bet on that," Trixie forced a laugh.
"Why did we ever get cable?" Pixie complained.
"You two insisted on watching every Resident Evil movie and play every game," Victory Girl reminded them, "Now you live it out."
"I did not want to become the digital experience," Sinistro grumbled.
"Just build your damn toys," Superboy snapped. He ran into the wave of mummies crashing in. A red streak and some laughter could occasionally be heard. Taking Zachary's advice, Superboy concentrated on crushing mummy skulls.
Kid Flash ran to him, "They're only about fifty waves deep," Bar Torr reported.
"Why are you resting?" Superboy asked.
"Because I tap into the Speed Force, store a little, use it up and then have to recharge," Kid Flash explained.
"Is that how the Flash works?" Superboy was disappointed if he did.
"No, they all have a constant connection," Kid Flash's lightning aura began to flash and spark again, "Here I go."
"Weirdest dude ever," Superboy thought that was something given his limited experiences with people.
Sinsitro cobbled together a needler from the spare components he kept shrunken down in his pocket. It shredded mummy bodies. But even the ammo supply, which he also kept shrunk, was finite. But he had a few more toys left.
Victory Girl and the Liberty Belles relied on purely physical assaults. Victoria Adams led the group because she was the brightest, the quickest, the most innovative, and had the most endurance. Pixie and Trixie Belle had been orphaned when their tumbler/acrobat patents died. They'd met Vicki in a girl's home. They'd sneak out and fight the American brand of Nazi.
And then a German scientist accidently cryo-froze them. They'd been found and thawed less than a year before. The JSA were reached and the trio had been receiving an education in the modern world ever since. So when Young Justice was conceived, Green Lantern got personally involved to have tutors home school the girls.
"And I thought Baron Blitzkrieg had been ugly," Pixie complained.
"He's still alive," Trixie warned her.
"How? He'd be over one hundred," Pixie protested.
"That kind of evil never dies," Victory Girl said between kicks and punches.
"Anyone else want some water and sandwiches?" Trixie asked.
"How can you look at these things and be even remotely hungry?" Pixie was flabbergasted.
"First rule of survival," Victory Girl replied, "But if these things weren't already dead I'd kill one of them for some decent coffee."
"We are in the Middle East," Trixie reminded her.
"Arabica beans," Pixie cooed.
They both just groaned over her mistaken assumption.
"My spells can't stop them directly," Zachary lamented.
"My sonic cannon is bitchin' though," Blue Beetle boasted.
"But the scattered parts are still attacking civilians," Zachary pointed out.
"Plasma cannon?" Blue Beetle asked.
"Too close to people," Zachary reminded him.
"How you such an expert?" Blue Beetle wondered.
"It's the family business," Zachary wished it wasn't thought. Giovanni Zatara had magically slowed his aging after WWII. He'd become Nabu's host to become Fate after Kent Nelson. Zatara passed the torch to Elizabeth Svanolev. But he and Zatanna were deprived of their father due to his dying of extreme old age after handing off the Helmet of Nabu.
Zee was a good sister but she was ten years older than Zach. And she had a performing career balanced with being a founding member of the Dark Justice. Its membership rolls dwindling as some members died and others lost interest. The DJ was even recruiting like-minded villains. Baddies like the Enchantress and Faye Morgana. But the Enchantress honestly seemed ready to change her affiliation. And she was free from her voluntary exile with the Suicide Squad.
Zachary decided if reverse magic was ineffective in a frontal attack kinda way, he'd be indirect.
"Whut the hell is thet?" Jinny Hex was horrified. M'gann M'orzz had learned why Jinny joined Young Justice and she didn't approve of Jonah Hex's reasoning. Miss Martian immediately tried calming her squad.
"Easy now. I can't detect a real mind of any kind. Not even an external one. These look slow and they'll be dumb," Miss Martian reassured her shaken cadre.
"I hear more inside the city," Catgirl warned them.
"Kitrina, you lead Tefe and Jinny and deal with it. Static, you have the gate to guard. Wendy, you and I will take the fight to these…creatures," M'gann instructed.
"Who died and made you boss?" Catgirl asked.
"J'onn Jonzz," M'gann angrily replied.
"Just asking?" Catgirl backed down, "C'mon ladies."
Windfall blew mummies over but they always rose as she momentarily rested.
M'gann used brute strength with her Martian Vision to deal crippling blows. But they were severely outnumbered and cut off. M'gann made a strategic decision, "We're joining Static."
Windfall was grateful.
So was Static, "My electric blasts only go so far and for so long. But my electromagnetic power is chopping them up with abandoned metal objects."
"Keep up the good work, Virgil. We need every advantage we can muster," Miss Martian admitted.
"How the hell are we supposed ta kill them buggers?" Jinny asked between head splattering shotgun blasts, "Ah only got me some three boxes of shells. Less'n thet fer my revolvers."
"Take a break and find some replacements. Bailya is armed to the teeth," Catgirl's claws sliced faces off but skulls seemed to drive the mummies as well.
Jinny led as Catgirl fought behind her. Tefe Holland was distracted. Catgirl finally got impatient, "A little help maybe?"
"Turn right and I'll help," Tefe countered. She led the trio to an ancient oasis that had served Bailyan tribesmen and wandering nomads for thousands of years. The aquifer below provided a fraction of the cities water supply while industrial purifiers tried to detoxify the Caspian Sea into potable drinking water.
But for Tefe's purposes, a park had naturally grown around the spring, "Now I fight back."
What happened next was straight out of Poison Ivy's playbook. Catgirl was amazed while Jinny merely said, "The hell?"
"That looks like a police station, "Tefe pointed, "They always seem to look alike."
She'd done enough time in Brazilian and Peruvian jail cells. Enough to be branded an ecoterrorist. Her next targets were Columbia and Venezuela before heading north across Central America. Young Justice was her parentally imposed penance. Alec Holland the Swamp Thing and Abigail Arkane-Holland the Black were each wearied by her activism.
Tefe's argument was how could she defend the Parliaments of the Trees and Flowers stuck in the Everglades or bayous of Louisiana? Her parents traveled the globe through its root system to battle defilers. Tefe used boats and airplanes. So what?
Swamp Thing and Abby didn't object to Tefe's goals merely her means. Her parents terrorized but rarely took lives. Tefe's first and only fall back was to kill polluters or developers raping the lands. The JSA knew her record and politely ignored it but never seemed to forget it.
"All right, ya muthas!" Jinny emerged with two bandoliers of shotgun shells that fit her own personal weapon, "Let's see ya'll take a face full."
"I think she's snapped," Catgirl said cautiously.
"Probably," Tefe agreed, "But who cares?"
"Riiight," Kitrina had discovered her teammates were all lunatics.
"This is different," Red Robin observed the oncoming mummies.
"It doesn't happen every day on this Earth," Robin Alpha agreed.
"Where are you from again?" Red Robin demanded to know.
"Earth-4. I was able to leave before my universe was destroyed. Even my parents died," Helena Wayne lied. Actually, Bruce Allen Wayne and Selina Wayne were living comfortably in Tuscany, "Our first priority is defending this gate. Second should be getting Jericho inside the walls so he can use his power to assist those screaming people."
Red Robin was stone still, "Any. Other. Suggestions?"
"I'll let you pick the squads," Robin Alpha allowed.
"Whoever you are, take Bluebird and escort Jericho inside the wall," Red Robin grated, "Batgirl, Black Bat, and Robin, form on me."
Bluebird cast Robin an disparaging glance. Stephanie Brown tried to quietly reassure Harper Row. Helena saw the scene had occurred and was heartened.
"Sorry, Harper. We have to go," she softly insisted.
Jericho eagerly went to help the suffering crowds fleeing in terror.
Red Robin and Robin used staffs to lobotamize mummies. Black Bat had staves to do the same with. Batgirl used a slingshot of all things. But each shot shattered a mummy skull and caved it in.
"And who the hell are you people?" Red Robin demanded between strikes.
"I was previously known as Spoiler." Steph revealed. Red Robin had faced off against Spoiler on rare occasion. She'd never been this good before.
Black Bat remained silent but remained the most effective killing machine Batman had ever met. Batgirl didn't seem to want to bother answering. The truth was, Carrie Kelley had helped Batman and he'd steered her to Duquesne Security knowing Kathy and Rocki Ballentine would train her in all their former Batwoman glory. Something he would have objected to before he drove all of his own partners away.
Bluebird's drones led Jericho's mental control to effectively get people bypassed around mummy blockades. Robin Alpha kept mummies off of them, "A little help, Bluebird?"
"Sure," Helena was heartened again by Harper's willingness and her fighting acumen. On her world, a madwoman named Mother had tried to breed Batman a better Robin. That Robin would have been Harper. But Dick Grayson was already Robin at the time so Batman had been ordered to kill him to receive her. Dick hadn't stepped down until Helena took up the mask.
Dick had become Blackwing instead. As Bruce and Selina neared retirement, they'd continued to groom Dick as the next Batman. Blackwing had always been intended as a place marker alias until that day arrived. And finally, Dick was Batman and Helena was Robin.
And Mother had taken Harper in and made her Mother's Orphan. Helena's only regret concerning Orphan was that she'd died at the hands of a rival, Cassandra Cain. But Helena, besides the trillions vaporized in her universe's death knell, Helena's single largest regret was that although her parents had crossed over to Earth Prime, Dick Grayson had remained behind to offer hope to the hopeless as their existence ended. It was little wonder Helena had a crush on him since the age she'd decided boys weren't entirely terrible.
Bruce and Selina had been disturbed by the discrepancies between their world and this one. But they'd vowed to avoid interfering. So they left Gotham and the United States behind. And were exceptionally circumspect when asking about their doppelgangers. Helena didn't have that worry. They closest people she had as analogs were Helena Bertinelli and Helena Lincoln March. And neither were the daughter of Bruce Wayne. Despite Helena Lincoln March being born Helena Wayne and ostensibly the daughter of Thomas Wane Jr.
Rumor had it that there was a new, second Batman. An older man with the strength of fifty men seemed to have appeared as suddenly as she and her parents. The Bruce Wayne of Earth Prime had just turned fifty years old. He'd just impregnated Selina Kyle but wouldn't acknowledge her or the baby. So "Helena" would grow up without her father and without the Bat/Robin legacy. At least Catwoman had passed on the title rather than raise her child as a criminal.
Instead of marrying Selina, Bruce had married Barbara Gordon. Then he'd abandoned her as she lay dying and then recovering. So the divorce had been inevitable. Few people besides Jim and Barbara Gordon had known she had been pregnant when Penguin riddled her with bullets. It was little wonder why Jim Gordon hated Batman and Bruce Wayne alike. And that he'd moved to Seattle to marry Sarah Essen.
Jim Gordon had given his life, his wife, and his greatest love to Gotham. Upon retiring, it was necessary for him to find Sarah once again and reconnect so they could return to the relational level that had destroyed his marriage because Barbara Keene had realized she simply couldn't compete. And she no longer wanted to try. So she ran away one night while Jim was on duty. And James Jr.'s soul was twisted beyond saving.
All of this Helena had learned through meticulous research, surveillance, and informants. She wasn't Batman and Catwoman's daughter for nothing. And she hadn't been Dick Grayson's Batman's Robin for naught either. She'd been a world-class detective since before leaving for high school. So it was she knew Anarky had become Red Robin.
"Damn!" Lana Lang of Earth-2 swore, "They're calling me in."
"So, say 'no'," Marian Drews almost drawled.
"Unlike Hellequin, Insect Queen's role is to convince the Justice League and Earth's other heroes to unite against the Crisis," Lana stewed.
"I've got Lex Luthor and Knightfall's ears both," Marian gloated, "Max Lord is my next target."
"Lord is a prick. And you know about his ability," Lana warned.
"Only works on sane people," Marian definitely gloated, "I'm either the insanest sane person you'll meet or the sanest insane person. Either way, our Max couldn't touch me and neither will this one."
Marian smirked as Lana geared up, "When are you coming out of the closet?"
Lana stared at her and Marian snickered, "Not your sexuality. Your real power set. That necklace doohickie is fine and good but you have real firepower. Time to use it."
"Lois hasn't come out of hiding yet to reveal herself or her powers," Lana countered.
"Why do you always backseat it and let Lane drive?" Marian semi-accused.
"She wanted time to assess Clark before she showed she was here on this Earth as well. Especially knowing she has his powers," Lana told her.
"She's Majestic-level and lacks his exotic sensory powers," Marian corrected her, "Whereas you…"
"Am late," Lana affixed her mask and headed for the roof to fly to the Hall of Justice.
"Pussy," Marian snickered. She disrobed and showered. Afterwards, she dressed in one of the immaculate suits she'd lifted from her other self's condo, "Mr. Lord loves nothing better than money `cause he thinks it equals power. So I'll show him how to get 200% returns every time."
She kissed her image in the mirror, "Babe, you got it goin' on!"
Joker had been Hellequin's love of her life. But she loved herself even more.
The Mighty and Shadow Crusaders were heartened to see the Justice League descending from the XB1-AX Invisible Jet piloted by Natalie Reed. Zinda Blake intercepted several bombers summoned by Gen. Lane's co-conspirators in the Pentagon. Her FX-35-C-! began shooting them over open water to engage them and their escorts. The Invisible Jet went from an impossible hover to sweeping back its wings as it went supersonic to deal with the flights the Joint Chiefs that had tacitly, and then, openly endorsed Samuel Lane's plans.
From their vantage, the Crusader teams saw the Freedom Fighters' arrival. Then came the mysterious Heroes from Dakota City. That covered three access points. Finally, the PATRIOTS made a public arrival alongside the heretofore unknown Young All Stars. Lane's various forces split largely by team grouping but some just selected preferred targets to engage.
"Form up, contact!" Shield barked at the Mighty Crusaders. Their foes were largely from the Suicide Squad. Some recruited as recently as that day. Amygdula chose to unleash his rage fueled superhuman strength upon Shield. The sight of stars and stripes just magnifying his rage.
A mistaken by-product into Mark Desmond's Blockbuster serum, Amygdula's creators had mixed Venom and the Scarecrow's fear toxin with a reformulation of the Blockbuster formula. Only Bane had been as strong amongst chemical users. And all of his reactions were as augmented as his strength.
Amygdula was equally enraged the female Blockbuster had been killed. Her body would've survived his sexual exertions whereas normal females were broken and killed. If they miraculously survived his thrusting, his ejaculation tore their internal organs apart. And his twisted and distorted appearance generally forced him to pay for sex. So his victims were rarely missed by law enforcement.
But his opening blow nearly knocked Shield out. Who couldn't ever recall being hit that hard. He spat blood, wiped from his nose, and prepared for the fight of his life. Which Amygdula promised to be very short.
Axe Man was a fetishists martial artist with a well-earned infamy with axes. Black Hood sensed a shifting in his hood's allegiance to him. It seemed to have made a mistake in him. But it was rejecting Axe Man as well. So Wayne Sidmonson felt no regrets regarding his attempts to kill Axe Man. But Axe Man was resilient and Wayne was distracted. He just couldn't shake the thought his longsuffering wife was about to widowed and children partially orphaned.
Mobile Ranger had a a numbered LCD on his chest. Fly Girl was not impressed. But she was laughing her ass off.
"What's so funny?" Mobile Ranger grated.
"Who the hell are you?" she snickered.
"I'm the Mobile Ranger. Let me show you," he tapped a number into his chest. He vanished to reappear behind Fly Girl in midair. His cell phone nearly electrocuted her.
Her wings began to malfunction and she plummeted to the street below. Shaking it off, she scowled at Mobile Ranger, "I'll give you that one. Try my buzz guns instead."
Her zap hit him just as hard. He clipped his cell to his hip, "What about hand to hand?"
She holstered her guns, "Eat my shit."
Darkling scrutinized Arathaza, "I thought the Aztec faith had died out."
"Some survive," the witch replied.
Darkling perceived that Arazatha had preceded Cortez, "You're a life vampire."
"So much greater power than a vampyr," Arazatha laughed, "You yourself are a mistress of the Dark Essence, I perceive."
"And I oppose your very being," Darla Lang promised.
"We'll soon see," Arathaza gloated. And then she attacked. Darkling was barely prepared for it. She unfolded her cloak and it absorbed Arazatha's hex under one arm and projected back to its originator under Darkling's other arm.
Arathaza was embarrassed to have staggered herself, "Impudent bitch! Now I will truly make you suffer."
"Keep talking. That'll do the job," Darkling mocked her.
Arathaza prepared her worst mortal curse and hurled it. Darkling attempted to deflect it. And failed. Arathaza screamed out in triumph as Darkling fought for her life.
Fox, Jaguar, and Web united against Silent Majority. He had left the Captains of Victory to deal with whatever Mighty Crusaders were unafflicted. As a former New Force of July member, Silent Majority was a replacement for her original namesake. And she shared his duplication ability.
John Raymond was disturbed by his allies' unwillingness to strike down each Silent Majority dupe, "Look! Just hit her!
Web demonstrated what he meant. As the dupe fell unconscious, she pixelated and vanished. Fox and Jaguar finally joined the fight.
Alexander Nero harnessed his ability to manipulate the Emotional Spectrum of Fear without a power ring against Comet. His baseball team having a week and half off before returning to training, Rob Conners was available to serve again as Comet. His fiancé was eager for him to participate in the liberation of the President. As long as she got an exclusive on-camera interview when he returned.
Alexander found his equal in Comet. Or so it seemed. There was a kernel of fear within Comet. So Nero chose to exploit it with everything within him. And Comet began reliving Rob Conners' worst nightmare where Victoria Adams was killed by his own power.
Catalyst was Silent Majority's current teammate. Unlike her he hadn't been a part of a revived super team. But he was a legacy US agent. His could convert any chemical process or instigate one where there was only the potentiality. And Inferno was nothing but a catalytic reaction in process.
So first he turned Frank Verrano's fire creating ability against him. And then Catalyst attacked Inferno's metal body and mechanical innards. But the coup de grace was Inferno's electronic mind.
Deadshot and White Canary represented a third of the Secret Six. War Eagle was their target of choice. Deadshot kept her pinned to the ground and White Canary engaged her. Floyd Lawton took the time to remove his helmet and light a cigarette as War Eagle was too desperately trying to stay alive to bother him. White Canary had promised him the kill though.
Steel Sterling found Cassidy was a Venom user. Which made them equally strong. And nearly as invulnerable. Jack Sterling thought it was going to be a very long day. And then his body seized up and he couldn't move.
"Oh, hell," he groaned.
"Goody, goody," Cassidy chuckled, "Too bad for you, hero."
The Shadow Crusaders were teamed in groups against clusters from the Suicide Squad. The newest recruits formed a trio against Cableman and Zoomax. The Queen of Diamonds, She-Fox, and Cat-Girl had no clue as to who they even were. But Zoomax was a super fast half-goat man. Cableman shot…cables from his fingers.
Cat-Girl chose to deal with Zoomax. His scent exciting her hunting instincts. That still left Cableman to She-Fox and the Queen. Her zirconium gun firing gemstones at Cableman. She-Fox attempted to flank him but as dumb as he seemed to be, he was experienced enough not to fall for it. And his padded costume absorbed zirconium impacts.
Queen of Diamonds had learned of her husband's death at the hand of her rival, Lustra. But the queen was deposed and exiled for it. So she was feeling especially lethal. She-Fox just wanted to kick Cableman's smug ass.
Cat-Girl wasn't quite catching Zoomax. But every pounce was getting closer. And he was enjoying lording it over her as well. And she would as well in return as she ate his liver in front of his broken body.
Adela Tokelau had been an experiment by Granny Goodness to create a human derived New God as Desaad had perfected Mighty Endowed. But her effort failed and she cast Adela back down to Romania.
But Adela still possessed Amazon-level strength and reflexes. And faced the active Web Agents. Buster led Silver, Win, Big Daddy, Gunny, Brew, Jump, Rowdy, and Wild Bill as a concentrated team. And yet, Adela held the advantage.
Three Homeland Security agents fought the remaining two Task Force Xers. Both were exiles from the 31st Century. This era was their parole. And instead they went back to business as usual. But they'd easily been captured.
Spy Smasher was embattled by Quicksand. His ability was to dissolve metals. Including the bullets Katarina Armstrong fired at him. Charma could control the male of the species. But she also enraged the female. Hawkfire and Batwoman were in a murderous frenzy.
"You'd better stop your girlfriends before they kill everyone," Charma gloated.
"I have a better idea," Spy Smasher put a bullet between Charma's eyes. Quicksand went utterly insane. And Katarina learned Charma's effects didn't just wear off. She knew she'd have to something about the twits once she killed Quicksand.
"You need to get me inside," Maj. Lucy Lane told Secret Service Agent Rex Swift and FBI Special Agent Linda Reed.
"Roger that," Swift agreed.
"Good to go," Reed promised.
"You up, J-3?" Lucy inquired via radio.
"Copy that. Rock `em and drop `em standing by," Secret Agent J-3 positioned her sniper's rifle. On the rooftop she was ensconced atop of.
The rest of the Patriots faced against the THUNDER Agents. The THUNDER Agents and their supporting THUNDER Squad had been United Nations operatives dating back to when the Super Friends were the public face of the UN. They'd stayed through the Global Guardians' tenure. But they'd been dismissed when the Guardians transformed into the Justice League International. There would be no telling how Max Lord would have reacted once his Justice League Task Force was installed.
Lightning, whose suit gave him superspeed, fought against the Fighting American, Speedboy, and Freedom. And he ran them in circles. They couldn't lay a hand on him but his fists were flying.
Menthor battled Bulleteer and Yankee Girl. His psionic powers derived from his concealing helmet. But his three piece suit was impeccably immaculate. Yankee Girl was hyper-durable and Bulletter was impervious. But their minds were equally vulnerable.
Vulcan's sonic weapons held First American and US Angel at bay. Raven's flight pack and NoMan's android body gave them equal footing with Pat Patriot and Miss Victory. None of whom were well known. But Pat Patriot shared super strength and limited invulnerability. In fact, the only PATRIOT that could still fly was Yankee Girl. But NoMan matched Pat Patriot and Miss Victory's strength.
The Freedom Fighters were faced with the US Army's original Crusaders team, despite it being thoroughly disgraced. And the remainder of the Captains of Victory also stood by against them. Uncle Sam was disgusted.
"Yew them thar traitors. Ya'll are a disgustin' examples of American initiative gone wrong. How long did yew all `spect ta get away with hurtin' a President of these thar United States of mah America?" Uncle Sam vented his spleen.
"Longer than you'll live after the next ten minutes," Capt. Triumph sneered.
"Ya'll are twisted," Uncle Sam retorted.
"Make that five minutes," Capt. Triumph promised.
"Yore mine," Uncle Sam pointed directly at her.
"Yum! Go easy on me, you geezer," she laughed ta him.
"Hardly," Sam vowed.
But Capt. Triumph body slammed him before he could even think about moving, "I told you, old man. You there! Kill everyone."
Citizen X used his agility and martial skills to foil Phantom Lady's attempts to black light him or to use blacklight constructs. But by flipping up the hood of her costume, she was a shadow he couldn't touch. But that worked in reverse as well. But the newest member of the team, Lady Luck, seemed to be dealing him serious blows and he had difficulty returning them in kind. Lady Luck had described her gen factor as warping probabilities in her favor. Or, she was a living lucky charm.
Libertine was a swordsman. But he was battling Doll Man and Midge. And it was hard to hit them much less gut them. And the Tiny Twosome didn't lose any strength whatsoever. And Doll Man's weapons harness hit like veritable cannonballs.
Major Victory had believed Firebrand and Miss America to relatively cheesecake soft targets. Instead he'd been set on fire three times in seven minutes. Miss America kept transforming air into barricades and back to air again in time for Firebrand to release another wave of flames. Major Victory didn't know what would occur first. Whether he would kill them both, he'd break his hand, or Firebrand would roast him alive.
Lady Liberty's torch fired energy beams as she pursued Black Condor through the skies. And her aim was accurate enough to continually clip his wings. Maser fought the Ray, particle beams versus solar rays. The outcomes were totally left unknown.
Magno used his magnetic powers to keep Human Bomb at bay. His explosive touch being invariably lethal. Red Bee kept Magno distracted with her martial skills. So Magno was forced on the defensive but with Human Bomb requiring just a touch more concentration.
"And you are?" Red Torpedo asked the Englishwoman dressed as a Puritan.
"I could ask the same," Mayflower admitted. She was admittedly distracted. Her half-brother and sister were in Bailya and that was never good. She knew Jade and Obsidian could handle themselves. But she also knew Todd's mental health was sketchy.
"I'm Red Torpedo," she ventured first.
"Aren't you dead?" she inquired.
"Not yet. You're thinking of the other guy," Red Torpedo said with aplomb.
"And what do you do?" Mayflower asked.
"Air, sea, and land assault," she told her unreservedly.
"You?" she was skeptical.
He hit the beacon on her android chest. The Torpedo rose out of the Potomac, flew to their vicinity and landed to roll next to her, "Taa daa! What do you do?"
"Shite! I do plants," Mayflower revealed.
"Did I mention I carry defoliants?" she smirked.
Lane had ordered a quartet of Task Force X agents to infiltrate the White House and secure the "football" that contained the national launch codes. But Phantasm found them first. Hack was the first to lose her head had before she could signal herself away. Arianna Hubbard, the muscle of the group, was impaled through her heart with Phantasm's scythe glove. Andrea Beaumont slit Arianna's throat anyway. Achilles Milo doddled trying to fumble through his pockets to release a deadly viral agent he was immunized against. Calendar Man merely froze.
"Your angel of death has arrived, Calendar Man," Phantasm warned.
He sighed forlornly, "I suppose it had to be."
"Indeed," the knife stroke across his throat was swift and painless.
Waller came into the Oval Office, "My God. Even I'm not that ruthless, Andrea."
"I'd advise you to remain silent or you'll be next," Phantasm stated.
"Why is that?" Waller asked.
"Maj. Lane is in residence. And I'll let her have you," Phantasm promised.
Col. Steve Trevor relayed orders and suggestions as the Justice League was engaged by the Americans and elements of the Secret Six. But his meager force was bolstered by the arrival of Strange Visitor, who'd been considered dead until now. Azrael had also inexplicably resurrected himself. And a new, African descended Wonder Woman appeared as well.
Owlwoman and Jack O'Lantern paired up against Tank Man. Owlwoman's talon's had little effect against the gray armor Tank Man wore. Jack O'Lantern's newly internalized lantern had a greater impact. Trevor left them alone. Owlwoman was a natural tactician and field leader. But Tank Man might eventually pose a greater threat than she'd been prepared to deal with it. Trevor would monitor them and only intervene in a life threatening scenario.
General Glory met his equally patriotic and shield bearing nemesis, the Commander. The Commander had bene a soldier until a power broke augmented him into a super soldier. Now he led the Americans but seemed unstable regarding the extant he'd allow his team to go in pursuit of American interests. General Glory preferred talking opponents down but was totally uncertain that would work against the action minded Commander.
The mountainous Titan was chosen by Insect Queen as her foe. Her amulet, given to her by her archeologist father, gave her the power of insects and control over them as well. So swarms of various stinging insects plagued Titan. And her own solar based powers gave her a punch beyond any insect's sting.
The shrunken Hornet's bioelectric stings blasted the shrunken Blue Jay all over the White House grounds. Blue Jay had no natural defense. But birds ate insects, including hornets. So Jay was encouraged by the fact Hornet didn't seem capable of simply knocking him out. He assumed it was because he hailed from Angor and his central nervous system differed from humans from Earth. And Hornet seemed angered by her failures to do so.
Catman and the Wrath chose to hunt Silver Sorceress. Laura Neilsson quickly tired of their gambits. But she'd lost so much power when the White emotional spectrum abandoned her. But she assumed she could rout these bounders. Her life depended on it.
Storm-God challenged Strange Visitor. Sharon Vance was amused, "What are you?"
"I am Thor's son!" he bellowed.
"Are you half deaf from all that shouting?" she asked.
"You will die from that mockery!" Storm-God summoned lightning to strike Strange Visitor.
She smiled, "Well, that tickled.'
He summoned a greater storm laden barrage. Stranger Visitor gave him a rueful expression, "You're trying waaay too hard. Don't force it. Ease into it."
"What manner of creature are you?" the demigod inquired.
"Dunno. Ask the Lords of Order. Kismet in particular," Strange Visitor confided.
Storm-God threw his axe at her. She caught it. It shattered in her grip, "Oops."
"Stormbringer!" he bellowed, "You'll pay for that! I'm still the almost-god of thunder!"
"Bring it, Sonnie," Strange Visitor smirked. This was worth reincorporating herself for.
Scandal Savage's Lamentation Blades met Azrael's flaming sword, "You don't stand a chance."
"I know. I've already won," Azrael said certainly.
"You should have stayed dead," Scandal growled
"Maybe I will next time," Azrael stated. Perhaps he would. It would depend on what St. Dumas tech could provide. And the extent of his wounds, of course.
Jean-Paul Valley wasn't strictly a clone. But he was a product of a thousand years of genetic breeding and programming. And he could feel his imperetives kicking in. And he went on the offensive.
"Gods!" Scandal exclaimed as she retreated.
Diana had decreed that Man's World required multiple Wonder Women. So Hippolyta reclaimed her former title. Artemis, the Requiem, held the title. And now Nubia, the Amazonian High Priestess, served as Wonder Woman as well. Diana's personal choice and greatest hope above the others, especially over her own her mother.
And Nubia, a Themiscyran champion, was faced with Knockout, the rogue Female Fury from Apokolips. Kay Oh had worked as a stripper before Waller found her and offered her a place in the Secret Six. And Kay fell in love with Scandal. Now they lived together and were madly happy and in love. But they still killed people for a living. Which both women were fine with.
"Another Wonder Woman?" Knockout snorted, "I am so not impressed. Can you fight?"
"Better than you," Nubia retorted.
"A smart ass, good. Attitude might prolong your life. But I never lose," Knockout boasted.
"There's a first time for everything," Nubia directly challenged her.
Unlike Artemis, who had augmenting devices, Nubia merely had her weapons, her training and her determination. Her first mission was to have found Aresia Lowell, also known as Fury. Diana wanted to make amends and give Aresia another chance. But legends had grown of Fury's brutality. Nubia was meant to determine the truth behind rumor.
But first she had to get through Knockout. And she realized it wouldn't be easy. New Gods were notoriously hard to kill, especially Female Furies, former or not.
Gen. Lane had gen activated a homeless vet's gen factor and created a second Majestic. His actual identity protected by the alias 'Majestros", Majestic was a Superman-class rival to a Kryptonian. A reopened CADMUS was working 24/7 to discover how to replicate and insert the necessary meta-gene before their partners in the Everyman Project harnessed it and mass produced Majestics.
But Majestic's trial run was against Icon and Rocket. Icon was his equal and rocket's energy blasts would stagger him. But Majestic wanted to prove himself. And utter ruthlessness wasn't out of the question.
"Hi there! I'm Tom Strong and this is my wife, Princess Pantha. How's the happy couple doing?" he asked
Donner and Blitzen stared at each other. Blitzen had returned to her JLAxis uniform now that the JLU had forgiven her.
They conversed in German. Donner asked the obvious question, "Who is this idiot?"
"I don't know. The Justice League files we have access to don't list them," Blitzen shared.
"Ah, you're Swedish," Tom happily realized.
The couple were staring at him again. Pantha leaned over Tom's shoulder, "They're German."
"Ah! Hail the Reichland!" Tom declared. Princess Pantha face palmed.
"I'm breaking him . He only muscles are in his skull. How hard can it be?" Donner growled in German.
"Are you certain you aren't Swedish?" Tom happily asked.
"She's German. I'm Ukrainian," Blitzen answered in English.
"Come here, my little dumpling," Tom requested.
Blitzen clotheslined him before anyone saw her move. Donner lunged forward and cold cocked Princess Pantha. The leopard bikini clad Pantha spat blood.
"That's going to leave a mark," Pantha complained.
"Trade off," Donner said in German again.
Blitzen hit Princess Pantha after she'd risen to her feet. Only one blow became twenty. Pantha tried to grab hold of Blitzen. Who was gone with a rush of air.
"This is bad," Princess Pantha decided before Blitzen delivered a supersonic punch.
She managed to get on her feet again. Blitzen hit her every six seconds for thirty seconds. Pantha had enough.
"For the love of the gods! I just want to talk," she shouted.
Blitzen arrived out of reach, "Try anotfer one."
"Look, we're from an alternate Earth, same as you," Princess Pantha revealed.
"Why are you here?" Blitzen asked.
"If you can get your partner to stop beating on my husband, I'll explain everything," Princess Pantha promised.
So Blitzen dragged her girlfriend off of the beleaguered Tom Strong, "They want to talk."
"Now they want to talk?" Donner was incredulous.
"English please. We don't need to hide anything from them. For now," Blitzen told Donner.
"You want to explain yourselves?" Donner asked in an aggravated tone.
"As I said, we're from another Earth but we report to Congress," Pantha disclosed.
"That has to be tedious," Donner snorted.
Princess Pantha ignored her and concentrated on the now helmetless Blitzen, "This is a culmination of months of planning. Gen. Sam Lane discovered Olivia McKay is an alien."
"Stranger things have happened on this Earth," Blitzen hardly blinked at the news.
"Lane had been branded a renegade. But that was a ruse by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They'd fully endorsed his plans to remove McKay. And to publicly execute her," Pantha explained.
"But he'd be branded as a traitor," Donner objected.
Tom was recovering now, "But in a secret session, Congress impeached McKay. It took the House ten minutes to take a vote. The Senate ratified it in five.. They then unanimously branded her a traitor. Congress alone has the power to declare war."
"And the United States declared war on Olivia McKay," Blitzen understood all too well considering Nazi Germany had conquered her Earth. And she had been an agent of the Reich.
"That's how all of these semi-renegade psychopathic US forces came to be here today. We were sent in by Congress," Tom Strong revealed his hidden genius intellect after trying to successfully dupe the other couple.
"Congress began weeks ago by legislating the dismantling of almost every meta governing agency. Max Lord used his influence to pressure the United Nations into doing the same. Homeland Security has absorbed the DEO and ARGUS functions and will be governed by the National Security Council," Princess Pantha shared.
"Why not tear the MLJ apart as well?" Donner wondered. Her hostility had ebbed.
"Because the MLJ Initiative is a law enforcement arm under Homeland Security. The MLJ endorses the Justice League, the Justice Society and their offshoots," Tom Strong disclosed.
"The point is, this action is legally sanctioned," Princes Pantha directly told them, "Every MLJ asset will be ordered to stand down. If they refuse, they'll be branded as criminals. You independents are already facing that or worse."
"We can try to stop our side but I can't guarantee anything if yours remains hostile," Donner warned.
"And your names are?" Tom Strong asked.
"She's Donner. I'm Blitzen" came the answer.
Princess Pantha fought an urge to sing Christmas carols, "Tom and I will our best to cease hostilities. But we have to hurry. Lane is already inside the White House. He didn't know us so we were put the furthest away from the White House."
"I'll check," static lightning showed where Blitzen had been and returned, "McKay is dead. And she was an alien."
"Congress and the Vice President will go insane trying to prove they were duped for seven years. And in order to do that they'll need to crucify us," Tom Strong predicted.
"Why did the Dakotaverse have to die?" Donner groaned.
"I'm happy my Earth was obliterated. If they'd learned of my racial background I would have died in a death camp," Blitzen stated.
"We have to hurry!" Princess Pantha stressed again.
"On it," lightning heralded Blitzen's exit.
"She do that a lot?" Tom Strong asked.
"You would have no idea," Donner admitted.
Starlight and Oro studied Promethea. Starlight finally asked, "What are you?"
"A gift from the gods," Promethea stated.
"And she's humble too," Oro snickered.
Promethea blasted them and they fell unconscious, "Yes, I am."
Iota stood on Iron Butterfly's shoulder, "Um…is it noir night?"
Cobweb and Greyshirt studied them in return. Cobweb made the first observation, "Watch it, Greyshirt. There's a little one on the winged one's shoulder."
"See it. Been seeing it," Greyshirt's deadpan delivery was well practiced. Cobweb knew he was actually incredibly expressive in bed.
"What do you want to do about it?" she asked.
"The usual," he retrieved his Colt M1911A1 and began a hail of .45 ACP caliber bullets.
Iron Butterfly's armor absorbed the impact but she was out cold. Cobweb looked around, "Dammit! You lost the little one."
He ejected his spent magazine and inserted a second to reload, "Not for long. Stomp all around you. If she's smarter than a bug she'll stay away."
Iota had no intention of doing just that.
Dusk held her shield ready while Bad Betty and Hardware unloaded heavy ordnance at the robotic Black Terror 2000. The original Black Terror had been a pharmacist who played with several concoctions before deriving his super strength and health prescription. But when the drug could no longer work he died within weeks. But he transferred his consciousness into an experimental robot Tom Strong had built. And so he was Black Terror 2000 in reference to the year he was reborn.
"Cease fire, you idiot!" Bad Betty declared as she cast aside her heave weapons and went for conventional ones.
"Did we kill it?" Hardware demanded to know.
"No!" a mechanized voice warned them. Electro stun blasts put them down.
"And you?" he asked Dusk.
"I'm just trying to save the world as I know it," Dusk decided.
"Foolish," Black Terror 200 disapproved of her choice.
Plus was super powered because her sister, Narnie, lived within her as an energy being. They were faced against Fighting Spirit and Miss Masque. Miss Masque had dated the fleshly Black Terror. Now Fighting Spirit was her girlfriend. And Fighting Spirit had inherited her powers from her grandfather, the Fighting Yank.
Besides their romance, they couple were extremely protective and loyal to one another. Fighting Spirit used her enhanced strength and reflexes to wield a cuttless. Miss Masque was a mistress of disguise and carried two Colt .45s in shoulder holsters. And she looked good in red. Which made Fighting Spirit slightly jealous.
"You don't have to fight us," Fighting Spirit argued.
Plus studied them apart yet together, "You're a couple."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Miss Masque was exasperated. Her whole being was made of lies and secrecy.
"You're engaged," Plus commented.
Miss Masque drew her pistols, "Not. One. More. Word."
"Easy, Miss Masque," Fighting Spirit counseled. Miss Masque thought that it was damned good Fighting Spirit has some propriety. At least in the field.
"We do not wish to harm you," Plus announced.
Miss Masque thumbed back the hammers on her pistols, "Don't worry about it. You won't."
Plus seemed to sigh twice at once, "Very well, we'll fight you."
"Oh hell," Fighting Spirit groaned as Plus surged forward at beyond human norms.
Windshear and Ramjet floated above and swirls of air indicated how. Red Queen and Pyroman looked irritated.
"Of course they give us metas," Pyroman grumbled. Neither of the husband team had gen factors. Nearly a necessity since the were both NYPD patrol sergeants. Red Queen had been gifted her suit, now highly modified, by the Fifties vigilante, the Woman in Red. Now it had a Kevlar vest, utility belt, and handguns replete with two tasers. Pyroman was similarly equipped with added incendiary grenades as well.
"Believe it or not, you two are under arrest," Red Queen advise t hem.
"You have to be kidding," Ramjet scoffed.
"Under legislation passed by Congress in this session and enacted by Vice Presidential signatory we are hereby authorized to detain any and all persons attempting to enter the White House," Red Queen recited.
"It takes a president sign a law," Ramjet argued.
"The president was impeached by unanimous vote of sides of Congress. The Vice President was sworn into the Presidency four hours later by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court," Pyroman cautioned them, "You can cross this invisible line but then you're marked as a criminal and every remaining law enforcement agency will hunt you down. How do you fancy eight years in Strykers, or Blackgate, or Iron Heights or any other prison retrofitted to hold metas?"
"This is bull!" Ramjet grated,.
"It explains why they didn't attack us," Windshear replied.
"All they got is guns," Ramjet retorted, "How're they gonna stop me?"
"Hold position until we can verify the truth," Windshear instructed.
"You pussy," he rocketed over the fence.
"Just because I have one doesn't make me one," Windshear shouted but he was gone. She alighted between Red Queen and Pyroman, "Do you have proof?"
"We have blank arrest warrants and summaries of the new laws," Red Queen offered copies.
Windshear began reading, "Shit! You people are for real."
"I tried to tell flaming balls that," Pyroman wasn't happy.
"He just didn't believe. This is such a strange world," Windshear lamented.
"We're from another as well. Earth-49. But we've been drafted as Congress' personal agents. The whole team has," Pyroman was strictly business.
"Team?" Windshear asked.
"SMASH,"" Red Queen answered, "I won't bore you with what the acronym is for. But we aren't from here but we're trying to fit in and still make a difference."
"When the Dakotaverse vanished and we survived the collapse of our pocket universe, we swore we'd make a difference here as well. Rescuing the President seemed a natural thing to do," Windshear shared.
As I understand these things, history on Earth Prime is altering and adapting to place in what naturally occurred as though we've all been here all along," Red Queen tried to explain, "With McKay proven to be an alien. Our option for intervening was limited. And our policy for this operation was solely intended to keep us outside."
"Why?" Windshear asked.
"Because bad things are happening inside the White House," Pyroman was dour.
The untested Young All Stars were confronted Lane's solo operatives. Each of them were field tested by years on the streets of by various international metropolitan centers. Claire Montgomery's team of privatized meta security chose to pair up in order increase their chances of success. All except Tsunami, whose powers were better suited to solo operations. Her control over her ability was a work in progress. Air Wave also stood by herself because her powers short circuited Tsunami's.
Vapor had returned at Claire's request. And she'd been made squad leader. Seeing a new Maxi Man with Lane's forces made Vapor queasy and her usual caustic nature was exacerbated. Much to the Jailor's regret.
Vibe and Gypsy teamed again but this time to support any teammate that struggled.
Echo's power to reflect nearly anything was saving her life just as Reverb's vibration powers, though far weaker than Vibe's, deflected Vigilante's bullets. But Adrian Chase just shifted tactical means and measures and kept after them.
"Keep it comin', jefe. You just pissin' me off," Reverb warned.
"Thanks for the warning, Armando. I'll be sure to tell the Lobos you're the cause of their deaths," Vigilante told him.
"Really? You gonna roll that way?" Reverb was angered.
"Actually, I would've eventually killed them anyway. Street Gangs are a cancer," Vigilante opined.
"Cancer this," Reverb fired a vibration surge. A bullet went through his head and Vigilante threw a mock salute, "Thank you for that."
Echo went mad.
Debi Domaine was just one of the Cheetahs that followed after Barbara Minerva's death. Debi's own aunt. Priscilla Rich, had been Cheetah before Barbara. But a tonic brought from Africa rejuvenated Priscilla. It had been Barbara's lasty request. It turned the elderly Priscilla into an older twentysomething. And it turned a thirtyish Debi into a teen.
But it didn't turn either them into an animal-human hybrid like Barbara. But it still granted jungle cat-like powers. So Cheetah could smell Flying Fox and Dyna-Mite's fear. Debi decided to give something to really be scared of.
Minute-Man had the ability to super energize his body for sixty seconds before waiting one hour before doing it again. If he waited too long between energizing his power it increased the next time he called upon it. Tsunami was virtually defenseless without water nearby. But she was edging him ever closer to the Washington Monument. There wasn't much water but enough to contain Minute-Man.
Air Wave was against the newest Clock. She supposed she was pretty beneath the fedora and clock emblazoned scarf mask. But she had angry eyes. And she refused to suppose she was just holding two semiauto pistols for no reason other than to riddle Air Wave with holes.
"Stand down," Clock ordered.
"Or?" Air Wave asked.
Clock opened fire. Air Wave transformed herself into electromagnetic energy and skipped across police band radios and military traffic, which there was an amazing amount of headed into DC, and reincorporated behind Clock. She tapped her shoulder and decked the Clock.
Clock was startled. Which told Air Wave she hadn't been briefed on her powers. She probably hadn't heard of the Young All Stars yet. Air Wave wished her idiot brother hadn't gotten his powers ripped from him. She was never supposed to be Air Wave. But he'd been solo and didn't have the insurance to cover his care. And Claire paid well and the medical, dental, and vision were amazingly comprehensive. And so was the life insurance.
While Air Wave was distracted, Clock got back onto her feet and pulled a hockey puck looking device from her jacket pocket. Twisting the top half to activate the EMP and start the timer, Clock affixcd it to the distant looking Air Wave.
"Wha…" she asked. Then the EMP went off. Air Wave screamed as it disrupted her powers and her body since her body was her power. Clock idly wondered if she should execute her. No instructions were coming or any requests going out. Probably because Air Wave seemed to be an electromagnetically based creature.
Clock holstered one pistol and ejected the nearly full mag of the other. Racking the slide and locking it back, she caught the bullet that cleared the chamber. Putting the bullet back into the pipe, Clock read the counter built into the wall of the magazine had saw she still had twelve out of fourteen rounds, including the one in the chamber. She unlocked the slide and it slammed forward. The weapon was now operational. Inserting the magazine insured it would be for another eleven rounds.
Now, Clock wondered, should she use one round to put Air Wave out of both of their miseries?
"Readying the two cruisers with us for orbital bombardment," Squadron Captain Hero began ordering, "Have the destroyers and frigates prepare to suppress fighter interceptors meanwhile use our guns to clear a path for the dropships.."
"The Lanterns will object," the battlecruiser's XO replied.
"Lady Maxima wants them spared. Busy and distracted, but spared," Hero explained, "Lady Maxima has no intention of eradicating this populace. Not when they could serve Almerac's interests."
"And what of Kalea-El?" he asked.
"She'll be joining her esteemed mother on a very special quest," Hero told him, "Now issue those orders."
"Aye, Captain," he bowed and went to work.
"Don't you die, Kalea-El," Hero ordered.
"What the hell?" Race asked as the first missiles devastated a nearly emptied city.
"There aren't enough civilians left alive to warrant a barrage," Fatality assessed.
"It's meant to distract us," Carol surmised, "Maxima is planning something she doesn't want us to see."
"What do we do?" Miri Raim asked.
"Sapphires you and our two Green Lanterns will defend the populace. Darkstar, you and the Red and Fear Lantern will 'unoffically' support Maxima," Carol instructed.
"I have a name," Bekka grated.
"She's referring to our rings' strengths," Laira Omoto clarified.
"Except for," Kara lacked a ring but her Darkstar suit augmented her natural abilities as well as granted her new weapons at her disposal, "I suppose I'll be building my own corps."
"We'll see," Laira angrily retorted.
"Go! Now!" Carol Ferris clapped her hands to shoo everyone away. Carol vaguely worried about her husband and her fiancé. But Kyle and Kara were among the most capable people in the universe. Which was why they'd been White Lanterns. But the Source had given them back to Carol. And she wouldn't squander that gift again.
"Dammit! Damn, damn, damn, damn it allta hell," Guy Gardner groused as missiles detonated on his citywide shield. But others exploded outside of it. Terrifying an already panicky populace. He wondered if he should cut off their oxygen to make them pass at out. At least they'd be quiet. But if he got distracted for too many seconds, they'd die.
And despite his animosity with Shayera Hol and Carter Hall, he didn't have a gripe with these Thanagarians.
Miri, Race, and Miss Bloss also struggled over various cities. Bu their outpouring of love for the citizens below strengthened their rings' power and each one held fast. Yrra Cyvl also felt a surge of love and devotion for the people and her cause. They'd been conquered, made refugees, and hunted throughout the galaxy until their Shrike Queen made her unholy alliance with Saturn Queen. And typically, a population suffered for their leader's evil.
"But not this time out," Fatality vowed.
Bekka and Laira led Kara on approach to the towering palace. All Thanagarian construction was basically a varied them on towers. The lower castes lived closer to the ground. Evolutionary throwbacks lacking wings were confined to the ground and considered slave labor. They now made up the bulk of the population, left on Thanagar by the Gordanians to serve their reptilian masters.
The Shrike Queen brought the winged Thanagarians home but they resorted to an ancient technology of Nth metal belts and artificial wings to allow the wingless to fly. And so defense of their world became a mutual endeavor. And thanks to Saturn Queen telepathically imparting the Shrike Queen's martial knowledge in them, the wingless now knew how to fight.
"You'd best go," Eve Aries instructed Khea Taramka to join her people. Shrike Queen's four wings beat and took her into the skies to join her vanguard. Saturn Queen actually looked forward to what was coming. Shrike Queen would keep the idiotic Lanterns, and Darkstar, busy while Almerac dealt a blow against her.
Maxima and her marines landed. Maxima was filled with righteous indignation, "You will not surrender. You will only die for what you've done."
"They don't think so. In fact, they no longer think at all," Saturn Queen smirked as she snapped her fingers. Maxima's detail opened fire on her.
"Don't. Make. Me. Do. This," Maxima ground out
"I think I will," Saturn Queen gleefully decided.
Eve believed Maxima showed true artistry as she cut down an entire platoon of marines, "Brava."
Maxima was covered in her own people's blood. She aimed her dripping sword at Saturn Queen, "You are so very next."
"Then why do you have doubts?" Eve asked as she burst into Maxima's mind. Saturn Queen examined Maxima's core belief that her psychokinetic abilities would protect her from Eve Aries. Saturn Queen found it laughable at best. But she detected other minds approaching.
Kalea's squad entered but they self immolated themselves. Kalea coldly strode in from the balcony, "Having fun?"
"Like rarely before," Eve boasted, "Are you here to rescue your mother?"
"I'm considering it. She's outlived her purpose so I have decide if I'm that sentimental or not," Kalea shared.
"You're a soulless bitch. Let's be friends," Saturn Queen offered.
"I have friends. I don't need new ones," Kalea retorted.
"I'll kill them for you," Saturn Queen promised. She reached out and found…nothing. Kalea didn't have a mind she could read. Instead she had an impression of a miasma of pure chaos. Saturn Queen had only seen such purity and similar purpose once before. Within her. She tried to force Maxima to engage her daughter but she was still resisting Eve's commands. So Saturn Queen used her Legion flight ring and disappeared.
Maxima rubbed her temples, "What did I miss?"
"The standard recruitment pitch," Kalea said stiffly. Saturn Queen had tempted her. Tempted her almost beyond resistance. Maxima was ending the orbital bombardment.
The three Lanterns, mostly Lanterns, brought the Shrike Queen to Maxima. Khea was amazed that Maxima wasn't angry with the Thanagarians despite their willing complicity. Maxima clarified her position.
"You served out of a loyalty bought by the return of your people to your native world. Saturn Queen has abandoned you. Presumably she's more interested in the Kandorian survivors she still has. Almerac hopes we'll be allies one day. But I think you'd refuse that right now. But my people will defend your world without blockading it.," Maxima declared.
"Your people are far more generous than mine. We'll see how your 'protective' detail works and we'll decide from there," Shrike Queen replied.
"And that's all I'll ask for," Maxima began making arrangement for her and Kalea to depart. All the marines were dead by either her own hand, Saturn Queen's manipulations, or the Thangarian defenders.
The Lanterns rode into orbit to dock with the battlecruiser. Carol broke the tense silence, "Maxima, we need to talk."
"No, you'll deliver ultimatums and I'll ignore them. I'm leaving the empire when we rendezvous with a courier boat Kalea has arranged for," Maxima told them all.
"Where will you go?" Kara asked.
"Earth. I need time to speak with Kal-El in length," Maxima replied.
"Then you'd better start calling him Clark," Kara advised.
"Kyle, Kara, we need to go as well to make my final arrangements to leave Ferris Air behind," Carol decided.
"What about Zamaron?" Fatality inquired.
"You, my sisters, will receive the new recruits as they arrive. Kyle will do the same on Mogo. Kara will learn how to transfer Darkstar tech so she can raise a corps. But I need a month to arrange marriages and transfer my assets to someone, I don't know who yet, and leave my life on Earth behind permanently," Carol requested, "So I'm asking for that time."
They hugged her. Miri Raim almost wept, "Of course we will give it to you. We love you so much, Carol."
"Yrra, you're in charge of the recruits. Miri, you back her with everything you have. Race, you and Miss Bloss are the responders for anyone that asks for our help."
"We won't fail you," Miss Bloss promised.
"Race, what happened wasn't a bad thing but Guy made it an ugly thing. You have come to terms with. And helping others is the best way," Carol urged her.
Guy grumbled and Kyle intervened, "You need to go to Earth and see if Hal survived. And if anyone survived it's Kilowog. And John should be on active duty since he wasn't in this fiasco."
"I'll kick their asses back ta our ever livin' Lantern planet," Guy vowed.
"Or you could just ask them," Kara intervened.
"Where the hell is the fun in that?" Guy protested.
"You're certain he isn't a Red Lantern?" Carol asked Laira.
"Certainly not," she spat.
"And he's an utter failure as a Fear Lantern," Bekka angrily accused.
"Aw, Bekka wants some nookie," Guy mockingly sand.
Kyle clamped his mouth shut, "She will go Pompie on your despicable ass and we're in a spacecraft."
Bekka's ring was already glowing yellow, "Let's see what you fear."
"Nuthin' but commitment. Har, har!" Guy guffawed.
Now every ring glowed and so did Kara's fists. Maxima grew weary of the moronic behaviors of the Lantern Corps, "You bicker like children. Even my child didn't do this."
"No, she dethroned you, invaded Earth, and tortured her father," Kara replied, still wondering why the hell her hands were glowing.
"But she did it like a Princess of Almerac," Maxima said with some pride.
"And after that she staged a revolution and dethroned you again and sent you into exile," Carol picked up the thread.
"I am standing right here," Kalea said, "I made mistakes before I could learn how to really serve my people. My first step was to restore Maxima to throne. And now the Empire is really a republic and all citizens have a voice and a representative. It's a social contract between citizen and state. Haven't any of you humans read John Locke?"
"Nope, just drank some Samuel Adams," Guy chortled.
"Can we just throw him out the airlock?" Laira demanded, "He has a power ring. He'll survive."
"Better yet," Carol instructed the star sapphire to warp Guy to Earth.
"That's my cue," Bekka did the same.
"I also have a corps to rebuild," Laira warped out.
"Our turn?" Kara asked.
"Hold tight," Carol instructed Maxima and Kalea. The engaged trio vanished through the last warp.
"You should come with me to Earth," Maxima requested.
"I'm a war criminal there," Kalea reminded her.
"You're a wanted criminal in most civilizations," Maxima ruefully replied.
"I've been busy defending your empire," Kalea dryly stated.
"I was hoping we'd finally spend some down time together," Maxima confessed.
"I'll be joining you after I make some arrangements," Kalea shared, "If I don't, Earth will not be as prepared as it should against the Crisis."
"They don't know, do they?" Maxima asked.
"They're as ignorant as cockroaches," Kalea sighed.
"I expected more from your father," Maxima admitted.
"When it involves him, get used to disappointment," Kalea counseled her.
"You've never forgiven him, have you?" Maxima asked.
"I had to forgive or go further insane. But I don't have to like him at all," Kalea revealed.
"And me?" Maxima was worried.
"I forgave you before I put you back on the throne. During the wars I learned to respect you. Recently I think I might even have loved you. But that isn't a feeling I have much experience in. But I will never trust either of you," Kalea disclosed.
"Did you have to kill Marcus?" Maxima asked as the lander docked.
"He was in the way of your return. And he would've wanted to die before prison or exile. So I obliged him," Kalea was frighteningly devoid of any real feelings regarding the matter. And it scared Maxima to death.
"Oh, Plas. We never even had a chance to ta give him a proper name," Penny clung tightly Plastic Man at Plastic Baby's funeral, "Ah blame myself."
"It wasn't our fault," Plas jiggled with fury, "Somehow, someone or ones knocked us out and killed our only child. My son."
"What're we t'do?" Penny hated inaction.
"We find them. And we repay them in kind," Plastic Man vowed.
"Are yuh talkin' `bout what Ah think ya'll are?" Penny asked.
"Whatever I takes," Plastic Man wasn't interested in justice or his badge.
"Ah'll help however Ah can. Ya'll aren't leavin' me out of this," Penny knew she didn't have to force. He wanted he along for catharsis and the help.
"You mean 'we'll' help in any 'we' can," Nancy Morgan stood beside through through the funeral and beside the grave.
"Ya'll don't have t'do this, Morgan," Penny warned.
"I have to do it for you," she looked first at Penny and then at Plas, "And you."
"It's going to get ugly and the FBI will send everyone after us when it's done," Plastic Man cautioned.
"Who needs a effing badge anyway?" Morgan moved to Plas and kissed him full on the mouth before she did the same to Penny, "We're in this all totogether and hopefully forever."
"Is she talkin' `bout…?" Penny faltered.
"Yup. It's been building for a while. Morgan's polyamorous. She's in love with several people at once and in relationships with them all," he advised. He'd dated Morgan when he was Eel O'Brien, "So it's only awkward for those that don't feel that same way."
"Helluva thing," Penny muttered.
"Hula Hula will probably be prepping our transportation so we need to pack light," Plas encouraged Penny.
"Do ya'll have an idea of where we're goin'?" Penny asked.
"We're tracking down the Legion of Annoyance and we're ending them," Plastic Man shared.
"Good," Penny said with an air of finality.
The Antares was cloaked above Earth. Capt. Alicia Frakes took in the view, "I haven't been back since the Dominators invaded."
"You haven't missed much," Saturn Queen was reminded of the reviled Tessa Richardson and her oafish choice of a moronic husband, "But the easiest transfer point can be found here."
"Transfer to what?" Frakes asked.
"My future world was built on a lie created by a being called the Time Trapper. He took a nanosecond split off into another universe outside of the multiverse. His universe became our past," Eve explained, "That universe is now a gutted wreck and that destroyed where I came from. But the truth, as it, were shall set me free."
"How?" Frakes was bewildered.
"The Time Trapper is dead, long live Glorith. She rerouted time and interjected a new inspiration for my mortal enemies as well as an inspiration for my allies out of plain, obvious spite," Saturn Queen shared, "I'm about to meet with Glorith."
"Why?" Frakes thought it sounded foreboding.
"Because Glorith weaves time. And she's even more powerful than I am," Eve admitted.
Saturn Queen activated the Time Sphere and shifted from one multiverse to a lone pocket universe. And as she dismounted, Superboy met her. Not Conner Kent but a young Clark Kent. Who was supposed to have been erased from all histories.
"You know me?" Saturn Queen was incredulous.
"I've fought the entire Legion of Super Villains. Only you weren't as old then," Superboy boasted.
"And I'll just have to assume you weren't as rude," Eve felt tired all over. Being sassed by a Kryptonian that never should have existed in the first place.
"I see you've met my pet. He isn't quite housebroken yet," Glorith revealed herself. Saturn Queen had thought Glorith to be beautiful as the Time Trapper's flunky and then as Mordru's slave. But the sorceress could remain ageless. And she used chronal spells to tighten her muscles and metabolize flab. So with her distinctive white hair and glistening silver armor, Glorith was breathtaking to both sexes. And third and fourth sexes as well, depending on species.
"I take it you wish to discuss the coming Crisis," Glorith realized.
"Why is it happening?" Saturn Queen asked.
"Because the multiverse is an artificial construct. A being outside of our reality began an experiment. An experiment that dies in Zthe ero Hour," Glorith revealed, "I survive, of course."
"And this is the Vanishing Point?" Saturn Queen inquired.
"My bunker should allow existence to get wiped clean. Then I'll have to endure the raging of the Anti Monitor," Glorith shuddered.
"Can you defeat him?" Saturn Queen hoped.
"No, but I can trick him," Glorith twinkled.
"How?" Eve asked.
Glorith wore a mischievous smirk, "That's the trick. It's already happened."
"God, you're impossible to deal with," Saturn Queen fumed.
"You're just too used to getting your own way," Glorith scolded her.
"Why did you invite me here?" Saturn Queen demanded.
"To offer sanctuary should you need it. You see, if my trick works and the universe gets saved, I need you in the future. You have the vision the 31st Century will require."
"You can see everything?" Eve wondered.
"If I put my mind to it. And that's my curse. Besides the splitting migraines afterwards," Glorith shrugged.
"Have you spoken with Sarya?" Saturn Queen asked.
"The Emerald Empress and her new Fatal Five are required for my future to be built," Glorith confided.
"You might want to lead with that," Eve suggested.
"Noted," Glorith smirked again.
Saturn Queen wondered how many thousands of years were required before she could kill Glorith.