50
Hawkman would land on a PT and smash through its hull with his mace and then fly away. After half a dozen such attempts he flew off and studied the Nth metal weapon, "No wonder Shayera likes hers so much."
But Shayera Hol's weapon had knobs instead of spikes. The "Savage" Hawkman preferred his spiked cudgel compared to her. He took a moment to observe Hawkgirl. Kendra Saunders fought with the spirit and skill of a true Thanagarian. She'd absorbed the skills faster than he had Khufu's. And Kendra wasn't Chay'Era reincarnated. Shay was. Yet with Hath Set's curse broken, he could finally be free of Shayera's ghost and chart his own destiny. And he already hoped Kendra would be part of it. But he wasn't certain in what capacity yet.
Hawkgirl had already expended her spear through the hull armor of a gun turret. Now she was using a sword Carter had given her. She appreciated Carter Hall for walking her though the difficulty of realizing who and what she really was. Even if Carter hadn't. Deep within Carter and her was deeply rooted Thanagarian DNA. Until the invasion, the only Thanagarians on Earth had been Katar Hol and Kherea Lo. They became Khufu and Chay'Era after Vandal Savage killed them. Hath Set had always believed he cursed the lovers. But Savage had created the cycle of transmigration and simply let Hath Set have the credit. It was Savage that cursed Hath Set into spiraling through the centuries with the lovers.
Yet not everything had been perfect once Katar and Kherea died. Chay'Era visibly took a lover. Khufu did as well, quite discreetly. And so the long spiral began between Katar and Kherea's ever transforming lives and always interrupted by the enraged Hath Set. And Chay'Era's personal guard always appeared and was on the cusp of stealing her away while Khufu always had affairs when the pair were reunited and when they were not. Both sired many children.
And the children inherited their parents' curse. Hector Hall and Sheira Saunders being the most visible. Every other descendent had been killed by Hath Set through the millennia after realizing he'd missed Khufu and Chay'Era's children sired with humans. What niggled Kendra was she didn't know if Carter, in that strange twisting loop of fate kind of way, was her "father".
And she saw the hope of romance in Carter's eyes but she found it repellent but hadn't explained why. He saw it of course and avoided any form of gesture or overture. He merely mentored. like a dad. Which creeped her out even more. She knew the one person she could, should actually, talk to was Shayera. But, Shay could actually be her "mom". One of them was parental and she was to learn who that was even though she cringed at even thinking about solving the riddle that was driving her mad. And someday, she had to tell both of them about Hector.
Hawkgirl's sword was lighter than Hawkman's or Sparrow Hawk's. She hadn't met Danya Hellstrom yet. She preferred not to. According to Carter, Danya was obsessed with mating with him to propagate her other-dimensional Thanagarian line. And Carter was distant enough from the Prime Thanagarians and was basically the only option without heading into deep space.
But Sparrow Hawk was a brawler. Hawkman and Shayera had only stepped away with their lives on several occasions. But each had scored major victories as well. Carter admitted Danya's only weakness was her burning rage. She wanted to see the universe torn down and aflame. What she expected to happen afterwards was mystery. But Hawkman and Shayera agreed Sparrow Hawk had an endgame beyond that. Especially now that Danya knew Thanagarians and humans could breed.
With the last of the outer skirmish line sinking, Hawkgirl joined Hawkman in the skies above, "Should we assist them?"
"They brought flotation devices," Hawkman said rather cruelly.
That was the part of her Thanagarian heritage Hawkgirl despised, "Atom Smasher has dealt with the last pocket cruiser," she pointed out.
The warning klaxons of the warships resounded through the air, "Al's a good man. It'll be an honor to even attend his wedding to Anna."
"And what is she doing, exactly?" Kendra looked to see Anna Fortune still hovering high above the Caspian Sea.
"Whatever she's doing it's saving our lives and we can't distract her," Hawkman advised.
"Um…okay?" Hawkgirl was uncertain about that. But what was she certain of other than fighting?
"Kendra, it gets easier. It never seems like it but it does. The bat-shit crazy becomes normalized," Hawkman promised.
"Yeah, that could be a problem," she replied, "Because it should stay weird."
"You could, and should, step down before then. But I don't know where you could go. Even Shayera's self-imposed exile had to end as the world grew too close," Hawkman told her, "She rarely mentions anything about how she almost died in the wild."
"That is farfetched sounding," Hawkgirl admitted.
"I know you want to talk to her again. Her baby is almost due. When she and John have settled in, I'll help arrange a visit. A long visit so you can ask everything that's been on your mind. Like, which of us is your parent if not both of us. After all Khufu and Chay'Era had children together as well as apart through the ages," Carter offered.
"You knew?" she was surprised.
"I'd be asking the same questions," Hawkman shared, "Just don't let the answer dictate your life choices. You have five thousand years of history behind you. That give you options other than the wild. And John and Shay prove you can find happiness with a normal person."
"You haven't," Kendra accused.
"I had to kill Hath Set. I was trapped in the cycle where I found Chay'Era only to lose her every time. Even when I had a separate life, a life I loved, her reincarnation would arrive to destroy it. And she never actually wanted me. She wanted John, in evrey life. She used me until she found him," Hawkman explained.
"No wonder you're angry," Hawkgirl realized.
"That doesn't begin to describe the frustration," Hawkman told her.
"You…love Shayera?" Kendra asked.
"I thought I did at first. I thought it was destiny. But Hath Set manifested as the Shadow Thief and I learned the truth. Katar and Kherea loved each other. Khufu and Chay'Era tolerated each other and were trapped in an official, loveless marriage. Afterwards, each spin of the cosmic wheel just made us hate each other more. Hath Set's goal accomplished," Hawkman shared.
"But you and Shayera are friends," Hawkgirl pointed out.
"And that's all we'll ever be. And I am so profoundly relieved," Hawkman confessed, "Carter and Shayera can finally just be who they were meant to be. And when we die, if we come back, we won't be chasing our own tails around each other."
"I'm sorry. I severely underestimated you," Kendra made her own confession.
"It's my charming ways," Hawkman grinned, "And the brooding."
"Definitely the brooding," Hawkgirl wore her own grin.
"Let's say we pull Atom Smasher out of the water. This sea is incredibly toxic. Dr. Mid-Nite is going to be doing antibiotic needlepoint on him after this," Hawkman suggested.
Hawkgirl actually laughed, "Sure. I'm bored anyway."
"I actually do wonder what the hell Anna is doing up there," Carter admitted.
"See? I told you!" Kendra had to rub it in.
"You know, Sheira Saunders was your mother's aunt and she was Chay'Era. My incarnation was her husband Hector. They were the first Hawks on Earth. I don't see a direct lineage," Hawkman said as they dove towards the waters below.
"Hector was cheating on Sheira…with her sister. My grandmother," Hawkgirl finally revealed.
"And so it went, and went, and went," Hawkman wearily sighed.
"So…are we even remotely genetically related?" she inquired.
"We can find out," Hawkman promised.
The Gun Club took control of the Hauser and Caldwell Arms units. Meridian herself guided her merc forces. The Zither Group had hired a few of Deathstroke's associates. In particular, Arsenal and Cheshire had come to kill the Crimson Queen. Tattooed Man would provide the distraction need to enter the palace unseen as well as Cinder.
MARS Corp. had developed and called a squad called Wetworks to deal with situations like the invasion of Bailya. As well as two heavy operations operators under a unit SHOC designation. The two cyborgs were code-named Killjoy and Archer. Both of whom had romantic relationships with the Wetworks agent, Mother One. Mother One had been a SHOC candidate and then upgraded to Wetworks.
And these forces were pouring down on Robotman, Hourman, the Whip, Tarantula, and Spider Queen to the north and Dr. Mid-Nite, Sand, Judomaster, Stargirl, and Mike Dugan's STRIPE mecha to the north-east. The bulk of the mechanized armor had been destroyed by the JSA already. The common mercenary forces had broken and ran, including Zither and Meridian veterans and specialists.
Wetworks divided to support the SHOC troops coming down from the northern border. The other half went from the east to aid the Gun Club. Mother One led the Wetworks northern team. It included Ab-Death, Claymore, Dozer and Jester. In addition to Killjoy and Archer, the MARS Corporation had fielded an intensively capable force. No one knew or cared where the LuthorCorp reps had vanished tpo.
Hourman's opening punch laid out Claymore. Robotman did the same for Dozer, thereby eliminating the most physical opponents. Whip, Tarantula, and Spider Queen dealt with Jester and Ab-Death. Robotman and Hourman decided to find out just who and what the SHOC troops were. Hourman's Miraclo was burning through his system and he only had fourteen minutes of super human strength and tissue density left.
Both cyborgs fired weapons at Robotman and Hourman. They hadn't used armor piercing rounds, merely concussive. But they'd expected to at least dent Robotman and kill Hourman. And neither happened. Instead the JSAers got close enough to use their prodigious strength. And for all their physical reinforcements, one punch was all it took to stun the SHOCs.
The Whip put out Ab-Death's eye but it barely slowed him. Tarantula shot the other one and Ab-Death flailed about gunning away until he ran out of ammo. Whip snared his feet and pulled them out from beneath him. Spider Queen used her web gun to wrap up Jester and render him harmless.
Mother One stepped in. She was a SHOC cyborg first and had the impenetrable golden skin of the Wetworks. Tarantula took aim at an eye after her first round bounced off Mother One.
"Do you really want to do that?" Mother One asked.
"Take one more step and hell, yeah," Tarantula warned.
"`Scuse us," Hourman delivered the first punch. Robotman unleashed the second while Mother One was reeling. Tarantula shot her forehead.
"What?" she asked of the accusatory stare from Hourman, "She'll wake up with a migraine. Bully for her."
"We seem to have stopped the invasion," Whip observed.
"Everyone else ran away," Spider Queen added.
"They'll probably call it a strategic advance to the rear," Robotman's synthetic chuckle was new to everyone. Including him, "I didn't know I could still laugh."
"You go, Bob," Whip cheered.
Hourman got tipsy. Tarantula smirked, "Where's the flask, Rex?"
"Coming down from the Miraclo," He partially explained. In the Forties, he'd been addicted to it. But he'd reformulated since then. But the adrenalin rush was almost as addictive as Miraclo had been.
"So what happens now?" Spider Queen asked.
"We pull back and regroup," Hourman stated.
Dr. Mid-Nite's blackout bombs occluded the Wetworks' vision. Unlike Mother One, they hadn't received ocular enhancements. And the golden skin synced to their flesh was impenetrable so any surgeries were out of the question. Their eyes would be torn when the orbs were removed from the sockets. SHOC received such devices and only Mother One had been a SHOC before transforming into a Wetwork.
Red suddenly found himself buried up to his neck in the ground soil underlying the sand. Stargirl blasted Ashe into oblivion. Pilgrim had lost two-thirds of his force in mere seconds. And suddenly, he was confronted by STRIPE.
"PLEASE DON"T SUREENDER," Mike Dugan's amplified and mechanized voice declared.
"Do you worst. I'm not afraid. You can't hurt me," Pilgrim boasted.
"YEAH, RIGHT," STRIPE replied.
"STRIPE?" Courtney Whitmore questioned.
"REE-LAX. I GOT THIS," all of Stripe's weapons ports opened. But only the gas grenade launchers were engaged. Mike laid a wide and dep barrage so the Pilgrim couldn't escape. He quickly passed out.
"BOO-YAH!" STRIPE cheered himself on.
"Really modest, Mike," Stargirl chided him, "Now what?"
"My geokinesis detects every invader retreating…rapidly. They're already twenty miles and accelerating," Sand reported.
"I think these fellows will follow soon enough," Dr. Mid-Nite guessed, "I suggest we rally back at the palace."
"See ya," Courtney waved as she sat down on the Cosmic Rod and flew off.
"HOP ON," STRIPE squatted so Dr. Mid-Nite could climb up the mecha's back and take hold of the handholds. Then Mike engaged the thrusters and they were off.
Left alone, Sand shrank into the soil and drifted through in his silicate form.
Black Pharaoh was powerful if unimaginative. But Green Lantern's power ring was controlled by his willpower but shaped by his imagination. And he had an endless supply of both. So he overwhelmed the Egyptian with constructs beyond his fathoming. Eventually Black Pharaoh could hardly defend himself. So he bolted across the sky unseen because of black energy enfolding him against a night sky.
"I wonder what Disco Mummy will do now?" Alan Scott mused.
Flash had the fortune of inadvertendly tripping and causing Green Mummy to fall onto the ground. By the nature of the enchantment possessing him, he was a shambling corpse of a man with hardly any range of motion if he wasn't driving himself forward at super speed. Recognizing that Jay Garrick deduced this and wouldn't budge, Green Mummy darted off across the horizon.
"This has to a new high for weirdness," Flash commented.
Wildcat decided if he couldn't beat Wraps with his fists, he'd outwit him. So he took hold of the writhing bandages and began jerking them off of Aten Khalis. Until Wraps was exposed as a desiccated corpse. He loped off into the desert with a whimper.
"An' I thought Courtney was skinny," Ted Grant remarked.
Hippolyta's sword sliced through another rose construct, "We can help. Surely your sister will find a cure."
"My sister did this to me!" Scarlet Rose screamed, "She had an opportunity to cure us both but she chose herself. Always herself."
Hippolyta took cover behind her shield as razor-like rose petals slammed into it, "There has to something."
"Just leave me alone!" Scarlet sobbed as she headed back across the border.
Hippolyta had felt the same way about Diana on occasion. But her daughter had grown to be more responsible. As Themiscyra's queen, she would either blossom or put herself into exile. Either way, Hippolyta wouldn't be returning.
Mr. Terrific teleported hundreds of feet into the air. As he began to fall he directed the T-Spheres near the King of the Undead to concentrate their firepower on him. With an inhuman shriek, he abandoned his mission and left beyond the fightings reach. Michael Holt then teleported to the surface.
"I wonder what he is," he mused.
Myra Pyram may have been a sorceress but Jade assumed she wasn't a very accomplished because she was easily captured using Jade's power pulse. She went to check on Todd.
Obsidian body checked Zenbobia. That ended the flare spell. His shadow forms smothered her and all was dark until Jade arrived.
"Need a hand?" Jade asked.
"Want a prisoner?" Obsidian asked.
"Don't they come in pairs?" Jade snickered as she scooped Zenobia up. Then they heard the foul cursing.
"Jonni?" she asked.
"Jonni," he confirmed.
Yz was blasting away at Ghazia but the former priestess was holding her at bay. But as long as she was on the defensive, Ghazia couldn't lash out at the Thunderbolt. So the cursing actually was stemming from Ghazia who had a potty mouth sailors around the world would be envious of. It derived from taking too many Nile bargemen for lovers.
Obsidian smothered her as well. Yz reverted back to being Jonni Thunder, "I had that."
"Your way was too slow," Obsidian sniffed.
"Wanna see how slow my right cross is?" Jonni asked.
Jenni-Lynn Haden felt like Jonni was family. It certainly sounded like it.
"You're back," Hath Set realized.
"You're not Hath Set but you wear his skin," Sandman stated.
"It seems Morpheus chose well," "Hath Set" replied.
"We'll see soon enough," Wesley Dodds realized.
Hath Set's body turned to ash and blew away
Sandman briefly saw the demon behind the mask. Fallen angels could appear human. Their offspring demon could not manifest without taking a human shell. In this case, the demon's dark arts had been quantified by Hath Set's memories. Parasitic demons were rare but now Sandman knew what he was deal with. A creature even more powerful than its brethren Lords of Chaos.
"I know this has to rank high on everyone's 'strange' bar…and that's a high bar to leap over…but we seem to have on this day," Green Lantern assessed.
Flash slid in the sand, "The Iranian army is in full retreat. No sign of our missing mummies and whatevers."
"Then can we just kick the mighty Crimson Queen's ass?" Wildcat was impatient.
"I agree with Wildcat," Hippolyta said in menacing tones, "She owes a debt of blood to blood."
"But she can't be killed by conventional means," Sandman warned.
"This sword is hardly conventional," Hippolyta's icy scorn was plain to hear.
"We were just visited by a demon and we don't know why," Sandman advised them.
"Aren't the Lords of Chaos always demons?" Mr. Terrific asked.
"No," Obsidian interrupted, "The Lords are typically either consigned to the position as punishment or humans elevated to it. I saw my fair share of them in the Shadow Realms. It borders on Chaos."
"So do you, buddy," Jonni quipped.
Jade could've sword if Jonni didn't know Todd was gay she'd be flirting, "So where do I drop the prisoners?"
"Can you three give them to Stryker's Island's meta wing until we compile charges?" Green Lantern asked.
"Um…my power pulse is a little busy?" Jade was uncertain.
"Just hold tight," a T-Sphere flash whisked them to NYC. Mr. Terrific turn to Green Lantern, "Now, why do you really want the kids away from here?"
"Hold fast!" Sir Ystin yelled between sword strokes, "This is the final wave."
Wonder Girl kept crushing mummy skulls one minute and roping a dozen at a time and using her Lasso of Thunder to destroy them. Secret's gaseous form would envelope mummies and then harden enough to rip them apart. Miss Quick used near-supersonic punches to utterly turn mummies back to dust. Black Kitten's claws severed heads from spinal columns. Raven Red's near idealized human conditioning gave him the strength, speed, and stamina to deal with their impossible enemy. Finally, Arrowette had managed to expend every arrow in her arsenal. So she relied on her bow as a stave.
And the battle was won. Sir Ystin sheathed her sword and whistled, "Vanguard, you can come down now."
Ystin removed her helm and Arrowette was in an awe, "You really are a girl."
Sir Ystin sounded weary, "I truly wish people would stop saying that. I was born one way but feel another."
"So do you sleep with guys or girls?" Wonder Girl shushed Black Kitten just as she had Arrowette.
"My first love was an Amazon names Expositros. But Ex returned to Themiscyra. My true love has followed my adventures through the ages. Now, in this age of marvels we can finally marry," Ystin predicted.
"We are talking a chickweed here, right?" Black Kitten asked.
"Gay marriage started in just a few states but in a few years it'll be national law," Miss Quick blurted.
"Really?" Raven Red was disappointed.
"Did I reveal too much? I revealed too much," Miss Quick chastised herself in rapid speech.
"What is your love's name?" Secret asked. Wonder Girl felt it was the one decent question thus far.
"Maid Maleen is actually a shield maiden. She's training to fight beside us," Sir Ystin answered.
"Shield maiden? Like a Valkyrie?" Raven Red yelped.
"Maid Maleen is the daughter of a Danish king who invaded the Celtlands, decimated the Picti, and sieged Camelot," Sir Ystin explained, "We met centuries later, some time after Ex departed these shores, and Merlin made introductions. First we were comrades-in-arms, then partners, and eventually lovers."
"Modern medicine has a way of making you a man," Black Kitten blurted.
Ystin softly smiled, "I have this body I was born to. In my heart, I am a man and that is good enough for me to know and I shall act accordingly. As far as my physical sex, I am content and enjoy it as well. You all should too."
Ystin mounted Vanguard and they took flight to survey the battlefields. Raven Red couldn't help but mention, "That's a helluva woman."
"Her name was changed from Ystina," Miss Quick added.
"Is she a crossdresser?" Arrowette asked.
"Shut up, Cissie." Wonder Girl pleaded.
"Like you weren't thinking it already, Cassie," Arrowette fired back.
"But at least I have the brain Zeus gave me to keep my loud mouth shut," Cassie fired back.
"If you weren't my bestie, and if I weren't out of net arrows, I'd wrap your demigoddess ass up," Arrowette retorted.
Wonder Girl laughed, "You have resupplies aboard the Racer?"
"`Course," Arrowette replied.
"I think all of us need R&R. Let's get through the city `cause the All Star Race is at the southern gate," Wonder Girl urged. She received all of the expected objections: none.
Superboy lacked heat vision per se but he could detect infrared energy in others. And his mummified opponents lacked even the smallest erg, "They really aren't alive. Crush them!"
As Conner followed his own advice, Zachary Zatara narrowed his range of spells to the most effective ones. Kid Flash echoed his sister's efforts. Blue Beetle's armor and Sinistro's tech blasters destroyed scores of mummies. Victory Girl and the Liberty Belles dismembered those that got past.
Eventually there were none left. Victory Girl, Trixie and Pixie couldn't hide their relief. Blue Beetle scarab allowed him to deactivate his sonic blaster and plasma cannon.
"Threats over," he announced.
"Oh, really?" Sinistro sneered.
"Ease off of him," Zachary insisted, "He's had more experience than any of us save Superboy."
"Hey!" Kid Flash pouted as he skidded to a halt, "No one around in twenty miles."
"Relatively speaking, Barr," Zachary clarified.
"I was just planning on hiding in the 21st Century until Shira was safe. Now, there's no future we can return to," Kid Flash admitted.
"Would you stop saying that?" Superboy grated, "There's a always a future."
"Until there isn't," Sinistro goaded him.
"I wouldn't," Pixie said.
"Do that," Trixie warned.
Sinistro looked at them like talking monkeys. Victory Girl stepped in, "You look at them, at anyone, like that again and I promise you that you will lose teeth over it."
Sinistro stifled his natural response, "Of course. I apologize, ladies."
"I wonder what Shirlee sees in him," Trixie confessed.
"Maybe she's evil too," Pixie shrugged.
"We were tasked with watching over Sinistro, the Teen Fiend. Let's not blow it and let him know we are," Victory Girl advised.
"Let's head back to the Racer," Superboy suggested, "I doubt they're serving food or handing out water here tonight."
"I could fly ahead," Blue Beetle suggested.
"Good idea, Blue. Report any funny stuff," Superboy encouraged Jaime's initiative.
"I could've flown as well," Sinistro sniffed.
"And deprive us of your sparkling personality?" Zachary jested.
At the western gate, facing the beaches, Miss Martian's team beat back the final wave of mummies. M'gann landed at last. As the others pushed them back out of the city into the Caspian.
"Ah am sooo done with bandages. If Ah even see a burn victim Ah'd probably blast `em," Jinny Hex warned.
"The Caspian is a dead sea," Tefe Holland scowled, "Pollution is killing or mutating everything."
"But hey! Good news! No more mummies," Static enthused. M'gann could tell Virgil would become Young Justice's morale officer.
"I haven't been this tired since Becky dragged me into our Masters of Disaster," Windfall groaned.
"Here comes the Hawks and Atom Smasher but where's Anna Fortune?" Catgirl had to ask.
"There!" M'gann pointed up.
"Whut the hell is she doin'?" Jinny asked.
"Who can tell?" Tefe sighed.
"Something important," Static ventured, "Right?"
No one answered. Wendy sighed, "Who can ever tell what a sorceress is ever up to?"
Even an Agent of Order.
Red Robin's strategy was to draw the mummies away in two factions. Bluebird's drones would defend the center stragglers. He led Jericho and Black Bat to the east while Robin Alpha and Robin, Bluebird, and Batgirl went west. Red Robin was fighting in terms of parity of forces.
Robin Alpha had another course in mind, "Harper can you do it?"
"Of course I can," Bluebird said of the previously discussed idea.
"Go!" Alpha ordered.
"Who are you again?" Stephanie Brown asked.
"Careful what you ask for," Batgirl told her.
"Easy for you to say, Carrie. There's only one Batgirl. I become Robin in time for there to be two others?" Robin complained, "I'm gearing up as Spoiler from now on."
"You're choice," Alpha approved.
"You could've talked me out of it," Robin said ruefully.
"Why bother when I really don't want to," Alpha confessed.
"I so totally hate you," Robin admitted.
"I can deal," Alpha promised.
"Will you two shut the hell up?" Batgirl protested, "Save it for the mummies."
"Girl has a point," Helena Kyle acknowledged.
"Call me 'girl' again without the 'bat' attached and I'll lay you out," Carrie Kelley warned.
The All Star Racer's floodlamps switched on. Alpha yelled, "Duck and cover!"
As they dove, Bluebird activated the Vulcan cannons and shredded mummies with muzzle velocities exceeding 1700 feet-per-second. Even the bulk of Red Robin's opposition was torn to shreds.
Alpha triggered her transceiver, "Cut it, Harper."
Bluebird shut everything down.
"Are you crazy!" Red Robin shout at Alpha as he stormed in on her.
She laid him flat out, "Don't threaten unless you intend to do something about it."
Black Bat studied her moves. As she had since meeting Helena, "You have been trained by both Batman and Catwoman."
Helena froze, "What did you say?"
"Your fighting style seamlessly merges those of your parents," Black Bat summarized.
"She's too old to be their kid. Aren't you?" now even Robin doubted.
"I'm from Earth-4 and there I was just the right age," Helena finally began to reveal herself.
"So, what's your name?" Red Robin asked.
"Helena Kyle," she answered, "Just as you're really Ulysses Armstrong. Or should we still call you 'Anarky'?"
"You knew?" Batgirl asked Black Bat.
"I did," Black Bat confirmed it.
"Lordy. What a effin' soap opera," Bluebird stormed off.
Jericho glumly watched and wonder if Young Justice would end before the experiment had truly begun.
Tattooed Man dealt with the Palace Guards while Arsenal and Cheshire found the Crimson Queen, atop her throne, no less.
"Oh, you're here already," Crimson Queen chucked, "But still too late."
A boom tube's opening resounded throughout the audience chamber. Lex Luthor stepped through with Deathstroke. Cinder made her appearance.
"Do it," Slade Wilson ordered.
Cinder slagged the ceiling, driving Roy and Jade back, Tattooed Man stormed in to get plasma in his side. Cinder took him to task.
"Stay down and I won't hurt you anymore," she offered.,
"No arguments," he hissed through the pain.
"Ready, boss," Cinder reported.
"Don't forget the severance package," Deathstroke reminded Luthor of the payouts to the afflicted Titans.
"And you get the Queen to safety," Luthor demanded.
"I have friends in low places that will hide her in repayment of past debts," Slade stated.
"How low?" the Crimson Queen archly inquired.
"Monaco," Deathstroke replied, "Cinder will be your attache but not your slave."
"As Mercy was to me," Luthor clarified.
"So, bodyguard and sex toy," Crimson Queen defined it.
"More the former than the latter," Deathstroke advised.
He clasped Cinder's forearm, "It's been real."
"Me too," Cinder felt a wave of pride knowing she'd been hand selected for this task.
"And the paperwork has been filled. I purchased every square foot of Bailyan soil for seventy trillion dollars. Most of it being inadvertently donated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. And the UN wonders why Max Lord was able to show them why they were broke," Luthor was feeling especially smug.
"I wondered how you amassed such wealth," Crimson Queen admitted.
"Yes, even I, the world's richest man despite asset seizures, can't do this alone," Luthor confessed.
"How is Lena?" she inquired.
"Thriving," Luthor bragged about his half-sister.
"And Luna Luthor?" there was a delish twinkle in Crimson Queen's eyes to match her smile.
"Where did you hear that name?" he hissed between clenched teeth.
"Around," Crimson Queen was absolutely insufferable now.
"Why you little…" Luthor stepped forward. Deathstroke blocked him with his sword.
"You hired me to protect her. That includes from you," Slade warned him.
Luthor knew better than to argue contractual terms with Deathstroke, "Very well. Take her before I revoke our contract."
"Our bargain is irrevocable except by death, and even then your trust is entitled to keep me on retainer," Slade said firmly.
"And why do you suppose I will be the one dying?" Luthor asked.
"How do you know with certainty that it's true?" Deathstroke inquired.
"I have powerful allies," Luthor warned.
"Your Legion of Doom is a joke besides Lady Vic. And I've been on Darkseid's payroll for a decade," Deathstroke burst that particular bubble, "A fact that continually saves your life."
"It's always a pleasure doing business with you," Luthor told the Crimson Queen.
"And you've never become a better liar to those that truly know you. Say 'hello' to Luna when she comes calling," Crimson Queen's laughter echoed over the boom tube until it closed.
"Something I should be made aware of?" Slade asked.
"No, but here is a presigned short term retainer. that should cover the rest of the day," Luthor handed him the manila envelope replete with cash and contract.
"Expecting local troubles?" Deathstroke inquired.
"No, but I expected the Justice Society and their junior varsity to crash through these obnoxiously large doors any minute now," Luthor shared.
And the doors did burst open. Only Young Justice was left outside the city gates with the All Star Racer as LuthorCorp contractors surrounded the city walls and converge on the palace. Anna Fortune and the Sandman also remained behind to confer on the means, methods, and motives of the Lords of Chaos they prepared for another Age.
Luthor was seated atop the throne with Deathstroke at his side. Arsenal and Cheshire had angrily departed already. Tattooed Man was being tended to and a job offer with the Everyman Project had been tendered. Slade had encouraged a man as loyal as he to accept LuthorCorp's offer. There wouldn't be a second one.
"What's happened here, Luthor?" Green Lantern demanded to know.
"I know, it's a tad gauche. I had to fire the interior decorator," Luthor chuckled, amused by himself.
"Where's the Crimson Queen?" Wildcat bellowed.
"I honestly don't know. He does," Luthor admitted.
"Deathstroke," Flash said warily.
"Care to try me, Garrick?" Slade asked.
"Aren't you wanted in fifty countries?" Mr. Terrific asked.
"Oh, that. I was pardoned by an act of Congress, the Supreme Court, every governor in the Union, all forty-nine other heads of state, and acquitted by the World Court. So I'm basically forgiven. The United States and other western powers will be refunding my property and financials," Luthor gloated, "And have you heard? President McKay was really an alien. With the election less than a year away I'm throwing my hat in the ring again."
"On another revenge fantasy?" Dr. Mid-Nite inquired.
"No, I really want to buy…serve…my country. Minor slip of the lip," Luthor was still greatly amused, "To begin with, I bought Bailya."
"How do you buy a country?" Sand wondered.
"The Crimson Queen owned every parcel of real estate. Including the nuclear stockpiles. Which I will be turning over to the International Atomic Energy Agency," Luthor proposed.
"Diana says you are scum," Hippolyta declared, "That you worthy of contempt and cannot be trusted."
"Diana? The other Wonder Woman. I see the resemblance. You'r the first. I understood you were blonde and then not and then again and now apparently not. It's rather distracting," Luthor needled her.
"I am blonde on Themiscyra. Which is a look I will no longer wear," Hippolyta replied.
"Yes, having you and Aresia as the only blondes in a sea of brunettes must have driven suitors crazy," Luthor was openly baiting her now. Her hand closed around her sword hilt and Deathstroke reached above his shoulder to do the same.
"Easy!" Hourman urged, "The fight is clearly over."
"Thank God for that," Spider Queen was happy to hear it. Whip and Tarantula gave her baleful looks and she shrugged, "What?"
"If it would please everyone, perhaps Green Lantern could seek out the Crimson Queen's presence to verify she's gone?" Robotman suggested.
"What a wonderful idea. You have my permission," Luthor smirked.
"If she is here, you have a fight," Hawkman promised.
"Deathstroke or not," Hawkgirl supported him.
"And you can kiss the palace goodbye," Atom Smasher tripled his height to just clear the massively vaulted remains of the ceiling.
"Nothing," Green Lantern announced as his ring glowed, "Not a damn trace."
"I'll be accepting apologies all week," Luthor said smarmily.
"Go ta hell," Wildcat growled.
"But not yet," Luthor openly mocked them.
"You can come out now," Deathstroke announced after the JSA had departed.
Disco Mummy removed herself from the shadows wrapped behind a massive tapestry, "You spotted me. That's hard to do with two good eyes,"
"He makes up for it with one excellent eye," Luthor praised Slade.
"So, you've even exceeded your own expectations," Disco Mummy wasn't impressed.
"And you played Max like a concert violinist," Luthor was troubled, "And you're playing me."
"Of course I am. Men of every century underestimate me. They just believe I'm an exceptionally beautiful face," Disco Mummy stated. Both Luthor and Slade had to agree with her own immodest assessment.
"I know you can't repay me just yet. But I will have payment, out of your flesh if nothing else," Disco Mummy advised Luthor.
"You realize Sumeria became Assysria and Persia. And Assyeria was conquered by the Babylonians leading the Chaldean armies. Which the Medes and then the Persian conquered," Luthor summarized.
"I'm aware of the sordid little squabbles," Disco Mummy replied.
"I'm saying, Sumeria hasn't existed for thousands of years," Luthor tried to apprise her.
"That's why I want all of those territories. It'll feel like old home week," Disco Mummy countered.
"But…" Luthor felt she was being unrealistic.
"Lex, I'm a Sumerian princess in a modern age. If I can exist, so can my kingdom," and she vanished.
"You'd better deliver," Deathstroke told Luthor, "Because she won't kill you. She'll make the torture last until the world burns away."
And Luthor finally realized, he wasn't immune to her whims or her ambitions.
The Jokerz began their campaign of mass mayhem as the sun began to set and dawn swiftly approached Bailya. Hellequin had persuaded Joker's Daughter to undertake the action in order to prove her validity as the Joker's heir. In reality, it was planned by Knightfall to insure passage of her proposed security means and measures.
Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon dispatched all cars as the Jokerz rioted in the upscale neighborhoods. Infuriatingly, the District Attorney called off the intervention. The Mayor went further in isolating those areas and giving the Jokerz unrestricted access to the citizens and their property.
Barbara clenched her teeth as she dialed Bruce Wayne. But Bruce, in typical fashion, ignored her call. She began scrolling through her discreet contact list. And she began placing calls to other individuals. Bruce Wayne and Batman could go ass eff himself.
Batman had been observing Alfred's interactions with Selina. She was stubborn and very proud of being independent but she'd realized she did need Alfred's help. Selina refused Wayne money but he could supplement Alfred's wages. His former butler, mentor, and friend gladly accepted, seeing the gesture to be some form of reconciliation.
Next he habitually checked in on Jaina Hudson and her manifested dual persona. But Jaina wasn't in, and hadn't been for days and the White Rabbit wasn't shaking her scantily clad bunny tail anywhere. All of which was problematic. But the rampaging had begun and Batman knew he could deal effectively with one site. That site being wherever Deula Dent was pretending she was in charge.
Charise Carnes' neighborhood also came under attack. Which had been expected. Her Disgraced busied themselves getting ready while she donned Knightfall's garb and her golden mask. She then retrieved the dagger that had been used to ritually sacrifice her immediate family while she'd been tied up and forced to watch. Her time in Arkham had been doubly useful. She learned the true depths of depravity and she came to terms with her loss.
Jokerz had surrounded Three Towers when Knightfall and the Disgraced used a hidden tunnel to emerge at a property across the street that Charise also owned. Point in fact, she owned the district and was making egresses into others. With the Great Recession ongoing people were happy to sell their land in exchange for one large sum and discounted rental lease so they didn't have to move. Charise would apply the lump sum towards the rent for however long that would be paid.
"Why are you even here?" Knightfall asked Joker's Daughter.
Surprised, Duela pulled a gun as she spun to face her supposed attacker.
"I was with this Richie Rich in Arkham. She was acquitted and now things she can run my world," Joker's Daughter shared.
"Charise Carnes is many, many things but a snob isn't one of them," Knightfall replied.
"You're defending her?" Joker's Daughter was surprised.
"We have a working relationship. One to become the model of the new Gotham," Knightfall advised, "The rest of you will be culled tonight. Those that survive, the strongest among you, can return and join my cause. And then you really will run Gotham."
"No effin' way," Duela Dent angrily declared.
"Then after you're dead, I'll discuss with whoever replaced you," Knightfall and her loyalists strode away, confident the Jokerz were rightfully too terrified to attack them.
"I wonder where your spend your nights?" Joker's Daughter lividly asked herself.
Hellequin's plan required unexpected patsies to "save" the day and ultimately take a fall. She chose the Fourth Reich after their public relations performance in New York. New Yorkers had praised the Nazis' unilateral action while quietly condemning the white supremacists. That mixture was vital. People wanted to hate the Fourth Reich and its allies even while rooting for them. Shifting their status from hero to villain would take an estimated ten seconds.
The Fourth Reich had doubled its membership. But the newer half remained behind for now. The more publicly experienced cohort would be the one to invade Gotham and purge it of the Jokerz. Knightfall wanted that role but she lacked the manpower. But Hellequin had convinced her to demonize the Nazis after their victory and thus become the true savior of Gotham.
Charise's vanity allowed her to fall for it.
The Fourth Reich, Neo-Nazi Korps, Hirohito's Rising Sun Brigade, and the Aryan Brigade descended from the sky, held aloft by Faye Morgana's spells. Hellequin made certain to stand in the light and Captain Nazi appreciated it.
"Tell me, fraulein, are you a pure blood? Are compatible with mating with a true Aryan?" he asked her lasciviously.
Dr. Demon growled in her throat. Baroness Blitzkrieg was disgusted while Baroness Blood wanted in on the sex. She wanted to bed Captain Nazi so badly her genitalia ached from desire. Crossbow heartily approved hoping he'd be next. Captain Murder and Madame Libertine were indifferent.
Faye Morgana had to wonder why the self-claimed "superior race" were misogynistic pigs. Ace of Blades concluded she was grateful to be bisexual and could find decent partners of either sex. The Hun leered in eager anticipation of a gang rape. Satan Girl studied every emotion and reaction. The new Baron Blitzkrieg, the Baroness' cousin, was disappointed to see his great-great-grandfather's stories were all true. Both Blitzkriegs had discussed striking out on their own and taking a few like-minded confederates with them.
Only Volkssturm seemed undecided. Captain Nazi twitched as if to move towards her and she spoke, "Why Captain, you're every bit the scheinehund, they said you are,"
Now Nazi did lunge but his jaw met a titanium baseball bat. Then Hellequin placed one of her innumerable knives in his good eye. The loss of the other proved they were possibly his only weak point. And gambled he'd want to keep what he still had.
"You're a quick hundin, fraulien. Maybe we should talk about this?" Captain Nazi requested.
"I'd prefer the stabbing. Stabbing's good for me," Hellequin countered.
"He won't try anything," Ace of Blades vouched.
"And you think a sword will slice him up?" Hellequin had her own doubts.
"Baroness Blitzkrieg can you speed y out if necessary," Ace of Blades promised, "And Faye Morgana will keep the others in line."
"Mmm, okay," Hellequin spun the knife so the blade pointed towards her wrist and she backed away.
"Bitch," Captain Nazi spat.
"Kapitan, you are in my city at my invitation. My writ of passage ends if you piss me off. And don't that clench that hand again. I'll see it as hostile and you only have one eye left to lose," Hellequin advised him.
"You have our attention," Captain Nazi announced. But he wondered the demon possessed Kryptonian called Satan Girl hadn't moved a millimeter to help him.
"Surely we can stand down and hear her out," Scarlet Skull asked.
"When did you become our leader, pretender?" Captain Nazi snarled.
"Since you lost the voice of the sacred Volk, Herr Kapitan," Scarlet Skull informed him.
"You're all listening to this nothing?" Captain Nazi was enraged, "This less than nothing?"
"Perhaps you're referring to us as well?" Golden Eagle of the Aryan Brigade sought clarification.
Captain Nazi was uncertain how to answer that. Scarlet Skull did and had since the death of the Masked Leader, "All off us make contribution whether finite or on a grander scale."
No one had discovered the Aryan Brigade had joined Blackstarr's faction of Nazism. Hachiman of Hirohito's Rising Sun Brigade broke his silence, "And arew we less that nothing as well?"
Captain Nazi winced but Scarlet Skull saved him again, "As Emperor Hirohito was an ally of the great Fuhrer, so you are to us."
Captain Nazi wanted to scream. Hitler had hated the Japanese. Their alliance was just expedient. He would've rolled in his grave over this. And Hachiman, Iron Fist, and Captain Nippon would surely spit on it.
"Do I have to separate all of you?" Hellequin chided them. But she getting an odd vibe from Ace of Blades, Faye Morgana, the Baron and Baroness Blitzkrieg and only Satan Girl seemed to the other one getting it. And Lana had briefed Marian Drews on her.
Demon possessed aliens weren't Hellequin's specialty. God knew she'd tried killing the Justice Lords often enough, "Look, you kill Batman and quell the riots and you have a new base of operation. The Mayor will publicly acknowledge you as heroes and give a special dispensation to operate within Gotham's borders when costumes and their activities are illegal."
"You message said our passage was guaranteed by the true power in this city. The woman called Knightfall," Scarlet Skull clarified for those Captain Nazi hadn't passed the information to. Which was everyone. Scarlet Skull only knew because he tapped the Captain's lines of communication.
"It's bad enough she's pathetic woman but is she a Jewess?" Captain Nazi roared. Every woman on the team shot him loathing daggers.
"What kind of dumbass question is that?" Hellequin mocked him, "I didn't ask if she lights a menorah. She's good people and will get it done."
"We accept the proposal," Scarlet Skull informed her, "The decision was made before we left our lair."
Captain Nazi was on the verge of apoplexy, "You all, every one of you mongrels, follow his words no?"
"He is a leader not a craven bully. And he does insult us because of our sex," Dr. Demon said harshly.
"I should tell about you being insulting and a failure at sex," Captain Nazi hurled at her.
"Yet you screwed me five times a day, every day, for the last three months," Dr. Demon publicly revealed.
"You are nothing but metal and plastic parts. Even your vagina is rubber," Captain Nazi lied.
Satan Girl snickered. She was using sex to control him as well. His famished libido was her doing. Until she broke him, he couldn't satisfy his magnified lust. And she knew he was ready to break even then. His erection spoke everything that needed to be said.
"Can I just cut his penis off now?" Ace of Blades asked.
"What do you know about penises, you lesbian?" he spat it like curse.
"I'm hardly a lesbian. But I won't let you touch me so I'm vermin to you," Ace of Blades informed him, "And you've been a rutting dog."
Captain Nazi dropped his pant sand masturbated until he screamed and sank to his knees.
"Did he just kill himself cumming?" Hellequin had to ask.
"Do you want my forgiveness now?" Satan Girl purred.
"Anything!" he begged, "Just make it stop."
"The curse is lifted and a new one is given. From now on, you will be flacid," Satan Girl taunted him.
He didn't care. No price was too high to escape her wrath. Satan Girl had humiliated Captain Nazi to pave Scarlet Skull's way to the leadership throne. And was wise enough not attempt to rape her as Captain Nazi had. She studied the Scarlet Skull like a cat eying a canary.
"Can I brief everyone now?" Hellequin was seriously annoyed by these freaks.
Violet Smith and Pansy Jones listened to Daisy Miller's story while the Crossroads Coffee House customers ignored the Justice League and the Sovereign Seven. But it was obvious Supergirl was troubled.
"Need an ear?" Jessica Cruz offered.
"My life has gotten very…complicated," Matrix admitted.
"You don't seem like…you. You're like someone different and yet still…you. Does that make sense?" Jessica asked.
"Entirely. And that's the problem," Matrix scowled.
"I have several minutes," Jess offered.
So Jessica learned about Linda Danvers and her life.
"Great Scott!" Superman exclaimed upon overhearing Linda's life story.
"There's a classic overreaction," Killer Frost rolled her eyes, "So she's really a nineteen-year old. So what?"
"It has been an honor to fight by your side. You are truly a sister," Artemis clasped Karen Starr's forearm.
"It's been real," Karen replied.
"Hold up," Killer Frost requested, "I'd like your perspective on being the most hated Leaguer."
"There's along drawn out conversation. It ends with: it's worth eventually," Karen shared.
"So you say now that you're not a member," Killer Frost accused.
"Maybe you should join in the Birds of Prey," Karen offered.
"Sorry to stop you on your way out," Cascade and Network blocked the door, "But we've taken a vote. And we want you and Kalea as our eighth and ninth Sovereigns. Part-time of course."
"She'll be thrilled, as I am," Karen was humbled.
"How many teams is that?" Killer Frost wondered.,
"Well, I rejoined the Justice Society just before this mission," Karen admitted.
"I'll join them. They had some hotties with them," Killer Frost enthused.
"And there are a scad of new recruits," Karen promised.
"I'll call you. You're in the big building with Starrware plastered across the face?" Killer Frost teased.
"Be well. Fight hard," Artemis saluted her.
Power Girl departed. Killer Frost lamented to Artemis, "How come no one asks me to join anything?"
"Perhaps because you made killing people a lifestyle," Artemis replied.
"I'll give you that," Killer Frost relented.
The long departed League team used a teleport to come because the Invisible Jet was otherwise occupied. But the ISA would not let the MLJ forget that they teleported the Justice League as a courtesy…with a price. Shayera and Sue would do the debriefing in light of Col. Trevor being in the field. Shayera led the others to the debriefing center while Sue sidelined Killer Frost.
"Can I have a moment?" she wondered.
"I don't know. Can you?" Killer Frost snarked.
"Easy, Frost. I'm not here to jump down your throat. Actually I'm asking for your help," Sue confided.
"I'll bite," if Sue wasn't hetero she might just.
"You're the inside outsider. That gives you more objectivity regarding the team. I need to know, are there any security concerns?" Sue asked.
"Where do you want to start?" Killer Frost asked.
"It doesn't work that way. It's like a free association exercise," Sue explained.
"I'm your single greatest threat. I promised Godiva I'd change. But I'm wondering if I really want to. I enjoyed being bad," Killer Frost revealed, "Being a hero ain't all it's supposed to be."
"Thank you for that. That's the type of honesty that's needed here," Sue stated.
"Next to me, the Colonel's own girlfriend is a hazard to us and the enemy. She's a rolling loose cannon breaking the hull apart as she goes. And it isn't really a choice. It's pure reflex with Artemis," Killer Frost shared, "Everyone else is cool."
"Even Insect Queen?" Sue inquired.
"She's a bag of cats but she lost an entire universe. She deserves to be a little unhinged and to be really left alone about it," Killer Frost cautioned Sue.
"It may be too late for that," Sue sighed.
"Jesus, Dibney. What've you done?" Killer Frost worried.
Sue described the last two days. Killer Frost was angered, "And you wonder why I think about going back to the Legion of Doom. At least you expect a good head eff there."
"Shayera has been yelling and waving her mace around over this," Sue shuddered.
"Never piss off a Thanagarian. Danya Hellstrom taught me that," Killer Frost eased up a bit.
"Who?" Sue couldn't quite place the name.
"Sparrow Hawk," Killer Frost told her, "She's especially easy to upset. And while she's angry, she kills people. Happens a lot. But you have to learn her sweet spot."
"I see," Sue hesitated.
"No, you don't," Killer Frost warned her, "That's a problem."
"Okay, but I'll keep it mind. She's such a mystery to us," Sue confessed.
"One weird trivia bit: she's obsessed with cats. Has more of them then Catwoman. She spends a fortune on kitty litter and food," Killer Frost disclosed.
"Which means she has civilian lodging," Sue grasped the importance of Killer Frost's revelation.
"Got it in one," Killer Frost congratulated her.
"What are you proposing then, Black Adam?" Kozlov, the Russian "ambassador" to Kahndaq inquired.
"You know that since 1938 the United States has held a disproportionate number of mystery men and meta-humans," Black Adam began his explanation, "And the United Nation's efforts to license the Justice League's activities along with their charter with the US's MLJ Initiative is a mockery at best."
"The People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation used our vetoes in the UN Security Council to block this measure as well as the endorsement of the Justice League Task Force as Max Lord's personal covert action force. Yet the body has made an unprecedented move in defying the UN charter and passed the measures anyway," Liu, the local Chinese "representative" stated.
"The infidel MLJ and the thrice damned United Nation made a farce of the Iranian effort to liberate Persian people's under the Crimson Queen's despotic and heretical rule. The Justice Society's assigned task to train newly found gen actives for 'public service' was perverted as they thwarted our mission of mercy and Lex Luthor claimed control over Bailya," Fahtel of the Islamic Republic of Iran loudly complained. But what he really said was that the Ayatollah was pissed that his invasion had failed, "They are all the Great Satan. Every mongrel dog of them."
Which Aradia Morningstar, having taken an interest, found the whole situation rife with possibilities. Her mandate from her "father" was to destroy the Justice League and the Justice Society and every affiliate. And the underlying current in this conference hall was pointed at that. She hadn't even had to plant a suggestion yet. The hatred in the room was gratifying to say the least and she was waiting for the next utterance.
"We must also determine who is this Disco Mummy and what are her goals?" Isis spoke.
"Hah! Ignore her. She's merely a woman. A brazen harlot," Fahtel sneered.
"Speak like that again and you shall deal me with directly," Black Adam warned the Iranian "envoy."
"She certainly made fools out of you and yours," Horus laughed at Fahtel.
Fahtel drew a Kriss knife from his belt as he stood, "Come then, boy! Bark at me again."
"You think mere steel can harm a Black Marvel?" Horus laughed again.
A raging wind tore through the room and Fahtel was knocked back into his seat. Isis was standing now, "Enough!"
"Disco Mummy isn't our agenda. Preventing another uninvited United Nations intervention is," Black Adam stared over steepled fingers.
"So what is it you're proposing?" Kozlov asked again. Delegates from 132 nations agreed.
"I believe the Weatherman from the former and infamous Stormwatch can answer that," Black Adam verbally cued him.
Weatherman stood behind and to the right of Black Adam, "We are prosing an international supreme law enforcements agency of our own. The International Security Agency has failed each of us. The Justice League has repeatedly failed us all. And the properly named Justice Society of America failed us most of all. We now have a privately owned nuclear power to contend with. We are proposing an International Operations agency to participate in."
Weatherman studied his audience, "You would control your own border and when and if agency intervention would or would not be required or even wanted."
Aradia could see the Lords of Chaos had chosen well regarding the Black Marvel Family. She didn't have to push anyone at all. Not even the merest nudge.
"We can't let this farce in Kahndaq to continue," the American delegate to the UN Securrity Council smashed his fist onto the table.
"Indeed, it sounds most disruptive," The British ambassador agreed.
"We are still meeting within the Global Guardians' Dome facility. Our credibility is at stake," the French envoy warned.
"Nonsense. Just because we're not meeting in New York, or Washington DC, or London, our Parisian colleague grows nervous," the Russian representative chucked, "And because these are having discussion outside of the United Nations, you all quaver like frightened children."
"Shut it, Yuri. Everyone knows Russia and China all sent official representatives," the American growled.
"And we have every right to," the Chinese ambassador stated, "The United Nations security forces have failed our nations, those represented nations in Kahndaq, and every nation. It is not a provocation to seek better services. Isn't that why we dissolved nearly every such entity? To find better solutions?"
Through the secret surveillance equipment Innovative Concepts had developed and installed, L-Ron and Max Lord watched every second of it.
The first of over three thousand new recruits began to land on Zamaron. Similar situations were occurring on Mogo. The prospective Fear Lanterns were killed as they approached Qward. Half of the Blue Lantern rings wee deactivated, never to be worn again, so much hope had left the universe. All of the Red Lantern rings were bringing in hostile enforcers that Laira Omoto would command. Dex-Starr and Rankorr were found to have survived their wounds. And less than a dozen joined the Indigo Tribe.
"Carol?" Kyle asked, "Is someone living here?"
"Apparently," Carol's voice dripped ice. Her clothes wee sprawled across her bedroom. And her bras, already larger than average, were stretched and the wire framing warped. Even her panties' elastics seemed stretched. The star sapphire revealed no traces of semen. So Carol was at least relieved by that.
"The staff says you've been living here for days," Kara reported, "And so has Hal Jordan."
"You mentioned Hal's guest room," Carol prompted Kyle.
"Everything seems to be there but rifled through," Kyle told her.
"Hal's always been sloppy but nothing like this woman," Carol held up a pair of panties.
"It could've been a transwoman," Kara suggested.
"They don't secrete vaginal fluids," Carol was irked beyond measure.
The star sapphire had retreated to Carol's pants pocket when it dropped her energy-based uniform. Kara's Darkstar uniform retracted into bracelets and a belt. It was news to her that it would happen. Kyle's uniform just evaporated but he still wore his GL power ring.
They heard laughter, one male and one female, and Carol recognized the laughter, "I'm going to kill them."
"Who them?" Kara asked. Kyle shrugged.
"Hal! Remoni-Notra! Show yourselves," Carol shouted.
"Carol, you lived?" Remoni-Notra actually sounded happy. Kara was amazed to hear a French accented alien.
"What are you doing here?" Carol seethed.
"Making a life," Remoni-Notra was nonchalant and unrepentant, "My impression was you were never coming back."
"She's rathe…" Kara faltered.
"Rather voluptuous," Kyle grimaced, "All the parts of Carol Hal liked only magnified by ten."
"Or fifty," Kara wondered why Remoni-Notra didn't require a back brace. It almost as bad as Mighty Endowed.
Carol forced herself to be calm, "You're right. I came to settle up my affairs before departing for good. Hal, I'm giving you thirty-eight percent of my holdings. Remoni-Notra, the rest is yours. I just need the estate until after our wedding. I'll leave the paperwork with my lawyer."
"I thought you'd married Kyle," Hal almost accused.
"I have. But we haven't married Kara yet," Carol smiled sweetly, "Close your mouth, Hal. It's unbecoming."
"Thanks for dinner," Kara said as the trio departed.
"Polygamy?" Hal never though Carol to be the type. But he'd never thought she'd marry a man ten years younger than she was either.
"Hush, it's quite common," Remoni-Notra chided, "But she is giving us everything,"
"It's a trap. I know it." Hal worried. And the trap was he'd have to surrender everything to escape Remoni-Notra. And she knew it.
The Fatal Five was on sentry duty across Qward. The Thunderers were annihilated and the Weaponers were subjugated with the population enslaved. Prospective Fear Lanterns kept arriving every hour but the Fatalers killed them all. Inertia sped to the Emerald Empress' location.
"The wannabe Fear Lanterns keep coming but like you said, they're drawn to wreckage of the Fear Lodge. We trap them and kill them every time they approach," Inertia gleefully told her.
"Very good," but Sarya was distracted and it showed.
"Something troubles, my Empress?" he asked with honest concern.
"I was met by Glorith," she revealed.
"The sorceress of time itself," Inertia recalled, "She trapped M'Onel in the Phantom Zone for one thousand years for defying her."
"For spurning her," Sarya corrected him, "She's as mercurial as time itself."
"Is there a problem?" Inertia asked.
"The Anti Monitor may yet fail if the Zero Hour unravels time and existence itself. Even the antimatter universe would cease to exist," Emerald Empress shared.
"Can that be prevented?" he struggled to understand.
"Glorith said a faint time remnant of the Time Trapper may have escaped his destruction. If so, he may go back to the beginning of time and destroy everything the Anti Monitor has worked towards," but Sarya detected a lie in Glorith's claim.
"Do you trust her?" Inertia wondered.
"Of course not," Sarya snorted in derision, "But Saturn Queen agreed to work with Glorith and I can't be left behind."
"We're all with you," Inertia pledged for the Fatal Five, "Through life or death."
"I know," Emerald Empress reassured, "Or I would've already killed you all."
Strangely enough, Inertia was hardly comforted.
The situation in Wasshington DC was quickly deteriorating. Maj. Lucy Lane had found her father's impaled body. Special Agent Linda Reed began clearing corners with Agent Rex Swift did the same in the Oval Office. There he found Amanda Waller.
"Major!" he called.
Reed held the hallway while Lucy entered the President's work space. Waller seemed utterly dispassionate about Lane's death, "Have you found the President?"
"We found what looks like orange blood," Swift was a member of the Secret Service even if he was an undercover agent rather than on the protective detail.
"Try the lower levels," Waller suggested.
"Take Reed with you," Lucy ordered.
Swift note that Lucy hadn't holstered her sidearm. Nor did she seem at all inclined to. He decided to let her have it and deactivated the recording devices at the master security control downstairs.
He called Lucy, "You're clear, Major."
Reed wasn't happy with the arrangement but she understood it far too well, "Let's go before I arrest you."
Shield had initially taken a beating but his nanite driven armor had detected and mapped Amygdala's weak points. Several strikes later the heaving mass of muscle couldn't move. The paralysis would persist until the proper series of vertebrae were relocated. Shield was close enough to Black Hood to see the impossible happen.
Through all the fights Wayne Sidmonson had survived, his Black Hood mask had never slipped. And now it lifted and his eyes were obscured. Axe Man took the shot.
Wayne knew his premonition was coming true and braced himself for any unexpected pain. But the stroke that severed his head was painless. The black hood came off entirely and a severe windstorm carried it away. Once it was gone, the winds died.
Shield easily put Axe Man down with his riot control stunner. Joe Higgins was stunned. Two Mighty Crusaders had died under his command. Hangman was AWOL. And the President herself might die on his watch. Joe wished he was just Capt. Higgins, US Army again.
Fly Girl was grateful she'd moved the neural link processors to her artificial wings from her helmet to her spine. Mobile Ranger had zapped her helmet. Its insulation protected her but it had started melting so she'd tossed it aside. Which fine with her, the damn thing always made her sweaty anyway.
But her eye lenses were still functional and tied to the weave of sensors lacing her outfit. The sensors also served as a targeting array for her buzz guns displayed on her lenses. So she systematically destroyed his devices, one after the other. Now that her on-board computer knew what to look for, it ran threat assessments and warned Fly Girl before Mobile Ranger could get shots off.
He eventually grew frightened and began dialing his chest piece but she shot that as he disincorporated. Her earpiece heard screaming within the microwave transmissions tied to local cell towers. Fly Girl landed and violently vomited until every scrap of food had come up. And a few empty wretches besides. Kim Brand began too wonder if she were really meant to be a superhero.
Arathaza gloated as it seemed Darkling died. Her death hexes hadn't swallowed anyone before but she wassn't choosy. She was so busy congratulating herself, she didn't see Darkling's cape behind her. As Arathaza was swallowed by it, Darkling emerged. The cape vanished for good. It had just a means of focusing Darkling's own power so she didn't need it. It had even been a manifestation of her power.
But Darla Lang still felt ill. Arathaza had closer to killing her than anyone before her. Darkling knew she needed somewhere with no lighting to help her inner dark force heal her. Which meant breaking a few street lamps. She figured the city would be claiming damages from tonight anyway.
Web's suit detected multiple transmissions in the air. The Capitol Police had drones in the air. He seized control over all them, sweeping them in from all around the cordon surrounding the White House perimeter. And he used them to smash into Silent Majorities. As the range was narrowed, Fox and Jaguar came back into play and they eventually wore Silent Majority down to the point she couldn't duplicate.
"Do your worst," Silent Majority angrily taunted them. Jaguar's superhuman strength powered punch ended the ordeal.
"I don't like her scent. She smells…funny. Like a man and a woman," Jaguar decided.
"That's because he takes female hormones to help into the transition into a woman," Fox shared.
"How do you know anything?" Web was teed off.
"Look at her groin. She's got a package that shows in her skintight costume. No one else noticed?" Fox was surprised.
"Of all the…" Web protested. And here he'd thought Silent Majority was cute.
"Exquisite facial feminization surgical work," Fox continued to observe, "Note that she had her Adam's apple reduced.
"Would you shut up?" Jaguar stomped away.
"What's with her?" Web asked.
"You both found her attractive and discovering she was born in a man's body disturbs you," Fox opined.
"I never found him attractive," Web grated.
"She is definitely a she whatever the genitalia and you're protesting way too much for it be believed," Fox advised him.
"God! You're impossible," now Web stormed off.
"Sleep tight, Princess. I'll make sure the authorities don't find you," Fox promised. His brother, who'd been born his sister, gave him an insight into transphobia. Especially among cops.
Alexander Nero had channeled to much power. The Yellow Light of Fear threatened to consume his body. He didn't what would happen next and he didn't want to learn. So he took flight due east, intending to only stop when he reached Eastern Europe. The US dollar still traveled there and he had thousands stowed away. But it still wouldn't last long.
Comet was grateful for the reprieve. He'd never used his powers this long either. And he knew he'd be wobbly when he touched down on the ground. And he was proven right.
Catalyst made a mistake and went too far. Inferno's interior seals blew and flames projected out to incinerate Catalyst. Frank engaged his repair systems and made certain to isolate himself until he stopped venting uncontrolled flame. The yard fire extinguishers automatically engaged and helped him do so.
Shield punched Deadshot's helmet. It left imprints from knuckles. Floyd Lawton removed his helmet, "Are you nuts?"
Shield knocked him out with a second punch, "Nope."
"You cannot hope ot defeat me," White Canary advised.
"I don't have to try," Shield told her, "She'll do it."
White Canary's backspin kick missed and War Eagle gutted her. Shield shook his head, "You're doing the report."
"You disapprove?" Theresa Shane asked.
"Not at all. I just want the headache from the paperwork. There's five forms, that all have to be filled out in triplicate, by hand. And copies are not accepted," Shield advised her, "So the fun is all yours."
"I hate you," War Eagle decided.
"You should," Shield confirmed it.
"Aw Steely, this too easy," Cassidy pouted as he punched away at the frozen Steel Sterling.
Jaguar pulled him off, "Don't anger me."
"Or what? You'll turn green and scary?" Cassidy laughed.
"I'm scary now," Jaguar ripped his throat out. He tried to protest but he just gurgled blood.
"That was…effective?" Web changed his wording when Jaguar wheeled on him.
"Help him," Jaguar pointed at Steel Sterling and vanished.
"Sorry, Jack. Control issue and all that. Let's see if I can help you out," Web offered.
Steel Sterling didn't even know what was wrong much less how to fix it.
She-Fox got past Cableman's defensive ring and crushed his nose. Queen of Diamonds put zirconium inside his brain. Delilah Monaco removed her mask.
"Really? You had to go there?" she asked.
"It's been a hard week. I just wanted to solve one problem," Queen of Diamonds confessed.
"You certainly did that," Delilah complained.
Cat-Girl knew Zoomax was aware she was going to make her final move and she didn't care. Then Jaguar bowled him over and Cat-Girl was startled as Maria ripped his throat out with her teeth. Lydia Fellini wanted to do the same but still had enough restraint to avoid it.
"Maria? Having a few self-control issues?" she asked.
Jaguar nearly pounced on her. Lydia was delighted and a bit scared that Maria's tongue swirled in her mouth replete with dripping blood. Her feral instincts began to take hold. And they had a make out session unlike any other. Mostly because Jaguar abandoned herself into it this time.
Cat-Girl pushed Jaguar away, "I can't believe I'm the one to say this. We need to cool it. Battlefields suck as good make out vistas."
Jaguar pushed in on her again but Gat-Girl resisted, despite her every desire, "Nooo! Find yourself Maria before I give in and let you let go and we have the wildest sex ever. Which for you wouldn't be hard `cause you're still a virgin."
"Lydia?" Jaguar was coming of a haze, "Why is there blood on your lips?"
"You put it there," Cat-Girl told her.
"I know what I want now," Maria confessed.
"Do tell," Lydia hated this part.
But now Maria's impassioned kisses were her own. Cat-Girl almost swooned, "I gotta sit down."
"I always wanted this. But I knew my dad would never accept me for who I am. But I don't care about his opinion anymore," Jaguar revealed.
"Wow," Lydia was awestruck. And she vaguely heard wedding bells in the future.
Delilah and Queen of Diamonds were the official witnesses. Delilah wiped away tears. Queen of Diamonds felt nothing. Her husband's death and her literal abandonment of him beforehand just stung too much.
Shieldmaster and Flagbearer were both wheezing but Barricade was down. Shieldmaster tried to shake it off, "You need more cardio."
"Me? What about you?" Denise Madigan asked.
"I'm nineteen years older. I'm entitled to a wheeze or two," Dusty told his daughter.
"That is such bullcrap," Denise protested.
"Nothing catches your wind like anger," Dusty laughed.
"Dad, about Joe." Denise hesitated.
"For what it's worth, I approve of the match. But you have a romantic rival and Joe still sees you as a high schooler despite your graduating early at sixteen," Dusty counseled her.
"How do I compete?" Denise wondered.
"By just being you and doing what you're doing. Joe can only see Marcy when he visits Colorado and if she's available. You can't imagine she just sits in his mother's office waiting for him to visit, can you?" Dusty wondered, "You're in relative proximity and you've committed yourself to similar ideals. And you will fight for them. For a soldier there's no higher calling."
"But how do I get his head out of ass so he properly notices me?" Denise's frustration had built up over time.
"Let me make a few indiscreet hints and suggestions," Dusty saw her surprise, "I said I approve. Approval takes action when necessary."
"You're the best, Dad," Denise wrapped her arms around him.
"I know I'm the best dad ever but keep telling me anyway," Dusty chuckled.
"My eyes!" Punch screamed and dropped to ground sobbing.
"Punch?" Jewelee saw that Yank had gauged out her boyfriend's eyes before the eagle flew away again, "You effin' bird! I'll kill you!"
"Can't allow that," Captain Flag's right cross took her by surprise. And knocked her over so he could handcuff her hands behind her back, "Yank was only being protective."
"He needs to be protective, mothereffer. I'm coming after you. You understand?"
"It pains me to hear you say things like that. Fortunately, I don't have to," Captain Flag dosed with a small cannister of knockout gas, "Thank you, old friend. You always have my back."
Yank screeched and circled DC.
Yo-Yo ran off after Crimson Avenger shot Madame Crow in the head. Scarlet Avenger approached as she holstered her pistol, "Thanks, Lee."
"Going undercover at Belle Reeve isn't as fun as it sounds. But I can make my report. They'll shut the Suicide Squad down permanently this time."
"You knew?" Wizard asked his teammate.
"Lee and I have common friends," Scarlet Avenger shared.
"Speaking of friends, your need some help," Crimson Avenger warned.
"How can she even see through a blindfold?" Wizard asked.
Bob Phantom was out. Pow-Girl was undergoing some kind of metamorphosis. Web was the only one fighting Charis. Jane Raymond didn't think she stood a chance against an Amazon but she sure as hell wasn't giving up.
A wall appeared between Jane and Charis. Jane was the first to react, "What the effiin' damn it all?"
Crimson Avenger held her fire while Scarlet Avenger got knocked out. Then she opened fire. Charis was enraged.
"A traitor after all?" she bellowed, "You'll die without honor."
"You're one to talk," Crimson Avenger replied. Wizard tried shifting the illusion's position but Charis was too fast. Her next punch was suddenly blocked by Shieldmaster.
"Amazonium?" Charis was confused, "How? Why?"
The answer hit her in the face. Flag Bear took Charis' feet out. Crimson Avenger blasted at Charis' face with both pistols. It severely wounded the Amazon but didn't kill her.
"I'm glad you're on our side," Shieldmaster confessed.
"For today," Crimson Avenger replied.
"What's wrong with Rosie," Denise asked.
"I' don't have a clue," Jane admitted. Rosie Raymond slammed her fists on the sidewalk. It shattered and there was a seismic impact.
"Wow," Denise said in hushed tones.
Adela Tokelau had killed every Web Agent. Their blood dripped from her hands. Even the butllet wounds she'd endured were like sweetest candy. And then the black diamond sensed and even darker, more tortured soul. Eclipso's physical being and essence abandoned Adela to die of her multitude of wounds. Jean Loring was calling out to Eclipso and it would answer.
Aradia gloated as the black diamond sallied forth in her hands. Jean's twisted mind had opened her to a totality of potential solutions to her incarceration in Arkham. One of them praying aloud to Satan. And the demons overseeing Arkham heard, and reported in.
Spy Smasher ducked under Batwoman and Hawkfire's intended blows. They'd savagely ripped Quicksand apart. Literally. Spy Smasher felt Charma's pheromone activated rage and she emptied both of her pistols into her. Ejecting both magazines and reloading each gun individually, she emptied a second volley into the corpse until the slides locked back on her pistols. Repeating her reloading, she kept both guns ready in case Batwoman or Hawkfire flew into a second flurry of unstrained violence.
Instead they were horrified by the carnage done to Quicksand were barely holding it together over the blood splattering their work costumes. Hawkfire in particular looked ready to faint. Katarina Armstrong caught Bette Kane as she swooned. Katrina Moldoff was coping with aplomb. But she'd seen her share of blood.
Katrina was a wealthy heiress but she'd been kidnapped for ransom as a teen. A teen that managed to release herself and kill her captors, dismembering three of them with a chainsaw. The other three had gone down thanks to a nail gun. A later medical examination proved she'd been raped by every member of the gang and was carrying a child. A child she'd aborted. And subsequently aborted three more after pregnancies resulting from casual sexual conquests.
Spy Smasher wasn't supposed to know these things. But she felt compelled to break into personnel files to know who she was dealing with. Bette was a difficult read as well. As Flamebird she'd left military school and become a Teen Titan when the team was led by Protector. His being a member was her largest reason for continuing her Titan membership. She'd left the team disillusioned and heartbroken.
Jason Hart's involvement with Mia Deardon, then called Red Arrow, had resulted in his contracting HIV which quickly transitioned into AIDS. Psych evals indicated Bette felt Jason got what he'd ultimately asked for. Which was hypocritical considering Bette herself was being treated for HIV contracted from an anonymous sexual partner. And yet, she continued to blame Protector for her illness and his own death.
So Spy Smasher could easily see why Hawkfire's great fear was to wake up covering people with her own blood. Batwoman was less than sympathetic, "Will she be all right?"
"Once she learns none of the blood is hers," Spy Smasher told her.
"Why? Besides the obvious," Batwoman asked.
Spy Smasher considered a fair question, "Because we'd have to call a hazmat team and begin viral testing over the next few weeks."
Batwoman understood, "Thanks for that. We need to know."
"And they won't tell us," Katarina shared.
Batwoman got it, "Even better to know."
The THUNDER Agents stood down as the THUNDER Squad had taken the initiative to contact their former UN superiors. And given the leadership crisis, the UN felt obligated to renew their sponsorship of the THUNDER agency and pull them back to the Dome in Paris.
"That was anticlimactic," the Jim Harper clone said.
"I'm relieved," Fighting American said, "Maybe we can actually do some good now."
"A day without fight is a win," Bulleteer removed her helmet.
"No one will argue with that," Freedom confessed.
"But why did they just leave?" Speedboy asked, "I thought those reinforcements were meant to back them up not drive them away."
"Spoken like a boy looking to fight," Yankee Girl critiqued.
"Easy. He's inexperienced," First American cautioned.
"And who are you again?" Pat Patriot asked.
"We could ask you that," US Angel retorted.
"Does he ever defend you?" Miss Victory asked. Silence loomed from First American and Miss Victory snorted, "I thought as much."
"Copy that. But we have movement inside the White House Lawns. More players on the scene. And we should have all of them accounted for," Secret Agent J-3 was still acting as a shooter and a spotter.
"We're on it," Guardian confirmed.
"Ah don't rightly reckon a girl as tough as me before. Ah guess that means Ah don't have ta keep on holdin' back," Uncle Sam warned Capt. Triumph.
"What?" that confused her sordid mind.
"Night-night," Uncle Sam rained a few blows in and she was knocked out.
He tipped his top hat, "Sorry, ma'am. But Ah reckon you don't deserve that courtesy."
"What the hell?" Phantom Lady was exasperated, "And what are you doing, anyway?"
"Keep him busy," Lady Luck dodged Citizen X.
"Why?" Phantom Lady demanded to know.
And Citizen X was improbably distracted. Lady Luck kneed his balls. He went down and threw up in his mask.
"How?" Phantom Lady asked.
"I got lucky thanks to you," Lady Luck winked.
Phantom Lady didn't know if Lady Luck was being cheeky or flirtatious.
Midge hit Libertine's ankle and Doll Man plowed into his chest using his harness thrusters. Together they be the snot out of Libertine. Doll Man looked pleasantly surprised.
"It's weird meeting someone my own size that isn't Ray Palmer," he divulged.
"I worked at Palmer Tech and I repeated your accident to see if there was a reversal technique. Unfortunately the white dwarf discharge shrank my protective barrier before reaching me," Midge admitted, "Dr. Palmer suggested I work with you on the problem. Two heads and all that."
"Dylan Dane," he introduced himself properly, "Mad inventor."
"Martha Roberts, hapless conspirator," she laughed.
"Here's hoping we find a way," Doll Man imaginatively toasted her.
Midge was already in love.
Miss America converted the atomic structure of Major Victory's suit and rendered it harmless. She couldn't change mass but she could alter things into slightly different things. Retaining the wiring and electronic portions, she adapted the material which delivered the power blasts and augmented strength and allowed flight into…polyester. And he was rendered inert.
Fireband chased him off and set the back of his clothing on fire. The women laughed as he stripped naked, literally removing his underwear but his socks, and ran far and fast.
"Think he'll be arrested for indecent exposure?" Miss America hoped.
"He doesn't have much else to brag about," Danette Reilly had observed.
The Ray expended every iota of solar power he had stored and it overwhelmed Maser. Lady Liberty saw the flash and became intent on killing Ray. Black Conder swooped up and his uppercut knocked her out. He caught her before she impacted the ground. Ray took custody of her power torch.
"Just another day, right?" Ray asked cockily.
"Point that elsewhere. Now," Black Condor ordered.
"Oops! Righty then," Ray sheepishly complied.
Human Bomb began detonating everything hurled at him. Magno became alarmed and ignored Red Bee. She served notice by breaking major bones and his jaw. He passed out from the pain.
"Do you think motorist insurance will pay for those damages?" Red Bee asked Human Bomb.
"Do I look like I care?" he deadpanned.
"I can't see you but I'm guessing that's a fat 'no'," Red Bee replied.
"Good guess," he told her.
"Can I ask why you wear your hair in a page boy?" Red Torpedo asked.
"What? Are you a bloody Fairy?" Mayflower asked.
"No, I'm an android. But that's beside the point," Red Torpedo stated.
"Look at my outfit. Hear my name, 'Mayflower'. I'm a bloody Puritan," she clarified.
"Off the topic, you'd look so much nicer with a less severe style," Red Torpedo persisted.
"Have you been talking to Jade or Obsidian?" she wanted to know.
"No, why would I?" she asked.
"Why indeed," she mused.
"Look! They called off the war," Red Torpedo pointed out.
"And my side lost," Mayflower dismally realized.
"I'll cut you a break. You're sold on the gig. I can get that. Do it with someone other than those losers. If you'll hear that if nothing else, I'll let you go Deal?"
"Believe ort not, I've been considering that very same thing. If you can wait to turn me in until I can reach New York City, I'd be grateful.
"I'll not delay, I'll tell them you saved me from the scrap yard. That'll buy some goodwill," Red Torpedo concluded sealing the bargain.
Mayflower darted into the receding shadows.
"And change your clothes," Red Torpedo shouted her, "And for Creator's sake, get a decent haircut!"
Jack O'Lantern flew next to Owlwoman, "Wenonah, git his attention fer a moment. I'm sick of playin' with the bastard."
"Consider him distracted," Owlwoman flew gymnastics around Tank Man, who'd used massive thrusters to lift after her.
"Scat!" Jack signalled her.
Owlwoman flew away as fast as she might. Jack's lantern-derived power was finally unleashed at its full power. The rivets and seams of Tank Man's armor came undone. It splintered into component pieces and it and its wearer fell to the ground.
"You didn't catch his fall," Owlwoman said dryly.
"Why should I?" Jack asked, "An' you didn't either."
"I didn't?" she asked. "My mistake."
"Yah, me too," Jack chuckled, "Devilish lot, ain't we?"
"Too true, Liam. Especially about you. I'm virtuous," she teased.
"We'll havta talk `bout that after," Jack hesitated to say.
"My virtue?" she sought clarification.
"Aye, the same," Jack confirmed it.
Owlwoman blushed.
"So therefore, constitutionally even if Congress impeaches the sitting President it doesn't legally authorize a general to mobilize troops or designated contractors with the DoD's support," General Glory ended his side of the debate.
Commander pondered it, "I neglected reviewing the legalities of the question. But your encylopedic knowledge of the Constitution and subsequent legislation clears matters up."
"So you'll call of your men?" General Glory asked.
"Hornet would zap you for calling her a man. But I think it's a moot point at this juncture," Commander said ruefully.
General Glory looked around and saw that it was true.
Titan had fallen to Insect Queen who had channeled not one but a dozen different bugs. It was a interesting to note Titan shrank to his normal stature when unconscious. And it was extremely below average in height. Silver Sorceress had enough of Catman's c laws and the Wrath's bullet and explosives. She summoned the spell she always had prepared. And she deposited them on Angor. She made a mental note to visit them in a year and see how well they'd survived the radioactive and biologically virulent ruins. If she could be bothered at all.
"Time out!" Blue Jay retook his human height. Hornet did the same, "One wrong move and I'll bust you one," Hornet warned.
"I think it's over," Blue Jay pointed to where the various JLers were assembled around the Commander.
"Not quite," Hornet pointed at where the newest JLers battle an American and two-thirds of the Secret Six.
Strange Visitor continued to absorb Storm-God's lightning strikes. She'd actually zapped out of the air a few times. It was a fly getting torched by an ultraviolet zapper. He was threatening her with his uncontrolled power again and she wasn't listening.
She summoned the and brought with him it, "By Odin's troth! Now you'll pay."
Sharon Vance put her hand over his face and focused all of her power in one surge. He fell lifelessly to the ground. She took a few minutes to observe
"Mmm, good landing." She decided as she gently lowered herself to the ground.
"And who might you be?" Hornet angrily demanded.
"I'm Strange Visitor," Sharon answered,.
"I can see that!" Hornet was on her tiptoes to wave a finger in Strange Visitor's blue face.
"That's her code-name. It comes the opening narrative of that B-list Superman show. It starts with 'a strange visitor from outer space'. Someone quoted it to her as a joke and she made it her alias," Blue Jay explained.
"Oh. My. God. I'm so stupid," Hornet wanted shrink and crawl into a bottle.
"The same mistake gets made all the time. If I could remember who I was I'd probably pick a different code-name," Strange Visitor confessed.
They heard the clash of arms. Sharon scowled, "This ends now."
She fired an energy pulse and it sliced through Scandal Savage's legendary Lamentation Blades. She screamed and sank to her knees still screaming. The blades had been her only inheritance from Vandal Savage. They'd endured for a thousand years…until that moment.
Knockout heard her lover's distress and dismissed Nubia. But the newest Wonder Woman chose to press the attack. Knockout was annoyed but also enraged at whatever had harmed Scandal., She'd find who it was and crush them.
Her massive backhand caught Nubia's shield and hurled her back twenty feet. Strange Visitor addressed Knockout, "Kay Oh, you will remand yourself into custody or I'll be forced to summon Granny Goodness and the Female Furies to take you back to Apokolips to answer for desertion."
"Go to hell!" Knockout snarled.
"I might. I have no idea," Sharon admitted.
"You're effed in the head," Knockout had deduced Azrael was just as surprised by Scandal's lament as she was. He stood ready but he wasn't looking to fight. Knockout had to think he was a smart boy.
Energy flew past Knockout's face. Knockout put it together, "It was you."
The lack of all emotion in that statement made it the most dangerous spoken all evening. Hornet expected Strange Visitor to zap Knockout and bring her headlong charge to an end. But Strange Visitor held her own power as it flowed out of her hand and blasted Knockout. Knockout was barely conscious but she strode forward and was blasted again.
It was uncertain if Knockout was even capable of rational thought as she took another step forward. Strange Visitor amplified her power and the crack that resounded could have easily been Knockout's bones. But Sharon spared her that.
"I am so sorry I bad mouthed," Hornet was terrified.
"It isn't a big deal. I lost my memory when I became…this. I might hate myself when I learn who I was," Strange Visitor shared.
"I rather doubt it," Blue Jay opined.
"You there!" Nubia stomped over, "I am Wonder Woman. I greet you as a sister."
"How many Wonder Women are there?" Blue Jay had to ask.
"Now there are five. Of which I was the fourth chosen," she answered, "But I am also Nubia, high priestess to the Olympic gods on Themiscyra."
"You're a priestess?" Hornet was baffled, "Who can go head to head against Knockout. Sign me up for services."
"The others approach," Nubia lifted her shield and drew her sword again.
"Easy cowgirl, they're with us," Hornet advised her.
"I don't know who you are but I know you're choosing the wrong side," Icon warned the new Majestic.
"Give the word," Rocket whispered.
And it seemed this "Majestros" lacked super hearing or enhanced vision seeing as how he'd missed Icon's hand signal back to Rocket, "Steady on, we can end this without violence."
"That's not what I was told, alien," Majestic grated.
It seemed the powerful meta was also a bigot. No wonder Gen. Lane had chosen this vessel. Icon could see the power within Majestic. It seemed a chemical catalyst had been responsible for activating his gen factor. And the changes it had made were permanent. And Majestic's metabolism and regenerative capacity were off any chart excluding he and Superman.
Icon had never met Bronski, the original Majestic, and he'd assumed the last human with this gen factor had died. Now that assumption was a lie. And if one human could have the gene, how many more waited to be discovered and exploited?
"Stand down!" Donner yelled at them all.
"What?" Majestic looked startled.
"Why?" Icon asked.
"Yeah, why?" Rocket demanded to know.
"Because, Blitzen and I met the opposition and they are us," Donner stated, "They have the same goals but asinine means to achieve them."
"I…I…must check in," Majestic flew off.
"Thank you, Donner. You may have saved this city," Icon admitted.
"Thank me later. Right now, spread the word," Donner insisted.
"Promethea, they're not the enemy," Princess Pantha warned her, "Killing them will be murder not a directive."
"It was too easy anyway," Promethea admitted, "They hardly resisted."
"Because they really don't want a fight. They just want to protect McKay," Pantha explained.
"Should we as well?" Promethea wondered.
"That is the question. Now we need to come together and answer it," Princess Pantha advised.
Rocket enclosed Greyshirt and Cobweb in a force field, "If you settle down and agree to talk, I'll let you out."
Iron Butterfly was getting back onto her feet. Iota grew to her normal height, "You punks are lucky."
"Says who?" Greyshirt countered.
"This isn't helping," Cobweb complained. And Rocket had to agree with her.
"Down!" Tom Strong caught Black Terror 2000 in mid-motion, "We aren't fighting anymore."
Dusk was happy to hear it. Black Terror 2000 merely asked, "WHY?"
"Because all of this has been a mistake. A mistake that could cost civilian lives," Tom Strong said.
"VERY WELL. STANDING DOWN," Black Terror 2000 deactivated his offensive systems. Tom had to wonder how much of his friend was left inside the tinker toy.
Fighting Spirit phased through Plus and it disrupted her and Narnie. Everyone screamed and came apart. Miss Masque hurried to Fighting Spirit's side, "Come on, babe. Wake up."
"Th…that has never happened before," Plus confessed.
"Tell it to the guys," Miss Masque was angry.
Narnie just floated nearby in a fetal position. Plus went to her, "I'll keep you safe, sister."
Icon pulled Ramjet ad Windshear back and spoke with Red Queen and Pyroman, "We're stopping this and coming together for a conference to determine what we all should do next."
"I'm down with that," Red Queen felt massively relieved. The fighting had just seemed so wrong on so many levels.
"I'm in as well," Pyroman agreed.
"Then let us find your Tom Strong and Princess Pantha and sort this out," Icon suggested.
"Lead the way, big guy," Red Queen grinned. She liked them tall and muscular. Something her husband, Pyroman, knew all too well from Red Queen's numerous affairs. He'd started stepping out himself just recently.
Vapor became a caustic acid cloud that scalded the Jailor's skin and began to melt his uniform. He ran trying to spit out the blood from his damaged lungs. Convinced he had been rendered harmless, Vapor moved to help the other Young All Stars.
Vibe and Gypsy waited for the trick or the trap none were forthcoming. They saw Vapor on the move and decided to do likewise.
Vigilante was reloading when Vapor enveloped him. His weapons began to melt as did his body armor. The filters in his helmet were burning away. Adrian Chase had sworn to never retreat but it was the only way to save his life.
Echo was almost relieved, "Thanks, Carrie."
"Pay it forward, Terri. Tend to Reverb," Vapor urged.
Vibe's power shook Cheetah to the bone. Debi Domaine knew she was outmatched. And could smell Gypsy's scent even if she were unseen. So the Cheetah withdrew. Flying Fox landed, "Many thanks."
"Yeah, how do you fight women?" Dyna-Mite asked.
"Just like you fight men," Gypsy appeared next to him.
Minute-Man gripped a bench and held on. His one-minute bursts of super strength kept him from washing away. Tsunami smashed him into a concrete support with a tremendous wave.
Flying Fox and Dyna-Mite tag teamed him.
"Many thanks," Tsunami said to them.
Iron Munro and Miss Owl managed to confuse Maxi Man and enabled the super strong and physically dense Iron Munro to clock him. That staggered Maxi Man enough, Iron Munro put him down.
"Thanks for the assist," he said to Miss Owl
"You did all the work," she replied.
"He was intimidated by you," Iron Munro shared, "That gave me my opening."
"I wonder why he was?" Miss Owl mused.
The Clock was shot before Air Wave could actually do anything. A woman with a gun showed her badge, "Special Agent Veronica Darnell, FBI. I'm your law enforcement liaison."
"Claire's just full of surprises," Vapor remarked.
"I would been here sooner but it literally was the traffic," Veronica shared.
"And Claire set this up? How long ago?" Vapor persisted.
"The request cleared a month ago but there were no volunteers. I was on medical so I volunteered for the assignment. I was a huge fan of the Conglomerate concept," Veronica gushed, "I want to help make this work."
"What do we call you?' Dyna-Mite edged into the conversation.
"Special Agent Darnell. But you can call me Agent Darnell," Veronica answered.
And Vapor decided to like the woman.
An unmarked SUV was being driven by Penny O'Brien, who had a death grip on the wheel. Beside her sat Nancy Morgan. In the rear seating, Plastic Man and Hula Hula busied themselves. Everyone but Penny was tracking down leads aiming at finding the Legion of Annoyance. Then Morgan's phone pinged and she received a length text message.
"Penny, pull over," Morgan said quietly.
"Wha…?" Penny came out of her reverie.
"Pull over. Now," Morgan was unrelenting.
Penny complied, "This better be good, Morgan."
"I just received the autopsy report on Baby Plas," Morgan said evenly, "He was dead."
"Ya'll had me pull over for that?" Penny raged.
"No, he was dead before the Legion struck. His heart was too elastic. He should've, would've, and could've died at any moment," Morgan tried to remain detached, "It was because of his inherited elasticity. His powers killed him."
Penny was very silent until she very angrily said, "Plas, get out."
"What?" he was bewildered.
"Ah can't have childfren with you and mah heart is set on it. So get the effin' hell outta this car!" Penny yelled, "Mah divorce lawyer will be talkin' ta you `fore the weekend."
Morgan got out as Plas did. Penny snarled, "Figures you'd choose him."
"I did before you were ever around," Morgan retorted.
Penny burnt rubber leaving. Plas turned to Morgan, "Thanks for this."
"I've always loved you, Pat. Now I can show it in a nonthreatening way," Morgan told him.
"No one has used my real name since I became Plastic Man," he said.
"Maybe they should start," she suggested, "I once knew a decent kind of a guy for a crook. He owned a strip club and took care of us girls. I fell in love with that man. Whatever happened to him?"
Plas had no answer.