I was supposed to end the last chapter on a cliffhanger, but I ran out of time and decided to update immediately. Instead, I'm just gonna show you what that would-have-been cliffhanger would indicate. Enjoy.
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Armed agents were sneaking up on the A.R.G.U.S. black site in Gotham. Unbeknownst to them, the first step on the premises triggered a silent alarm, one that was heard in the base underneath.
The squad was still discussing about interrogating Crystal, until the alarm went off.
"Intruder alert!" exclaimed Constantine as he woke up in an instant from his drunk-induced nap.
"What is going on out there?" asked Captain Cold.
Black Siren switches on the security footage to see armed men entering the warehouse.
"A.R.G.U.S.," said Black Siren.
"How did they find us?" asked Huntress. "I thought this base was abandoned, as in physically and digitally."
"DeVoe," guessed Deathstroke. "He must've informed them of our location. He wants us out of the way."
"Where's Frost?" asked Captain Cold.
Black Siren was about to contact Crystal, only to get static after dialing her number.
"A.R.G.U.S. is jamming our communications," said Black Siren.
"In that case, prepare for a bloodbath," said Huntress, preparing her crossbow.
"Are you sure waging a war on A.R.G.U.S. is the wise choice?" asked Katana.
"Frost brought us here to stop a super smart madman, and I'm pretty sure she's gonna disappointed when she finds out we let ourselves get locked up by a clandestine government agency," said Captain Cold. "I say we have no other choice, except fight or die."
A.R.G.U.S. agents, accompanied by Director Lyla Michaels, started coming down the secret entrance. The squad prepared their weapons, or in Constantine's case, fiery magic. Katana puts baby Bart back in his bed and covers his face with his blanket, not wanting him to witness the violence that is about to ensue. The agents aimed their weapons at the squad, highlighted by laser targeting, while Lyla steps forward to speak.
"My name is Director Lyla Michaels of A.R.G.U.S.," said the director. "We're giving you one chance. Put down your weapons and surrender or we'll be forced to open fire."
"Funny. I was gonna ask you the same thing, except I was gonna say, surrender or we'll be forced to reign hell on all of you," said Black Siren.
"Is that your final choice?" asked Lyla.
"Ma'am, you're a lovely lady, so please, why don't we all sit down and settle this over a bottle?" suggested Constantine, turning off his fire magic.
"I think you've had enough for one night, Mr. Constantine," said Katana.
"You can never have too much, Ms. Yamashiro," said Constantine.
"Okay, everybody enough!"
Everyone turns their heads to the person who shouted. It was Crystal Frost, who had just arrived by jumping in from the open hatch above. She was carrying a big bag and wearing a strap full of baby bottles. Black Siren tried hard not to amuse at how ridiculous she looked.
"Put down your weapons, please," said Crystal. "Director Michaels, let's talk in my office, shall we?"
"No, I think I prefer to do it out here, thank you," said Lyla.
"Fine, but tell your men to stand down first," said Crystal.
Lyla tells her men, "Stand down."
The A.R.G.U.S. did as their director ordered and lowered their weapons.
"And someone bring my son to me," asked Crystal.
Katana picks up Bart and gives him to Crystal. Crystal carries her son and feeds him with one of the bottles of milk from her strap.
"I suppose a congratulations are in order," said Lyla. "Bartholomew Henry Frost, am I correct?"
"You've been following me," guessed Crystal.
"You did predict I would hunt you down," said Lyla.
"I just didn't expect you to find me," said Crystal. "Let me guess. Anonymous tip?"
"How would you know that?" asked Lyla.
"DeVoe," muttered Crystal. "His name is Clifford DeVoe. He's a metahuman I've been tracking down. He's the one who sent the anonymous message."
"Well, he did us a favor," said Lyla. "That mess at Kord Industries, you didn't think we'd know, huh?"
"But we swapped that place clean," said Huntress.
"True, but your forgot 'this'," said Lyla, holding up a lighter. "Fingerprint analysis stated that it belonged to John Constantine."
"Oops. My bad," said Constantine. "I thought I lost it somewhere."
"I called Oliver and he told me that he remembered Mr. Constantine telling him that he was joining a team of rogues," continued Lyla. "I'm assuming that would be your team, Ms. Frost?"
"Allow to me to introduce you to the Suicide Squad, director," joked Captain Cold. "Hope you don't mind if we stole the name. It is free for taking after all."
"Can't argue with that," half-joked Lyla.
"Look, Lyla, I know you're just doing your job, but you can't arrest me," said Crystal.
"I figured you'd say that so I have just decided to make you an offer," said Lyla. "This DeVoe person, he's bad news, is he?"
"Trust me. I know people," said Crystal.
"Then let A.R.G.U.S. help," said Lyla. "Accept our assistance and you all get to walk free afterwards."
"Fair deal," said Constantine.
"I'm afraid I can't take it," said Crystal.
"If you don't accept it, we'll have to take you in," threatened Lyla.
Crystal closed her eyes as a smirk showed up on her face. She started chuckling. It frightened Constantine and made everyone else feel nervous.
"I don't see what is amusing about this situation," said Katana.
Crystal stops laughing as she puts Bart back on his bed, while making sure he's still drinking his milk.
"Let me ask you something, Director Michaels," said Crystal. "How many deaths are on your conscience?"
"Too many, but enough to make me realize that A.R.G.U.S. needed a new direction," said Lyla.
"Well, the number of lives I've taken, all the blood on my hands, I shouldn't even be breathing," said Crystal. "I should've been destroyed a long time ago. Yet, here I am. I wondered, why am I still here? Why am I not suffering the fate of the lives I've taken? Do I even deserve to be alive? Well, that's what I've been trying to find out these past few years. After Central City, I just wanted a new life away from the atrocious one I've created for myself. After Savitar, I had to force myself to face reality. I can never erase my past. I can only move forward. I had to find out who I am and what I want to do. While I still don't have an answer, I do have an idea of who I want to be. A mother. I can't raise him if I'm behind bars. You may not think being a mom gives me a free pass, but I don't care."
"Lovely speech," replied Lyla. "I take it resist is your final answer."
Crystal takes her hand out of from behind her back and reveals some sort of device with a red button. One push of the button and all of the agents' guns are jammed.
"Weapons disruptor," said Crystal. "Jams all electronic weapons within range."
"Except for ours," said Captain Cold, showing that his Cold Gun is still active.
"Special chips," said Lyla, noticing said chip on the Cold Gun. "Very smart, Ms. Frost."
Crystal gives an order. "Guys, try not to kill anyone."
"No fun," said Black Siren.
And with that, the squad started fighting A.R.G.U.S.'s agents. With their guns jammed, all they can do is use them as clubs, which didn't do them much wonders despite their training.
Black Siren begins the brawl with a sonic scream, causing everyone, ally and enemy, to cover their ears.
After the screaming stopped, the real fight starts.
Deathstroke puts on his mask and faces off against three A.R.G.U.S. agents. One agent hit him in the face with his gun, but his mask protected him. He counters with a punch of his one. He grabs one agent's head and slams it against his knee. He grabs the other agent's arm, flips him to the ground, and then punches him hard in the face, knocking him out.
Huntress fires her crossbow at two agents. One arrow hit an agent in the shoulder. The other arrow hit the other agent in the thigh. She hits one in the face with her crossbow and knocks out the other with a side kick to the face. The other agent gets up and tries to use his gun, but Huntress ducks under the swing before knocking him out with a high kick to the face.
"Impressive," complimented Deathstroke.
Huntress winks at Deathstroke.
Katana slices the guns of four agents coming at her. She spins, slides, and jumps as she gives two agent non-lethal cuts on the upper-body. She kicks one agent down before stabbing an agent behind her in the leg without even turning around. She then kicks him in the face to knock him into unconsciousness.
Constantine finds himself surrounded by five agents.
"Now, mates. Let's not fight. Next round's on me, I promise," offered Constantine.
It didn't work, though, as the agents charged towards him.
"Clypeus non visus, protegas me," cited Constantine quickly.
The agents suddenly run into an invisible barrier, knocking themselves down.
"Vultusque attolle est inimicus," cited Constantine.
All five agents were levitated into the air. The crashed face-first into the ceiling, getting knocked out. Constantine then lets them down gently, keeping his promise of making sure no one was killed.
Black Siren was trying to restrain herself, though it was proving to be difficult. She stabs an agent close to the chest with her throwing star before elbowing him in the face. She then throws the projectile at a running agent's foot, causing him to fall. She grabs his head and slams it to the floor for good measure. One agent tried grabbing her from behind, but she avoids him gracefully and knocks him down with a high kick the neck. She "puts him to sleep" with a kick to the face.
Captain Cold nonchalantly shoots at three A.R.G.U.S. agents, knocking them down and freezing them slightly, making sure they only suffer stage one hypothermia.
"Cool," quipped Black Siren.
"Cold is my game, Siren," said Captain Cold.
Killer Frost was fighting Lyla hand-to-hand. She blocks every punch and kick the director throws at her. Lyla tried a high kick, but Crystal grabs her ankle before her foot hit her face. Crystal twists and flips Lyla to the ground. Crystal taunts Lyla to get back up, so she did.
"Should we help her?" asked Katana.
"No, let's see how this plays out," said Captain Cold.
Lyla continues striking as fast as she can. Crystal ducks, dodges, and blocks every incoming punch and kick. She then dishes out her own punches and kicks. She knees Lyla in the stomach, punches her in the neck, kicks her in the leg, and then knocks her down with a graceful roundhouse kick.
"She learned it all from me," said Black Siren.
"I admit, Lance. You're a good teacher," said Huntress.
Lyla tries to stand up again, only to get grabbed by the neck and dragged towards the wall. Crystal forms a shard of ice and holds it closely to Lyla's eye. The A.R.G.U.S. director shakes with fear as she struggles to get out of the metahuman's grip.
"If I was the monster you think I am, you would be losing an eye right now," said Crystal.
Crystal throws the shard to the floor, shattering it. Black Siren was sort of disappointed. She wanted to see Crystal use it.
"Now, let's talk, Lyla, mother to mother," said Crystal. "You're a good woman. You're a good wife. You have a son who loves you very much. Unless you want John Diggle Jr. to grow up without a mom, then you'd better stay out of my way."
Crystal knocks out Lyla with a swift punch across the face.
Bart started giggling as he accidentally dropped his bottle. Crystal picks him up and started rocking him up and down, trying to calm him down, to no avail. He kept on giggling as he flailed his arms.
"Awww, I think Flash Jr. enjoyed the fight," said Black Siren.
"We better go," said Crystal.
"I suppose you have a backup base," assumed Black Siren.
"You know me, Laurel. I like to plan ahead," said Crystal.
Meanwhile, in The Thinker's secret lab, Marlize was checking on A.R.G.U.S. systems, which she hacked into, to see if they were successful in capturing Crystal Frost and her Suicide Squad. According to The Thinker's equations, they failed.
"So much for that idea," said Marlize sarcastically.
"I expected it as much," said Thinker.
"If you knew A.R.G.U.S. was going to fail, why did you even bother to send them against Frost?" asked Marlize.
"Because I know the exact location of the base where she's most likely to relocate her little suicide squad," said Thinker. "I took the liberty of inserting a bug in her secret base. That way, we can monitor her every action."
"They'll be going after John Henry Irons next, you know that," said Marlize. "If Irons finds out who he's working for, he'll stop providing us the metal we need to complete the device."
"Everything will proceed as planned," said Thinker. "Trust me, my dear. I have already won this game. It's just the matter of making sure where I place my pawns."
"This is your life on the line, Clifford," said Marlize worriedly. "We can't afford any more delays."
"Worry not, dear," said Clifford, holding his wife's hand. "Our victory is assured."
Marlize can only smile, even if she's still worried about the current state of their plans. She promised Clifford that she would stand by him until the end and she was not going to break that promise, especially when it means she might lose him forever.
Well, looks like the squad will be leaving Gotham. I know this chapter is shorter compared to the others, but I hope there was something to like here. Leave a review and let me know. I would appreciate it very much.
