Justice League Nuptials 19

A boom tube opened on the roof of Wayne Enterprises. Luthor, Grodd, and the Ultra-Humanite emerged from it. They surveyed the scene and then Luthor summoned Brainiac. The AI carried a large piece of equipment which he sat down in between the corporate headquarters' communication arrays.

"Thank you, Brainiac." Luthor said, "That will be all."

"Yes, Master." Brainiac replied and he reentered the boom tube and it closed behind him.

Luthor checked his watch, "We're right on time. Hurry! Let's wire it, secure it in place, and then wait for zero hour."

The Humanite wired the EM dampener into the building's grid. Grodd activated the self securing bolts as Luthor took the controller out of his utility belt. Afterwards, Grodd posed a question.

"Placing the dampener at Wayne Enterprises exposes it to potential discovery. Wouldn't it have been better to install it at LexCorp Gotham instead?" he wondered.

"No." Luthor chuckled, "When the Justice League interferes, and they will interfere, LexCorp is the first place that they'll look for our dampener. Wayne is such a goodie-goodie and he does so much gratis for the League that they'll never suspect that his building is the epicenter of all of their troubles."

Both the Ultra-Humanite and Grodd smiled in appreciation of Luthor's scheming. The Humanite admitted, "You can be even more devious than I usually expect."

Luthor leveled his gaze at the Humanite, "At least I never betrayed my comrades in order to earn a grant for a television show."

"Now I don't need to." The Ultra-Humanite calmly replied, "I earn enough to sponsor the arts without resorting to treachery. It also helps that my allies aren't obsessed with revenge this time around."

"Touché." Luthor replied. His watch beeped. He checked its display, "Thirty seconds more and then Gotham plunges into metaphorical darkness."

At the same time, at Gotham's telecommunications hub, Volcana, Atom Smasher, and Wonder Girl exited a boom tube. They brazenly strode into the facility and made their way to the reception desk.

"I want an engineer." Volcana demanded.

"They're all busy." The receptionist defiantly replied.

The reception desk burst into flame and he jumped away from it. Volcana graced him with a frosty smile, "Next time it's you, Shorty. Now get me an engineer!"

The receptionist led them into the inner workings of the administrative center. He summoned an engineer. She arrived and her name badge read, "M. Collins".

Volcana ignited the air around her right hand and held it under Collins's nose, "Take me to the routers, relays, and servers."

Collins swallowed hard, "Follow me."

Volcana turned to her fellows, "They'll call the cops. Hold `em off."

"You've got it." Atom Smasher replied.

"And Hunkalicious," Volcana added, "come back in one piece. I have plans for us tonight."

His mask hid Atom Smasher's grin, "So do I."

She blew him a flaming kiss and marched Collins off. The hapless engineer took the pyrokinetic Legionnaire to the massive computers that handled all of the city's telecommunication landlines and connected them into the long distance services.

Volcana smiled and patted Collins on the head, "Good job, Sweetie. Now run along."

"What are you going to do?" Collins asked, a semblance of her usual nerve returning.

"I'm going to melt this all down to slag." Volcana admitted.

"You can't!" Collins gasped.

"People survived for thousands of years without phones." Volcana dryly remarked, "I think they can survive a service interruption."

"But how…?" Collins feebly inquired.

"Watch and learn." Volcana grinned. She stepped into the refrigerated area. Rubbing her bare arms for warmth she gathered her inner strength. Stretching her hand forth to grant her focus, she reached out with her inborn gift and ignited bank after bank of equipment.

The halon first systems engaged. Volcana simply melted the glass walls sealing off the equipment from the rest of the world. The halon dissipated in the air. Receiving a fresh infusion of oxygen, Volcana redoubled her efforts.

As the last of the halon disappeared, the flames engulfed the area. Collins gasped and started to retreat. She'd never watched anyone die from fire before. And then a dark shape emerged from the flames. Volcana was unscathed. There wasn't a single singe or burn upon her body.

"That was fun." She laughed.

Collins felt faint but Volcana's strong hand took a hold of her arm, "No time to pass out. You've got to show me the way out of this maze."

Luthor activated his dampener. All electromagnetic energy in Gotham City ceased to exist. The difference between his device and an EMP bomb was that no equipment was damaged. Luthor couldn't see having to replace vital infrastructure once the Legion had secured the city. This way everything would be in place for them to use later.

"Now I think it's time to pilfer Wayne Enterprises and her subsidiaries." Luthor announced. Grodd and the Ultra-Humanite readily agreed.

At zero hour Galatea, Black Adam, Supreme, Bizarro, Superwoman, Star Sapphire, Giganta, Sinestro, Spencer Hawk, and Solomon Grundy went about the work of destroying Gotham City's interstate, state, and county highway connections.

It took a half hour. Motorists panicked. Cars crashed, some rolled, and injuries abounded. They suddenly found their cell phones inoperable. Deaths occurred and the Legionnaires were unfazed by the commotion and simply travelled to Gotham to begin the next phase of their plans.

Alone among the Legionnaires, Black Adam assisted the gravely injured but he couldn't be everywhere. The death toll racked up despite his best efforts. A dark cloud closed around his heart as he witnessed the brutal indifference of his teammates and doubts as to his continued loyalty began to creep in.

Dr. Polaris, Darkwing, the Phantasm, the Parasite, and Deadshot appeared outside of Arkham Asylum. The spatial disruptors wouldn't allow a wormhole to form within the maximum security asylum's wall. As indicated by its title the asylum housed the criminally insane.

More particularly, Arkham was a super villain supermax like the Gulag or Striker's Island. It currently housed nine Legionnaires. Three more were housed in the state prison. Supreme and Superwoman were charged with liberating them.

They strode up to the outer guard shack. One guard challenged them while another called for police back-up only to find the phone didn't work. The Parasite took hold of the first guard and drained him to the point of unconsciousness. The second guard sounded the alarm, drew his weapon, and went out to confront the Parasite. The Parasite repeated the performance.

Turning to Dr. Polaris he said, "I need more."

Dr. Polaris wore a cruel smile, "Soon you'll have an entire den of madmen to feed off of it."

"Hurry!" the Parasite demanded.

Polaris responded by ripping apart the gates with his magnetic powers. Darkwing took the lead. The guards rushing out of the facility hesitated when they saw "Batman" leading a costumed crowd. It wasn't until Darkwing was upon them that they realized their mistake.

"That isn't Batman!" one shouted.

Darkwing sprang into action. Using punches, kicks, throwing knives, throwing stars, and batons he crippled or killed a dozen men and women. Kicking the firearms out of reach of the wounded, he motioned for the others to follow him into the asylum.

Once inside, the Phantasm took over controlling the guards. She used her scythe to disarm the onrushing sentries. Martial arts pummeled them into submission. Dr. Polaris ventured further into the prison. When he came to the meta-human cells he magnetically ripped the doors off of their hinges.

The Joker emerged first. He saw the Legionnaires and his smile grew, "Thanks Doc! I was going crazy in there."

Two Face also exited a cell, "It's about time Luthor liberated us."

"It's better than that." Polaris smiled, "Let me give you a rundown on what's going on."

In the general population common area, Harley Quinn started doing cartwheels when she saw Darkwing, the Phantasm, and Deadshot strolling in.

"Yippee! We're free!" she exclaimed.

The Scarecrow and the Mad Hatter also celebrated their imminent liberation. The Hatter rubbed his hands together, "When and where do we begin, fellow scoundrels?"

"Where are Clayface, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Bane, and Poison Ivy?" Darkwing asked.

"Red's in the greenhouse." Harley answered, "The rest are in the special maximum security wing."

"Take me." Darkwing instructed.

"Hey, you two. Show the man what he wants to see." Harley told the Scarecrow and the Mad Hatter, "I've gotta tell Ivy we're bustin' outta here!"

Elsewhere, the Parasite had discovered the general population cells. He was making his way, cell to cell, through the area. Meanwhile Harley and the Phantasm entered the garden. The guard watching over Ivy posed no challenge to the Phantasm.

Ivy turned from her ministration. She wore a wry smile, "I suppose Luthor has finally deigned it necessary to spring us?"

"You got it Red." Harley enthused, "Let's get dressed and tear up the town."

Ivy smiled, "Sounds good."

Later, all of the Legionnaires were reunited in the commons. The Joker cackled, "Tell Lexy-boy that I'll mind his little prison for him. I have plans for Gordon and his cronies when you bring them in."

"Harley's volunteered to stay with you." Dr. Polaris replied, "The Parasite is staying here to feed off of a captive population. Bane, Darkwing, Deadshot, and the Phantasm will return with the prisoners and help stand watch against the League's eventual rescue effort."

"Oh, we'll be ready." Cruelty laced the Joker's every word, "We'll give them a reception they've never dreamt of, even in their worst nightmares."

Polaris was pleased. He escorted the rest beyond the gates, "Remember, we all get an equal share of any and all illicit gains. Those of you tasked with apprehending police officers needn't worry about missing out. As for the rest of you, good luck and happy looting."

The Legionnaires disappeared in a boom tube. Dr. Polaris turned around and walked back to the asylum's bosom. Luthor had tasked him with curbing the Joker's excesses. The Parasite also needed a modicum of external restraint. Polaris had been elected.

It wasn't his choice of assignments but since he knew was going to profit regardless of his assigned roles; he accepted his fate and sought out the spatial disruptors. Once they were out of commission the Legion of Doom owned Arkham Asylum.