Justice League Nuptials 26
"Have we tried calling officer's mobile phones?" Police Commissioner Jim Gordon asked the Gotham PD's communications center chief.
"We've tried police band radios and phones." She answered, "Nothing works. In fact, all of the phones are dead. Not a single land line, cell phones, or sat phone is working. Radio and television stations are off the air. Gotham isn't leaking a single signal of any description."
"See if the Emergency Broadcast System will work." Gordon ordered, "Advise everyone to stay in their homes."
"Sir, haven't you been listening?" the comm chief asked, "The EBS is radio based. It won't work."
"We have to try, blast it!" Gordon snapped. He stormed off and headed for his office. Lieutenant Renee Montoya and Sergeant Harvey Bullock were waiting for him.
"I take it you know." Gordon said.
"How could we not?" Montoya asked, "We were on stake-out with Burkett and Fitzroy in the other blind when we lost contact. We had to break cover in order to meet and confer."
"Yeah," Bullock grumbled, "and the loo-tenant here ordered us back to the PD to find out what's going on."
"Which is why she's the lieutenant and not you, Detective." Gordon retorted, "Renee, I need you and Bullock to organize runners to go back forth between headquarters and the units in the field."
"What gives?" Bullock protested, "Am I not standing here?"
Gordon sighed, "Harvey, will you help Montoya organize the force?"
"Be happy too, Commish." Bullock happily complied.
"If only Batman were here." Gordon muttered and then remembered that at least two of his partners were available. He proceeded to the rooftop to light the bat signal.
At the Gotham telephone exchange, squad cars responded to the call that had gone out right before the system collapsed. Officers Griggs, Cole, Kwan, and Murphy arrived in four squad cars. They were confronted by Atom Smasher and Wonder Girl.
"Put your hands above your head and stand still." Cole ordered.
They ignored her and continued a slow steady progression towards the cars. Cole tried again, "Halt! If you do not comply, we will open fire!"
Atom Smasher merely chuckled. He was ten feet away from the officers' cars when they fired. Altering his molecular density, he became bulletproof. A part of him longed for his life before the meta-gene bomb. Altering his size had been fun. Becoming a giant could make your opponents pee their pants.
Of course, that was also in the days before he'd killed the terrorists that had detonated the bomb and the scientists that spawned it. He'd been a fugitive for three long years before Grodd had found him and invited him to join Luthor's Legion of Doom. He'd embraced Luthor's dream of planetary conquest. Gotham City was just a trial run of what the Legion could really do.
Bullets bounced off of him. Wonder Girl used her Amazonian bracelets to deflect gunfire. They each reached the closest police cruisers. One of the benefits of Atom Smasher's increased density was that his muscles grew in mass and strength. Of course, he could also reverse the process until he was intangible. He would a living ghost but he would also be as weak as a kitten.
He was more than happy to let the Gentleman Ghost be the Legion's resident ghoul. Tired of the police officers, Atom smasher lifted a cruiser over his head. The gathered officers recoiled.
"Did Bane get a new costume?" Kwan asked.
"Bane's in Arkham." Murphy snapped, "This is a new freak."
Atom Smasher, upon hearing the disparaging remark decided to throw the car at Murphy. Murphy barely eluded the incoming squad car. The other three officers concentrated their fire on Atom Smasher.
Wonder Girl took to the air and floated down behind Cole and Griggs using her car as a shield. She pulled Griggs up onto his feet. She drew back her fist and punched him. He flew into Atom Smasher. It was like hitting a wall. He fell slack off of the former JLer and lay unmoving on the ground.
Cole drew her baton and tried to incapacitate Wonder Girl. The adopted Amazon blocked every blow and then leveled one of her own. Cole was knocked out.
"Sorry, sister, but you did force me." Wonder Girl murmured.
Kwan jumped up and took aim. Wonder Girl took to the sky and flew an evasive pattern. Murphy yelled out, "Kwan!"
Atom Smasher was upon him. Atom Smasher merely brought a massive fist down atop Kwan's head effectively "jogging" him. The cop fell to the ground.
Murphy panicked. He began wildly firing at Atom Smasher and Wonder Girl. Despite her floating in med-air she deflected every bullet. Atom Smasher merely waltzed through the barrage.
Murphy's gun racked its slide back and held it there. He was out of bullets. He whimpered as Atom Smasher took hold of his shoulder and delivered the blow that drove him into unconsciousness.
Volcana emerged out of the exchange's main entrance, "Did I miss anything exciting?"
"Not really." Atom Smasher replied, "Just a few flatfoots trying to make a name for themselves."
"Well, seeing as how they won't need their cars, I suggest we borrow one and get the looting underway." Volcana suggested.
"I'd love to." Atom Smasher readily agreed.
"As for you," Volcana addressed Wonder Girl, "Three's definitely a crowd. We'll see you downtown."
Wonder Girl flew off and the destructive couple chose a car and stole it.
Downtown, Ivy chose Hyde Park as her new haunt. It was far from the largest park in Gotham. It was, however, across the street from the PD.
She'd travelled to her arboretum to gather her specifically tasked seeds. She strolled along the paths and deeper into the forested areas. At select spots she'd kneel down and plant her precious seeds. At several trees she poured an elixir at the base of the trunks. Once she had rounded the entire grounds, she sat at a bench and waited for her precious children to grow.
One of the littlest known facts about Pamela Isley was that she had an enduring maternal instinct of a rare intensity. The same hyperactive immune system that granted invulnerability concerning toxins also prohibited her from having children. She'd conducted an experiment to discover that even Daxamite sperm couldn't withstand the onslaught that her immune system would unleash.
She transferred her need into her plants. They became the substitutes for children. She'd furthered her physiological distance from having children through ingesting her chlorophyll elixir. It had already left an indelible mark upon her. She was incredibly pale. Closer observation would reveal a slightly green pallor to her skin.
Because of the elixir, Ivy could control her creations without external intervention. It was a process conducted through pheromones. They obeyed her every wish and whim. This was generally to the detriment of others.
Ivy's consuming goal of protecting flora and returning the Earth to a pristine state where flora and fauna were almost balanced. She'd tip the scales in floras' direction, of course. This made her a natural ally to Ra's al Ghul.
Her interest in thievery was to fund her restoration and preservation schemes. Craving her independence, she operated apart from al Ghul and often at cross purposes. Where al Ghul was a fanatic Ivy had crossed the threshold and become a full blown psychotic.
Her plans were often too audacious to work. Her on-again-off-again partnership with Harley Quinn served to temper her passions. The Legion was beginning to function as that kind of safety valve. Take her latest assignment. She would neutralize Gotham's Police Department through their next door neighbor.
She laughed a deep throaty laugh at the thought. The others could have Gotham's banks and jewelry stores. She was setting up a virtual kingdom right here.
Gordon found Nightwing and Robin already on the roof viewing the streets below with binoculars.
"Am I glad you're here." Gordon said, "Telecommunications have broken down."
"It's worse than that." Nightwing grimly said, "Take a look."
Gordon accepted the offered glasses and began sweeping the streets. They were flooded with panicking citizens fleeing on foot. Cars were gridlocked. Those not running were fighting amongst themselves.
"My God." Gordon breathed.
"Keep watching." Nightwing urged, "It gets better."
The windows to Gotham First Federal burst as Solomon Grundy stepped though. The zombie wielded sacks of cash. Several other Legionnaires followed him into the street. They activated a boom tube. It increased the general panic. They carried their loot through it to their headquarters in Bailya. Moments later, they reemerged from the tube, collapsed it, and went looking for fresh prey.
"Is that the Legion of Doom?" Gordon asked with a sick certainty that it was.
"Most of them, even the ones that are supposed to be in Arkham or prison." Nightwing confirmed Gordon's suspicions, "If you look skyward, you'll make out Bizarro, Supreme, and Galatea patrolling the city."
"It looks like one of them is diving in this direction." Gordon said after spotting the sight with his bare eyes.
Nightwing snatched the binoculars back, "It's Galatea. This is going to be trouble."
Galatea landed on the roof. Her smile was a cruel one, "C'mon Gordon. It's time to go."
"I don't think so." Nightwing declared as he threw a steel cabled bolo. It wrapped itself around Galatea. She gave him a disbelieving look.
"You're kidding, right?" she sardonically asked. She flexed her arms and snapped the cables. "Now, why don't you go bye bye?"
She rushed him at super speed. He barely saw her move as she approached and he definitely never saw her fist. He was propelled off of the roof. He barely came to enough to use his grapple gun to break his fall. As it was, he stayed at street level for a minute to see of his jaw was broken.
Back on the roof, Galatea turned to Robin, "Go ahead, make your move."
Robin launched into a flying kick off of the rooftop's rails. It landed on Galatea's jaw. Her head rotated with the blow and then as he dropped into a crouch she laughed, "Is that the best that you've got, Bird Boy? You should go home before my teammates and I decide to pulverize you."
"It'll take more than you got." Robin defiantly retorted.
"It was nice meeting you. Give my regards to your splattered friend." Galatea than blew hard and bowled Robin off of the building.
He quickly recovered and came to rest beside Nightwing, "What're you waiting for? Let's get up there!"
In the meantime, Galatea rounded on Gordon. He pulled his pistol out of his shoulder holster and opened fire. As an Argoan cousin to a Kryptonian, Galatea was invulnerable from most physical harm under a yellow sun. Earth's sun was a G2 yellow dwarf so Galatea hardly registered the bullets as they bounced off of her.
"Quite resisting or I'll have to hurt you." Galatea warned.
Gordon's magazine ran dry and he was tempted to throw the pistol at her. He decided "why not?" and bounced it off of her head. She wore a triumphant smirk.
"Feel better?" she asked. Gordon made a break for it and she grabbed him by the shoulders. She cupped her hands into his armpits and lifted. As they passed over the street and towards the sky above Gordon swallowed hard.
Nightwing and Robin made it back to the roof in time to see Galatea fly off. Montoya and Bullock arrived in time to see the same sight.
"Commissioner!" Montoya cried out.
"Looks like you're in charge now." Bullock said to her.
Montoya struggled to gather her wits, "All right. Nightwing, what's going on?"
Nightwing explained the situation with the Legion of Doom. Montoya scowled, "No offense, but where's Batman?"
"He's on League business." Nightwing lied.
"Can you call him?" Montoya wondered, "What about the Justice League?"
"Sorry. Whatever knocked out the phones also took out our signal devices." Nightwing miserably explained, "I think it's an EMP pulse. It should have shorted out electronics but those seem fine. It's just signals that can't get through."
"So how do we coordinate the force?" Montoya asked.
"We're going to have to confront the Legion in small squads. It'll be guerilla style tactics. When we run into officers on patrol, we incorporate them into our roving forces." Nightwing instructed, "We need to be mobile. You'll also have to carry enough ammo and small arms to fight a war. Can you empty the PD of anyone and everyone that can fight?"
"We already have them standing by for another task. We'll just change their priorities." Montoya said.
"Good." Nightwing replied, "Robin and I'll go out with the lead squad. Our experience against the Legion should prove useful."
"Follow me and we'll draw up plans." Montoya said. She turned to Bullock, "Harvey, gather up the watch commanders and get them organized. We're going to need everyone that can stand or crawl. Break out the assault weapons."
Bullock started to walk and then he turned to Montoya, "Y'know Renee, when we start this little fracas you could stop by to see Deirdre and see if she's okay."
Montoya smiled. Bullock didn't acknowledge her domestic partner very often. His concern was touching.
"It'll be fine." She touched his shoulder, "Deirdre knows when to keep her head down."
"That's good." Bullock said softly and then he grew gruff, "Well, I'm off to marshal the troops."
"I thought he didn't approve of your lifestyle." Nightwing said as soon Bullock was gone.
"Bullock just cares about me. It's a cop thing." Montoya explained.
"Well, you'll all need that fraternity before this is over." Nightwing stated, "We need to hold out until the Justice League starts to investigate the communications blackout that's covering Gotham."
"And how long do you think that'll take?" she asked.
"Anywhere from hours to days." Nightwing admitted, "We could be in for a long haul."
"Then the first thing we have to do is secure the gun dealers. We'll need the ammo. We'll also keep panicky citizens from shooting everything that moves."
"Good idea." Nightwing nodded, "Have you got a map of the city? We can start laying out deployments."
Montoya grinned, "Like I said, follow me."