20
With the breakup of the Justice League Unlimited after their severing ties and affiliations with the United Nations, the reconstituted JLU had migrated to the one base off of the UN's records. Situated inside a massive cave complex outside of Metropolis, Batman had installed systems rivaling the Hall of Justice inside of the caves. And he had structurally reinforced the entire network.
The outer and inner security measures were nonlethal but decidedly vigorous enough to deter all but a meta-human army. Or a Lantern Corps or a division of New Gods. But suffice it to say, it was secure enough for J'onn Jonzz the Martian Manhunter and Captain Atom to live and work there. Recently the Atom had joined them as his divorce began to get ugly. His soon to be ex-wife, Jean, was a lawyer so she'd known exactly who to hire to insure she got what she wanted.
J'onn currently occupied the ward room and he floated in his native shape as he meditated. Captain Atom was taking a turn at the monitoring stations observing the police and emergency service bands in order to alert the rest of the JLU to a brewing crisis they should intervene in. J'onn's mind drifted over hundreds of topics while Captain Atom tried not to get bored.
The JLU had not dissolved but it had fragmented upon its release from UN service. The Global Guardians, the UN's protectors before being supplanted by the JLU, followed Max Lord's advice and rebranded themselves the Justice League International upon reentering the United Nations' service. How far Max's influence swayed Dr. Mist and the JLI as a whole remained to be seen.
Several prominent sorcerers, mystics, and mages had formed a loose coalition dubbed the Justice League Dark. Most of the JLU doubted the veracity and ultimate aims of the JLD but it counted such members as Zatanna and Dr. Fate amongst its members. But while the JLD appeared to serve the Lords of Order, those same Lords had nebulous intentions towards the inhabitants of Earth and their agents frequently seemed to serve their own ends.
The United States government had created a fourth and final Justice League. Dubbed the Justice League of America, this league was actively supported and ultimately controlled by ARGUS. ARGUS was a branch of the US Defense Department and it also carried full law enforcement authority in both the civilian and military sectors.
The former JLU and CADMUS administrator, Amanda Waller, had been promoted to overseeing ARGUS as its director. Sue Dibney, wife of the Elongated Man and former JLU Chief of Operations, had also defected to the JLA administration. Perhaps most telling of all was the mere fact that the JLA's field commander was one Colonel Steve Trevor.
Trevor was the namesake grandson of OSS Agent Steve Trevor whom Wonder Woman had met in World War II and had been the first to woo the Amazonian princess' heart. His grandson had been career military before joining ARGUS to serve in Team 7. Black Canary, who had been a member of that unit alongside Deathstroke among others, had rarely mentioned the team's activities. And now Dinah Lance was reunited with Trevor in the JLA.
The former Justice Society of America members who'd joined the JLU had gone their own separate way. Forming a group loosely called the JSA All Stars, the veteran JSA Founders continued to instruct their younger compatriots in the art of being guardians of the public trust. But like the JLU, they served no master other than their consciences. And in an age where governments controlled teams of costumed adventurers, that freedom was liable to evaporate at either the hands of the JLI or the JLA.
The Teen Titans, and J'onn's fellow Martian M'gann M'orzz, also faced that eventual threat. China's Great Ten were immune as were the Russian Federation's Rocket Red Brigade. Similar in design and scope to the Rocket Reds, the German Elite Guard served NATO. It was the Elite Guard that had served as a deterrent to keep the Rocket Reds out of the Crimean crisis and the Ukrainian civil war.
The United Kingdom and France had collaborated to create Firestorms and Firehawks. The original Firestorm served in the JLI while the original Firehawk had gone missing. Rumors surfaced now and then that she had served with Task Force X until its demise and now served ARGUS in an undisclosed team.
Batman, Inc. had been absorbed by either the JLI or the JLA depending upon inclination and country of operation upon the entity's loss of funding after the Wayne-Powers Enterprises merger. The five active Justice League Founders had salvaged a team calling itself the Justice League Unlimited and incorporated four pre-fragmentation members. They represented another group that only followed the dictates of their moral compasses, just as the League had at the very beginning.
J'onn's reflections turned to ARGUS once more. As the parent agency to the JLA, they wielded even more power than simple agency politics and jurisdictional rules dictated. ARGUS had been the umbrella agency that had controlled CADMUS. After CADMUS was shut down and disbanded, ARGUS simply swept up its duties and personnel into its own ranks and responsibilities.
ARGUS ultimately shut down Task Force X, but only a handful of its conscripted criminals were returned to prison and eventually liberated by the Legion of Doom to swell its ranks. The rest, like Firehawk, had simply officially vanished. Yet sightings of Firehawk and other former Suicide Squad member persisted after the World Army fiasco.
Other rumors circulated as well concerning the fates of the Freedom Fighters and the Force of July. Captain Atom had been in a romantic relationship with a fellow government agent named Eve Eden. Eve was more familiar to most as Nightshade. He'd revealed that Nightshade was part of ARGUS's top secret response group. The JLA was ARGUS' public face while this mysterious Checkmate entity was its hidden dagger.
In a more frightening change of events, over the past two decades, the United States had founded and organized several agencies to classify meta-human, supernatural, and alien events. All of these agencies, except ARGUS, had been handed over unconditionally to the United Nations.
The Department of Extraordinary Operations classified meta-humans as threat or potential ally. It was still run by Director Bones post hand over. He'd been a third rate super villain at one time who'd reformed and put his talents to work for the government and now the world body.
SHADE was designed to monitor and intervene in supernatural crises. They analyzed events and beings and determined the appropriate steps to take. In the recent case of the vampire war it seemed the appropriate response had been to sit it out and hope the Justice League Dark could end it.
And then the UN itself had created the International Security Agency, recruiting agents and specialists out of every law enforcement agency on Earth. They'd inherited the Watchtower space station, the worldwide teleporter network, and the Metro Tower facility. The ISA's primary functions were to prevent terrorism and to provide forensics support to the JLI, DEO and SHADE.
But key players from the JLU's former UN administration were largely unaccounted for. Waller and Sue were easily placed supporting the JLA. General Wade Eiling had all but disappeared. Which given Eiling's track record could prove to be very dangerous.
Max Lord, though, he represented an even greater mystery while occupying a pivotal public role. Max underwrote much of the JLI's operations the way he had the JLU before them. He also threw a great deal of public and financial support towards the JLA. He'd gotten major corporations, seeking a new public relations face after the disbanding of the Conglomerate, to sponsor the JLI and JLA.
Max, through his Innovative Concepts charitable foundation, appeared to be a multi-billionaire philanthropist but J'onn knew better. Max had invested one hundred billion dollars into the JLU and the UN merely to buy favor. His work as the JLU's public relations officer and diplomat to the UN had only been to influence policy. Max's true agenda had never fully come to light and J'onn wondered what would happen when it did.
J'onn's musings on Max led him to the shortlist of major corporations Max had convinced to support the "official" Justice Leagues. LexCorp, Ferris Aircraft, Wayne-Powers Enterprises, Golan Oil, STAR Labs, Mobilize Oil, and a few other notables topped the exclusive list. LexCorp and Wayne-Powers participation seemed to be a direct result of Mercy Graves and Derek Powers' direct orders.
While Powers was still gloating over the successful hostile takeover of Wayne Enterprises and its forced merger into Powers Technology, LexCorp was profiting handsomely from the fall of Caldwell Arms. With the revelations that Elliott Caldwell was secretly the cop killing assassin known as the Wrath, and the hidden truths of Caldwell Arms involvement in supplying both police and criminals with weapons to create a street war fed arms race, and then both sides were betrayed when those same weapons were designed to malfunction in such a way as to maim or kill their users had all but undermined public confidence in the arms dealer
Mercy had recently acquired Irons Tech from John Irons' heirs. Renovating his small scale manufacturing into a major production base, Mercy had been the first to capitalize on Caldwell's destruction with nonlethal innovations. Caldwell Arms orders had been cancelled wholesale and LexCorp's existing inventories were all ready shipping and backorders were being filled into the next year.
Mercy was being heralded as LexCorp's true heir. She'd saved the company from the brink of disaster once before and now she'd pushed it into gloried heights on the stock exchange and profitability that even Lex Luthor himself hadn't reached. And it all stemmed from Mercy taking the corporation into new areas and markets it had long ignored.
But the buzzing of the intercom interrupted J'onn's continued meditation as Captain Atom's voice penetrated his reflections, "I hate to interrupt but we have several situations brewing at once. I've consulted all the major players but I'd like you to review what I've done while there's still time to alter deployments."
J'onn knew Captain Nathaniel Hale USAF didn't hesitate very often. His admission of needing help was very precious and costly to a man that had been converted into energy and pulled himself together and survived by sheer willpower alone. Captain Atom's containment suit allowed him to function as a human being and also to avoid dispersal when his concentration lapsed.
"I shall be right there," J'onn promised. He shape shifted from his native form, which seemed to disturb humans, and adopted the more human aspect he was willing to compromise with. J'onn also chose to walk the distance to the monitor womb rather than levitate there. This too seemed to console humans.
"Yes, Captain?" J'onn announced his presence, "What seems to be your quandary?"
"We have multiple incidents erupting across the United States. The JLI and the major foreign players are all on alert should events spill over to them," Captain Atom counted down the details; "Central City is being ransacked by the Rogues. Flash is in Detroit and I have called him off of it for reasons that will become obvious later."
Captain Atom continued, "I contacted the All Stars and they agreed to handle Central City. San Francisco is also reporting a combined strike against the Teen Titans that seems to be attributed to elements of the Brotherhood of Evil and the Legion of Doom."
"Next," Captain Atom continued to report, "Ferris Aircraft's new administrative and manufacturing hub in Coast City has replaced the one in the Mojave that was destroyed when the Legion nuked Edwards Air Force Base. This site is also under attack from the Legion of Doom. The JLA signaled us they'll be handling it."
"Finally, there's Philadelphia," Captain Atom concluded, "Normally the Marvel Family would swing over from Fawcett City but the All Stars are reporting that the Marvels are part of an interdimensional rescue operation currently underway. So I chose that situation for our own JLU to intervene in."
"What kind of scenario is it?" J'onn wondered.
"Remember that Injusticer strike in Gotham? The Crime Syndicate and the Legion have taken control of City Hall but they're not issuing demands. It just seems to have happened for the sake of happening," Captain Atom complained.
"Which, of course, simply means it's a trap," J'onn concluded.
"Which is why I've already steered everyone else to Philly," Captain Atom explained.
"Very well. Excellent work, Captain. Now we shall join our comrades," J'onn adjusted the settings on a boom tube controller and activated it.
The boom tube delivered the Martian Manhunter and Captain Atom to Liberty Hall moments before Mr. Miracle and Barda arrived via the same means. J'onn's signal device pinged and he answered it expecting the Atom to emerge out of it, growing from the diminutive stature he'd achieved to ride the electrons of the carrier signal. Now standing at four inches high, he rested on the Martian's shoulder.
Superman was the next to arrive from Metropolis. Green Lantern released Shayera Hol and the Flash from a bubble construct so each could run or fly the rest of the distance. Now that the JLU was completely present, Captain Atom briefed the others regarding the myriad operations the Legion of Doom and its allies were conducting. No one even considered that it could be a coincidence.
"Luthor is up to something," Superman declared.
Shayera gave him a wry look, "Col. Trevor is right about you. You always think Luthor is up to something."
"That's because he always is," Superman said sagely.
"Agreed," J'onn voiced, "But for once, the Justice League's fragmentation is aiding us rather than hindering us as in Gotham City last week."
"Definitely," John Stewart agreed, "There's no way we could cover all four incidents with our numbers dwindled the way they are."
"I could at least handle the Rogues on my own," Flash was slightly petulant.
"I too have concerns, Flash. Miss Martian is facing a number of foes in San Francisco. Before the Teen Titans moved across the country, M'gann was a mere few dozen miles away. But now I cannot spontaneously check on her well being."
"I don't know why you care so much about her," Barda said, "She's a White Martian. Her race all but eradicated you Green Martians."
"Perhaps it is akin to the son of Highfather of New Genesis marrying one of Darkseid's Elite, the very leader of the Female Furies," J'onn posed the thought.
Barda's eyes narrowed dangerously so Scott Free interjected, "M'gann has proven over and over again she's a survivor. Don't count her out just yet."
"What bothers me is the JLA being called in to resolve the Ferris Aircraft situation. We should do that after we finish here in Philly," Atom complained.
"Ferris might be a pile of rubble by then," John replied, "And the US government has a vested interest in seeing Ferris Aircraft not stop production. Let the JLA handle it for them."
"But…!" Atom was livid.
"A word, little friend," Barda held out a hand to scoop Atom up. She counseled him in private while the others prepped to travel to City Hall.
Police band radio signals had the Crime Syndicate leading a group of Legionnaires in holding the perimeter around City Hall as an as of yet unidentified trio held the hostages inside. As the JLU approached Atom rode Barda's shoulder as she and Mr. Miracle used hover discs to fly to the scene. Flash ran ahead of the group to scout out what lay before them.
He found Killer Frost had created a series of barricades. And as he used sympathetic vibrations to bring down sections of the ice walls, he found rings of fire stoked by Volcana. He heard whistles and flares launching as his friends in the JLU came into sight. He wondered if that meant Signalman was present as well.
Shattering ice wall after ice wall, he raced through Volcana's flames so quickly he wasn't burnt. But Flash heard fighting breaking out before he cleared the last barricade.
Ultraman intercepted Superman. But instead of his usual swatting Kal-El across the sky, Kal-L of Earth-3 smashed Superman into the streets below between ice barricades. Superwoman immediately went on the offensive.
Superman was arguably the most powerful humanoid in the Prime Universe, but Ultraman was a close second and Superwoman was an equal match for her doppelganger as well. Superman barely had enough fighting acumen to contend with a similarly powered foe and now he faced two simultaneously. And to make matters worse Artemis of Earth-3 was an exact duplicate of Princess Diana of Earth Prime, and Wonder Woman was also Clark Kent's estranged wife.
So, faced with an equal match on one side and a nearly equal match he wouldn't fight back against, Superman began taking a beating.
Martian Manhunter was confronted by both Killer Frost and Volcana. Volcana, of course, controlled the one element as lethal to Martians as kryptonite to Kryptonians. As a pyrokinetic she could spontaneously create flame anywhere and everywhere she desired. She created rings of it around J'onn.
The Killer Frost would lash out with freezing temperatures and then Volcana would immediately reregulate the thermal density the other way. It was quite a repeated shock on a biological organism. And J'onn was already weakened to the point he couldn't escape.
John found himself facing Power Ring. Only Jessica Cruz was a new bearer of the Ring of Volthoom. John had previously fought against Jack Stewart, his own interdimensional duplicate from Earth-3. Between Jack and the Justice Lord John Stewart of Earth-2, Prime Universe John was sick of facing copies of himself.
From what Atom had described of the Crime Syndicate's assault on STAR Labs, the Ring of Volthoom was even more psycho-reactive than a typical Lantern power ring. It created fear to feed itself. Presumably if it couldn't get enough fodder from others to sate itself, the ring would consume the life force of its bearer. Which could mean one thing in regards to the Ring of Volthoom seeking a new bearer.
But Atom's theory seemed to hold true regarding the nightmarish constructs Power Ring created and threw at Green Lantern. But then, subtly, it happened. The nightmares began to echo John's own unspoken fears.
While John was distracted by noticing Jessica's own ring creating constructs around her to mobilize her fears to guide her into striking out at Green Lantern. And John had to wonder if the members of the Power Ring Corps were in command of their Rings of Volthoom or was it the other way around. And while he was distracted, Power Ring's ring tapped into John's psyche.
Power Ring's constructs began to twist and distort and they became his own unrealized fears. He feared for Shayera and their future children. His life with her was a dangerous one and had already cost the life of one of their unborn baby. History was prone to repeating itself in their line of work.
Then there was in all probability a rogue group of Thanagarians running loose on Earth Prime. After Shayera spared the Earth the fate Thanagar had planned for it, the planet and its subject worlds had fallen to the Gordanian Empire. So out there were Thanagarians refugees and Gordanians alike who wished her harm in the most egregious means possible.
And then most unsettling of all was his losing Shayera because he'd succumbed to his denied attraction to Fatality. It had become obvious to him that Fatality was nursing some unrequited feelings for him. But he strangely reciprocated those feelings as well.
After that point, the Ring of Volthoom fed gloriously.
Shayera fought against both Giganta and Sparrow Hawk. Shayera was still confused as to why the rogue interdimensional Thanagarian had changed her name from Kestrel to Sparrow Hawk. Before Hawk and Dove had left the JLU to help found the JSA All Stars, they'd spoken of an Agent of Chaos named Kestrel. But in order for Sparrow Hawk to have made the change, she had to have knowledge of the Chaos Avatar.
Most telling was Danya Helstrom was learning about strategy and tactics. In her alternate dimension, Sparrow Hawk had belonged to the Assassin's Directorate and therefore had not been a foot soldier. But Sparrow Hawk was displaying a ruthless efficiency Shayera normally equated with Gordanians. Try as she might to escape Giganta's grasping hands, Sparrow Hawk kept driving her back into them.
Sparrow Hawk had always been fueled by a blinding rage. Now her methods were cold and calculating. As Shayera weaved around Giganta's hands again, she lost track of Sparrow Hawk. Catching updraft, Shayera rose above Giganta's reach.
But Sparrow Hawk was already there. And her sword stroke would have taken Shayera's head off rather than bitten deeply into her cheek if she hadn't seen and dodged Sparrow Hawk at the last second. But that vectoring away sent Shayera straight into Giganta's grip.
Giganta squeezed the breath out of Shayera and held her in an iron grip. As black spots appeared in Shayera's vision, her narrowing tunnel of sight focused on John. She'd seen her husband in what she'd thought was every conceivable mood. But she'd never seen him terrified before now. And on that note, Shayera passed out.
Flash raced around Blockbuster and he had no idea the grossly distorted mass of muscle had once been a super model dubbed "the face of America". Rachel Sands had been an object of unparalleled desire across the globe. She'd crossed over genres and was a top 10 runway and fashion model as well as an adult pinup girl. She'd appeared on every conceivable form of print, cinema, television, online, and audio media available to the public.
But that fame had fueled the lust of her attackers when she was gang raped in Central Park. Only the fledgling Bat-Girl's intervention had allowed Rachel to survive. But she'd been horrifically scarred physically, emotionally, and psychologically. And Rachel had vowed never to be vulnerable again.
Having amassed a billion dollar media empire, Rachel began looking into means to satisfy her desire. Mark Desmond's work appealed to her. It had transformed him into the original Blockbuster. His brother Roland had picked the mantle after Mark's death. And now Roland Desmond was dead as well, killed by Troia in Fawcett City.
What intrigued Rachel was the possibility someone had continued Desmond's work. So offering to finance the research, Rachel shopped around and found several dead ends…literally since she killed them when they failed to fulfill their bargains.
Finally, the Ultra-Humanite responded. He'd perfected Desmond's prototype formula. Rachel could receive all of the benefits of Blockbuster's strength without being consumed by the primal rage. But, the treatment came at a price. Ultra-Humanite needed a fellow conspirator within the Legion of Doom.
Rachel readily agreed and her transformation had become a reality. She was now the third Blockbuster. And now she was pitting her strength and superior reflexes against those of the Flash.
KGBeast blindly opened fire on the surrounding area and forced Blockbuster to retreat. Flash dismantled KGBeast's gun hand while it was still firing in rotary fashion. Then he whacked the Russian over the head with half the gun's housing.
Darkwing came out of nowhere to attack the Flash. Wally West was also the third in line to carry the legacy of the Flash. Jay Garrick had been the first followed several decades later by Wally's uncle Barry Allen. At one time Wally had been slower than either Jay or Barry but now he truly was the "fastest man alive".
So he was long gone when Darkwing's throwing knives penetrated KGBeast's chest. Of all the long list of Batman wannabes, Darkwing was the only one that had earned the right to wear the cowl of Earth-2's Justice Lord Batman. But even he couldn't match Flash's speed.
Blockbuster came at Flash again but he simply weaved around her delivering hundreds of punches before breaking off to try and enter City Hall to rescue the hostages. As he neared the door, a motion sensor activated a light and pyrotechnic show. Lights flashed and popped and fizzed in a sequential pattern that seemed utterly randomized.
But Flash found himself unable to move as Signalman emerged from the building's front lobby, "Surprise! That little show triggered a paralytic response in your brain carried through to it by the optic nerve. It's designed to wear off in about five minutes but you don't have that long."
Flash barely registered Blockbuster's balled fists smashing down on his head and shoulders.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot last time," Atomica said cheerfully to Atom, "I'm Rhonda, by the way, and you invented the technology my boyfriend Johnny and I stole to become Atomica and Johnny Quick."
"Here, Johnny Quick was a hero and his daughter is one as well," Atom retorted, "Something you'll never be."
"Then let's make this quick and simple," Atomica offered, "You're going to lose and surrender to me anyway. Why not just save time and lives and do it now?"
"Bite me," Atom quipped.
"I'd love to do that, Professor. Especially since the news says your wife isn't giving you any," Atomica said gleefully.
Atom began to shrink and Atomica sighed, "Okay, a subatomic blowjob then."
Atom was already riding a stray electron when Atomica jumped off a neighboring one, bounced off of his, and hopped over to another electron stream, "Tag! You're it! Guess where I'm headed!"
Like his electron stream, Atomica's was a radio frequency signal. The type utilized by cell phone towers. Only she was riding another phone's signal. Which meant that caller was in actual danger.
So Atom jumped over and tried running up the electrons to reach her. But Atomica spotted his effort over her shoulder and she blew him a kiss before winking at him. And then she sprinted further up the stream.
Atom realized Atomica had an advantage over him. The goggles she wore, and could slip on while at sizes smaller than motes, allowed her to see better than his unshielded eyes. Suddenly a wall of inorganic molecules stood in the way. These walls turned into organic cells as the electron stream was converted into an audio signal.
Atom grew large enough to stand inside someone's ear. But there was no sign of Atomica anywhere. And then a scream was transmitted up the person's jawbone into their cochlea. The resound nearly deafened Atom just before a wave of blood and tissue matter swept him aside.
He had the sensation of falling so he restored his natural height to find himself standing next to a corpse. Her head had literally exploded as Atomica restored her own natural stature. Standing there, covered in blood and gore, Atomica grinned like a naughty schoolgirl.
"Oops, did I do that?" Atomica giggled.
"How…how could you?" Atom was flabbergasted.
"Hey, if you want a real thrill, try it inside a baby. They're so cute as they begin screaming because they know something's wrong even faster than adults," Atomica was practically giddy at the memory.
"You're insane," Atom realized.
"Not really," Atomica countered, "But a lot of people in this building will be suddenly having strokes and aneurisms if you don't simply surrender to me now."
Atomica slid her red lensed goggles up over her eyes and Atom peered into them. What he saw inside her made him comply, "You win. I'll come quietly."
"Hopefully not too quietly," Atomica leered, "But I thought it would take at least two more casualties before he lost your nerve. Face it Professor, you're just not man enough. No wonder your wife is divorcing you. I don't think I'm going to suck your dick after all."
Atom was grateful for small favors.
Count Vertigo caught Mr. Miracle by surprise and almost knocked Scott Free off of his hover discs. Which he realized would be a horrible fate because Multiplex had already created dozens of doppelgangers filling the street approach Mr. Miracle and Barda had chosen. Scott dropped some flash grenades and smoke pellets and tried to sneak around Count Vertigo and blindside him.
But it seemed as long as one Multiplex could clearly see him, they all knew where he was. As such, a Multiplex standing beside Count Vertigo told him Mr. Miracle's position and Vertigo used that knowledge to attack Scott. This time Mr. Miracle did fall into Multiplex's waiting hands.
"What the hell are you?" Barda asked King Shark, "Some deviant spawn of Apokolips?"
"I'm the son of the shark god, sweetie," he answered as he attacked.
Barda found King Shark to be just as strong as herself. And his claws and rows of teeth were razor sharp. He literally was a walking shark.
Barda managed to press her mega wand into his chest and blow King Shark back. He was slightly wounded but his tough hide deflected most of the blast. And Barda was dismayed as her weapon flew out of her hands into Psi's.
"I don't think you'll need this after all," Psi said cruelly as the mega wand floated nearby. She turned to King Shark, "Remember, they want her alive."
"No one counted off how many limbs they needed," King Shark meant to avenge himself.
"True," Psi conceded.
Shrapnel took the opening shot at Captain Atom. As he "exploded" into his fragmentary parts, several shards embedded themselves in Captain Atom's containment suit. Just enough to hinder his movements if he wanted to avoid ripping the suit further.
El Diablo knew he was just the distraction while Shrapnel reintegrated himself and Black Spider set up his shot. But he decided to demonstrate why he'd been the three time word heavyweight boxer. Of course, Captain Atom couldn't actually feel the blows but he was certainly annoyed by them.
Suddenly Black Spider's voice was coming out of El Diablo's ear piece, "Chato, move a foot to your left."
El Diablo feinted and then shifted position. A carbon cooling rod pierced Captain Atom's suit. While he was stunned by that development, El Diablo returned to begin his work again.
And Black Spider would call to reposition El Diablo as he spear gunned cooling rods into Captain Atom. He placed three in the Captain's chest and two in his abdomen. Captain Atom could feel his energy matrix ebb. He couldn't fly and he couldn't discharge quantum blasts anymore.
Feeling so drained, Captain Atom tried pulled the rods free. But the spear point had a deployable hook so he couldn't back the rod out and he couldn't pull it through because of a braking flange in his back. Finally, he just sank to his knees and El Diablo came to collect him.
The Justice League Unlimited was lined up on their knees in disgrace. Superman still struggled but Superwoman had him locked in an arm bar and he wasn't getting up. Ultraman stood by just in case the impossible happened and Superman was willing to either dislocate his shoulder or break his own arm to get free.
J'onn was in a state of physical shock and was merely clinging to life at this point. Volcana stood behind him in his nearly catatonic state and held two flaming globes of purest fire. Killer Frost stood nearby to respond should the Martian unexpectedly show signs of life.
John was also in emotional shock, having confronted every fear he didn't even acknowledge he had. He shivered and shook at the personal horrors he'd witnessed, no longer even certain of what had been of Power Ring's conjuring and what had really happened. Jessica Cruz was elated that the Ring of Volthoom was focusing its energies upon John and not her.
Shayera's arms and wings were bound behind her by Giganta's steely grip. She resisted but she couldn't match the former gorilla turned human's grip. And Sparrow Hawk stood with her sword poised even if she could.
Flash was nursing a concussion headache while gripped by Blockbuster. The sharp pain in his skull prevented him from attempting to vibrate free of her hold. Signalman also stood nearby with some gimmick prepared to wonk out Flash's brain again.
Atom knelt, discouraged and in despair. The blood soaked Atomica stood vigil behind him with her mere presence able to enforce her hold over him. He wondered if Jean was right and he had never actually been a hero.
Mr. Miracle was being roughly handled and surrounded by a dozen Multiplexes. Count Vertigo contented himself with being in the periphery should the universe's greatest escape artist try and make a break for it. But the sight of Barda in defeat stayed Scott's plans.
Barda's armor weave was ripped and torn with raking claw marks accompanying it. Barda was being held by Psi's telekinetic powers even as King Shark held her own mega wand on her. She truly wished the punk luck in using it.
Captain Atom was as beleaguered as J'onn and John. He barely possessed enough useable energy to manipulate his containment suit. But even it was beginning to sag. He had to wonder how he'd let himself get blindsided.
The three Legion of Super Villains Founders floated down from the upper stories of City Hall. Their flight rings, the same model Booster Gold and Goldstar used, gave them the ability to fly. Its effects were only limited by how much willpower they could exert. And each of these individuals had an iron will to rule at any cost.
"Welcome to our little recruiting party," Lightning Lord began, "While you've found yourselves temporarily overwhelmed by our allies' ruthlessness it is fair to say they haven't held back on you."
"I'd like to see how they exercised restraint," Atom smarted off.
"If they hadn't, you'd all already be dead," Cosmic King explained, "But we have need of your services."
"We can't be blackmailed or bribed into helping you," Superman managed to say in between grunts of pain.
"True, but this time you'll willingly volunteer to join our cause," Lightning Lord promised them.
"And why would we do that?" Shayera noticed the mystery woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to Tessa hadn't spoken yet.
"Because I am your Queen and you will be my slavishly willing vassals," Saturn Queen predicted. And then the JLU's collective world changed.
Elephant Man was among the first Brotherhood of Evil members to breach the outer wall of the Teen Titans' compound in San Francisco. Wonder Girl intercepted him, "Whoa, ugly."
Elephant Man didn't spare the time to chitchat. He simply attacked. Cassie Sandsmark found herself facing an equal foe. And she was a semi-divine demigoddess.
Fortunately, while he had an elephant trunk, he lacked her Lasso of Lightning. Unlike Diana's Lasso of Truth, and Donna Troy of Earth Prime had possessed a Lasso of Persuasion, Cassie's lasso channeled her father, Zeus', thunderbolts. But Elephant Man continued to just shrug off the discharges.
Instead, he gripped the lasso and used it to fling Wonder Girl off of walls and the ground. Smashing her into the same point in the compound fence wall, he waited until she started to rise out of the rubble. And then he resumed his attack once more.
Shimmer cursed the fact her elemental transmutation powers only had a range encompassing a three foot radius. Kid Flash was streaking inside and out of that area and every time he neared her, he either slapped or pinched her bloody ass. The Australian was almost beside herself with frustration.
So Shimmer barricaded herself in by creating titanium barriers around herself. Hearing him outside the titanium walls, Shimmer transmuted them into free oxygen. Then she created a ring of phosphorous beneath the oxygen. Coming into contact with the oxygen, the phosphorous ignited and the oxygen burned and expanded as it did so. Shimmer created a second skin of iron but Bart Allen had no protection.
Then Shimmer transformed her iron sheath and the other elements into nitrogen. Seeing Kid Flash huddled together trying not to panic, she easily crept up on him. Then she created titanium chains and shackles around and on him. And before he could free himself, she turned the air around him into nitrous oxide. As he passed out, she tried not to throw up. Simple elements were easy but compounds and alloys were difficult and the effort always made her sick. But hot damn, it was worth it this time.
Mammoth found his way blocked by Fairchild, "Look honey, unless you're selling your sweet ass, get out of my way."
Caitlin Fairchild tried not to blush. His suggestion made her angry and queasy at the same time. So she hit him.
Mammoth was rocked back onto his monster heels. Wiping the blood from his lip, he chuckled, "Not bad, Sheila. Can you get as well as give?"
Fairchild was still trying to figure if he knew he'd mangled his sentence. As she blocked his first punch, she figured he'd done it intentionally. That act startled him so he dumbly stood there as she drove a second punch into his face.
He spat blood this time, "I like a little kink but unless we're playing with real whips and chains I'm not taking this anymore and it's time I punished you for being bad."
But her sidekick snapped three of his ribs and her follow through left cross staggered him. Mammoth roared, "All right, this ain't fun anymore!"
"Glad to hear it," Fairchild finally spoke.
She came at him with two left jabs and then a right cross. A left cross and another right followed those up. With Mammoth stupefied, Fairchild leapt into the air and drove a punch down onto his face. Mammoth huddled into a ball and started crying.
That confused Fairchild and she dropped her guard. Mammoth came off the ground with a massive roundhouse and she flew across the courtyard from the impact, "Sucker. Hey Sheila! I'm coming for you so get ready!"
Skitter intercepted Gemini's approach. Her insectoid form didn't give her much in the way of speech capacity so she simply chose to act. Her web spinning and stinger gave her the means to halt Gemini's advances while flying around the other woman. But Gemini beat a hasty retreat and moments later, Bunker appeared.
Skitter was a creature of instinct when she was in her insectoid form but Bunker made her heart melt. So she landed beside him and began chirping her cricket-like language in fond appreciation for his being there. And then Bunker shape shifted back into being Gemini. Gemini roped her body around Skitter and contained her while the rest of the Brotherhood and Legionnaires continued their inexorable march to the Teen Titans' headquarters.
Red Hood heard panic in the streets so he investigated only to find Phobia whipping the crowds into a frenzy. He put two bullets in her chest and Phobia went down. He was only slightly surprised when she got back up.
Resurrection was nothing new to Jason Todd. He'd been dead himself before Ra's al Ghul threw him in a Lazarus Pit. But Phobia was obviously wearing body armor akin to Red Hood's own.
"Let's see what you're afraid of," Phobia said with demented glee.
Beast Boy unwittingly gave away a hair sample to Houngan while smacking him around while adopting a gorilla's shape. Houngan attached the sample to his cyber-voodoo doll and began exploring it with an electric probe. Beast Boy responded by screaming out in pain.
The Brain and Mallah proceeded unimpeded into the Teen Titans' lair. Unknown to them, Raven waited within.
King Kull and the Weed faced Red Robin. Red Robin quickly disarmed Kull of his club by using a quarterstaff but he also swiftly discovered why Captain Marvel typically dealt with the subhuman barbarian. But in the end, he brought Kull down with guile and brute force.
The Weed threw his hands up, "Oh dear! I'm just not a fighter."
But he'd dropped several bulbs on the ground that opened up and spewed pollen dust in a thick cloud like the poppies in Wizard of Oz. The Weed Began cackling, "Stupid boy! Now the allergens will kill you!"
But Red Robin pushed through the pollen haze and used his staff to knock the Weed unconscious. After the wind dissipated the pollen, Red Robin removed his nose filters, "Like the Knight always said, 'be prepared'. I rather think he stole that line from the Yank Boy Scouts."
Beryl Hutchinson had once been the Squire to the UK's Knight. But the Knight effectively fired Beryl and replaced him with the Knight's own son. Beryl had traveled to the United States to petition Batman to take him on as a new Robin. But Batman angrily dismissed the idea and forbade Beryl from ever becoming Robin on his own.
So Beryl adopted the guise of Red Robin, which seemed to separate the identity enough to appease Batman. But NOWHERE had snatched him up for their Ravager program. He'd joined forces with a researcher named Caitlin Fairchild, who was secretly a meta-human herself. Leading a group out of the Arctic, they'd made their way to New York City and joined the Teen Titans just before they moved to San Francisco.
"Righty-O, time to check on the others," Red Robin decided.
Half-Ape and Black Mass dealt with Superboy. Half-Ape tried a half dozen or so portable devices out on Superboy but none were effective because Superboy wasn't truly human or Kryptonian but a synthesis of both doctored up in a cloning vat. And because of that, Superboy's powers operated on a fundamentally different level than Superman, Supergirl, or Power Girl's. In some ways he envied Galatea for her pure Argoan heritage but, then again, he enjoyed screwing with the minds of bad guys too.
"Forget this crap!" Black Mass angrily declared. He used his gravity bands to project Jupiter's gravity on Superboy.
Superboy was forced to his hands and knees but that let him touch the ground and employ his tactile telekinesis. The ground rippled and bucked underneath Black Mass and knocked him flat on his back. Superboy flew over the top of him and waited for Black Mass' instinctive reaction.
And Black Mass, being Black Mass, increased the gravity over Superboy twenty fold. Which meant when Superboy fell on Black Mass and punched him, he was twenty times heavier. One punch neutralized Black Mass and his gravity warping abilities.
"I'll be right back!" Half-Ape scampered off.
"Who needs ya?" Superboy wondered.
Bunker's constructs warded off Toyman's lethal mechanisms while protecting him from the Key's interdimensional portals. While he was able to destroy all of Toyman's playthings, the Key would open a portal into space and the vacuum would try to suck Bunker into it. Creating wall constructs to seal the portals until nature resumed and sealed them up, Bunker fought a simple war of attrition until finally the Key's key-shaped dimensional disruptor ran out of power.
"About friggin' time, man!" Bunker shouted as he created oversized construct gauntlets. It took a single punch to knock out the Key.
"Until later then," Toyman's backpack was suddenly revealed as a rocket pack and he flew off over the courtyard wall.
"Right," Bunker said in disgust, "Later then, dude."
M'gann M'orzz aka Megan Morse aka Miss Martian found herself pitted against Hector Hammond. She'd sensed his presence over her decade on Earth trying to assimilate the culture. His mind had seemed so daunting, and it still was, but his body was so…pathetic. She wondered if he'd been physically broken or if he'd sacrificed his corporeal vitality in exchange for mental acuity.
Don't underestimate me, my dear. I will gladly be the death of your paltry little mind, Hector thoughtcast to her.
"Can I tell you how rude that is?" Miss Martian wondered, "You don't just barge into someone's home and threaten them. It isn't polite."
Hah! You really are from Mars, aren't you? You're as delusional as J'onn Jonzz and his demeaning, 'all men are truly created equal' spiel, Hector thought into her mind.
"I learned how to be myself by being the opposite of my people," M'gann shared, "Would you like me to share some of my childhood memories? I'm sure you'd find them educational."
Why bother? I'll have killed you in another minute and then I'll shred the minds of your friends, Hector gleefully laughed in his mind.
"Oh, I think I'm sharing with you whether you want me to or not," Miss Martian warned him.
Hector found his mental shields easily pierced and then imagery began to take shape in his mind's eye. And with it sights, sounds, and smells as well. And the sounds! He could understand alien languages and he could feel what all of those around him felt. And Hector Hammond responded in the only sane way a mind could. It screamed.
Everyone across the compound clutched at their heads while Hector went on screaming. And finally, something inside of him snapped and he passed out. Red Robin, Superboy, and Bunker rushed to M'gann's side.
"What happened here?" Red Robin asked, "Are you all right? Is he?"
"Everyone's fine," Miss Martian shared, "I just shared some childhood memories with him and he took them to heart."
"Must've been some helluva collection of memories," Bunker guessed.
"Simple childhood lessons amongst White Martians," M'gann said innocently, "Nothing more."
"Riiight," Bunker wasn't convinced and neither was anyone else.
"Bunker, Skitter is in danger. Here's where she is and who she's fighting," M'gann telepathically transferred the knowledge.
"Damn!" Bunker hurried off.
"I wonder when those two are gonna break down and admit they're crazy about each other?" Superboy asked.
"Cassie is facing a threat as well. She's injured but continuing to fight," Miss Martian told him.
"Show me where she is," Superboy desperately insisted.
M'gann shared with his mind and he flew off as fast as he could.
"Someone else needs to make a few admissions it seems," Red Robin mused.
"I need to assist Caitlin," M'gann informed him.
"What's Jason up to?" Red Robin asked her.
"Don't ask," M'gann said grimly before flying off.
"Wonderful," Red Robin grumbled.