19
The Rogues had been instructed by Saturn Queen to do as much damage and create as much noise as superhumanly possible in order to create a diversion in Central and Keystone Cities. Having already looted Central City's diamond market district and major banks, the Rogues were ready to move on.
Central City was famous for many things but the biggest reason was because the second and third men to carry the mantle of the Flash called it home. The Rogues had all faced Barry Allen in his stint as the Flash and Wally West had been called Kid Flash. After Barry's death, Wally had become the Flash and eventually Barry's descendent, Bart Allen, came back from the 31st Century to pick up the legacy of Kid Flash.
Bart had been staying with a time travelling speedster from the golden age of masked men named Max Mercury. But when the Teen Titans moved to San Francisco and offered Bart a place to live in their compound, he jumped at the chance. Max still visited him a couple of times a week to make certain everything was going well for Kid Flash and his teammates.
But now the Rogues were moving on to the second city in the so-called Gem Cities. Keystone City also had a proud heritage since the original Flash, Jay Garrick, had first appeared in the Forties and had alternated his time between Keystone and the Justice Society of America's brownstone headquarters in New York City. Saturn Queen had assured the Rogues that neither Flash nor Kid Flash would be arriving to spoil their fun.
Neither would those in the Flashs' periphery. Max Mercury and Jesse Quick were both preoccupied so they wouldn't be racing in to interfere either. Since it was a domestic US situation, the Justice League International probably wouldn't respond. The Justice League of America would be busy with a situation of their own as would the Teen Titans. The Justice League Unlimited would be dealt with by Saturn Queen and her two LSV associates. The Justice League Dark was unfathomable but the situation wasn't mystical in nature so their involvement was negligible.
That left the JSA All Stars remaining staff on Earth and ARGUS' Checkmate division. Captain Cold and the Rogues expected the All Stars to arrive. From what little was known about Checkmate was that they were the bloody sword that had replaced Team 7. Deathstroke and his Titans were among the few that had encountered Checkmate and gotten away unscathed. But then again, half of the Checkmate team had been decimated by the World Army at the time so it hadn't been an entirely fair contest.
Having used a boom tube to drop off their loot in the Hall of Doom, the Rogues shifted their operation to Keystone City. They arrived in the bustling Freedom Park. And immediately Heat Wave took issue with the park's centerpiece.
"Lookit that!" he spat on the ground, "They erected a statue to the Flash. Not the kid or Barry but the original old fart."
"And they built an entire museum around all three of them in Central City," Golden Glider pointed out, "What's your deal?"
"Let's just give it the old thermodynamic treatment, shall we?" Captain Cold suggested to appease Heat Wave.
They used their respective cryo- and thermoblasters on the statue and it cracked and melted in response. Leonard Snart turned to Mick Rory, "Feel better now?"
"Actually, I do," Heat Wave said a tad belligerently.
"Look, we worked out our targets while in the Hall of Doom. Let's just get on with the plan and be ready for whoever is finally responding to our little tirade," Captain Cold urged.
"I kinda hope it is Checkmate. We need to deal with that traitor Digger Harkness once and for all," Mirror Master complained.
"Captain Boomerang will get his in the end," the Top promised. Golden Glider squeezed her lover's arm and nestled in close to him.
"So we're done terrorizing statues?" Golden Glider quipped.
"Just stick to the plan," Captain Cold replied to his sister, Lisa.
"Yeah, yeah, we'll stick with the buddy system," Mirror Master promised.
As the rest of the Rogues dispersed, Trickster and the Pied Piper set up in the park itself. Everyone merely thought they were colorful performers until it was too late. Then they didn't think anything at all.
The All Stars contacted the Central City police from the Star Spangled Racer while it was airborne. They quickly learned the Rogues had been and gone. Now Central City was getting reports from its neighboring Gem City that the Rogues had been sighted in Keystone City. So the All Stars diverted there.
Landing in a municipal airport, the team deployed in the wheeled All Star Racer. Wildcat drove them into town. Parking in a garage, he signaled the team's artificial intelligence back at the K-Star Ranch, "What'cha got fer us, Roxy?"
"They've split off into pairs. The city's CCTV network isn't completed yet but I have general locations on all of them," Roxy reported, "It turns out you'll enjoy fairly equal numbers on this escapade."
"Only `cause they dumped my sorry ass with you," Jakeem Thunder could be heard complaining in the background.
"Look, kid. I need ya there ta collect Goldilocks when yer Thunderbolt finally drags her butt in," Wildcat replied.
"Yeah well, T-Bolt says she's in somethin' called the 'House of Mystery' and he ain't allowed in," Jakeem explained.
"She's gotta leave sometime," Wildcat told him, "So stay on it."
"You just don't want me along `cause I'm a kid and I ain't no Stargirl," Jakeem accused.
Wildcat inwardly admitted Jakeem had a point, "Look, ya learn how ta take orders and work wit yer teammates and you'll get ta come out and play."
Jakeem's profanity laced rant didn't last long. But only because Roxy disabled her audio pickups, "Sorry about that. He's pretty much just pacing around yelling at the top of his lungs at this point. Even the Thunderbolt is ignoring him."
"Don't worry `bout it, Rox. Send us yer locations and any recommendations ya got fer puttin' together teams ta respond with," Wildcat requested. The All Star Racer's onboard computer pinged.
"Done and done," Roxy boasted.
"Yer a miracle, Rox," Wildcat signed off, "Hey, Doc? Can ya give everyone a copy of this?"
Dr. Mid-Nite chuckled as he transferred copies of the data to everyone's smart phone-like communications gear.
"Stay frosty, we don't know what ta expect," Wildcat advised Lightning.
"Frosty's the word," Lightning noted all the frozen police cars beside melted ones.
Wildcat knew Lightning came from superhero pedigree but she was very inexperienced. Her father, Jefferson Pierce, had been the masked hero Black Lightning through the Eighties and Nineties. Afterwards, he'd trained Black Vulcan to replace him. Earlier this decade, Jennifer's sister Anissa had tried out being a cape called Thunder. Things hadn't ended well for her. Now Lightning had put on a costume in defiance of her dad's wishes. But Black Lightning had enough pull with Director Bones that the DEO had sent Jennifer to the JSA to get some training.
"These yahoos tend ta stick together like a bad smell," Wildcat commented, "So's our job is ta separate `em and beat the ever lovin' crap outta `em."
"So…which one do you want to take on?" Lightning sounded a bit nervous.
"I'll take Captain Frosty the Snowman," Wildcat told her, "He's da brains of the outfit. I may just be a punch drunk ex-boxer but I can bring it in a way that dippsy doodle won't have time ta use his stupid cold gun."
Lightning grinned. Ted Grant had been regressed in age by the third of his Nine Lives' Charm. He wasn't much older than she was now. Which was weird and wonderful all at the same time considering her dad had used to take her and Anissa to Ted's gym for boxing and martial arts lessons and spar with Wildcat's goddaughter, Dinah Drake.
"Like my dad would say, 'more power to ya, brother'," Lightning grinned at him.
"Yeah, Black Lightning is a helluva guy," Wildcat confessed, "I hated ta see him retire but not all of us get to live life over and over again. But he did right by you and yer sister. He also taught Black Vulcan his stuff."
"Dad never wanted Anissa and I to go into the 'business'," Lightning shared, "She promised him she would finish college before putting on tights. And she did too but the day after graduation, she became Thunder. The idea was we would work as partners."
"Thunder and Lightning," Wildcat mused, "It's gotta ring ta it."
"But Anissa got killed before I was ready to join her," Lightning said sadly.
"I know she thought she was ready but she wasn't," Wildcat stated.
Lightning shot him an angry glare and he held up his hands, "Hear me out. Anissa jumped straight inta the thick of it. Ya had a chance ta do the same but ya listened ta some wiser folks and hooked up with us JSA fogeys and yer doin' right by yer family because of it. Yer dad won't tell ya and yer sister can't but they're both proud of ya."
"Thanks, it means a lot," Lightning admitted, "And you're not an 'old fogey'. You're my age for God's sake."
"Yeah, but just a few months ago I was pushin' sixty-seven so gimme a break," Wildcat chuckled, "And give yer old man one as well."
"I suppose I should just remember how he freaked after what happened to Anissa," Lightning conceded.
"He's also seein' a lot of ghosts from the pasts poppin' up again," Wildcat told her, "Yer Pops grew up in the Sixties and Seventies. He saw the whole Civil Rights Movement as it was happenin'. Me, I marched with Dr. King's rallies."
"You did?" Lightning was fascinated for more than one reason, "Did you…did you ever date a woman of color?"
"Her name was Lorraine. After those bastards killed Dr. King, they targeted Lorraine and a whole slew of others. I got `em outta the south before the reprisals got too serious. Lorraine and I moved ta Gotham," Wildcat deemed it necessary to share, "But even north of the Mason-Dixon we couldn't get anyone ta give us a marriage license. We stayed together fer a few years as I got my gym up and runnin'. But then Laurel Drake died and left Dinah alone in this world."
"As her godfather, I took Dinah in and raised her as my own. But folks saw us with Lorraine and they just assumed the worst about Lorraine. It wasn't right and damn sure wasn't fair, but she eventually got tired of the fights and left," Lightning could still hear the pain in Ted Grant's voice, "She'd asked me not ta follow her but one day I got a call from a cop friend of mine. Jim Corrigan had done some diggin' and found out Lorraine had gone back to Atlanta. And those same sonsabitches we'd run from before had killed her."
"It took me five years of one weekend each month ta track `em all down," Wildcat was grimmer than she'd ever heard from him before, "Point fer me was I left `em alive. But none of `em ever walked again."
"So anyway, yer Pops is seein' racially charged killings gettin' more popular again and he has just one more thing ta worry about you bein' in a profession where people are expected ta be shootin' at ya," Wildcat told her.
"Look, I'm sorry for bringing that all up," Lightning really did feel bad.
"You didn't. I did. But it was ta prove my point," Wildcat replied, "So all I ask is ya don't go blabbin' it around."
Wildcat saw the name on the fence they were walking past, "Damn. Figures they'd end up here."
"STAR Labs Keystone City," Lightning read off, "Problem?"
"Could be," Wildcat admitted, "Get ta the backside of the buildin' if ya can. I'll try to push `em yer way and ya can ambush `em."
Lightning battled her nerves just like she did before every fight. Wildcat noticed, "Don't worry `bout the butterflies. I used ta get `em every time I got ready ta step into the ring. This super villain jazz just ramped `em up."
Lightning doubted his veracity but she appreciated the effort. Wildcat headed into the laboratory facility alone. It didn't take long to catch up to the pair of Rogues trying to determine which way to go.
"Lookit this, Len. Half this facility is dedicated to a particle accelerator," Heat Wave marveled, "Normally those things are huge, miles long even, but somehow they cut the total size down to an eighth of its usual length."
"So ask it to marry you before your screw it," Captain Cold snorted, "The reason we're here is all the various STAR Labs facilities have shipped all their thermal transference and cryogenic weaponry samples to this one locale."
"Transference?" Heat Wave protested, "What am I? HVAC Man?"
"It operates on the same principle Killer Frost's powers do. It draws off heat from people or objects and freezes them. But unlike Killer Frost, it can then accumulate and project heat," Captain Cold explained.
"I never knew Louise's powers worked that way," Heat Wave confessed.
"That's probably because: A) you're a horn dog and she's not into guys, and B) you're thermal blaster would probably overload her system and temporarily revert her back into being an average woman," Captain Cold explained to him.
"Or ya could just drop yer weapons and raise yer hands so I don't have to do a beat down on yer sorry asses," Wildcat announced as he approached.
"It seems our actual work has finally begun," Captain Cold told Heat Wave as they confidently turned around to face Wildcat.
"What work are ya talkin' `bout?" Wildcat demanded to know.
"Why spoil the surprise?" Captain Cold taunted him, "Where's your friends."
"Don't need `em against the pair of youse," Wildcat postured.
"Pathetic," he and Heat Wave drew their weapons at the same time and fired.
Wildcat ducked out of sight and Captain Cold called out to Heat Wave, "Split up and find his partners."
"On it!" Heat Wave declared as he and Captain Cold went different directions.
Wildcat hated to leave Lightning in the lurch but she was a big girl that knew what she'd gotten into. Guessing Captain Cold had gone further into the complex based on where he'd previously stood, Wildcat decided to pursue him. He wanted to know more about this "job" he'd been yammering about.
Heat Wave ran straight into the particle accelerator. Taking a moment, he systematically began rewiring different cables. And the few circuit boards he pulled, he simply slagged the soldering before replacing them. Gleefully having wrecked the project, he went out the back exit.
And he was hit by a streaming bolt of electricity. Heat Wave rocked on his heels as he spotted Lightning standing nearby, "Whoa! You do that?"
"And I can do so much more besides," Lightning advised him.
"Well, I hate to tell you this cutie, but my suit's insulated against more than just heat. So that shot of yours basically just tickled. Let's see how you do against my medicine," Heat Wave took aim and fired.
But his thermal blast melted the top off of a fire hydrant. Water spewed forth and cascaded all across the place. Lightning acted like she was shorting out but in reality she was buying time.
"Aw, seems like I popped your fuse," Heat Wave chuckled.
"And you're now standing in a puddle," Lightning countered.
Her next blast of electrical energy surged up through him. Heat Wave was insulated but his wet suit still served as a conductor. And it transferred electricity from Heat Wave to his thermal gun.
She let up, "Let's see what you got now."
He aimed at her this time and pulled the trigger. The thermal blaster made a fizzing noise and went dead. Heat Wave smacked its power cell a few times to no effect.
"Now we'll really see what you've got," Lightning intended to use every boxing lesson she'd ever taken to good effect.
It only took her a few minutes to knock out Heat Wave. And then the exit door opened again.
While that was occurring, Wildcat sought out Captain Cold. And he soon heard clanking footsteps approaching him. Captain Cold emerged from a lad wearing a metal suit.
"What the hell?" Wildcat had to wonder.
"Mr. Freeze's last project before he was taken into custody and remanded to Wayne Enterprises' custody," Captain Cold explained, "This single suit can do more than twenty of my cryoblasters combined."
"We'll see about that," Wildcat declared as he charged the armored Rogue.
The wrist vents surrounding Captain Cold's gauntlet turned blue and then Wildcat froze over. Captain Cold grinned, "I guess it works after all."
He trod on through the building on Heat Wave's trail. Exiting the building he found Heat Wave coming to and being guarded over by Lightning. He really didn't want to fight her electrical powers so he chose to distract her.
"I wouldn't do that. Not if you want to save Wildcat's life. You see, I encased him in ice," Captain Cold explained, "But not enough ice to place him in suspended animation. He has about ten more minutes before he suffocates and dies. But as I was telling my friend there, the lab is storing several thermal weapons. Pick the right one and you can still save Wildcat. All you have to do is let us go."
"Fine. You win," Lightning entered the building and never looked back.
Captain Cold knelt down next to the unconscious Heat Wave. Adjusting his glove, he pressed it against Heat Wave's chest and hit him with a cold wave. Heat Wave bolted awake.
"Gah!" he was shivering, "You know I hate it when you do that."
"Then stop needing me to," Captain Cold shot back at him, "Let's check on Lisa and Roscoe."
Dove and Hawk spotted Golden Glider and the Top in the fashionable jewelry district. The string of broken doors off of their hinges testified to their growing loot. As did the collection of velvet diamond and gem bags filling Golden Glider's arms. But as Dove dropped off Hawk and flew ahead, Golden Glider spotted the couple and she began skating into the air to intercept Dove.
The Top shoved the bags aside and watched with amusement as Hawk charged like a raving bull at him. Stretching his arms out, the Top began to spin. The centrifugal force created a windstorm and it literally tore at Hawk's flesh. And when the stubborn Agent of Chaos reached the Top, the Rogue's outstretched arms beat at Hawk at a thousand rotations a minute.
Golden Glider's skates produced ice trails that she tried to use to hem Dove into a cage. But Dove dove through the ice beneath Lisa Snart's feet. At first she fell, but Golden Glider got her skates underneath her again and slid down a ramp of her own making, down the street, and back into the air again.
Golden Glider began to worry about her lover. She hadn't told anyone, not even her brother, but Roscoe was starting to show serious side effects from his powers. He needed medical help but where could they go without getting arrested?
Golden Glider pulled her newly fashioned weapon out of its holster. It was the first ever gold gun. Firing off golden shots, Lisa tried herding Dove into Roscoe's spinning winds. Dove saw whatever the beams hit transmuted into gold. But she knew there had to be a catch.
And there was. The beam would strike an object and the surrounding air would transform into iron pyrite. The fool's gold would resemble the genuine article but be utterly worthless and it would only be a gilded cage.
Next, Golden Glider pulled artificial gems out of a pouch on her belt and lobbed them at Dove. Upon reaching a predetermined proximity from Golden Glider, the gems would detonate. Plastique had devised these babies for her and she loved them.
Dove shattered Golden Glider's ice trail again but this time Lisa was sucked into the Top's spin. Her belt pouch opened up and all the gems disgorged from it. As she was thrown free, the bombs detonated all around the Top.
That threw him off of his stride and straight into Hawk's eager fists. He struck down the Top with one savage blow. Golden Glider screamed as she shot Hawk and he became a golden statue.
Dove alighted between Hawk and the Top and had Hawk placed between her and the distressed Golden Glider. The Glider was panicking now, "Get away from him!"
"I promise I won't touch the Top if you revert Hawk back to human form," Dove offered.
"Show's what you know. The gold is just a shell. He should be able to be freed," Golden Glider countered.
A crack appeared in the gold and Dove shrugged, "Or he could break himself free. But when he does, and that's going to be quickly, he's going to take a very dim view of you two's activities. And your boyfriend looks like he's in shock and needs serious medical attention."
"I'm not surrendering," Golden Glider warned Dove.
"I wasn't asking you to," Dove let her know, "I'll help you move the Top out of sight, you do whatever you have to to exit this city, and I'll keep Hawk distracted to buy you the time you need."
"Why would you do that?" Golden Glider wondered.
"I have almost perfect insight and perception. Your boyfriend may be slowly dying. He needs help and I doubt he'd be allowed to convalesce in a standard hospital and prison hospitals aren't equipped for metas," Dove explained, "Which means you have to take him out of the country. I suggest India. Some of the doctors there are cutting edge."
"Okay, we'll play it your way," Golden Glider relented.
More cracks appeared all across Hawk's golden prison. Dove motioned for Golden Glider to move, "We really need to hurry now."
Hawk shattered the iron pyrite incasing him and shucked off what hadn't broken free. He looked around to find Dove landing next to him, "Looking for me?"
"Where'd our problem couple get off to?" Hawk asked her.
"I have no idea," Dove answered.
Hawk gave her the stink eye, "You don't lie so good."
Dove explained her observations and the deal she'd cut with the Rogues. Hawk noted the abandoned jewelry bags. Dove followed his line of sight.
"The insurance companies can determine who owns what. We just have to make certain no looters get them after this fact," Dove decided.
"Pretty slick," Hawk admitted, "Don would be proud of how you've really become Dove."
Dawn Granger almost fainted. Hank Hall never compared anyone favorably to his sainted brother. Not even her.
"I don't know what to say," Dove confessed.
"Just keep doin' what yer doin' and you'll keep bein' a kick ass Dove," Hawk suggested.
"Even though the bad guys got away this time?" Dove had to wonder.
Hawk shrugged, "Don woulda cooked up some deal along the same lines. That's why you were chosen. `Cause you got what it takes to be Dove. Just keep tellin' me we got all the jewels back and I'll ignore the fact they got away."
"Sounds like I cut another deal," Dove smirked.
"Yeah, you did," Hawk actually smiled.
Weather Wizard and Mirror Master made to enter the Visa Corporation building in downtown Keystone City. Actually Mirror Master went in alone with a portable hard drive. Weather Wizard stood vigil outside. It was this scene that Dr. Mid-Nite, King Chimera, and Cyclone came upon fifteen minutes later.
"What are they doing in there?" Cyclone wondered.
"Copying account numbers," King Chimera told her.
"How would you know?" Cyclone asked.
"I didn't always walk the path of angels, Maxine," King Chimera managed to reveal. He rarely discussed his past in front of anyone outside of Cyclone and even then, she didn't know much yet.
"I'll take whoever is inside," Dr. Mid-Nite decided, "Cloak me so he doesn't notice me."
King Chimera cast an illusion making Dr. Mid-Nite appear to be his alter ego. Pieter Cross easily slipped past Weather Wizard. King Chimera studied Maxine Hunkel.
"Are you ready for this?" he asked her.
"Am I ever," Cyclone asserted. He was happy to see her confident again. Ever since the incident in Seattle before the JLU broke apart, Cyclone had been self-conscious after her encounter with Killer Frost. He didn't know what had happened between them and she wasn't telling but it was causing her to doubt herself.
The couple openly strolled up to Weather Wizard. He laughed at them, "What's this? The kiddie show? C'mon and get real. I'm not backing down to children."
Cyclone's cheeks burned, "We're hardly children and we're especially not helpless."
"And we're not alone," King Chimera smirked. In the distance behind him, the Marvel Family flew towards their position and Atom Smasher was three times his normal height and swiftly approaching.
"Oh really?" Weather Wizard mused.
Dr. Mid-Nite found a trail of unconscious employees. Their eyes were dilated and their breathing was shallow but they were basically unharmed. Probably a result of exposure to one of Mirror Master's trick mirrors.
Dr. Mid-Nite read the directory on the lobby floor and went into the elevator headed for the servers. It seemed King Chimera's hypothesis was the correct one. And King had spoken from experience. So what did that say about their mysterious member?
Dr. Mid-Nite entered the server vault following a string of bodies. The network manager sat in a stupor inputting any data Mirror Master told her to and copying any information that he requested. But he spotted Dr. Mid-Nite's approach.
Pulling a handheld mirror from one of his leg pouches, he caught the light with it and shone it on Dr. Mid-Nite. It had a brilliant strobe effect. But Dr. Mid-Nite was already blind to the visible light spectrum so it had no effect despite it having some strange ultraviolet and infrared signatures.
In order to even see his distorted view of the world, Pieter Cross had to wear the dark goggles in his mask or his specially designed sunglasses. But that meant he could literally see in the dark. So he lobbed a couple of blackout bombs around Mirror Master and cut him off from the light his mirrors needed to work.
While Mirror Master tried to find an effective countermeasure, Dr. Mid-Nite reached him. When the original Dr. Midnight discovered Pieter's condition, which was the same as his own, he took the newly wounded physician under his wing. And he taught him how to function in a world filled with lights.
And then he'd brought Pieter to Ted Grant for training. It was during this time that Dinah Drake Lance came back from Team 7. He helped her grieve over her lost husband and eventually they began dating. But they never became more than friends and he wished her well as she embarked on a career as the second Black Canary. Just as she fondly wished him the best as he became Dr. Mid-Nite.
Dinah had joined the JLU and Dr. Mid-Nite was asked to be part of the resurgent JSA. Then the JLU absorbed the JSA and then fractured into pieces. He and Dinah ended up on different teams and now she was grieving over the death of Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow. But they kept in constant contact and Pieter still comforted her once again.
Dr. Mid-Nite quickly subdued and cuffed Mirror Master, "We need to get outside and shut your teammate down."
As the windows rattled and shook, Mirror Master agreed. They exited the building to find Weather Wizard had created a tropical storm in the mid-west. Cyclone had subsequently fashioned a tornado. Now the two were synergistically feeding off one another and both creators had lost control of their creations.
As the tropical storm ramped up into hurricane status, Mirror Master approached Weather Wizard, "I got it all. Just shut this down and we can make a break for it."
"Really?" Weather Wizard clubbed Mirror Master over the head with his barbell-like weather wand. As Mirror Master fell down, he became King Chimera again.
"Don't screw with me, kid," Weather Wizard warned him.
"I've got Mirror Master right here," Dr. Mid-Nite announced as he marched the Rogue out of the Visa building.
"You just had to get caught," Weather Wizard groaned.
"None of my mirrors affected him," Mirror Master complained, "It's like he's blind or something."
"He is blind, you idiot!" Weather Wizard snapped.
"Well, that explains that," Mirror Master accepted the new data with equanimity.
"God save me from incompetent morons," Weather Wizard bristled.
"If you surrender I'll tell the authorities you cooperated," Dr. Mid-Nite offered.
"I don't know how much of this weather system you can see or not but give it an hour and it'll be a Category 5 hurricane. Now if Tornado Girl here helps me, we can diffuse it before that happens," Weather Wizard replied.
"That's Cyclone to you," Maxine huffed.
"Whatever. Write me from Oz," Weather Wizard sneered.
Cyclone was ready to take issue with him besmirching her favorite books and movie. King Chimera intervened, "What would motivate you to help us?"
"Clever," Weather Wizard approved, "Mirror Master and I walk after the rain clouds disappear,"
"I don't…" Dr. Mid-Nite began to protest.
"Deal or no deal," Weather Wizard warned him, "Take the deal or don't take the deal. Sit on its face and screw it to death. I don't care. I can ride this out with the rest of you."
"You have a deal. But I keep Mirror Master in custody until you fulfill your bargain," Dr. Mid-Nite countered.
"If I don't, we might all end up dead anyway," Weather Wizard admitted, "C'mere, Red. We need to talk."
After a hushed conference, Cyclone nodded, "I can try. I've never lost control of a twister before."
"Because the nanites lacing every cell of your body don't use weather patterns to control the air. But your system is feeding my system and they're both out of control. So we take down one system at a time. We can work together on the tornado and then I'll be able to shut down the storm," Weather Wizard described his plan, "Got it?"
"Got it," Cyclone promised him.
What followed was a demonstration in sheer willpower overcoming natural forces. In Maxine's case it was overwhelming her nanites that made her Cyclone in the first place and reeling them back under control. As predicted, once the tornado ceased to exist, Weather Wizard was able to reassert control and dissipate the tropical storm.
King Chimera caught Cyclone as her knees buckled, "I have you, Maxine."
"My hero," she said a tad giddily.
"Now about Mirror Master's cuffs?" Weather Wizard looked exhausted but he was still willing to fight over the point.
"Just get out of town," Dr. Mid-Nite instructed as he unlocked Mirror Master.
As the pair of Rogues walked down the street, Dr. Mid-Nite got an urgent page from Lightning, "We need to hurry. Wildcat's dying and we need to get there to treat him."
"Where are they?" King Chimera asked.
"STAR Labs," Dr. Mid-Nite reported.
"You go," King Chimera urged him, "Maxine needs to take it slow until she fully recovers."
"I'm fine. Really," Cyclone insisted.
King Chimera let go of her and she began to sink towards the ground again, "My point exactly."
"Catch up when you can," Dr. Mid-Nite set out at a run.
Vibe and the Shining Knight came upon Pied Piper and the Trickster in the main park. Vibe stopped Sir Justin from approaching, "There are some seriously bad vibrations going on here."
"Ah yes, friend Vigilante has taught me that song," Sir Justin boasted, "But shouldn't they be 'good'?"
"This isn't really a song," Vibe warned him, "See the people doing whatever he commands, it's far more dangerous than a simple tune."
"What cans't we do about it?" Sir Justin asked.
"Let's try a little sympathetic vibrations of our own," Vibe decided.
Using his hand as a tuning fork, Vibe increased the vibrational pitch of the music until people broke free of the Pied Piper's control and fled the park. Shining King clapped Vibe on the back, "Well and truly done, noble sir."
"I'm just lucky no one's ear drums burst," Vibe admitted.
"Mayhap that be ill as well," Sir Justin conceded.
"They're splitting up now. I'll tackle the Piper and you handle the Trickster," Vibe ordered.
"The jester?" Sir Justin protested, "What harm can a fool inflict?"
"Ask him and find out!" Vibe called back as he ran after the Pied Piper, "Just go already!"
The Piper emptied out of the park in a shopping district. He began to play his flute again when Vibe tried to focus his powers to a degree he'd never tried before. And the Piper's flute shattered.
"You're not going anywhere, hombre," Vibe warned him.
"Be still my beating heart. Trust me I only want to go where you go," Pied Piper was instantly smitten.
"Excuse me?" Vibe was confused.
"That's a come on," Pied Piper bluntly clued him in.
"Oh. Oh," Vibe got it all at once, "I'm really sorry but I'm not gay."
"Not even bi-curious?" Piper still held out hope.
"Not yet," Vibe told him.
"Why are all the cute guys straight?" Piper complained.
"My sister says the same thing about gay guys," Vibe chuckled.
"Or they're spoken for or complete sluts," Piper continued his litany of complaints.
"That's true of all guys," Vibe conceded, "But c'mon. I'm taking you in."
"Do you even know where police headquarters is in this town?" Pied Piper wondered.
"Um…no," Vibe hated to confess.
"Go thataway one block, take a left and go six blocks down. Can't miss it," Pied Piper instructed.
"Thanks," Vibe cheered up.
"Thank me with dinner and dancing," Pied Piper requested.
"Um...no? Sorry," Vibe shot him down.
"Can't blame a guy for asking," Piper sighed.
Trickster had stopped to take photos of the crowds running from Weather Wizard's approaching storm. He found the panicking faces all too amusing. And he was getting ideas for jokes that would create more.
"Cease and desist, base villain!" Shining Knight ordered.
"Do you know Monty Python?" Trickster asked with gleeful anticipation.
"Nay, though I have sought the Holy Grail for my liege, Arthur Pendragon. But no such buffoonery was to be had," Tessa had forced Sir Justin to watch the infamous film and gleefully watched his outrage over its depiction of King Arthur and his knights.
"What pictures dost thou taketh?" Shining Knight snatched the camera from Trickster's hands.
"Hey! That's mine. I stole it fair and square," he protested.
Tessa had helped Vigilante teach Sir Justin how to work a digital camera. So he scrolled through the available pictures and his heart was rent in two as he came upon one of Saturn Queen, Lightning Lord, and Cosmic King. She really had gone away with the two strangers that assaulted him and now she was their willing accomplice. Her very features seemed altered. Crueler somehow.
"Where dids't thou take these photographs?" Shining Knight demanded to know.
"Let see, I wrote the address down somewhere," Trickster rummaged through his bag. He pulled out a kazoo, "Here it is!"
"What base treachery is this, varlet?" Sir Justin wanted to know.
"Nighty night," Trickster blew a note on the instrument and an odorless gas enveloped Sir Justin and put him to sleep.
"She said you'd be pissed if you saw any pictures or proof of her sending us here," Trickster recounted for his own edification, "Guess Queenie was right."
Trickster pulled out his communication device. It was highly similar to the All Stars' own gear. Disguised as an iPhone mock up, he quickly located the signal devices of every Rogue. They seemed to be converging on Golden Glider and the Top. Even Pied Piper who was walking Trickster's intended route. Firing up his airwalker shoes, he floated above street level and the push of air helped propel him faster than standard footy traffic would allow.
Dr. Mid-Nite arrived to find Lightning had used the thermal transducer rifle Captain Cold had described to Heat Wave. She'd sucked all the heat from the building's system and thawed Wildcat out. But he had a severe case of hypothermia.
After describing what the rifle could do, Dr. Mid-Nite sent her next door to tap out the building's boiler. Dr. Mid-Nite broke a pair of chemical heating pads out and placed them across Wildcat's chest before enveloping him in a reflective "space blanket". King Chimera and Cyclone reported in just as Lightning came back and doused Wildcat in slow infusion of heat.
"W..won…wonder…w…what…D…Dinah…would…think of the old man now?" Ted Grant pondered even as his speech began to come more easily as his core temperature rose.
"It wouldn't even faze her," Dr. Mid-Nite predicted.
"Yeah, shoulda seen her reaction ta my gettin' younger than her. Wasn't pretty," Wildcat told him.
"It was a healthy shock for everyone," Dr. Mid-Nite reminded him.
"I had hopes fer the two of ya," Wildcat finally revealed.
"Kurt's death left her emotionally unavailable," Pieter recalled, "And when she finally did trust someone with her heart again, he gets killed too. I don't think Dinah will open up again for a very long time. And then there's the trauma from her throat. There's a very real chance she'll never be able to speak again."
"Damn, the girl could sing too," Wildcat remembered.
"Yes, she could," Dr. Mid-Nite wholeheartedly agreed.
"So what happened to Captain Doorknob and his walkin' wazoo?" Wildcat asked.
"Give it another ten minutes and we'll find out," Dr. Mid-Nite instructed, "And that prescription isn't changing."
"Yah, maybe. But the kids don't gotta babysit us," Wildcat offered an alternative.
"True," Dr. Mid-Nite mused as the other three All Stars looked eager.
Captain Cold froze Hawk in place as soon as he spotted him. Dove stood guard over him but Golden Glider appeared and told her brother about her arrangement with Dove. He spared her similar treatment.
Trickster had overtaken Vibe and used his kazoo on him. Pied Piper was downcast. Mirror Master asked the obvious question.
"What's wrong with you?" was the equerry on everyone's mind.
"I met a Latino chili pepper and I had to let him go," Pied Piper sighed, "The worst part is he's straight."
"And an All Star," Trickster threw out there.
"Are you insane?" Heat Wave demanded to know.
"I know. Just shoot me now," Pied Piper pined away.
"Let's get Roscoe up and into a boom tube," Captain Cold instructed, "Then we need to find him a doctor. A specialist that can actually help him."
Dove had shattered Hawk's frozen prison. He wasn't as compliant with fate this time, "Dammit! Ya shoulda forgotten `bout me and taken out the Rogues."
"We'd both be popsicles if I'd done that, you jerk," Dove fired back at him.
The other junior All Stars had gathered up Vibe and the Shining Knight on their way to Hawk and Dove. Vibe had just realized Pied Piper had lied to him about where the police station was when Trickster knocked him out. And the Pied Piper had seemed like such a good guy too.
Sir Justin still had Trickster's camera. So Roxy could do a search concerning where Tessa was and who she'd become. In the end, Goldilocks had been the only one who'd known the truth and he'd partially ignored it because it seemed so outrageous. He'd never doubt her again.
Nightshade brought everyone through the Night Force from the House of Mystery to Coast City. With her were Black Orchid, Silver Swan, Enchantress, and Goldilocks. The plan was to approach the JSA. Nightshade, Black Orchid, and Silver Swan's ARGUS issued Checkmate credentials would hopefully foster some inter agency cooperation. Or then again, despite it all, Col. Rogers might decide to hand Enchantress and Goldilocks their asses.
No sooner had the emerged from the House of Mystery when Jakeem's Thunderbolt locked on to Goldilocks' position. A pink streak snatched her up and headed east over the horizon. If Enchantress had still worn a hat she would've thrown it onto the ground.
"Dammit! What does Jakeem Thunder think he's doing?" she fumed.
"He doesn't know what's going on;" Nightshade advised her, "Even with all Goldilocks has told the Shining Knight he didn't believe her enough to really push his case with the All Stars."
"So what does this mean for the mission?" Silver Swan sounded worried.
"We still make our approach and Goldilocks can take care of the All Stars," Nightshade reasoned it out, "This way we cover two bases at once."
"And do we intervene between the JSA and the Legion of Doom?" Black Orchid wondered.
"Only if they start losing," Nightshade clarified, "Which I doubt will happen."