19
At the Teen Titan's Compound in San Francisco, Wonder Girl continued her battle against Elephant Man. And the bastard just kept coming at her no matter what she did or tried. She just knew her half-sister Diana would have trounced him by now.
The Amazonian princess would've had him tied up with his own trunk and mewing like a kitten by that point. Diana had been insisting that Cassie Sandsmark visit the Amazons on Themiscyra for some basic combat training. At this point Wonder Girl was ready to relent. That was assuming she could finally hand Elephant Man his own ass.
And then Superboy flew in to assist her. Her heart skipped a beat as Superboy slammed into Elephant Man and drove him into the compound's outer perimeter wall. Using his tactile telekinesis, Superboy buried Elephant Man under piles of bricks, and then using courtyard pavers, he reinforced the rubble pile.
"Are you okay?" Superboy asked with such desperate concern it caused Cassie's heart to skip another beat.
And then Elephant Man rose from the piles of bricks and pavers. He spotted Superboy standing beside Wonder Girl and commented, "Gad! You're breeding pinheads around here. Or are the pinheads merely breeding?"
Both Wonder Girl and Superboy blushed crimson. Elephant Man chuckled, "That's what I thought."
"You should talk about pinheads, tusker!" Superboy angrily retorted.
Cassie instantly knew it was exactly the wrong thing to say. Elephant Man tackled Superboy before either he or she could react. Beating on the Kryptonian-human hybrid clone, Elephant Man hardly reacted when Cassie's Lasso of Thunder looped around him. As before, the channeled thunderbolts barely registered with Elephant Man.
But he did get annoyed with being bound. He turned his head and his trunk lashed out and clubbed her upside the head. But Wonder Girl hung on and dragged Elephant Man off of Superboy in a display of brute force.
"Thanks, Cass," Superboy wiped the blood from his nose.
Elephant Man grabbed Wonder Girl as she lifted the lasso off of him. He held her by the arms and put her between himself and Superboy. Superboy's mood quickly escalated from annoyed to enraged.
"A hostage? That's low even for Brotherhood scum," Superboy practically spat, "You think that'll stop me?"
Elephant Man's trunk wrapped around Wonder Girl's neck, "It'd better Sport-o. Otherwise I crush her neck."
Cassie's eyes flashed a "no surrender" message to Superboy so he shrugged, "Do it. I'll just pound you into a smear on the sidewalk."
"You're bluffing," Elephant Man challenged him.
"Try me and find out," Superboy challenged him right back.
"Okay, I will," Wonder Girl's eyes bulged as Elephant Man began to constrict her throat.
Superboy touched the fence and bricks flew from it at Elephant Man's head. The distraction allowed Wonder Girl to break free of his grip and smash an elbow into his gut. As his trunk loosened, Wonder Girl rocked him with a right cross.
Superboy was already at her side pulling Elephant Man's trunk away from her, "Lasso his feet!"
She instantly did so but wondered why. It was obvious Zeus' thunderbolts, as channeled through her lasso, didn't affect Elephant Man. Superboy clued her in.
"Lift him off of the ground," he instructed.
She flew into the air and dangled Elephant Man before Superboy. Superboy then engaged in a vigorous workout with his brand new punching bag. He eventually knocked Elephant Man out.
Squatting, Superboy touched the courtyard and a man sized hole opened up, "Okay, drop him."
Cassie was more than happy to. Superboy buried Elephant Man up too his head in dirt, pavers, and bricks. Wonder Girl sagged with relief after alighting next to Superboy.
"Thank Hera, that's over," Wonder Girl still found it odd to realize Hera was her stepmother, "Thanks for the rescue."
"It wasn't a rescue per se," Superboy was suddenly self-conscious, "More of a 'hurry things up' session. You had him."
"Thanks, but your confidence might be a little misplaced. I tried everything I knew and thought of against him and he just kept coming," Cassie shared, "But I appreciate the thought… What do I even call you? You and Red Robin have been so damn mysterious when it comes to your true identities."
Superboy looked mortified, "Sorry. I didn't mean to seem mysterious. It's just…the scientists at the lab that cooked me up in a vat never gave me a name besides 'Superboy'. I guess they didn't consider me enough of a person to bother."
"Oh," Cassie's eyes went wide, "I'm so sorry."
"I was thinking…maybe you could help me pick one out?" the normally brash Superboy shyly asked.
"Me?" Wonder Girl squeaked.
"Yeah…I trust you. And I think you'd be able to help me find a cool name," Superboy looked so vulnerable it almost broke Cassie's heart, "It doesn't have to be right now."
"What about Conner?" she suddenly blurted. Which had been her secret name for him.
"Conner?" he asked.
"Um…yeah," now she was embarrassed as she explained the origin of that suggestion.
"Okay," he grinned, "I like it."
"You do?" Cassie was mildly surprised.
"Of course I do," he assured her, "It's just cool you were thinking about me."
They just stared at each other in silence for a minute. Wonder Girl suddenly broke into a nervous smile, "Awkward."
"Um…yeah. You said it," Superboy shifted his feet nervously.
"You really could have asked anyone to help you," Wonder Girl tried to ease the tension.
"I didn't want just anyone's help," Superboy said earnestly, "I just wanted yours."
Another lapse in conversation ensued. Cassie groaned, "God, these pauses are gonna kill me."
She threw her arms around Conner's neck and awkwardly kissed him. But as the kiss became kisses, and Superboy fervently reciprocated, they began to work things out and develop a natural rhythm. It took the sound of gunfire to break them apart.
Wonder Girl shyly asked, "First kiss?"
"Yeah," he said a little dreamily, "You too?"
"Yep, definitely my first," Wonder Girl suddenly smirked, "But I could make it a habit."
The sound of walls buckling caught their attention. Superboy was rueful, "Bad guys. Why do there always have to be bad guys hanging around?"
"We have special gifts from our unique births and upbringings," Wonder Girl shrugged, "Bad guys are the price for those, I guess."
"You're smarter about that than I am, then. I just want to kick the crap out of them for ruining the moment," Superboy confessed.
"There's that too," Wonder Girl said sagely.
Shimmer stood over the unconscious Kid Flash. She considered creating a titanium coffin for him. But the little puke would probably just get away. She then wanted to create an ammonia cloud over and around him but her needing to be in proximity prevented her from doing so.
"Reverse Flash would pay me handsomely for me to hand you over to him," Shimmer hypothesized, "Maybe that would solve my little problem."
A red lasso suddenly looped around her. Zeus' thunderbolts jolted her unconscious and Wonder Girl unwrapped Shimmer. Nudging Bart, she sighed when she didn't get a response.
"You always were trying to get Bette and I's attention," Cassie invoked Flamebird's memory as she gazed off to watch Superboy in action again.
Mammoth continued to press in on Fairchild. Fairchild had Wonder Girl's demigoddess caliber strength but she was also a brilliant geneticist and researcher. She'd devoted her life to science while her father, Alex Fairchild, had devoted his career to safeguarding the United States. The senior Fairchild's star ascended to Team 7…and ended there on one of the unit's all too secretive missions.
Fairchild had grieved her father without knowing how he'd died…or even where or when. Lynch, Alex Fairchild's boss, created a secret arctic base called NOWHERE and instituted a top level meta-gene research program known as the Ravager Initiative. Fairchild was brought in to conduct clinical trials on activating gen factors and harnessing the meta–gene in those it hadn't manifested yet.
But when Fairchild accidently activated her own gen factor, one she hadn't even been tested for and therefore eluded the screenings; she began to see the darker side to NOWHERE. Lynch was intent on three goals. One was to destroy Basilisk, both the man called Regulus and the organization. Regulus had been a Team 7 member named Dean Higgins that Lynch had personally gen activated.
Second, and in order to accomplish the first, was to create a small army of gen factored soldiers. The Ravager program was intended to fill those ranks. The final goal was to capture the gen active former Team 7 member named Majestic. Majestic was classified as a Kryptonian-level threat named Bronson.
Covert investigating brought Fairchild to the knowledge that four more members of Team 7 had survived as well. Three were gen active. They were Slade Wilson, Cole Cash, and Dinah Drake Lance. Slade was known to the world as the premier mercenary called Deathstroke. Cole had become a con artist and revolutionary called Grifter. He was involved with something known as the Daemonite Resistance Underground. A secondary file under Grifter's revolved around someone code-named Voodoo.
Dinah was the easiest to track since she'd become Black Canary and joined the Justice League. Her mother had created the Black Canary identity and after her death Dinah had been raised by ex-heavyweight boxing champion, Ted Grant. Ted was infamously known as Wildcat amongst the Justice Society of America member rolls.
So Fairchild, while immensely powerful, was a poor hand to hand combatant. After Mammoth knocked her through another section of the compound's wall, the roof also began to collapse upon her. She waded out of the falling debris. Mammoth's right cross sent her to her knee but she came up with a punch of her own that knocked him back out into the courtyard.
Miss Martian awaited him there. Mammoth rubbed his jaw as he got to his feet, "Go away, Greenie. I'm not done with the Sheila here. Come back later when it's your turn."
"If you only knew how wrong you are," M'gann Morzz murmured.
Mammoth collapsed and was caught in a repeating fugue state. Fairchild reached him and looked wryly over at M'gann, "No offense but where were you five minutes ago?"
"Remember the scream you felt rather than heard?" Miss Martian asked.
"That was you?" Caitlin was alarmed.
"Hector Hammond actually," M'gann said nonchalantly.
"So why does Muscles here just rate a nap?" Fairchild asked, "It seems rather tame by comparison."
"Hammond wanted to destroy my mind," M'gann explained, "So I showed him a glimpse of what he'd be destroying if he did."
"And that resulted in a gut wrenching scream?" Fairchild didn't quite buy it.
"None of us have sanitized pasts, Caitlin. Least of all you," M'gann advised her.
"Remind me never to piss you off," Fairchild requested, "You get really scary."
"A little fear is a healthy thing," Miss Martian mused.
"And what are you afraid of?" Fairchild wondered.
"Only myself and what I am," M'gann confessed.
Bunker ran to Skitter's rescue. Gemini had her in a death grip. But her carapace had kept her from being squished…but she couldn't hold out for much longer. Bunker recreated his construct gauntlets and his punch nearly caved in Gemini's head.
She fell into a loose tangle of looped limbs. Skitter happily chattered away as she unentangled herself. Bunker maneuvered Skitter away from Gemini.
"Stay away from her. She's about to have a bad day," Bunker warned Skitter.
Creating a construct box around Gemini, he knocked on the walls, "Wake up, you psychotic bitch."
Gemini instantly lashed out in dozens of directions before transforming into Goldilocks, "Help! It's really me! I infiltrated the Brotherhood to help save you all."
"Sorry but it's a nice try," Bunker replied, "Goldilocks quit your sorry club and joined the Justice League Dark. I guess she didn't want to live a worthless life after all."
"I will slowly fillet you alive," Gemini promised as she reverted to her own appearance.
"Keep talking, Sugar Mouth. You'll just use up all the oxygen that much quicker," Bunker warned her.
Bunker began contracting the cube and Gemini began to panic as he did so. She struggled until she literally didn't have the breath to go on. After she passed out, he maintained the construct for several more minutes to be certain.
He dropped it and turned to Skitter, "All yours, babe."
Skitter webbed up Gemini head to foot. Then jabbed her with her stinger just for grins and giggles. Bunker shook his head.
"Couldn't resist, could you?" he asked, "Don't worry. I don't blame you at all."
Phobia had infected the milling crowd with her fear inducing mind control. That included the responding law enforcement officers. Red Hood was the only one seemingly immune to her power.
Jason Todd had been dead once upon a time after the Joker mistook him from being Batman's newest protégé. But the Dark Knight had rejected training Jason because his unyielding anger and impulse control issues. Batman feared if he trained Jason as a Robin he'd just be creating a more perfect killer.
But the Clown Prince of Crime still mistook him for a Bat acolyte. As did Ra's al Ghul when he collected Jason's corpse and used a Lazarus Pit to revive him. Despite Jason's lack of association with Batman, Ra's took him in and assigned him to his daughter Nyssa's League of Assassins training program.
Jason had joined Nyssa's Injustice League in an effort to avenge himself upon Batman. He'd done the same to the Joker by hijacking the Joker's original masked identity as the Red Hood. But Jason had broken faith with Nyssa.
Learning about NOWHERE and the Ravager program, he went north in order to usurp NOWHERE's goals as his own. Breaking free three of the most promising recruits, they went to New York City to join the Teen Titans. With Protector's death, Speedy's defection, and Flamebird's recent disappearance, the Titans were badly in need to reinforcements.
So Red Hood, Fairchild, Superboy, and Red Robin enlisted. And Protector's death had opened a vacancy for a group leader. A role Red Robin was either unaware that he was challenging Red Hood for or he was the slyest dog in the yard. In addition, while Red Hood had training running out his ears he lacked the practical experience that oozed out of Red Robin's pores.
Red Robin also openly opposed Red Hood's more violent methodologies. The exact complaint Batman had years before. His current circumstances epitomized the conflict.
The police were panic firing into the crowd to get at Red Hood. The crowd, whipped up by Phobia, fled to and fro all the more. The League of Assassins had taught Jason that a bystander in the way was just another enemy to be put down. Yet Red Hood found himself holding back which just increased his frustration and rage.
Phobia had taken up position behind the police and was actively taunting him. And suddenly everyone stopped and looked around is if they'd just come to their senses. And Phobia was nowhere to be seen.
The police mobilized and began calling in emergency services and paramedics as they realized the harm they'd inflicted. And amidst all of this, Red Robin came through the crows dragging an unconscious Phobia. It made Red Hood want to gnash his teeth.
Red Hood was beginning to utterly hate Red Robin. He figured Red Robin would turn his quarterstaff on him if he tried to blow Phobia's brains out at this point. And then the cops were all over him about his firearms and wanting to run ballistics to determine who he'd shot and if charges should be filed.
Red Robin just coolly watched him so Red Hood quite arguing and handed over his two custom made pistols. Red Hood turned to Red Robin as the investigators bagged the firearms, "Happy?"
"Pretty much," Red Robin admitted, "I didn't think you'd let go like that. And I was impressed by your self restraint earlier. I wasn't sure you had it in you."
"You're the one insisting we build a rapport with the cops. That doesn't happen if I start breaking noses," Red Hood conceded, "But I'm weaponless now."
Red Robin handed him the collapsible quarterstaff, "They did teach you to use these in the League of Assassins, didn't they?"
Now Red Hood was impressed. He'd never told anyone where he'd been trained. But then again, Red Robin's American accent was good but slipped when he was tired or distracted. He was British and the Knight had a sidekick called the Squire who'd been Red Robin's age. Until the Squire suddenly became much younger and half as trained. All Red Robin had admitted was that he'd approached Batman to become the new Robin and had almost been handed his own ass. Somehow he'd received tacit consent to become "Red Robin" rather than defile the hallowed memory of Robin. Which just lent credence to the theory that something horrific had happened to Robin which is why he was no longer partnered with the Dark Knight.
"Where to, Boss Man?" Red Hood asked.
Red Robin gave him a rueful look before answering, "Over the wall."
Superboy didn't waste any time with Houngan. It didn't sound like Beast Boy could take much more. He used his super strength, such as it was, to knock Houngan out after a couple of punches. Then he touched his cyber voodoo doll with a finger and it disassembled. And then the components twisted and distorted so they could never be reassembled.
He checked on the winded Beast Boy, "You okay, Gar?"
"Thanks. I can't tell you how happy I am to see his ass get kicked," Garfield Logan admitted.
"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner," Superboy felt a little guilty.
"At least you got here," Beast Boy was still grateful, "By the way, do you have an actual name? I'm throwing a party later this week and I don't think introducing you as 'Superboy' is very discreet."
"Conner," Superboy happily replied, mentally meaning to thank Cassie again, "My name is Conner."
"Got a last name?" Gar wondered.
Superboy blanched and Beast Boy laughed, "Never mind. I'll leave you a few secrets to yourself."
Superboy wished it was just a secret.
Inside Titan's headquarters, Brain urged Mallah on, "Hurry Mallah, we must reach Caitlin Fairchild's genetics lab before we're discovered."
"But why, my love?" the ape wondered.
"Because Fairchild is working with the DEO. She has a full list of their meta-gene candidates. Including which ones are gen active or not. NOWHERE completely underestimate Dr. Fairchild's intelligence and her work or her deviousness. It will only be a matter of time before Lynch makes a move to acquire the list which she stole from NOWHERE."
"Yes, I understand. But how could this Fairchild have such a list and conduct such research without her compatriots realizing it?" Mallah inquired.
"Because we respect her privacy," Raven said from behind them.
"Ah, Raven. Of all the Teen Titans I have the least amount of empirical data on you and your abilities," Brain confessed.
"Care for a taste?" a bird-like black shape emerged from Raven's flesh and its leading edges glowed. It moved down the corridor towards Brain and Mallah.
"Egad! Kill it!" Brain shrieked. An impressive feat for a being dependent upon a synthesized voice.
Mallah emptied the pistol he carried into Raven's soul self. But it was noncorporeal. But Raven herself, standing in a trance at the end of the hall, was solid. Her soul self remerged with her body and she sank to her knees as blood poured from the wound in her side.
"Apparently it wasn't a physical manifestation," Brain mused.
"Hurry, love. Surely they are on their way now," Mallah urged.
Miss Martian and Fairchild came upon Raven first. Raven's empathic healing ability didn't work on herself. So she could merely suffer until help arrived. Fairchild attempted basic first aid until Red Robin and Red Hood arrived. Red Robin emptied out sections of his utility belt and began bandaging Raven's wound.
"Go get him," he instructed as Superboy and Wonder Girl arrived on scene.
"Where would they go?" Red Hood asked.
"Caitlin's lab," M'gann answered.
Fairchild suddenly looked very guilty. Red Hood knew there was a story here and no one would like it. Caitlin gave him an imploring look and he suddenly realized what she must have taken with her when he helped break them out of NOWHERE.
"Oh, damn," was all he could say.
"Where is it?" Brain frantically raged as his USB connection let his mind surf the Titan's computer networks.
"Perhaps she stores the data on an external device, darling," Mallah suggested helpfully.
"You won't find it," Fairchild promised them, as she entered the lab escorted by Miss Martian and Red Hood.
"That data collection isn't yours," Brain accused.
"It's more mine that yours," Fairchild countered, "And the DEO knows what I'm working on."
"That's an odious point," Brain replied.
"How would you like me to crack that little dome around your brain wide open?" Red Hood idly wondered.
"Such a savage. But I would expect nothing else from a product of the League of Assassins," Brain accused.
Red Hood held his breath. Fairchild didn't flinch and M'gann didn't bat an eye. Then Mallah lifted his pistol after reloading it.
"I'll kill you all," he threatened before collapsing into a deep slumber.
"No, you won't," M'gann said matter-of-factly.
"Want to leave here in one piece?" Red Hood asked Brain.
"Very well, I surrender," he also managed an electronic huff, "For all the good it will do you."
"M'gann?" Fairchild asked Miss Martian.
"I don't know," she frowned, "His mind is closed to me. But the others all had thoughts of a nebulous threat poised to strike out at us. They just don't know what it is."
"And you didn't bother telling anyone why?" Red Hood was baffled.
"It wasn't relevant until now," M'gann shrugged.
"God, I hate Martians," Red Hood grumbled.
"I'm the only Martian that you know," M'gann pointed out.
"You're enough," Red Hood grumbled.
"Well, I adore you," Fairchild admitted.
After the police had finished collecting the Brotherhood of Evil and Raven had been driven to the hospital in an ambulance, the Titans finally started to relax. Superboy and Wonder Girl rode with Raven and stayed with her while she was prepped for surgery.
Skitter reverted to her human form and she and Bunker went out for coffee. Beast Boy, whose inherited fortune financed the Teen Titans, began directing his fund manager to begin acquiring contractors to repair the compound. Red Hood traveled to the police headquarters to sit on the cops until they produced the ballistics reports which would exonerate him. Kid Flash buried himself in the gaming world.
While Beast Boy turned his attention to his party planner, Red Robin met with Fairchild and Miss Martian in the genetics lab. Fairchild was incredulous, "I don't know how Brain even found out about the database. The DEO has kept me off the official records so this wouldn't happen. DEO sites across the globe are being plundered while criminals search for similar regional databases to sell to the highest bidder."
"Yes, but our exit from NOWHERE shut the Ravager program down. A lot of information had to have been knocked loose because of it and that includes realization of what data ended up missing," Red Robin theorized.
"You've known what I was doing, haven't you?" Caitlin asked M'gann.
"Not precisely but its notoriously difficult to keep a secret in a closed environment like this," Miss Martian answered, "I only knew hidden work was being done and I chose to respect your privacy as I'd hope you'd respect mine."
"Thank you," Caitlin said wholeheartedly, "So what now?"
"Now there will be questions," Red Robin warned her, "The secret is coming out. Are you prepared?"
"I'll have to be," Fairchild said grimly.
"All us ex-NOWHERE types will back you," Red Robin promised.
M'gann didn't have to read Caitlin's mind to feel the warmth of her emotions. Surprisingly, Red Robin's were cooler. Almost as if they were reserved for someone else.
The Ferris Security staff were out of their minds. And they had Bane's strength to flex around. The truth was their dose had been a blend of two disparate compounds. Venom and Scarecrow's anti-fear toxin had been mixed to yield results the Legion intended to apply to military purposes once the conquest of the multiverse began.
Trevor and Starling were slowing the guards down but only by killing them. But Isis and Troia arrived and began fighting the guards on their own terms. Power Girl and Black Adam were next to arrive. They were able to stop afflicted guards but only by permanently crippling them.
Katana and Azrael intervened before guards could reach Bat-Girl and Question. Ri joined Darknight in defending Huntress. Animal Man and Crimson Fox were swept back in the search for defensible ground. Hawkman came in as hard and fast as possible. Black Canary and Speedy wondered just how much they could accomplish. And then Guy constructed a wall around the JLA as Vixen and Vigilante arrived on foot.
The guards all began screaming and blood gushed from their eyes and noses as their muscles deflated. They were all sobbing wrecks of humanity afterwards. Guy dropped the wall and released the JLA.
Trevor turned to Ri, "See what you can do here."
Power Girl swept the area with her X-Ray vision, "I heard a boom tube during the fight. Other than the Legionnaires we've already captured, they've all escaped."
"They've done their damage, Tea;" Trevor said grimly, "Some of these people may be beyond Ri's ability to heal."
"There are also four costumes approaching from the south," Power Girl pointed out.
"Legionnaires?" he asked.
She wondered if he'd even listened too her report, "Three unknowns and the Enchantress. Who our intelligence says isn't affiliated with the Legion anymore."
"I'll check it," Trevor decided, "Alone."
She gave him a quizzical look and he sighed, "I'll explain later. Just keep an eye on me."
"It's a surprise seeing you here, Eve. I didn't know Checkmate had an interest in this case," Trevor addressed Nightshade.
"Only peripherally," Nightshade replied, "We're actually working with the Justice League Dark,"
"Any particular reason why?" Trevor asked.
"We have a source from the future that says a major operation is underway to take over the minds of the Justice League Unlimited and Justice League International before moving on towards world conquest," Nightshade explained.
"Does the source have a name?" Trevor asked.
"Goldilocks," Nightshade waited for the inevitable reaction.
"She's a nut ball. She probably imagined everything," Trevor snorted.
"Hear me out. The JLU went to Philadelphia about the same time you were sent here. Check the reports. They enlisted with the Legion and willingly left the scene with them. Our source predicted that outcome two weeks ago," Nightshade shared, "The JLD sent us to coordinate with the JLA until all the Justice Leagues can work together again to put down this threat."
"I need time to corroborate your story," Trevor warned her, "And there's a mop up here that needs to be accomplished."
"Time is the one thing no one has anymore," Nightshade warned him.
The Star Spangled Racer returned the JSA All Stars to the K-Star Ranch. The Central and Keystone City police departments were disgruntled at the All Stars. Central City for their arriving too late to prevent the successful thefts the Rogues had carried out. The KCPD were upset at the property damage and the threats to public safety the Rogues had undertaken. STAR Labs lawyers were looking into filing civil property damages suits against the All Stars. Needless to say, the costumed heroes were all grateful to finally get away from the Gem Cities.
But upon arrival at the K-Star Ranch, they found the Thunderbolt had been successful in bringing Goldilocks to the ranch. And then caged by Jakeem's direct order to the Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolt miserably stood by while Jakeem and Goldilocks exchanged verbal barbs. And Goldilocks, by all appearances, was winning hands down through sheer venom.
"Back off me, you effin' twerp," Goldilocks snapped him again as he approached the cage again, "One more word out of you and I'll be jamming my effin' boot up your effin' ass so far you'll sneeze leather."
"Milady!" The Shining Knight was scandalized upon hearing her.
"Don't you start on me or I'll give you some as well," Goldilocks warned him.
"What hast happened here during our absence?" Sir Justin asked.
"Ask the effin' shithead that snagged me and had me held here for the last hour," Goldilocks was still snarly but she was beginning to calm herself in Sir Justin's presence.
Jakeem was totally unrepentant, "You wanted her sorry ass. You got her sorry ass."
Hawk looked ready to dive into the matter but Dove physically held him back. King Chimera couldn't hide his amusement. Cyclone intervened on her behalf.
"Can't we let her loose now?" Cyclone inquired, "After all, most of us are here now."
"Yeah, we got this in case she gets squirrely like usual," Wildcat opined.
"Don't even get me started on you," Goldilocks advised. Wildcat was starting to admire her spunk. And Jakeem was a turd under the best of circumstances.
"Let her go, kid," Wildcat decided.
"You sure?" Jakeem looked nervous.
"Yeah, just do it," Wildcat tensed just in case, "Just keep yer Thunderbolt handy."
"Okay T-Bolt. Let her go," Jakeem ordered despite his own sense of self preservation.
Goldilocks faked out Jakeem with a faux lunge at him. But she went by him and went to a clear spot near the center briefing table. Jakeem was rattled.
"You see that?" he squeaked.
"Look, we're sorry the kid locked ya up. That wasn't the idea. He's a pain in the ass on a good day and this ain't one of them," Wildcat apologized, "But as long as yer here we need ta talk."
"Damn straight we do," Goldilocks agreed, "I was on my way to brief the JLA when this wanker grabbed me. Hopefully my team carried on in my absence. You were next on my list anyway."
"List, why?" Dr. Mid-Nite asked.
"It's officially end of the world time and it's time to put aside pettiness and work together with anyone that will work with you to stop the Legion from literally conquering the word and handing its collective self to Darkseid," Goldilocks told the group.
"Could you be more specific?" Dr. Mid-Nite sought clarification.
"People from the future were locked up here in the past. They're free now and they're some of the vilest and most powerful criminals in human history," Goldilocks opened with, "They cut a deal with Luthor in order to conquer the next thousand years and the multiverse with it."
"How can you know any of this?" Dove asked.
Goldilocks told her story. She even included how she became the favorite sex toy to Lightning Lord and Cosmic King before killing them and incurring the wrath of Saturn Queen. Then she told them how Dr. Fate intercepted her while she was on the run and sent her back in time to change the present and prevent the future.
"And it gets better," Goldilocks warned them, "The woman you knew as Tessa Richardson is a figment of the imagination. Her real name is Eve Aries and she's from the 31st Century. And additionally, she's the Saturn Queen."
"Sir Justin told us Tessa had become Saturn Queen so I don't understand the degree of skepticism here," Dove ventured.
"She didn't become anyone," Goldilocks clarified, "She was always Eve Aries and Eve Aries is who she remembers being again. Think of Tessa as a glaze on a painting. Eve thought she was Tessa because her memory had been suppressed and a false identity imposed on her tabula rasa."
"Ya just wanna get yer mitts on Justin," Wildcat countered.
"Of course I do," Goldilocks readily admitted, "But not this way. This way no one gets him. Saturn Queen has him executed for daring to remind her of what she considers a moment of weakness."
"Making Sir Justin's wife appear to be a murderer seems to be a clever ploy that would get you closer to your goal," Cyclone reasoned.
"I believe her," Dove asserted. Hawk's eyes bugged out while the others considered the fact Dove's perception went beyond human norms, "My question is whether Tessa can survive inside of Saturn Queen the way she did inside of Tessa."
"I have no idea," Goldilocks confessed, "No one lived long enough to find out."
"This could be an artificially induced case of Disassociative Personality Disorder whereby two distinct personalities inhabit a single body," Dr. Mid-Nite theorized.
"Should we then not set out to rescue the fair Tessa?" Sir Justin asked.
To her credit, Goldilocks didn't even blink. Dr. Mid-Nite was the resident wet blanket, "We'd need a powerful telepath. J'onn Jonzz would be my preference."
"Have you been listening at all?" Goldilocks asked, "Tessa may or may not be more than a band aid but the Martian Manhunter is an intentionally lost cause. The Legion's first targets were the JLU. It begins in Philadelphia and it's probably already done."
"J'onn is arguably the greatest telepath on this planet. I'd say he's equal to the task of defeating this Saturn Queen," Dr. Mid-Nite stated.
"Saturn Queen is one of the most powerful telepaths in the 31st Century, second only to Imra Ardeen, the Saturn Girl. But that isn't the limit to her powers. She also has the ability of super hypnosis. She doesn't apply outside telepathic control over someone, she warps their own minds so they become willing slaves," Goldilocks shared, "It took the entire telepathic population of Saturn's moon, Titan, to subdue Eve Aries and create Tessa Richardson."
"Tell us more about these Legions in the future," Lightning requested.
So Goldilocks ran down the histories of the Legions of Superheroes and Super Villains, "One was inspired by the Justice League and the other by the Legion of Doom."
"Look, Mekt Ranzz and Laevar Bolto recovered their memories first," Goldilocks explained again, "Lightning Lord and Cosmic King knew they couldn't find their Saturn Queen on their own so they enlisted Luthor's help for a price. They hand him the world and he secures the future they want to live in."
"Bullshit!" Hawk couldn't keep quiet anymore, "Yer makin' this crap up."
"She really is from the future," Vibe declared, "She's vibrationally out of synch with the present in a pattern I've only seen from time travelers. That part of her story is true, and beings it is, who's to say the rest isn't as well?"
"Ask your Roxy," Goldilocks insisted, "Simply put, did the JLU join forces with the Legion this afternoon?"
"Rox?" Wildcat queried her.
"I've wanted to say something since this began," Roxy fidgeted "in" her seat, "Goldilocks' story checks out. The JLU was spotted being beaten by the Legion and then Tessa came out and spoke to them and everyone but Barda, Shayera, and Captain Atom were suddenly friends with the Legion."
"I'll be damned," Wildcat muttered.
"What now?" Lightning was nervous now.
"Now we team with the JLA and rescue the JLI from the Legion's ambitions. And they will be throwing the JLU into the mix," Goldilocks described what was to come.
"Holy shit! A Justice League war!" Jakeem blurted.
"Which yer sittin' out of here," Wildcat sternly told him, causing him to petulantly sulk.
"You haven't seen anything yet," Goldilocks promised.
"In the future, your future, did we pull it off?" Cyclone asked.
"No," Goldilocks didn't spare anyone the truth, "You failed in a spectacular fashion."
Trevor got done instructing the pilot's to adjust their heading and go across the Atlantic. He'd contacted Sue and she'd given him the news regarding the JLU. For the most part, they'd just willingly entered the boom tube with the Legion as though they were all lifelong friends. And according to Nightshade, this was just the beginning.
The mop up in Coast City had been a disaster. Ferris Aircraft's CEO had expected the physical damages to the property but not the toll in human lives. Ri was only able to partially restore those affected by what would turn out to be a Venom derivative. The drug itself defeated her efforts. And the death toll from those shot were nearly a dozen lost souls.
Trevor reentered the passenger cabin and briefed everyone. Enchantress snorted, "Don't expect us to act all surprised. We told you it was happening."
Trevor wondered if she'd learned diplomacy from their resident Red Lantern, "Be that as it may, do any of you have any recommendations on how to proceed?"
"We were hoping to get word from our expert by now," Nightshade admitted, "All I can suggest is to contact the All Stars and arrange a rendezvous at the Dome."
"We've already altered course," Trevor told her.
The table pinged and Sue's holographic image appeared in 2D displays all around, "The All Stars contacted us. They want a confab and they're rather desperate for us to reroute to Paris. I told them you already had."
"Goldilocks' playbook?" Trevor asked Nightshade.
"Her hope was to gather the JLA and the All Stars and prevent the indoctrination of the JLI," Nightshade informed him, "But she also warned that didn't happen in her future. So she was thinking it was pretty pivotal."
"Sue, thank the All Stars and tell them we'll meet at the airport," Trevor instructed.
Her image disappeared and Trevor asked Nightshade, "I know about Checkmate but why hasn't the JLD become more involved already?"
"Because they like sitting on their thumbs and spinning," Enchantress said angrily.
"There's a lot of ideological debate inside the JLD right now," Black Orchid admitted, "Most of the upper echelon wants to get involved but we're the only peons that would go along with it. And Dr. Fate, Pandora, and the Phantom Stranger aren't your straightforward combat types. Madame Xanadu is pretty much fielding our efforts right now."
"Has anyone told them we're facing a literal war?" Trevor had to ask.
"They know and they don't care," Silver Swan said glumly.
"Yer guys are all pansies," Guy guffawed.
"Not all of us, knot head," Enchantress retorted, "Or we wouldn't be here, genius."
"Ya wanna go twenty rounds with me? I can go all day," Guy grew angry.
"In a big circle like a yappy little dog on a leash," Enchantress sneered.
Guy's ring flared to life and Black Adam gripped his shoulder…and squeezed, "Apologize, Gardner."
"Ah, stick it up yer…ngh," Guy grimaced in pain, "I'm sorry already. But do us all a favor, lady. Quit flappin' yer yap."
"I suggest you lead by example," Black Adam warned him.
As Black Adam rejoined Isis, Guy muttered, "You'll get yer's, pallie."
"Colonel, I can't reach Supergirl or White Lantern," Power Girl said as she came in from the cockpit's communications console, "Their postal letter carrier brought two weeks' worth of mail to their apartment manager. No one even knew they'd left."
"Haw, haw," Guy erupted into laughter, "Kyle's probably slippin' her some sausage somewhere quiet-like. If ya know what I mean."
"How couldn't we?" Enchantress derided him, "After, you were so subtle."
Power Girl moved behind Guy while he glared at Enchantress. She bounced his head off the table display, cracking it, "Oops."
Trevor sighed. The JLA didn't need to fight other Justice Leagues. They had enough conflict within their own ranks.