28
Kalea came to a landing outside of the JLU headquarters. Sue Dibney had been more than happy to provide the location. As Kalea expected, automated defenses activated and targeted her. And as she'd strongly suspected, despite Barda's participation in the Justice League Unlimited, the defenses were decidedly nonlethal. Which meant they were minor annoyances for Kalea's hybrid Almeracian-Kryptonian physiology.
As Kalea entered the cave walls, she heard a faint heartbeat and her heat vision flashed out of her organic eye. Atom popped up and she pressed two fingers from her natural hand to his forehead. His head snapped back and he passed out. Kalea knew he was no longer a threat to her mission. If anything, he would awaken as an ally.
As Kalea reached the central chamber, she was unprepared for the suddenness and viciousness of her father's attack. She blocked his every blow but his greater strength began to wear her organic arm down. Surging forward, she repeated her move with her fingertips applied to Kal-El's forehead. She mustered all of her mental might and projected a single thought into his mind that he should be free.
Superman recoiled as Saturn Queen's already weakened hold broke apart in his mind. He watched in horror as J'onn Jonzz, the Martian Manhunter, grabbed hold of Kalea. He then watched in mute fascination as J'onn released her and clutched his head in silent protest. And then he knew J'onn was free as he was as well.
Kalea fell to her knees and J'onn knelt beside her, "My child, I apologize. I wasn't liberated before I engaged that last attack. Are you unharmed?"
"Fortunately I expected something like that when I dropped my mental shields," Kalea nursed a headache, "Trust me though, I wasn't going to allow you a second chance at my mind."
"Kalea, how can I ever thank you?" her father asked, "You freed me, you saved Alex, and you rescued Diana from me. How did you ever manage to break Saturn Queen's hold?"
"First, you all wanted to be free," Kalea answered.
"All?" Superman asked.
"I'll check on the Atom," J'onn grasped her meaning.
"As to how, I don't have the Blood Royal's psychokinetic gifts but I can muster all of my mind into a single focused burst. I've learned to use it as a weapon. Or in this case, a scalpel," Kalea explained.
"You came to help me?" Superman asked.
"I came primarily to avenge my friend and her naval crew that died at Lobo's hands because of these Legionnaires. But Almerac's surveillance drones had recorded their takeover of your mind and that of your friends. So I expanded my rather limited goal," Kalea made it sound so matter of fact, "But I will see these Legionnaires face justice."
Superman repressed a shudder. He'd witness his daughter murder her lover in the name of justice, "I don't condone vigilantism."
"Ironic considering you're operating outside the law. Only the Justice Leagues of America and International are duly authorized law enforcement agencies," Kalea pointed out.
"Have you been hanging out with lawyers?" Superman wondered.
"No, but Director Waller and Sue Dibney have been quite informative," Kalea revealed, "Especially since there will probably only be two of the four current Justice Leagues left intact after these events conclude."
Superman scowled, "You think they'll arrest me."
"If you let them," Kalea amended.
"There's someone new on the scene and she wears the emblem of the House of El," Superman warned her.
"Gods, Father! How many pretenders will you allow to wear your symbol? I already spotted some youth sporting it as well as discovering Kara In-Ze has been adopted into the family by Kryptonian custom," Kalea was exasperated now.
"This was a stranger. She's too young to have come from Krypton unless she's another survivor from Argo," Superman realized, "Did you find any signs of other survivors than Kara during your months there?"
"Mother exiled me near a major city so I could find shelter in order to survive the nights and fend off predators. And I was near enough the outskirts to forage," Kalea reminded him, "I never saw another city or settlement. But their central AI was left running and no one was communicating through its network."
"What histories?" Superman inquired.
"I looked through all the historical documents regarding Krypton's destruction. Like Krypton itself, Argo had abandoned deep space travel. Any craft escaping Argo would have been an inner solar system vehicle. Anyone aboard would have died of extreme old age before they reached the closest habitable world. If they somehow managed to carry enough supplies," Kalea hated telling him, "Maybe this woman is a Daxamite or even from Kandor on New Krypton."
"Kandor on where?" Superman sputtered.
"I knew mother should have told you," Kalea muttered.
"What's Kandor?" Superman urgently wanted to know.
"A Kryptonian city on a lost colony," Kalea shared, "A thousand years ago, Krypton recalled all of her colonists. The Daxamites and the settlers in Kandor refused to obey. They both cut off communication with their parent world and went their own way."
"If it's a so called 'lost' colony, why does Almerac know about it?" Superman asked, "And don't tell me Max read about it in the Argo histories."
"No, she didn't. As far as Argo and Krypton were concerned, Kandor and New Krypton were an abandoned colony just as Daxam was supposed lost after the Council's geneticists condemned the population," Kalea saw Superman's surprise, "Krypton was extremely xenophobic and controlled population increases through genetic regulation. When the Daxamites developed their allergy to lead, the Science Council deemed them inferior mongrels and the colonists were to be sterilized so the population would die out after they returned to Krypton and Argo."
Superman looked horrified and Kalea added, "The Krypton of Jor-El's time was vastly different than a thousand years before it. When Krypton abandoned colonization, Almerac breathed a sigh of relief. When Krypton exploded and Kandor turned to terraforming and localized mining rather than deep space exploration, my grandfather was greatly relieved. But preparations were made anyway."
"You see them as a threat," Superman realized.
"We've kept the colonies under observation for a thousand years. In that time, they've lost none of their xenophobic heritage. If anything, it's increased. Whereas Daxam believes other races exist to serve, Kandor doesn't believe any sentient life but their own should exist. Think of Kandorians as Gordanians without the appetites," Kalea described the races to him.
"Almerac had Krypton under observation," Superman came to realize.
"Yes, and they tracked your ship's hyperspace vector and calculated every possible known destination where a Kryptonian could survive. After years of deep space probes, Earth was discovered and you came under mother's watchful eye," Kalea informed him.
"That's why Max was able to find me so easily," Superman regretted to come to realize, "And why she knew about Argo. Your military has been mining kryptonite asteroids, hasn't it?"
"Like I said, Kandor is still a threat," Kalea shrugged.
"If Almerac had the solar system under observation, you've known about the distress beacon I found for decades," Superman hated all of these discoveries.
"Yes," Kalea simply answered.
"And it was decided to let the population slowly die out," he said heavily. It wasn't a question.
"Yes, and if Kandor were to light up a similar beacon, we would repel everyone who answered it the way we did around Argo," Kalea told him.
Every time Superman was around Maxima or Kalea, he realized how little he understood their culture and their backgrounds, "The JLI was deployed to kill the leaders of major powers."
"They all failed," Kalea was pleased to tell him, "And now you can confront the source of the problem."
"You mean the Legionnaires," Superman was apprehensive, "What if we lose our minds again?"
"Part of what I did was to construct a mental barrier within each of your minds," Kalea stated, "It isn't perfect but it will bolster your own resolve to resist Saturn Queen."
"Then I say we take the fight back to them," Atom said from the entrance where he and J'onn had been listening in.
"Indeed," J'onn concurred.
"This might actually work," Superman decided.
"You think?" Kalea quipped, fighting an urge to smack him for being obtuse.
"It is an agreeable plan," J'onn added to the argument.
"Then let's be about it," Kalea urged.
Saturn Queen's telepathy instantly briefed all of the Legion of Super Villains assembled in the 21st Century. The LSV then divided up to face the Justice League Unlimited, Justice League of America, Justice League International and Injusticer squads all at once while Booster Gold and Goldstar defended the time travelling Waverider ship.
Killer Frost desperately held Godiva's hands before confronting a Legionnaire, "I'm going to prove to you I didn't betray you."
"I already believe that," Godiva shared.
"Maybe I just need to try harder to convince myself," Killer Frost plunged in and kissed Godiva, who eagerly reciprocated. Then Killer Frost broke the kiss and dove into conflict.
Saturn Queen took a moment to route Legionnaires towards opponents she deemed appropriate for their powers or skill sets. Beauty Blaze got the task of dealing with Killer Frost.
The pyrokinetic Beauty Blaze had never adopted a code name. Her given named seemed apropos enough to her, "So they've sent a snow cone against me."
"You're thinking of Icicle," Killer Frost lashed out with her power.
Beauty Blaze created a firestorm to counter the cold wave. She was amazed as her flames died out and snowflakes filled the air. So she unleashed her full fury.
Killer Frost did the same. But as she absorbed more and more heat, Louise Lincoln was dismayed to find her flesh becoming rosy again and her powers fading as her body was saturated. Beauty Blaze leered at her.
"Aw, you look so toasty and warm. Let me light your inner fire," Beauty Blaze laughed.
Mick Yardreigh was known as Black Mace in the 31st Century. Having incredible strength and agility, he expertly wielded a namesake weapon. Out of the Legion of Superheroes, only Valor and Ultra Boy could surpass his strength and speed.
Reactron's armor made him physically powerful but Black Mace proved to be even stronger. And his speed gave him the ability to hammer away at Reactron so that he felt each blow. Reactron found his armor's systems were shutting down. Including the maintenance system that halted his radiation poisoning.
With his flight capabilities neutralized and his gold kryptonite projector useless, Reactron only had one other weapon at his disposal. His radiation projectors were shutting down but he had enough for one final shot. So he took it.
Jall Tannuz looked like an antenna-less Durlan. He even had a Durlan's shape shifting ability. But he wasn't even remotely Durlan. In fact, no one even had a guess as to which species Chameleon Chief belonged to.
But he found himself pitted against Plastic Man. Initially, Chameleon Chief felt insulted by this. But as the battle began, he realized Plas was as much a shape changer as he was. Finding that the only limit to either fighter's ability was their imagination, Chameleon Chief decided to roll with it and have fun.
Dr. Zaxton Regulus was another Legionnaire that simply used his own given name. His solar power and protection armor made him a match for Dick Morgna, the same teen Regulus had tried to kill and transformed into Sun Boy instead. Later Regulus had attempted the same "accident" on Dirk's sister and she became Sun Girl before disappearing from the United Planets entirely.
Dr. Regulus had a galaxy sized chip on his shoulder. He'd never accumulated great wealth or prestige working for RJ Brande. Brande's business was to create and ignite artificial stars. Sun Boy and Sun Girl's father had been a coworker of Regulus'. Morgna got the accolades Dr. Regulus felt he was owed but had never earned. So he'd tried killing Dr. Morgna's children.
When that failed he struck out at RJ Brande's ersatz children, the Legion of Superheroes. Which had attracted the LSV's attention. So his desire to kill the LSH members made him a perfect member.
Dr. Regulus knew the yellow spectrum weakness built into a Green Lantern power rings so he he staved off John Stewart's attacks by evaporating the Green Light of Will's emotional spectrum. Trajectory was harder to cope with. She evaded his plasma blasts but his armor made him immune to most of her attacks. So Dr. Regulus couldn't help but laugh at them.
Kirt Niedrigh, like most LSV members, had applied for LSH membership first and been rejected. Kirt had been approached to be a trainee tester but not to join the active Legion. But Kirt had in turn rejected the offer to become Earth Man and join the LSV.
Earth Man found it amusing to be confronted by Superwoman, "They really couldn't have been stupid enough to throw a Kryptonian at me."
Earth Man's ability was to absorb the super powers of any being within proximity much the way the Parasite did through touch. But the Parasite absorbed energy to survive and his acquired powers would fade just as the victim would recover their abilities. Earth Man didn't require the gifts to survive but he didn't relinquish them until he wanted to.
Earth Man reached out with his ability to drain Superwoman of her solar derived gifts. Only to find nothing there, "That…that's impossible!"
"Problem?" Superwoman looked insufferably pleased with herself.
Earth Man rushed and gripped her arms, "There's nothing in you. What kind of Kryptonian are you?"
"The newest kind," Superwoman knocked him out with a head butt.
No one knew the real name of the man called Echo. Like Terri Eckhart of the JLI, he could repulse any matter, energy, or projectile and send it straight back to its source. Unlike Terri, Echo was the only one bearing the name in the 31st Century. So Cyclotron burned out his control suit almost immediately. The shredded remains revealed a visible skeleton surround by a membrane of barely visible flesh. Cyclotron attempted to physically strike out at Echo but his own blows were reflected back at him.
Meta Ulnoor also hailed from Titan. Unlike Eve Aries, Esper Lass had challenged Imra Ardeen to be the sole telepath of the LSH. Saturn Girl had readily accepted the challenge. On that same day other challenges were made and lost beside Esper Lass'. Chameleon Chief, Magno Lad, Micro Lad, and Calorie Queen had faced their Legion counterparts and been beaten. Every one of them, except Calorie Queen, had eventually joined the LSV. Calorie Queen had actually been invited to reapply after Matter Eater Lad was called away from the LSH. But when he left to become a senator on their home planet, Calorie Queen reenvisioned her goals and became the power behind his office.
So when Esper Lass came against Praxis, she was already overconfident to begin with. As their minds waged war, Praxis unleashed his other talents besides telepathy. He struck at Esper Lass with telekinesis and pyrokinesis and she was helpless before the assault.
Klint Stewirt had taken on the moniker of Golden Boy for a specific reason. And as he transmuted Murmur's flesh to gold, it became obvious. Blacksmith chuckled.
"Finally, a competitor," she said with relish.
They locked hands and Blacksmith turned Golden Boy into steel just as he turned her into gold. And they were motionless and locked in each others' embrace. Possibly for forever.
Markx Grimbor operated under the alias Grimbor the Chainsman. He utilized specially crafted chains to subdue or kill enemies. Unaware of what to expect in the past, his shoulders were draped with varying kinds of chains and his waist was wrapped with others.
Blue Jay and Silver Sorceress hardly appeared to be threats. As Blue Jay took flight, Grimbor snared him with a chain link net. Blue Jay shrank to the size of a bird to escape the net. Only he found the net shrank with him.
Grimbor tried snaring Silver Sorceress with a couple of different average threat level chains. But she evaporated one and displaced the other into the ocean. So Grimbor used a chain he never thought he'd get an opportunity to. It was forged with the intent of capturing Mordru with it. As he wrapped it around Silver Sorceress she found no spells or enchantments whatsoever were of any use.
Adam Orion's father had earned the honorific title "Hunter" before him. But after his father died on a hunt, Adam had brought down the beasts that killed him. Then he traveled the universe conquering the animal world. Returning to the United Planets with his reputation secured, he took on the Hunter mantle.
Bored, Hunter decided to hunt sentient beings. First as a bounty killer then as a hired assassin. The LSV had approached him and offered him an opportunity to hunt the members of the Legion of Superheroes. Hunter would have done it for free.
Now, he was back in time wondering where was Superman, or Batman, or the Martian, or the Thanagarian, or the Speedster, or the Green Lantern, or even the Amazon Princess? Where were the challenges? All that stood before him were pale imitations of Batman.
He saw changes in the way the dirt swirled on the concrete that alerted him to the fact Gypsy was invisible. Batwing took it upon himself to charge into Hunter. Black Bat joined him.
Hunter knocked Batwing loose and concentrated on Black Bat. And her so-called "pale imitation" made Hunter fight for his life. But then Black Bat slacked off and Hunter grew enraged. Batwing rejoined the fight but he was a lesser priority to Hunter's scalp hunting paradigm. He never saw Gypsy behind him with one of Batwing's batons. She staggered him with repeated blows to the head before Batwing and Black Bat joined in to snare Hunter and immobilize him.
"So who do we go help?" Gypsy asked.
Chey-Nu had come from a solar system where exploitation had killed all life in it. The UP cried "foul" before purchasing all of the resources obtained from the now dead, formerly populated words. As Lazon, he'd joined with other survivors to form the League of Super Assassins. But after one of their own, named Blok, defected to the LSH, the others had fallen in with the LSV.
Hawkman and Shayera Hol found themselves battling Lazon. Lazon could shift himself into an energy form and move close to the speed of light. He also could cut or burn through most anything. As the pair of JLers were finding out.
Lazon decided to have some sport with his terrestrially limited foes. He'd kill them with one burn or cut at a time.
"Here," Hawkman thrust his spear at Shayera.
"I don't…ow!" she protested.
"Just take it," Hawkman grated as Lazon burned him next, "You need to start carrying a variety of weapons now that everyone is on to you and that mace."
"This mace works a helluva lot better than any spear…ow!" Shayera yelped and held out her hand, "Give me the damn spear."
"Just anticipate where he's headed and get there first," Hawkman suggested.
"Yes, mother," Shayera resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
Shayera was the first to score a direct hit despite Hawkman's attempts with his sword. The Nth metal spear point penetrated Lazon's energy form. He reverted to flesh and blood and fell to the courtyard below.
"Got him," Shayera whooped.
"Glad to hear it. Let's see if you killed him," Hawkman suggested.
They inspected Lazon's wound and Hawkman grunted, "He'll live. Unless we change that."
"I'm not killing a helpless enemy, Carter," Shayera warned him.
"Then you guard him," Hawkman flew off.
"Screw that," Shayera flew in the opposite direction.
Like Rokk Krinn, known throughout the 31st Century universe as Cosmic Boy, Kort Grezz was from Braal and possessed every inhabitant's magnetic powers. Unlike Cosmic Boy, Magno Lad was a magno ball champion. For the 21st Century mind, imagine a playing field like a tennis court with the goal to be to sail large ball bearings into the wall beyond your opponent.
So when Cosmic Boy had beaten Magno Lad for the right to remain in the LSH, Magno Lad had just shifted his ambitions and joined the LSV. And he couldn't believe anyone would be foolish enough to pit Girder and against him. Didn't these primitives know who he was?
"You're making this far too easy," Magno Lad took control of Girder's iron body and threatened Magenta with it.
She reacted with her own magnetic powers and pitched Girder towards Magno Lad. He couldn't believe anyone on Earth in this century could be from Braal. It was just being colonized after Valor liberated the settlers.
He spun Girder back at Magenta. Magenta resisted with everything she had. Girder got sick of it all and tried to make his way back towards Magno Lad.
"It's really the Legion of Super Villains," Sun Girl was close to hyperventilating, "It's really them."
"Easy, if we can't beat them we join them," Inertia promised.
"Are you completely stupid?' Sun Girl demanded to know, "I know you just came back in time to prove yourself to Eobard Thawne but I did it to escape my brother's hypocrisy by joining the LSH and to escape Dr. Regulus. That's Regulus just on the other side of this courtyard. So I'm not joining anyone. I'm never going back home. Never!"
"I thought this whole Injusticer thing was just for fun," Inertia complained.
"For you maybe. But I finally found something I want to do. Something I believe in. I'm going to help Nyssa restore the League of Shadows to what it's supposed to be," Sun Girl vowed.
"God, I hate you sometimes," Inertia grumbled.
"I know," she flashed him her most appreciative smile.
Inertia suddenly collapsed and began vomiting before passing out. Sun Girl looked around, "Infectious Lass?"
Micro Lad grew to challenge Sun Girl, "You look familiar."
"Everyone says that," Sun Girl hesitated.
He shrank out of sight and then she felt overwhelming dizziness begin. Using solar energy, she superheated the air around her body and in her ear canal. Micro Lad leapt out and grew again, "Neat trick. But I'm willing you can't adjust your internal temperature like that."
As he vanished again, Sun Girl erected walls of solar plasma. She knew Micro Lad was from Imsk, just like Shrinking Violet from the LSH. Everyone on that planet had this ability to shrink down.
Lalo Muldron was a vicious bastard and wouldn't hesitate to enter her blood stream to reach her brain and cause a life threatening stroke. So she concentrated on making the air around her so hot as to incinerate a microscopic organism.
"Why is that guy looking at us like we're the lunch special?" Windfall asked Enigma.
"I don't know but it can't be good," Enigma commented.
"I never wanted powers. I just wanted to stay home," Windfall lamented.
"And I would have killed to get powers in order to escape from home," Enigma confessed, "Now I think I'm happy just where I am."
"Do you know who this guy is and what he can do?" Windfall wondered.
"Not a clue," Enigma admitted.
Yer Sti-Tuan wasn't even human. He was from the same solar system as Lazon. As he converted into a misty gas, Enigma smiled.
"This guy was born to set you up," she told Windfall.
"How do I…?" Windfall asked.
"Just generate a good stiff breeze and blow him across the landscape," Enigma instructed.
Mist Master reverted to flesh to escape dispersal. Enigma shocked him unconscious with her staff, "I'd say that was an excellent first time out."
"It actually wasn't that bad," Windfall realized.
"So who's the sacrificial lamb today?" Hart Druiter inquired.
As Nemesis Kid he could adapt to defeat any single opponent. And Nightwing was just one man.
"I really don't think that concerns you," Nightwing replied.
"I prefer knowing the name of my victims so I can memorialize my killing them," Nemesis Kid boasted.
"I don't hear you volunteering anything," Nightwing retorted.
"Who in this century would even recognize my name if I said it?" Nemesis Kid had to wonder.
Nightwing knew Supergirl would but she was currently MIA with White Lantern. Apparently she was even a Red Lantern now the same as Guy Gardner had recently been, "Point taken."
"I'll even give you the first shot and you can see if you can land it. Afterwards you can deduce what my particular gift is," Nemesis Kid offered.
Nightwing tried but Nemesis Kid adapted midattack and blocked the effort, "Good try. You're not unlike my arch nemesis, Karate Kid."
"Like the movies?" Nightwing was disappointed.
"No, like the member of the Legion of Superheroes," Nemesis Kid grated.
"Sorry. Didn't even know there was one," Nightwing flippantly remarked.
"It's been nice knowing you," Nemesis Kid warned him. Then he attacked in earnest. Nightwing thought it was like fighting Batman. He knew Nightwing's every move and had a counter for it. But Nightwing refused to give up.
Wi Kan Muur was also a former member of the League of Super Assassins. Now he was simply known as Neutrax. His legs were paralyzed so he relied upon an antigrav hover chair to be mobile. And he'd perfected the use of his paralyzing eye beams.
Darknight, Azrael, and Sister Lilhy were all taken by surprise by Neutrax's power. Ri found him incredibly agile with his chair but she was able to stay ahead of him. But he was fast enough to deter every attack she made. While Ri distracted Neutrax, the Legionnaire had no idea Azrael was breaking free of the eye beam's hold just out of sheer force of will.
Ol-Vir had added the hyphen to his Daxamite name in honor of Daxam's glorious past as a Kryptonian colony. He worshipped Darkseid as part of a cult that had endured on Daxam for a thousand years. It had never had more than a dozen adherents at any time. But none had been as faithful and devout as Ol-Vir.
Darkseid himself had summoned Ol-Vir to leave his home world. Coming under a yellow sun brought great rewards but the prolifery of lead brought lethal hazards as well. Unable to procure anti-lead poisoning serums through traditional means, the LSV had to resort to theft and robbery to acquire short acting serums meant for travelers. Ol-Vir's resistance to these temporary cures was increasing necessitating a growing frequency of thefts. Something the LSV was having second thoughts on.
Power Girl found herself on even footing for the first time on Earth Prime since the Daxamite invasion. She quickly deduced Ol-Vir had fewer fighting skills than Superman. She rather enjoyed unloading on him and breaking multiple bones.
Ol-Vir resorted to using his heat vision to ward her off. Instead, Power Girl got behind him and took hold of his head and planted it in the concrete beneath their feet. As it melted, Power Girl sank his face further in. The concrete was molten and the ground beneath it was liquefying.
As Power Girl had guessed, Ol-Vir didn't have enough sense to take a deep breath while she drove his face into the ground. He passed out in the shortest time Power Girl had ever witnessed from either a Kryptonian or a Daxamite.
She yanked his head out of the ground where the concrete was cooling around his face and up his nose. She broke it all free at the sacrifice of breaking his nose in the process. Power Girl just dropped him like a useless weight at that point and decided to start ending this futile contest.
Most of the LSV mocked Roy Travich for his simplistic code name. "Radiation Roy" wasn't sexy enough for them. But his name was Roy and he projected beams of paralyzing radiation that his teammates frequently relied upon. Of course neither Vigilante nor Vixen had a clue.
Radiation Roy smirked at them, "Take your best shot if you can manage it."
"Boy howdy, pardner. Ya'll are askin' for it," Vig warned.
"Not really," Radiation Roy's smirk just became more insufferable.
Vigilante tried to move in order to draw his pistol and fire but he couldn't. He couldn't even talk. Vixen found herself similarly unable to touch her animal totem and activate its power. And she couldn't verbally check in with Vigilante, whom she assumed by his silence, was also afflicted by the same strange force.
"Now, admit it, aren't I the best villain you've ever fought?" Radiation Roy basked in his self perceived glory.
Ronn-Karr's ability to flatten himself to paper thinness was invaluable in infiltrations. But in a fight it was next to useless. Which Animal Man and Crimson Fox were delighted to prove to him. Animal Man held Ronn-Karr in place while Crimson Fox's seductive pheromones prompted him to beg to confess to anything she wanted to hear. Animal Man was grateful the pheromones didn't affect him as strongly.
Ki-Lan had been the one to suggest the survivors unite as the League of Super Assassins. And she'd been the one to sway them into joining the LSV. Silver Slasher had metallic skin and razor sharp fingers. But Katana's SoulTaker was just as sharp and she was just as skilled in its use.
Silver Slasher's advantage was she had five blades per hand. But the SoulTaker drove Katana at a relentless pace that Silver Slasher couldn't compete with. Her humiliating defeat was a total victory for Katana. And deprived of Silver Slasher's soul, the SoulTaker drove Katana to find another conflict where it could possibly feast.
Sussa Paka had discovered the secret to enchanting her hair as Godiva and Goldilocks had a thousand years earlier. She'd successfully joined the LSH as Spider Girl. But she moonlighted as a thief for hire, using her Legion credentials to get her closer to targets. She barely escaped the LSH and the Science Police to flee into the LSV's embrace.
Now she faced a childhood idol. Of course, Spider Girl had always gravitated more towards Goldilocks but Godiva had been the one to deduce the secret of the ancient Anglo-Saxon enchantment. Little Mermaid stood with Godiva but Spider Girl didn't have a clue as to who she was and really didn't care either.
Spider Girl knew a fight was coming so she decided to make it as quick and painless as possible. Godiva was surprised by Spider Girl's vicious attack. The girl's wide eyed wonder at first seeing her implied it would be otherwise.
With Spider Girl engaged in a life and death struggle with Godiva, Ulla Paske swung in behind Spider Girl and grabbed hold of her to take her out to sea. Spider Girl kept a hair death grip on Godiva as she shifted some of her attention towards Ulla.
Little Mermaid plunged towards the ocean out beyond a pier. Spider Girl grabbed hold of the pier and tried to suspend herself underneath as she dragged herself to it. As Ulla submerged Spider Girl, she dragged Godiva under with her. Spider Girl managed to wrap up Godiva beneath her position.
When Spider Girl finished struggling, Ulla yanked her out of the water and pulled her to shore. Seeing Godiva was missing in action, Ulla dove under again and found Godiva floating lifelessly underneath the pier. Forgetting all about Spider Girl, Ulla pulled Godiva from the water and attempted to resuscitate her. But she couldn't get a response.
So she flew Godiva to a nearby hospital where the Emergency Room doctors continued to work to revive Godiva but they simply surrendered to the obvious. Dorcas Leigh was dead. Stricken by grief, Ulla flew back to the shore only to discover Spider Girl was already gone. Suddenly gripped with fear for Dick Grayson, Ulla went to assist her fiancé with any peril he faced.
Storm Boy had once been known as Myke Chypurz. But no one ever remembered that name anymore. Storm Boy's name accurately described his power. He could generate any classification of a storm at any desired size and output. So he threw a Category 5 hurricane blended with an electrical storm at Dreadbolt, Persuader, and Disruptor.
Storm Boy recognized the early variant of the Persuader uniform that had drifted down to the 31st Century. So he targeted her especially. Dreadbolt tried to shield Persuader as best he could. Disruptor managed to get around Storm Boy unnoticed and she entered the eye he surrounded himself with. Shaking herself to gather her wits after navigating through the storm, Disruptor grabbed hold of Storm Boy and shorted out his powers. As the storm dissipated, she used her gauntlets to beat him senseless.
"Easy, Angelica. We don't need to kill him," Dreadbolt cautioned her.
"But it would be fun to do it," Disruptor argued.
"Let's save it for someone who actually needs it," Dreadbolt countered.
"Hey, just point me towards someone I can chop up and I'm golden," Persuader offered.
Nigel Douglas had become Sun Emperor and never looked back. He indulged in a hedonistic lifestyle Sun Boy had supposedly abandoned but Sun Emperor knew the truth about Sun Boy's debauchery and how his father paid off the women he beat and raped. No evidence had ever surfaced before the Legion of Superheroes but rumors and stories existed and there were far too many of them for there to be no basis in fact.
Sun Emperor openly engaged in a sordid lifestyle. Wanton drug abuse, sex, and murder sprees made up his average day. Sun Emperor had beaten Sun Boy at both his sexual conquest game and his solar power ability accomplishments.
But Sun Emperor had never faced Captain Atom. Captain Atom simply absorbed all of the solar radiation hurled at him and ignored the solar plasma that accompanied it. Using quantum energy bursts, Captain Atom knocked Sun Emperor out with hardly a struggle. Something Sun Emperor would always deny from that day on.
After his loss to Bette Kane and Matron, Captain Atom felt justifiably vindicated.
No one in the United Planets knew where Terrus came from or why he dressed like a scarecrow. But they all knew he had earth moving powers identical to Geo-Mancer's. So he literally moved the earth at Knockout as she charged through every obstacle he could summon. Terrus wondered just who she was because she was unstoppable.
Then Scandal Savage attacked Terrus from his side. Her Lamentation Blades carved their way through his abdomen and rib cage. Coughing up blood, Terrus surrendered. Scandal held him in place until Knockout reached him. She broke his jaw just to relieve the tedium.
"Think he'll live?" Knockout asked Scandal.
"I could really care less," Scandal admitted, "But from the look of developments, we could be useful elsewhere."
"Good," Knockout huffed, "Because this fight was over way too damn soon."
"Patience, Kay. Not everyone is worthy of a Female Fury's attention," Scandal advised.
"No, but you are," Knockout winked and jogged off.
Scandal was left wondering if violence made her father horny too.
Tyr's cybernetic gun arm opened fire at Black Canary, Speedy, Huntress, and the Question. The JLers split up to widen the target area. Tyr began to focus on immediate threats. While Speedy bracketed him with explosive arrows, Huntress fired a quarrel down his gun barrel. His next shot blew his entire arm off. Black Canary enjoyed finishing that fight.
"I believe we should investigate that mysterious craft which brought our enigmatic playmates to us," Question suggested.
"It looks like Booster and his sister are guarding it," Huntress observed.
"So we just go through them," Speedy insisted.
Black Canary gave her a warm smile to indicate how proud she was of Mia Deardon at that moment.
Titania had been the final member of the League of Super Assassins. She was also the only human among them. Descended from Amazon stock after the sisterhood had abandoned Earth for the stars, Titania had been reared on Amazon folklore. She recognized the armor of Hera as well as Artemis. She knew Artemis would continue as Wonder Woman for the next two hundred years before handing the mantle down to one final champion. Artemis and a core group of Amazons still survived in seclusion in the 31st Century.
Titania coerced Artemis into casting aside her bow, sword, shield, and lasso. And then they fought one another as Amazons traditionally had for centuries. Artemis was surprised to face a foe schooled in Amazonian battle techniques but that just spurred her on to deal more harshly with a supposed traitor.
Horace Lafeaugh was commonly referred to as Tusker. Besides bearing his namesake tusks, he grew them in his arms and could eject them from his skin to be used as throwing weapons or hand held knives. So he was busily trying to impale Steve Trevor, Starling, and Bat-Girl. The same healing factor that cured the wounds made by the tusks piercing his skin and growing them so fast made him next to invulnerable to bullets. But the three humans still fought him to a standstill.
"What the hell are ya, a colon floatin' in a bowl?" Guy Gardner guffawed at Zymyr.
Zymyr create a spatial rift which sucked Guy into another parallel universe. Vibe witnessed the frequency and memorized it. Zymyr tried to do the same to Vibe but the Latino youth sealed every rupture shut. Then his vibration powers cracked Zymyr's environment sphere and he retreated back to his home dimension. This left Vibe trying to figure out how to retrieve Guy…if he even should.
Lightning Lord hurled all forms of electricity at a flying Batman. Batman would adhere to a wall long enough to attract Lightning Lord's attention and then he would shoot off again before the lightning caught him being grounded.
Barda had rejoined the JLU and was dismayed to find Superman was still under Saturn Queen's thrall. Everyone had noticed Barda seemed more concerned about Superman than ever before. But Superman had dealt with Lois Lane's death and Diana's departure. He knew loss and grief and frankly, Barda didn't know how to cope with either of them. She wanted advice on how to do so and she was willing to offer him any support he needed in exchange.
Cosmic King kept turning elements in her blood to poison. Which slowed Barda but didn't kill her. When he turned her mega wand into gas particles that was her tipping point. Barda was prepared to kill him now.
Nyssa Raatko proved capable of launching attacks faster than Saturn Queen could read her mind. Especially with a bow. So Saturn Queen tried to penetrate Nyssa's mind and found it boxed in and defended by an iron will. Saturn Queen could eventually break in but it would cost her time and effort. And Nyssa would undoubtedly skewer her with a dozen arrows in the interim.
Inside the United Nations, a mixed JLer and Injusticer force had found the hostages assembled in the general assembly chamber guarded by just the Super Friends. Aresia and the Wrath attacked Apache Chief while David Cain organized the general assault on all three Super Friends and General Glory rallied the hostage rescue. The Shining Knight and Goldilocks were among the captives and they helped lead the processions out of the emergency exits. General Glory stood poised at one exit to intervene should the Super Friends overcome his allies.
Black Vulcan stunned Syonide before she could ever unfurl her whip. Dark Archer kept his distance as he fired arrows at Black Vulcan. White Canary closed ranks and tried to engage him in close quarters. Black Vulcan simply jolted her into unconsciousness. This unraveled Dark Archer and Black Vulcan was able to take him down as well.
Flash returned from leading hostages to freedom and Wally West pounded away at Black Vulcan until he'd pummeled the man until he was out cold. Then Flash spotted that Apache Chief was getting the better of Aresia and Wrath. Flash remembered Aresia all too well and knew about her temper first hand. The Batman wannabe was a mystery to him but only Apache Chief's hardened density was keeping him alive against these two. And Cain seemed disinterested in intervening on Apache Chief's behalf.
So Flash streaked in and raced around Apache Chief until he'd created a vortex around him. Even in his various states of variable density, Apache Chief always needed to breathe. So Flash just sucked all the available oxygen away from him. Apache Chief passed out and Flash skidded to a halt.
"Showboater," Wrath snarled.
"This kill was ours!" Aresia angrily declared.
"Whoa! No one's killing anyone else," Flash declared.
"And he's right, for now," Cain stepped in at long last.
Wrath and Aresia sullenly stood down. Cain pointed out the unraveling scene across the hall as Major Disaster and Big Sir covered a third exit. Samurai had struck down White Lightning before she could speak. Lady Flash was now employing the Flash's own tactic against Samurai. The Japanese hero fell to her method.
"Who is she again?" Flash asked Cain.
"Keep it in your shorts, boy," Cain advised him.
No one knew two things at that point. One was about the structural damage the Burners had inflicted upon the building. The entire complex was beginning to buckle and would collapse within minutes. Second was that Poison Ivy had deployed her hybrid puff balls. At her command, they burst and filled the entire sprawling complex with anesthetic pollen. Anyone and everyone who inhaled the pollen swiftly fell asleep. As Ivy strolled into the general assembly hall, she was surprised to find General Glory was immune to her creations.
"I take it this is your work," General Glory assessed.
"What gave me away?" Ivy smirked.
The recently liberated JLU members arrived with Kalea. And the victorious JLers and Injusticers rallied to help those in need of assistance. So the end game with the LSV drew near.
Windfall blew out all of Beauty Blaze's fires and kept the winds too strong to ignite new ones. With her body metabolizing the heat and finding no new sources to absorb, Killer Frost's skin chilled blue again. And her powers returned so she froze Beauty Blaze in place.
"Thanks kid," Killer Frost offered Windfall, "This usually doesn't happen to me."
"Me either," Windfall admitted, "But I suppose it's going to from now on."
"Have you seen Godiva?" Killer Frost asked.
"Who?" Windfall was at a loss.
"Never mind," Killer Frost grimaced. Last time she'd seen Dorcas, Godiva had been in the company of the unfortunately named Little Mermaid. If she couldn't find Dorcas, she'd find the fish stick.
Reactron had been beaten senseless. So Knockout joined the fray with a smile. Black Mace quickly learned her strength easily matched his own. And her combat skills were superior to his. But he had a weapon and she lacked one.
It was until Knockout yanked his mace out of his hands and snapped the handle off that Black Mace realized he might be overmatched. As he stood staring at her she bounced the mace ball off of his head like she'd thrown a baseball. He was rendered unconscious.
"Now what?" Knockout grumped.
After a seemingly endless series of shape changes, Plastic Man had gauged the limit of Chameleon Chief's repertoire. When the Chameleon Chief predictably shrank to a smaller creature, Plas enveloped him in a sphere. Despite his struggles and continuing shape morphing, Chameleon Chief found himself trapped and Plastic Man was immune to everything he could become.
John was frustrated as Dr. Regulus evaporated every single construct the Green Lantern sent at him. Trajectory hadn't found a means of effectively attacking Dr. Regulus without enduring great physical pain. So, it was into this situation Superwoman interposed herself into.
"Stupid Kryptonian," Dr. Regulus chuckled as he bathed her in red solar rays.
Superwoman plucked his helmet off and crushed it. He lost mental control of his armor with the interfaces destroyed, "H…how?"
"Good night," her right cross broke his jaw as it knocked him out.
John landed behind Superwoman, "How did you manage that?"
"I'd tell you but then I'd either be ordered to execute you or lock you away for the rest of your life," Superwoman stated before flying away.
"She for real?" Trajectory asked John.
"I think she is," John realized with foreboding.
Praxis shut Echo's mind down. Behind him, Superwoman scooped up Cyclotron under her arm. Reactron was already underneath the other one.
"You're useful," she commented.
"But not to you," Praxis warned her.
"You're choice," Superwoman shrugged before flying away.
Praxis rarely trusted anyone who could shield their thoughts from him.
J'onn telepathically triggered Golden Boy and Blacksmith's powers. They each reverted to flesh and bone. Then J'onn forced Golden Boy to restore Murmur to what passed for health with him. Then J'onn simply rendered Golden Boy unconscious. But he stayed with them all to protect Golden Boy from Murmur's murderous wrath.
Power Girl moved in so fast, Grimbor never saw her coming. Her punch resulted in a sickening crack and Grimbor went down totally unaware of who knocked him out. Then she snapped the chains binding Blue Jay and Silver Sorceress.
The two former Champions of Angor were utterly embarrassed by their former predicament. Power Girl wasn't feeling particularly generous, "Maybe if you'd stayed with a Justice League you wouldn't feel mortified when these things happen. Because they happen to everyone eventually."
She flew off then. Blue Jay watched her go, "Maybe she'd understand our reasons for joining Nyssa."
"I don't think she's quite ready to embrace the path yet," Silver Sorceress replied, "Let her try and save the world her way while we do the real work."
Girder was being held back by the sheer force of Magno Lad's magnetic power. Magenta was pushing Girder forward at him. Disruptor stepped in and shorted out Magno Lad's mind. Girder stumbled forward and almost trampled Disruptor. So she short circuited his nervous system as well.
"What was that for?" Magenta demanded.
"Clumsy idiot almost walked all over me," Disruptor yelled back.
"We're supposed to be teammates, dumb ass!" Magenta snapped.
Disruptor's gauntlets flared to life with energy, "Come here and say that, bitch."
Magenta wondered if Nyssa realized just how crazy Disruptor was.
Micro Lad couldn't attack Sun Girl. But the effort of shielding herself from him had to be causing a strain. He could wait her out.
He grew to normal proportions to taunt her, "I'll still kill you, winky-poo. It'll just take a while this way."
Atom spun Micro Lad around and punched him in the jaw. Micro Lad staggered back and rubbed his wounded body part, "You'll die for that."
Micro Lad shrank. To his surprise, Atom did too. This was the age settlers colonized Imsk. No one with their power should still be on Earth.
Micro Lad varied size several times but Atom always matched him and beat the crap out of him while doing so. Finally Atom hit Micro Lad often enough and hard enough to put Micro Lad down for a while.
"Wow!" Sun Girl was in awe, "You're pretty fly for an old man."
Now Ray Palmer suddenly did feel old.
When Ulla arrived to assist Nightwing, Nemesis Kid's power was broken. He could adapt to defeat a single combatant. With Ulla present, her Atlantean strength and flight capabilities combined with Nightwing's fighting prowess, Nemesis Kid's feeble natural fighting skills were overwhelmed in seconds. One good punch from the Little Mermaid was enough to knock out Nemesis Kid.
Afterwards, a crying Ulla Paske told Dick all about Godiva's death and how she'd lost the killer. Nightwing froze and Ulla turned in horror to see Killer Frost gaping at her with a stunned expression. Then they could see the denial in her eyes.
"No, it isn't true. It can't be!" Killer Frost fled the scene at that point.
"Should we follow her?" Ulla wondered.
"I think she needs to come to grips with this on her own," Nightwing ventured.
Ulla wasn't so certain.
Neutrax finally paralyzed Ri. But while Darknight and Sister Lilhy remained inert, Azrael was starting to move again. But Persuader arrived to hack Neutrax's antigrav chair apart. And the Atomic Axe cut through his eye beams. But Neutrax suddenly found his torso facing dismemberment by Persuader and his throat in danger of being slit by Azrael.
"Would it help to surrender?" Neutrax asked them.
Dreadbolt quickly knocked Radiation Roy out with just a few electrical discharges. Vigilante and Vixen began to recover their mobility almost instantly. Vig had to congratulate Dreadbolt.
"Ah gotta say, pard. Ya'll came in just in time," Vigilante said in his homespun way.
"Skip it," Dreadbolt advised him, "You're the one that arrested my dad so he'd be in prison to be recruited to the Suicide Squad. And he died with the squad during the Atlantean invasion. So you're damn lucky I helped you at all."
Dreadbolt stomped doff. Vixen asked Vig, "You know what that was about?"
"Ah gotta idea. He kinda reminds me of the Bolt. Whut he's doin' takin' after the old man is anyone's guess. Ah guess grief kin confuse ya'll up," Vigilante ventured.
Artemis ended up proving why she was the Champion of the Gods now that Diana had stepped down. After beating Titania senseless, she roped her with the Lasso of Truth. And then she began an eye opening interrogation.
Scandal attacked Tusker after he'd wounded Trevor and Starling several times. Relieved from pressing the defense against Tucker, Bat-Girl was able to pull out the tusks that had impaled her comrades. Meanwhile Scandal sliced apart Tusker fast than he could properly heal. As Tusker passed out from blood loss, Scandal backed off at seeing Trevor's team all aiming weapons at her.
"So…you didn't actually want my help?" she asked.
"Colonel, tell the nice lady 'thank you'," Bat-Girl suggested, "And then 'goodbye'."
Katana led the charge as Gypsy, Black Bat, Batwing, Crimson Fox, and Animal Man all entered the general assembly hall. Inside, Ivy and General Glory were dragging unconscious JLers and Injusticers out of the building. The walls were groaning and the JLers quickly got the rest out of there before the entire United Nations complex collapsed to the very foundations, which also cracked from atrophy and stress.
Superman intercepted Lightning Lord's blast. Batman collected him after the screaming was done, "He's even more powerful than Livewire."
Batman launched them into the air as Lightning Lord discharged again. Superman floated on his own while Batman flew around, "Nice suit."
"I won't be taken alive and I won't return to my own time in failure," Lightning Lord declared.
"Any other delusions you'd like to explore?" Superman asked.
Barda was finally so sick she could hardly move forward. But she'd crawl if she had to to get at Cosmic King. The Captain Atom's quantum blast knocked Cosmic King silly.
"Try and transmute my energy matrix," Captain Atom taunted him.
Saturn Queen barely felt Kalea's presence before the Almeracian yanked her off of her feet, "You hired Lobo to kill me and killed everyone around me instead. And you threatened my family and corrupted my father's mind and made him your servant."
"I'll do the same for you," Saturn Queen offered as she tried to hypnotize Kalea. It was like hitting a steel wall, "You've had some training."
"A little," Kalea conceded. She sat Saturn Queen down and tapped her fingers against Eve Aries' forehead. Saturn Queen staggered back.
"Pure psychokinetic energy focused into a single punch. Adequate against most but I'm hardly the average," Saturn Queen replied.
Black Canary, Speedy, Question, and Huntress easily blew past Booster and Goldstar to enter the Waverider. There they found Rip Hunter tied and gagged. Upon his release, he checked his ship's instruments.
"Hold on, it's about to get bumpy," Hunter warned.
Vibe created a rift that Guy emerged from. He was close to tears of gratitude, "Thanks, kid. I owe ya one fer savin' my ass."
"Oh, really?" Vibe had never considered that.
Claire Connelly and her LexCorp team arrived to deploy the temporal displacement bomb. Waller had provided the common frequency being utilized by the JLer transceiver earpieces just as they'd included the Injusticers into the fold. The JLers and Injusticers retreated and left the LSV in place. No one paid attention to the fact Saturn Queen was moving beyond the temporal weapon's range as she telepathically struggled with Kalea. Nyssa intervened by dragging Kalea out of the fray as the temporal weapon activated.
Swirling chronal energies whipped into a frenzy as chroniton particles were charged. Saturn Queen finally realized that the LSV was being transported through time without her, "Nooo!"
Saturn Queen's remaining hold on the JLers was broken by her grief. Booster happily reunited with Claire and refused to let go of her even long enough for Goldstar to hug her too. Nyssa nocked her bowstring and Kalea poised to tackle Saturn Queen.
But Eve Aries unleashed a psychic torrent that knocked everyone off of their feet. When they recovered their wits, she was long gone. Nyssa quietly gathered her forces and departed as the final political storm approached.
"It's over," Batman reported to Sue and Waller.
"More than you realize," General Sam Lane made a rare personal appearance.
Superman recognize Lois' father and knew he was nearly a recluse on his secret base. Striding beside him was Major Lucy Lane, USAF, and Lois' sister. The General was suddenly offered support by General Wade Eiling. Everyone had a bad feeling about what was about to happen.
"The President of these United States in cooperation with the Secretary-General of the United Nation has hereby authorized me to take a list of Justice Leaguers into custody," Lane glared at Superman, "Do me a favor and resist."
"I know there's no love lost between us, General," Superman acknowledged.
"You killed my daughter, alien," Lane accused.
"Even Clark Kent was a better choice for Lois than some alien genetic defect," Lucy spat venomously.
"I…" Superman was at a loss for words.
"Go with them," Batman instructed, "Pass the word to everyone that is listed on Lane's manifest to cooperate. The facts will all come out in the end."
"We'll see if they can save the conspirators named in these manifests," Lane warned Batman, "But somehow I don't think even ARGUS will touch them after today."
"I know Amanda Waller will stand by her conscience," Batman replied.
"Now naïve," Lane chuckled, "Waller will do whatever her President asks of her however he asks of it because she's a bureaucrat. She can't afford to have an individual conscience."
Troops moved forwards past the NYPD. Lucy addressed them as he support staff distributed manifests, "Arrest anyone found on this list."
Soldiers quickly surrounded Superman, J'onn Jonzz, the Atom, and Kalea. She looked amused, "Excuse me?"
"You never should have returned to our world without an army backing you up," Lane declared.
Kalea launched into the sky and flew away. Lane snorted derisively, "Bitch has no back bone."
"Alert NORAD," Lucy instructed her communications officer, "This may be a feint."
Lucy stared into Superman's eyes, "I'll enjoy informing the GULAG they're about to receive members of the Justice Leagues Unlimited and International."
He wondered when she'd become so spiteful.