Two Days Ago

Sanford, Gloucestershire, England

"Your next mission won't trump your last." said Al-Sheikh, extinguishing his cigarette in an ashtray in Mason's parlor, "But there's no room for error, you get one chance at it. One day, and we all retire to the volcano."

Shaun and Lucy exchanged a look as Al-Sheikh went on.

"As you know, Project Phoenix is funded by the sails of a highly addictive narcotic called Substance C. Since we've made that discovery months ago, the Red October and the Black Pearl and the Yellow Submarine had interrupted and destroyed random shipments of this drug heading to European shores. However, there remains a sizeable market for it, particularly in Amsterdam and Brussels. While there surely is some production of it in Europe, we know that over Eighty-Percent of the drugs are manufactured in the states. Due to the combined efforts of the New York cell and several roving operatives, such as Mister Barnes, we know exactly where.

"You will infiltrate the facility, plant the timed explosive charges, defeat any opposition you may meet and then leave. You will be informed of the specifics of your mission during transport."

"Where to?" asked Mona.

Now

Phoenix, Arizona

"You ever think Ziggy Stardust maybe works for the League?"

All eyes turned to O'Brien. Who remained of the minutemen were sitting on both sides of a table in a booth in a diner, having a late lunch of stakes and burgers.

"Ziggy Stardust, the rock star?" asked Priest as he took cut a bite of his very rare steak.

"You mean the one who insists he's from Mars?" asked Shaun.

"Yeah, that guy." Said O'Brien, "I mean, I realize the Martian thing is a gimmick, but-"

"I'm not so sure about that." Said Priest as he chewed, "I saw his concert in L.A. back in January. I had great seats at the front, and I could sense there was something up with him. He doesn't smell right."

"Rrrright." Said Mona with a smirk.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you find Martians hard to believe? Look into my vampire eyes and say that again."

"Sure, but just because one thing I thought wasn't real existed doesn't mean I have to believe in everything."

"Man, it's documented! 1901! England had an extra-terrestrial invasion!"

"Yeah, I heard about that. Everyone did. It's part mass-hysteria, part long-range hoax."

"Come on!"

"Hey, you weren't there!" said Mona, "Weren't you in Paris losing your virginity around that time?"

"What?" asked Lucy, wide-eyed.

"Um… I was losing my human virginity. I had been with several vampire ladies before that." Said Priest.

"Not the issue. Were or were you not in England at the time?"

"…No."

"I rest my case."

"Guys," said O'Brien, taking a sip of his drink, "You're making me loose my train of thought here."

"Okay, Eel." Said Lucy, "No, we've never suspected that Ziggy Stardust, the allegedly Martian rock star, is employed by the League. Why would we?"

"Have you heard that album of his? The first track. It says that the world is ending in Five Years. The album was recorded and came out in 2007, so he's saying that the world is ending in 2012! Well, Phoenix is ending in 2012!"

"That's it?" asked Mona, "The world ending in 2012 is a Mayan prophecy. That's probably where he got it from."

"Not to mention that assuming Mr. Stardust does know about Phoenix," said Shaun, "Him working for the League wouldn't make sense since first, what do the League gain from it, and secondly, why would he sing about the world ending when the League's goal is to manipulate us all into coexisting peacefully?"

"Well, good question. Um… Think about it. Three years from now, when the nukes are flying, people will look back on what he sang and they'll say; 'Jesus! The Martian was right!'…. Then they would turn to him, they'd hang onto his every word. He could be the President of Earth for life."

"…That actually makes some sense."

"Unless he really is a Martian," said Priest, "Sent to deliver a message of hope before its too late."

There was an awkward moment of silence before everyone that wasn't Priest burst laughing, electing curious looks from the dinner staff and other patrons.

"Priest, I think I read somewhere that he's this bloke from London called David Jones or something."

"Precisely." said Priest, "London. Where a failed Martian invasion occurred in 1901. Coincidence?"

"Priest, I'm starting to worry about you."

"If I recall, O'Brien, it was you that went up against a certain man of steel. Where do you think that guy came from, Kansas?"

"You really think Superman is from outer space?" asked Mona.

"That's what he said. Why, what's your theory, Professor Sax?"

"Hey, I dunno. You hear about these mutants all the time, no reason to suspect he's not one of them."

"Come on.."

"I know what you're going to say, but mutation is a scientific occurrence, unlike aliens."

"Funny you should mention that," said Shaun, "I always thought Super-man was just something Americans made up until I saw him with my own two eyes. And there's a lot of people who don't believe in zombies, and I would if I didn't know better. You never know, really."

"Thanks for the support, Shaun."

"augh…. Can we change the subject?" asked Mona, "To sports or whatever."

"Actually, I'd like to talk a bit more about Superman." Said Lucy, "Or all that other mans."

"I was glad when I first heard about Superman and Batman," said Priest, "Regular cops are too easy."

"You went up against Superman?"

"No, but I enjoyd thinking about it. Gave me something to look forward to. But before I met Nemo, I pulled a couple of jobs in Gotham without running into the Batman."

"Yeah. I think I'd rather go up against Batman than Superman." Said Shaun.

"I'm not too worried about Superman, I mean , I did make him fly away screaming." Said Lucy, "But Batman is a sneaky bastard, I probably wouldn't have time to hit him with a psychic attack."

"So you think Batman is the bigger badass?" asked O'Brien as the waitress came by with the check.

"Mona, what do you think?"

"I think I'm not ten years old anymore." Said Mona, "However, you'd have to see Supes and Batman from a characteristic point of view, rather than powers. Superman stands for hope, and doing things the right way. Batman stands for fear, and doing whatever works. Batman has a lot larger moral wiggle room, and he strikes me as being the smarter of the two. He just might come up on top.

"But if Superman would play on Batman's level, well, there'd be no question who would win. Batman can sneak around all he like, Superman has x-ray vision to see him and superspeed and superstrength to tear his head off before he can do anything."

"Wow, that sounds thought out."

"Well, there's not much to do in prison beside ponder stuff like that and read the bible." Said Mona as she stood up, "All done? No one wants dessert?"

Mona placed a few five dollar bills on the table, before picking up her red leather jacket and putting it on as she walked away.

"Time to go to work."

Three Hours Later

"Oh, god… I'm gonna die…" O'Brien moaned as he lay inside the helicopter, clutching onto his stomach, his words almost drowned out by the deafening roar of the helicopter rotor and the relentless bark of machine gun fire.

"You're not going to die, you pussy!" Priest shouted as he tossed crates and cases out onto the building's roof, "The bullet was through-and-through! You're not even bleeding!"

The operation had gone far from smoothly. As O'Brien was discovered by a security guard who promptly sounded an alarm. The minutemen, Kroenen included, were barely able to flee. Mona, Priest, Kroenen and O'Brien were injured in the process. In a recreation of their assignment in Gotham, they decided to attempt to hijack a news crew helicopter off the roof of TV station building.

Shaun gunned down the two men who'd burst to the roof, Mona turned to the helcipter, inside of which O'Brien, Priest and Kroenen were, while Lucy was at the pilot seat.

"How much longer?" asked Mona.

"Any second now." Answered Lucy, "Alright, get in."

Shaun and Mona climbed in, while keeping their guns trained to the outside, ready to interrupt the next onslaught of the League's agents. The helicopter started to rise, and the roof grew farther and farther.

"Too close…" mumbled Shaun as he released his finger from the trigger and set the automatic rifle aside. For the next fifteen minutes, silence reigned, until Lucy spoke.

"I don't think we're gonna make it. We don't have enough fuel."

"So put it down as close as you can." Said Shaun, "We'll make the rest of the way on foot."

"No." Said Mona, "We land, they'll catch us."

"Not much choice in it, we have too much weight and not enough fuel. And we've already emptied everything out."

"…What if we drop Kroenen?" asked Shaun, looking at the familiar as he sat on the floor, holding onto his tonfas.

"We drop Kroenen and Lucy looses control over him, all the death after that would be on us." Said Priest.

"Then what?" asked Shaun.

"Then buy me a beer when I get back."

"What?" asked Mona.

"I'll see you in the funny pages, cupcake." Said Priest as he opened the door, then leaned out and allowed gravity to tear him away.

"Priest!"

Mona crawled to the open door and looked out in a futile attempt to see what had become of him, but Priest was gone. Mona closed the door and sat on the bench by Shaun.

"What now?" she asked.

"We're good." Said Lucy, "We might make it."

Mona looked out the window at the brightly lit city below and sighed.

"You little asshole."

In case you're wondering what all that was about, I just felt like wallowing in self indulgence and doing a homage to Reservoir Dogs, thus the discussion about Ziggy Stardust and Aliens.

Next Chapter

Prepare to meet a woman called Erika. Sound familiar?

R&R.