7 Justice League the Corps

The Enchantress and Tala quickly discovered the secret behind breaking the Sapphires' hold. Returning to ingrained behaviors, particularly negative behaviors, could shatter one's belief in the overpowering presence of love. For a sorceress that behavior was accessing the fount that provided her power. Since both women were dark artists, that power came with a price and that price was the absence of love. Seeing this, it had been little wonder that they each had been coaxed by the Sapphires' power. They were literally starved for love.

Having freed themselves from the restrictions imposed by their brief excursion into absolute love, the two sorceresses began to wreak havoc. Half of their comrades had already been recaptured by the JLU. Neither of them wanted to return to the Gulag. The interdimensional prison, Anna Fortune had sent them to, had been perilous enough. The King of Tears had demanded tribute in exchange for keeping them alive. The tribute that had been demanded was a part of their life-force essence, thereby enslaving them to his will.

Tala and the Enchantress had pooled their resources and escaped the King of Tears' dimension through an avenue of escape he had not even suspected existed. It would be closed to them now should they return. The King was nothing if not all consuming. As it stood, they'd been so drained and powerless from their efforts, the Enchantress' personality had once again been submerged under that of the mortal June Moone. Tala been weak as kitten herself and unable to aid her compatriot.

It was then that Fate had struck. He had transported them to a special wing within the Gulag. A mystical prison if you would. It was powered by magical incubi and it drained the mystical essence from the prisoners. However, on a plus side, the incubi also took power through sexual gratification and the two women were rarely disappointed in their "partners" performance.

But they were both free now and they intended to stay that way. The Legionnaires closest to them were Giganta and Kestrel. It had taken little to shake the hate free from Kestrel's heart. Giganta proved something of a challenge. She honestly embraced the Sapphires' love. She'd served Grodd out of love and genuinely had benevolent feelings towards humanity in general. Instead of freeing her, they duped her. She was placed as their guardian while they "spread the love" the Sapphires preached.

Kestrel took to the skies to engage in a terrorist campaign but she was quickly intercepted by Hawkman. Kestrel soon found that her flight muscles, weakened by lack of use in the infernal Gulag, betrayed her. Hawkman easily maneuvered her into the street below and knocked her senseless. Tala encased him in a birdcage composed of lightning.

It was into this that Anna and Atom Smasher found themselves delivered into. Giganta spotted the JLers and quickly grew to a thirty foot height. Atom Smasher copied her and they squared off. He moved in on her and she hit him. He shrugged it off and she hit him again. Suddenly she started shaking her head and the violet glow dissipated from her eyes. She looked around in confusion and Atom Smasher struck. His right cross knocked her out.

He moved quickly and caught her as she collapsed. Laying her down across the boulevard, he left her there and shrank to a twenty foot height and confronted Tala.

"You're coming with me, so you might as well give up," he declared.

"Oh, I am, am I?" Tala's accent thickened up and she offered him a saucy smile, "You know, I remember your days with the Legion. Volcana always monopolized your time but we…we could have had some fun. We still could."

"I don't think so," Atom Smasher replied.

Tala shrugged, "Too bad."

Lightning erupted from her fingertips and it caught him unawares. It splashed and arced across his body and he passed out as his nervous system overloaded and the pain grew to be too great. He fell beside Giganta, two giants blocking the road.


The Enchantress released a hurricane force gale with ice shards flying in it. Anna dropped to one knee, desperately trying not to get blown away. She thumbed through her spell casings until she found the one marked with the rune she sought. She managed to load into her arm cannon and fire it point blank into the pavement.

A column of fire erupted. Then it became obvious that the column was made up of individual and distinct beings composed of flame. The jinn that had been trapped were now free. The containment spell insured that they were still Anna's nominal control.

The column broke into three components. The jinn devoured the Enchantress' spell. More of them formed a living wall of fire around her. The third set of fire demons encircled Tala and trapped her where she was.

Anna stood and began to seek another casing. Finding the rune symbol she desired, she loaded it as well. Calling off the jinn, she fired the casing between the two sorceresses. A miniature black hole formed and it sucked them in and closed after it had swallowed them.

The jinn begged Anna for their freedom and she granted it. They disappeared in a fiery halo of light. Checking on Atom Smasher, she was pleased to discover he was doing fine.

She stroked his oversized cheek, "Sleep well, Handsome Stranger."

"Hey! Sorcery Girl or whatever your name is, how about we go get some bad guys?" Hawkman said as he strode over.

"Ever the charmer, eh Carter?" Anna mused.

"Don't wisecrack with me, Anna," Hawkman warned, "I was one of the first that Fate called in when you did your little time travel stunt. I know the secrets of your past. The ones you don't want getting out."

Anna sighed, "Yes, I'm aware of this. Does this mean you'll now be my personal stalker as you once were with Shayera?"

"You've still got a lot of cheek, Fortune," Hawkman chastised her.

"Maybe if you got to the bloody point, I wouldn't be such a…" she began.

"Smart ass?" he finished for her.

She planted her fists on her hips, "That's not exactly how I would have phrased it."

"Look Superwoman, Multiplex, and the Reverse Flash are running around with no one doing anything about it," Carter finally got to the point.

"Why didn't you just say so?" Anna archly inquired. Unable to see his eyes through his Thanagarian mask, she finally asked, "Where are they?"

"You can still fly, right?" he wondered.

"Not as gracefully as you but I manage," that cost her pride something.

He grinned, "Then follow me."

His wings beat and he lifted off of the ground. As he said, she followed him. In minutes their foes were in sight and they were on the hunt.


Stargirl used the combined power of the Cosmic Rod and her Cosmic Convertor Belt to subdue Volcana. To be more precise, she blasted her way through a wall of fire and knocked the pyrokinetic out with the energy stars transmitted from her belt and projected from her gloves.

The Ray used his solar powers to melt Black Mass's grav bands. Stargirl finished him off with a jolt from the Cosmic Rod. The pair then went looking for trouble and found it as Hawkman and Anna met the enemy.


J'onn punched Bizarro across the face. The clone staggered but did not fall. J'onn hit him again and again; Steel was leaned up against a wall, his armor shorting out where Bizarro had ripped sections of it off. Seeing a physical attack would get him nowhere, J'onn tried telepathic means.

He felt like he was sliding into a morass of dark, lonely thoughts as he entered Bizarro's mind. The creature was in such pain. J'onn stoked the memory of the love he'd felt because of the Sapphires' rings. J'onn, afraid that he wouldn't be able to escape, triggered Bizarro's need for sleep. J'onn pulled out just in time to see Bizarro fall over asleep, wearing a blessed out expression.

J'onn pulled Steel's arm over his shoulders and wrapped his other arm around his back and gripped his waist, "Can you fly?"

"No, I don't think so. Half my systems are down and the other half are going down."

"Then we shall walk. A majority of the others have collected their captured Legionnaires in Times Square itself. We shall join them," J'onn decided.

"Thanks, J'onn," Steel expressed his heartfelt gratitude.

"It is an honor," J'onn assured him.


Starman and Booster struggled with Ultraman. Since Ultraman was an extradimensional Kryptonian they dared not risk getting within arm's reach of him. Of course, it made him vulnerable to Starman's solar powers, particularly his red solar rays but the sun was shining brightly and so yellow solar rays still reached him and infused the cells of his body.

He was weakened though and Booster was able to use his proton blasters mounted on the back of his gloves and keep Ultraman at bay. His forcefield also sheltered them since solar rays were essentially sunlight and passed through the invisible field. His recently repaired projector was straining though.

"Gavyn!" Booster shouted over the top of Ultraman's cursing, "You need to intensify your bursts."

Gavyn's scowl could be seen despite his mask, "Drop your forcefield and cover me."

He flew straight up. Ultraman began to follow but Booster put two proton blasts into his gut. Ultraman threw a punch at Booster. His forcefield snapped on just in time. Ultraman began to pound on the field. Warning blips began to sound, indicating the projector was close to imminent failure.

"C'mon Gavyn. Time to save the day," he muttered.

Starman ascended to a few miles above the city and he began to absorb the sun's rays from miles around. The skies grew dark and the inhabitants began fearing an apocalypse. Finally, when he could take no more, he released all of that energy in the red spectrum.

The effects were immediate. Ultraman began to sink towards the ground. Booster aimed both blasters at him and let him have it. Ultraman succumbed to the barrage and Booster had to catch him before he fell one hundred feet to the ground.

Booster now had a new problem: 240 lbs of dead weight. He clutched Ultraman close to his chest and lowered himself towards the ground. Starman suddenly descended upon him.

"What ho? I see our enemy is vanquished," Starman exulted in his victory.

"You mind taking his legs?" Booster asked.

"What would Claire say if she knew her hero was asking for help?" Starman chided him.

"She'd take his legs," Booster argued, "She's stronger than she looks."

Gavyn grinned, "I bet."

"Oh shut up and grab his feet already," Booster snapped.

"Very well," Starman sighed.

"Thank you," Booster said in an exasperated tone.


Donna and Dela chased Shayera. The Thanagarian engaged in some acrobatics that made Donna queasy as she tried to follow her. Even the prideful Dela was beginning to look a little grim. They trailed behind as Shayera began a series of corkscrews and barrel rolls and, as the Sapphires followed, they cam to the distinct realization that they'd lost her.

"Well? Where is she?" Dela demanded.

"How should I know? You're the big bad veteran of the Star Sapphire Corps. You tell me," Donna snapped.

"She wants us turning on each other, you idiot! Dela yelled.

"Well, she's done a damn fine job of it!" Donna shouted back.

Dela separated by a few feet and held her ring before her and it glowed, "Don't make me make you apologize."

"Apologize for what?" Donna grated, "You're incompetence?"

"I can see now that Carol was a fool for leaving you and the other Earther in command," Dela proclaimed, "If I'd been in command, we'd have victory by now."

"Victory?" Donna scoffed, "You can't even catch a lone Thanagarian."

"Why you unevolved primate!" Dela yelled.

"If I'm so unevolved, why do you look like me?" Donna shouted back.

Shayera swooped in on them. They were staggered ten feet apart north by south and ten feet apart east by west. Perfect for striking one than the other. She folded her wings back and began her dive. She smashed Dela with the mace and then her reverse swing caught Donna in the face. Only their personal fields kept them from grievous harm.

Shayera stretched her wings and beat them as she flew away. The two Sapphires, both severely rattled, watched her go.

"Where the hell did she come from?" Dela demanded.

"Don't start with me," Donna warned and took off in pursuit. Dela followed, a little less bold and aggressive this time around.


Miri and Miss Bloss had Owlwoman on her feet. They were directing the final attack on the Marvels. Using the combined strength of their united rings, they pummeled the two men into the ground and kept pummeling them until they stopped moving.

Shayera came sailing in. Her targets were Owlwoman, Miri, and Miss. They'd obviously rallied the disjointed Sapphires so they were the serpent's head that had to be cut off.

A giant violet racquet ball racquet suddenly appeared and smashed into Shayera. One of her wings folded in on itself and she started to drop. She hit the pavement below and struggled to rise. Two racquets formed and smashed into her from either side. Shayera went down onto her knees, her head reeling.

Carol, Fatality, Arven, Maewen, Galatea, Talia, Fire, Ice, and Ivy floated out of the UN building. Carol's stone still flashed as she readied another blow. But first she tried reasoning.

"Shayera, a ring was meant for you. John had it still. We've retrieved it and it can still be yours if you so choose now," Carol offered.

"Where is John?" Shayera asked as she rose again. Her legs were wobbly and there was no way in hell that she could fly but she was ready to keep fighting.

"John saw the light and is indisposed," Carol replied.

Shayera tried to run forward but two more racquets appeared and smashed her from either side. She nearly dropped but her indomitable will kept her on her feet, if barely. Carol shifted tactics and attacked from above. She literally beat Shayera into the ground. When she finally stopped twitching, a sign she was resisting, Carol let her be.

Dela and Donna joined the leadership circle. Dela snorted, "That should have been done at the beginning."

"Yet you didn't think of it," Carol said sweetly.

Dela wanted to growl in the back of her throat but it was unseemly. She had an air of regality to project. Surely the Zamarons would recognize that she was Carol Ferris's natural superior?

"Do we move on and continue our mission?" Arven asked, "We only have a handful of rings left?"

"We'll be returning to Zamaron to acquire more rings and source out more recruits," Carol announced, "But first, I want Kyle Rayner."

"Whatever for?' Dela asked.

"A Queen must have her consort," Carol replied.

"And if he rejects you, like every Green Lantern rejects us?" Dela wanted to know.

"Oh, he'll choose to come with me. I've seen to it," Carol assured her.

"And where is this elusive Green Lantern?" Dela asked scornfully, "Do you even know?"

"I know where Kyle is. I always know where he is. He and I share a bond, one he's largely unaware of, and because of it he will choose me over all others. I need merely to present myself to him. The die is already cast," Carol revealed.

"Then where is he?" Dela asked tartly.

"West of here, in the ruins of a tower beside the woman he believes he loves," Carol smirked, "Only he'll learn better."