6 Justice League the Corps
Multiplex had already started duplicating by the time Anna and Hawkman arrived. Superwoman took to the air to challenge the two JLers and the Reverse Flash started streaking around. Before Anna could react, Superwoman clocked Hawkman with an Amazon strength right cross. Grabbing his body, she swung it about and threw it into Anna. The bodies tumbled to the ground as one.
She lifted Hawkman's leg off of her back and rolled him aside, "Lose some weight, Carter."
She gingerly got to her feet. The fall had hurt. She'd followed Fate into the future for adventure, and to escape her past, and had jumped at the chance to become one of those famous masked vigilantes. It suited Anna's sense of importance and her predilection for taking action before checking to see what the rules were exactly.
Mostly, she'd since surmised, Kent wanted her out of his hair. He already had Amazo-Prime as a student and he really didn't want another one. Inza had taught her the basics and Kent had shown her the more arcane functions she knew of. Fate had provided her cannon and its spell casings. He continued to supply them as needed in order to support her work in the name of the Lords of Order.
Truth be told, Anna didn't give two figs about the struggle between Order and Chaos. She was simply out to have fun. The 21st Century was a liberated era, far more relaxed and accepting than her own 19th Century. Even her past might not matter but Anna wasn't willing to test those waters yet. Heroes like Superman took a dim view on murder whether it be in a previous century or not.
Her father, bless him dearly, had tried to protect her from the lynch mob but in the end all he could do was get her out of the house and onto a horse so she could flee. And she had fled, right into Fate's embrace, and then the distant call of a new world where all would be forgotten.
She'd gone to the historical societies and tried to determine the fate of her family. Had they paid the price for her actions? She didn't know and that doubt crept into everything she did. Inza had coached her on the wonders of the Internet. It was as fascinating as it was liberating, although some of the things shown in the name of freedom mortified Anna. She'd seen acts that were meant to be between a man and a woman in the privacy of their own homes. And, to top it all off, it wasn't just between men and women. She'd learned to read the descriptions of every site very carefully before proceeding. Why, even animals weren't safe!
Anna thought of all of this in the second before her jaw was almost torn off. She collapsed back onto the pavement, landing like a dead weight. She could feel blood trickling under her mask. A yellow garbed version of the Flash stood before her, mocking her.
"What's the matter? Not fast enough?" he taunted.
Anna kicked out with her legs. Penny was an accomplished hand to hand fighter. She'd become proficient in the arts of fighting when she got tired of being "the damsel in distress" on half of Plastic Man's missions. Mind you, she didn't mind the "Blonde Bombshell" appellation. In fact, like any true Southern Belle, she reveled in it. But that was neither here nor there. Penny had taught her a scissor kick and Anna thought now was an appropriate time to test it out.
Professor Zoom simply ran away faster than human eyes could track, or at least eyes that weren't mystically endowed. Anna's every sense was augmented by a series of spells. She could read body language cues unknown even to their bearer. It, alongside her own formidable intuition, granted keen insights into the thoughts of others. She saw the truth in their hearts often before they did themselves.
Anna scrambled to her feet. The damn speedster was running an evasive pattern between all of the cursed Multiplexes. She had no idea how she was going to deal with him. She'd used her last captivity spell casing on Tala and the Enchantress. She moved them into a limbo realm Fate referred to as the Phantom Zone. He cryptically implied that Superman could answer all her questions about it. Frankly, she couldn't see the Boy Scout explaining how he fashioned a perfect spit curl every day much less an extradimensional realm.
The Reverse Flash was straightening out for a clean run at her. She studied his every move. He was blithely unaware of the fact she was tracking him. He thought he had the advantage. He'd soon learn otherwise.
Zoom pulled back his fist and then, in the next step, threw a punch. It was a perfect fusion of style and functionality. Sadly for him, Anna was no longer there. She was crouched with one leg jutting out. Zoom tripped and almost tore Anna's leg from its socket. He went stumbling into a light pole, as she intended. Zoom was apparently almost as ignorant of his surroundings as he was of his opponent.
She was suddenly applauded by a hundred Multiplexes. It was a thunderous sound and rather unnerving. She sought out the original Multiplex. If she could neutralize him the others would dissolve into salt-like crystals. Unfortunately for her, her injuries were clouding her abilities. Her leg had been wrenched by Zoom's impact, her nose and lips just wouldn't stop bleeding, and she had to ruefully admit, she was in over her head.
Superwoman landed beside her, "Aw, Zoom broke our little toy."
"I may be injured but I still have the wherewithal to face you," Anna promised.
Superwoman laughed at her, "I'm sure you can. For about three seconds."
Anna's cheeks burned. She hadn't been laughed at since Robert had made that his last mistake. Shame filled her innards and bile built up. Superwoman saw her hesitancy and gloated.
"I'll make it painless…well, mostly." She offered.
Energy enveloped her and she screamed. She fell to her hands and knees and her cape smoked. Stargirl stood behind her, energy discharges swirling about the tip of the Cosmic Rod. Of all of her potential saviors, Anna would never have expected the courtesy from Courtney.
Superwoman rose and turned on Stargirl. Anna could see that Courtney had temporarily frozen. She hadn't expected her foe to respond after that blast. A spell came to mind and Anna recited the incantation as fast as she could. The concrete under Superwoman reached up with masonry tentacles and grabbed hold of Superwoman's wrists. She was contained but only for a moment.
"Don't just stand there! Shoot her!" Anna yelled.
Stargirl blinked in confusion. Superwoman ripped one arm free from her bonds. That inspired action from Courtney. She unloaded a full charge blast from the Rod at the Legionnaire. Superwoman finally collapsed and didn't get up.
"Thank you." Anna meekly offered.
"Skip it. I always go around saving man stealers from mortal danger," Stargirl retorted.
"As I recall, you're the one who called out the name, 'Billy' while Al was tending to you," Anna countered.
"You'd already stolen him by then!" Courtney accused.
"If he was available to be stolen it was because you never had him to begin with," Anna shot back.
The tip of the Cosmic Rod glowed again as Stargirl stifled her anger, "Look, I made my choice and I'm happy now. Al's a great guy but the age thing always got in the way. You two are compatible. So let's just leave it at that."
Anna studied her, "That had to cost you."
"A little bit," Courtney allowed.
"Then I'll share this, he was truly on the fence until your verbal slip. That's when he made his decision. But to be fair, he wanted the idealized you he'd carried with him all of those years. I'm not certain reality would have lived up to his dreams," Anna consoled her.
"Yeah, it was the same for me. That's why I chose reality," Stargirl shared.
"So it all worked out and we can be friendly if not friends?" Anna asked.
"I guess," Stargirl allowed.
"I'll carry that ringing endorsement with me to the grave," Anna dryly remarked.
Stargirl smirked, "Good, `cause that's all you're getting."
"As touching as this is, I'm afraid I have to intervene," one hundred Multiplexes spoke as one.
"I do wish he'd stop that," Anna complained.
"Ray, where are you?" Stargirl muttered.
A yellow solar discharge suddenly irradiated the area occupied by the Multiplexes. Ninety-nine of them suddenly dissolved and one was lefty hunched over trying to protect himself from the concentrated sunlight.
"Now!" Anna shouted.
"I got it," Courtney said dismissively. She unleashed another major blast from the Rod and Multiplex was knocked out.
Ray landed next to the ladies. He noticed Anna's limp, "You're hurt!"
"Oh, this. It's not broken so no worries." Anna dismissed it.
"I can get one of the Javelins in so you can get some first aid," Ray offered.
Courtney rolled her eyes. Did every man fall over themselves for Anna Fortune?
"All I need is a little space and thirty seconds of quiet," Anna assured him.
Stargirl took hold of his arm and pulled him away, "C'mon I've seen this before. You'll like it."
Anna stretched out her hand and aimed a finger at the ground. Silver flames leapt out of her finger and streamed onto the ground. She formed a pentagram and stood facing its point. Silver flames began to lick at her feet and swiftly enveloped her.
Ray lurched forward and Courtney had to interpose herself between him and Anna, "Wait for it!"
Although it couldn't be seen, her nose and lips stopped bleeding. The blood was burned off. Flames licked at her lips and sealed the wound. Her leg was also healed as well as her hip. Having done its job, the healing spell burned out. Anna purposefully strode towards Ray.
"Ta-da! All healed," she announced.
"But the pentagram…?" Ray started to ask.
"Silver flames indicate white magic, as does facing the point of the pentagram. Black magicians invoke black flames and face the base," Anna explained, "As I've said before, Zatanna and I really do need to collaborate on a primer for all you non-mages."
Ray and Stargirl exchanged wry glances. Stargirl was the one who turned all practical, "Drag everyone into the same spot and I'll use the Cosmic Rod to levitate them to where the others are standing guard."
"What about Giganta?" Anna wondered.
"Ah nuts," Courtney groused.
Diana threw herself headlong into Lashina. She toppled the New God and they went sprawling across the sidewalk. Superman caught his breath and saw that Diana was in danger of the same move that had caught him. Diana, however, wasn't giving Lashina time to think. She straddled the Apokoliptan and landed one thunderous blow after another. The pavement was buckling behind Lashina's head as Diana hammered it time and again. After a time, Lashina stopped struggling but Diana kept hitting her.
Clark came in behind Diana and lifted her by the waist off of Lashina. The New God's face was bloodied and bruised and Diana was breathing in convulsing sobs. Superman turned her around.
He gently smiled, "It's okay now. I'm fine and you're okay."
"Supreme?" she asked with some trepidation.
"I pretty much did to him what you just did to Lashina," he admitted.
"She had you…you were in pain…" Diana stammered.
He drew her in and held her close, "But I'm okay now, thanks to you."
"Hera, I was ready to kill her," Diana admitted, "Is this what love does to you?"
"It can," Clark confessed, "When you're ready to do anything to protect the one you love, well, sometimes it gets messy."
Diana leaned back and tilted her head upwards so her eyes could meet his, "We have to be careful. With our strength…"
"I know. The unthinkable could easily happen," he admitted.
"So, what happens now?" Diana hesitantly asked.
"Now we carry our broken little lambs to where the captured Legionnaires are being held. After that, we wait for J'onn's espionage teams to report in," Clark declared.
"These 'Star Sapphires'?" she wondered.
"And the Sinestro Corps," Clark reminded her, "Star Sapphire and Sinestro were bad enough before they had followers. I hate the thought of armies of them wandering around the universe."
"The mind control that these Sapphires had upon the Legion, and the yearning that the ring evoked within me, it bespeaks of a formidable force to be reckoned with," Diana surmised.
"We'll get by, as long as we stand together, we can face any foe or challenge," he decided.
Diana was overwhelmed by her emotions and kissed him. It was a kiss born of equal parts passion and terror. They were headed into a new frontier for both of them and it had a dangerous side neither had ever reckoned on.
