Chapter 35
Kent farm...
A glowing ball of light appears outside the house that, once faded away, reveals the 2 Black Canaries, Zatanna and Batgirl.
Zatanna takes a moment to look around the farm. "Quaint," she remarks.
"And just think about what my double and Clark must get up to all alone out here," Lord Dinah adds mischievously.
Now that she says it Zee can't help but wonder what Dinah and Clark must get up to. She'll have to ask Dinah for details later.
"I thought you were going to be serious," Dinah says back, obviously deeply unamused.
"Hey I'm dying. Let a girl have a little fun," Lord Dinah argues.
"How about I kick your ass instead," Dinah threatens, fed up to the back teeth with her double.
"Enough!" Batgirl orders, stopping the bickering twin Dinahs. "Zee can you sense anything?"
Zee's eyes white over for a moment. "No. If my skanky double was here she's not any longer," she reports...and her double, by the way, is a total skank.
"The old fashioned way then," Batgirl determines. "We split up and look." Batgirl and Zatanna head for the barn while the 2 Dinahs head into the house. It doesn't take long to spot the shattered table on the kitchen floor...and one out of place lead box.
Dinah bends down and retrieves it. She opens it and inside finds a glowing green rock.
"Kryptonite," Lord Dinah comments at what it is. "The most efficient way to weaken him. Diana's been here," she deduces from that.
Worry makes Dinah's stomach clench. Usually she never has to worry about Clark really. This is a new experience for her. "Where would she take him?" she asks her double.
Lord Dinah thinks. "Luthor wanted us for something. To do something for him. Diana couldn't afford to lug Clark about until that was done so my guess would be that he's still here. After all with his parents dead who would notice him?"
Dinah thinks her double might be correct. "Clark!" she shouts. "Are you here?"
Dinah runs up the stairs, looks around and comes back down all with no trace. Batgirl and Zatanna return from looking around the barn. They report no sign of him either.
"Out of sight," Lord Dinah suggests. "She would move him out of sight. I would."
Dinah thinks. She's spent weekends here so the best place for keeping someone out of sight would be..."Storm cellar," it suddenly strikes her.
The 4 rapidly exit the house and walk round to the entrance to the storm cellar. Dinah yanks the hatch door open and coughs as the dust hits the back of her throat. "Clark!"
"Dinah!"
Dinah's heart leaps at the sound of his voice and she virtually leaps down.
"Wow she has it bad doesn't she," Lord Dinah murmurs from what she assesses the look on her double's face to mean.
Batgirl shoves her in the back. "Move it!" she orders.
"I so miss the bossy you," Lord Dinah quips with a nostalgic smile.
Barbara rolls her eyes as they all walk down into the darkened cellar to find her double kissing Clark.
Just because they had a fight doesn't mean Dinah isn't glad to see he is alright.
Dinah pulls her lips back and Clark smiles, glad to see her. His face then scrunches up in confusion at seeing the near spitting image of his girlfriend appear along with Zatanna and Batgirl. "How are they're two of you?" he asks Dinah.
"I'm from a parallel universe," Lord Dinah replies.
Clark looks at her, still confused.
Dinah sighs. "It's...it's a long story."
"That you have never told him," Lord Dinah realises. "Oh you bad bad girl keeping secrets from your boyfriend. Go on Dinah. Tell him about me. Tell him about the Justice Lords."
"The who?" Clark asks.
Dinah's face shows this is an uncomfortable moment. "Lets...lets get you free first and then I promise I'll tell you everything." Dinah's hand reaches for his chains.
"Stop!" Zee yells only it's a little late.
The moment Dinah's hand touches the chains she receives what feels like an electric shock which jerks her back.
Zatanna runs over and helps Dinah up. "I tried to warn you. The chains will have a protection ward on them."
"How did you know that?" Batgirl asks since Zee hasn't had time to study the chains yet.
"Because it's what I would do."
"Still think we're so different?" Lord Dinah asks her double with a smug smile when the 2 Zatannas can seem to think alike.
"Yes," Dinah insists before looking at Zee. "Get him free," she orders.
Zatanna bends down and her hands hover millimetres off the chains. "Wow. This is real quality work," she praises what she can sense.
"Get him free Zee and stop wasting praise on your double," Dinah says sharply.
Zee starts chanting a few spells. "This is gonna take awhile," she cautions.
Dinah sighs and sits down next to Clark. "While she's working I suppose I should explain," she relents. "Let me tell you a story Clark of a parallel universe and of the rulers of that earth; the Justice Lords."
The Watchtower...
Kimiyo Hoshi, the other Dr Light, emerges from the infirmary where she has been treating Hal. Lois is there waiting along with J'onn, Diana and Aquaman whom Lois had given a severe glare at but bit her tongue on this rare occasion.
"How is he?" Diana asks.
"Apart from some bruising and a little swelling he's fine. Intoxicated but fine," Kimi delivers her findings.
"No thanks to him," Lois mutters, jerking her thumb at Aquaman.
"It was not me," Aquaman defends himself.
"Well Hal thought it was and his ring is missing."
"Which is not logical," J'onn cuts in at this point. "The ring chooses its wearer. No-one but Hal can wield its power."
"If you're expecting answers they are several hours away," Kimi advises due to how high the alcohol content is that she found in Hal's blood.
"Or you could just look in his head," Lois suggests.
That earns her a few strange looks.
"Look just because I criticise you guys a little lately..."
"A little?" Aquaman questions that, folding his arms across his chest and arching a eyebrow of kingly disapproval.
"Hey I do it fairly!" Lois defends herself. "Anyway you've gotten me off topic. I may not think it a great idea invading someone's personal thoughts but Hal has told me how potentially dangerous that ring is. We need to find it. Better safe than sorry...you know that sort of thing."
"She has a point," Diana will concede.
"First time for everything," Aquaman mutters.
"Oh gee. Are you still sore we broke up?" Lois asks Aquaman, her once upon a time boyfriend for a really short period a long time ago.
"Of course not!" Aquaman says overly defensively. "I have Mera."
"And I'm very happy for you...Arthur," Lois deliberately says his name. "That being the case...get off my back!" she snaps at his constant criticisms. "Or so help me I will grill your fishy ass!"
Aquaman audibly growls in irritation. Lois could always manage to do that.
Diana steps in between them. "Can we please focus on the here and now," she requests. "J'onn please can you read Hal's mind and determine what happened to him?" she asks of the quiet stoic green alien.
J'onn nods his agreement and steps into the room and next to the bed where Hal sleeps. His eyes glow as starts to peer into Hal's mind. That is when he sees it...sees them through Hal's eyes. "No," he whispers in sheer disbelief at what shouldn't be.
"J'onn?" Diana inquiries, her sharp hearing picking up his whispered plea of denial.
J'onn looks at her, his expression grim. "We have a major problem," he gravely has to inform her.
Just then Ice, who has been on monitor duty since it is rotated so all members do it in shifts, bursts in. "We have a major problem!" the white haired ice-generator reports in earnest haste.
Diana, J'onn and Aquaman follow Ice back up to the monitor womb leaving an unhappy Lois, who wanted to come with and get what seemed to her like a breaking story, with Hal and Dr Light.
When the 3 get to the Monitor Womb there is breaking news coverage of a major battle taking place in Metropolis. Diana's eyes widen in total disbelief when she sees...herself as part of the group. "Hera! How? Who?"
She looks to J'onn whose face is grimmer than ever. "It's them," he says as this confirms what he saw in Hal's mind. "It's the Justice Lords. They have returned."
"Who are they fighting?" Aquaman asks because while there much destruction taking place it was hard to see amongst the dirt and debris whom it was they were battling.
"We will find out shortly," Diana determines. "Contact Flash and Batman. Let them know what is going on."
"What is going on?"
The 3 members of the ruling council turn to find Ice, Fire and half a dozen or so other League members standing there.
"Who are these villains that look like you?" Fire asks, in her strong Brazilian accent.
Diana is caught. The existence of the Justice Lords was kept secret to only those that were there at the time. The leaguers standing in front of them were newer members to whom this story was never told.
"There is not time for this," Aquaman says, taking charge. "Innocents lives are at stake. You wish to perform an inquisition upon us it can wait," he dictates to them.
"You're right," Ice agrees. "But we will be having that inquisition," she insists.
"You can count on it," Fire says, backing up her best friend.
"Very well," Diana says, if only to hasten their exit. "However none of you will engage these foes."
"Are you about to order us to stay here?" Captain Atom asks, because that is the feeling he gets that is exactly what Wonder Woman will say next. "Because if you are, ma'am, may I point out Justice Leaguers don't stand by while innocents are at risk."
In fact Diana was strongly considering that. However she can see from the expressions in front of her that they may just ignore her order and come anyway. When had she lost her authority to this degree and how had she missed the fact she had were extremely pertinent questions at this juncture.
However she doesn't have time to discover the answer to them. Diana relents a little in her position. "Mr order still stands. None of you will engage these foes. Your role will be to protect civilians. You don't know who you are facing."
"Yeah because someone around here, who obviously does know what is going on, has been keeping secrets," Ice accuses, surprisingly aggressively so for her, since she was usually a quieter, almost timid personality.
"Indeed," Fire says, continuing to support her friend.
Diana can see there will be much she must now share but only after the Justice Lords and whoever it is they are fighting is dealt with. She strides past the group of heroes towards the teleporter. "My order is my order. Obey it and come or not and stay here. The choice is yours," Diana tells them in her most regal and authoritarian sounding voice.
Ice and Fire turn to look at Booster Gold.
Usually he likes beautiful woman to look at him but on this occasion he found the look he is getting intimidating. "What?" he asks them.
"Ok spill future man. What is going on?" Fire asks him since Booster Gold comes from the future and she guesses knows who it is they are facing.
"It doesn't work like that. Tell them Skeets," he says, referring to the small oval golden robot that floats next to him.
"Of course sir," Skeets says obediently. "The issue is that sir repeatedly failed history..."
"Whoa! Stop!" Booster says, cutting Skeets off. "I didn't fail history," he protests.
"You did not pass it either sir."
The group of heroes giggles.
Booster grimaces at being embarrassed by the damn oversized egg. He tries to salvage what's left of his dignity. "What Skeets is trying to say is that my presence here altered the future."
"Sir is correct. My historical database no longer coincides with events along this timeline."
"And even where it does...I've already messed up the future enough as it is. Telling you will make it worse. Believe me I learned my lesson where that is concerned about using that for my own personal profit."
"And yet he still sells himself to the highest bidder for advertising," Ice whispers to Fire critically.
Fire nods in agreement.
Wonder Woman interrupts the conversation. "What is your decision?" she asks of them as she stands on the teleporter pad waiting.
It's not really a choice to protect innocent people although when this is over there will be a reckoning to be had with Wonder Woman.
Metropolis...
The Justice Lord Wonder Woman pushes a huge chunk of brick wall off the top of her. To say this was not going as she envisioned would be like saying Aphrodite is not the shimmering example of a perfect woman.
The moment she kicked down the door she had been thrown off when she saw what...who Cadmus' weapon was.
Donna.
How can Cadmus' weapon be her sister?
The last time she was here Diana had discovered that her sister did not exist in this world. None of this made sense.
What kind of messed up world is this?
Diana pushes herself to her feet as her teammates continue the battle. It had not been the plan to end up here on the surface. It was simply where Donna 'pushed' them with an extraordinarily powerful burst of, what Diana is assuming was, telekinesis.
Diana finds Aquaman charging in at Donna, striking at her with his trident. Donna is deflecting most of the blows with her bracelets.
Aquaman brings a blow down from on high. Donna catches the trident and kicks Aquaman in the stomach. She wrenches the trident out of his hand and, twirling it as she goes, brings it down to land a swinging blow across Aquaman's face. She then slams the trident, points first, into the ground.
"Come King of the seas. Surely your great majesty can defeat a being who is not much more than a few months old," Donna mocks, with a cruel smirk.
Attack the ego. That, unfortunately, always works on Aquaman.
Aquaman growls and attacks her. Donna blocks his first few blows, one gets through and connects with her jaw, staggering her back slightly. She smirks in response as if enjoying it. He charges in, she blocks and delivers a spinning kick sending Aquaman slamming through a building.
Diana pushes herself off the ground at flies at this thing that wears her sister's face. Donna has her back to Diana. She can get the advantage. She pulls her hand back...only to bounce hard off an invisible barrier.
Donna turns round, her smirk growing. "Tsk tsk sis. Attacking someone from behind. Whatever happened to that Amazonian honour?" she mocks, chiding Diana as a parent would scold a child.
Diana hovers there. Telekinesis. She forgot momentarily. "Amazons fight to win," she replies coldly.
Donna chuckles as she lifts off the ground to reach the same height as Wonder Woman.
"What is funny?" Diana just has to feel she has to know.
"If only you could see what I see sis," Donna says with an amused shake of her head.
"Stop calling me that. I am not your sister!" Diana insists.
"Not a very good one, no. Nor are you a great Amazon or you would realise that I'm only talking to you as a distraction."
Diana's eyes widen. She spins in the air just as a car smashes into her with force. The car pushes Diana until they both smash through into a building.
Donna grins, taking amusement out of inflicting punishment. So easy for someone not to notice what she is doing with her telekinesis. A bright green light causes her head to snap up to her left as a giant green steam train smashes into her. A construct courtesy of the Green Lantern.
The train pushes Donna into the ground where there is a great explosion. Hal comes to float over the smoke from the impact crater. He would have gotten back sooner but when she pushed them out of the underground base she really pushed them...through several levels of reinforced concrete. That hurts a lot by the way.
The smoke clears and Hal finds Donna standing in the centre of the crater, looking at him with a defiant glare. "You'll pay for that Jordan," she says menacingly.
"I didn't realise in this world that Cadmus programmed its weapons with the clichéd villain sayings phrase book," he manages to quip.
Donna's eyes narrow and their shade darkens. She prepares to take on Jordan...only for a yellow and red blur to smash into her sending her flying down the street.
Donna leans down and digs her fingers into the road surface, carving out a trench as she slows herself to a stop. She looks up at Flash. "That was a mistake," she says, her voice tinged with anger.
Flash cockily stands there. "I know you are but what I am?" he retorts.
Donna runs at him, literally blurring in the process. To anyone else it would seem she covers the ground almost instantly. For the Flash it is almost an eternity.
She makes a grab at him which he easily avoids. Flash runs around her as she makes repeated attempts to grab hold of him.
"Seriously lady," Flash says. "If I see you coming no-one ever manages to hit me. There's a reason I'm the fastest man on 2 Earths," he boasts.
Donna suddenly swings her arm around in the other direction. Flash skids to a halt millimetres from her fist. Donna smiles and flicks out her finger sending him comically bouncing down the street. "First time for everything," she remarks.
Donna straightens up as a green ribbon of energy...like a lasso rope is flung at her and wraps around her. Hal pulls it tight. Donna arches an eyebrow. "You learn slow Jordan...but fear not I shall teach you your place." She then begins to spin on the spot faster and faster. There is a sudden surge of energy that travels up the rope construct and Hal finds he can't dissolve it. He is now attached to her and he starts to get yanked around and around, faster and faster until you see Donna has unwound herself and is now swinging Hal around like a hammer thrower before she lets him go and sends him sailing through the sky until he plows into a skyscraper in the distance. She dusts her hands off. "Lets see now," she says. "That's my sister, the deposed king, the speedster and the space cop dealt with for the moment," she counts off whom she has defeated so far.
Suddenly a green blur ploughs into her from above smashing Donna down into the road surface, kicking up another cloud of dust. A few moments later the Justice Lord Martian Manhunter comes flying out of the dust after receiving a powerful blow. He skids along the road as Donna floats up. "I was just getting round to you Martian. Do yourself a favour. Yield and I'll consider making your end painless."
J'onn stands himself up. He tries to penetrate her mind.
Donna cocks her head. "I can feel you trying to claw your way in. You waste your time. I was designed to be resistant to telepathic attacks. You want to destroy me Martian you must do it the old fashioned way. Phase your hand in and rip out my heart...if you can," she challenges him.
J'onn floats up.
Donna smirks with an anticipation J'onn recognises. He use to see it on Diana's face when she was younger. She use to get so excited about heading into battle. Part of her heritage as a warrior race until time and wisdom taught her to reign it in.
"I'm waiting Martian," Donna says impatiently. "I have all day. Do you? How long until your double gets here?"
J'onn cocks his head, intrigued at how she knows who he is.
"Oh I know what you are and where you come from," Donna tells him. "I know...I see more than anyone can possibly imagine. The fallen dictators here to do Lex Luthor's dirty work. How you must feel soiled to be reduced to mere puppets of a man you despise."
"We are no-one's puppets," J'onn argues, his tone low with anger at being called that.
"Prove it then. Surrender."
"So you can kill me?"
"Your death is certain. Only how much pain you must endure before your end is up for debate."
"Your overconfidence is your weakness."
"Your faith in your friends is yours," Donna counters before bursting into a fit of laughter. "You won't believe how many of my creators were Star Wars fans," she partially explains where she got that line from. "I'm still waiting," she taunts him.
J'onn has an uneasy feeling but time is limited. Once the Justice League get here there can be no certainty about what would happen next. He quickly flies at her, phasing himself, preparing to fly through her.
Donna waits and waits until the very last moment. Suddenly her whole body flares up as if on fire. The natural Martian fear kicks in and J'onn freezes but for a moment. It is all Donna needs as a fire encased fist smashes into J'onn's face sending him tumbling down to the ground.
"Didn't I mention," Donna starts to say as she floats down, "that my creators added a few extra abilities beyond my sister. Such an odd weakness to fear fire so much it paralyses you," she remarks. Donna creates a ball of flame which floats away from her and orbits around her. "Whereas I am a master of the element like my mother." Donna looks at J'onn with a dark glee in her eyes. "Now Martian lets see how you deal with me when I am your weakness made flesh." Donna sends her little flame ball flying at J'onn with her following on behind. She already had them on the back foot and she is only just getting started.
Kent farm, Smallville...
As Zatanna worked to undo her double's spell Clark had listened carefully to Dinah's story of the Justice Lords. Dinah's double had thrown in a few revelations Clark was still trying to deal with.
Married to Wonder Woman?
Him?
Doesn't seem likely considering how different he thinks they are.
Clark looks at Dinah, their argument earlier still fresh in his mind. Really he knows they need to talk but there are more urgent matters right now. He has seen Dinah many times step up, put her emotions aside and concentrate on the task at hand. He has to do the same if they are to stop these Justice Lords.
What worries Clark is how these Justice Lords aren't all that far from the attitude the Justice League has been giving off lately. Oh Clark knows from his friendship with Hal and the couple of occasions he has spent time with the Flash that they certainly aren't all that bad. The issue is that they seem on the cusp on becoming like these Justice Lords...and they don't even seem to realise it.
Clark briefly explained about how he came to be tied up.
"Ah ha!" Zatanna suddenly shouts in triumph as the chains come away from Clark and fall into a pile on the ground. "She's good," she compliments her double. "But I'm better," she says smugly.
Clark gets to his feet and as he does so he visibly seems to radiate the power that is returning now he is free of those chains. He assists Dinah back to her feet. "So what now?" he asks.
Batgirl answers. "I sent Nightwing, Starling, Huntress, Gypsy and Misfit ahead to scout out Luthor's mansion. We'll meet up with them there." She looks to Zatanna. "Zee," she requests.
Lord Dinah interrupts. "Can I raise the point that from what Clark said they're powers must be restored," she warns.
"Doesn't change what needs to be done. The gateway device to send them home is in Lex's possession. We need to get it. Whatever Lex freed them for we'll find out the details in his mansion. We need to get in there...and only we can do it," Batgirl argues. The Justice League can't go storming into Lex's home without justification. However the BoPs operate more below the radar...which was the point in Barbara setting up this group in the 1st place.
"Zee," Batgirl says again, asking the magician to teleport them to Metropolis.
Zee readies herself. For now Clark thinks he should go with them. If these Justice Lords are as powerful as he believes them to be they'll need him. Zee utters her backwards spell and the whole group vanish in a flash of light.
Metropolis...
The Martian fear of fire is so strong it overrides almost any rational thought. Therefore it robs a Martian of the concentration required to focus to, say, phase their bodies which would be why Donna is able to repeatedly punch the Justice Lord version of the Martian Manhunter with her, literally, flaming fists. The two titans fly backward with Donna on the offensive smashing her fists into the Martian's face, and planning to do so until he is nothing but a green smear on her knuckles.
Donna punches with a downward thrust sending the Martian Manhunter in that direction. She accelerates forward and pushes him into the street, carving out a trench. All the time she increases the power of the fire surrounding her body, making it so hot the tarmac around starts to bubble.
It's not stylish or graceful what Donna is doing but she wasn't created to be so. She is a weapon of mass destruction and right now she plans to destroy the Martian whose cries of pain, as she burns him, brings a smile to her lips.
Donna grinds J'onn into the street until they come to a halt. She picks him up by his costume and blows out a kiss...a stream of fire emerges from her lips and wraps around him. "Burn Martian," she says with malicious glee.
Donna's senses suddenly pick up something. Her head turn and her eyes narrow and the car that was thrown at her comes to a halt centimetres from her face. Wait. Isn't this the car she threw into her sister?
The road beneath Donna's feet cracks as two hands burst out, grab her ankles and pull her down into sewers below.
J'onn drops to the ground, breathing hard, as he tries and regain his composure and heal from what was done to him. The whole street...the whole block shakes from the battle underneath him. The shaking lasts several minutes until the street explodes as Donna comes flying out, smashes into an apartment block, through the building and out the other side.
Diana climbs out of the hole. It had been a good plan for Aquaman to throw the car and distract Donna while she sneaked in underneath. Diana shakes her fists out. This version of Donna had an infinitely harder head. Her gaze picks up J'onn, her concern for him distracts her as Donna returns, ploughing straight into Diana, feet first and the two disappear back under the street.
Aquaman comes to J'onn's side and picks him up. "You alright my friend?" Aquaman asks.
"I..." J'onn's reply is cut off by the ground shaking once more almost knocking both him and Aquaman off their feet.
Down below the two powerful women fight on. Donna ducks under a punch, pirouettes and kicks Diana in the head slamming her into the sewer tunnel wall. Donna grabs Diana's head, pulls it back and smashes it in further. "I am going to rip out your spine and use it to strangle Aquaman to death," she promises viciously.
Diana grits her teeth in determination as she slams her elbow back into Donna's face, before kicking out and smashing her in the knee. Diana spins round and slams a punch into Donna's face sending her into the sewer wall. Diana flies forward sand drives Donna into the wall, her arm across Donna's throat. "You, abomination, shall do nothing but have your existence ended!" Diana vows.
"Big words," Donna counters while trying to push Diana off. "You can't back them up...sister."
Diana's anger explodes. "I am not your sister!" she yells in Donna's face.
Donna achieves what she wanted. Diana's concentration slipping but for a moment and she telekinetically shoves Diana away into the opposite wall.
Diana pushes herself free, her eyes full of hate at this thing.
Donna smirks lopsidedly. "You know my testing and training was never this much fun!" she proclaims, with an over exuberant joy at this fight to the death.
"Fun?" Diana queries that incredulously.
Donna chuckles. "Oh you have no idea what I find fun. You have no idea what goes through my mind...but neither do my creators. I'm their prototype you see and they don't have the slightest clue what they have unleashed upon this world." Donna points at Diana. "You, my dear sister, are amongst the first who shall bear witness to the beginning of a new age."
"You shall not live that long," Diana repeats her vow.
"Then come stop me if you can," Donna dares her before launching herself skyward, smashing through the street.
Diana takes off after her only to find a fireball smash into her as she emerges through the street. Diana tumbles into the street as Donna comes to hover over her.
"Look up sister dearest!" Donna says as she raises her hands to the heavens. "Look up and see the seeds I planted!"
Diana does look up and notices for the first time fireballs, dozens of them, hundreds even, in the sky, along the path upon which Donna and J'onn fought.
Donna had left them behind as she went...and now it was time for fire to rain down from the sky. With a gesture of her hands the balls plummet to earth where they begin to explode upon impact. Buildings, streets, cars, people, all are consumed.
Aquaman and J'onn are forced to dodge as is Flash who weaves his way through the exploding fire as best he can on his way back into the fight. Green Lantern had been flying back but is forced to concentrate of protecting himself from the falling fire of surprising power.
Diana has to deflect a fireball away with her bracelets and looks up at the figure that looks like her sister, hovering amongst the burning red sky and fire raining down. It is almost like a scene from Tartarus.
Donna summons a baker's dozen of fireballs to her and sends them at her sister in one go, knowing even Diana can't deflect all of them at once. They explode around Diana and Donna sees the figure, her costume now burned and torn, sent flying from the force of impact.
Donna flies down, aiming to finish her sister off while she can. Diana is the most dangerous one of them after all.
By pure coincidence...or not Diana ends up not far from where Donna had left Aquaman's trident. Donna lands next to it and picks it up before she blurs over her sister's prone form. She raises the trident up and drives it home...only Diana moves. Not completely out of the way. Donna was aiming for Diana's heart. She ends up driving the trident through the shoulder.
Diana cries out in pain as Donna deliberately twists the trident in deeper to her flesh.
Donna cocks her head as she hears heavy footsteps pounding as someone big and heavy runs toward her. She waits patiently, making sure to apply the necessary force to keep Diana pinned down until...
Aquaman lets out a warrior cry as he leaps at Donna. She raises her hand and clenches her fist and suddenly Aquaman hovers, caught in her telekinetic grip. She snaps her head round to look at him. "That was truly pathetic my liege," she mocks. "Now lets see if Cadmus' data on your weakness is correct shall we?"
Donna creates a TK bubble around Aquaman and it fills with fire. "Cooked fishsticks anyone?" she jokes dryly with dark humour as she cooks Aquaman alive.
Diana slams her foot into Donna's side sending her flying. Diana grabs the trident and, with a scream of pain, pulls it out.
Diana's blow disrupts Donna's concentration and Aquaman drops to the ground, greatly weakened as Donna's attack has dehydrated him.
Diana uses the trident to push herself to her feet. Donna pushes herself off the ground, hovers and rotates in the air. She turns to look down at her wounded sister. "Ready to give up yet?" Donna asks.
"Never!" Diana declares. Amazons never surrender.
Donna prepares herself to finish her sister off only to find a giant green fist smash her into the ground. Hal then repeatedly punches Donna over and over until he hits a TK barrier that she manages to eventually generate. Hal creates an anti-aircraft type weapon pointed down at Donna and begins pounding her TK shield with hundreds of green energy balls.
Donna raises her hands as if pushing against the force. She rises to her knees as her TK shield starts to get embedded with green balls as if they are stuck. Diana can see the strain on Donna's face as if she is reaching the limit of her power. "Keep going Hal! She's weakening!" Diana encourages him.
Hal closes his eyes and concentrates and creates duplicates of his weapons that all surround Donna, peppering her with more and more green energy until Donna can't be seen at all as she vanished under a swell of green energy. The energy then seems to fluctuate and glows strangely. There is a cry from within and the energy suddenly explodes out in a wave. Diana and Hal go flying. The force sends the weakened Aquaman tumbling down the wrecked street like tumble weed.
In the centre of the storm stands Donna, breathing hard, sweat peppering her brow but still standing strong. She takes a rather laboured step forward, her hand wipes a trickle of blood from her nose and she surveys the destruction around her. "Whose next?" she growls out the question.
A yellow and red blur smashing a punch into her face answers that question. Flash skids to a halt.
"Clown," Donna dismisses him. "That's all you ever were. That is all you still are. That is all you ever will be. A joke!"
Flash's eyes narrow and he zips right at her and starts to run around her faster and faster as his punches smash into her from what seems every direction simultaneously. A whirlwind rises up from Flash's movements.
Donna staggers under the onslaught until her hand jerks out and she grabs him around his neck. "Die," she says cruelly. One twitch of her fingers and a sickening crack later Flash drops dead at her feet, his neck broken.
"No!" Diana cries out in disbelief. Not another person she cares for lost! She throws the trident at what is Donna's back.
Donna ducks and starts to pirouette as she plucks the trident out of the air above her. She spins round and throws it right back at Diana who shifts to the side to avoid it.
"You missed!" Diana yells, her temper boiling over.
Donna smirks. "Did I?"
Diana frowns and then she hears a gurgling, choking sound from behind her. Diana spins round just as Aquaman falls into her arms, blood flowing out of his mouth courtesy of the trident that has penetrated his chest and gone into his heart.
"Two down. Three to go," Donna counts it off.
"Four!" she is corrected as a green whip smashes into her knocking her sideways.
Donna slides to a stop and glances up at the Green Lantern. "Three," she repeats her assertion. "After all where is the witch since this began?" she asks in reference to Zatanna.
Diana pauses. Where was Zatanna?
"Oh she is so naughty," Donna childishly chides Zatanna with a devilish smile of approval. "If only you knew her little schemes sis."
Diana frowns. What can Donna possibly mean?
Hal tries to hit Donna with his whip but she dodges and the whip rips into the road surface instead. Donna rockets into the sky at him. He dodges her first punch and smashes a blast from his ring into her chest sending her spiralling through the sky. He then wraps a green rope around her body and slams her into the ground. A hand grabs the green energy and yanks hard pulling Hal from the sky and he too slams into the ground a short distance away from Donna.
Donna gets to her feet, her grip on the energy rope strong. The energy glows and changes weirdly again. Hal finds himself unable to break the construct as Donna yanks him up and slams him down again before spinning him around and around making sure he bashes into everything before he comes to a rolling stop.
Hal gets to his knees and tries to pull Donna who stands her ground smirking. "You're controlling the construct," he realises. "How?" he asks because it was impossible. She can't hijack his construct like that.
"Oh poor Hal. So angry. So bitter. These emotions do not strengthen your mind. They weaken them," Donna argues. "This leaves a pathway open to the ring whose power I do not need. Nor do I need you. Goodbye Hal Jordan," she says with completely finality.
Hal's right arm, the one with the ring on his finger, jerks forward so hard it almost pulls itself out of his shoulder. The energy rope begins to glow brighter as does the ring. Brighter and brighter and brighter until it is too painful to look at it.
Diana raises her hand in front of her eyes but it is so bright she has no choice but to close her eyes.
Hal cries out in pain as the intense energy burns at his skin. "Stop!" he shouts.
"No," Donna replies coldly, as her lips curl up into a cruel grin. "Boom!" she shouts in a joyous tone before the ring does exactly that. It explodes blowing Hal's arm clean off along with a large section of his torso. The mangled body of Hal Jordan lies there unmoving showing he is quite, quite dead.
Donna stares at it blankly. No emotion on her face as between her hands she holds a glowing ball of green energy she took from the ring. Within her grasp it morphs, shapes to her will as she shows an ability to control this energy.
A small smile starts to come back to her face. She spins round. "Surprise!" she shouts as she shoves the green energy into the phasing form of the Martian Manhunter who had been trying to surprise her by rising up from beneath the ground.
Donna shifts the energy into the same phase as J'onn and makes it burn every cell in his body. J'onn cries out in pain as green energy shoots from his mouth and his eyes. Donna controls the energy to burn every cell in J'onn's body until he is literally nothing but an empty shell. Donna pulls her hands out of the dead Martian who simply cracks into pieces, like an egg-shell, and falls to the ground in a small pile.
"Ooh messy. Where's the maid when you need her?" Donna jokes. She laughs to herself as she fixes her gaze on Diana. "Well now. The great and powerful Justice Lords reduced to the last woman standing...sort of," Donna remarks at the state Diana is in, injured as she is.
Diana had been seeing spots for most of the last short while. They cleared only in time for her to see J'onn fall. She lays Aquaman's body down and stands up straight, ready for what is clearly the last moment of this battle.
"Tell me sister, dear," Donna says with mock tenderness, "what do you make of Cadmus' weapon? Pretty impressive even if I do say so myself," she praises herself.
"Nothing to say?" Donna asks at the silence she gets in response. "Really you should choose a few words while you can. They will be your last," she promises.
Diana is many things but above all she is an Amazon and Amazons fight to the death on their feet always. She pulls the trident out of Aquaman's corpse and prepares herself.
Donna rolls her eyes at the display. "Foolish warrior pride. It is your double's flaw as well but if you wish to prolong your end, sister, than so be it. Let us finish this."
Donna flies at Diana and Diana flies at her as the two superpowered women clash once more.
Outer Grounds of the Luthor Mansion...
Superman, Black Canary, Batgirl, the Justice Lord Black Canary and Zatanna appear in a flash of light.
"Good timing," Nightwing comments as he drops down from a nearby tree he was using as a vantage point to scan the grounds. The other members of the BoPs appear from other nearby hiding spots from behind trees and bushes.
"What have you got?" Batgirl asks her boyfriend.
"Done a survey. It seems to correspond to what our guest said."
"You doubted me?" Lord Dinah asks, sounding insulted.
"Of course we did," Huntress counters that with. "You can't be trusted."
"You really can't," Dinah agrees. "Superman can you...Superman?" Dinah stops her question where she was about to ask Clark to x-ray the place when she spots his gaze gone off to the distance...to Metropolis. Now Dinah is looking she can see the night sky lit with an orange glow of fires burning. "What is it?"
"Some kind of battle," he reports. "I think it's them."
"Then go," Batgirl permits. "We'll manage here."
Clark looks to her. "You're sure?" he asks her.
Barbara nods. "Go. Save the day."
Clark smiles at her.
"Batgirl?" Dinah asks and Barbara knows what she is asking.
"Go Dinah," she permits her friend to go with Clark.
Dinah points at her double. "Don't let her out of you sight and don't turn your back on her for a second."
"I'm insulted," Lord Dinah pretends to be.
"You'll be dead if you try it," Huntress promises.
"And I'll help," Starling promises.
Lord Dinah smiles a little amused by it all. It is a nice change from prison after all.
Clark picks up Dinah bridal style into his arms. "You sure you want to come?" he asks her.
"Of course. You would be completely lost without me."
"Right. Keep telling yourself that Dinah."
"Oh I will babe."
Clark rolls his eyes, smiling a little as he lifts off into the air and flies off into the city. Those left behind prepare to invade Lex's mansion.
Batgirl looks to Lord Dinah. "Well you're the one who broke out. You lead us in."
"And if it's a trap you'll find an arrow between your shoulder blades," Huntress promises.
"You'd shoot me in the back Helena? You aren't so different from my Helena after all," Lord Dinah comments.
"Can I shoot her now?" Helena asks Barbara.
"No," Barbara has to say.
"Spoilsport," Huntress sulks.
"Are we doing this or just having a domestic?" Lady Blackhawk wonders.
"We're doing this," Batgirl assures them all. "You staying to help Zee?" she asks.
Zatanna nods. "Yeah. I can sense Tala from here. You'll need me," she offers her assistance in battling the sorceress.
Batgirl looks to Dinah. "Lead the way," she instructs.
"This way," Lord Dinah says as they start to make their way in through the security measures Lex had installed to protect himself.
Metropolis...
Despite her injuries Diana was making sure she didn't go down without a fight. Wielding the trident with skill as if she has used it all her life as a weapon she has had Donna on the defensive dodging and blocking with her bracelets Diana's blows.
Diana swings the trident round and Donna blocks, sparks fly as metal trident meets metal bracelets. The force does cause Donna to have to spin round. Diana thrusts the trident forward as Donna gracefully leaps over the attempt and slides to a stop. She flicks up a piece of metal pipe off the ground into her hands and meets Diana's next blow with a deflecting block.
Diana kept pushing the attack. She had to. She had to make sure Donna had no time to focus enough to use her telekinesis. Diana is aware of its limitations, of the concentration it requires.
The two parry each other blow for blow. Diana manges to find an opening and sweeps her foot under Donna who falls down onto her back. She raises her pipe to block the blow that attempts to fall upon her. She kicks Diana in the stomach knocking her back. With lighting speed Donna is back to her feet and attacking with Diana parrying the blows off.
Diana blocks and thrusts forward at Donna's thigh who lifts her leg up and brings her foot down atop the trident staff snapping it. She smashes her pipe across Diana's face, a blow to the stomach and then a swinging blow to the back of Diana's legs sending her down to her back.
Diana lies there panting and finds Donna's foot smash into her chest hard and press down to pin her.
Donna stands over her fallen opponent. "You had to know you'd lose. You're hurt. You've lost blood. You're tried where I am as...what's the saying...as fresh as a daisy despite the fact I've been fighting 5 of the most powerful beings on the planet. I truly am a remarkable feat of engineering wouldn't you agree sister?"
Diana glares at her 'sister' and can see any wound she or the others managed to inflict is either healed or partially healed. This Donna seemed to possess remarkable regenerative abilities Diana had only really ever seen on her beloved Kal.
"Time to end this," Donna declares her intent. She takes the end of her pipe and her hands glow with fire as she melts it into a sharpened point. She raises it back, ready to deal the final blow when a red and gold streak smashes into her sending her tumbling away.
Donna growls annoyed as she slides to a stop. "Didn't I kill you already?"
Flash appears before her. Luckily his fast burning metabolism had taken care of the alcohol he had consumed when out with Hal and Superman so he is ready for the fight when he was called.
The wounded Diana struggles to her feet only to be met with a bone crunching fist to her jaw sending her to the ground again. She glances up to see her double standing over her, eyes cold and angry.
"You I shall deal with later," the Justice League Diana promises her Justice Lord counterpart, her voice almost hateful.
The Martian Manhunter and Aquaman arrive on the scene. Wonder Woman and Flash join them to stand opposite Donna. The other Justice Leaguers are doing as instructed and simply helping the innocent civilians in the destruction around them.
Donna straightens up. "Well now. Isn't this interesting. The mighty Justice League. Surrender now and I shall not kill you as I did your doubles," she offers.
"Who are you?" Wonder Woman demands to know.
Donna grins. "Why don't you tell them..." she looks at Lord Diana, "sister?"
"Sister?" Diana questions that, puzzled by what she means.
"She's our sister," Lord Diana, says, while she coughs up a little blood.
"I do not understand," Diana says, truly confused.
"I'll explain it so you understand who you have become that they felt the need to undertake this little project," Donna says, sounding rather cryptic but she becomes clearer in her meaning quickly. "The government wanted to create a weapon...the ultimate deterrent should you become like her," she explain pointing at Lord Diana. "At first they tried to clone you."
"They what?" Diana says, totally shocked by that.
"Clone you," Donna repeats. "Make a copy. A Wonder Woman of their own but there's something about your genetic make-up that prevents replication so they decided on another approach. To bring together as many Metahuman powers as possible in a single body. The Donated Nucleotide Assemblage. D-O-N-N-A. Donna. That's my name by the way. Problem is you try to add that many abilities the strain tends to rip the DNA strands apart...unless you use the DNA of a more resilient entity...like an immortal Amazon. You remember the assassination attempt on your mother?"
"Yes but...no," Diana whispers as she suddenly grasps the meaning.
"Oh yes. It was all a set up to get a tissue sample...and here I am. Donna, daughter of Hippolyta, ultimate slayer of fallen heroes at your service," she introduces herself.
Those...those...Diana is so incensed she can't think of a term for them. To think they violated her mother to create this...thing. It sickens her.
"Now I know you're angry sister dearest but look around you before you act rashly. I have slain the Justice Lords. Attempt to engage me and you shall suffer the same fate. You cannot win. I was created to neutralise you. They had to die. You do not. You are not as lost as they were. Not yet anyway. Join me instead and help me bring a New Order to this troubled world," Donna offers. She then looks Diana straight in the eye and says, "I can restore you to your true greatness Diana."
Diana does look around her. At the destruction. At all the innocents caught in the crossfire. "Is this what your New Order looks like? Death and destruction?"
"For a new world to be created the old must fall. Regrettable I admit but necessary."
Lord Diana laughs mockingly.
"Something funny?" Donna asks her crossly.
"That is what I said just after I killed Luthor," Lord Diana points out.
"Difference is I am not corrupted by petty wants and desires as you and your Justice Lords were. My intentions are pure."
"As were mine," Lord Diana argues.
Donna scoffs. "Please," she dismisses that. "I see what you are and pure is not one of them."
"How do you know so much about her?" J'onn asks.
"Who is not here, sister?" Donna asks the Justice Lord version.
Lord Diana thinks and it occurs to her. "Zatanna," she spits out with venom.
"Like I said. She is so naughty!"
Betrayed! Again! Just like with Batman. How Zatanna has done this Lord Diana can only guess. Magic obviously but precisely how eludes her at the moment.
"What is your choice?" Donna asks the Justice League. "Will you join me?"
"A King does not serve another. He commands others," Aquaman gives his, rather arrogant sounding, reply.
"Way to try and sound conciliatory," Flash criticises.
"We're not here to talk to this...creature," Aquaman counters.
Diana finds her voice. "You are correct Aquaman," she confirms. "We are not."
Donna sighs. "That's so sad. I was really hoping for some quality sister time. We could go shopping, do each other's hair, talk about boys," she quips which makes Flash laugh a little.
Diana glares at him and then back at Donna. She and the others tense, ready for combat.
"This is your choice?" Donna asks them to confirm they wish to fight her.
"It is," Diana confirms, determined to stop this abomination and then she will be having strong words with the government about creating it. How dare they steal her DNA! Her mother's DNA! They've violated them both. Diana will make sure they pay she swears to herself.
"Very well. Time to die," Donna says in the same creepy low voice as when she said it to the Justice Lords.
Before anyone can move there is the sound of a sonic boom that interrupts this moment.
Donna smiles lopsidedly. "Here he comes to save the day," she sings in a merry little ditty.
Superman descends from the sky, Black Canary in his arms.
"Kal. No," Lord Diana says, her eyes full of terror at the fact he is here.
Clark looks down at her, his blue eyes penetrating deep into her and sadness seems to fill his features. He deposits Black Canary down and Lord Diana can see in his movements, his expression, a gentle tenderness of affection for Dinah that he use to have for her.
"I guess that means the gang is all here!" Donna proclaims happily. Her moods seem to swing from extremes quite rapidly. "Shall we dance?" she asks them, her lips teasing into that excited smile at entering battle once again. This was more fun that even she imagined. It will almost be a shame for it to end but it must and it can end in only one way.
She will kill them all.
Author's Note: The Justice Lords have fallen for the most part and I'm not even close to showing everything Donna can do. They're all in a lot of trouble. Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. Next up; Can Donna be stopped or will she kill them all?
