208. Metropolitan part 3
"Tempest came here over a week ago. Around the same time you left the Titans and headed west," Diana explained. "He came here with the intent to appeal to the Justice League. But as soon as I saw him, I knew that the League would only pay partial interest in what he had to share. After all, if the Titans spat him out…."
"The Titans didn't 'spit me out'," Tempest corrected. He leaned against a wall in the living room area of Diana's apartment. "But they just as well could have. Or at least in time, I'd probably be given the boot." He turned and looked at me with his white-on-black eyes. "Certainly you felt it while you were with the Titans, Noir. The utter…..the utter coldness of what we are now….or rather, what they are….."
"………………," I stared at him.
His dark optics narrowed. "I've been keeping track, Noir. As much as I can since I've been the one of us two still closer to the Titans….geographically…"
I nodded. I leaned forward, curious.
"Cyborg, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy…..the four are still together. They've had very little crime or mishap to deal with since Dagger's invasion of the City and Robin's death. But the incidents they have dealt with—well—have been a tad bit dramatic."
I raised an eyebrow.
"There is an iciness seeping through the Titans' ranks. Something cold and hard and….yes….laced with hate. They don't hate each other….not yet. But they survive by a felicity as thin as eel skin. They're prone to break down at anytime. They may look like a team on the outside. But something's gotta give. And soon. I don't know how long they'll remain as the four shadows of Robin. But it is only a matter of time before they break apart. I predict Beast Boy will be the first to leave. He'll probably take on another name and try and find other people to hang out with. Maybe his Doom Patrol of old. And Starfire? She may stay on this planet. But I think the City is too sorrowful a reminder of Robin for her to stick to it. Cyborg and Raven look destined to stay with each other for the long haul. But even if they do that…what would become of the 'Titans' group of old? Would they get recruits? Who would join them? Speedy? Supergirl? Nova'm? Certainly not I at this point in time. And you……"
He pointed at me.
I stood dead still.
He smiled tiredly. "I should have known that you would have left the Titans. I wrote Lindsay about it. I've been writing Lindsay about it. You remember Lindsay, right? Daughter of God? Freckled-faced maiden of virginity?"
A sap-happy sigh momentarily escaped Tempest's lips.
A beat.
I frowned and cleared my throat.
He snapped out of it and shook his head. "R-Right….back to the topic at hand…."
Diana smirked somewhat.
Martian Manhunter merely stared.
"I mailed her and I told her that I knew you had left for a reason, Noir. Just like me, you couldn't stand the cold, short-minded leadership of Cyborg. You've sensed it…a deliberate hesitance and paralyzing fear on the android Titan's part. Haven't you?"
I bit my lip.
"Cyborg's the worst thing to happen to the Titans since Slade,' Tempest spat. "The best he'll ever do to preserve the Titans is to seal them away in some cold ball of depression and do nothing about the wicked things afoot."
I held my mute tongue. I wasn't…..that pessimistic about Cyborg.
But still.
Tempest is right……to some extent.
Cyborg……
I expected more from you.
Robin's death was terrible and all, but……
Why were you so afraid to finish Robin's Contract?
Why couldn't you take a risk and have us pursue Terra as a team?
It was the most obvious thing to do after Dagger did his damage.
If you'd just been a bit more brave, maybe I wouldn't have to have—
"You committed mutiny, Noir."
I looked at Tempest.
He stared squarely at me. "I swam away, and you committed mutiny. It didn't take me too long a drift in the Sea to put two and two together and clap my fins at the realization." He smirked. "You went to find Terra, didn't you? And I bet you succeeded. Cuz you're too Zeus-damn of a regular kind of trout!"
Diana cleared her throat.
Tempest simpered: "Sorry, princess."
"I sometimes wish you Atlanteans would be a little more respectful of who sits on Olympus…"
Martian Manhunter suddenly spoke: "While you ventured west across the continent, Prince Garth skimmed the sea shore."
"Not really 'skimmed'," Tempest shrugged. "More like 'happened upon'."
I leaned my head to the side and mouthed: 'happened upon'?
He nodded. "It was sitting on the ocean's floor about a mile out from the City shore. All alone. I noticed it because of a bright red light. Something very queer and unnatural in any body of water that close to land. And when I put my hands on it….I…..I-I felt it. I felt that….that it had so much terribly to do with the Titans. And bringing it to the attention of Cyborg and the rest of the team could somehow…." He bit his lip and suddenly hugged himself in a nervous fashion unfitting of 'Tempest'. "I dunno. Somehow it might put the Titans in danger. Deadly danger. The Titans' bane or something. Th-That's what I felt at the time…so I headed north along the shore with what I found."
"And he came to us," Diana said, gesturing. "When I say 'us', I mean the Justice League."
"But Diana and I felt that Superman and the others would not understand the implications of what Tempest brought," Martian Manhunter said. "Tempest told us about the Titans post-Robin, and it seemed an identical story to what the League was going through."
"Superman's vision has been narrow as of late," Diana said. "Green Lantern is constantly irascible and ill-tempered. The Flash is living in the now. And Batman….." A pause. "Batman is nowhere to be seen."
"The League is no longer functioning as a cohesive unit," the alien continued. "A fissure has formed in our ranks. With the arrival of Tempest and his artifact, I began to sense a cause in all of this schism. There is…a spirit of sorts at work in this region. Someone or something wishes to cleave the forces of good in two. And with the death of Robin, that has started."
I took a deep breath.
Red Aviary……
"Whoever it is has harnessed a power comparable to Death itself," the Martian stated. "Starting with the Titans and spreading to the Justice League and—now I fear—the defenders of Gotham and Bludhaven, a terrible stroke of Destruction is threatening all that was once whole."
Diana spoke up: "I think that Batman knows more than all of us combined." She turned to look at me and Tempest with an earnest expression. "There's a reason why he wasn't at Robin's funeral. I've worked with Batman long enough to understand a little bit about him. He doesn't mourn the dead just like anybody else. When a hero dies, he busies himself in unraveling the mystery behind such a fatality. Perhaps the death of his former sidekick managed to touch his heart beneath that black leather costume of his. But regardless of emotion, he's most likely exerting himself in Gotham or abroad to find out just what it was that killed Robin off…" Her eyes narrowed. "…and exactly what it is that thirsts for the rest of us."
"………………..," I looked at Tempest.
Just what in the Hell is this thing, already?
"I believe he is ready to see it," Martian Manhunter droned.
Tempest nodded. "Right. Hang tight, Noir…" He wandered out of the room momentarily.
"We……uhm….."
I looked over.
Diana was speaking. Or trying to. "W-We sensed that you were coming to Metropolis through this thing. It seems to…..to respond to your presence…"
I raised an eyebrow.
"You'll see," she said.
"………………"
I turned and faced the empty ends of the living room.
I guess I will……
Tempest walked back in. He had with him a brown box…or chest of sorts. It had ornamental Greek designs on its outer shell, and I realized that it must have been a possession of Diana's, used presently to house whatever it was that Tempest was wanting to show me.
What he was showing me.
He set the chest down on a coffee table and looked up at me.
A breath.
"Allright…hold onto your dorsals…."
He slowly, gently opened the chest.
Crrrrreak.
My black eyes narrowed….and then squinted as a dim, red glow reflected off my face and shades.
Diana and Martian Manhunter also narrowed their eyes.
I saw the first glint of it.
The shadows.
The countours.
And……
Red Aviarrrrry……
Thwooosh-CLUTCH!
I flew my right hand to where my flesh joined the metal appendage on my left.
I shuddered and shivered and shook.
Cold chills ran through me at the sight of it.
I struggled to breathe straight….like I was being choked.
"…….," Tempest stared. He backed off from the chest and pointed at its contents.
After the initial convulsions, I shuddered, took a breath, and stood at ease.
A beat.
I swallowed nervously and craned my neck to look straighter.
"Did you sense something, Jordan?" Martian Manhunter said. "I take it that you respond to it as much as it responds to you…."
I shakily nodded.
Inside the chest—glowing in red—rested a mask. But not just any mask.
Slade's mask.
The metal plate with its dichotomous black-and-brown facings and its emblazoned left eye. Slits for breathing like the vampiric teeth of a skull.
It was battered. Stained in a few places from when I slew the ill-fated Terrorist to death. And bits and pieces of algae from the sea lined its surface in a few spots.
And it was glowing. Dimly, but obviously. A crimson-red glow.
Red…
"……………….," I slowly breathed.
"Like I said….," Tempest spoke. "I found it out in the Sea. Beyond the harbor. A mile out, in fact. I only know from what I read….but isn't that kinda sorta where—"
I nodded.
Slade's frigate on July 5.
Far out at sea……
"……………"
I walked closer to the mask.
The red eye pulsed….pulsed….pulsed….
I came within a foot in distance.
The eye stayed a red glow. Brighter.
I stopped.
A beat.
"Jordan…..," Diana murmured.
I raised a finger, silencing her.
I took my shades off.
With naked black eyes, I stared at the mask.
The mask stared back at me.
Red vapor drifted from the metal breathing slits.
"……………."
Tempest bit his lip.
Martian Manhunter stared as a statue.
I crept forward….forward……and leaned down a bit. I flexed the fingers of my right hand….and reached down towards the mask.
Slade's 'face' smoked with an unnatural red. There was no smell. No fumes. No rise or drop in temperature.
Just…………
"…………," I stretched my hand towards it. An inch away from my digits touching. My skin twitched. Black smoke suddenly unfurled from beneath my fingernails.
Without my command….
Tempest blinked.
I leaned my head to the side.
My right hand shook once…twice…
The mask—
PHWOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!
An explosion of RED light. Like the vomit of Hell. Surging up from the tiny metal mask and splashing up against me. Consuming me. Surrounding me.
Tempest shouted.
Diana gasped.
"Noir!"
"Jordan!"
"Don't move, Noir!"
I was convulsing in the red cloud.
My face tilted towards the ceiling.
My black eyes flickered white once….twice….
Black converged with red and my metal arm was covered in ice. Freezing my blood. Shattering apart like glass and crumbling the rest of my body with it down the black hole of the Spectrum.
FFFFFFFFFFLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH!
A pier in Gotham City.
Five men rush out of the shadows.
They see something and gasp.
It surges towards them on a cloud of red.
They rip and tear apart.
They scream and gurgle in their own blood.
Splashes of red against the warehouse wall.
FLASH!
Another pier.
The City of the Titans.
Ripping men apart.
Hacking off limbs.
Slumping their bodies against the red-splashed wall.
Carving names, names, names……
FLASH!
Bodies in the hallways.
The 'Lexcorp' symbol on the wall.
Entrails dangling…dangling.
A flashlight.
Carbonite.
BOOOM!
FLASH!
Men in the psychiatric ward.
Slapped to gurneys.
All of them.
All of them.
Twisting and screaming.
Dragonflare surging in their wide eyes.
"RRRRRREDDDDDDDDD!"
FLASH!
Planting the carbonite under Decker's car.
Watching from a distance.
Four Titans.
One cop.
Car door opening, closing.
Click.
KABLAAM!
FLASH!
A boy.
A tattered costume.
Blue eyes.
The radioactive depository.
He stands above the explosives and looks up towards the stars.
"Annie."
Click.
PHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMB!
FLASH!
Glover stands before the glass.
He looks out.
A red light on his forehead.
From far away he gasps.
From far away, his lips move.
"The Terminator……"
Click.
BANG!
FLASH!
Beast Boy slumps to his knees on the Tower rooftop.
He pants all over.
Bleeding.
Things beep all around him.
He gasps.
He lifts his head and his eyes are tearing.
"Oh god……"
Click.
KAAAAPOWWWWWWWWWW!
Flames envelop the elf's body.
Titan's Tower collapses in a fountain of fire underneath him.
The sky turns red.
FLASH!
Battered and bruised, Starfire collapse on the floor.
She moans and twitches.
SWOOOSH-KLAK!
A shotgun aims point blanc at her skull.
Red vapors.
A strobing eye.
Click.
BLAM!
Starfire's head is replaced with a green sea.
And someone somewhere shouts:
"NOOOOOOO!"
FLASH!
Up.
Up.
Splashing at the surface.
Tilting a head up to the sky.
Wishing the night to bleed red.
The fountain fall of feathers.
Screaming.
"RRRRRRRRREDDDDDDDDDDD AAAAVVVVIARRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYY!"
Lightning.
Thrashing.
Streams of red.
Vapor and fire.
Destruction.
Destruction……
DESTRUCTION!
FLASH!
"I'm the one you want!"
"Annie! No!"
"Aaaa-AAAUGH!"
"YAAAARGH!"
"NO!"
"Heh heh heh."
"BRING HER BACK!"
FLASH!
"He's dead…," Batman says. Kneeling by the water-logged corpse on the shores of Gotham River. "He's been dead for two weeks."
"So it wasn't a hoax?" Batgirl shudders. She gestures: "Mr. Drake really was working for Two-Face?"
"And now Two-Face has finally paid him back," Batman's eye slits narrow. "In full……"
Th-Thwap! Landing boots and the flicker of a yellow cape.
Batman and Batgirl turn and look over their shoulder.
She gasps. "H-He followed us……"
"Let me see him."
"Robin……," Batman points. "Stay back."
The boy marches towards them. "Let me see him!"
"Robin!"
The boy runs.
Batgirl jumps up and grabs his shoulder. "No, Robin!"
"I wanna see him!"
"No!"
"Dad!"
"Calm down, Robin!"
"Dad! Daddy!"
"He's gone. You don't need to look at--"
"DADDY!"
FLASH!
He shivers in a dark, dank alleyway.
Seven years old.
Hugging himself.
Teeth chattering.
His blue eyes misty as the tears run down his cheeks.
And he sniffs.
"Daddy……y-you promised……you promised……"
He hugs himself from the cold.
The red sky of Gotham stretches overhead.
The red sky.
"You p-promised you'd come home with Mommy t-tonight……"
And he sobs.
FLASH!
The red sky.
Smoldering remains of Titan's Tower.
Nearby, on a beach.
Where the ocean laps up and down the sand.
Bodies lay.
Cybernetic hackjobs.
Titanium skin and mushy flesh core.
And a blue robe.
Draped over a bloody pulp of pale skin.
Half sunk in the surf, a dark-eyed corpse with red gashes across his gills.
His torso half-cleaved.
And……
The figure stands.
The red figure.
Breathing……hyperventilating.
Venting red.
Red fumes.
Red vapors.
He tilts his head up.
Flickering light.
One eye.
Two eyes.
One eye.
Two eyes.
FLASH!
Two eyes of hazel.
As he comes at me, red sword swinging.
"YAUGH!"
I block.
CL-CLANK!
He presses his sword against me.
I press my sword against his.
He grits his teeth.
His hazel eyes flicker red.
My brown eyes flash black.
He shoved against me.
I stumble back.
He swings.
I block.
He pivots his sword and slashes down at my feet.
FWOOOOSH!
A red stream of energy parts the earth and burns my feet.
"O-Ow!" I wince and stumble back.
"Nnnngh!" he pivots and shoves a red-billowing foot in my chest.
WHAP!
I fall back against the tall grass. "Ooof!"
I drop Myrkblade.
He stands over me……panting. Smirking. "Not half bad, huh?"
"Yeah……," I wince and rub my singed feet through my shoes. "Not……h-half bad."
He gasps, his hazel optics wide in concern. "Aw shit! Jordan, I didn't mean it!"
He drops his red blade and kneels beside me.
A hand on my ankle.
"Did I burn the skin?"
"Almost……," I wince. Smiling. "I can't expect anything less heated when sparring with you."
He pants and runs a hand through his thick black hair. "Damn……I-I couldn't help myself! Sparring with you is always so……so……"
"M-Macho?" I wink.
"Er……," he simpers. "I guess I kinda like hitting Ana less."
"Yeah……same here……unless she's kicking our butts like she normally does."
"Yeah……hahahahaha!"
"Hehehehehehe!"
"Heheheheheheh……"
A beat.
He starts to shudder.
I look at him, concerned. "Hey……"
He shudders some more.
"Y-You all right?" I place a hand on his shoulder.
He shakes.
He looks at me.
His eyes moist.
"I-I'm so sorry, Jordan. The last thing I'd ever want to do is hurt you."
"Hey. It's okay!" I shrug with a smile. "We were just sparring. Boys will be boys. Besides, it's practice."
"I-I know……but……," he hugs himself. He sniffs and clenches his eyes shut. "The training that I've been going through. The Red stuff……with the M-Master……"
"Yes?"
"……………it's j-just so scary, Jordan. I could be so……so dangerous. I'm s-so afraid I might hurt you someday. You and Ana……"
"And why on earth would you ever do that, man? Wise up. It's just the Spectrum."
"It's s-s-so much m-more than that, Jordan……," and he starts to sob.
I bite my lip. I wander over and hug him with a single arm. "It's okay, man. We're here for you. We're not ever going to let you get consumed by Destruction. You hear me?"
"I h-h-hear you, Jordan."
"Ana's Construction. And I'm the Equalizer. We all lean on each other. We're a trinity. You got it?"
"I got it………I got it………I-I……I g-got it……"
And the cold winds of a Washington morning kick at our bodies.
And the air drifts ever Eastward…………
………
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"………….."
"Jordan……"
"………….."
"Jordan?"
A hand stroked over my forehead.
I shifted.
A beat.
I was lying down.
I opened my black eyes.
Thinly.
I saw the popcorn ceiling of an apartment complex.
I stretched out flat on a couch.
My head was in somebody's lap.
"You seem to be coming to…."
Diana's lap.
"………," I winced. I sat up.
Dizzy.
She braced me with her hands my shoulders.
Tempest 'sat' on the floor, leaning his head to the side.
Martian Manhunter stood as tall and as stone-like as ever in the corner of the living room.
I rubbed my head, sighing.
"You were unconscious for about fifteen minutes," Diana said. "We were afraid for a moment there that the mask sent you into a coma."
"Technically….," Martian Manhunter droned, "….it was."
I shakily nodded.
I lifted my left arm….only to realize that my left warm wasn't attached to me.
I looked at the stub with its metal disc.
"…………"
I looked at the two League members.
Diana simpered. She pointed at the table: "It's right here."
I glanced over.
My metal arm rested next to the box. The chest was closed. Slade's battered, glowing facemask was hidden from view. And from 'touch'."
Martian Manhunter drifted over and pointed at my metal prosthetic: "Two minutes into your collapse, the red energy was streaming fixedly around your titanium appendage. I surmised that it was the source of your seizures. Tempest and Diana took it off—and like I predicted—you rested quietly afterwards. There may be a connection of sorts….but I am at a loss as to what."
I shrugged.
Dizzy again.
I rubbed my head with my right hand.
"Jordan….," Diana craned her neck. "Can you tell us what happened?"
"Better yet," Tempest pointed. "Can you tell us what in Poseidon's name is going on with that glowing thing?"
I shuddered, swallowed, and looked at the closed chest. My naked black eyes glanced halfway towards the alien.
It's drenched in Destruction energy. The red end of the Spectrum. The reason why it responds to me is that I'm the Black part of the Spectrum. Balance. When I came into contact with the Destruction, my meditative self compensated by leaning towards the White end. Construction. But the power of Destruction was too great. The only way my body could handle it was to……to shut down, I guess.
"Any reason why the dead Slade's mask would be so closely tied to Destruction?" Martian Manhunter asked.
I sighed and rubbed the back of my head with my right hand.
I don't know……
"Truly, you don't?"
I bit my lip.
I truly didn't know.
Though a part of me didn't even want to 'know'.
"Is it unnatural for this sort of phenomenon to occur?"
I am always channeling the power of the Spectrum into useful objects. Myrkblade, my sword. It becomes a way of wielding Balance in the physical world. Just any object could do that when in my meditative grasp, but not quite as well as Myrkblade. Because I have closely tied this wooden sword with the power of Black. In some way or another……Slade's mask has been intimately connected with Red. And a high concentration of it.
"Is there anyone in the world with the power to do this if she or he so wanted?"
"……….."
"Jordan?"
There is one person. But……
"…………," the alien stared at me.
I looked up at him.
I don't know if he's alive or dead now. I just……I don't know.
"………….," the green being nodded. "I understand."
"Well I'd like to understand too…," Tempest folded his arms and frowned. He gazed over. "Just what's up with this thing, Noir? It seems to share the same power as yours, but a different fashion statement. Any light you can shed on this guppy?"
I stood up. Legs wobbling. I walked over to the coffee table and picked up my metal arm.
Ever since Robin died, I've been chased by Red Aviary. Before Glover died, he pointed me west to Vegas……where the Messenger helped me beat Killer Croc, Jinx, and Pulsade to Terra. I rescued Terra from Area 51 shortly before the place blew up like a giant Roman candle. I took her halfway across the Continent and deposited her in the safe hands of a good friend of mine. There, she'll be safe. I came here to Metropolis alone for two reasons. Number one: I learned of things at Area 51 that lead me to pursue Lex Luthor personally. Number two: I felt Red Aviary closing in on me. Red Aviary is that Destruction. Someway or another, he seeks to destroy all that is considered 'good' in this world. He'll catch up with me sooner or later. I don't want to risk Terra being in the crosshairs of his wrath. It'd be far worse for her to die than for me……since she represents Construction in and of herself.
Martian Manhunter voluminously translated my thoughts for the other two, for which I was secretly grateful.
I attached the metal arm to my disc.
Click-Hissssssssssssssss!
I winced….weathered the chill….and sighed as I regained motor control.
Terra was pregnant with Slade's child when she was sealed away in stone. A horrible thing happened to her in the hands of Dagger while she was still imprisoned in rock. Her thermalkinetic energy was stolen and processed into vials of easily accessible material that can summon stone golems on Dagger's and Triangular's command. Such weapons were flown over to Metropolis. Somewhere in this City, Luthor is receiving a deadly……deadly shipment. In the meantime, something else was distracted from Terra's body. Her own child. Barely past the embryonic stage………but somehow preserved in transit. Her child has been labeled 'Gaia'. And from quasi-prophetic words I've heard back in Vegas, I'm prone to believe that some sort of dark destiny will come to past regarding Terra's Gaia.
Martian Manhunter translated.
And when he was done:
"Great Hera….," Diana uttered. "What a cruel thing to have done…."
"Where is Terra now, Noir?" Tempest asked.
"……………," I stared at him.
His lips parted and his dark eyes thinned. "You mean you won't even tell me?" He hugged himself. "Pfft! That's cold. And for a guy who lives around fish, I should know!"
"I believe the mask and its red responsiveness to Jordan proves something," Martian Manhunter said. "Red Aviary is closely tied to him. Him and Terra. Red Aviary will use anything to get to the two of them first, before going forth to eliminate the rest of the Titans in some fatalistic vendetta. We may be Jordan's trusted allies, but we could also be his worst follies."
Tempest punched his fist. "Not if we act fast!" He looked at me. "Tell us what we should do, Noir. Where can we go to throw this Red Aviary off?"
"I don't think it's possible to deal with Red Aviary," Diana said. "After all….that's not what Jordan came here for…."
Tempest blinked.
The Amazon stood up and looked down at me. "Luthor and this 'delivery'……it's as real a threat as Red Aviary, if not more took a deep breath.
Triangular has a Parasite. That Parasite is Red Aviary. If we defeat the host, the Parasite will have nothing to feed on. Red Aviary will bubble up to the surface. All that was once deadly and hidden will creep into the light for us to slay.
Martian Manhunter translated.
"Then we must help you with getting to the bottom of what Luthor has in store," Diana said. "At all costs."
I nodded.
"We can do that," Tempest said. "Diana and double-M here have proven most useful to me and I'm sure they'll help you out just the same."
"Yes…," Diana folded her arms and smirked. "Quite the courageous group we've assembled. Though I must say……Tempest is a handful to bunk with."
I raised an eyebrow. I looked over at the Atlantean.
He blushed. "I've….uhm…..I-I've sorta been crashing in her bathtub."
I simpered.
"Never made so many trips to Long John Silver's," Diana shook her head. "For an Atlantean, he seems intensely attracted to grease."
"Not true! I just like their 'hushing pups'…."
I groaned mutely and ran a hand over my face.
Martian Manhunter walked over to me. "This has been your mission from the start, Jordan. You came here with the intent to investigate Luthor. We standby your decision."
I gazed at him sideways.
Well jeez……isn't that flattering.
He spoke: "I merely trust your judgment. You are wise and courageous beyond your years, Jordan. Your defeat of Slade four months ago was exemplary. And you showed great tenacity when battling the Gordanians on planet Tamaran."
"……………….," I blinked. My eyes narrowed. Excuse me?
Martian Manhunter merely stared. "………..you……….you have no access to that memory?"
My lips parted.
What are you talking about? When was I ever on Starfire's homeworld?
The alien cleared his throat. "I do apologize….I am obviously in error."
"…………….," I blinked. Uh…………yeah.
"Luthor's headquarters may hold the answer to what Jordan seeks," Diana said. "But it will be no easy task to infiltrate the criminal landscape. Long since Superman came to Metropolis and the League in turn, the man's nefarious defenses have gone sky-high."
"It'll take an entire army to get into Luthor's place," Tempest groaned.
I nodded with a sigh.
"No," Martian Manhunter said.
We all looked at him.
He frowned: "It will take careful planning." A beat. "And cunning."
T-T-T-T-T-T-
November 27, 2004.
Saturday.
10:32 am.
Lex Luthor's HQ
T-T-T-T-T-T-
The man sat in his plush office hair.
Swiveled around to face out the window of his lofty, top-floor office room.
The spires and bridges of Metropolis loomed beyond.
An entire City under his command.
More or less…..
The sheen of his bald head shone in the combination of the electric light and the morning Sun.
He frowned as he spoke heatedly into a portable phone.
"And I'm telling you, my resources have run dry on that front. Frankly speaking, Kasnia is old news! It is a dinosaur! The financial need for bullets and bombs will fade away along with the blood of the fallen wastes of breath that call that European hellhole a home! Now I've pitied the state before. I've funded it. I risked neck and name and fortune over it. And to what end? It is a bad investment! Do you hear me? Nothing more! I'll wait until another pitiful war renders the country into a crater fit for mining ore…or maybe another one of Vandal Savage's playboy rampages before I so much as give that country as second thought again! Good day, Mr. President!"
CLAK!
He slammed the phone on its hook.
Sighing.
"…….."
He stood up.
He walked over to the stretch of window.
He gazed out onto the City.
Body tall.
Head glazed.
Eyes……….tired. Emaciated on a healthy head. Weary over years of frustration.
"………………….."
The collar of his black suit shifted in a sudden rush of inside air.
"Huh?"
He turned.
He looked over his desk.
A partial gasp….then a smirk. "You……"
He paced over to the desk, gesturing.
"How did I know that I would soon be seeing your pimply face right here in my office at some time or another….?"
CLAMP!
A metal, titanium hand slammed onto the desktop.
The black-haired swordsman stared at him. Frowning. Black eyes thin behind obsidian shades.
"At a loss for words?" Luthor throated. "Or is nature's tradeoff for your freakish powers a little case of…..permanent laryngitis?"
The swordsman's teeth gritted, showing.
Luthor paced slightly on his side of the desk, gesturing: "You know what happened in Vegas was a catastrophe to begin with. I told Harvey Dent from the beginning that hiring Jacob Anderson to run the show at Pompeii was a mistake. But was I listened to? No. Not a bit." He frowned suddenly. "Lexcorp is the back-end of Triangular. No matter what you should hear from anyone. Or anything."
"…………," the dark-haired teenager merely glared.
"So what did you come here for? To harass me? Did you need some wonderful information of some sort or another?" Luthor sat down comfortably in his chair nd folded his arms. "You do know that I'm not a villain, right?" He smirked. "I am merely a highly valuable citizen of this City. With his fair share of…….shady business relations. But we all have them. So do you, I might add. Some superhero…fighting like an animal in basement cage fights to get what you desire. And just what is it that you desire? Some sort of….reprieve now that Robin is dead and the cute little City you and the Titans protect has been raped by my strong and unassumingly quiet associate with a penchant for knives?" He leaned back in the leather seat. "You know, I stopped investing in Kobayashi stocks shortly before the grand assault on your hometown. I suppose if you want anything to prove me guilty of—then there you have it. Insider trading. Heheheheheh…." His bald brow furrowed. "Now if there's anything else you want, you can just get the Hell out of my office and I'll consider not ordering my security men to turn you into a lead pincushion."
CHIIING! A glinting, sharp object in the swordman's right hand.
THWIIIIIIIISH!
THUNK!
A razor-sharp playing card landed in the chair cushion between Luthor's legs.
He half-gasped, composed himself, and plucked the card out from the middle of his thighs. Rrrrip! He held the item up to his eyes.
The ace of spades.
In red ink, words were scribbled:
'I'm about to kidnap back what you kidnapped from Terra, you penis-headed son of a bitch.'
Finally, Lex Luthor snarled.
He stood up and slammed the card—shattering—into his desk and spat at the former Titan.
"You can't threaten me! I can have you hung up to dry, you little punk!"
The black eyes of the swordsman narrowed.
Luthor seethed. Luthor shouted. Luthor vented his anger….opening up.
Opening….himself….up……
"I'll tell the Justice League about your violent little romp with the Harrier Jet clear across Vegas! And then I'll tell them how you came here to threaten me! Ohhhh…how the world will weep for the once-hero turned Wyldecarde. Your crime fighting career will be over. You understand me? I'm bigger than you. Bigger than this City! And—so help me—bigger than Triangular!"
"…………………………," slowly, the swordsman nodded. He turned around…..and marched off towards the elevator. The doors opened. And he entered in. And went down.
Luthor took a deep breath.
He sat down in his chair.
A beat.
He folded his fingers.
"…………"
He composed himself, and smiled.
He flipped on an intercom system on his desk.
Click.
"Yes, Mister Luthor?"
"We have…………an unwanted guest taking a trip down the elevator. Stop the car on the Eleventh floor. Janitory level. Have the Eighth Squad take care of him……with finesse….."
"Right away, Mister Luthor."
Beeeeeeeeep.
Luthor leaned back and sighed.
With a smile.
"Well, Dagger…..looks like I got to him first…….."
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Inside the elevator….
The swordsman stood tall.
Like a statue.
He took a deep breath….
And spoke:
"It worked, Jordan. Luthor lost his temper."
With a fluctuation of light, the black-haired teen morphed back into Martian Manhunter.
"He opened his mind to me while he was venting."
T-T-T-T-T-T-
'I found the access code to the inner sanctum of Luthor HQ.'
I stood—cloaked—at the end of a metal-laced security corridor on the thirtieth floor of the building.
A sliding door and a numberpad rested before me.
I clung to the wall, breathing gently.
Invisible.
'The number is 1212.'
I took a deep breath.
And smiled.
Good work.
I ran my metal finger over the number pad.
Beep-Beep-Beep.
Klak!
Hissss.
SCHWISSH!
The door slid open.
I crept on through into the darker lair beyond.
This is it. I'm going in.
'Diana, Tempest, and I shall standby for assistance on the outside.'
Understood.
'Good luck, Jordan.'
Same to you.
I passed under the door.
It closed behind me on its own.
SCHWISSSH-CLANG!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Move! Move!"
"Out of our way!"
Three guards rushed down a corridor on the janitor's mantenance level on the eleventh floor.
They shoved weary cleaners, mechanics, and workers away in the grimy bowels of the between-floors interior of Lexcorp.
The blue-collar workers who'd seen it all merely obeyed as the burly men rushed by.
All three filed up before the elevator doors.
Two raised pistols.
The third whipped out a flame thrower.
They waited….waited….waited….
Ding!
The elevator doors opened.
"Let 'em have it!"
PHOOOOOOOOOMMMMMB!
The flames billowed into the elevator.
Hot.
Red.
A burning orange.
The workers in the back cringed, went back to their duties, and tried to ignore the carnage.
"Okay! That's enough! He's toasted!" shouted one gunman.
The guard in the middle cut off the flame thrower.
They all stared into the smoking interior of the elevator….
And blinked.
"What in the—"
"Wh-Wh-Where's the body?"
The third one scratched his head and gazed into the elevator.
There was not even a single speck of burnt ash….
T-T-T-T-T-T-
The rooftop of Lexcorp HQ.
An incorporeal green form of Martian Manhunter teleported through the top shell of the black building.
It soared up through the clouds where Wonder Woman hovered, hoisting Tempest up by an arm.
The green, translucent form of Martian Manhunter gave a signal.
Wonder Woman and Tempest waved.
They both looked down at one at the building.
Waiting………..
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Luthor tapped his fingers on his desk.
Tapping.
Tapping.
Tapping.
He paused.
A beat.
He flipped a few switches of his intercom system and spoke into it:
"Doctor…..Doctor Jace…."
A beat.
Luthor's brow furrowed. "Helga! Confound it, woman! Are you there?"
"Snkkkkt……a little busy, Mister Luthor. What do you want?"
T-T-T-T-T-T-
A computer console in the wall of a white, white laboratory crackled with the wealthy despot's voice:
"We had an intruder, Helga. Someone was nearly onto us. Tell me……how far are you in the process?"
A redheaded woman with blonde hair operated on a body behind a white sheet. Her facial features were hidden by a metal face-mask and black working goggles. With gloved hands, she applied frightening sparking-tools to the body lying on the gurney beneath her. Two assistants hovered about as she went on her Frankensteinesque work somewhere in the belly of the building.
"Everything is going along quite well," she uttered slowly in a Scandinavian accent. "We're just about to make use of the gift Anderson had stolen from Intergang for us. Perhaps it was the only useful thing he ever lived to do."
"Hurry. If the Justice League gets on our backs now, it could spell trouble for us and our business partners. I don't want what happened in the Titans' City to happen to Metropolis."
"Do not worry. You men of power are always so anxious."
"Yes. But not Dagger. Dagger has a bottom line that he won't accept as being crossed."
"Dagger is but a mortal. I shall provide for you immortal support, Luthor. Trust me…." She gestured towards an assistant.
The man carried over a metal briefcase. He opened it up. A very familiar cylinder of translucent crystal appeared in the foam frame inside.
Dr. Helga Jace took it in gloved hands and walked over to the head of the body she was working on.
"If worse comes to worse….we'll just have to test our enemy's metal…."
She reached down and grasped the body's skull.
A reflective, harder-than-titanium skull.
She popped open a hole in the top…and slowly slid the clear cylinder in.
"….and we'll have something far….far greater than metal to meet the challenge."
Sliiiiiink-Klak!
Two eyes flashed open.
One human.
The other glowing white.