212. Metropolitan part 7
November 27, 2004.
Smallville.
Kents' House.
4:56 pm
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Dialing.
Dialing.
Dialing.
Pause.
Crackling voice.
'Hi, this is Clark Kent. I'm sorry I couldn't come to the phone right now. If you leave a name and a number, I can get back to you. Thank you, and have a good day.'
'If this is a business related call, please press '1'.'
'If this is a personal call…..'
Click.
BEEP.
"Hello? Clark? Clark? Are you there? Th-This is Kara. I-I've seen the news. And….I'm worried. Don't take this the wrong way. I'm pretty sure you're okay and all. You can get past bad scrapes just fine. But….B-But I know that Noir isn't the bad person you think he is. Please, Clark. Call me back. I will….I-I will explain everything. Noir's in Metropolis for good reasons. He couldn't POSSIBLY be the one who attacked you! It's gotta be some…s-some conspiracy or something. Please. Call Ma and Pa's house. I wish I could leave and go there to talk to you in person…but…I-I can't. It's kinda complicated. But I gotta speak to you. About Noir. About…..everything. Th-Thanks…..uhm…..bye…."
Cl-Click.
Kara placed the phone down on the receiver. Sitting in the dim glow of a tableside lamp in the living room, she sighed.
"……….."
"You knew Noir closely…."
Kara blinked. She turned and looked over her shoulder.
Terra stood at the bottom of the stairs in the shadows. Hugging herself. Eyes weak. "……Didn't you?"
Kara took a deep breath. A slight smile. "Yeah…we uh…..he and I…." She bit her lip, sighed, and glanced aside. "I dunno….."
Terra leaned her head to the side. "Oh? I…I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
"It's okay," Kara waved. "It was all just a…crazy thing…"
"So whatever happened between you two…," Terra spoke, "….it's over now?"
Kara walked over and sat on the back of the couch. She was silent for a few seconds before uttering to the floor: "He's part of a team. A team that he loves more than anything. 'Family' that he would blur across the country for, run alone into Metropolis for,………….chop off his arm for….."
Terra slowly nodded. "I….I think the Titans are lucky to have had him…."
Kara smiled weakly. "It's not that I'm jealous or anything. I get this sense that Noir has lost a lot in his life, and the Titans are very special to him. Perhaps….they're the only thing special to him. And whether or not I was ever in the picture frame of his life……I only felt like a shadow. An illusion. Some glint of a reflection off the surface of glass. I-I felt like he was communicating with me over long distance just to make me happy….but…..b-but….I…."
"…..you weren't happy….."
Kara looked up.
Terra softly uttered: "You felt bad. Self-conscious. Every time you saw him on the news or heard his name on the radio, you felt that distance all the more. And you wondered to yourself….'how was I ever close to this person'? 'He doesn't really need me'. 'He doesn't really love me back, because if he did….he would be doing all he could to come and save me'."
"…….," Kara painfully smiled.
Terra sighed and said: "I thought a lot about Beast Boy both times I was with Slade. And I came to realize, it wouldn't work. No matter how much I wanted it to. He had his family. And I had….myself. Some girls are simply….simply alone…."
"Hmmm….you got that right," Kara murmured. "……." She looked up at Terra. "But you love him now…..r-right?"
Terra bit her lip.
Kara blinked. "I….I'm sorry….I thought you….."
"Beast Buy must think I'm dead," Terra murmured. She hugged herself tighter and looked aside. "I might as well leave it that way…"
"You really don't expect the Titans to give up on you!" Supergirl stood up, paced over, and gestured: "Terra, they're your friends! They would do anything to…"
"The Titans didn't give up on me, Supergirl. I gave up on them."
"………"
"I'm sorry Noir never really showed you much affection. But in a way….I'm also glad for you…," Terra said. She slowly crept up the stairs. "When you get close to someone….it only hurts all the more. It hurts all the more once betrayal happens…."
Kara stood alone. Gazing into the shadows of the steps like a deflated doll.
"Girl…..," Kara whispered. "I know exactly how you feel….."
There was a twitching of something in her eye. Like a shadowed hero in the chambers below the earth dancing to Braniac's paralysis waves and suffering from Metallo's kryptonite. Kara ran a hand over her face….
And shuddered.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Metropolis.
Lexcorp HQ.
5:03 pm
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Mr. Luthor, I have been more than happy to provide my services. But please understand, I never assisted Red Aviary for the sake of profit. My rewards are like….l-like warm breaths in the air. I am honestly….simply….a loving mother. A mother who has lived the years of over three mothers combined and—with the helping hand of technology—can live further the span of over nine times as many daughters. Heh heh heh heh….life is like a chain of circles. And I….merely flutter through the loops to my fancy. Strengthening and reinforcing the bindings. There are so many poor…poor children out there with special gifts just waiting to be pushed along the right path. I have had the happy privilege to be among so many of them. My little treasures back in Markovia….they owe their very lives to me. Without my help, they could never have gotten past the bigoted, prejudicial scrutiny of the mere mortals living within the region. I helped children survive the death camps of World War II, and during my tours of the Russian Landscape I saved hundreds of others from Stalin's genocidal purging by giving them happy, warm homes in my clean and efficient laboratories. True…a scant few of my children did not live too long to reap the rewards of my operations, but not all life is respectable and punishment is very real. But—oh—so many of my children turned into such beautiful, beautiful beings. I try my best to follow every one of them. The Twins from China. The pyrokinetic boy in the Virgin Islands just about to make headlines by now. The last two Markovians….heheheh….of course. But working for you, Mr. Luthor, and having a chance to give John Corbin a new beginning as well as see the metaphysical subjects of Lexcorp's exploits….I have been given the biggest surprise of all. I saw a child of the past whom I thought was lost to me. The Black Eyes. He is alive. And though I take with a slightly sad heart the fruits of Metallo's holographic doing, I must say that it was joyous being able to see such a beautiful—howbeit stubborn—former pupil of mine. His body is so….grown up, scarred, changed. And his memory….oh ho ho….the boy pushes it all so far away from him that I wonder if he willfully denies the very things he knows to be true about himself. When Dagger chanced upon him, the cold despot himself must have found at least slight amusement in pricking the Black Eyes' vessels. I wonder if the boy realizes just how evolved he is? Or if he too knows where the other two sides of the Spectrum are today? Or if…perhaps…he doesn't even care? Whatever the case, he is in dire straits now. Sooner or later, he will realize that his dark gifts are no longer the Balance that he once learned…but are something much more constricting. And he will no longer be fit to blend with the moralistic family he flocks with. He'll come crawling back to his past on his hands and knees—much sooner than the other two, I imagine, and most likely it will be Dagger who finds him, recruits him, and revitalizes him into the shadow I so happily crafted him to be. So thank you, Mr. Luthor. Thank you for this wondrous opportunity to be on the front line for something. It is the greatest show on earth…and so much as breathing the beating air of this inevitable battlefield of youth and ancients is positively scrumptious….."
Dr. Helga Jace finished speaking.
Lex Luthor sat across from her. In his big leather chair. His back to the sunsetlit Metropolis.
With hard eyes and harder lips he slowly uttered: "Dr. Jace, I want you to pick up your check, turn around, and kindly get the Hell out of my office…..and city……"
The redhead smirked lusciously. "Hmm…." She stood up with a manila envelope in her grasp. "I can see now. Triangular is a most….serious operation."
Luthor pointed: "There is no 'Triangular', and you were never here. Got it?"
"Heheheheh….I got it…," she winked. She turned around and sauntered towards the far door. She stopped midway and uttered: "Oh….Mr. Luthor…."
The balding villain rubbed his temples. "Nrghh……Yes……?"
She looked over her shoulder. "The Red Destruction that was in your Alpha and Beta Laboratories….the Parasite….."
"Yeah? What about it?"
"It was never a power foreign to me…," she said. "For the two years I worked for you, I felt a growing sense that Red would be on its way here. It is only a matter of time before destructive forces become fit to destroy themselves simply by existing. Five years ago—when I worked on the Experiment—the Balance of this world was challenged far greater than it had ever been challenged before. And I fear—no—I anticipate that the Spectrum has been tilted." She turned around completely and smirked. "The Parasite that you face is a certifiable danger indeed."
"You think I don't know that?"
She raised a hand: "I am simply telling you to keep on the look out. Whatever it was that bestowed the Redness to this fiend….it is far stronger than ever I have faced before. Even during the birth of the Eyes."
"Ma'am….," Luthor groaned. "…my patience is running thin; which means the same for your life if you don't leave."
"Heheheh…but of course," Dr. Jace 'curstied'. "My well wishes to your organization, Mr. Luthor." Her eyes momentarily thinned like cobra optics as she hissed: "You will need them…."
"……"
The European Doctor left through the office doors.
Creaaak……
Silence.
Luthor sat at his lone table in the lone building in the lone sky above Metropolis.
He folded his hands and leaned forward for a moment.
"…….."
His fingers drifted over and tapped a button on his desk.
Schwwwwwisssh!
The plates of windows wrapping around the building exterior behind him slid up and opened to the high altitude of Metropolis. Cold November winds whipped in.
Luthor turned around, got up, and walked over till he stood before the open City. He gazed at the spires of Metropolis. His arms folded behind his back. His smooth nostrils gently inhaling the cold air….
"……."
His eyes narrowed.
"Happy hunting, Death…..," his eyes then closed. "We're all waiting for you….."
T-T-T-T-T-T-
In the Bay waters of Metropolis….
Tempest, Steel, and I….
The three of us were submerged at least one hundred feet below the cold surface of the November waves. Steel had pried free a slab of concrete from the ground of the abandon shipyard. We three stood on the slab while Tempest—with expert concentration and a powerful glow of violet—channeled us through the waters with a bubble of air surrounding our 'pocket'. In such submariner fashion, we skimmed the surface of the northeast land wall. The rock face on the edge of Metropolis dropped almost straight down in a vertical fashion. Various abandoned pipes and huge tunnels stuck out at sporadic moments where fluids used to be pumped out in days before intense environmental regulations took over. As we passed each tunnel, we persisted on submerging through the currents to find the next ones in line. We were looking for one tunnel….and only one.
"I feel embarrassed saying this, Noir…," Tempest murmured. "….but I can't see for dolphin poop. Keep those eyes of yours pealed. Maybe you can guide us along to the next tunnel."
I nodded. With my shades off, I bore my naked eyes ahead of us and pointed downward some.
Tempest lowered us on the floating platform and brought our 'bubble' along the wall towards the next destination.
"Wow…you're really good at this, kid!" Steel remarked. His heavily helmeted head gazed around at the spherical, domed-walls of water wrapping about the concrete slab and the three persons. "Tell me, do all Atlanteans have the magic finger like you do?"
Tempest smirked with his eyes a flaring purple. "Only the sexy ones."
"Ah, yeah. I hear you," Steel nodded. He re-gripped his hammer before leaning on it and looking over my shoulder towards the passing length of the wall. "As long as you can keep this up for a while longer, it's A-okay. Normally I can swim…when I'm not wearing pure, wrought-iron metal for swimming trunks."
"Try carrying a loud-mouthed Cyborg and an angsty sorceress all across the Atlantic in one of these 'bubbles'," Tempest murmured.
"Sounds like you've had experience."
"Experience…migraine…..all in the same book."
I smirked, continuing to scan….
"So what's your part in all of this, Stucco?"
"Steel."
"Whatever. What's gotten you wrapped up in Luthor and Triangular?"
"Triangular, I dunno about. But Luthor and I go way back. I was a technology specialist for the creep….back when we all knew him as a pretty-average creep and not the sort of world-takeover sucker that the damned skinhead's proven to be…."
"Right…..so I heard," Tempest nodded. "King Orin was once captured by Luthor during his vigilante days. They performed terrible experiments on my king and former mentor…" The Atlantean's meditative fists clenched momentarily. "The first surface-dweller I ever knew about was Luthor. Not a very flattering portrait of land people in general. Forgive me if I sound bitter….but I got lover a lot of it."
"Uh….yeah….sure…," Steel glanced up at the warbling wall of water just a few inches over his towering skull and gulped. "Loud and clear…."
"So why did you ever work for the eel-sucking creep?"
"I was actually working for Metropolis…," Steel waved an iron glove. "Project 'Protoype'. It was gonna revolutionize law enforcement and city maintenance. But of course there were flaws with the Prototype. Flaws that I was wanting to re-program and fix, but Luthor was too insistent on using the project as it was. It nearly consumed the test pilot, Sergeant Corey Mills by corrupting his brain through the neural uplink of the Prototype suit. Thankfully, Superman put everything in order…but Luthor went Scott free. I left Lexcorp soon after that, but I couldn't rest. As much as Luthor's incompetence got in the way, I felt like I was at least partially responsible for what happened with the suit. So…day in night in my own neighborhood, I reworked the Prototype and added….erm….enhancements…"
Steel waved the club around and shook his shoulder armor.
He smirked and went on: "I was going to test the subject out….when Metropolis went on the loose in my very own district and I had to suit up early to save Superman and my very own neighbors."
"Alas….," Tempest smirked as he glided us down. "The birth of a superhero."
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever."
"So what's 'Steel' been doing since then?"
"Keeping things real with Superman,' Steel uttered. "Laying the hammer down on a few murderous punks here and there….but never quite the same big boys that Supes handles. Besides…I can afford to live—how should I say it—a down-to-earth life, if I can."
"Then why in Neptune's name are you joining us here?"
"Like I said. I owe the Justice League a favor."
"So you're helping Titans?"
"Heheheheh….all super-friends in my book."
"Super friends……feh….."
I held a hand up.
"What is it?" Tempest asked. His violet-glowing eyes widened. "Ooh…another tunnel….gee…how wonderful."
I motioned us forward some.
Tempest inched the bubbled platform towards the vertical wall.
Steel leaned forward.
I squinted my eyes and stared through the wavering water at the sight. "…….." I shook my head, sighed, and motioned us downward more.
Tempest shrugged. "There're plenty of fish in the sea…," and he moved us forward.
"Man…I was just counting the minutes before you'd finally say something like that."
"Ah, of course. And I've been waiting for you to make some joke about the alkaline metals."
"I can tell you're a thrilling conversationalist."
"Sarcasm…," Tempest smirked. "I love it. Say, Noir, after we're all finished saving your pathetic dry land and crap…we should have this guy over for parties."
I shook my head, lips curved.
"He'd be the clown!"
"Yeah, I can be the mayo in your knuckle sandwich, shrinky-dink!"
"Ooooh….wow….my scales are having goosebumps! A paradox issued by everyone's most beloved Steve!"
"Steel!"
I finally hissed for some quiet.
Tempest cocked his head to the side and looked at me. "Why so serious, Noir?"
"………"
"Look, I know it sucks to have all the Western World's media and government officials making love to the fanciful prospect of you having gone 'bad' and attacked the Justice League, but you gotta keep a good countenance, man! Besides…it's not like you and I are Titans anymore anyways.
"……," I blinked my black eyes. I turned my head and gazed at him curiously.
"What? Don't try to deny it!" Tempest said. A bitter smile. "But just because we're not with the Titans, doesn't mean we can't still work to help them….."
"…….," I slowly nodded.
"Are you kids ever going to return to that City of yours?" Steel asked. "I saw the news footage of what you all went through, and…damn…."
"………..," Tempest was silent.
"………..," I was still.
Steel winced under his mask. "Ah….alright. I think I'll yak on only about the mission." He swallowed. "What are we looking for here anyways?"
"Well…if I catch the drift of Diana, J'onn, and Noir….Lexcorp may be doing something to transport a very dangerous package covertly abroad."
"What kind of stuff are we talking about?"
"Do you remember some scrawny blonde thing joining the Titans, betraying them, and then taking over a certain City for Slade using cosmically significant powers of earth-moving?"
"Uhhh….yeah…."
"Put some of her blood in a bottle, shake it around, and spill it out onto a busy Metropolis or Gotham City intersection for kicks."
"Yikes."
"And then multiply that bottle by about seven hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine."
"Double yikes."
"Yeah….kinda makes it all seem worthwhile to skim the bottom of Metropolis Bay like some Zeus-forsaken pool sweeper."
"Whatever happened to the first of those 'bottles'?" Steel smirked. "Someone decided to celebrate News Year's early?"
"Poseidon forbid…," Tempest rolled his glowing eyes and glanced over. "Dammit…are we there yet, Noir?"
I held a hand up.
Tempest stopped the floating 'pocket'.
I motioned with a metal hand towards the underwater wall.
Tempest inched us over.
We approached a tunnel. A tunnel that was significantly larger than all the rest. A tunnel that was significantly familiar, like the photo of an abandoned laboratory full of dead and dying scientists. A tunnel….that was sealed off by slabs of concrete.
"Don't tell me this is it…," Tempest murmured.
I walked towards the edge of the wavering wall of water. I squinted towards the huge, blocked pipe. I gradually nodded.
"This is it…," Steel smiled.
Tempest groaned.
I took a deep breath. I eyed the shape and contour of the pipe.
It's certainly big.
Big enough to……fit a submarine?
"What do we do now, Noir?"
I turned to face Tempest. I pointed a metal hand at the wall.
"Bring us in?"
I nodded.
Tempest shrugged and hesitantly uttered: "Aye, sir…."
Steel and I stepped back.
Tempest concentrated. He 'swam' us towards the pipe. Closer and closer. The slab we all stood on nearly touched the concrete blockage of the tunnel. The bulging dome of water pressed up against it. Tempest expertly warped and re-fixed the pocket of air so that the solid wall of concrete before us presented itself dry and tangible. The weight of the entire Ocean fluctuated behind us.
"Okay, Noir….," Tempest uttered, straining to compensate for the bubble's new 'shape'. "You gonna hump the wall or what?"
I gave him a sarcastic look before sauntering up to the concrete and running my hand across its surface.
"You sure this is the thing Diana and J'onn said that you saw when inside those halls of Lexcorp?" Steel asked.
I took a deep breath.
I wasn't sure……
But I was going to find out……
I walked up to the concrete.
I pressed both hands against it.
I leaned my head forward, closed my eyes….
And….
Concentrated…….
"Noir….that's thick concrete….," Tempest hoarsely uttered. "I seriously doubt that the old sewer systems of Metropolis can afford a doggy door these days…."
I took a deep breath. As I exhaled, I released a curtain of smoke. Murk trailed out of my hands, fingers, shoulders, and shut eyes. The smoke ran down my hands, out through my opposable digits, and covered the concrete slabs like ink. I felt….felt…..felt….
Steel whispered. "That's some trippy stuff he's doing." He glanced over at Tempest. "Say…doesn't that robe-flowing woman with the Titans also have dark-looking powers?"
Tempest snickered and gave Steel an amused look. "'Woman'?"
I whistled.
The two looked.
I stepped back some, glanced at them, and smirked.
My smoke field was drifting into the concrete. I had found a 'crack'. And that crack ran straight up and down the slabs in a solid line.
"So it is a door….," Steel murmured.
"I wonder why I didn't feel it in the currents," Tempest blinked.
"Noir's smoke must be….uh….thinner than polarized water molecules."
"Is that true, Noir?"
I shrugged.
I have no damn clue.
"Well….it's still a rather thick barrier," Tempest murmured. "We're just as screwed as we would have been if we didn't find THE tunnel."
"Screwed, my ass!" Steel smirked. "Step aside…'thick' is my game." He produced his hammer.
"Yeah…uh….I'm gonna listen to him," Tempest said. He gazed at me. "Stand back, Noir."
I nodded and backed up.
Yes sir.
Steel stood before the exposed, dry wall of concrete and gripped his heavy bludgeon. "Okay now, people. Brace yourselves."
"Man….do you really have to say that…"
THWACK!
"Neptune almighty!" Tempest gasped and steadied the slab they were on as the entire pocket shook and warbled from the intense blast.
Steel snarled, curled his muscles under the strong Prototype suit, and swung again. "RRRRGHHHH!"
TH-THWACK!
Steel slammed his hammer repeatedly into the concrete wall with unforgiving force.
THWACK!
It finally started to crack.
"You know…you could just….uh….chisel your way in or something, right?" Tempest smiled nervously.
Steel grunted and swung his club. "Open sesame, you big granite bitch!" THWACK!
I couldn't help but smirk.
Sometimes a guy's company is the best company.
CRKKK!
The concrete busted open.
Tempest protectively shot his hand out in the nick of time and prevented a wall of water beyond the crumbling concrete to flow into the 'bubble'.
FLASH!
The tunnel tore open from the inside out, revealing an ascending tube of rusted copper going up, up, up towards a distant…faint glow.
"Ha!" Steel smirked and leaned back on his hammer. He took a panting breath before proudly uttering: "Looks like Triangular's found itself three surprise proctologists!"
"Yeah…uhm….'ew'….thanks," Tempest nodded. He looked at me. "So, what do you say, Noir? Alley oop?"
I nodded with a breath.
Alley oop away……
Steel braced himself while Tempest angled the pocket of air for us to levitate up and into the tunnel.
"I'll try to make it slow. No need to give us all the bends."
"Man….something tells me we've got worse things to worry about where we're headed."
"Gotta love your optimism, buddy."
I took a deep breath.
Then….
A chill.
I shivered, winced, and clutched my metal hand.
I panted and sweated from a sudden, sharp cold as we rose up through the pipe.
I looked over my shoulder.
My black eyes thin with fright.
Red Aviary……
Here?
But……how?
And why?
"Hey man….."
An iron hand on my shoulder.
I glanced up.
Steel leaned forward. "You okay?"
"Noir just likes to be dramatic," Tempest smirked.
I swallowed and squint my eyes at the brightness on the end of the ascending tunnel.
Yeah……I'm just a drama queen……
I flicked out my shades from a pocket and slipped them over my black optics.
A drama queen with Death riding up my stockings.
CHIIING!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Whurrrr-Clang!
Whurrrr-Clang!
"Load that last train up! We gotta get moving, people!"
"The north bound tunnels are open, sir. Luthor has given us the go-ahead."
"Right. Let's make it quick. I don't want anymore delays, what with all the shit going on up at the surface."
"Reports are in. The League is still gathered at S.T.A.R. Labs. They're distracted. Nobody can possibly know that we're here."
"Understood. Allright, people! Did you hear that? Let's MOVE!"
Whurrr-Clang!
"………," Tempest watched and listened to all this with his head barely poking out of the water. There was a huge underground chamber. A docking bay of sorts for huge, underwater transport submarines. Loading mechanisms lead from the moored submarines' opened backsides and stretched towards the north side of a series of platforms raised above the lapping waters. What looked to be thick, metal supply trains with open cars rested on tracks leading off towards a dark tunnel heading west north west. There was an identical tunnel aimed southward, but it was blocked off at the time being. Another platform above the tracks stretched via metal stairs and catwalks towards a glass-encased control room overlooking the underwater docking station. The place was crawling with guards. They weren't uniformed, but they ware darkly-identical-enough outfits to signify that they all worked for the same, nefarious organization. In the glow of yellow-amber lights flickering overhead on the surface of the underground chamber, the 'Lexcorp' insignia flashed on rifle butts and shipping crates. Robot arms hanging from animatronic lattices above carried wooden crates full of racks…which were then full of yellow, glowing vials. The train cars were being loaded heavily. The shipment was in order.
Whurrr-Clang!
The robot arm deposited another crate before sliding via the lattices back towards the open submarine transports. The workers up in the glass compartment flurried their hands over the controls in diligent focus. There was not a pleasant, happy face among the bunch.
"Hrmmmph….," Tempest murmured. "All you need is Charon and his raft…"
A guard strolling across a nearby platform uttered to another gunman: "What did you say?"
"Huh?"
Tempest bit his lip….and re-submerged.
Sp-Sploosh……
The two guards twirled….looked over the edge of the platform…..but saw nothing.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Tempest drifted down and stood on the floating slab of concrete in our dry bubble.
Once he landed, Steel slapped him across the top of the head.
Thwap!
"Ow!" Tempest winced. "What the flounder?"
"Thanks for the cab fare and all, Mr. Gills, but don't be giving us away like that!"
"I wasn't giving us away!"
"You kidding me? I nearly saw you…"
I whispered with a finger over my lips.
Both looked over at me.
I gestured questionably to Tempest.
"There's this one film Beast Boy showed me soon after I joined the Titans," the Atlantean droned. "'Bonding James' or some crap."
I made a face.
"Yeah. You get the picture. Quite an elaborate underwater facility for having been built by land-dwellers," he folded his arms. "I do admit….for I've seen them all!"
I gazed up beyond the distant surface of water.
"……"
"Well, the shipment's here," Tempest said. "The vials and everything. There appears to be tunneling built for carrying subterranean train cars through the continent. Undoubtedly they're headed north. The southern exit is blocked."
"Heh….the Underground Railroad," Steel murmured. He gazed at us and gestured. "Literally."
I nodded.
"They're still loading the vials onto the train as we speak…," Tempest murmured. "If we act now, we might be able to stop the transport."
I took a breath.
Or better yet……
Find out where the shipment is going to……
"So how do we go about doing this?" Steel palmed his heavy hammer, smirking. "Full frontal assault?"
"Gee," Tempest rolled his eyes. "Are you related to Cyborg at all?"
Steel frowned at him. "No. I'm Black Lightning's cousin. What the Hell kind of question is that anyways?"
"I was only making a comment!"
"Yeah, keep your comments to yourself, snow-gills."
"Hahahaha….ahem….," Tempest looked at me. "So what do we do?"
"……," I smirked.
What do we do indeed……
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Slowly….
Quietly….
The surface of the water parted. Like a hot knife to butter. Behind the backs of guards on the platforms above, I lifted up through the 'hole' in the water. Beneath me, Tempest was concentrating on parting the underground seas…while Steel raised me up with a strong hand holding each sole of my feet.
I balanced myself on the iron hero's palms as I ascended…ascended…ascended….
The guards were eyeing the robot arm as it passed by. The workers in the distant control room were busy behind the glass.
I took a deep breath. I re-gripped Myrkblade, flexed my lower limbs, and….
Fl-Flip!
I vaulted up, twirled in the air, and came back down.
Steel swiftly knelt as Tempest sealed the water up beneath me.
I shot smoke into my ankles right as I plunged.
Plant!
I balanced in a half-squat on the water's surface, smoke pouring down my limbs. I took a deep breath, concentrating.
"……….."
The guards shifted. They started to turn around…
I narrowed my black eyes under my shades. Concentrating….
Fwoosh……
I cloaked over. Invisible.
"……….."
I eyed the guards walking back and forth.
Their dark faces.
The stiffness in their gait.
I exhaled….
Yeah……
Classic henchmen.
"………"
I gazed left.
WHURRRR-CLANG!
The robot arm deposited more packs of vials.
I took a breath.
I gazed right.
A series of platforms, metal steps, catwalks, and other assorted walkways led to the lofty control room.
"……..," I slowly crept towards the far side. One smoking, cloaked foot after another. Inching over the waters. Silent. Stealthy….
It was a torturously slow process, in that I didn't want to make any waves or sounds that might alert the entire chamber. My two colleagues waited for me below the waters in hiding. The only way we could tackle this job was to do it the professional way.
The slow way….
I bit my lip as I inched…inched….inched towards the dry metal platforms several feet beyond.
I just hope that my strength holds out……
T-T-T-T-T-T-
The sun was nearly below the horizon over wintry Metropolis.
Cars that had jammed the highways during rush-hour were spreading thin as they rumbled on home.
People dotted the sidewalks less and less as arrays of lights started to twinkle to life all across the urban domain.
A few clusters of emergency lights circled and strobed at key spots along the Eastbound express lanes and the Shipyards where the day's explosive battles took place. Policemen and investigators examined the sites for every square inch. There would be no swift night's sleep for them on that soft evening.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
In an office overlooking the darkening City, Margaret Sawyer spun from gazing out the windows and gave Lois Lane a suspicious glare.
"What? Metallo?"
"I know it sounds stupid…crazy even….crazy and stupid, perhaps," Lois Lane gestured as she reclined besides the female commissioner's desk. "But from all the testimonies I've heard, it sounds like a viable reason enough to believe that Metallo was in Metropolis today."
Maggie Sawyer folded her arms and leaned her head to the side. "I'm guessing you're wanting this to somehow explain the incident concerning Noir of the Titans?"
"…..," Lois Lane narrowed her gaze. "I'm just trying to confer with you about something, Sawyer. Did or didn't your task force find evidence of John Corbin at the scenes of destruction? Or is that classified?"
"Something tells me that even if it was classified, who are you to give a damn?" Sawyer smirked.
Lois Lane shrugged. "A reporter's gotta do what she's gotta do."
Sawyer gazed out the window again. Sighing. "I went all over those sites today. I spoke to Superman, Green Lantern, the owner of the shipyards. There's no reason in the world that Noir would have attacked the Justice League and wreaked havoc on other parts of Metropolis so spontaneously. However…at the same time, photography doesn't lie. As much as you may have testimonials written down of Metallo fighting Noir, I've got the footage of the Justice League entangling with him at the shipyard and the words of the League members themselves to disprove. And that's not something I'd either enjoy doing or plan doing."
"Then what of all the people I've interviewed?" Lois Lane asked. "Or that fight on the Metropolitan highway? What's to say that Metallo wasn't here at least, causing the trouble to begin with?"
"Lois…Lois…," Sawyer murmured and paced across the room towards her. She folded her arms over her brown coat and said: "Please don't think that I'm trying to disprove what you're saying. You know…with all my heart, I believe that the Noir kid is a good person."
"You do? Isn't he kind of dark?"
Sawyer chuckled a bit. "Not everyone who works a good job totally matches their field. I was….a good friend of Commissioner Decker from the Titan's City. His death was dear to me. But I believed in the Titans long before that because….Decker was a hard and distrusting man, and yet he trusted the Titans. I tend to respect that. And thus, I respect Noir. If I can find something legitimate to prove him innocent, I will. But as police chief of this City…."
"You have to go by the books," Lois Lane nodded. "Got it. And I….," she winked. "….I got to work with a typewriter."
Sawyer smiled. "I've not been known to come in conflict with the Daily Planet."
Lois Lane stood up, swiped up her purse, and headed out the office. "Let's keep that our little secret, shall we?"
"If you could call it that," Sawyer nodded with the back of her hand to her hip. "Good luck, Lois."
"Same to you, Miss."
"……"
T-T-T-T-T-T-
At the front entrance to the Metropolitan City Police Department, Jimmy Olsen waited.
Lois Lane exited the building and walked out onto the roadside towards her car.
Jimmy anxiously rushed to her side. "Well? What did she say?"
"What do you think, kid? She's as trustful as always of superheroes. But unfortunately, this City she helps run isn't quite so trusting of collateral damage….much less attacks on the League. It's gonna be a long while before anyone important starts to see Noir as anything more than a common miscreant."
"For crying out loud!" Jimmy Olsen waved his arms dramatically. "Didn't we talk to enough witnesses? People saw Noir battling Metallo! This City isn't stupid, is it?"
"No…not for the most part," Lois smirked. She unlocked and opened the driver's side of her parked car. "But things take time, Jimmy. All we can hope to do is….push destiny forward a little bit."
"So you believe it's true?" Jimmy blinked. "You believe….uh….th-that there's some sort of setup or frame-up here?"
"It's not what I believe that's important," Lois said. She gazed over the top of the car at the 'sidekick'. "But rather….what's important is what Perry believes. What Perry believes will make a top-selling headline." She winked. "AND photograph."
Jimmy smiled. He pumped his arm. "Yes! Allright!"
"Let's move…," Lois ducked into the driver's seat.
Jimmy took shotgun: "Can I hum the C.H.i.P.S. theme?"
"No."
"Awwww."
Lois buckled up, started the car, and sped down Main Street towards the Daily Planet building.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
I pressed myself against the railings on a metal platform.
Breathing slowly.
Cloaked.
Clank-Clank-Clank-Clank.
A guard marched firmly down the steps, a hair's length away from me.
"……..," I took a deep breath.
I gazed up towards the top of the flight of metal steps.
The control room….
I slowly, meditatively walked upward.
I felt…a distant chill in my metal fingers.
I curled my invisible fist.
Trying to concentrate.
Not this time, Red Aviary.
Not this time……
This day's been too crappy to end on a bleak note now.
The same thing with my life…
I made it to the doorway.
I pressed myself against the wall.
I waited….waited….waited….
"….."
Schwiiish!
A guard walked out.
I took a deep breath and blurred on through just as the doors closed behind me.
Schwiiish!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Inside the control room, two guards minded computer networks while a third worked at the robot arm controls.
"This is station 2-B reporting," one guard spoke into a microphone. "Four more loads of the shipment and the transport is a go. Everything is running with one hundred percent efficiency. No setbacks. Over."
"Snnkkkt…Good. Don't let Mr. Luthor down. Keep us informed. Snkkkkt……"
The other computer worker gazed over. "While you're at it, ask if Station 1-A is done playing with themselves while we do all the dirty work."
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Heheheheheh."
The man at the robot controls smirked…..then promptly jerked back when an invisible metal fist slammed into his nose.
POW!
"OOF!" he fell back, along with his chair. CL-CLUMP!
The robot arm outside whirred to a stop.
The two computer workers gasped, jumping up. "What in the?"
FWOOSH!
I materialized in a smoking column above the collapsed man's body.
"It's him!" one worker pointed. "That…That….Th-Th-That…That guy!"
"……," my shaded eyes narrowed.
"Isn't it?"
"BAH!" the other guard knocked his comrade aside and pulled out a pistol. "Shoot him!"
BLAM!
I twirled Myrkblade once. THWISH-CLANK!
The bullet sailed back at the man.
THWIFFT! PING!
The gun flew out of his hand.
"Augh!" he gripped his wrist.
I snarled, repositioned Myrkblade as a javelin, and launched it at his figure.
THWOOOOOOOSH-SCHLUNK!
The blade sliced between his shirt and his skin, shoving him back and pinning him to a mainframe. The sword's smoking length sliced into the electronic guts, causing sparks to fly and electrocute the man being pinned to the device.
Zzzzzztt!
"DAAAAAA-AAAAAH!" the man jolted, smoked, and groaned into unconsciousness.
"Oh jeez…Oh jeez…."
I turned. I glared at the last standing worker. "……"
He shivered, biting his lip. He panicked, spun around, and ran—THWOMP!—promptly into a metal wall. "Nnngh…." Cl-Clump! He collapsed on the floor.
I exhaled.
Everything's easy after Area 51.
I marched over, grabbed Myrkblade by its hilt, and ripped it out of the mainframe. The second man's body fell asleep to the floor.
At least……I hope so……
I glanced out the window of the control room towards the watery platforms below.
"….."
Nobody around the submarines, train, and catwalks seemed affected by the explosive events inside the room.
I noticed a few gunmen scratching their heads concerning the now-still, robotic arm. Judging from the pacing of a few others on patrol, I realized it would only be a matter of time before some henchman returned to the control room at the top of the stares.
Better do what I can do quick.
I walked over to the robot arm controls.
I dashed my eyesight around. Looking for controls for the train or something.
No luck.
I spun around. I headed for the half-fried computer stations.
Ah-HA!
There was an underground train grid. Some elaborate passageway system connected Metropolis, Keystone City, Central City, Gotham, and beyond.
But not the Titan's City.
Should that……be a good sign?
I didn't have time to think. Only smash.
Digitally smash.
I fumbled with the controls, desperately looking for information….any information that could assist me in canceling the train's passage.
And then I found in a computer window…
"….."
My eyes narrowed.
I highlighted a string of text across a statistical board.
'ARRIVAL FIXED AT GOTHAM CENTRAL DEPOT. TRANSFER TO WAYNE CORP. TRANSIT APPROVED. SIGNED: WILLIAM B. FOX.'
"…..," I blinked.
William B. Fox?
I rubbed my chin.
Isn't that the son of Lucius Fox?
CLANG!
I gasped.
I spun around.
The door was denting in from the outside.
CLANG! CLANG!
I bit my lip.
What in the Hell?
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
I winced.
The train!
I frantically fiddled with the computer controls.
Crap……Crap……Crap!
CRACK!
The door exploded open.
I winced. I looked up. I gasped at the figure in the window.
Standing tall and powerful….her hands on her hips….her red cape flowing…
Supergirl.
I blinked.
Kara?
I shakingly pointed.
I mouthed: 'What are you doing here?'
Supergirl smiled.
Supergirl spoke.
And when Supergirl spoke, a slightly accented voice of an adult male rang out from her lips: "Oh, so you like this look? How could I have guessed?"
I groaned mutely.
Shit, it's you……
"Heheheheheh…," 'Supergirl' smirked and unloaded a small rocket from her back. Ch-Chtunk! "Smile for the birdy!"
PFTOOOOO!
I desperately jumped to the side.
POW!
The explosion knocked me across the room from behind.
CL-CLANG!
I fell into the robot arm controls, wincing.
'Supergirl' marched towards me, a throng of surprised guards gathered behind the figure's back. In dazzling, glittering light….the holographic veil unfurled and Metallo leered over me. "Luthor figured that there would be a smoking chink in his armor, so he sent me here to oversee the operation and officially crush any and all jackasses that might try to befuddle him further."
GRIP!
He grabbed me by the collar of my jacket and lifted me up. His half metal and flesh face sneered up close at me. "What's the matter, Noir? Beating up the League disguised as you and having a go at ruining everything your image stands for not enough for you? It was almost enough for me. But I suppose I could never have enough pleasing vengeance until after I've peeled your skin slowly away, inch by inch. You came down here to this secret, aquatic lair on some petty crusade of revenge, didn't you? Well, boy….hah hah hah haaa!" He started to strangle me. "You reap what you bloody sew!"
I wheezed and convulsed in the android's grip. My black eyes thin.
The guards watched emotionlessly.
Metallo constricted me…constricted me….and chuckled.
Then….muffled….on the other side of the glass: "Hey! Clunkatron!"
Metallo blinked. He gazed out the control room window. "What?"
Tempest and Steel hovered on the other side, levitating on the concrete slab atop a wavering tentacle of magical water. Tempest frowned with purple-glowing eyes while the iron hero standing beside him hoisted his hammer over his shoulder and tossed it at the glass. "Try this on for size!"
SWOOOOOOSH!
The reflection of the flying bludgeon reflected off Metallo's robot eye.
"Aww….hell."
SHATTER!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Outside of the front entrance to S.T.A.R. Labs, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter paced under the stars.
"I swear….Green Lantern is so closed minded…," the Amazon grumbled. "He's taking Superman and Flash along with him on his bitter voyage of ignorance. And about Superman…he just KNOWS what Batman's up to. He has to!"
Martian Manhunter jerked to a stop. His alien eyes wide.
Wonder Woman faltered too, looking at him with concern. "J'onn? What is it?"
The green being murmured: "It has begun…."
Wonder Woman's jaw dropped. "They found Triangular's operation?"
He nodded. "The power of Luthor in this conspiratorial game hangs in the balance. But there are greater concerns at stake now."
"Yes? Like what, J'onn?"
"Noir is not alone….he is in danger….again…."
"What?"
Martian Manhunter looked at her squarely. "While he, Prince Garth, and Mr. Irons do their job….they're being watched. The Parasite is waiting…."