One Year Later
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to DC or Marvel. I own Farrah/Persiana, Leon/Crisis, and Bast.
Chapter 38: Patriotic Response Part 2
An animalistic roar filled the Howling Commando's base. Persiana was giving birth to her children, and, needless to say, it was a painful ordeal. Farrah shrieked,
"WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS LEON? I KNOW HE DID THIS TO ME!"
Bast was channeling a spell, attempting to lessen the burden of the birthing process,
"I know you are in pain, but, you must endure. Not only for your sake, but for the sake of the cubs as well."
Farrah shouted,
"Right! Then, I can inflict all the pain I want on Leon! I know these are his kids!"
Roy whispered to Donna,
"That is the hormones talking, right?"
Donna shook her head,
"I do not think so. I think she is just being dramatic."
Farrah ran her claws on either side of her onto the infirmary mattress, let out another animal roar. The Amazon princess swallowed,
"Of course, I could be wrong."
Meanwhile…
Deadpool and Crisis had delivered Julienne to Mirage. Miriam smiled and hugged her daughter tightly, speaking in Portuguese,
"My sweet Julienne, I missed you so much!"
Julienne hugged her mother tightly,
"Mommy!"
Deadpool pretended to wipe a tear away,
"Don't you feel all warm and fuzzy seeing a mother and child reunite?"
Crisis said,
"Is that anything like what you feel after finding a place that serves chimichangas?"
Wade blinked,
"Chimichangas? Where?"
He began looking around, hoping to find chimichangas. Leon shook his head, and then looked at the Delgados. The red-eyed commando said,
"You two have to be going. It's not safe here."
He pulled out an envelope and handed it to Miriam,
"There's money and two plane tickets to Rio. First Class. Get out of here as soon as possible."
Miriam nodded,
"Thank you. For everything."
As the two got into a cab and the vehicle drove off, Wade said,
"Hey, you tricked me! There were no chimichangas here!"
Leon rolled his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose,
"Forget it, Wade. We have to get back to base as soon as we can. Farrah's-."
Just then, the commando began holding his head as a strong headache and flare up was taking place. He leaned against a wall, trying to focus. Deadpool clasped his hands on either side of his mask,
"Oh, no! Another vision! What could it be?"
He then looked at what he thought was a camera,
"Dude, is this how you're keeping the story going? You are completely lame you know that, right? I mean, what about Barry Allen? You've got to bring him back, don't you?"
Leon was able to focus and his eyes widened,
"Watchtower is in trouble. We have to get there."
Wade grinned,
"Cool! We get to see the Justice League headquarters! Maybe Wonder Woman will dress up like the Black Queen again!"
Crisis shook his head,
"We don't have time for these antics, Wilson! Can your teleport device get us there?"
Wade shrugged,
"Well, I could play around with it."
He took the teleporter device and began pressing buttons. Soon, a light enveloped them both and Deadpool smirked,
"It works! I think!"
Aboard Watchtower…
General Lane was an American patriot. A man dedicated to his country, and he was determined to see that the Howling Commandos were treated as they should be; as terrorists, attempting to destroy the greatest nation in the world. Sam had rehearsed this plan once before with Colonel Flagg, a man he could trust. Flagg had the access codes to Watchtower and even found a way of getting a uniform as one of the maintenance staff. Carrying a case that was large enough to hold the canisters of nerve gas, Lane snuck aboard the Watchtower and was heading to the air duct the person he was impersonating was supposed to be working on. As he made his way to the room, he sealed the door and began his work in programming the nerve gas.
In another part of the Watchtower, J'onn J'onzz was overlooking some sensor readings when he detected something on the scanner,
"Superman, I am detecting an unknown energy signature. It is some sort of transporter beam."
In a flash of brilliant light, two figures appeared. They were Crisis and Deadpool. Wade looked around and blinked,
"Yeah! It worked! I knew it! I knew the writer of this crappy fic wouldn't kill me!"
Leon sighed heavily and looked around,
"Did we make it in time?"
As soon as he finished asking the question, however, Wonder Woman came at him and pinned him to a wall, enraged,
"You! You poisoned my sister's mind!"
Crisis struggled to breathe,
"Wonder Woman, please. Let me explain."
Hippolyta and Captain America had raced to the commotion and the queen of the Amazons stiffened,
"What are you doing here?"
Wade blinked,
"From the looks of things, cougerella, I'd say Crisis is about to have his neck broken."
He tilted his head,
"Wow, Wonder Woman has nice buns."
Captain America came near Diana,
"Diana, let him go."
Leon choked,
"Do it, Wonder Woman. In five minutes, it's not going to matter."
The Amazon warrior let go and snarled,
"What do you mean?"
Deadpool said,
"You mean, you don't know? Haven't you been reading this thing? General Lane is going to deploy nerve gas and kill everyone here! I mean, it was like three pages ago that this happened?"
Leon nodded,
"Wade's right. Nerve gas is being deployed up here. Watchtower has to be vacated now."
Steve said,
"Are you serious?"
The red-eyed commando nodded,
"Yes, I am. We have to stop that nerve gas from being deployed."
Superman, who had heard it, contacted Martian Manhunter,
"J'onn, do you read me? Do you detect nerve gas in the vents?"
Mr. Terrific's voice came on,
"Mr. Terrific here, Superman. I am not detecting any foreign substances in the air vents."
Leon shook his head,
"No, that's not right. He's lying."
Captain America looked at the young hero and said,
"I believe him."
Hippolyta asked,
"Are you certain?"
The shield-bearer nodded,
"Yes. I knew you were spying for Fury."
Leon blinked,
"What? You knew?"
Captain America shook his head,
"I'll explain later. Right now, let's stop this nerve gas."
Meanwhile…
General Lane had just finished setting up the final countdown to the nerve gas and was sitting in a chair in the room, holding a pistol. He let out a long held sigh, knowing that this was the end of his military career. Lane knew he would be court-martialed and convicted of terrorism and that was not what he was going to be remembered for. He was going to be remembered as a hero. The elder general put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
Superman heard the shot and he, followed by Crisis, ran in the direction of the shot. By the time the two got there, however, Lane was already dead. Superman then saw the nerve gas being funneled into the air vent and radioed in,
"Mr. Terrific, get rid of the gas."
Mr. Terrific responded,
"No, Kryptonian. You and your human allies will die!"
Crisis shook his head,
"That can't be good."
The Man of Steel said,
"Get to the control room. I'll see if I can secure this gas."
At this, the two sped off in different directions.
As the gas seeped throughout Watchtower, workers were dropping in the middle of the corridor, or wherever they were working. They gasped for air, frightened as to what was happening. They could feel their lungs closing up and their air ways being constricted by the deathly cloud. Superman did his best to suck in the toxic air, but, Lane had planted the canisters on opposite sides of Watchtower. Also, the gas itself was different from other types of nerve gas. It seemed that, when Superman inhaled it and tried to release it through an outside panel the gas would dissipate, but not immediately. It took time.
Those crew members that were going to survive had sealed themselves in rooms containing oxygen. Several heroes had also done the same. Crisis was busy securing them, getting them masks and even holding off sealed areas for some of the panicked crew members to get help. Leon himself had secured a gas mask and hastily sped around the tower and handed them out.
Superman and Crisis regrouped and managed to reach the control room and, there, on the floor, was an unconscious Martian Manhunter. Mr. Terrific was busy at the control board and, as he turned, he sealed all of them in the room. Mr. Terrific glared,
"You humans will pay for ruining my planet! It's mine! So says Mister Mind!"
Next Chapter:
Superman and Crisis square off against the telepathic might of Mister Mind. Stay tuned, fellow readers!