Spark of Genius
Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy verse, Girl Genius verse, DC comics or any of the other smatterings of pop culture and literary ideas that I refer to in my story, I just tread through a few other sandboxes. Oh, and several names are made up, some are real, but the facts have been changed to protect the corrupt and innocent equally.
AN: Everything has a purpose, and I love taunting my readers by planting little hints or building statements in an earlier chapter only to make that little seeming side detail a major point later on. What you are seeing in this chapter is some of those earlier subplots coming into their maturity and gaining more importance. It might be shorter at only 9.5k, but trust me when I say this chapter isn't filler; as old subplots are being brought forward towards completion, and new ones are hinted at. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it, and please let me know your thoughts. Cheers!
AN2: I'm having problems with taking portions in bold and italics and blending all of the words together (taking out all of the spaces/stops). If you are noticing the problem, then complain to the fanfiction mods because its driving me nuts also.
'Thought'
"Speech"
/foreign language/
Chapter 39: It's A Small World After All
"I believe in benevolent dictatorship, provided I am the dictator"
~Richard Branson
Deep in the dark fortress on the mountains cliffs, screams of pain were heard which were then quickly followed by cackling laughter. No, no prisoner was being tortured, no abuse of humanity was taking place, and no puppies were being kicked. Rather It was simply Xander, trying out a new experiment. The sounds of arcing electrical sparks were quickly followed by Xander's curses which echoed through the large black metal laboratory. The light blue glow of a large circular glass tank of thick blue bubbling fluids and small glass containers backlit the otherwise dark room, while Xander sat on a work table with a kitchen strainer stuck to his head and electrodes inserted into the sides of his neck while wires trailed off of the sieve to where they connected with the computer before him.
"Bzzt!... Ow! Shit that hurts!" Xander yelped again as he pressed a button on the computer and accidentally electrocuted himself again.
"Heh heh heh heh heh," The sound of evil cackling wafted out of the circular blue tank that spanned twenty feet across by twenty feet tall. The large tank extended into the floor and ceiling and took up the entire center of the large laboratory; the only other defining characteristics of the room were Xander sitting at a computer consol and a shrouded table set in the back corner of the room.
Xander turned from his place before the computer and towards the giant glass tank and scowled, "You think it's funny watching me get electrocuted?" Xander groused.
"Vhy yes, I do Mein Dictator." Came the German accented voice, and a mechanical arm moved in the tank of blue goop until the disembodied head of an old German scientist floated into view of the glass that surrounded the large vat of said fluid. The bald head, which wore a monocle as its only adornment, was encased in its own individual glass shell with bronze dials and gauges along the outside of its individual enclosure that protected head from the blue fluid that the mechanical arm moved through.
"You're an evil twisted bastard Dr. Heimer, you know that right?" Xander questioned the disembodied head of the former evil scientist; one of the scientists that Xander had captured in his raid on Oolong Island.
"Yah, I know I am. However, I am not da vone who keeps vey reanimated heads of scientists in a 'brain trust.'" The head of the former Nazi doctor countered in a heavy German accent.
Xander quirked his own head to the side and growled back at Dr. Heimer, "Well how else is one to make a "Think Tank" without the use of brains? Now shut up before I decide to add a few gallons of hot sauce to your enclosure or see how much you like electrocution. I put you in there so you could design things to help my people and to make up for some of the evils that you partook in while alive, now get back to work or we'll see how much you like being on the receiving end of pain."
"Yah, Mein Dictator, I'll go back to working on zey cure for zey Ebola virus now." The bodiless doctor stated with a slight bob of the mechanical arm. The bob of the mechanical arm made it look as if the head was nodding before disappearing as the mechanical arm pulled the head of Dr. Heimer back into the depths of the tank; back to where it could 'brainstorm' with the other encased heads of mad scientists and geniuses captured, killed, and then reanimated by Xander in his raid on Oolong island and from other locations.
Xander turned back to the computer that was set next to him and began to type on it again while grumbling under his breath, "Waste not want not I keep telling myself, but these buggers are a pain in the ass sometimes. If it wasn't for Bob monitoring their discoveries and thoughts I'd just have them all put down before they devise weaponized-clowns or create some kind of plague that destroys Twinkies or bacon."
Xander pressed another button on the computer only for the "Bzzzt!" sound of electricity to echo from his sieve-helmet and caused Xander to jump and shimmy in his seat as the electricity accidentally coursed through his body. The electricity cut off as Xander released a groan and slumped in his seat, the hair on his head smoking slightly and wafting up through the holes in the sieve.
Xander shook his head and then slumped back, the sieve on his head clunking against the wooden chair he was using.
"Damn, that didn't work like I expected." Xander grumbled before turning his head to look over at the blue glowing tank. Every now and then a head would appear close enough to the glass to be seen as the mechanical arms that controlled the brains in the Think Tank brought a head into view.
'Is it strange that I find it kind of relaxing watching the floating heads swim by?' Xander mentally queried.
'Nope, perfectly sane.' The voice of insanity answered just before it jumped off a mental cliff in Xander's mind because the Primal dared the insane voice to do it.
Xander just shook his head and looked back at his computer screen where a three dimensional model of the human brain was slowly rotating; Xander hadn't upgraded the system to that of the holographic hard light layout just yet, preferring instead to use the system he had liberated from the telepath Yuri.
"Guess I'll have to ask the expert." Xander huffed and slid himself back up in his seat.
"Bob, please bring Yuri forward so that I can talk to him." Xander ordered and scooched his chair around until it fully faced the Think Tank.
A head held in its own individual glass enclosure was moved through the thick blue fluid until it came to rest before the glass. However unlike the other floating heads Yuri was equipped with his very own tinfoil hat.
"Bow to the mind of Yuri! Why won't you bend to my will?" The head of Yuri, the telepathic former shadow ruler of Romania, spat at Xander as it was held in place in the tank.
Xander smirked evilly back at Yuri, a smirk that wasn't really that intimidating given the fact Xander had a kitchen sieve covered in electrical wires strapped to his head.
"Come now Yuri, you can't still be pissed off about me winning fair and square?" Xander teased the floating head.
"I'll liquefy your brain! I'll twist your mind and make you…" the pale disembodied head of Yuri started to rant and rave only for Xander to ignore the head's cursing.
"Bob, I think Yuri needs his daily dose of "It's A Small World."" Xander quipped with an evil gleam in his eyes.
Yuri's eyes shot wide open in fear before glossing over as the Disney song "It's A Small World" started to play on repeat into the individual capsule that held Yuri's head.
"It's a world of laughter, a world or tears
Its a world of hopes, it's a world of fear
There's so much that we share
That its time we're aware
It's a small world after all
Its a small world after all
Its a small world after all
Its a small world after all
Its a small, small world
There is just one moon and one golden sun
And a smile means friendship to everyone.
Though the mountains divide
And the oceans are wide
It's a small small world
It's a small world after all…"
"NOOOOOOOOO! Make it stop, make it stop! For all that is holy, make it stop!" Yuri started screaming.
With a smirk, Xander sent a mental command to Bob via the nano-clanks in Xander's body, and the music torturing Yuri stopped.
Yuri's eyes slowly regained lucidity and the telepath glared at Xander.
Xander just smiled back. "Haven't I told you time and time again, that I've negated your telepathy? Come now Yuri, I'd think that you would jump at the chance to help me mess with my own brain and the aquatic-telepathy I just gained from Aquaman?" Xander questioned rhetorically.
"It's not like I have a choice." Yuri growled back between clenched teeth.
"Nope, you don't." Xander answered back with a peppy smirk on his face and a happy tone in his voice. "So you might as well answer my questions the first time and stop trying to liquefy my brain with your telepathy, otherwise I might introduce you to the "Song That Never Ends." Xander continued, only to end with a threat that brought a look of abject fear and horror to Yuri's face.
"No! Anything but the "Song That Never Ends!" Dr. Von Snitzer still cannot stop humming it after the last time he tried to create that device that would have released Mimes with reality bending abilities." Yuri stated with a shiver at the memory.
Xander's eyes gazed unseeing into the distance and he shivered at the memory of that device also. "Brrrr, Mimes, I hate them almost as much as I hate clowns." Xander stated before giving his body a little shake to cleanse the memory before focusing back on the here and now.
Directing his attention to Yuri, Xander detailed his problems, "So I'm trying to expand the carrier waves of the aquatic telepathy to connect with higher life forms. Just what did you do to get your telepathy past the level that is held in your minor meta-gene and up to the level where you could control human minds?" Xander questioned.
The head of Yuri paused in thought while one eyebrow raised and the other lowered, causing Xander to have to stifle the chuckle that wanted to escape at the view of the face the mad telepath was making while wearing the bicorn-tinfoil hat.
After a few moments of thinking, Yuri finally answered, "Well the first step was to give myself a full frontal lobotomy where I replaced the frontal lobe with a microwave dish, thus when I took the occipital lobe and replaced it with a small computer running Windows 3.1 I was able to boost my power three fold." Yuri stated with a smirk on his face.
Xander rubbed his chin in thought while contemplating Yuri's statement, "So you're telling me that you replaced your brain with a Microsoft operated computer?"
"Yes, after all it was perfectly clear that Bill Gates was already creating Microsoft to take over the world, I thought using Windows would be the perfect operating system for use in mind control." Yuri explained. "Besides, I couldn't use an Apple OS, it was too user friendly and wouldn't let me manipulate it as much I needed."
Xander nodded in understanding and thought quietly to himself for a few moments before slapping his knees with his hands in frustration.
"Well Damn, that isn't going to work." Xander cursed and slumped back in his seat again with his arms crossed over his chest. "There is no way that I'm going to be cutting out sections of my brain or installing software that is released with 60,000 known errors, and using an Apple product would be just stupid." Xander spoke to himself before a light seemed to go on behind Xander's eyes.
"However." Xander paused in thought and stroked his chin before continuing to talk out loud. "Maybe if I had the nano-clanks build a wire mesh between the neurotransmitters… hmm maybe I could boost the signal to at least contact land and air animals rather than just aquatic life." A crazed smirk started to grow across Xander's face as he spoke and then found himself humming.
Xander's fingers started to fly over the keyboard, and the clacking sounds of depressed keys became a staccato that sounded more like raindrops on a tin roof. Xander's hummed tune turned into a whistle that soared and climbed and seemed to swirl and twist around the counterpoint beat of his fingers on the keyboard. While Xander worked, a palpable air of power seemed to twist around Xander as his Spark came to the forefront and the chaotic creative force of the universe seemed to come off of Xander in waves.
Unnoticed by Xander the heads in the "Think Tank" began to be affected by the power of Xander's Spark as the pure imaginative power was contagious. Suddenly Dr. Heimer had his eureka moment and figured out the correct protein molecule chain that would not only block the breakdown of cellular tissues due to the Ebola virus, but also enable the body to fight back against it. The brain of Veronica Cale, who in another dimension would have become the president of Oolong Island, developed a way of combining Kryptonian crystal technology with Xander's nano-clank technology to upgrade the computing power of Xander's AI's and the Bug Baron developed microscopic micro-mites that could even penetrate the dense tissues of Kryptonian beings. The other floating heads of the scientists and evil geniuses were similarly affected and in the space of a minute a new and improved mousetrap was created, the formula for Greek Fire was rediscovered and the other evil geniuses came up with the monstrous weapons of mass destruction known as "Reality TV" and "Britney Spears."
All of this was completely ignored by Xander as he programmed his idea into the computer and the spinning three dimensional model of his brain showed where little molecular level mesh screens would be created by his nano-clanks to hopefully help boost and project Xander's aquatic telepathic skills beyond the simple minds of sea creatures and to those that walked or flew over the land.
"Ah ha! That should do it." Xander shouted with a maniacal smile on his face as he hit the enter button and waited… Only no electrocution happened.
"Yes! Bwa HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Xander pumped his fist and hopped out of his chair before doing a fast snoopy dance, his feet quickly scooting about as the long wires dangled and bounced around from their place attached to the kitchen sieve strapped to Xander's head.
"Did it work?" The head of Yuri questioned, interrupting Xander's happy dance.
Xander turned towards the bodiless head with a huge smirk pasted across Xander's face. "I don't know, but I'm just happy to not get electrocuted this time. Anyway, let's check it out." Xander said before skipping over to a metal table set up about fifteen feet from the computer.
Xander made it about ten feet before the cables attached to his makeshift helmet reached their limit and Xander was suddenly jerked back at the neck due to the limit.
"Doght! Stupid helmet." Xander cursed as he quickly unstrapped his helmet and threw it to the ground before scurrying over to the metal table, and gave his attention to the sheet covered stack of cages set on top of said table.
With a fast jerk of his hand Xander whipped off the sheet to expose several cages of birds; canaries, a cockatoo, a former suicide bomber partridge from the New Mechanicsburg Chateau, and a European and an African Swallow.
Xander squinted at the birds and thought hard, 'BOWTOMYWILL!' Xander broadcast his telepathy with everything he could.
The birds didn't seem to notice Xander's will let alone want to bow to it.
The canaries sang to each other, the cockatoo that had lived in the Jäger's barracks started to curse a blue streak, the partridge's eye seemed to twitch and it flailed its wings every now and then, and the European and African Swallows remained seated while gripping the husks of the coconuts that somebody had put in their cages.
Xander frowned and tried again, 'You will all serve my will and do what I think! Follow the Will of Xander!' Xander broadcast from his mind again, only to get no reply from the partridge, canaries or swallows. The Cockatoo on the other hand stated, "Screw datz, Arghz, my legz vhy must you bite me there!" However Xander realized that the bird was just copying something the bird had no doubt heard back at the barracks.
"Well damn it." Xander cursed and frowned.
"Damn it! Damn it!" The cockatoo echoed back, and Xander just glared at the bird to no effect.
"It appears your genius is not as powerful as mine. And now you must go back to the drawing board." The smug voice of Yuri issued out of the Think Tank.
Xander turned to glare at the smirking head that floated in its bubble.
"Bob, Yuri needs some more Small Small World." Xander malevolently spat with a glare towards the head.
"NOOOOOO!" Yuri screamed as the music started to play and the mechanical arm pulled Yuri's enclosure back into the depths of the think tank.
Xander just stared quietly at the tank till finally he let out a long sigh and his shoulders sagged.
"Oh well, not every experiment can be a success." Xander groused before waving his arm in the air.
A holographic display of the date and time appeared at Xander's gesture, and a small smile crept across Xander's face.
"Well at least I get to go screw with Lex Luthor again. It's time to kick Luthor in the balls and send those demons a little gift." Xander said to himself as his smile turned evil and his clothing rippled until Xander was encased in his full black nano-clank armor.
"But first, to the Armory. I'm going to need my Boom-Stick." Xander said behind his helmet, and with a snap Xander disappeared through a black portal.
Meanwhile outside Castle Bob in its seat on top of the Romanian mountains the sun was shining and spring was in the air. The myriad wildlife that filled the mountainous forests and open plains of the Empire of The Leviathan frolicked and played. The winter was over and all of those animals that hibernated or had hidden through most of the snowy months now came out to gorge on fresh greenery and to forage for the food that was now abundant.
These actions were no different for the squirrels, rats, rabbits and other rodents that populated the land that was under Xander's control. That is until an almost oppressive wave of mental commands blasted through their little furry minds, 'BOW TO MY WILL! You will all serve my will and do what It hink! Follow the Will of Xander!'
Rabbits twitched their noses and hurried home to their burrows, the Squirrels turned to each other and began chattering to one another and the rats and ground burrowing rodents started to gather en-mass.
"Squeeky squeaken chit chit!" One squirrel announced to the other with a crazed look in its eyes, which roughly translates to "NUTS FOR THE NUT GOD!"
"Squeeky squeeker chitter chat!" The other squirrel replied resolutely, which translated to "The Nut-God's Will Be Done!"
And throughout Romania and the surrounding provinces of The Leviathan's Empire, the rodents gathered to build an army fitting for their chaotic Nut-God. Xander's unknowing actions and supposedly failed experiment had once again drastically affected his adopted dimension. The rodents' swiftly dawning crusade would echo through the annals of animal history for eons to come.
At the same time half way around the world, Lex Luthor's corporate jet was just landing at the Cincinnati Ohio airport before it quickly taxied to a private parking spot set before a LexCorp hanger. The red carpeted stairs to the luxury jet unfolded and Lex Luthor immediately exited to be followed by his right hand woman; Mercy.
"So you say that the metal case the team has discovered is covered in alien script of some kind?" Lex questioned loudly as he made his way down the stairs and towards a large helicopter that already had its blades spinning; ready for Lex Luthor's arrival.
"Yes Lex." Mercy yelled back over the sound of the helicopter as the pair ducked down to clear the blades and entered the large helicopter with the LexCorp logo on the side. The closing of the door shut out the loud sounds of the chopping blades and the craft immediately seemed to tilt forward at an angle from the ground and took off as soon as Lex and Mercy found their seats.
"Thus far our linguists have only been able to translate a few words suggesting that it is a crypt of some kind for the ultimate weapon, something that couldn't be stopped or something or other." Mercy explained as the corn fields and forested areas quickly zipped by on the ground below as the heavy turbine engines of the helicopter quickly propelled them towards the dig site.
"Excellent." Lex stated simply with his deep voice as a smirk came across his face. Lex Luthor took a glance out the window and smirked down at the farm fields that were passing by while he contemplated the fact that the little people down there below him were going about their lives, totally unaware that buried beneath their fields was a weapon that could potentially help Lex rid the world of Superman once and for all.
"Heh heh, I find it fitting to use an alien weapon to destroy the alien already present on this planet." Lex stated smugly before turning to face Mercy with a smirk on his face. "We will have to see how the last son of Krypton enjoys facing the ultimate weapon that fell from the stars."
Mercy smirked a bit evilly back at her boss, "Yes sir." She stated while mirroring Lex's thoughts on the matter; Superman had hindered her tasks for her boss time and time again and she didn't especially like the goody-two-shoes hero of Metropolis.
"Mr. Luthor, we'll be landing in two minutes." Announced the pilot over the speakers in the passenger compartment where Lex and Mercy sat.
Neither Lex or Mercy made any reaction that they heard the announcement but rather continued to smirk out the window as they waited to land at the site of the LexCorp "natural resource exploratory dig;" at least that was the excuse that the Lex Luthor's company had given to the farmer whose field was being dug up.
The helicopter touched down next to a large dirt hole that led into the ground with a set of metal stairs set up like scaffolding that disappeared down the hole. Lex and Mercy left the helicopter without so much as a thank you or goodbye to the pilot and the villain industrialist and his assistant made their way down the metal steps into the tunnel.
The daylight was soon left behind and tracks of red lights lit the path as electrical wires, air tubing and fiber optic cables ran along the line of lights that spanned the ceiling of the reinforced tunnel into the earth. Both Mercy and Lex noted several dark side-passages on different levels as they progressed downwards, each with signs on the walls stating that the side passages led to supply chambers or generator and computer rooms. However the duo continued ever downwards past the chambers until they reached the bottom of the stairs and a giant room that had been reinforced with concrete sprayed on the walls and ceiling.
In the center of the spacious room was a large meteorite like rock that seemed to jut crystalline like growths centered around a matte grey coffin shaped box that appeared hinged down the middle of its twenty foot tall by ten foot wide bulk. Lex smirked and moved towards the coffin, ignoring the scores of archeologists that crowded around the room with computers. Several tweed wearing academics were standing on tall step ladders that rested in front of the grey crypt; they were studying the squiggles and boxes that appeared to be words on the front of the coffin.
"Mercy, have them cut it open, I want to see what's inside." Lex commanded loudly, and the scientists and academics all turned to look at Lex Luthor with stunned looks on their faces.
"But Sir!" One of the older looking academics cried out, "We haven't finished studying the inscriptions. Cutting it open will ruin them and we have no idea of what we could be unleashing on the world. From what we have been able to translate, the contents of that box destroyed the world that it came from. You could doom us all by opening it!"
Lex firmly pushed the doctor out of the way and then picked up the step ladder that was standing in front of the crate and threw it to the side so that nothing was stopping him from fully reviewing the product from his dig.
"Doctor, I didn't pay you to be my conscious. I paid you to find this crypt and to dig it up. Now I suggest you get your people back and out of my way. Otherwise you might find not only your grant money disappearing but your University shut down and you and your associates put on a black list never to work again." Lex finished with a glare at the older professor who was leading the dig and that had just cautioned against opening the metal coffin.
The academics and workers quickly scattered away from the meteorite and the metal crypt while Lex's features varied between glares and smirks as his thoughts switched back and forth between frustration on waiting to see what was inside to dwelling on the soon to be doom of Superman.
Time seemed to roll by terribly slowly, and after five minutes the cutting lasers had still not been brought forward to cut into the crypt.
"Where are those damn cutting lasers?" Lex finally cursed in frustration and turned around to look back towards the stairs, only to see a slight shimmer in the air.
Lex realized that something wasn't right with that shimmer an instant before said shimmer shot forward and Lex found himself being picked up off the ground with a foot planted firmly between his legs as a crunching sound came from the industrialist's crotch.
"Hnnnnggghhh." Lex grunted with pain as the blow to his twig and berries seemed to pull all color from Lex's face and immediately made him break out in a cold sweat before collapsing to the ground to puke.
Everyone paused stunned, as a shimmering chameleon like invisibility cloaked figure stepped forwards, stomping on Lex's chest and driving the air out of the billionaire; the outline of the figure was moving quickly enough that it was clear to those who had been witness to Lex Luthor's ignoble takedown. Even Mercy was too stunned by the improbability of the attack to intercede on Lex's behalf, but her mind still took in the humanoid outline of the camouflaged figure.
Before anybody could move to help, the figure raised something in the air, and the quick motion allowed the witnesses to view some sort of long steel cylinder, right before said cylinder let go with an ear rattling "ZAP."
A bright blue glowing orb of energy shot across the room, hitting smack dab into meteorite and crypt before exploding with a massive "KA-BOOM," only for the meteor and a large portion of the floor to disappear.
The shimmering form turned quickly and lashed out with a foot, right into Lex Luthor's forehead.
The last thing Lex heard before darkness claimed him was a deep voice chuckling at him and stating, "Tough luck Lex, today's not going to be Superman's Doomsday after all. But your day is coming soon."
With that, Lex Luthor lost consciousness due to the blow to his head.
Gricknard the horrible, as his name translated from the Demon language into English, was the only Elder demon to survive the death of their Hell God. The Grey Armored warrior had come and stolen the fleshy soft pink-skinned creatures away and so the graylings and sole remaining hulking red skinned demon had gone hungry as not even the flesh of the Old One had been left after the end of the battle.
Gricknard looked out over the massive lava filled crater that had once been the valley where the city of the pink ones had appeared and again disappeared. That city had disappeared before Gricknard could feast on the pink ones organs and sacrifice their souls to the Hell God, and Gricknard didn't like that at all. Gricknard was angry, Gricknard was hungry, and the flesh of the minor grayling demons that he feasted on was not as succulent as the promised pink flesh of the soft ones. Gricknard didn't know how he would do it, he didn't care how it happened, but he swore that some day he would find the Grey Armored one and feast on the flesh hidden beneath that hard shell.
"KA-BOOOM!" An explosive sound rocked the air, and Gricknard looked up just in time to realize something was plummeting towards him, giving the large demon just enough time to dodge out of the way while ignoring the ten foot tall greylings that were crushed under the weight of the suddenly appearing intruder.
Gricknard smashed into several of the smaller grey skinned demons, using their hides to cushion the impact of his leaping out of the way. The hulking red horned demon shoved his way off the minions to turn and see what had almost crushed him.
"Grrrrr-argh? Ddrrrrckaknaugh." Gricknard growled and stomped toward the structure, his growl indicating that he was confused, yet he smelled dead flesh and had first rights to it.
Walking up to the front of the cracked rock formation, a metal shell separated the tall red tattooed demon from the flesh that he smelled inside.
Gricknard ignored the squiggly writing that adorned the outside of the shell as his clawed fists shot forward to dig into the seam that hinged down the metal shell; he was fully focused on the awaiting flesh inside.
Strength augmented by demonic magic sheared through the crypt like paper, and a large green covered shape bound in thick metal chains was left lying before Gricknard. With a second grunt, Gricknard severed the thick metal cables that ringed the corpse before him, as the red skinned demon smelled dead flesh ripe for the salvaging.
Claws shredded, and the protective suit around the corpse disappeared like a child's gift-wrapped toy on Christmas morning, only to expose a hulking figure as tall as Gricknard but wider and a great deal more muscular. This was no small dead pink skin. This corpse was grey with scraggly grey hair on its head and sharp boney structures jutting from its face, fists, elbows, shins and chest.
Suddenly the corpse's eyes shot open and Gricknard felt a sudden flash of fear before the red skinned demon found its guts spattered across the ground.
Doomsday had come to hell, and the hell dimension would learn that there were worse horrors than Old Ones to deal with. The monster that, in another time and dimension, would have killed Superman, would have defeated Darkseid and which had already depopulated entire planets of life, the ultimate killing machine that could not be killed, Doomsday, had been unleashed on hell.
Thus just as Gricknard had sworn he would kill the Grey Armored one, Xander showed that he hadn't forgotten about the demons and their hell dimension either.
Wonder Woman sat alone in the Watchtower's darkened cafeteria gazing out the large bay window at Earth glittering in the distance, a cold cup of coffee ignored in front of her. Diana had been sitting in the same position, enjoying the solace and quiet of space as she tried to figure out what she was to do given her newest problem, namely her mother Queen Hippolyta.
Never before had the Queen of the Amazons been ignored by the Gods, but that is exactly what had happened. The portents and warning omens from the Gods of Olympus had been there even before Hippolyta, Diana and the two Amazon tribes had headed to see The Leviathan. The priestesses had noted that the traditional sacrifices given to the Goddesses Hera and Artemis had been slow to light, and it seemed like they took an exceptionally long time to burn and waft up to the gods when Hippolyta had presented the sacrifices on the Amazons' return to their home dimension. This had been further distinguished by the fact that the gift of Twinkies as a burnt offering had ignited and disappeared much quicker than they should have, especially compared to the normal, traditional sacrifices. Still, other warnings were present. Owls were witnessed to hover over Paradise Island in flocks, where they would seem to follow the Queen around and sitting and staring balefully at Hippolyta, suggesting that Athena was not happy with the Queen of the Amazons. These were all the warnings before the Amazons had visited The Leviathan. However what had happened after the Themyscirian Amazons, alone and without their sister tribe, returned. Well, after they returned the signs were truly troubling.
For three days Themyscira was covered with a thick blanket of clouds that neither moved nor deposited rains. The winds that normally refreshed the island refused to blow, the waves literally stopped lapping against the shores of the island, and instead everything was still and stale as the Gods had seemingly taken their blessing away from the island that had once been dubbed Paradise. Add to that was the fact that the Gods refused to reply to Hippolyta's entreaties at their temples, they outright refused all of Hippolyta's sacrifices, and thus Wonder Woman was truly troubled.
'I have never seen my mother act so dishonorably, not to allies or to our sisters. She has truly lost her way from the path of peace and goodwill that the Gods' commanded of the Amazons.' Diana thought to herself darkly as she remembered her mother's tirade against The Leviathan and even The Grey Knight upon returning to Themyscira. Wonder Woman was at a loss at what to do so she simply stared at the blue orb of Earth slowly passing by below her and the station she was on.
Just as Wonder Woman contemplated that troubling thought, the lights in the cafeteria flipped on and Wonder Woman had to blink several times to clear the spots that came to her eyes after having them adjusted to the dark for so long.
"Hey Skeets, let's check to see if they have any of those brownies left over from lunch." Booster Gold stated as the blue and gold wearing male hero and his ever present floating egg shaped robotic sidekick from the future moved into the Watchtower's cafeteria.
Looking around, Booster noticed Wonder Woman sitting alone in the cafeteria at the same time that Wonder Woman cleared the spots from her eyes and looked up at the young hero.
"Oh, I'm sorry Wonder Woman, I didn't realize anybody was in here." Booster stated a bit self consciously and rubbed the back of his neck finding that he had obviously interrupted one of the founders of the Justice League while said heroine wanted to be alone; something Booster realized based on the fact that Wonder Woman was sitting alone in the dark before he had disrupted her.
Wonder Woman took in a deep breath of air through her nose before releasing it with a sigh and shaking her head. "Do not worry about it Booster. I doubt my thoughts would have leant me an answer anytime soon." With that Wonder Woman turned her attention away from Booster Gold and back to planet Earth hovering outside the large window.
Booster looked at Wonder Woman, and puffed up his chest as if he was going to come up with some bravado answer, only to see a frown cross her beautiful face as she seemed to ignore him. Sighing to himself, and steeling his features, Booster strode across the large room and took a seat across the table from Wonder Woman.
"Tell me what's going on and maybe I can help." Booster stated without any of his normal humor or grandstanding in his voice, just pure sincerity.
Wonder Women blinked and turned to look at Booster sitting across from her. "Excuse me, what?" She questioned, confused by Booster's suddenly mature bearing and statement.
Booster gave Wonder Woman a half smile and a shrug of his shoulders before answering. "Hey, I know I come across as being pretty full of myself and almost comedic most of the times, but I have a serious side too. Besides, I come from the future, and though I don't like to talk about it most of the time so as not to cause a paradox, perhaps I can help you figure out a solution to whatever is bothering you?"
Diana stared at Booster, wondering if he was being real, but then she realized the seriousness in his look and in his words, so she shrugged and sighed again before answering.
"Well it all started with The Leviathan." Wonder Woman began.
"Well that's your first problem there." Booster interrupted with a shake of his head, "Everything surrounding The Leviathan is a mystery, and everything changes where he is involved."
"Wait, what?" Wonder Woman questioned, her chain of thoughts interrupted by Booster's statement.
"Affirmative," Stated Skeets. "My records are exact up to and including all world leaders on twenty four different planets and were up to date until the mid 25th century, yet my databanks hold no records of The Leviathan existing nor his Empire. He is an anomaly, and chaos and changes to history seem to spawn around anything he touches. The history of the future that we come from is not the one that we are living." The floating egg shaped robot Skeets stated from his place hovering above Boosters shoulder and the table the two heroes were sitting at.
Wonder Woman looked from Skeets, to Booster, and then back and forth one more time before shaking her head. "That's just the thing though; it isn't The Leviathan that is really the problem but my mother Queen Hippolyta." Diana stated, causing both Booster and Skeets to quietly listen and wait for Wonder Woman to continue.
"I've never, I just can't, I don't understand what has happened to the woman who raised me to honor others and to seek peace and diplomacy first above angering others." Wonder Woman said with a shake of her head that sent her dark locks swinging while she gestured with her hand. "I mean, the Gods gifted me to her, breathed life into me because of her faithfulness to them and the Gods' pursuit of peace for both the Amazons and Man's world. And yet here she is blackening the memory of the man who died to save not only her life but that of my entire nation. Not only that, but she threatens to anger a being that could single handedly destroy my people and our entire way of life, all because of her pride and her refusal to follow the path of peace or let go of grudges and anger." Wonder Woman finished her tirade with frustration and angst clearly painted on her face as she turned to Booster to see if he or his robot had any words of wisdom.
Booster Gold sat and looked at Wonder Woman silently, before running his hand through the blonde mop of hair that stuck out of his blue mask while looking down at the table in thought. Booster then turned to Skeets, "Anything from your side?" Booster questioned.
"Negative sir, my databases are no help here." Skeets stated in his mechanical voice.
Booster then turned to Wonder Woman and sighed before answering, "I wish I had some words of wisdom from the future to answer your problem, but there is only one thing I can tell you." Booster stated while looking Wonder Woman right in the eyes.
"I know you should follow your heart." Booster stated, and then continued quickly as he saw Wonder Woman was about to inquire as to what he meant. "Now hear me out Princess. I have only been a member of the Justice League for a short period of time now, but in the future you were one of my heroes." Booster answered honestly.
Wonder Woman looked at him quizzically, but nodded at him to continue.
"What I mean is that you were remembered even in my time as one one of the greatest heroes of this time… of any time. But you weren't remembered as much as for your strength or even magical tools gifted by the Greek Gods, but for your heart." Booster explained.
Wonder Woman merely raised an eyebrow in question, and Booster smiled an honest smile in return.
"Honestly, if there was one thing that always got to me was how you thought things out and stayed true to not only your beliefs, but what your heart told you was right." Booster replied, gesturing towards Diana and explaining, "No matter the situation you always tried to choose what you felt was right over what may be easy; over what might have been the political thing to do, you chose the right and good thing to do. So I think that if you follow your heart on this matter then I know you can figure out what you need to do to fix this and make it right." Booster Gold finished answering her unasked question and waited for her to reply.
Wonder Woman in turn just looked at Booster silently, and he could see multiple expressions filter across her face as the thoughts seemed to fly through her mind. Finally Diana looked down at the table before looking back at Booster and smiling as she decided what she needed to do to fix this situation and to save her people. She had decided to do what was right, versus what was easy.
"Thanks Booster." Wonder Woman stated as she pushed chair back and stood up from the table while smiling down at the male hero from the future. "I know what to do now and just needed the push in the right direction."
With that, she marched resolutely towards the exit to the cafeteria, only to stop and turn back to address Booster Gold with a smile on her face.
"You know what? You're a lot more mature than people really think you are. Thank you." Wonder Woman finished, then with a regal pivot on her heel she marched off towards the teleporter that would take her back to Earth.
Booster Gold just smiled after the departing Wonder Woman, only relaxing and letting out a big breath of air that he had been holding in until she left.
"Phew, glad that's over with." Booster said with a smile to his robot Skeets. "Now let's go see about getting those brownies that were left over from lunch, I'm sure they should hide the taste of the Chocolax chocolate laxatives well enough that Plasticman won't know what hit him." Booster finished with a smirk as he jumped out of his seat and scurried back into the kitchen of the Watchtower's cafeteria, his robot Skeets loyally floating along behind.
Diana, Princess and Champion of the Amazons of Themyscira, transported directly from the Watchtower to the shores of Themyscira, and as soon as she stepped down on the sand of the beach a lone beam of sunlight pierced the stagnant cloud cover and shined down on Wonder Woman.
Startled, Wonder Woman looked up at the light, and she felt the love and welcome of the her Gods shine down on her from the light.
Diana immediately dropped to her knees and announced out loud to the air around her in ancient Greek, "Thank you for your blessing on what I am about to do. My heart breaks at its necessity, but I know it is the right thing to do."
She was immediately answered by a warm breeze that blew off the sea and playfully tousled Diana's hair yet touched nothing else around her.
"So be it." Diana stated as she felt her purpose blessed, and so she steeled her features as she marched up the beach.
Voices cried out in greeting from her sister Amazons, but Wonder Woman remained focused straight ahead at the palace that was in front of her as she drew closer to the upcoming confrontation.
It only took a few moments, but the palpable air of determination that seemed to surround the Themyscirian Champion caused the crowds of women to quiet and then gather and follow after their Princess as she marched forward. If the look on Wonder Woman's face and the tilt of the Champion's shoulder's wasn't enough, then the solid ray of light that pierced the clouds and followed Diana, and only Diana, was enough to let the Amazons know that something of great importantance was happening.
Marching up to the Palace gateway into the Amazon throne room and the two large doors at its threshold, a guard attempted to bar Diana's way.
"I'm sorry Princess, but the Queen left orders not to be disturbed…" The guard started to say, only for Diana to reach forward in a blur and grab the guard by both shoulders and pick the elite royal guard up into the air and set the guard aside before Diana moved towards the door.
"Stop!" The Guard yelled out and attempted to intercept Diana with the haft of the guard's spear, only for Diana to rip the spear from the warrior's grasp and then turn a glare of such power on the royal guard that the Amazon could do nothing but back down.
Stolen spear in hand, Diana pushed against the double doors, then with a heave she used her full God-given super strength to push, throwing both doors open and off their hinges where they slammed into the ground and slid across the floor.
Hippolyta looked up stunned from her throne where the Queen had been seated, only to frown and glare at her daughter as Diana marched in and stood before the dais to the throne.
"I wish to be alone daughter, and though you are my Champion and a Princess, you do not have the right to come into the throne room when the Queen does not allow it." Hippolyta stated firmly to her daughter.
"Then we will have to see about changing who is Queen of the Amazons." Diana said, determination firm in her features as she ground the bottom of the spear into the ground and faced her mother fiercely.
Hippolyta was stunned speechless and wide eyed, her mouth dropping open for a second before clicking shut. Then with a glare Hippolyta looked at her daughter and questioned, "You would choose to fight your own mother for the right to rule?"
Diana answered immediately, "I do not want to, but it is the right thing to do given that you have truly lost your way in following the God's will, and it is their will that a change happen for our people. So Yes, I Diana of Themyscira challenge you Hippolyta for the right to rule the Amazon nation as its Queen." Diana stated, and from behind Diana the crowds of Amazons gathered at the doors gasped at what they heard.
Hippolyta looked torn between anger and sorrow at her daughter's statement, but then with a nod of her head the current Queen answered in a commanding tone as she stared into her daughter's eyes, "So be it, the challenge by combat will start at dawn tomorrow, and may the Gods judge the rightful Queen of the Amazons."
"So be it." Diana stated solemnly as she stared back into her mother's eyes, the sadness in Wonder Woman's eyes mixed with the resolve that Diana held as she knew she was doing what was right, not what was easy.
Diplomatic missions, embassies in other words, are governed under an interesting set of laws by which the diplomatic mission's country gains rights and protections from the sovereign state upon which the mission is built. Traditionally speaking, an embassy is usually housed in a country's capital, but like the Amazon Embassy in New York City, this is not always the case. However, wherever these diplomatic missions are housed, they are always held separate and immune from many of the host countries laws.
Now most embassies are buildings that can vary in size and shape given the country of origin's design preferences, but typically they consist of a compound or an office building with floors above ground and perhaps basements below ground. Just like every other "normal" building around the Embassy, "usually" the only delineating feature of the Diplomatic mission was the separation of laws and perhaps a flag or a sign on the building.
The Leviathan, however, did not do "normal", and Xander was anything but "usual."
Evening was falling on Gotham city, and the smoggy dark clouds of the cold night had already smothered the city in their dank misty depths that forever made Gotham's alleys and lower streets some of the darkest and most dangerous in the world. Besides the occasional street light or passing headlights of a car, the only other illumination in the Gotham night were occasional police helicopter or the double spotlight equipped automated police blimps that traveled about like so many two eyed watchmen ineffectively trying to patrol the dangerous streets below. Here they spotlighted a car that was being robbed, over there a bunch of thugs dressed like clowns caused a brawl with a rival gang, and in the distance police sirens were punctuated by the sounds of car alarms and the occasional bank or building alarm going off. This is the scene that the Embassy for the Empire of The Leviathan entered into.
The first warning to the citizens of Gotham that the Embassy had arrived was a deep rumbling that came from the above the clouds and seemed to vibrate in the chests of every man, woman and child in the buildings of downtown Gotham. The rumble grew louder and louder, until Police Commissioner Gordon's coffee cup rattled right off the edge of his desk and crashed to the floor, drawing his attention away from the reports he had been reading and had him sprinting for the roof of the police precinct.
Running to the roof Commissioner Gordon threw open the door and looked around quickly to try and find the source of the rumbling, as the very air seemed to vibrate with the sound and it was almost painful in his eardrums. Looking out over the dark city the spotlight beams of the police blimps were frantically searching every which way, and the few police helicopters on duty circled frantically while panning their own spotlights on the clouds above.
Not wanting to take a chance, Gordon swung around to the spotlight behind him and flipped the large incandescent spotlight on, where suddenly an image of a bat was illuminated on the clouds above… just as the clouds themselves seemed to roil and churn and bubble.
"Dear Lord." Commissioner Gordon's mouth dropped open, and he said the first thing that came to mind as suddenly the bottom, and then the sides of an incredibly large Zeppelin powered its way out of the smoggy clouds, the bat symbol illuminating and reflecting off of a semi-featureless helmeted face emblazoned on the front of the colossal airship.
As it breached the cloud cover of Gotham's night, every blimp and police helicopter turned their spotlights on the massive ebony airship as it powered its way down out of the sky. A gold three headed dragon emblazoned on its side and reflected the light from the spotlights as the some three hundred meter long by one hundred meter high airship fully cleared the cloud cover and came to rest over the large lot that had been set aside for the new Embassy for the Empire of The Leviathan.
This airship was the newly christened Castle Wulfenbach, pulled from Xander's Heterodyne memories and packed full of every scientific gadget and gizmo he and his scientists could think of. The Embassy was literally a floating fortress. And with the arrival of the castle, The Leviathan had officially come to the United States. As the giant airship dropped a huge anchor out of the sky to plow into the ground of the open lot, and black armored figures, controlling their decent with jet packs, trailed ropes down to the ground below, Commissioner Gordon knew that this was going to change things.
Little did Commissioner Gordon know, but that with Xander placing his Embassy here in the dark city, that it was assured that Gotham would never be the same again.
AN: Ok, so much shorter chapter than before but a lot of important stuff happening here. I hope you enjoy the chapter as much as I did writing it. It's time for Xander to tangle with some of Batman's foes as well as more regular villains and heroes, and it's time for this story to pick up a lot of speed in some ways. I don't know about you, but I can't wait, Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ahem, sorry. So… thoughts?