Chapter Thirty-Two
Jump City
United States
15:30 – Pacific Standard Time
March 16, 2007
Kara, who was now no longer Supergirl, but Argo, scanned the collapsed building with her eyes, looking through the concrete and mangled steel to see if there were any survivors. Once again there wasn't. Just what was left of those that had been unfortunate enough to be in the building so close to the epicentre of where the Gordanian beam weapon had struck.
She glanced down at the other two members of the team, Batman and Sand. She shook her head. "All dead like the other three buildings.
"There has to be someone," Sand said in distress. "I wonder if the other teams are doing any better?"
"Focus on what we're doing, not what the others might be doing," Batman told him. He looked up at Argo. "Keep looking."
She nodded in acknowledgement, despite not really wanting too. She really hoped they did find survivors here near the epicentre, but so far there had been nothing but the dead and it was both horrific and depressing.
She looked over to what was left of a neighbouring building and began to carefully look through the rubble. That's when she saw the first person who might be alive, mainly because they hadn't been crushed into paste by the collapsed building like so many others.
Argo focused in on the person, trying to see if their heart was still beating. It wasn't. He was dead like everyone else so far. It made Kara feel hollow. She knew that the longer it took to find those that were still alive, the more likely it was that they would be dead by the time they eventually found them. It was enough to almost make her want to cry.
But she didn't. She moved on, continuing her visual scan, trying to keep her thoughts on the job and not on those that had lost their lives here. She needed to do it to save those that might still be alive.
This whole situation reminded her that she was back in the primitive past. Back, or rather forward in the late thirtieth century, they could just find survivors with sensors and simply teleport them out. Unfortunately, the Watchtower's sensors and teleporter weren't advanced enough to do that. When they found survivors they would literally have to excavate them like primitives.
Kara scanned some more buildings until her eye caught movement in the basement of one. It appeared they were trapped, but still alive. She was filled with elation. "Survivors," she said to Batman, pointing to the building. "They're in the basement."
"Let's get to work," Batman said quickly.
Things were going quite different for Flash's team. For one thing, they didn't have the means to look through the buildings and had to search them one by one. This was made tedious by the fact that a lot of them were barely holding together and he didn't want to risk using his super-speed in case he accidentally knocked them down.
The other two in his team were Atom Smasher, who was the strength of the team, at least he was when he grew, not unlike Giganta and the other who was currently in the air was Shining Knight.
The two entered another building while the knight continued to scour the area from the sky, checking rooftops and upper floors of the buildings that were still standing.
"Hello?" Flash called out. "Help's here." There was no response.
Flash looked around. The walls and everything looked fairly intact. He turned to Atom Smasher. "How stable do you think this place is?"
"Looks pretty sturdy, why?"
"I'm gonna risk a quick sweep of the building."
Atom Smasher nodded. "This place looks whole, unlike the other places we've searched which were falling down around us."
"Okay, I'll be back in a flash."
Atom Smasher rolled his eyes. By the time he had finished the eye roll, Flash had gone and was back in front of him.
"Empty," Flash told him. "My guess is that this building was evacuated."
"So we check the next one," Smasher said.
"Yes we do," Flash agreed.
As they left the building, the next one they were going to search across the street gave way and collapsed. The two dove back inside as clouds of dust filled the air.
"Art thee well?" Shining Knight asked over their earpieces. "The building hath fallen down."
"We noticed," Flash said. "And we're fine. Continue the search."
"I shall doth just that," the medieval knight replied.
Flash and Atom Smasher waited for the dust to start settling before they ventured out.
It was going to be a long day, both of them knew it.
Wonder Woman held up the crossbeam while Elongated Man stretched under, helping those that had been trapped to get out. Gypsy, the other hero on the team, helped by assuring those that had been rescued that everything was going to be alright. Her abilities being illusion based weren't really much use here, but she was doing what she could to help.
Elongated Man pulled out the twelfth person and set them down carefully. "That's everyone."
"Are you certain?" Wonder Woman questioned. "I don't want to leave anyone trapped in there."
"I'm positive," he assured her.
Wonder Woman looked back at Gypsy who was next to the group of wounded people. She held her hand to her ear.
"This is Wonder Woman, we have found injured and are requesting helicopter retrieval. I will be in the air signalling."
"Understood, we're sending a chopper to you. Where are you?"
She looked at Elongated Man who shrugged at her.
"The city is too in shambles to get an exact location," she told them. "But we were issued the area around Albany Park."
"Understood. They'll be on the lookout for you in that area."
"Acknowledged." She looked up at the sky. "I better get up there. You help Gypsy tending to the injured."
"Of course."
The Amazon flew into the air and looked out for the helicopter. She saw one heading away from the area where Green Lantern was searching, probably after having retrieved some injured. She then saw one heading their way. She began to wave to get their attention.
She was hoping to get this done soon. She needed to be back in Gateway City and while what she was doing here was important, she feared that whatever was going to happen in Gateway might lead to more trouble. Magala didn't warn her for no reason and that troubled her.
Watchtower II
Earth Orbit
18:30 – Station Time (EST)
March 16, 2007
Shayera put the mug of tea down on the table in front of Raven, who sat there with her hood up, a dark shadow covered the upper part of her face hiding much of her features.
"Thank you," she said, cupping the hot mug in her hands.
The former Hawkgirl sat down next to Shebang opposite Raven and Omen in the empty cafeteria. In truth, it was more of a mess hall and Shayera tended to call it such, but most of the league weren't or never had been military, so they just called it the cafeteria.
Shayera had a glass of water, as did Omen. Shebang had some off-brand soda which was the only one "vetted and approved" by the Question. Apparently, according to him, all the others had various behavioural and mind controlling substances in them. It was nonsense and she believed that to some degree Question knew it was too. He just liked the theatrics and to see people's reactions. Or maybe he did truly believe it. If he did, then he really was a nut-job, pure and simple.
The four of them sat there in silence for a few minutes before Shayera finally spoke up. "I hope I'm not making you all nervous?" the Thanagarian asked.
"Nah," Shebang said. "Just nothing really to talk about."
"Not here anyway," Omen said, casting a sideways glance at Raven.
Shayera regarded the three of them for a moment. "Something I should know about?"
"No," Raven said firmly. "Nothing."
"You sure?" the winged woman asked.
"Yes."
"Anyone else need to get anything off their chest?" Shayera asked the other two. "Because I'm sensing some real discomfort between you."
Raven looked up from her tea in surprise. "You are empathic?"
Shayera shook her head. "No, it was more a turn of phrase. From the look of it, I'd say you'd had an argument recently."
"No," Raven said quickly.
"It's just that she kept some things from me," Omen said, looking down at her half-full glass of water.
"It was never my intention," Raven almost mumbled. "I don't want to discuss it here. I'm not proud of it."
Omen continued, "You told me you were a half-demon, so why not take that extra step and tell me the rest?"
Raven didn't respond. She simply raised her mug to her lips and took a sip, before focusing onto Shayera who was now staring.
"What exactly is going on?" Shayera asked them.
"It is personal," Raven said firmly. "I do not want to discuss it here."
"Is it connected with this whole Trigon thing?"
Raven didn't answer. Instead, she took another sip of her beverage.
"Don't keep things secret," Shayera warned. "It never ends well. Trust me, I know."
"But you don't," Raven said. "You can't know. It isn't the same."
"What isn't?"
Raven took one more sip of her drink before standing up. "If you'll excuse me."
"Where are you going?"
"I need to meditate." With that, she turned and left.
Omen went to follow, but Shayera stopped her. "Let her go. If she needs time to think then let her."
"Aren't you supposed to be watching us?" Omen questioned.
"She can't go far. Besides, there's something you're not telling me. What is it?"
Omen glanced to Shebang who shrugged. "We found out from Fate," the red-robed telepath began. "He said he could sense him through her."
"Who, Trigon?"
"Yes."
"How? Are they siblings?"
"He's-" Omen trailed off. "I can't say. I'm angry at her for not telling me, but it's not my place to say." She stood up and headed out of the door, leaving Shayera alone with Shebang.
"Sooo," Shebang said, looking around the cafeteria. "Has Static been up here yet?" she asked, completely catching Shayera off-guard.
The winged woman looked at her confused. "What?"
"Static, has he been up to the Watchtower. This new one I mean."
"At this point, I think this 'new one' has outlived the old one," Shayera told her.
"But has he been up here?"
"Why?" Shayera asked suspiciously. "This isn't a rival thing, is it? You want to rub the fact that you've been up here in his face, is that it?"
"Maybe."
"I couldn't tell you. He might have been. I didn't rejoin till after most of the new league had been assembled."
"Damn. I guess it doesn't matter."
"Why do you want to know?"
"We're competitive," she revealed. "I don't know who started it, so don't ask. It was probably him not wanting to be outdone by a girl."
"By the sound of it, you don't want to be outdone by him, either."
"That's true," Shebang admitted. "Not so much recently though, since I'm now in NYC and he's still in Dakota City."
"You miss him?"
"A bit. But before you jump to conclusions, he's just a friend."
"Riiight," Shayera said, with a smirk, not entirely believing her.
"I'm serious. Besides, he has a thing for some other girl. Why are we talking about him anyway?"
Shayera shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "You brought it up."
Shebang chuckled. "You're right, I did."
Shayera stood up. "While this has been fun, I think we should go find the other two. Make sure they're not getting themselves into any trouble. "
"I'll come with," Shebang said, following her out of the cafeteria.
Outside the Museum of Antiquities
Gateway City
United States
15:47 – Pacific Standard Time
March 16, 2007
Dick Grayson was sat at a table outside the cafe that lay on the opposite side of the street to the museum. He had a glass of fresh orange juice which he was nursing mainly because at that moment he was waiting for someone and didn't want to be seen sat there with an empty glass.
He glanced up to where he knew Starfire was, atop of a building further down the road. "Any sign of Green Arrow?" he asked quietly, knowing that she would be able to hear through their communicator.
"I see no one dressed in green," came the reply.
He was about to make a comment about looking out for someone dressed like Robin Hood, when he realised she wouldn't have any idea who that was and the second realisation was that he probably wouldn't come dressed in his disguise.
Dick noticed three people approaching. The one in front was a well-built man wearing Sunglasses and a baseball cap. He had blonde stubble on his face which looked like it was in the midst of being formed into a goatee. With him were two women, both blonde, one a lot younger than the other, perhaps a teenager. The older woman was also wearing sunglasses.
They noticed him and moved over, the three sitting at his table.
"Don't worry," the man said. "It's me, Oliver."
Dick nodded. He knew then that it was Oliver Queen. In fact, Batman had known the man had been Green Arrow for a number of years, as far back as the late nineties. With curtesy, he nodded to the woman he knew was Black Canary. "Dinah," he greeted before looking to Stargirl, nodding to her also. He didn't know the younger girl's actual name, so he remained silent.
"Courtney," she told him.
"Right," he said. He then looked to Oliver. "Diana said you were coming."
"Yeah, I've booked some rooms in the hotel across town. Using aliases of course."
"Any idea when Diana will be back?" Dick asked them.
"No," Oliver replied. "So, what exactly is the situation?"
Dick stood up. "Let's go for a quick walk to find some privacy." He called over the waitress and paid the tab with a nice tip for her before he moved off, the other three close behind.
The four of them entered a nearby alleyway, where Dick spoke, once he had checked the area was free of surveillance equipment. "Two Women. One's the curator of the museum, one's her teenage kid who goes to the nearby high school. Diana has some information that suggests that the museum might be a target. I don't know all the details myself. The means she got them were kinda hazy and mystical in nature."
"Great, just what we need," Dinah said, her tone oozing with sarcasm. "So we don't have a definitive objective?"
"No," Dick confirmed. "We are to watch the museum for anything out of the ordinary."
"And what would be out of the ordinary?" Oliver asked. "Considering none of us are from here, it'll be difficult to know what to look for."
"Welcome to my pain. I've been keeping an eye out, but without any real knowledge of what I'm looking for, it's been frustrating to say the least." Dick then held up a finger and reached for his ear. "Star, Arrow has arrived, I'm talking to him and the others now."
"I can see you."
Richard noticed her waving from the rooftop. He facepalmed. "Try to keep a low profile and not draw attention to yourself," he reminded her.
"Oh, sorry."
"Just keep an eye on the museum. If you notice anything, inform me immediately."
"Yes, I understand."
"Thanks, out." He looked to the three who were looking at him. "What?"
"Who was that?" Courtney asked.
"Starfire," he answered in an especially hushed voice.
"The Tamaranean?" Dinah asked. "She's not up on the Watchtower?"
"No, she's down here with me. Followed me in fact."
"She's got a thing for you," Oliver observed with a sly smirk. "Not causing you trouble is she?"
"I could have done without the huge dent in the rear arch of my car and her flying off in the middle of the night, but other than that, not really."
"Dent?" Dinah inquired.
"She stepped out in front of me," he said. "Swerved but still hit her." They stared in surprise. "She's fine. I think if she wanted to, she might be able to go toe to toe with Diana, but don't quote me on that, 'cause I don't know. She's pretty strong and resilient. A bit naïve, though, or at least seems it. Might be playing me for a sap for all I know."
"I hope you're not taking advantage," Dinah warned.
"If anything, she's taking advantage of me," Dick told them. "But that's not here nor there."
"Back onto the mission, how are we going about it?" Oliver asked.
Dick looked around to make sure no one was listening in. "I think you should watch during the day and I'll watch after nightfall," he suggested. "I work best in the dark."
Dinah nodded. "Works for me."
"So we're keeping twenty-four-hour surveillance," Oliver said.
"For now."
"And what kind of time-scale are we talking about?" the archer asked.
"Unknown."
Oliver leant against a wall. "If nothing happens, how long until we call it quits?"
"This is Diana's gig, so we wait until she's satisfied."
"So we have no idea?" Dinah said with surprise. "None at all?"
"I got the impression that it's supposed to be soon, but I repeat, the information came from some kind of Amazon mystic."
"Why do mystics have to be so obtuse?" Dinah asked annoyed. "Can't they just tell us what to do for once instead of having us figure it all out by ourselves?"
Oliver grinned. "That'd make things too easy. There needs to be a bit of challenge in life."
"There's challenge and then there's wandering around in the dark," she retorted.
"I agree," Dick said. "But we can't stand here chatting. You three want to take over watching the museum now or later?."
Oliver answered, "We'll head back and grab our gear and keep watch. You head back and get some rest so you and your girlfriend can take over at-" He paused thinking for a second. "let's say ten tonight."
"I suggest one of you goes inside the museum and keeps an eye out from within until it closes," Dick suggested, ignoring the 'girlfriend' comment. "I did that until security started to become suspicious of me wandering around."
"They noticed you?"
"They're not slouches," Dick informed them. "They have their eyes out for anyone suspicious. The ones on patrol at night are a different story though, which is when most heists take place. They stood and talked way too much instead of actually patrolling."
Oliver nodded. "Right, well we better be off. I'll check the inside of the museum," he said turning to Dinah and Courtney. "You two will be on either side, front and back looking for anything suspicious."
"Sounds like a plan," Dick said.
The four of them headed back out of the alleyway. Richard returned to the coffee shop while the other three headed off in the other direction.
Unknown Location
Unknown Time
Giganta awoke slowly and sluggishly. Her head hurt and she wasn't sure why.
At least until she heard that voice. "Are ya awake honey?" It all came back to her. The blonde southern girl and the fact that she had been hit over the head, which had obviously knocked her out.
Giganta's eyes opened and she looked around her at what appeared to be a basement. Sat beside her was the blonde who she had decided she hated. Particularly because she had bludgeoned her over the head.
"Hey, she's awake!" the southern girl shouted loudly to someone or someones. This meant that she wasn't working alone. The door opened at the top of a set of stairs and another blonde looked down at them.
"Bring her up here, we need to have a little chat." The woman then turned and moved off out of sight.
"Sure thing, honey." The southern girl stood up and made her way over to Giganta. "Best ya do what she says. She's gotta mean streak in her."
Slowly Giganta climbed to her feet and cautiously followed the other woman up the stairs where she found herself in what looked like a long since abandoned house since it was so covered in dust and grime.
As they stepped through into what was probably once the lounge, she noted the light coming in through the dirty windows. That meant that she was either no longer in Central City, or she had been out cold and it was now the following day. Then she noticed the others in the room with her. She recognised three of them right off as she had worked with them prior.
First was Cheetah, the half-cat chimera, who didn't know what clothes were. Then there was Tsukiri a katana wielding assassin who was dressed in black, and finally, there was Volcana, whose powers were fire based.
The other three she didn't know, though one she knew by reputation alone and that was Catwoman. The other two blondes she didn't know, though one of them wore bracelets, not unlike those worn by Wonder Woman.
"What do you want?" the size-altering woman asked, sticking by the door.
The blonde with the bracelets stepped forwards. "Firstly, what are you doing with the Flash?"
"What?" She hadn't been expecting them to know about that. Was that why they had abducted her?
"You were seen running through the streets carrying Flash in your hands. Not many nine-foot people around with red hair."
"Who saw me?"
"Captain Cold," Cheetah said. "He didn't know if it was you, or just some really tall person. That's why we sent Emmylou, though she was supposed to talk to you and convince you to do this job, not bash you around the head and abduct you."
"She weren't gonna listen," Emmylou complained.
"Forget all that," the blonde with the bracelets uttered. "The question was why were you with him?"
The question caught her off-guard and Giganta was forced to think fast. She racked her brain, hoping she could come up with something believable, that also didn't turn them against her. A villainess hanging around with a hero wasn't something that went down well. It was practically suicide in some circles.
"He's good in the sack," she said finally, casting an eye towards Catwoman. "Just ask her. She knows what a good time a hero can be."
"I wish," Catwoman said, sounding slightly jealous. "Sounds like you've got further with Speedy Gonzales than I ever have with Batman. I think cracking open Fort Knox would be easier than getting him out of his cape. Good kisser though."
Cheetah spoke up, "I'll agree with that."
Volcana grinned. "So, Batman has a weakness for cat girls. Good to know."
"You're disgusting," the blonde, bracelet wearing woman said. "All three of you are."
Catwoman shrugged. "You're just too uptight."
The woman focused solely onto Giganta. Just the look in her eyes made fear start to rise in the size-shifter. "The real question is whether you've gone soft and are in league with the enemy?"
"No, he's just a means to an end," she lied. "A personal project."
"It better be," she warned. "Or I'll have to kill you."
Giganta fought the urge to shudder. The woman was cold, Killer Frost cold. She knew she should probably have run right there and then, but she stayed where she was, feet firmly planted.
"Let's get the introductions out of the way," the woman who was obviously the leader began. "You know Tsukiri, Volcana and Cheetah from Grodd's Legion of Doom, right?"
"Yes," Giganta confirmed, forcing her fear down, hoping it didn't show.
She pointed to the southern woman. "That's Emmylou Brown, that's Catwoman and I'm Aresia."
"I've heard of Catwoman, but sorry, I don't know who either of you two are," she said to the two blondes.
"And it doesn't matter," Aresia said. "Now it's time to fully explain why we're here." She looked up to the ceiling. "Circe!" she called out.
"Yes?" A voice said from a door from the far side of the room.
Giganta looked to see a woman with purple hair stepping into the room. She smiled at them. "Quite the team you've put together, Aresia," she said.
"Yes." Aresia waved them all over. They all moved in close, including Giganta. "Listen carefully," Aresia began. "Most of you know the basics."
"A museum heist," Catwoman said with a smile. "Lots of expensive things to swipe."
"Yes, but this isn't an ordinary heist from an ordinary museum. This is the Museum of Antiquities here in Gateway City."
Gateway City? That threw Giganta for a loop. Why was she here and where was here and how did she get here, wherever this Gateway City was.
Emmylou drawled a question. "What's it holdin' that's so special?"
"Ancient artefacts, some from the time when the Amazons departed Greece, some from after from Themyscira itself. They are powerful and I want them. You are here to help."
"Sure, but what's in it for us?" Cheetah demanded.
"Whatever I don't want, we sell. I already have some buyers interested in some artefacts. That's how you'll get paid."
Giganta gestured to the bracelets on her wrists. "Is that how you got those?" she asked. "From a museum?"
"No," Aresia said firmly. "I got these from Themyscira."
"Wait, you're an Amazon?" Catwoman asked.
"In a way, I am," Aresia responded obtusely. She then focused solely on Giganta. "You came recommended," she said. "If you let me down, not only is it bad news for you, but for those that recommended you."
"I won't," Giganta said quickly, wondering just how she got into this situation. "Just a question, who suggested me?"
"Killer Frost and some men," Aresia said, her voice turning almost vile when she said the word 'men'. "I wanted to use her, but she was busy with something else. Luckily there was already chatter about you being with Flash in the underground." Aresia stepped close to her. "I hope that what you told me about your-" she paused for a moment before continuing, "-relationship with Flash is simply a means to an end, because if you are consorting with him, then I will kill you. Do you understand?"
Giganta nodded a little too enthusiastically. She wanted to dispel any notion that her relationship with Flash was anything but serious. Being threatened with death multiple times wasn't something she was fond of.
Then it hit her. They were going to rob a museum and she was going to be there. Personally, helping them empty a museum of artefacts didn't bother her. It was what Wally would think of her after the fact. But she had no choice, unless she found a way to escape. The thing was, even if she did, where would she go? She was in a place called Gateway and she had no idea where that was. Were they even still in the United States?
"Let's go over the plan," Aresia said. "First of all, we're hitting the museum tomorrow. Circe and Giganta will be dealing with any cops that are certain to show. Considering what's going on regarding the Justice League right now, I doubt we'll have any trouble with them."
"Don't be so confident," Volcana warned. "Trust me, I've been at this long enough to know that a hero will always show u to ruin your day when you least expect it."
Aresia glared at her. "I am not stupid. Don't speak to me as if I am."
Volcana was taken aback. "I wasn't, I was just saying-"
"Quiet," Aresia baulked. "We hit during closing time. That will be when they are at their most vulnerable."
Catwoman raised a hand. "No offence, but after dark would be best. Less people and we could knock all the guards out and grab what we want with little trouble."
"Who is in charge?" Aresia questioned angrily.
Catwoman and Giganta exchanged a glance.
"We hit during changeover. Anymore questions?"
Giganta cautiously raised her hand. "Where are we?"
"Gateway City," Aresia told her.
"And where's that?"
"California."
They were still in the US, but being in California raised another question. "How did I get here?"
Circe grinned. "I brought you here along with the others."
"No more questions," Aresia said, looking around. "We'll go over the plan tonight." She turned to Circe. "Keep an eye on them. I'm going out to scout the museum one last time before tomorrow." Aresia left the room without another word.
Giganta looked around at the others. She had essentially been drafted into this and she wondered if the same was true for any of the others. By the looks of it, she doubted it. It appeared the others were there of their own volition.
She wasn't at all looking forward to what was to come. Though perhaps she could turn it to her advantage. While she didn't know how to get in contact with the Justice League or Wally from here, she did know how to get in contact with the cops. If she got the chance, she would warn them and this might end with her relationship with Wally not being destroyed.
There was hope, but right now she had no idea how to even get in contact with the police. She couldn't see a phone and she doubted one in this old place would still work.
Then there was the other problem. Calling the cops would make her a snitch and that wasn't something she really wanted to be labelled with. This whole thing was a mess and it wasn't even of her own doing. She just hoped she could get out of this unscathed.
Updated December 2017