Chapter Two
Disco Mummy summoned her elite cadre of followers. Scarab, Black Pharaoh, Ghazia, Myra Pyram, Aten Khalis, and the Green Mummy awaited her every order.
"Gotham requires a reckoning," Erishkigal had decided, "They revere Knightfall as their queen and savior. That position is rightfully mine."
Erishkigal Narayana was born a princess of Sumeria. Her kingdom stretched across the Fertile Crescent from proto-Persia to the Mediterranean and the Nile. Disco Mummy had little use for the living. Her ambition was to reign over a kingdom of the undead like herself. Black Pharaoh fancied himself her natural suitor. Like Peter Ward, he was the reincarnation of an ancient Pharaoh. But Scarab was a natural leader unlike Black Pharaoh. But Scarab's heart belonged to the reincarnated priestess, Ghazia.
Aten Khalis was the royal guard that had betrayed Khufu and Chay'era and damned to be mummified alive and exist as the being dubbed "Wraps" by the press. Green Mummy had also been condemned to living mummification by Myra Pyram for desecrating a temple site. Myra Pyram being the only living priestess of Set left on Earth. Disco Mummy's goals naturally aligned with the priestess of the god of death. Myra also, alone among them, could summon Anubis warriors. She could also animate nonliving objects.
Ghazia, the reincarnated priestess of Bastet, could fuse any living creatures into an amalgamated whole which she could then control. Scarab had a magic power ring. Black Pharaoh controlled darkness, plagues, and the soil. Green Mummy was as almost as fast as Jay Garrick, the original Flash. Aten Khalis's ceremonial wrappings could be extended and animated.
Disco Mummy herself had power to mummify any living being and control them. She could also resurrect the dead as mummies and exert her will over them. Erishkigal's hidden servant was Scarlet Rose, the Crimson Queen's sister. Despite appearances, Disco Mummy had damned Suri into being a mummy and enslaved her to Erishkigal's own will. Scarlet Rose was now Disco Mummy's puppet within the hated Crimson Queen's court.
"We need to talk," Saturn Queen announced from Erishkigal's office door. The penitents instantly reacted. Saturn Queen froze them all with the powers of her mind, "Really? This is how you treat guests?"
"Speak your peace," Disco Mummy offered.
"Forget unleashing hell on Earth on Gotham," Saturn Queen advised, "The people here are too worn down to care anymore. You can't take hope from the hopeless."
"You're about to name a better target?" Erishkigal was intrigued despite herself.
"New York City," Saturn Queen smirked, "Home to the Justice League and Justice Society. Crush them, and the world lays at your feet."
"And your price for this suggestion?" Disco Mummy inquired.
"I know you don't respect charity so my price is simple: my success," Saturn Queen offered, "Your victory helps insure my eventual victory in my own time. Your failure will also reflect itself in my time. So don't fail."
"I thought history was immutable," Erish admitted.
"There are fixed point and flux point s in history. The fixed points are known. You can't save the Titanic or prevent wars and such. Flux point s are variables even the history books are unclear about. The Age of Heroes ends. History doesn't say how and the cataclysm was so great it made the Near Apocalypse of 2009 pale in comparison. I don't know the when or how but history states that the Justice League, Justice Society, and all their associated teams fall. I'm offering you the chance to be that mechanism," Saturn Queen explained.
"My last foray into New York was repulsed. The people and the 'Supers' owe me for that. I do believe it's time to take my revenge," Disco Mummy decided.
"I can help pave your way with unwitting allies softening your enemies," Saturn Queen offered.
"You're right I distrust charity," Erishkigal scowled.
"By helping you destroyed the heroes, I rid myself of their legacies that inspired my enemies in the far future. I also persuade potential allies like Vandal Savage to support my cause in the end," Eve Aries explained.
"The end of what?" Disco Mummy was intrigued.
"Everything," Saturn Queen's eyes burned with manic fire, "To usher in a new Age of Chaos that will last until infinity."
"Now that I can buy into," Disco Mummy finally agreed to the plan, "When can you dispatch my unwitting allies?"
"This afternoon," Saturn Queen smirked.
Saturn Queen hadn't been lying. She'd used her telepathic powers and super hypnosis to "persuade" Signalman to deploy the Injustice Gang in NYC even as she'd also "convinced" Libra and Major Disaster to bring the Secret Society of Super Villains to town. For Gotham, she raised the stakes in the hunt for Hellequin, Red Alice and her Wonderland Gang by swaying Cluemaster and Nadya Burnett to unleash the Legion of Annoyance.
But she wasn't finished. Knowing that the JLI and JSA could overcome their foes in NYC, she ramped up a secondary option to swoop in and soften the heroes up even more before Disco Mummy began her reign of terror upon the city. Despite Eve Aries' pledge of solidarity, the move was an orchestrated series of events to put Erishkigal in the cross-hairs of the few rivals that could dispose of her. Thereby insuring the immortal Disco Mummy couldn't threaten Saturn Queen's plans in 31st Century. Forces as arcane as Disco Mummy herself.
Chelle Parker spent her days drinking at the Iceberg Lounge's bar, her nights clubbing, and her hotel overnights with strange men and women. Party Girl spotted Grace and Agatha Adams enter the Lounge. Bird of Paradise's security detail cleared them. But the Agatha Detective Agency was denied an audience with Regina. Bird of Paradise fielded a few basic questions regarding Hellequin and Red Alice and pointed them towards Devil's Square.
"Futz," Chelle swore as she downed another shot of tequila. She followed the detectives get near the district but the buses wouldn't enter and the subway tunnels had been filled in. Devil's Square, from its border, looked like a bombed out war zone. And the pair of neophytes blithely entered into it.
"Futz me sideways," Chelle grumbled as she put her shoulder holster on, made certain the mag slots were filled and then pulled her belt off and threaded it again with additional mag pouches hung off of it. She slid her holdout piece into one boot and a pair of spare magazines for it in the other. Then she grabbed a flash light and followed the intrepid, but incredibly stupid, competing detectives.
Party Girl had always known where the Wonderland Gang and Hellequin hid out. Or at least the district. But she wasn't stupid enough to traipse across a district even the GCPD and the Crows didn't dare enter. Fortunately, she'd gotten Red Cross and Special Nurse's address earlier so she knew what illegal clinic to drag the pair to after the inevitable assault concluded. They'd foot the outrageous off the books medical bill though.
Chelle doubted Red Cross kept rape kits on hand but they'd probably prove necessary. Even the seventy-year old Agatha would probably need one. Fortunately, getting robbed, tooled up, and raped were the least of their problems.
This was Jokerz territory. Punchline ruled Devil's Squares warrens and streets. The Adams wouldn't survive meeting the Jokerz. Worse yet, the Church of Blood and the Religion of Crime were competing for true believers. Gotham City Alderman Sebastian Blood was secretly Brother Blood, the leader of the Church of Blood cult. The Masked Terror was personally in Gotham to spread the faith. The Masked Terror, secretly the elderly woman only known as Lora, was losing influence as the Blood gained converts.
Blood represented the Narrows and had turned the district around following the Fourth Reich and Imperialists' occupation. Even the Bonez Gang had fallen in step with Blood's wishes. The Masked Terror had recruited the Neon Gang but was tapping into Intergang's pockets to stay afloat. But Blood had been actively building his following for over a decade in secret.
His most successful accomplishment was the Nuclear Family. The existence and subsequent destruction of the original android assassins inspired Brother Blood to replicate the experiment with Church converts. His hand selected two single parent volunteers had then been placed together and wedded. Then their and their children's training began. Blood only deployed the Nuclear Family in extreme circumstances.
He knew that Adam and Eve, the assumed names of the parents, were unaware of the sexual nature of the step-siblings' relationship, Cain and Abigail. Brother Blood tolerated it as long as it didn't affect their mission performance or cover identities within Gotham. Red Cross supplied both Eve and Abigail birth control because the family was a tight knit unit that functioned as a whole rather than as individuals. That very cohesion had brought Cain and Abigail together. Along with their home schooling and lack of other potential partners.
Blood would personally intervene with Adam and Eve when the truth became obvious and they couldn't live in denial any longer. But Brother Blood had a new target for the Nuclear Family. The Masked Terror herself was their intended victim. Their devotion to the Church of Blood was absolute. So Blood had no qualms about sending them into the Religion of Crime's embrace. Brother Blood prepped his congregation for the new members that would flock to their doors after the Masked Terror died.
The Religion of Crime had begun meeting in the abandoned Gotham Cathedral at the heart of Devil's Square. The Adams and Chelle had no idea that the Nuclear Family had chosen that afternoon's service to strike down the Masked Terror.
Punchline had been informed ahead of time by Brother Blood. J-Man, Dee Dee, and Card Queen took a dozen Jokerz and set up outside the cathedral to cover the Nuclear Family's exit. The sheer chaos of what would transpire appealing to the Jokerz.
"Butch" Candon took in the fragmentary reports from the Newsboy Legion. Their numbers had dwindled since the occupation lifted. But it wasn't a lack of urgency that had spawned the defections. Quite the opposite actually. A new Anarky had replaced Ulysses Armstrong while he was off playing Red Robin. He offered the Newsboys direct action. Butch couldn't compete with that and it frustrated her
She'd called a war meeting with Father M'Buttu, Batwing, and the chosen leaders of the KnightsQuest.
Azrael didn't deem the meeting worthy of his time. His vendetta now was against Vengeance and her desire to avenge her "father's" crippling. M'Buttu found the reports coming in regarding Anarky and the network he was developing worrisome.
"Whoever he is, he has a helluva point. Gotham turned on itself like rabid rats," Batwing opined, "Racial tensions have never been higher."
"Or out in the open," Butch agreed, "Supremacy groups of every ethnic stripe are growing. Everyone wants to feel superior to someone else."
"Entire families, good upstanding citizens, are in shelters because white squatters took their homes while everyone else was confined to Chinatown or the Narrows," Batwing had noted, "The courts are dragging their feet on this and the GCPD can't act unilaterally and some of these crazies have been stockpiling weapons waiting for a racial Armageddon."
"Which they're busy creating," Butch scowled.
"Between the GCPD, the Crows, and the Pax Mundi we can barely intervene," the KnightsQuest leaders complained, "The law is going nuts enforcing the anti-vigilante laws and the Pax Mundi is trigger happy while enhorcing the 'peace'."
"Nobody asked them to," Butch complained.
"Mayor Grange did because Knightfall told her to," Batwing had been there, "Knightfall is the root of all of this. She runs Gotham now that the Falcones, the Penguin, and Two-Face are gone. The Jokerz had picked up where their role model left off. Black Mask and Intergang are starting a war that no one can win. On top of it all, Hellequin and the Wonderland Gang are keeping Black Mask and Intergang at each other's throats. Million dollar bounties on Hellequin and Red Alice's heads will invite an open competition between specialists."
"Maybe the Outlaws will come back," Butch had taken a liking to the same aged Protector.
"I doubt it's their bag," Batwing let her down easy, "Besides after killing the Masked Leader and the Dragon King, the Outlaws are topping the most wanted lists for the GCPD, the Crows, and even the Pax Mundi."
"It would be suicidal for them to return," Father M'Buttu agreed, "Despite Knightfall seeming to be the only party uninterested in killing them."
"We know she carved up Gotham with Empress Penguin running the day in and out," Batwing acknowledged, "So how are the crooks reacting to Hellequin and Red Alice's rampages?"
"And where the hell can you hide a Wonderland Gang?" Butch asked.
The fashionable Burnside District was the place to be for the young and increasingly affluent. Marian Drews had purchased a penthouse condo here
She'd just never imagined it would ever be filled wall to wall with people.
All the rooms, excluding the bedrooms, the four bathrooms, the kitchen, and Drews' office was filled with cots and luggage. One of the bedrooms was filled floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with bags of cash.
Red Alice had claimed one bedroom and Anna Wilson, the new Mad Hatter, had claimed another. Marian wasn't letting anyone in her master or its attached bath and office spaces. Anna claimed the kitchen table as a work space to construct more mind controlling nanites. The nanites replicated themselves but they needed the necessary metal and biological components to do so. Then the nascent Mad Hatter needed storage containers to place the newly constructed nanites into.
Tweedeldee and Tweedledum hung on her every word. The rest of the Wonderlanders impatiently waited for Red Alice to begin doling out their cuts of the cash. They had no idea that the Mad Hatter had laced their beers with nanites so they would fall under her control with the application of a single code word.
Anna shared the code word with Red Alice for redundancy's sake. The Wonderlanders were just plain terrified of Hellequin. She alone could freely operate beyond the condo's confines since the GCPD already had a Marian Drews in custody. Everyone mistook Hellequin's Joker-bleached skin as an affectation.
Cash and prepaid credit cards took care of the sundries. Marian was sociopathic but she wasn't insane. She knew Black Mask and Intergang would put rivaling bounties on their heads. Professionals would be flooding the streets to collect.
But they'd be searching out Devil's Square and dealing with the Jokerz, who didn't look kindly on non-paying visitors. Hellequin had reloaded and rearmed her converted hostel's auto defenses. Punchline may sell the location but the bunker-like fortification would blow the holy hell out several waves of small armies.
The Court of Owls' tunnel system accessible through her bunker would wind their pursuers through a seemingly endless maze beneath Gotham's streets. Hellequin only knew the system because Lord Batman had required every Resistance member to memorize its every in and out, twist and turn. As if precognizant, the Court had lined Gotham's underground with lead so even Lord Superman couldn't track rebels navigating it from the air. He'd have to go to ground. And face Lord Batman's anti-Kryptonian countermeasures.
Each one field tested by Power Girl and proven to be lethal to Argoans, clones or not, and Kryptonians if Lord Batman chose not spare them. But Lord Green Lantern had stranded Kara In-Z on a remote planet in another galaxy to prevent Supergirl from acting against the Justice Lords after surrendering her position as Lady Supergirl . Marian was aware of all of this history just as Red Alice remembered Earth Prime's.
Marian Drews and Beth Kane were amongst a rarefied group that recalled these things without Saturn Queen's intervention. She being the only one in the 31st Century besides Glorith to the true origins of the New Universe. Glorith had attempted to seal history from alterations to achieve her ultimate victory and hold it. But even with utilizing Dr. Manhattan's power, she'd neglected to factor in the fact that the Evil Queen still possessed the Genesis Point Rose. An artifact with the supreme power over the Creation Event.
Dr. Manhattan, therefore Glorith, was even more powerful but Renfri wove instabilities into the New Universe's narrative. Such as all the doppelgangers the Monitor had collected onto Earth Prime to gather the Paragons and wage the final war against the Anti Monitor and save the Prime Universe. The sole remaining universe after the devastations of the Crisis of the Multiverse. But Hellequin joined Master Terrific's rebellion against the Monitor's plans after Harbinger killed him while under the Anti Monitor's control. The Anti Monitor won the conflict and Final Crisis destroyed the Matter Universe…and its corresponding Antimatter Universe.
Thereby eliminating the Anti Monitor and the resultant Zero Hour erasing both he and the Moinitor from the history of universes that had now never existed. Glorith, Dr. Manhattan, and the Heckler had waited out Final Crisis and the Zero Hour in a neighboring Realm of Existence. Only the unkillable Heckler could survive the release of Dr. Manhattan's energies upon his death. The Heckler became the conduit for the outflow of a new Creation Event. Glorith guided that spark and the New Universe came into being.
She altered history throughout time to her advantage and Rebirth adjusted living memory to accommodate the New Universe's crafted history. A history where Superman was no longer the most revered hero throughout the 20th through 30th Centuries but Lar Gand, the hero called Valor, was. Glorith banished Valor to the Phantom Zone for one thousand years to emerge to become M'Onel. In Valor's absence, Lar's sister Laurel became Valoria. The history of Valor and Valoria inspired the creation of the Legion of Superheroes in the 31st Century.
But the Justice League wasn't forgotten. As the LSH defended the United Planets, so too did the Justice League Infinite defend the Commonwealth of Worlds. Both Saturn Queen's foes and obstacles to her Age of Chaos. Having once been exiled to the 21st Century as the mere Tessa Richardson, Eve Aries understood the power of the Heroic Age and knew it had to be corrupted and then ended.
So Saturn Queen volunteered to be taken back in time once again for a limited duration to seed the events that would ultimately destroy the Justice League and bring an end to the Age of Heroes. But Saturn Queen did not labor alone. Lightning Lord and Cosmic King would soon join her and place the final pieces to the puzzle that would unravel the Justice League and its influence throughout time.
The founders of the Legion of Super Villains would unleash the power of the Light upon the world.
Hellequin had pieced together portions of the history of the Light based upon the Justice Lords successfully annihilating the organization and finally killing Vandal Savage by casting him into the sun. Some of its members were obvious choices.
Others less so and finally a cadre of mystery players Marian hadn't learned of yet.
But she'd keep digging until she found out their goals in the New Earth history and why Saturn Queen seemed obsessed with them and Lois Lane. Marian knew Lois and Lana Linda Lang from their days in the Resistance even before they each became Superwoman.
After reaching Earth Prime, she'd even roomed with Linda Lang. Lana using her middle name to differentiate herself from her famed fashion designing doppelganger. Linda was an engineer by trade and gone to work with Galaxy Broadcasting Corporation's news department as a science and engineering department staffer.
With Lois abandoning the Kent Family, including her four biological children and her adopted daughter, fathered by Lord Superman when he raped Lena Luthor. Lord Superman killed Lena as soon as she birthed Mia. Two years later Jonathan Lane Kent had been born. Followed two years later by Laura. It had been seven years between births before she brought the twins, Carol and Jane, into the world. All of them abandoned now in Lois' resumed quest to kill Clark Kent and Superman before he could transform into a Lord Superman. As obsessions went, it was one of the all consuming ones.
Hellequin doubted this Clark would ever transform into his darker doppelganger but it kept Lois out of her way. Linda on the other hand, still regularly met with Marian and Stuart Mosely. Superwoman may not have known what to do about Hellequin and the Heckler but she'd adopted a "live and let live" policy. Not that the Heckler, will the sole exception of granting Dr. Manhattan's last wish and killing him, had ever hurt a fly. The Heckler just annoyed criminals into surrendering to the police. The fact that he couldn't die or be hurt annoyed them the most.
Stu ran a diner unimaginatively called "Eats" in Brooklyn not very far away from the Hall of Justice. Buying and renovating the diner had been Stu's investment in this life using Lord Batman's cash that he'd given each member of the team the Monitor had selected to outlive the Earth-2 universe. Linda used hers to create and invest in a farmer's co-op in Smallville to compete with LuthorCorp's agribusiness.
Hellequin had used the money to buy properties across Gotham and fortify them.
Of course, her criminal activities only added to the funds.
Then she'd stolen millions from her embezzling doppelganger. After all, the other Marian Drews couldn't very well admit someone was stealing her stolen mob money. But the GCPD had linked that Marian to Intergang's monies being cleaned in the former Five Families banks now owned exclusively by Selina Wayne.
Rebirth reworking her into being Carmine Falcone's sister. And her husband, Bruce Alan Wayne became Thomas Wayne's youngest brother rather than Batman.
But using Miraclo he'd become Bat-Man after Batman vanished. He'd even recruited a Bat-Woman and a Bat-Girl to compete with the new Batwoman and Batgirl.
Katrina Moldoff had been selected by Spyral to be Batwoman and Barbara Gordon had approved of training up Carrie Kelley as Batgirl. Dick Grayson had recruited Spoiler to be the next Nightwing. Stephanie Brown had roomed with Carrie and Cassandra Cain at the K-Star Ranch's dorms. Black Bat chosen by Batman before his self-imposed retirement to join Young Justice.
Donna Troy had persuaded Hippolyta to graduate the trio so that Batgirl, Nightwing, and Black Bat could join the Justice League Outsiders. Donna led the Outsiders as Wonder Woman. Hippolyta served alongside the Justice Society and instructed at Young Justice as Wonder Woman. Artemis and Nubia each served as a Wonder Woman with the Justice League International.
In response, Barbara Minerva, Priscilla Rich, and Debi Domaine had all taken on the guise of the Cheetah. Arcane magics had transformed Minerva into a feline/human hybrid. Rich and Domaine were related but simply adventurers that sought to capitalize on the Cheetah name after the original scientist that transformed herself into a humanoid cat died.
Barbara Minerva had been the one to suggest they all share the ops moniker.
Minerva joined the Legion of Doom while Priscilla Rich joined the Injustice Gang
Debi Domaine, Rich's niece, had been captured by Waller's operatives and forced into part-time service with the Secret Six.
Hellequin didn't care how many Bats, Wonder Women, or Cheetahs there were as long as they stayed out of her way. But Kate Webb and Jessa Carde had joined Commander Kane's supposedly ultra top-secret Batmen Initiative as Bat-Woman and Bat-Girl. Again, Hellequin didn't care about the militarized Batmen as long as they left her alone. If Kane decided to pit his Batmen against her then there'd be fewer Batmen in this world. They were all turning into hopped up 1st gen Miraclo addicts anyway. She'd be doing them a favor. Hellequin was all about relieving people of the dreariness and difficulties of their pathetic lives. It was the closest thing she had to a business model.
She'd learned that much from both the Joker and Neo Joker. Before she killed Earth-2's Joker for becoming a Justice Lords stooge and Knightfall had Christina Bell murdered in front of her.
She hadn't forgiven Knightfall for taking Neo Joker from her but she had learned to live with it. And like it or not, Charise Carnes' alter ego represented the best chance Hellequin had at acquiring the life she wanted to make on the New Earth.
She could always kill Carnes later. If she got bored.
Beth Kane was another story. Red Alice was Hellequin's first mentality equal since Neo Joker died. Without the sexual attraction this time. Besides, Red Alice was strictly hetero. Neo Joker had been Marian's second female partner. Pamela Isley on her Earth had dated Hellequin for a time between Harley Quinn's frequent comings and goings. Poison Ivy gave a damn about Harley Quinn but on Earth-2 she only had eyes for the Joker.
So Ivy and Hellequin, two jilted lovers, came together. Here Ivy and Harley had married and were raising Harley's daughter by the unnamed "Officer Sperm", the cop Dr. Harleen Quinzel had dated before committing to Ivy. Harley had given birth during the honeymoon in the Amazon basin before they returned to Jersey to settle into new lives outside of Gotham and the capes and cowls crowds. Harley had a thriving practice consulting for the State Police while owning an amusement park.
Ivy had opened her own botanical and conservation research facility. Scaling back from eco-terrorism for Harley's sake and the sake of their daughter. Hellequin had tracked Harley and Ivy down on their honeymoon to warn them that they'd been selected by the Monitor as Paragons. They'd enlisted anyway. The Paragons had been on the cusp of victory over the Anti Monitor when one of their own, assisted by Hellequin, betrayed them all. A temporary victory over the Anti Monitor became permanent when he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Destroying an entire Realm of Existence.
But Existence required Twenty-Seven Realms to balance, not Twenty-Six. So Dr. Manhattan and Glorith's fallback plan went into effect and the New Universe became the Twenty-Seventh Realm. Existence was balanced since Heaven was a Realm outside of the rest of Existence so Twenty-Six Lesser Realms were required to harmonize one another.
The Evil Queen had conquered over a dozen Realms. She'd been "overthrown" in the Realm of Fables in her prolonged absence. The New Universe was the one Realm that had ever repulsed her. Her failure galled her. That chafing wound demanded that she personally oversee its conquest while leaving the task of retaking the Fables and expanding the empire to other Realms to lesser generals.
Renfri had slaughtered the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of Faery, leaving her the last Unseelie in Existence. She'd enslaved the Greater and Lesser Courts of Fairy as well.
Her armies were composed of loyal fey and mortals. But humans, which were more and yet less than mortals, had beaten her back on multiple occasions now.
With the Fourth World decimated and uninhabitable, Darkseid defeated and overthrown, the Evil Queen lacked a formidable foe that could actually have threatened her.
An outlier threat existed on Earth that could defeat Renfri. Dorothy Gale, the remaining Wicked Witch of crushed Oz, couldn't be allowed to discover her true potential and how it threatened the Evil Queen. Hellequin and the world had no idea that this conflict would soon erupt again. Until then, it seemed to Marian that she was undertaking a never ending beer run to quiet the Wonderland Gang. It would've been so much easier just to kill them all. But Red Alice and the Mad Hatter wanted to retain there services. God alone knew why.
"Welcome back to Gotham for those of you that have been here before," Ulysses Armstrong offered his accompanying Young Justice cadets. Their "field exercise" was off the books and unsanctioned. The second Red Robin, who was the very first Anarky, had come back to ascertain who had taken up his former moniker. Also, what they intended to do with it. As the local expert, Ulysses was the field leader.
Charlie Great Eagle managed not to look too wide eyed at the scenes unfolding around them. Raven Red had been raised on a reservation. Despite his tenure with Young Justice, cities were still foreign territory to Charlie.
Kitrina Falcone was the other native Gothamite. But Catgirl was hardly a team player. With the decimation of the Falcone family, the price on Kitrina's head had been lifted from her days as the vigilante Kittyhawk. Selina Kyle had tracked Kittyhawk down and taken Kitrina in and made her Catgirl. Now Catgirl's mentor was the equally new Catwoman, Holly Robinson. Holly was even more amoral than Selina if that were possible. Catwoman kept her Justice League reservist membership and Catgirl's enrollment in Young Justice out of some vestigial sense of guilt. Holly funded Catwoman's activities through theft and she didn't want Kitrina to follow in her footsteps as Catgirl.
Virgil Hawkins, as Static, was another semi-veteran superhero candidate coming out of Dakota City. He'd impressed the original Justice League and Virgil saw Young Justice as a road for Static to join the Justice League.
Suzanne King-Jones, who went by Cissie, had been trained literally from birth to be a legacy hero. Arrowette was the reluctant hero. But she was a gold medalist Olympian in archery. Despite Cissie's vocalized reservations, there was no better ally to have under fire than Arrowette.
Colina Amara Hill was the granddaughter of Bart Hill, the Daring Devil. As Devilina Dare she was the youngest, at thirteen, of the active Young Justice cadets. Laura Kent was two years younger but needed the school structure as she began to develop her Kryptonian-heritage based powers. Colina had no powers whatsoever that she knew of. But her grandfather had trained since she could walk with his trademark boomerang weapons. She was also naturally athletic and agile. She excelled in gymnastics classes. Her martial arts training was also advancing faster than most of her fellow cadets.
Alysa Borodinova was the Russian cadet called Blue Streak. The youngest recipient of the treatments that originally created Blue Trinity. Of which, Lady Flash was the sole survivor. Blue Streak was fast but not Speed Force fast
Her treatments had been a variation of the same ones Trajectory received from LuthorCorp. Before she seemed to dissolve only to reappear after being within the Speed Force for a year. Lady Flash had also developed an attachment to the Speed Force so Blue Streak pushed herself to excel so that she too could reach Speed Force maximums. Alysa was from the Russian Far East and before being selected for the ressurected Blue Program, had never been to a city larger than Vladivostok. Gotham was foreign country within a foreign country. She tried to hide it but her eyes were wide and she gawked even more than Charlie.
Denise Madigan was the daughter of Dusty Madigan. As Flag Bearer, Denise carried on his legacy. Denise's heroic pedigree went back to the Eighties when her father took up being Dusty the Boy Detective. Denise had become Flag Bearer not only to carry on her father's legacy but to impress Joe Higgins. But now Joe was accused of high treason and the run. So Denise was very conflicted about how she felt about Joe. She wanted to deny the charges and love him anyway. But her father doubted Joe's innocence and Dusty knew Joe better than anyone. So Denise commiserated with Marcy Holt, her romantic rival for Joe's affections, as they both navigated a world where the man they loved may have become one of America's worst enemies.
Sherry Flippe had joined Young Justice as Girl Detective. Sherry was brilliant and coming into her confidence. The one area she still faced crippling uncertainty was her sexuality. Her attraction to Denise was as unexpected as the feelings that arose around being with Denise. She hoped she was hiding it well but felt like the entire world was staring at her and negatively judging her for her blossoming truth.
The team had been hand picked by Red Robin. Even their peer mentors Superboy, Miss Martian, and Wonder Girl had no idea they'd set out for Gotham rather than head home for the weekend. Of course, Catgirl and Red Robin were home. Commander Kane had spent a great deal of time and effort to try and persuade Red Robin to fall under his Batmen aegis. Ulysses was dating Helena Wayne now and she was Robin to Bruce Alan's Bat-Man. She may have been raised abroad but her family stemmed from Gotham and this is where they'd returned after Kane recruited them into the Batmen Initiative.
Red Robin hardly wanted Robin discovering he was running an independent op without her being included. Other Gothamites and honorary citizens had been left out as well. The last thing Red Robin needed was Batgirl, Nightwing, and Black Bat's moralizing. Ulysses knew the power an Anarky could project and if he found this new title holder was a threat to society, Red Robin would neutralize him. But he needed Girl Detective's help in tracking the new Anarky down and the easiest way to persuade Girl Detective to sign on was to include Flag Bearer.
Red Robin's own skills with computers had unearthed Arrowette's secret. Before enlisting with Young Justice, Cissie had been sent to an all girl's academy. Where a fellow student was raped. Arrowette took it upon herself to avenge the girl. The perps barely survived and only because Arrowette spared them. But the event caused the Justice Society to investigate further and unearthed Arrowette's involvement and identity. They covered up Cissie's involvement in exchange for enlistment.
Blue Streak and Devilina Dare would back Red Robin's ultimate play. He was fairly certain of Catgirl's unwavering support. That left Static, Flag Bearer, and Raven Red as the variables. Raven Red carried a lot of anger regarding criminals and their ability to escape punishment. He'd witnessed to many unresolved hate crimes growing up. Static's raw power and edge of experience was needed but his moral compass skewed towards JSA and JLI standards. So he might have to be removed from the equation and distracted with other duties if Red Robin commenced to killing Anarky.
Flag Bearer was another moralist. But her subject of adoration had suffered a supreme change of status, accused of treason against the United States and was now a fugitive from justice. Flag Bearer was hurt, confused, and morally ambiguous right now. Red Robin needed to manipulate those current trends in order to achieve his objective. Wherever Flag Bearer went with it, Sherry would follow. Girl Detective wouldn't make any waves until she sorted out just who and what her sexual and gender identity was. So this was Red Robin's team.
Catgirl couldn't rely on support from Selina Kyle. But Catwoman might provide some answers. Red Robin also knew Katana was in town. Tatsu Toro was pursuing her own vendetta against the Yakuza of Miller Harbor. Tatsu had dropped Yamashiro from her name as she put her husband and his brother, both her lovers before Takeo killed Maseo and Tatsu eventually killed Takeo but not before satisfying long buried carnal lusts towards him, behind her. But their souls were trapped in her sword, the enchanted SoulTaker but they had vowed not to impugn upon her independence any further. Katana could prove to be a valuable ally in the mission and a doorway to gaining support from the other Birds of Prey. But first they had to start small. The Newsboy Legion knew more about Gotham than Batman currently did. So Ulysses needed to talk with Butch Candon.
Libra and Major Disaster led the Secret Society into Gotham. Libra paid fealty to Empress Penguin acting in Knightfall's stead. Licensing her activities, the Secret Society's mission was two-fold: to locate Hellequin and Red Alice and to recover the billion they had stolen from Intergang controlled banks formerly operated by the Five Families. A second stop on the tour was to present themselves before Black Mask. He was funding the endeavor up front in exchange for a commission from the cash reserves they would be stealing from Hellequin and the Wonderland Gang. Even at a fifty percent cut to repay the loans, the Secret Society would still divvy up hundreds of millions of dollars. The money would towards financing Black Mask's quest to topple Knightfall as the top of the license program's food chain.
Through it, he would control murders, rapes, and other violent crimes currently forbidden under Knightfall's program. But Black Mask knew those impulses could be suppressed but never denied for long. Knightfall wanted to create utopia out of Gotham. Black Mask wanted to carve out a kingdom even Don Falcone had never dreamed of.
"It's good be home," Signalman told his Injustice Gang compatriots.
"We'll take your word for it," Moonbow spoke for the others, "Let's just get on the hunt."
"I agree," Jade Fire toyed with a weapon.
"Now remember, Intergang is bankrolling the bounties on Red Alice and Hellequin's heads. But Black Mask wants half the money," Signalman advised them.
"All signal to noise ratio," Blackrock assessed, "But we have competitors in the field."
"All the more reason to begin our hunt before they can," Black Spider was another Gothamite, "I know where to start looking. And it isn't Devil's Square. The Black Dragon Society and Purple Shirts made a spectacle of Hellequin's last hideout."
"So where do you suggest we begin?" Overthrow was impatient to begin.
"The police say they have Hellequin in custody. Why not start there?" Brie Larven inquired from her wheelchair. She hated that everyone called her the Bug Eyed Bandit, "My robotic insects can scout the GCPD and locate Hellequin…or Marian Drews as they're calling her."
"I can get us in and out of any jail," Master Jailer promised, "And Emperor Blackgate will cooperate if they move her to Blackgate or County before we can interrogate Drews in the city's holding cells."
"I for one believe it difficult to believe the vaunted Hellequin was arrested for something so mundane as financial crimes," IQ protested, "She's a dupe I tell you."
No one typically argued with his 10th Level Intellect but Nocturna, another native Gothamite, pointed out, "Commissioner Gordon builds solid cases for prosecution before making arrests. Whatever evidence Gordon compiled and DA Reynolds is pursuing, they have a solid case. Probably a better one than trying to link her to costumed crimes."
"Gordon has begun dating one of the District Attorney's ADAs," the King reminded them, "I could easily infiltrate either the DA's offices or the GCPD and root out what they have on her and when she's being transferred."
No one doubted the master of disguises ability to do so.
"And I can provide the ultimate distraction for the police and the competition to avert their gaze away from the cells," Abra Kadabra promised.
"She'll be easier to get to in the city holding cells than after she'd being transferred," Trident predicted, "Once she's on the move, everyone will get a shot at her."
"So we just get there first," Mr. Element urged.
"If they try move her during Kadabra's show, we can prevent her from leaving the building," Night of Night and Fog promised.
"And I can set a cordon around the building preventing anyone else from leaving," Dr. Larven shared.
"An' wit Master Jailer's help, we kin get in and out `fore anyone gets the wiser," Dillinger of the Untouchables predicted. Bonnie and Clyde agreed.
"I still predict an 87% chance of outside forces intervening even discounting opposition arising from the SRU and the Crows," IQ warned.
"So we deal with them as well," FireFist said eagerly.
"I believe we can create a distraction large enough to dissuade them from ever arriving," Mr. Atom boasted.
"And we can do so before they ever leave their individual headquarters," Ghost spoke on behalf of the Invisible Destroyer, Spook, and himself.
"Then we have the beginning of a plan. Let's make it happen," Signalman grinned