Quick Notes:

1. Promethium is the D.C. equivalent to Marvel's Adamantium a nigh indestructible metal and shouldn't be mistaken for the real life element of the same name

2. Bhutran( a fictional country in DC continuity located in central Asia) is as far as I can find out is based on the real life country of Bhutan

Three weeks after Superman debuted, Garrison Slate the founder of The Scientific and Technological Advance Research Laboratories (more commonly known as S.T.A.R Labs) announced that the organization was expanding and half a dozen new sites were to be opened, including two in Metropolis one specializing in marine biology to be located near Metropolis harbor and another general facility to be located on the main island downtown in Metro Plaza. The main branch was to be headed up by Dr. Karen 'Kitty' Lou Faulkner she and her team were going to be presenting something called the Bio-Energy Actualizer the basic principal was that it used the photosynthetic properties of a common species of algae to generate clean bio electricity. The machine was self-sustaining and required only a few cubic pounds of algae, with that it could generate enough electricity to power a medium sized residential area for a year. It was the hope that the Actualizer represented the first steps into transitioning the planet into green energy. The City of Tomorrow was on the brink of becoming the world's first green city.

For special interest groups Faulkner's breakthrough represented a worst case scenario and the potential loss of billions of dollars. Green energy had always been written off as a pipe dream but now almost overnight the oil and coal conglomerates were facing the real possibility of being squeezed out of existence within the next twenty years.

There were already whispers that billion dollar companies like Queen Industries, Wayne Enterprises, Luthorcorp and Kord Industries were interested in snatching up the rights to Faulkner's Actualizer.

Something had to be done and fast…which brings us to Savitar Bandu.

Savitar Bandu was the prince of Bhutran and businessman who had several billions invested in America's oil market, naturally Dr. Faulkner's Actualizer made him feel exceptionally nervous.

He had attempted to purchase S.T.A.R Labs so he would have executive control over the Actualizer, but that had failed S.T.A.R was independently owned and operated from both the government and business ventures.

Undaunted he had his people approach Dr. Faulkner directly and offer to purchase her device and the rights to it for an obscene amount of money, she had refused stating she didn't do the job for money or fame, she did it to better Humanity.

People like her disgusted Bandu, thinking their cause gave them the right to go around upsetting the world's carefully orchestrated balance for the 'betterment of Humanity'.

Humanity's betterment was decided by people like Bandu, people of power and influence; not commoners like Faulkner who through some genetic lottery happened to be born with a modicum more intelligence than the rest of the proletariat masses that her country seemed to be so fond of referring to as the so called 'middle class'

He had given her a chance to rise above her surroundings and embrace a life worth living and she had rejected him… foolish woman.

As far as Bandu was concerned the insult of someone of her status attempting to upset his lifestyle coupled with the sheer arrogance of her refusal to sell the device warranted her death and the destruction of her Actualizer. Utilizing his network of underworld connections Bandu attempted to find a man to do the job, of course in the underworld assassins came a dime-a-dozen but after a number of discreet inquires he eventually narrowed the list down to three candidates. David Cain, Deathstroke The Terminator and Deadshot, he was deadlocked but one of his allies suggested he go with Deadshot, having employed the man on a hit against a political rival a few years back and had been very satisfied with the man's results. Going with his contact's suggestion he arranged a meeting with Deadshot.

So that was why a mere three days after S.T.A.R Lab's announcement saw Floyd Lawton better known by the codename of Deadshot landing in a private airfield in Bhutran. He was dressed in an expensive custom fitted suit and he would have appeared normal except he wore a ghostly white mask, a mask whose only distinguishing feature was a laser sight on the left eye.

After a V.I.P tour Deadshot had met up with Bandu. The meeting had gone well with Deadshot agreeing to accept the job, the hitch came when Bandu had told the assassin where the hit was to be conducted.

Deadshot tilted his head. "Metropolis?"

"Is that a problem?" Bandu asked sipping a glass of imported wine.

"I don't know how much you know about America but its common knowledge that Metropolis is Superman's town, not to mention that the Justice League is rumored to be headquartered there. It's a haven for law enforcing metahumans and their ilk."

"So you are saying you cannot do it?" Bandu's eyes narrowed.

Deadshot smirked, but the mask didn't show it. "Did I say that?"

Bandu wasn't in the mood for games. "What are you saying then?"

"I'm saying all the parameters of the job weren't known to me, the fact that I'll be dealing in Metropolis means my fee goes up significantly…"

Bandu's jaw tightened. "How much?"

"Triple what we agreed on."

Bandu stood outraged and slammed his fist down on his desk. "Triple? Your initial fee is nearly twice what I offered to purchase the device from Faulkner! No, this is robbery I want you out, out now!"

Mind you it wasn't about the actual money, Bandu had more than he could spend in a dozen lifetimes, it was the gall of the assassin and Deadshot having met his fair share of Bandu's in his life knew exactly how to get them to crack.

Deadshot's mask showed no expression and his voice was nonplused. "My fee is non-negotiable, I thought you wanted the best not some second-rate jerk-off… if you want that maybe you should call in Deathstroke or Bloodsport or one of those other pansies." He stood and calmly walked to the door, counting to ten in his head as he did.

He didn't get past five when Bandu called him back.

"Fine, your terms are accepted." The prince angrily spat.

Underneath his mask he smiled, Bandu's type always thought they had one up on everyone else and looked down on others but Deadshot knew that when a man is shot whether he is rich or poor matters not; he bleeds and dies the exact same way.

"Good, wire the first payment to this account, once it clears, I'll begin the job. Once the job is complete you will receive a call from me at which point you will wire the remainder of my funds into the same account." He scribbled the account number to an off shore bank and left the room.

Bandu stood breathing heavily, the paper Deadshot had left behind was crumpled in his right fist. He swore under his breath before throwing his imported liquor onto the floor.

Chloe and Jimmy were at the opening at S.T.A.R Labs. Chloe was excited this was her first big solo story, over the past few months she had been paying her dues as a beat reporter and this was her chance to establish herself as a breakout reporter, much like Lois had with her Superman piece. Jimmy was there both in the capacity of Daily Planet photographer and as her moral support.

And while Chloe didn't have the tenacious charm her cousin did she had managed to convince Dr. Faulkner to allow her and Jimmy a 'behind the scene' tour before the actual press conference began.

Dr. Faulkner was a fairly short woman with bushy hair and large owlish glasses adorning her face. After a brief introduction she shook both Chloe and Jimmy's hands and lead them to a machine about fifteen feet high and about twenty feet long it hummed and pulsated with energy.

"This is the main Actualizer, where the magic happens. The alge is stored in this chamber and bombared with simulated solar radiatation stimulating the photosynthetic cycle and generating bio-electricty from there it is collected by large transformers and directed to where it needs to go via computer, one of these stations can power an entire neighborhood, we're hoping to introduce a hundred into Metropolis in the next five years."

"What about people who are worried about radiation used in the process and the possibility of a meltdown?"

"Highly unlikely, the process is safer than nuclear fission on a factor of nearly fifteen times and even in the event of a catastrophic meltdown, the CPU is completely capable of dealing with any problems that may occur during the process greatly reducing the danger to Human life."

"That sounds truly remarkable Dr. Faulkner." A voice said behind them.

Turning around the three of them saw a figure in a white and red bodysuit, his face was obscured by a featureless white mask and on the left eye was a red sight.

"Who are you and how did you get back here, this is-"

The man waved a hand, on his wrist was an odd device that looked suspiciously like a miniaturized gattling gun. "Supposed to be a secure area. Yeah, yeah heard it all before." He finished for her sounding bored.

Chloe was unsure what to do; assuming that was a gun on his wrist, the man wasn't close enough that she could reach him before he got a shot off. Best thing to do keep him talking until she could figure something out.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she asked boldly, beside her Jimmy stirred uncomfortably.

"Call me Deadshot babe and I'm here to kill little Kitty over there and trash her Actualizer, turns out if you make a device that'll put Foreign Oil out of business, you make some pretty big enemies.." Although Chloe couldn't see his face, she could hear the smile in his voice.

He didn't say anything else, he just raised his wrist and fired. Twin holes hit Dr. Faulkner in the chest, she went down. Two hit the containment unit behind her, one caught Chloe in the shoulder she fell and she heard Deadshot get another round off, but what he hit she didn't see. There was a shrill klaxon and a flashing red light. Deadshot walked over to Chloe, who was greatful for the Kevlar her suit was made of, it stopped the bullet from penetrating, although it hurt like hell.

Somehow in the shuffle Dr. Faulkner had managed to with the last of her strength activate the manual blast shield, sealing off the machine from the rest of the facility.

Chloe looked over and saw Jimmy on his knees a look of disbelief on his face as he clutched his arm, a bloodstain soaking through his shirt. Feeling something in her snap Chloe flipped up and charged the assassin.

Deadshot blocked a kick from the woman with one arm and aimed a shot at her boyfriend with the other, catching him in the neck. It had its desired effect and she was distracted long enough for him to flip her over. Smirking under the mask he advanced over to her, he expected to see the usual terror in her eyes that he often saw in his line of work. Instead he saw hard determination and defiance, he hesitated for a second.

A loud boom sounded behind him, against his instincts he turned around and saw the blast shield shaking and a fist imprint appear on the metal barrier. That would be alarming enough, but the imprint was the size of his head.

A feeling of dread suddenly formed in his gut.

Another imprint appeared and another before the shield caved outward and a pair of orange hands appeared in the hole and pulled the opening back.

Deadshot was frozen in shock.

The hole in the shield was now nearly eight feet across and from out of it stepped a huge creature, it was nearly ten feet tall, it's skin was orange and it was covered in thick corded muscle, the tattered remains of a lab coat and skirt were the only identifying markers that the creature had been Dr. Faulkner only moments ago.

Deadshot unfroze and fired at the creature, his bullets bounced off with an odd pinging noise. Underneath his mask his eyes widdend in shock and the creature began advancing on Deadshot

Meanwhile Chloe had tears in her eyes as she tried to stem the flow of blood from Jimmy's neck wound, but it seemed in vain; Jimmy was dying. She had no intention of letting the man she loved perish, taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and focused on the wound in his neck and began to feed her energy into it.

Chloe's powers were based on empathic healing, in other words she could heal a wound but she would not only feel the pain of the wound she was healing she would also receive equivalent damage to whatever she was healing that was mitigated by a healing factor that would repair the damage over time…or that was the theory. She had been practicing on small wounds and her healing time was increasing…the problem was the last time she had healed a fatal wound she had been dead for nearly three hours.

Her hand glowed a soothing pink and slowly she saw the bullet wound on Jimmy's neck close, a moment later she felt an excruciating pain on her own neck and felt the sticky warmth of her lifeblood flowing from the wound. Reaching a trembling hand up to her Justice League earpiece she managed to tap it once before falling to the floor.

Clark was at home about to whip up lunch when his Justice League earpiece vibrated. He reached up and touched it. "I read you Watchtower."

Dinah's voice came from the other end. "Clark, sorry to bother you on your day off but I received a transmission from Chloe's earpiece and she hasn't responded to any of my messages…I was- hold on a minute."

Clark heard her punching a few keys and swearing a moment later. "Clark I'm getting reports of an unidentified creature rampaging at the new S.T.A.R Labs facility, that's were Chloe's signal came from…you don't think…"

She left the sentence hanging but by that time Clark had already donned his uniform and was rocketing off to Metropolis. "I'm on my way Dinah, do we have anyone else close by?"

"Victor is the closest, do you want me to send him in too?

"Yeah better safe than sorry. Superman out."

Time seemed to stretch out for Superman and it seemed to take forever until the familiar skyline of Metropolis appeared on the horizon, a few seconds later he was blazing past the city limits and racing to S.T.A.R Labs. He touched down to a scene of pandemonium, there were panicking citizens running every which way meanwhile since this was a press conference half a dozen news outlets were covering the situation simultaneously, The Metropolis S.C.U was attempting to keep order but were having a devil of a time.

Seconds later a late model cobalt colored sports coupe squealed to a stop in front of the barrier, the turbine engine powered down and the door opened automatically as Victor Stone stepped out.

Stone, better known by his code name of Cyborg had the appearance of a normal human male in his early twenties, but that was a fallacy. His body had been irrevocably damaged in an auto accident, that would have been his end had but a scientist replaced his injured body parts with incredible bionic prosthesis over seventy percent of his body was now machine and granted him a number of powers including enhanced strength, durability, the ability to interface with machines and a sonic cannon in his right arm.

"Superman,I-" He was interrupted by a body flying out of the lobby in a huge spray of glass. The figure was clad in a red armored bodysuit and struggled to get to his feet. A moment later a huge orange hulking figure stomped out of the lobby and onto the sidewalk.

Instantly the S.C.U trained their high powered assault weapons on the creature. Superman observed the creature and saw the tattered remains of a lab jacket, on which part of a nametag could be seen it read; Dr. Karen Fa- instantly he knew who it was.

Superman shot a glance at the S.C.U "Hold your fire!"

Inspector Dan Turpin signaled his men to heed Superman as the hulking creature that Superman heard the media from behind the police barricade reporting as Rampage stared down The Man of Steel.

"Cyborg, I need you to get inside and get any wounded out of there."

"What about you?"

"I'll deal with Rampage."

Cyborg nodded and ran past Rampage who only spared him a glance while he made his way into and through the halls of S.T.A.R Labs, his cybernetic eye acting as a tracking device for Chloe's league communicator, after following the path of destruction Rampage had left in her wake he saw her and a young man lying in a pool of blood, he ran his eye over both of them seeing no injuries but they were both unconscious. He reached up to open a channel on his communicator when he saw Chloe's eyes flutter open, he bent down and examined her.

"Victor?"

"Yeah are you okay, can you tell me what happened?"

"I-I was taking a tour with Dr, Faulkner and…and omigod Jimmy!"

He tried to reassure her that he was fine but she wouldn't calm down until she had run her hands along his neck and made sure no wound was there at which point she broke into tears.

Victor was worried she was going into hysteria and gently shook her to get her to focus. "Chloe, I need you to tell me what happened."

She took a shaky breath and began to relay what happened.

Back outside the SCU had been moved back to a safe distance and now Superman stood facing down the creature that from all indications seemed to be Dr. Faulkner.

It ripped a streetlight out of the pavement and swung it like a bat at Superman. The blow caught him fully and with a loud 'THWAK' he was sent flying up and away from S.T.A.R Labs.

Rampage smirked and set her eyes on Deadshot who had moments before been transfixed by the fight but was now backing away as fast as humanly possible. She hefted the remains of the streetlight and tossed it like a spear at the assassin, the shot went wide but it hadn't been meant to hit him; just scare him a little.

Advancing on the cowering form Rampage pulled back her fist ready to pulp the little man but before she could she felt a powerful grip around her wrist. Turning around she saw Superman holding back her arm.

She tried to shake him loose but he dug his feet in and held her down, furious she wheeled around and got him with a clean cross to the jaw, he flew back from the force of the blow but something odd happened, he felt stronger. With the amount of power she hit him with he should've felt some damage from the blow but the opposite had happened.

Curious about his opponent he relaxed his eyes and let them slip into the E.M spectrum and saw that Rampage was glowing, she was giving off a very familiar radiation signature; Solar Energy.

Her body was putting out massive amounts of it, the trick to this fight was to get her to exhaust her stores of solar energy by prolonging the battle, she should get weaker and he stronger until he could either safety subdue her or she reverted back to her human form, that was the theory anyway.

Instead of pounding the crap out of each other, he was going to let her punch herself out, while he danced around her…the old stick and move.

And so Superman began goading Rampage, tagging her with shot's designed to irritate more than cause damage. It worked and she redoubled her efforts to take him down.

After ducking a vicious swing he tapped his buzzing communicator and Cyborg's voice came out the other end. "Superman, I'm with Chloe, she's fine but she wants me to tell you that thing you're fighting is Dr. Faulkner and that the radiation her Actualizer gave off must have triggered her transformation."

That figures, that amount of radiation could've awoken a dormant metagene in her.

Cyborg continued. "Do you need any help with Dr. Faulkner?

"No, I think I can handle her." He said tagging her with a rapid fire sequence of jabs.

"Okay, I'm gonna see what I can do about this machine and evacuating anyone else in here, Cyborg out."

As the battle wore on just like he theorized her attacks became weaker and weaker and slowly she began to shrink and revert back to her normal self, once she was human she collapsed on the pavement and he raced over to her. "Dr. Faulkner are you okay?"

She squinted looking at the cracked pavement and destruction around them before cradling the remains of her jacket around her tightly, a look of horror on her face. "Oh my God…did-did I do all this?"

"Well I'm partially to blame as well, do you remember anything?"

"Just flashes…did I hit you with…a streetlight?"

Superman rubbed the back of his neck. "Yes

"Oh my God, I'm going to be arrested aren't I?" she asked hyperventilating.

"I-"

But she had fainted.

He looked at Inspector Turpin; the head of the S.C.U who was watching the scene with more than a slight hint of amusement.

"Do you have to arrest her Dan?"

"Afraid so big guy, she may be harmless now, but she wasn't more than ten minutes ago." The Inspector replied gruffly.

"Would a plee from Superman that she wasn't in control of her actions mean anything?"

Turpin shrugged. "Might reduce her sentence with the judge…"

Superman nodded, vowing to be at the sentencing, but in the meantime he had a mess to clean up and statements to give to the press.

On a building rooftop three blocks away Deadshot collapsed…before he fell into unconsciousness he swore he'd never take another job in Metropolis…no matter how much he was offered.

A week later Superman landed on the roof of S.T.A.R Labs and saw a recently released Dr. Faulkner waiting for him.

"Come to check up on me?"

He smiled "Something like that."

"First off I'd just like to thank you again Superman, without your endorsement I'd probably still be in jail right now."

"It was my pleasure Doctor Faulkner, but what about your…erm alter ego?"

She pulled down the neck of her turtle neck reveling a metal device that looked like a high tech choker. "This little bad boy regulates the amount of Solar Energy my body absorbs so you won't have to worry about any appearances from Rampage."

"Are you sure Doctor Faulkner? I actually came here to offer you a place on the Justice League, I talked it over with the others and we think we might be able to help you control your abilities."

"It was…liberating having all that power and confidence but I think this is for the best…but you can consider me your official liaison to S.T.A.R, " She shook his hand again and smiled shyly. " One last thing, please call me Kitty and er… tell your friend Cyborg I said hi."

Superman smiled. "I'll be sure to do that Kitty, but just so you know the offer is still on the table if you ever change your mind." He lifted up and flew off with a friendly wave

For a split second she raised her hand to call Superman back before her better mind won out

The Justice League, me? No way

Smiling sadly she retreated back into the building.

The next day found Clark in the Watchtower debriefing about the fight with Rampage with most of the League (Arthur, Dinah and Chloe weren't present).

"Was she interested in joining the League?" Zatanna asked.

Clark shook his head. "No she wants to put the whole thing behind her, she's more interested in being a scientist than a hero. But she said if we ever need a scientist, give her a call."

Bart frowned. "That's a bummer; we could've really used someone like her around here."

Clark nodded in agreement. "I agree, but you can't force someone to be a hero, it's a commitment and not everyone's cut out for it. I made sure to tell her it's a standing invitation should she change her mind."

"Good thinking. Before I call this meeting closed, is there anything else?" Oliver asked.

Victor raised his hand and Oliver indicated he should speak. "We need to talk about Chloe."

Clark didn't like the tone in Victor's voice and judging from the expression on Bart's face neither did he.

"What about her?" The speedster asked warily.

Victor sighed. "I'm worried about the usage of her powers, their dangerous."

"So what?"

Oliver held up his hand to silence Bart. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not saying kick her out of the League or anything…I'm just saying maybe we…reduce her active role and-"

"I can't believe you!" Bart was on his feet.

"I'm just saying until we know more she's a liability that we can't afford."

"She's one of us Victor, what happens if the promethium in your bionics becomes unstable or Clark is exposed to kryptonite are you both liabilities too?"

Cyborg's bionics were always a sore spot with him and this time was no exception. "No Bart, because the team already knows about mine and Clark's weaknesses, you're just blinded because you have a crush on her!"

Bart flushed an angry red. "No, you're just being a jackass because you have the insufferable need to know everything about everything. Clark I know you're with me right?"

Clark looked between his teammates knowing what he said next would be critical. "You both make good points; to work effectively as a team we do need to know as much about each other as possible and how Chloe's powers work are largely a mystery. That said the least we owe her is to be upfront with her about the concerns and let her choose her own course of action for herself."

J'onn was as usual, straight to the point. "I agree with Clark, allowing Chloe to know what is going on is for the best."

Zatanna swept her hair out of her eyes. "I signed up for this thinking we were fighting as the good guys, deciding her fate behind her back makes me…uncomfortable . Count me in with Clark and J'onn."

"I made it perfectly clear where I stand." Bart said stonily.

"Even though it doesn't matter, I agree with the others, sorry Cyborg but that's how were playing it."

Victor didn't look happy and the second the meeting ended he left the tower abruptly muttering about how big a mistake they were all making. The other's filed out as well leaving only Clark and Oliver remaining.

Oliver looked at Clark morosely. "I was hoping we'd be a bit more seasoned as a team before we had our first big disagreement."

"Whenever you bring together so many strong personalities there's bound to be some tension, the best thing is to deal with this now and get it out of the way."

Oliver smiled ruefully. "You make it sound so easy; maybe you should be the chairman."

Clark chuckled. "No thanks Ollie, I've got more than enough on my plate already."

"I suppose you do at that, see you later Clark."

"Later."

They shook hands and Clark left the Watchtower. While he was sure the right descion had been made he had to wonder how Chloe would react to the news and what bearing it would have on her future with the Justice League.

On the island of Themyscira Mercy tossed and turned in her sleep, her dreams disturbed as sweat poured off of her Eris watched with pleasure, she had been biding her time for months by stoking the strife and jealousy in Mercy's heart feeding it, letting it fester until now it had reached a boiling point.

The moment had finally arrived.

Appearing before Mercy Eris offered her the Golden Apple, promises of revenge, of the ceasing of the nightmares and a chance to reach her true potential seemed to be whispered and it spoke to the potency of Eris's abilities that Mercy didn't hesitate and took a large bite of the apple. Immediately her eyes went glassy.

A wave of the Goddess' hand and they were transported to the throne room of Ares citadel. The god of war looked up at the arrival of his ally and her companion curiously but didn't say a word.

Eris looked over at Mercy. "What is your mission?"

"To destroy Diana and serve Lord Ares."

Ares eyes glowed red in pleasure and he clapped his hands slowly. "Excellent work Eris…excellent. It seems we can begin the next stage of our plan."

He rose from his thrown stepped down from his dais and walked around Mercy admiring her from a variety of angles. Nodding slowly he came to a rest in front of her.

"Do you pledge yourself to me and my cause, mind body and soul?"

"Yes, my lord, my only wish is to serve you as you see fit."

Ares reached down and pulled a dagger from his belt and placed the tip against Mercy's throat, she didn't flinch, but Eris inhaled sharply.

"And if it would please me to kill you?"

Mercy smiled her blue eyes burrowing into Ares red ones. "If that pleases you my Lord, I would gladly forfeit my life."

Ares withdrew the blade slowly and Eris released her breath.

"Open your mouth."

Without hesitation Mercy complied and Ares using the point of his dagger pricked the tip of his finger. He raised his finger and allowed four drops of his blood to land on her tongue before removing it.

"Swallow."

Again she complied and for a moment nothing happened before a brilliant light enveloped Mercy, when it faded she remained standing, but a power unlike any she had experienced coursed through her. She felt even stronger than when she had the gauntlet of Atlas, her body seemed to expand and she could feel the power course through every cell in her being.

"That, child is a mere fraction of my power; it should be more than enough to destroy Olympus's champion and any others you may encounter."

He waved a hand and she was clad in black and red battle dress, a large spear on her back.

Ares nodded in approval. "I also grant you the ability to summon my dogs of war; they will heed your commands as if they were my own. Go forth fulfill you're duties and do not fail me my champion."

"Your will be done Lord Ares." She replied solemnly Eris guided her from the citadel and as Ares watched them leave, a great happiness filled him and he couldn't help but chuckle to himself, all was going according to plan and he had a champion to further his goals and plans for the world.

Plans that included burning, pillaging and destruction.

His eyes glowed red at the thought.

A/N Yes I know the dogs of war are from Shakespeare but it seemed just too good to not use. Anyway I spent almost five hours whipping this update into shape and now I'm dead tired so it may not be quite as good as the stuff I try and normally post. If you see any grievous errors or missing sections please let me know, thanks.

On a final note reviews and criticism much like tipping while not required are greatly appreciated...just saying. Anywho see you all next week and thanks for reading!