CHAPTER ELEVEN
NEW MEXICO. A S.H.I.E.L.D. COMPELX AT THE MJOLNIR CRATER.
The temporary SHIELD installation had been constructed practically overnight. The entire perimeter had been fenced off, and a tall enclosure with six-inch thick plexiglass barricades had been put up around the crater. Scientists in white lab coats paced back and forth, taking readings on everything from the minerals in the soil to the barometric pressure in the surrounding area.
A pair of security guards were patrolling the easternmost tunnel that led toward the center of the complex.
There was a swoosh of rubberized spandex as a black cape swirled around one of the guards. A sleeper hold sent the man into unconsciousness within seconds. The second guard drew his gun; it was knocked from his hand by a batarang. A kick to the head sent the guard tumbling back to the ground, and a follow-up downward punch knocked him out cold.
Batman put a finger to the side of his cowl, activating a communicator hidden inside.
"Eastern corridor is secure," he said. "Supergirl?"
In the access tunnel to the west, two more guards looked up in surprise to see a striking blonde walking toward them.
"Good evening, boys," Kara said with a charming smile.
She reached out her hands as if she were going to embrace them. Instead, she simultaneously gave each guard a quick tap on the forehead with her forefingers. They collapsed to the ground unconscious instantaneously.
"West is secure," Kara said into a communicator on her wrist. "Impulse?"
To the north of the complex, an orange and yellow gust of wind tore through the tunnel, sweeping a pair of guards literally off of their feet. They banged against the walls and fell unceremoniously to the ground. As the gale force wind came to a stop, a young man dressed in orange, yellow, and red and wearing a pair of sunglasses appeared.
"Who assigns the code names?" he asked into a communicator of his own. "Impulse makes me sound like a snotty immature brat."
"Keep this line open for mission-critical communication only," Batman snapped. "Is the northern corridor secure?"
Impulse sighed. "Yes," he said in a sarcastically saccharine tone.
"Canary and Cyborg," Batman barked over the commlink. "Report in on the southern corridor and access panel."
In the tunnel to the south, Black Canary and Cyborg walked side by side. The two guards posted there drew their guns and shouted at them to halt.
Black Canary cleared her throat and gently massaged her neck with her fingers. "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti…" She finished the solfege with an ear-piercing shriek that caused the guards to drop their firearms, fall to their knees and throw their hands over their ears.
Cyborg walked over to an access panel on the wall. Wires extended from his fingertips and interfaced with the circuitry in the panel.
"Cyborg reporting in," he said. "South corridor secure. "Disabling security cameras in three… two…"
In the nearby SHIELD monitor room, all of the screens showing the crater and hammer went dark.
"What the hell?" Agent Jasper Sitwell jumped up from his chair in alarm. "Director! We have a situation here!" he called out.
Nick Fury and Phil Coulson approached with concern.
"Status report, soldier?" Fury asked.
"All of our cameras trained on the crater just cut out," Sitwell exclaimed.
Coulson grabbed a walkie talkie. "I need eyes up high. Now."
Outside, Clint "Hawkeye" Barton, bow in hand and a quiver of arrows strapped to his back, sprinted over to a crane basket and hopped inside. The basket was promptly hoisted into the air by a cable as Clint drew an arrow and strung it into his bow. In a matter of moments he was perfectly positioned with an aerial view of the crater and hammer. He aimed his bow and arrow at the open-air enclosure below and waited, poised yet tense, for any sign of motion from the four access tunnels that led into the barricaded area.
Suddenly the bow was knocked right out of Clint's hands. It tumbled overboard, plummeting down to the ground below.
Startled, Clint looked around for an explanation. He looked over the edge of the basket. Dozens of feet below him he saw that his bow was somehow, inexplicably and somewhat ironically, pinned to the ground with an arrow.
A green arrow.
Clint peered across the dark horizon at the other side of the complex.
A few hundred yards away he saw another archer, clad in emerald, perched atop a metal scaffolding. The man gave a quick wave, then disappeared back into the darkness.
Down inside the cordoned-off crater, Batman emerged from the eastern annex, Supergirl from the west.
"Looks like the coast is clear," Supergirl called back over her shoulder.
A brunette wearing fishnet stockings and a magician's outfit, complete with top hat, followed Kara into the barricaded area.
As Batman, Supergirl, and Zatanna Zatara approached the hammer, a squadron of SHIELD agents swarmed the area with guns drawn. Nick Fury, Phil Coulson, Jasper Sitwell, Gabriel Jones, Maria Hill, Clay Quartermain and more trained their guns on the trio.
"Freeze!" Fury yelled. "Don't take another god damn step."
Batman turned to Zatanna and gave a slight nod.
"Evomer tnemtnahcne," Zatanna said.
Batman grabbed the hammer by the handle. He hoisted it from the ground with ease.
"I thought you didn't believe in magic?" Kara said with a smirk.
"Things change," Batman replied.
Nick Fury cocked his gun and trained it on Batman's head. "You can't possibly think you're going to walk out of here with that hammer," he said.
Batman smiled. "Of course not," he said.
He handed the hammer to Kara. Without another word, she shot up into the air and flew off into the night sky.
Fury slowly lowered his gun as he watched Kara fly out of sight, mouth agape.
"Mother f…" Fury mumbled in astonishment.
. . . . . .
THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE.
Kara strode confidently into the fortress to find Superman standing in the center chamber. He was studying a holographic image of a building, zooming in and out on various parts of it by rotating the hologram with his hands.
"I got the hammer, cousin," Kara said. "Batman had Zatanna remove the enchantment. The new recruits performed beautifully, by the way." She nodded toward the hologram. "What's that?"
"Plans for a new JLA headquarters," Superman replied. "In my old timeline we had a satellite that orbited the Earth. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Ultimately though it made us feel detached from the world we were supposed to be protecting. It sowed distrust, and made people feel like we thought we were above everyone. This time we need to be here, among the people. This Hall of Justice I'm designing would be perfect in Metropolis, don't you think?"
"I think it's wonderful, Kal," Kara said, placing a hand on her cousin's arm. "Here," she said, handing him Mjolnir.
"Thank you, Kara," he said, taking the hammer from her. He turned away from the hologram. Just a few paces away, the completed infinity gauntlet was perched on a crystalline dais. Superman placed the hammer beside it.
"Quite a collection you're curating," she said.
"With the gauntlet and the hammer, that only leaves one more thing that I need to be on even footing with Darkseid," Superman replied. "And Peter Parker is getting it for me as we speak."
. . . . . .
COAST CITY, CALIFORNIA. HAL JORDAN'S APARTMENT.
Hal Jordan was passed out on the coach, soring slightly as a sliver of saliva dripped from the corner of his open mouth. On the coffee table nearby, the power ring was sitting beside its glowing lantern-shaped battery.
Peter Parker stood beside the sofa looking sadly down at the sleeping Hal.
"I'm sorry about this, Mister Jordan," Peter said softly. "I hope someday you understand."
Peter gingerly picked up the lantern by its handle with one hand and scooped up the ring with the other.
Then he quietly walked out of the apartment, careful not to wake the slumbering Hal Jordan.