Late one night at Action Comics; Chris was whistling to himself as he was sweeping up the store and then double checked that everything was locked up before smiling to himself. "Good night Eagly pal..." Chris told Eagly smiling as he put the covers over his cage and was about to go down to his basement when he heard the front door being slammed. Grimacing with a grin he then quickly went to work with unlocking the door; "The place is closed... Come again in the morning..." Chris muttered as he was met with some men in suits and then one flashed an ARGUS badge making him groan as he allowed them to enter and then put the lights on.
"Christopher Smith. I am Agent Benjamin Lockwood of ARGUS and we are here because the General has a mission for Peacemaker." the lead agent who had flashed his badge told him and then gave him 2 folders. as well as a document and Chris glanced at him.
"I have heard of the Toyman... Was on my hit list before I retired and... Sivana? You clearly don't keep good track of your scientist goons..." Chris then said with a smirk as Lockwood just stared at him seriously. "I thought that ARGUS wanted me to do some black ops missions for them but it looks like you want me to come out of retirement and do some crime fighting in hunting them down?" Chris asked as Lockwood shook his head making Chris raise an eyebrow.
"If you recall Smith... I said that the General has a mission for Peacemaker. We want you to get a way with relaying the mission to him and his friends." Lockwood clarified as Chris then stared at him and then got angry.
"Absolutely not... You want me to direct Lincoln to do your dirty work for you? I don't care what the General said before when he re-recruited me... He's a teenager and not a pawn for you to use..." snapped Chris as Lockwood got more serious.
"Smith; you took in a pre-teen child and without his parents' permission or knowledge trained him to be a fighter, trying to show him how to kill... Enhanced DNA or not and you recently gave him the mantle to act as a vigilante while giving him full access to your dangerous weapons and gadgets. Don't try to pretend that you have a moral high ground over us; especially as the General has told me that he brought up your past the last time that you two talked." Lockwood retorted and this got Chris silent. "Besides he was the one who wanted to be a superhero and ARGUS wants to help him with it; show us that he has what it takes and stopping dangerous criminals." Lockwood said as Chris just threw his hands up in the air.
Lincoln was whistling to himself in the morning as he was walking to Action Comics in uniform; he was almost at the store when pretty much jumping at him from behind was an excited Zee. "Any reason why you decided to show me what got you so excited instead of just texting me? Or do you just like my company that much?" Lincoln asked with a grin as she let go and she then chuckled behind her hand.
"Oh Lincoln; I always love your company... But guess what... Daddy is doing this show and he said that I can open the show and I want you to be my assistant and partner during the act!" Zee then said showing off a poster for a charity magical show being held in Metropolis that her father was doing.
"That's great Zee... Wait; you want me to do this with you... On stage? Does this say that it will be televised?" Lincoln asked wide eyed as Zee nodded enthusiastically as he looked at the poster. "I don't know Zee... I have been been practicing my tricks... In what spare time I have but... I am nowhere near as good as you or your dad and your magic powers..." Lincoln said uneasily and Zee then pulled him closer.
"Come on Lincoln; don't sell yourself so short... Besides This is a big chance for me and I want my best friend to be there with me!" Zee told him with a hint of pleading in her voice and he smiled.
"You know what... Off course Zee! We can go over what we can do with the act after work." Lincoln told her and Zee then smile das she then left with a wave. Lincoln waved back as he got to the Action Comics store and an employee turned the sign to open.
"Lincoln; I hear that your school is up and running again?" asked the employee and Lincoln then gave the nod as he did hear the news about it being fixed up again.
"Yep; go back tomorrow." Lincoln told the employee who looked disappointed.
"Too bad... I was hoping that you could work during the week days longer as the new season of one of those show Kyle loves to talk about has started..." muttered the employee as Lincoln laughed and then he saw Chris motioning to him from the staff area. Lincoln went his way and Chris had him go to his office.
"Lincoln... Let's say that I have some informants and... I know of a deal being done today with 2 villains working together that want to sell their products... Products that will make the streets of Metropolis anything but peaceful if the criminals of the city gets their hands on them..." Chris told him and Lincoln got excited.
"So... Is this a superhero mission?" Lincoln asked and Chris then nodded as he then gave him 2 photos. Lincoln looked at the first one which showed a man with long brown hair, glasses and a green suit. "Doesn't really screaming supervillain Chris..." Lincoln muttered looking disappointed as Chris shook his head.
"Looks can be deceiving Lincoln... This is Winslow Schott and in the criminal circles; he goes by Toyman... He was a toy designer who turned to crime when he was let go from his job with all of his work and designs owned by his employer... He specialises in mechanised toys filled with explosives... His dangerous toys are being made worse with his new partner there..." Chris explained as Lincoln looked to the photo of a bald headed man with glasses in suit. "Thaddeus Sivana... As arrogant as he is brilliant; a mad genius who worked for the government... Seemed that he ran foul of his higher ups and he took his genius to the criminal underworld..." Chris then explained as Lincoln looked at the photos.
"What can I expect of Sivana's work?" Lincoln asked thinking that he had dealt with Lisa's dangerous technology at home for her life but wanted to make sure as Chris put his hands together.
"The technology behind the Quantum Unfolding area and all the gadgets inside... All his work..." Chris replied as Lincoln's mouth fell wide open. "Yeah... Peacemaker was to be a government project but I made it my own and took the tools with the project..." Chris replied as Lincoln stared.
"Are you going to elaborate on this or your past Chris?" Lincoln asked knowing that he knew very little about his mentor's origin but Chris just looked serious. "Guess not..." Lincoln muttered as Chris gave him a document.
"Here is the location and time for you to deal with... Don't underestimate them..." Chris then said and Lincoln decided to leave it at the moment.
Zee's room in the Zatara family penthouse and Zee and Lincoln were practicing several card tricks. Lincoln startled as the queen on one card winked at him and Zee then chuckled at his reaction. "You should see your face Lincoln... I thought that you would be used to stuff like that by now..." Zee laughed as Lincoln glared at her which turned to an amused look.
"I really should be..." Lincoln laughed as he then smiled at her. "Thanks for the invite here as well as wanting me to be your partner Zee... I am so glad that you decided to be my friend..." Lincoln told her as Zee's cheeks had a bit of redness to them.
"I am glad as well Lincoln." Zee said as they got a call on their phones and it seemed to be Diana calling them both at once. They then answered it with Diana's voice calling them.
"We have gotten word that a foe calling himself Cinderblock is rampaging through the streets. Assistance would be helpful." Zee sighed and went to get her costume and Lincoln's eyes widened and he went and looked to the time and remembered what it said.
"Listen Diana... I would love to help but at work... I remembered that Chris gave me word about a deal in the criminal underworld... A scientist involved in all the Peacemaker tech is there and the time is soon... I know this is important too but..." Lincoln muttered as Zee looked his way.
"Take care of it Lincoln and we will be there for you when Cinderblock is taken care of!" Zee assured him and Lincoln looked uncertain.
"Are you sure?" Lincoln asked as Zee nodded.
"Zee is right; split the duties and we can help you after the foe is defeated or if you take care of these fiends then you can assist us in Cinderblock afterwards!" Diana said from the phone and Lincoln then looked ready.
"Real cliched meeting place..." Peacemaker muttered all suited up as he was using his grappling hook to scale up an abandoned warehouse. He got through the window and and walking like a tighrope on the scaffolding; he looked down and saw a group of people armed with guns and in business suits meeting with Sivana and Toyman along with a huge supply of nutcracker dolls with cymbals as well as teddy bears.
"I assure you gentleman that beneath their cutsey exteriors; are the ultimate weapons that won't even set off any metal detectors or any airport security checks!" Sivana assured them as the teddy bears got up and then extended sharp claws and then the nutcracker dolls then stood up as well.
"Not only that but the nutcrackers are able to comp hard enough to crush solid steel!" Toyman said showing off a steel pipe and then had a nutcracker chomp it into half which impressed the men and the teddy bears had their claws on the remaining bits of the pipes to slice it in pieces. Peacemaker knew that Chris wasn't kidding about how dangerous they are.
"So how much are you willing to pay for an order of at least 50 of each?" Sivana asked smugly as Peacemaker swooped down with his shield and managed to stick a superhero this startled the people in suits.
"Sorry everyone but there is a recall notice for these products that I have been sent to enforce!" Peacemaker said trying to sound cool and his one-liner got looks from the people in suits who then started leaving.
"We are not dealing with no costumed types..." one of them said as Toyman and Sivana glared at him.
"You have just volunteered for playtime!" Toyman said activating the toys and then they then went after Lincoln with him running and bashing his shield against many teddy bears and .kicking them and nutcracker dolls away. Some nutcracker dolls caught onto Peacemaker's shield and tried to chomp down but then they broke apart.
"Curses... That stupid shield mixed with Nth Metal and Promethium..." snapped Sivana fuming as he then went to leave. "To think that the work that I had done for ARGUS would end up in the hands of a teenage brat..." snapped Sivana and Peacemaker had his eyes lit up with realisation.
He remembered where he heard ARGUS from and they were responsible for Metallo. He then jumped up and managed to tackle with Sivana with his arm around his neck. "Talk... What is ARGUS?" demanded Peacemaker in a threatening voice as Sivana struggled against his grip and was fuming.
"Okay... It's a government and military agency... One of a few that deals with your costumed and powers lot and the leader of each one goes by a codename... I was recruited by ARGUS' director whose codename was 'the General'... Saw my worth as the world's smartest man... He's been replaced by someone softer in the last decade and the new General saw fit to keep me on a tighter lease they would say... I finally rebelled and figured that I would take my genius elsewhere..." Sivana explained and Peacemaker thought about what was said. Would Chris know anything about ARGUS?
"You are in for it Peacemaker... Toys attack!" Toyman then shouted out ordering his toy army to attack Peacemaker but then there was a crash as threw the wall were the Super Friends.
"So I am guessing that Cinderblock wasn't too much trouble?" Peacemaker asked as the Super Friends then worked together in taking out the robot toys. However when they were done they saw that Toyman and Sivana had made their escape and they ran out and found in the area there was black uniformed officers handcuffing Toyman and Sivana.
"Good job Super Friends; on behalf of ARGUS, we thank you for catching these 2 for us..." Lockwood then said as their eyes widened and they noticed the truck with a logo saying 'ARGUS' on it.
"You're ARGUS?" Batgirl shouted out as Lockwood then nodded.
"You are the ones who sent the Metallo after my mother's ship?" Wonder Woman demanded as they then glared at Lockwood as realisation hit but Lockwood was unphased.
"Our apologies Wonder Woman but that was just a test of your abilities and teamwork skills. We mean no harm." Lockwood said as they looked incredulous.
"Could have fooled me since that thing blasted me with Kryptonite and it was made with lead so clearly it was made to kill me!" snapped Supergirl with her arms folded.
"The Metallo was made as a response plan should a Kryptonian threat reveal itself; trust me if Metallo was trying to kill you then you would have felt worse. Nothing against you or your cousin but when he first appeared; the governments of the world were concerned about the existence of an all powerful alien who we would be helpless against if he went rogue, went out of control or if there were more like him who weren't as friendly..." Lockwood said as Supergirl was silent.
"Can we expect you sending anything else to attack us?" Peacemaker demanded with a glare behind his mask as Lockwood shook his head.
"Don't worry; we're the good guys..." Lockwood said as they then began leaving.
"I will believe that when I see it..." Peacemaker muttered not really liking ARGUS and wondering about any connection they have with Chris.
"We just have to be on our guard the next time that they make their appearance We must hope for the best and trust that their intentions are as good as they claim." Wonder Woman told them and they thought that it was probably their best bet and they decided to leave.
"This is a mistake... I went from laid off toy designer to forming my own criminal empire... Now it's all gone..." snapped Toyman as he was forced into an ARGUS holding cell and right outside the cell was the General with Lockwood at his side.
"One of my favourite TV shows Toyman is Breaking Bad... It is about a down on his luck guy who starts his own criminal empire and gets hooked on the power and the thrill and thinks himself so untouchable that he refuses to take any out that comes his way until it all comes crashing down on him and he has broken all his bridges." the General told Toyman before leaving with Lockwood.
"Peacemaker and the Super Friends helped destroy the inventory and now Sivana and Toyman are in custody. I trust we can use them to help take down certain threats General sir?" asked Lockwood and the General nodded.
"Without knowing it; they can act as a special task force for ARGUS... Smith can be used to get info to them without them the wiser... We can consider them Task Force SF." the General then replied as Lockwood saluted in nodding.
Lincoln/Peacemaker and the Super Friends have their first real encounter with ARGUS who here will be like a sketchier SHIELD or the Global Defence Agency from Invincible. Plus Lincoln and Zee make plans for a magic show hosted by Zee's dad which will be the subject of an upcoming chapter. In case you didn't know Lockwood in the comics acts as the superhero Agent Liberty and here is an agent of ARGUS. Plus Sivana who in the comics is the arch enemy of Captain Marvel/SHAZAM; here is the inventor of the Peacemaker technology including the Quantum Unfolding Storage Area.