Chapter 2: All That Glitters

So far the gala was unfolding exactly as Mari had hoped. A far better turn out than in Gotham and the fact she was saving a couple bucks on security helped. The city's notorious crime rate had far surpassed its reputation and she was not taking any chances while in town. She was familiar with Gotham's issues… she had gone on a date with Bruce Wayne once. She smiled to herself, basking in the moment.

Screams snapped her out of it, drawing her attention to the entrance where a dozen armed men carrying a mixture of M4A1 and AR-15A3 assault rifles and wearing body armor somewhere between tactical police grade and army infantry-issue were storming onto the gala floor. "What the hell…?" She trailed off, pulling Sarah close to her.

"Mari, what's going on?" The jeweller asked, mildly panicked.

"Don't know. Stay behind me." Mari reached for her clutch, feeling around for her other necklace within. The armed men approached.

"Hands where we can see them!" They barked, keeping weapons trained on everyone around them. Their clothing bore no symbols or identifying markings, Mari struggling to discern their identity. Three of them strode right up to Mari and her friends.

"Hand over the gems, broad." The leading one ordered.

"Not a chance, jackass." Mari snapped. A third jammed the barrel of his rifle against her cheek as the lead ripped off her necklace.

"Wasn't asking." Mari stiffened, maintaining her glare while realizing she was at a strategic disadvantage. The one kept his weapon trained on her while the others moved towards her friends. They quickly ripped off their pendants as well. "Grab the rest! Let's move!"

"Mari!"

"Stay calm, Paulina." Mari replied, her voice steely and her eyes coldly fixed on the gunman holding her hostage. "You won't get away with this."

"Yeah? You gonna stop us?" The gunman sneered confident in his advantage.

The thunderous sound of glass shattering caused people to suddenly scream in panic as the skylight above exploded, the would-be robbery abruptly disturbed by the loud crashing of heavy metal impacting with the gala floor. Liberty Lance reared to full height, his weaponry aimed at the armed thugs. The new hole he'd created allowed natural light to filter in unopposed, casting a sort of spotlight that caused silver metal to glint. "Unless you want a real bad concussion, throw down your guns and surrender." He ordered, the tip of the LANCE glowing brightly.

"W-What the hell is that thing?" One of the robbers cried as their guns collectively swivelled to the seven-foot tall suit of electromechanical armor.

"The name's Liberty Lance. Remember it." Came the reply, followed by the blinding discharge of the LANCE. A column of white light slammed into one of the gunmen and sent him flying clear through the nearest wall. Sparks erupted from gunfire peppering his chassis, the gunman promptly half-buried in the floor after another blast from the LANCE. The vigilante turned as three more opened fire on him. "Boosters, go!" Liquid-fuel short-range thrusters attached to the boots of the suit erupted in blue flame, propelling him across the gap between them in seconds. A metal hand reached out and grabbed the gunman to the left, throwing him into his comrades and sending them all tumbling across the floor. Raising his arm, a discharge from the LANCE sent all three tumbling across the length of the gala floor before they slammed into the closest wall and hit the ground in a heap. Whipping back around, Colt adjusted the power setting for the LANCE and trained his weapon on the other gunman. Liberty Lance opened fire with a rapid-fire salvo of concussive blasts that knocked them all off their feet and sent the pendants in their hands flying.

Mari was taken aback by the suddenness of it all. She certainly wasn't expecting outside assistance from hero who, to her knowledge, the Justice League had little to no information on. She'd browsed the databank a few times and had never seen anything on someone going by 'Liberty Lance'. That said, his help was greatly appreciated, and it was high time she got into the mix. Opening her clutch, she slipped on her other necklace; the one with animal bones and a golden lion's head totem.

"I really liked this dress." She grumbled, looking down at the constrictive number. "Tiger." Claws sprouted from her fingers and she cut a lengthy pair of matching slits up both sides to give her greater freedom of movement. "Good thing I wore underwear tonight…" Launching forward, she sliced through the body armor of one of the gunmen in an outward swipe and downed him instantly, the force of the impact from her claws shredding Kevlar knocking him to the floor. "Rhino!" Kicking off her heels, Mari started running, building up speed as her footfalls cracked the floor with every stride. She powered across the gala and right into another gunman, ramming shoulder-first into the man and blowing him off his feet, slamming him against the wall behind where he held still for a moment before falling to the ground in a heap.

The tide was turning between the combined prowess of Mari and Liberty Lance and the surviving gunmen took notice. "We have to scrub! Fall back!" One of them cried out fearfully.

"Not just yet." The shaggy black-haired man interrupted, pushing past the pair. "Grab what you can and bail. I'll keep him occupied." He promised. He strode right up to where Liberty Lance had just finished blasting another of the armed men into submission. "Well well well, and here I thought tonight was gonna be drab." He said aloud, drawing the vigilante's attention. "But look at you. Fresh meat." Once he had Liberty Lance's attention, he shucked off his suit jacket and started a shocking transformation.

Emerging from behind and shredding his clothes, green and red armor plates began wrapping around his body, solidifying into thick metal sheets that totally encased his limbs and body; his own electromechanical suit. Veins of yellow lit up across various surfaces as power thrummed within, the man's grinning face obscured by a metal helm marked by small yellow optics.

"Who are you?" Liberty Lance demanded.

"The name's Blackrock. What I wanna know is… who are you?" The felon retorted as he suddenly unleashed a pulse-blast from his fist that crumpled part of Liberty's chassis. The vigilante stumbled back and fell to one knee. Warnings flashed across his internal HUD, registering compromised structural integrity. Colt had no choice but to ignore them. He dialled his LANCE up to its second-highest setting and fired while crouched.

Blackrock dodged, the impact shattering a mannequin to near atoms. The villain unleashed more energy charges from his fists but Liberty Lance darted out of the way with a sudden burst from his afterburners. He struck a wall and it seemed to knock some sense into him, adrenaline surging as he realized this was no ordinary threat. The golden salvos continued and Liberty launched itself upwards, soaring over Blackrock in an almost-graceful arc where he got the drop on the villain from behind. The LANCE flashed white and the energy column blew Blackrock off his feet and propelled him clean across the room where he smashed through the glass doors at the other end.

A new warning flashed across his HUD indicating depleted power to the LANCE. He ejected the spent power cell and one of his three reserves automatically inserted itself, charging him back to full. More sustained blasts like that a near full power and he'd run out of cells before, he suspected, Blackrock ran out of fight in him. Sure enough, Blackrock charged back out onto the gala floor and Liberty Lance unleashed a rapid-fire salvo of low-power blasts from the LANCE. Blackrock sidestepped the first, ducked under the next, took the third on the shoulder and the fourth on the leg, dropping low enough as Liberty Lance powered forward and rammed his knee into Blackrock's faceplate at high speed. He laid the villain out flat and levelled his LANCE right in his face. "Surrender. The police will be here any minute." He threatened.

"You don't know me very well, mac." Blackrock chuckled. "I ain't known for giving up. Hell, I've fought Superman after he told me the same thing! Small fry like you? You ain't got a snowball's chance in hell!" The second Colt realized his fists were glowing again, intersecting energy pulses struck the upper chest of the vigilante, blinding him for a moment as Blackrock sprang to his feet and triggered his own thrusters. Orange wisps of flame shot from his boots as he plowed shoulder first into Liberty Lance and drove him into the ground. Multiple pulse-rounds struck Liberty Lance in the chest, leaving scorched dents in his chassis. Colt regretted not having another more-feasible weapon on hand. Clenching his fist, he rammed a punch into Blackrock's chin, throwing him off.

"You don't know me." He managed to retort, forcing himself up. More warnings flashed across his HUD. Colt knew the power of the LANCE was the only thing he could bank on to end this. He dialled the power to its maximum output setting.

"You're just proving me right." Blackrock retorted, on his feet with fists aglow. "You can't surprise me, mac." Colt had a sneaking suspicion he was right, but held out hope he could still win this.

All of a sudden-

"Lion!" Mari attacked Blackrock from behind, her claws raking across his back and shredding both armor and circuits. Her leg snapped out and landed a roundhouse kick that spun Blackrock around, where her swinging claws cut clean through his helmet, exposing the side of his feet. Seeing his chance, Liberty Lance took it. Rushing up, he planted the LANCE against Blackrock and pulled the trigger. The powerful shot launched Blackrock right off his feet and sent him clean through the upper concrete wall of the coliseum where he disappeared from view. Watching to ensure he did not return, Colt grunted in pain as the ache of the battle settled in.

He glanced down at the woman who had intervened to help him. She was gorgeous, no questions asked. Her smoky quartz eyes glittered amidst the rich brown of her features as she looked up at him, peering out from beneath tousled pixie-cut chestnut hair. "Thanks." He proffered.

"Don't mention it. Probably would've been a lot worse if you hadn't shown up when you did." Mari replied and she meant every word. "Liberty Lance, was it? Not exactly fitting on a name tag but I can see the inspiration." Her eyes noted the LANCE affixed to his arm. Colt rolled his shoulders in an effort to rectify their stiffness. "Wanna stick around to make sure that guy doesn't come back? I'd like to interrogate some of the conscious goons before the police get here."

"You think they have an ulterior motive to just robbing you?"

"You just threw down with their mechanical muscle. I'd be surprised if they didn't have one."

Her dead seriousness convinced Colt to stick around as the gala guests hurriedly picked themselves up and calmed down after the ordeal. Someone had called the police shortly after Liberty Lance arrived and it did not take long for officers to arrive in force. Before they dealt with the gunmen, however, Mari managed to glean enough information from one that proved very telling.

The thoroughly-troubled guests as well as her coworkers were her number one priority and Mari knew she had to take back control of things. Numbers plagued her, namely what it was going to take to get the gala back on track, as well as reorganization of their location. The damage done to the Coast City Coliseum would likely negate a return visit any time soon. She checked in on Paulina and Andreya. "You girls alright?"

"A little shaken but fine otherwise." Andreya replied.

"Been a long time since I've had a gun in my face." Paulina added. "Remind me to never do a photoshoot in Corto Maltese again… did they get away with any of the pendants?"

"Not from what I can see. We're doing inventory now, but you two should go back to the hotel." Mari told them. "I'll stay behind to get everything cleaned up." The models offered their thanks and rose to leave. Mari moved on, approaching the stoic Liberty Lance as he studied the other side of the gala and the shattered hole in the wall where Blackrock had disappeared. "Anything?"

"Nothing. Infrared isn't tracking anything and long-range hasn't turned up a single thing since he left." The vigilante answered. "Did your inquiries pan out?"

"They did. These thugs? They're with Intergang. Blackrock was their muscle." Mari answered.

The name struck a chord. Intergang was a notorious criminal organization that spanned the globe, with ties to many other underworld organizations responsible for weapons smuggling, grand larceny, and had come into conflict with the Justice League and Superman himself on many occasions.

Liberty Lance cocked his head. "So this was more deliberate than random thievery."

"Yeah. They wanted the pendants for a reason." Mari glanced around at the police and detectives swarming the scene. "I can't talk right now but I'd like to. You were able to hold your own against them and I owe you for your help. I understand if you want to move on, but if Intergang failed this time I can guarantee they'll try to steal these pendants again. Your help would be invaluable, I can't always count on the League to be around to intervene."

Colt mulled over her request for a moment. It felt like a big step forward in his vigilante career. Did he really want to take it? This was totally new and outright unexpected. He needed some more time to think it over.

"Alright. Blyniville Air Force Base. Come alone, I'm not prepared to host a lot of visitors." He told her. Triggering his afterburners, Liberty Lance launched up through the hole in the skylight he'd made and took off, leaving Mari to watch him go.

Night had come to Coast City as Colt returned to his home, the rear of the hangar sliding open to grant him access. He strode inside, still upright and tall but sore and visibly damaged. Walking the Liberty Lance suit right to its cradle, Colt waited until limbs were fully locked and the suit powered down before he popped the helm and opened the chassis plates. He stepped out with a groaned and eased himself down. "Helluva night." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Toeing off his shoes and shrugging off his pilot coveralls, he threw them into a nearby washing machine before turning back to his suit to survey the damage. Scorch marks from Blackrock's empowered fists marked dents across his shoulders and torso, a lot of the damage mainly superficial. But the exposure of the circuits, wires, and other sensitive material beneath was concerning to him. The left chest panel had been totally crumpled, saved only by the nylon-Kevlar weave underneath. Taking inspiration from bulletproof glass, Colt had layered his suit to with enough sturdy materials to ensure he would not be easily harmed. Most fighter jets weren't bulletproof, Colt had gone to great lengths to ensure Liberty Lance was.

But against energy pulses like what Blackrock could unleash, evidently he needed something else to help hold his own.

"You are gonna need some TLC, old girl." He mused, striding back towards his desk. Numbers were already flying through his mind as prospected rolled through one by one. Taking a seat and flicking on the fluorescent white lamp, he grabbed a large thick leather bound notebook and a black pen next to the digital clock reading 9:13pm. Flicking to a blank page he started making notes and performing calculations, scribbling words and numbers in a long list up and down the page. "I've sure got my work cut out for me." Colt murmured, glancing up at the suit.

Formulas and algorithms littered the formerly-blank page, along with multiple doodles of thruster packs and various armor sections of the suit itself.

Circling his final results, Colt glanced at the clock. 9:39pm. Dropping his pen, he left his desk and made his way upstairs to his true home. Entering through an inconspicuous door revealed a spacious interior that rivalled any downtown penthouse suite in Coast City. The living area was vast and spacious with a sizeable skylight window reaching from the floor up to the apex in the ceiling's curve, including a mahogany wood coffee table and a large plasma television that was seldom used. Colt wasn't known for lounging and watching television in his downtime but he did like his movies from time to time.

His kitchen was open and spacious, fully furnished with every possible cooking appliance necessary. It was a question of preparedness for Colt. He may never need a juicer, or a double oven. But if the need arose, he knew he had one of each. He strode past it and by his private office space which doubled as his personal archive/library. The shelves were filled with overflowing manila folders held together by multiple elastic bands, each containing abandoned blueprints and a variety of documents salvaged from Ferris Air before they left everything to be destroyed in the demolition of the air base. Some were his own personal records from his time at the company, the rest were abandoned projects or rejected ideas he had devised. The rest of the office was modelled with wood panelling, his desk large and dark littered with calendars, computers, and personal mementos. Colt had done his best to model it after his grandfather's old office, a place he spent a lot of time in as a boy.

Leaving it all behind, he entered the master bedroom and made a beeline for his spacious shower. The piping, temperature controls, and faucets were all made of silvery platinum, luminous against the dark tile within. Colt stripped and blasted himself with hot water, soaking sore muscles that were still reeling from Blackrock's punches. Refreshing himself with a quick five-minute run under the water, Colt emerged feeling reinvigorated. He fetched some grubby work clothes from a pile on the floor and slipped into them before making his way back to the office.

The shower had jogged his mind just enough to remind him that he had invited someone over. The question of if she would actually stop by remained unanswered but it suited the blonde man to know more about his impending houseguest. Colt sat down before his computers and ran a simple online search for 'McCabe Gala'. The result was quick, the event being advertised on the city website. With a full name he ran another internet search for 'Mari McCabe'.

The results did not disappoint.

Most of the available search results centred around her fashion career and the number of times she had made the cover of various magazines or stole the show at a runway somewhere. Colt sought out more personal details. He learned she was Zambesi-born (making a note of the war-torn African country) but was raised in New York City where her career in fashion began. Her early work was certainly striking, Mari inheriting a certain level of beauty that cameras and companies strove to highlight. Mari McCabe premiered for many companies to showcase their designs, starting small but growing in prominence with each year. A swimsuit shoot in the Caribbean seemed to be her breakout moment, but not before she put in an honest amount of work. Some of the images Colt found of Mari from an early boudoir shoot would have been incredibly scandalous were it not for the strategic placement of clothing and/or props to preserve her modesty.

"Maybe I should've taken a colder shower."

After securing information concerning her rise as an independent in the fashion business, Colt found profiles of her activism, Mari being a blatant supporter of the end of conflicts between African warlords. She made many campaigns in the name of ending hunger and poverty and he watched a handful of World Vision promos where she was the star. More important were the news headlines featuring her among members of the Justice League. "Vixen…" Colt murmured, studying Mari in the orange-gold jumpsuit with black accents and a ridiculously low cut that ran almost to her navel to expose generous cleavage. She had nice breasts, any man could see that and Colt sure did. "So that's what happened at the gala." Evidently Mari had slipped into the role of superhero even without a costume. Colt made a mental note of her readiness.

His querying mind satisfied, Colt journeyed back down to his workshop (after making a brief pause at the fridge for some cans of hard lemonade) and stepped up to an eight-foot tall, four-foot wide metallic cabinet and threw open the doors. Various shelves and display cases unfolded form within, revealing a treasure trove of tools and devices needed to keep Liberty Lance up to date. "Alright… we need armor… and we need weapons." His gaze shifted to a nearby wooden crate and he selected a crowbar from the cabinet.

Prying the lid off, within he discovered several replica parts from his suit in a much darker grey. There were multiple wooden crates packed together, between them all carrying enough parts to build a second Liberty Lance suit and he just might. Although he knew exactly what was necessary for his current situation. His gaze settled on the 1200-pound titanium armor plating, similar to the kind used to protect the pilots of A-10 warthogs. He would need some heavy winches to move the stuff and was already planning for a long night in.

But he was far from finished beefing out Liberty Lance.

A metal container sat next to the crates and he unlatched the lid, prying it open to reveal an afterburner pack not too dissimilar from what was already attached to the armor… only this one had just two pulsejet afterburners while the remaining space was taken up by the ammunition band for the attached 30mm cannon; a GAU-23 bushmaster chain gun, the same kind installed aboard the AC-130 gunship.

Her hotel suite was a lavish top-floor space that included a full kitchen and walkout balcony. As much as it was an enjoyable perk of running a lucrative fashion business, Mari did not have the time nor the mindset to enjoy it right now.

After making profuse apologies to her guests and ensuring that everyone present would be alright, she made arrangements for the gala to be closed to the public for the next day while the valuables were moved off-site. The intent plan was to be open to the public for three days straight before packing up and moving on to the next location. She had already done so in both Metropolis and Gotham City before and each instance had gone off without a hitch. "Why now?" She asked herself, struggling to figure out Intergang's motives. The answer would come in time but maybe not soon enough. This demanded her full attention now.

Returning to her hotel room close to 11pm after the dust had finally settled enough for her to achieve piece of mind, Mari had a quick shower and changed out of her choice dress for the gala. She had spares but hated wasting one. If only her proper costume had been available. If only she had known about the possiblity of an Intergang assault. "One thing at a time, Mari. Can't control it all." She told herself as she changed into a white pantsuit she reserved for business meetings and more casual outings. She kept her Tantu Totem around her neck and added a few earrings made from the teeth of long-dead predators, a common custom of her native Zambesi tribe she did her best to maintain.

Once she was dressed and prim and proper, a quick navigational search on her phone revealed the location of Blyniville Air Force Base and quirked a brow when she discovered it had been abandoned and demolished with only a chain link fence to identify where the perimeter once began. "So, trying to get away from it all, are you Mister Liberty Lance… I wonder what other surprises you have in store for me." Her instincts, honed over many missions with the Justice League and heightened by her connection to the Earth's Morphogenetic Field, cautioned her to be wary. It might be for nothing but they had saved her skin countless times in the past. Mari glanced at the bedside clock. "I hope you're still awake because I am too wound up to go to bed just yet." She tightened the totem around her neck, touching the smooth metal in an effort to glean passive courage from it. The night was proving long already and her work was far from finished.

With that, Mari McCabe descended to the hotel's underground parking lot to find her rental…