Chapter Seventy-Seven: Darker Tides
The incident with the Red Lantern Corps opened up the horrors of the wider part of the universe. The first thing they had to do was take a side trip to Oa to talk to the Guardians. Lois drew her breath as deep as possible when preparing to walk into the portal to face them.
There was no question about it. Lois was not looking forward to this interview. Misery did love company and if she was going to be miserable, she was going to bring along plenty of the company. The company in this form was Clark and Karen. The two really grew into their roles as protectors of this world.
Lois hoped to stand beside them. She held her head up boldly and walked through the portal onto the planet of Oa. Clark and Karen followed her closer to the edge.
"So, the Guardians aren't as bad as everyone says they are?"
Those words from Karen brought Lois out of her very casual admiration of the buildings rising up over the pavement in Oa. Clark put a hand on Karen's shoulder and gave her a warning squeeze. Lois caught in and shook her head.
"It really depends on what people are saying about them, and what people are talking to them. They aren't purposely corrupt, well any more so than Earth's average politician anyway."
Karen snorted at Lois's not-so subtle commentary.
"They can be very bad at giving information and they aren't really straight forward a lot of the time," Lois continued. "They have to do everything by the book. And the book is boring and has a lot of pages. And there are a lot of past mistakes they'd rather keep buried. Until they rear back and bite us."
Lois heard some stories from the various Green Lantern recruits who heard stories from their mentors. The brunette sensed a very frustrating conversation which was coming on.
"Well, let's do this."
For better or worse, they were going to do this. Lois moved towards a couple of the fellow Green Lantern recruits. One of them stopped towards her.
"What did you do now?"
"Well, I stopped the Red Lanterns from blowing up one of the biggest cities on Earth," Lois said. "I tried to summon for back up, but it wasn't necessarily forthcoming."
One of the Green Lanterns decided to argue this point from her. "There were three other chaos level events going on at the same time. The Guardians thought Earth was a low-priority and they would only divert resources."
Lois wondered how anyone could put value on human lives. The only thing which did not make this bad was the fact that they came out okay. If they did not come out okay, then Lois would be having some words with the Guardians. And some of them were among the seven words they can't say on television.
Clark forcefully made his way inside. The Guardians of Oa all jumped up for a second. One of them blinked several times. The look on their face made it look like they had seen a ghost of some kind.
"My name is Kal-El. I am the last son of Krypton."
All of the Guardians whispered. One of them looked at Kal with a certain amount of reverence. Karen frowned and Lois just smiled in response.
"You are the son of Jor-El, are you not?" he asked.
"Yes," Clark said. "He was my father. But I never truly knew him."
"No, he kept himself rather guarded to all but his closest friends," the Guardian said. "I was happy to work with him during a short time."
"Let's not get off the subject, Ganthet," one of the Guardians sharply said.
Lois blinked. "Yeah, let's get on the subject. Like, Articitus bringing an entire Red Lantern Armada to Earth. There could have been countless lives lost. Why didn't you give me the heads up at least he was sighted in the sector?"
The mood in the area started to change for the better. The Guardians resembled a group of people who obviously had been discussing this fact for quiet some time. One of them stared at Lois.
"You are of a strong heart and an even stronger will. But you have a whole lot to learn about how to priority certain parts of the universe. We do believe that this attack was only a small part of a more concentrated assault. Because, four attacks of this nature rarely happen simultaneously."
"Is Atrocitus at least locked up?" Clark asked.
The Guardians all responded with a solemn nod. A few seconds passed where Clark wondered if he was going to get any straight answers. One of the Guardians shifted a scroll of paper very nervously before he leaned back against the wall. His breath increased before locking eyes back onto the people he was talking to.
"He is secure in a holding cell," the Guardian informed them.
"He's being backed by someone," Clark said. "One of the Red Lanterns mentioned he was promised a new power battery if he agreed to attack Earth."
The Guardians all exchanged their looks to each other. They could all agree without too much prodding that Atrocitus did not need that much prompting to attack the Earth. Although, they did fear that there was someone who was pulling the strings of the crazed Red Lantern.
"He has refused to give up any information in his backers. We can only hold him and his followers, and hope one of them gives the details."
A part of Clark disagreed with the fact that Atrocitus and his followers would give any details. He had a theory that none of them would have known.
He turned to Lois a fraction of a second later who shook her head. Clark could see why she assumed this entire endeavor to be an exercise of frustration. He walked out of this meeting with the Green Lantern Corps with a lot more questions than he did any answers and that much frustrated the Last Son of Krypton.
Lois returned to Earth after filing her report and answering a few questions. She did not get chewed out of a breach of protocol which was some amazing progress. They could build on that progress and hopefully go a little bit further. Now, Lois folded her arms and walked away.
"You look tense. It's not because you have to meet Lucy, is it?"
Chloe's gaze met Lois. The two women walked down a very nice city street. There were people who were talking with each other. One man held a cell phone in his ear which he chattered away on to someone. Lois could not really pay much attention to who the man who was talking to.
"No," Lois said. "Not her."
The Green Lantern of Sector 2814 paused for a second. Lois actually did look forward to this meeting with Lucy. She already talked to her father who had been relieved and somewhat proud at what Lois was doing, in some strange way. After all of these years, Lois finally might have earned a little bit of the General's approval and she could not help, but be pleased because of that. Chloe put a hand on Lois shoulder and made her turn around to face her.
"There's something that's been haunting you ever since you came back to Oa," Chloe said.
Lois shook her head. Chloe had that ability to read her like a book. And unlike Clark she had a little bit less tact in asking certain questions to her. Clark pretty much asked Lois how she was doing one time before she went home. Lois claimed she was doing fine and everything would be okay. Clark let the matter drop after that and that was that.
Chloe would be a little bit tougher to shake and if Lois was perfectly honest, she was not certainly sure it was a bad thing.
"Well, you know about the entire Red Lantern thing," Lois said.
"Well, yeah," Chloe said. She took a deep breath. "So, exactly how many different colors of Lanterns are there? I'm just….well I'm kind of curious."
Lois scratched the top of her head and let out a sign. "There are too many. There are way too many of them out there. Although the Red Lanterns are the worst."
Chloe let out her breath. She figured about as much. She and Lois crossed the street to the café where Lucy had been waiting for them. There had been some people chanting in the street about something until the Metropolis Police Department turned up.
"The Godfreys really are leaving their mark, aren't they?" Lois asked without skipping a beat.
"SUPERMAN NEEDS TO GO!"
Grimacing when she walked around town quickly turned into Chloe's default facial expression. Human nature showed that many people would be prone to moments of great hysteria. Chloe tried not to judge anyone too harshly that particular fact.
"LOIS!"
The younger Lane sister appeared. She looked at Lois as if trying to verify it was really her and not some elaborate trick. The moment that Lucy realized it was Lois, she rushed in, wrapped her arms around Lois's waist and squeezed her in for a hug.
Lois closed her eyes for a second to feel Lucy's tight grip around her waist. She put her hands on the back of Lucy's neck and pulled her in.
"It's good to see you too, Lucy," Lois said, with a very slight breath.
It was very good to see her sister, and Lois meant that, for all they have been through.
"You're happy to see me?"
Lucy pulled back from Lois and gave her one of those sudden little smiles. Lois just adopted one of the most stern looks possible towards Lucy which made her regret the arrogant little smile coming over her face in an instant.
"Of course, I miss you, you little twerp. But, you don't want to get too comfortable with it."
"Well, you know something?"
Lois raised her eyebrow and invited Lucy to continue. Chloe's eyes averted from one Lane sister to the other. She would say this was like a Tennis Match if it was not for the fact that she found this a little bit more exciting than Tennis.
'Actually, a car crash might be a perfect description. Actually, a car crash is a perfect description.'
"What?" Lois asked.
Lucy did not slap Lois like she might have at another time. She just settled for a glowering look directed at her older sister. "You damn near gave me a heart attack when you disappeared."
"Well, if it was only nearly, then I wasn't doing my job."
"And once again, another alien invader arrives to terrorize this planet. And you know something else, that alien invader, he was another male who decided that destruction and terrorizing this planet's population was the way to go. Can you believe this? And we had to wait for Superman to stand up and fight with us again. When are we going to learn, women? We need to show our strength by standing together and banning this oppressive force! We need to stop this Superman! For he is nothing but a super-powered representative of how the Patriarchy oppresses us and puts women ahead. And what's more, Superman is going to use this to inflate his already overinflated reputation. Unbelievable!"
One of the underground labs of Cadmus played the message of Grace Godfrey. Her latest contribution to the twenty-four hour a day news cycle rang out in all of its toxic glory. The woman swept around the area with a frown on her face.
Some might ask why you would glorify the words of your enemy like this? Lillian Luthor was under the impression if you needed to learn what your enemy was saying at all times for they were always plotting behind your back.
She stopped and watched the face of Grace Godfrey. Her fist pumped up and down on the television screen when ranting about it. Statistics showing crime being up in Metropolis over the past month was shown and how women were the targets of it.
"You can keep peddling your lies. I know who you really are."
"As you can see, these numbers prove that Superman is not the beacon of hope. There is a serious epidemic and it can only be stopped by swift action. Any woman who can do something about it, should push for Superman to be banished, or at least forced to have his name change. He can still be a force for good, if he becomes a staunch ally for feminism. Until that moment happens, then I'm afraid Superman is nothing but a symbol of oppression."
Lillian reached for the remote control. She finally heard all she could stand and she could not stand any more. Grace Godfrey had been silenced with one single push of the mute button.
'It's a pity taking care of her is not that easy. The networks love her and there are politicians who are eating up what she tells them. She's really doing her job in indoctrinating a new generation of useful idiots.'
She slid the doors open to check the progress of their science. In the chaos, they snatched one of the latest invading forces of Earth. The man, this Red Lantern, laid on the table. His face contorted.
"This man is human, but he's been corrupted by an alien force."
Lillian said no words at first. She just let her actions do most of the heavy speaking. She motioned for the drugs on the table.
"What do you know about the coming darkness?" she asked him.
"I don't know….Atrocitus just recruited me….my boss fired me….said I had an attitude problem."
"And you think you were in the right, so you killed a man, Mr. Patterson," Lillian said. "Yes….well, you're not an alien. You just allowed yourself to be manipulated by one. I would love to believe you, and help you out. Really, I would….but you need to help me out as well. There is a storm coming and humanity needs to be on the right side of history. Cadmus is our last line of defense."
One of the scientists loaded up a drug and walked over to the man downed on the table. His body constantly trashed in horror. The scientist touched the syringe at the man's chest and injected him with the burning chemical. He screamed out in horror when whipping his head back.
"And that's horrible," Lillian said. "But, it's very illuminating. That was supposed to relax people, and induce them with a state of happiness. Which is toxic for these Red Lanterns."
Lillian turned to her scientists. The man's blood curdling screams forced Lillian to turn away. She would have not had sympathy for the fact this man had been human.
"Learn all you can from him. I need to know who is behind this. And we need to know soon."
The scientists returned to her work and Lillian returned to her studies. She pulled out a copy of a journal Lionel created. She flipped to the page where it discussed a legend about how the Traveler's greatest trial would be against a darkness which could divide the world and plunge it into complete and total darkness.
Lillian had no doubt about it in her mind. The Darkness was rapidly approaching them and it might have already been here.
"There are many things to be disgusted with, by what Grace Godfrey is doing. However, one of the things that disgusts me the most is the fact she's making it extremely hard for women to gain any respect on their own merits. You know something, we are capable as any man, but we should not be just handed opportunities because we happen to have a vagina."
Leslie Willis decided to go on one of her daily rants about Grace Godfrey. It was among her highest rated segment, and gave her the most positive feedback and the most death threats per day, so she knew she did something right.
"I don't want to be coddled because of the fact I'm a woman," Leslie said. She gained some steam throughout her rant. "We got the right to vote, we have the right to hold any job we want. We have the right to be as mean and nasty, and cruel as any man can as well. And we should be called on by the fact we are bitches and we can be awful people just as much as any man. That, my friends, is equality. And that's what Grace Godfrey is trying to take away from you, equality."
The shock jock decided to go for broke in this rant. Every second she spent on Grace, she could feel the station managers get nervous, but she did not care to be honest.
"I don't want to people to be afraid to say what they think of me because I'm a woman. I can take it and dish it out in kind. Grace's lies are toxic to women because they put them on the level of infants who need to be coddled and have special treatment. We are capable of being wrong just as much as any man is. We are capable of being cruel. And we are capable of being hateful just as much as any man and prejudice against the people around us. But, you're the living breathing proof of that, aren't you, Gracie?"
That mocking nickname always annoyed Godfrey, so Leslie endeavored to keep her up. She took as wig of water from the people.
"Any man who holds back from criticizing a woman because they are a woman, is not a true man and I'll be honest, they should just end up getting the surgery, if they want to identify as a feminist! And if you want to identify as a different gender, hey, it's the current year. Go for it, just don't do it to be trendy and to get extra oppression points. Just do it, because that's how you honestly feel."
The light started to blink on, showing they needed to head to a commercial. Leslie paid it no mind.
"And I'm not the biggest Superman fan, but he didn't take any credit. He hasn't given any public statements in fact. And I heard from a few people that if Power Girl, Wonder Woman, and that chick with the green ring did not get involved, we would be having a funeral for him as we speak. But the facts are poison to someone to you, aren't they? AREN'T THEY, GRACIE?"
Leslie's eyes bugged out. She had to hold onto the underside of her desk to keep herself calm.
"Women claim they want equality, despite already having it and having more rights than men in certain areas. But let's ignore the facts, when we can be oppressed. Let's ignore responsibility, when we can play the victim card. And let's ignore the fact that you can never be more wrong. Let's just pull out that woman card, which you keep right next to your victim card, when someone calls you out. Let's just call everyone who deconstructs your talking points a misogynist to shut down the conversation, while in the same breath, shutting down about being silenced as well!"
The station manager peered angrily through Leslie's window and waved something in his hand. She pressed on.
"I've invited Grace Godfrey to come on my show numerous times," she said in a more tranquil voice. "We can have an honest discussion. I've let people come on here uncut and uncensored. But, Gracie, she refuses to step out of her echo chamber. And she also goes in national television, and she knows what she says to you, her fellow women."
Leslie brushed her finger away from her face and sighed.
"She has the gall to go out and say, that women who don't agree with her, are in fact lesser than her. They are not true women. Seems to me that someone who preaches equality, thinks that she's better than you. And she doesn't thinks he's better than men, she's better than woman. And for my final point of equality, women can be just as big of bullies as men!"
The door opened up and the station manager walked in.
"Hey, boss," Leslie said. "You…you cut me off again, didn't you? And I thought I was making some good points."
"We warned you about devoting so much time to Grace Godfrey," the station manager told her.
Leslie just answered with a very slight shrug. "Yeah, you kind of did, didn't you? But…she started it…."
"Pack your bags," the station manager said. "As of today, you no longer work here….the sponsors have complained about you and we've gotten more bad feedback about you than anyone else."
"Oh, yeah, from who?" Leslie challenged.
The station manager refused to challenge.
"I see you're nothing but a spineless weasel who caves into pressure," Leslie said. "But, you know something, I won't hold that against you. I figured there would come a day where Gracie would get to you. I just thought you'd have the balls to hold out a bit longer."
That particular statement about his lack of testicular fortitude did not endear Leslie at the station manager. "Pack your bags, I want you gone."
Leslie already had prepared to leave. She made her plans to strike out. This conversation was not over. If Grace Godfrey thought that she could be silenced by getting fired, than he was truly mistaken.
Intergang rammed into the side of the building. They had some new toys from their benefactor. One person was not pleased by their stash. Superman dropped down in front of the Intergang goons. One of them turned the cannon on Superman.
"Alright, Superman, you're going down!" he growled.
Power Girl came down and smashed the cannon of the tank. Three of the Intergang goons launched cannons at her. The green balls of fire coming out of the cannon came a couple inches away from striking her. Power Girl avoided the attacks just in time.
"I don't know where they got these things," Karen said. "Go to the right, I'll go to the left, and we'll both meet in the middle."
Superman jumped up into the sky with Power Girl following. They launched a concentrated heat vision attack which caused the weapons to heat up. The Intergang members fired one more shot before having to drop the weapons down onto the ground.
Several cables shot out to grab Superman and bring him down to his knees. Superman struggled against the wires as they dug into his back and shoulder. The Man of Steel drew in a frustratingly long breath the longer he tried to push out of his attack.
Wonder Woman nailed the attacker in the back of the head. One of the Intergang goons pulled out a pipe which shot blasts of white hot fire at the Amazon Princess. Diana dipped underneath the attack and grabbed him by the shoulder. She took him down to the ground.
One of them rolled a grenade underneath the ground. The explosion forced Diana to pull back from her attack. The Amazon staggered back and came inches away from receiving a knife to the stomach. The knife pulled back from the Intergang goon who rushed her. Diana struggled against the man who retracted two more knives from the knife. Diana pulled out a sword and connected with the attack.
"We've got what we came for! Back to the tank!"
The second tank rolled out of the building and shot a land mine up and caused it to land in the air. The Intergang rolled out of the way and forced Karen and Clark to disable the land mind.
Clark used his heat vision to remove the section of the side walk the land mine had been laid out on. He launched the pavement into the air and then hurled it up. The heat vision ripped through the pavement and caused it to crumble into dust before Clark landed back down onto the ground.
A large mace slammed into the side of the tank. Wonder Woman jumped on the tank and pulled it open. The Intergang goons cursed. One of them tried to escape only to get a mace to the face.
A woman dressed in battle attire with wings dropped down to the ground. Her green eyes flashed with a smile.
"Good to see you back," Clark said.
"It's good to be back," Shayera said. "But, maybe we should talk a bit less, and hit a bit more."
She caught the armored thug behind her with one attack which dropped him to the ground. The heroes still had a little bit of work to do to take down Intergang.
Chapter Seventy-Eight: Growing Pains
Shayera left for several months after the Thangarian Invasion and she finally got her head back together. She was ready to atone for the sins of her people and more importantly, to see what she can do to be a protector of Earth. The people in the city looked up in the sky to her in awe and some of them looked up into the sky at her with fear.
She smashed the tank to prevent the Intergang goons from getting their hands back on it. One of the goons fumbled through his belt to try and find a grenade. Hawkgirl pulled him out of the sky and lifted him into the air. The goon screamed out bloody murder as he dangled high above the sky.
"Clip her wings!" one of the Intergang goons yelled.
Superman blocked the arm of one of the Intergang goons who tried to nail Shayera with a vicious blast. Superman nailed his enemy hard in the chest with a huge punch. More huge punches to the chest rocked his adversary before the Man of Steel jumped high into the air. The Intergang goon threw his hands over his head and almost screamed out for mercy. None had been given the very second Superman drove his fists down onto the top of the Intergang goon's head.
He only lightly tapped the henchman across the face. One of them reached in and took out a huge black rod. Shayera came down and yanked the object out of the hands of the thug. The thug staggered back and looked up into the sky. His face flashed into pure horror the version second Shayera came down from the heavens and drove her mace down onto the chest of her enemy.
The impact rattled the goon and forced him to fall back onto the ground. The Man of Steel came down and pulled one of the thugs off of the ground. The thug squirmed underneath the attack of Superman and tried to break free. Superman was not about to drop him, not if he could help it at least.
"You wouldn't dare do this if this was a fair fight! You wouldn't be anything without your little super friends around to help you."
Two more Intergang goons flew back to the ground where Power Girl made sure they stayed down to the ground. She tied time together. The binding pressed against them tight and made it very hard for them to go away.
"You talk about fairness when you bring high tech alien weapons to the party?" she asked. "I think your sense of right and wrong might just be a little bit f…."
"WATCH OUT!" one of the spectators screamed out.
Power Girl flipped her gaze around just in time to see a blast of orange energy flying through the air from one of the laser cannons. She dodged out of the way. One of her adversaries made his last stand until Shayera swung the attack from the backswing. The impact dropped him to the ground like a ton of bricks.
"Way to go," Power Girl said.
"Thanks," Shayera said. "I can't believe I still got it after all this time."
The Thangarian woman could not do anything other than react with a grin. She was feeling so good about what happened. A few people looked at her a bit nervously when she walked by. Shayera held her hands up as if to show she was not going to attack her.
"Don't judge them too harshly," Karen said.
Hawkgirl just gave her a smile. Superman finished wrapping up Intergang in the background. Shayera observed that going smoothly as possible before turning back to Power Girl.
"They're just terrified, it's no home….."
"GO BACK HOME YOU WINGED VERMIN!"
Those words came back as a small group of men stepped forward. One of them waved a crowbar back and forth which nearly struck his fellow rioters. One of them reached into his shirt pocket and acted like he was going to pull a gun out.
"I should shoot you. It was the Thangarians who killed my daughter. You should not be allowed here. Your types should not be allowed her. Go back to where you came from and rot with the rest of that vermin."
Shayera stepped away. Her blood boiled at the fact this man held a gun out and pointed at it her. His hands started to shake and prevented the proper aiming of his gun. It looked as if he might strike an innocent bystander as opposed to her.
"They're not worth it," Karen said.
Clark moved over to join them. The protestors grew even louder and more insane. They were waving their fists in the air and one of them came this close to throwing something at Shayera. Superman stepped in the way and a car battery smashed against Superman's face.
"I'm sick and tired of you all holding us back!" one of the other protestors yelled off to the side.
One could see some of Grace Godfrey's followers moving into position as well. One of them started to shake her fist at Superman. Power Girl and Hawkgirl both looked agitated, as Wonder Woman came back around. The loud sirens of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit cut through the area.
"It's not worth it," Diana responded.
Clark would have to agree it was most certainly not worth it. They had to get out of there for better or for worse. The four heroes left as the supporters of both Grace and G. Gordon Godfrey moved over.
"Get back in the kitchen!"
"I'll fucking castrate you, you Nazi piece of shit!"
The MCU came in to spray the entire crowd with tear gas. They all screamed in protest as the MCU moved in to take out the riot. They were all upset about having their protests cut completely off.
Several gentlemen sat around in the warehouse. Of them put a large icepack on the back of his neck and applied a sufficient amount of pressure to the back of his neck. He grumbled the second that the ice pack dug into the back of his neck.
"That damn Superman!" he howled.
"And now, Superman once more refuses to engage his critics. And he looks down at women with contempt. A woman stated that he stood by and watched as Intergang harassed two women."
"Hey, hey, we didn't harass any women," one of the gang members did. "Did we harass any women? I really can't tell at this point?"
The other members of Intergang shrugged their shoulders. They really did have no clue what was happening. They watched the broadcast of Grace Godfrey. They really didn't want to keep watching her, but it was like some kind of trainwreck that they really couldn't pull themselves away from. It was an oddly captivating show.
"Hey, what the hell are you watching that shit, for?"
A dark-haired man stepped into the room. He wore a suit, with his hair slicked back. One could see his face had been put completely through the ring. This gentleman most certainly had seen some better days. The members of his gang looked up. One of them swallowed and could see how fowl of a mood he had been in.
"You watch this shit, you get brain cancer, or something," the gentleman said. "Alright, listen up, if you're going to sit around with your thumbs in your ass and watch television, don't watch some overcompensating dyke."
Bruno Mannheim reached over and turned off the television. Most of the men sitting around the room did not really protest the television being shut off. At the very least, they did not have to watch another second of Grace Godfrey, so relief was something.
"Some Fem-Nazi bitch thinks she's hot stuff," Mannheim said. "If you asked me, the only way she would look halfway decent if someone bent her over in the kitchen and had their way with her."
The gang members all laughed at his joke. Mannheim's eyes snapped towards each gang member. The gang members all swallowed the lumps in their throats. They might have gone a step or two, too far in saying something to Mannheim.
"Alright, shut up, it's not that funny," Mannheim said. "I'm going to tell you what's going on and I'm only going to tell you once, and you better all listen, because I'm not going to tell you a second time."
He spoke in a very raspy voice, years of heavy smoking having taken their toll. You would have to take up a vice like smoking. After the demise of Morgan Edge several years back, Mannheim took control of Intergang and made the organization his own personal playground.
"I'm going to tell you all something….."
Another knock on the door distracted Mannheim for a second. The other goons felt like they were getting some kind of lecture. One of the men brushed his fingers through the top of his head. He still had a rough bump rising from the top of his scalp.
"Maybe you should go to the doctor?"
"Yeah, not going to happen," the gang banger said.
"You and you, come over here!"
The two gang members would not have dared ask what Bruno Mannheim wanted from them. They just scrambled over to the edge of the room and had been eager to do what they could to help out. They moved a bit closer to the crate on the edge of the room.
"What the hell is in this thing?" one of the gang members asked.
"Who cares?" Manheim asked. "Just shut up and get the damn thing in there."
The two Intergang representatives knew better than to backsass Manheim especially when the crate had been put down onto the ground.
The members of the gang opened up the crate. The large item inside of the crate caught their attention and brought smiles to their faces. No smile grew wider and more sadistic than Bruno Mannheim.
"Well, boys, looks like Christmas has come early, and decided to celebrate my Birthday along with it. And maybe all of yours as well, if this is the weapon to level the playing field against that little crew of Superfriends."
A terrified looking female ran about as fast as her legs could carry her. Her heart was beating even faster when moving down the city streets later at the evening.
"Come on, honey, we just want your phone number."
The drunken breath of the man who followed her put this female to the edge of throwing up. She could feel the sharp and stabbing pains going through her body when running faster and faster. Her entire head throbbed the closer she reached her destination.
'I just got go to the police station.'
One of them found a way in front of her and grabbed her into place. The woman's self-defense training kicked in and just in time as well as she popped the man right in the side of the neck. It loosened the grip and the woman staggered down the alleyway.
"Alright, I know….I know how to use this."
She withdrew a can of mace. The gang members all laughed when coming down the alleyway. One of them brandished a very large knife and made her whimper back against the alleyway. She could not believe what was happening. They were going to kill her. Or worse, they were going to do something else to her.
"Ah, don't be scared, all we want to do is be friends," the gang member said in one of his more rough and sadistic tones. "We're just going to rough you up a little bit."
The girl's jacket had been held onto. She struggled against the grip of her potential captor. Everything around her started to go even faster. One of them pushed her against the ground. The belt of one of the men flew off as the girl tried to get back to her feet.
"What's the matter? You twist your knee? Don't worry, honey, we'll make it feel better."
The man off to the side suddenly dropped to his knees as if some mysterious force caught him around the back of the head. The other two men turned around to see some figure dressed completely in green. Her face had bene obscured by some kind of bandana.
"You picked the wrong alleyway to go down?"
"You disobedient children need a lesson in matters."
She jammed the rod between the knees of one of the gang bangers. The gentleman screamed out in pain as his crotch had been fried by the sudden pulse of energy. The woman pulled back the rod from between his legs and then jammed in between said legs one more time.
"And you will get that lesson in manners at the hands of me."
The man held out his knife. This woman did not seem too bothered by the fact she had a knife drawn on her. She returned her assault by dropping her attacker down to the ground. The sound of ribs breaking echoed throughout the area.
The woman on the ground covered her hands. Dare she look up through her fingers? It was becoming way too fast. The other two gang bangers stood their ground. Well one of them did. One fled through the alleyway towards him.
"Your friend is smart, but unfortunately that's a quality you don't have."
A hideous scream came as the gang member dropped to the ground. Finally, the woman detached her fingers from the side of her face and looked up towards her mysterious savior.
"Why didn't Superman save me?" the woman asked.
The woman put a gentle hand on her. "Superman only cares to make himself look like a savior in public to the rest of the world. Your plight did not give him that particular opportunity. Therefore, you were forsaken."
That did not sound like Superman. Then again, perhaps he had not been the hero the world thought they did. This good woman saved her life.
"Saving the dregs of society does not help Superman's image at all because they always slink back into the shadows," the mysterious savior said.
The woman could not even argue against being considered a part of the dregs of society. She had fallen upon some very hard times and it had not suited her very much.
This cloaked savior coming out of nowhere did make the woman very suspicious and also made her wonder about what intentions this woman could have had.
"But never fear, because Dear Granny will help you."
This woman held out a card for the former victim to take.
"Both homeless and battered women can find salvation at this address. They can have a new lease on life. They can have brand new hope that a Man of Steel will not give."
The former victim viewed the card with a bit of anxiety. It read "Granny Goodness's Shelter of Tomorrow" on it. She had her misgivings about such a place, but she figured, the least she could do was offer Granny the benefit of the doubt.
"Step into the light, my child. Allow dear Granny to help."
Tess, dressed in a tank top and tight black pants moved to the center of the room, with Thea. Thea dressed in similar clothing which clung to her nice fit body. The two women closed in on each other with their staffs being extended. They bowed to each other and rushed in for the attack.
Both Tess and Thea clung staff to staff with each other. Neither held the upper hand on each other, at least at first. Thea's eyes glazed over when trying to push Tess back a few inches. Tess returned fire a couple moments later.
"You're distracted?" Tess asked.
Thea did not say much at first. She just returned fire and pushed Tess back. Tess avoided Thea's attack with about as much precision as you would expect. Thea had to keep Tess one step ahead. The two businesswomen surrounded each other. Every now and then, one would get a bit rougher in their attacks. The women who got rougher took a step back.
"I'm not sure if a spar session is the most productive way to ease off your frustration, if you're feeling frustrated," Tess responded. "There are other ways to do so."
Thea did not rise to the bait just yet. She just moved in to engage Tess. Both women collided with their wooden staffs smashing together against each other. Tess and Thea rose up to engage each other in this long and physical battle. Tess almost took Thea down. Thea stood back with a wide smile on her face.
"I've been getting people threatening to boycott Queen Industries because we refuse to endorse Grace Godfrey. In fact, I spoke out against her, and encouraged people not to take her seriously, because she doesn't have the best interests of women at heart."
Tess pushed her full force against the wooden staff which brushed against hers.
"Did your business suffer?" Tess asked.
"No."
The two women jockeyed for position against each other. Thea got a bit more leverage against Tess and staggered her back. Tess readjusted her stance and kept blocking Thea. A constant barrage of wooden staffs clanging together echoed through the room. Thea was getting a bit more adept at keeping herself a couple of steps away from Tess. Tess, to her credit, gave about as good as she received.
"Even if they did," Thea said. "Even if they did, I wouldn't back off. I have principles, something that a woman like Grace Godfrey wouldn't know about."
The doors opened and Clark and Shayera stepped their way into the room. They moved past Tess and Thea who continued to engage each other. Neither Tess nor Thea did not want to give up the ground to the other.
"Three more minutes," Tess warned her.
"Right," Thea said.
Thea just adjusted her stance and blitzed through in the battle. Both of the staffs clung against each other when coming on against each other.
"Things have gotten far worse than where they were a few months ago," Shayera said. "They still….well they can't really tell the good aliens from the bad aliens, can they?"
Tess almost swept Thea's legs out from underneath her. She took pity on the Queen Heiress and pulled her to a standing position in front of her. The two staggered back against each other.
"Really bad," Tess said. "One of humanity's worse qualities is to take the most simplistic approach to everything. It's not just black and white, and I think we all know that."
"And the Godfreys are doing a good job in bringing out the worst qualities of people."
Clark's tone sounded a bit grumbly and Tess could not have agreed with him more. The Godfreys brought the worst qualities out of a lot of people.
"And the people who threatened to boycott me, they called me a lot of names which really should not be repeated in polite company….."
"Time!" Tess interrupted Thea.
The two women made their way to the couch. Tess sat down on the other side of Clark on the couch which left Thea with an armchair. Thea picked up an advertisement which had been left on the coffee table.
"Granny Goodness's Shelter of Tomorrow?" Thea asked.
Tess looked physically ill at that particular name. She shook her head to clear off the cobwebs. Tess managed to return to the conversation without any physical trauma in her mind.
"Yes, it's something Grace has been ranting on, saying that women should go there to get educated on Superman," Tess said. "Anyway can see what's going on. That place is brainwashing emotionally vulnerable women for some sick and twisted purpose. But, there's never been enough proof to shut it down."
"To be honest, I stopped listening to Grace a while back," Thea said. "I only got what I needed to know from her through Leslie Willis and she…she hasn't been on the air in a few days. I think someone finally got to her."
"No, the station manager fired her because the sponsors got upset," Tess said. "Likely because some of Grace's followers threatened a boycott. Still…you got to know your enemy."
Thea grudgingly had to agree. She looked towards Clark who had taken his cellphone out. The symbol of the DEO flashed on the screen. The red word "urgent" flashed from underneath it. Clark turned to Tess and Thea who signaled for him to go.
Clark stepped a couple of feet into a government facility out in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. He double checked the address the DEO sent him.
'Okay this is the place. Why doe something feel like it's very off?'
Clark stepped into the facility. He moved past the dark spots in the wall. Even with his super powered senses, Clark felt there was way too many blindspots for his liking. He kept walking on past the hallway.
Something hissed and the lights all clicked on one by one. Clark looked around himself and did not see something right away.
"Okay, is anyone here?"
Clark prepared for himself for the simple fact that the DEO might have been compromised and how this could have been an ambush. He did not want to do it.
Finally, a crisp voice came out of the shadows. "Since you were such good friends my son, I think it's time for us to be formally introduced."
A striking and tall woman with dark hair stepped into the picture. She dressed in a three piece female business suit and carried a briefcase which struck power. Her walk had a little bit of confidence within it. The two bodyguards stood on either side of her. They were armored and outfitted with weapons.
"Lillian Luthor," he said.
"So you've done your homework," Lillian said. "Or has Lutessa been filling you in on the fact that the rumors of my demise have been grandly exaggerated."
Clark looked around for anyone other than Lillian and her two bodyguards. A woman who was married to Lionel Luthor for such a long time would have something crafty up her sleeve.
"I've been wanting to meet you for a very long time. You know my son so well…but I wonder what I can call you."
Lillian's face adopted a look of mock insight.
"Should I call you Clark? Or Mr. Kent? Or Superman? Or Kal-El? Or maybe the Traveler? How about Namen? So many possibilities, so little time."
Clark's arms folded together. He was not as rattled as she would have liked him to be from this tone of conversation. He stood up just as strong and just as proud as he ever had been.
"What are you doing here?" Clark asked her.
Lillian lifted a hand up. "I don't like the fact you stand here, and act like your some kind of symbol for good. Especially after you drove my son insane….well you and Lionel, but he got his karma in the end."
It was not quite how it went. Clark was not here to debate the past.
"If this is an ambush….."
"I would have brought more than two bodyguards," Lillian said. "I've received information regarding Intergang's backers and how they put a dangerous biological weapon in the hands of a trigger happy madman in Bruno Mannheim. Things are about to get ugly, if you catch my drift."
Lillian slid a flashdrive across the floor at Clark's feet. Clark picked up it up and studied it.
"Don't believe me at your word. Have your friend, Ms. Sullivan look over it. And despite the fact that I think that you're an alien menace and I will never forgive you what you've done to Lex, there are far greater threats than you. Lionel's words are proving true. There is a greater darkness coming. And you better stop it, for all of our sakes."
Lillian and her two bodyguards turned around and left. Clark had to let them leave because there were more pressing problems.
"Chloe?" Clark asked.
"Yeah?" Chloe asked.
"I need you to check something out for me."
Chapter Seventy-Nine: Strange Bedfellows
Chloe sat on the chair and waited for Clark to return. The door opened and Clark moved over with the flash drive in his hand. Karen and Tess joined Chloe in the room.
"So, do you think we can trust this?" Clark asked them.
Tess took a second to ponder all of the different angles Lillian could be going from. She really did not know where Lilian was going for this one. The woman frustrated Tess in a lot of different ways.
"We're going to have to scan the drive to ensure she didn't leave any nasty surprises," Tess said. "I obviously don't trust her as far as you can throw her."
That much had been obvious. Chloe took the drive and put it on the edge of the table. She pushed a couple of buttons which flashed against the edge of the drive. A scan moved over the drive. Karen, Tess, Chloe, and Clark waited the two minutes it took for it to scan.
"Completely clean," Chloe said. "At least we know sabotage is not her game."
Tess looked over the drive. This object looked so innocent in some ways. She moved over to the computer which Chloe fired it up. The files already opened up. Whatever information Lillian had on the drive, she wanted it to be found out right away.
'She's using us to do her dirty work,' Tess said.
The information of the weapon which had been apparently shipped to Intergang around the time Clark, Shayera, and Karen were dealing with them flashed onto the screen. Chloe's mouth hung open and she double-checked the information. No way it could have been completely right.
"It's a biological weapon," Chloe said. "And it releases a bacteria which targets alien DNA and also DNA which is non-human."
"So, meteor mutants as well," Tess said. "Not good."
No it was not good at all. Tess studied the chemical makeup. They only had a partial blueprint of the weapon. The chemical agent might not even work for all they knew although they should go in under the assumption it did for obvious reasons.
"We're going to have to find a way to track this weapon," Karen said. "Do we have any information about Mannheim's latest movements?"
"I check with the usual sources," Tess said.
It became clear that Mannheim was a puppet for the person handing this weapon over. The benefactor would not have given him the weapon if there was not something to be gained out of it. She had a couple of very obvious concerns to address. One of them which Chloe pointed out straight away.
"So, how deep of a meteor infection are we talking about here?" Chloe asked. "There were a lot of people who were in Smallville when those meteors came down. They were not given powers even though they were exposed. Would the virus targeted them?"
Tess rubbed the bridge of her nose in deep thought. It was a good question. They missed one big piece.
"It might be a concern," Tess said. "Like I said, I'll look into where Mannheim might be going. If we find Intergang, we can shut it down."
Chloe, Clark, and Karen now focused on monitor in front of them. They had a really big Doomsday Weapon to come for. They had no idea how much backfire there would be. Chloe adapted her hacking to see if she could find out any more information.
"I think Cadmus has given us just a small piece of the puzzle to just see what we would do with it," Chloe admitted.
"You think they could be pitting us against a rival group?" Clark asked her.
A deep level of consideration popped into Chloe's mind. It was very possible Cadmus was trying to direct them against a more dangerous force who ended up having a more extreme version of the same agenda that Cadmus decided to have. The only problem was Chloe felt like she was missing a few pieces of the puzzle.
"The more answers we think we have, the more question sthere are. And I think that's what Lillian wants. She wants to baffle us and confuse us. It's not…it's not a good thing. And this…this is really not a good thing."
They were dealing with a dangerous biological weapon which could take out a lot of there were people out there with gifts which never had been unlocked or people with altered DNA and no abilities. Chloe heard stories of several people who were near the meteors who had just been sick as much as anything else.
"Nothing from the usual sources," Tess popped in. "We should focus trying to counteragent the agent when it's in the air."
"By the most generous calculations, it should take about three days before the bacteria really takes hold," Karen said. "And we don't know when Mannheim released the weapon."
"He received it not too long ago," Chloe said. "We should really hope that he isn't savvy enough to deploy it."
Chloe thought it might be a bit too much in the wishful thinking department to think Bruno Mannheim was not smart enough to deploy this particular weapon. She drew in a deep breath and went back to work. Any potential information they could find would be of a big help. Chloe did not know how many options they had right now. Only, they were rapidly running out of them.
To be perfectly honest, if you put a gun to Bruno Mannheim's head, he really did not hate aliens all that much. Okay, he did not like Superman to be honest. He was just very bad for business. The Man of Steel and his friends kept interfering constantly in Mannheim's operations and causing a lot of unrest. Every time the intervened was a time that Mannheim was none too happy with them.
Still, a lot of people did hate aliens on general principle or really anything that was the least bit different than him. There were a lot of racists who were operating out of Metropolis. Who was Mannheim to deny them a chance to exercise some of their darker impulses?
'I'll be honest, some of those people scare me.'
Mannheim saw faces of the usual mob types among the crew in Intergang. They only hated Superman because he interfered with business. Then, he saw some really scary people beyond the mob types. They would have lynched an alien on principle if they could get away with it.
'Scary, scary, fucking bastards here, aren't they?' Mannheim mused more to himself than no one else in particular.
He stood atop of the world like a king. Edge's death opened a power vacuum. Everything thought Mannheim was just destined to be a lackey of Morgan Edge. He was destined to be the man's number two and had in fact been treated like that by many of the mobsters in Metropolis. Mannheim stepped up and did something.
"Alright, everyone! Hey, listen up!"
Mannheim clapped his hands a few times. The members of Intergang quit chattering and turned their attention to their leader. Mannheim's teeth curled into a snarl when looking down at them. All of them brought something to the table. Even if what they brought to the table was being a breathing punching bag while the rest of them got away, Mannheim did appreciate it somewhat.
"We've had a rough last couple of months. And we've been able to turn the tide as well. You know why? Because, we're all tough. Some of us have been through some hard times. Morgan Edge, he pushed you all down. I'm giving you a chance to rise up and to move forward. Myself and my new benefactor have given you the weapons that make you feel a little bit better about yourselves. You feel stronger than ever. And we are all stronger together!"
The members of Intergang started to rumble. Mannheim had them pretty much eating out of the palm of his hands. It was just like feeding ducks at a pond. It was much too easy for Mannheim to do this.
"We've got some new friends," Mannheim said. "Superman and Hawgirl, they really wrecked some shit a while back, didn't they?"
The members of Intergang all grumbled because of the mention of the two heroes who humiliated them the other day. Mannheim could hear them cursing the day those two were born. Hell, Mannheim did not really care all that much for them either.
"Yeah. I hear you. I hear all of you. And I know you want to gain a bit of payback on them. Those two sons of bitches and the rest of their super friends, they need to learn a lesson."
"Intergang will crush them!" the leader yelled.
"Yes," Mannheim said. "We're going to put Superman down on the ground. And between us all, I can't wait to walk up to him and plant my foot on his chest. Show the world he's just another guy no matter how many powers he has. And he's not better than me."
'Bastard would be nothing if he didn't have powers,' Mannheim said. 'I'm going to bring his ass down to Earth and crush him.'
Mannheim made a breaking motion with his hands. The members of Intergang all realized what it signified. They got louder with their cheers at Mannheim.
"Bring it in boys. We've got something that's going to finally tip the scales. And when it does, we're going to smash Superman. He's going to fall back down to Earth. And he's not going to be so super anymore."
They all listened intently for Mannheim's men wheeling in a huge crate. They wondered what was in the crate. Mannheim just tapped on the weapon with the crowbar. His teeth, rotten to the core, curled into one of the more obvious smiles possible.
"This, boys," Mannheim said. "This is what we call the great equalizer. It's going to bring Superman crashing down to his knees. And it's going to cause all of his other super friends to scream for mercy."
The members of Intergang whooped and hollered at Mannheim. He soaked in their cheers like a sponge. He could hardly believe things would have gone that nicely.
"All of the aliens and all of the freaks will be brought down. Intergang is going to run this town once again and no one is going to stand in my way."
The loud cheers came out from over the crowd. Mannheim prepared to move into the next phase of him ruling this town. He would do it at the expense of Superman. The Man of Steel would have to fall before it was all said and done.
A car pulled up outside of a well-lit and very nicely maintained building. The two doors opened and Thea stepped out of the car. Helena walked out of the car as well alongside Thea. The two women moved closer to the front steps. Perfectly grown flowers lined the pathway on all ends. Thea almost shuddered out how nice things looked in this place.
The trees off to either side of the shelter looked luscious and full of life. Someone repainted the walls and it showed very nicely. The windows were not cracked like a lot of places in this area were. The two walked up to the steps of the shelter.
"It's a nice looking place," Helena said.
Thea did not necessarily disagree. She could also tell Helena did not disagree with her. Anyone who had been brought here would want to live here for a good reason. No person would want to live in a place which looked awful. Thea did not discount this theory and she was pretty sure Helena did not either.
"It's very nice," Thea agreed. "And that's what makes it so…."
Helena only answered with a nod. She raised and fist and knocked on the door three times. Footsteps come from the front of the room and a door opened up. An attractive woman with dark brown hair opened the door. She dressed in a very professional business suit and wore a big smile on her face.
"Good morning!" she cheered. "Welcome to Granny Goodness's Shelter of Tomorrow for Battered and Troubled women. I'm so glad you could come and visit our establishment to see how swell this place."
Thea wondered what kind of person used the word swell and also what kind of person was this happy at the job. She stepped into the middle of the room and had been bombarded by bright colors. Happy relaxing music played through the area. Thea noticed all kinds of sappy motivational posters hanging across the wall.
"At the Shelter of Tomorrow, we think our guests should receive positive experiences to erase the darkness in their life," the woman explained in the most cheerful tone possible. "We want them to feel a sense of being at ohme. We want them to feel comfortable and welcome at the same time. We don't want them to feel frightened and isolated like many of them are."
The tour shifted from the front area into a hallway to some kind of area. Therapists talked to several women. Some of the therapists moved forward and gave a hug to the person. They paid special attention to an activity room which some of them worked out while others watched television and played games with each other. All of the women seemed happy and relaxed.
"It's all about creating a safe-space at the Shelter of Tomorrow," the woman said in her usual sunnily happily sappy tone of voice. "We want to make sure our guests get the most out of all of their lives. They are happy and they are ready to face the world. Routine magical examinations are held to make sure they are kept in the best physical shape possible."
All of the women moved about the area. They wore bright colors to combine with their bright smiles. Helena frowned for a second, but wiped it off of her face.
"They are well cared for it seemed," Helena said. "Who would ever want to leave this place?"
The woman nodded with a big grin dancing over her face. "It's all about creating a home for these women who have long since lost their chance to be at home."
Everything appeared to be too good to be true. A very perky blonde woman ran up the steps and waved at the two guests.
"This is Ms. Queen and Ms. Wayne, and they might be helping better our home," the cheerful woman said. "Why don't you tell them how Granny Goodness has helped you?"
"Granny Goodness is the best!" the perky woman yelled at the top of her lungs. "I was always down and wanting to kill myself because of my abusive boyfriend. But, I'm all better now, and he's….well the only thing I feel sad about is the fact he can be the better person."
"Now, sweetie, his attitude will be fixed in time," the cheerful woman said. "As you can see, these women are able to be happy in the safe space we have been provided. They are able to achieve their own identity, and are able to flourish in our home."
"They do seem pretty happy," Thea said. "And from what I've said, you're able to take in a lot of women. How do you afford it?"
"We could not have done this all without the kindness of strangers!" the woman cheered. "But, you know what they say, a stranger is just a friend you haven't been introduced to you. And I'm certain that both Queen Industries and Wayne Enterprises will help this shelter with sizeable donations. And they will help these women grow stronger."
Thea watched Helena finish up out of the corner of her eye.
"You do have a first-class institution," Thea said. "Will I ever get to meet Granny Goodness?"
"No child, unless you are in need," the woman said. "Granny is tirelessly searching out women to bring here. She comes once a night with her newest finds. I do sometimes prey there is a night where Granny does not arrive. But, every night shows how much this city has failed and how Superman and the men of Metropolis have failed women in general."
The conversation came to an abrupt halt when Thea took her phone.
"A friend of mind just called," Thea said. "She needs to be picked up at the airport."
"Of course, of course," the woman said. "I wouldn't dare stop you from trying to help another woman who is in need. Go there and see what you can do to help her. We'll be there when you decide to donate to our cause."
Helena left with Thea and the two of them walked out.
"They've been planted," Helena informed her.
The bugs being planted was only step one of a couple of steps. They would have to get to the bottom of this one way or another.
A blast of light opened up through the sky and Superman came as fast as he could. He moved with intense speed and got closer to his adversary. He dropped down to the ground and came face to face with the Intergang goons.
"It's about time!" the lead goon cheered. "I didn't think you would show your stupid red "s" around here."
Clark took full view of the members of Intergang and noticed they were arm.
"Come on, I'm not afraid of you, "the leader of the pack said. "You're nothing, you're nothing but an overhyped, overpowered, bully!"
The goon in his super powered battle suit moved into position. Several more of his friends all moved into position. They all held these weapons and pointed them directly at Superman. The Man of Steel did not falter for a minute when staring them down.
"I've got friends!" he yelled. "You can't touch me when I have friends! Friendship is magic, bitch!"
Another figure dropped down from beside Clark. Power Girl landed on the ground. Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman joined Clark on either side as well.
"Oh, that's just like you!" the leader of the gang yelled. "It's just like you to bring your little crew of super friends, can't fight a battle one on one…."
"EAT THIS!"
One huge blaster came out to engage them. Hawkgirl jumped up into the air and drilled the blaster with a full force attack with her mace. The blaster broke apart as the goon dropped to the ground. Hawkgirl rose back up into the air and returned fire with a vicious swing with her mace. The impact of the mace dropped her adversary down to the ground as fast as humanly possible.
The Intergang goons who moved into the battle were heavily armed. They started to fire at Superman. Superman dodged the attack.
"Stand back!" the lead loudmouth yelled. "He's not nothing! He's mine!"
"So, I guess I am something."
The solar powered battle suit the Intergang goon wore looked pretty dangerous and he looked about ready to smash Superman to a pulp. The Man of Steel dodged the huge punch from his adversary. Superman dodged the attack one more time.
He watched Wonder Woman wrap a lasso around the wrist of one of the Intergang goons and drop him to the ground.
"Come at me!" the lead loudmouth yelled. "Talk to my hand!"
The large arm of the battle suit swung around and smacked Superman hard in the face. The Man of Steel flung back into the building. The smoke cleared and Superman pulled himself back up. He scanned the suit for a weakness and found it.
Superman jumped up to engage the goon again. The goon fired a series of blasts from his hand at Superman. Superman avoided the constant barrage of attacks.
"I'm going to crush you!" he yelled. "Do you hear me? I'm going to crush you?"
Superman had another problem. The suit was draining energy from him and sapping his stores faster than the yellow sun could regenerate him.
Hawkgirl was in and she smashed the glowing blue sensors on the suit. The armored goon yelled out in pain as the impact of her attack just ricocheted off of him.
"You stupid bird woman!" he growled. "I'm going to rip off your pretty little wings!"
"I'd like to see you try," Shayera said.
She dodged the attempt to be grabbed. Shayera bounced off of the wall and hit him one more time. This allowed Wonder Woman to come from the other side and smash her feet into the back of the goon. His legs crumpled out from underneath him.
The two gang members with blasters fired at Power Girl. She flipped in mid-air and kicked the blasters out of their hands. One of them tried to punch her on the ground. The punch did nothing other than amuse her. She tapped the goon on the head and dropped him down to the ground.
Clark smashed the armored guy from behind and pulled him out of the armor. He disabled the exploding vest on the man and hurled it up in the air. He joined Karen in destroying the vest with heat vision. The vest had been obliterated.
"Talk!"
"Wouldn't you like to….."
The building next to them exploded and sent glass and debris everywhere. The glass sliced the thug in the back of the neck and killed him instantly. The attack forced Superman, Power Girl, Hawkgirl, and Wonder Woman all to take a step back.
The dust settled and the heroes moved in around the explosion. They choked in a whole lot of dust and it was not really good. They wondered who set off the explosion.
"I heard something."
They did hear something. A woman dressed in purple with a hood over her head stepped in front of them. The chill rose in the air at this woman.
"You are off of the path," she told the women in front of her. "I can offer the three of you salvation."
She extended a long wooden stick in her hand and pointed towards Shayera, Karen, and Diana. She looked towards Superman with scorn.
"Leave him and join your truly family where you will be treated with dignity and not as an extension of a man," the hooded woman said with scorn. "You should join us."
The three women looked at the fourth one in the hood with a very incredulous set of stares. She surely could not be asking what they thought she was asking.
"I offer you salvation in exchange for leaving Superman and walking on the proper path."
"Let me think about that for a second," Karen said very mockingly. "No!"
"Yes, not a chance," Diana said.
Shayera was less diplomatic than the first two about your response. "You can take that offer and stick it straight up your ass."
"It's a pity," the woman in the hood said. "It's a pity you didn't join our cause. And it's a pity how many women turn their back on the truth. But, you will be executed as traitors. You could have been amazing Female Furies."
The woman lifted up a box and opened up a portal. Six women dropped down to the ground. The lead women dressed in a tight black leather suit with a bandage wrapped around her face. She looked at the rest of the group with sheer contempt dancing in her eyes
"Lashina. Kill them!"
Hawkgirl rushed towards the attack with her mace swinging. One of the women grabbed her out of mid-air and tossed her to the side.
Diana engaged another woman who wielded knives. The woman stayed a couple of steps ahead in the fight against Diana. The Amazon Princess realized very quickly that this was going to be a very intense battle.
Power Girl rushed towards them. She received an electrified shot when one of them went down.
Lashina stepped into battle to go face to face with Superman.
"Looks like it's just you and I, handsome."
She whipped out her electrified whip and wrapped it around Superman's neck to force him down to a kneeling position.
"You're a distraction," he gasped. "To allow Intergang to employ the weapon."
Lashina smiled as she prepared to have her way with her new toy. And eventually, she would break him. Superman broke free from the attack and caused her to stagger back. Superman dove at her and the two struggled in combat with each other.
"I wanted to be nice. But, I guess your Kryptonian blood is going to have to flow."