Chapter 53: Chapter 47: Aftermath 1
Guys, life hit me hard. I got Influenza.
And I already started working in the mornings, and I can't write much anymore. I'll go back to one or two chapters a week.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
<Telepathy>
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Lian Yu (1 day after the mission)
On Lian Yu, all the heroes were having a hard time. They were all outside the facility built as a local hospital, waiting to hear news of their friend Oliver Queen. However, it had been more than a day since the emergency operation began and he hadn't come out. Frankly, everyone was worried.
Finally, after those hours of martyrdom, a beautiful Indian woman came out, dressed in a doctor's outfit. She was Helen Parvati, who was one of the principal investigators of the Revenger Group. In addition to being an accomplished biomedical scientist, she was also a doctor specializing in surgery. Needless to say, The Light sought her out for her skills, but Batman rescued her and her family and took them there.
As payment, she became the chief of medicine at Lian Yu, which frankly didn't have many doctors. They were practically a small task force. But, with the technology in the place, this was enough for any situation.
Going out with her, was Ray Palmer, The Atom, her friend and former colleague, who had also supported Oliver's operation.
Although Ray was not a doctor, he knew the human body well, as it was vital to know each area of the body expertly in order to use his powers. If he hadn't, he would never have achieved his molecular shrinking technology.
Removing the cap that covered her lush, curly black hair, Helen spoke.
"Sigh, I won't lie to you guys. When he came in, he was practically a mess. The knife cut the stomach releasing gastric juice that leaked into the other organs. We repaired every damaged organ, but he had several severe hemorrhages. It took a long time to control his vital signs. But now, he is stable. We put him in the solar recovery chamber. But these days will still be critical. If the wound opens up, he could bleed out again"
Moira, Oliver's mother, stood up and grabbed her hands. With tears in her eyes she expressed.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you for saving my son. To both of you" she turned and thanked Ray as well. Helen just smiled at this and gestured that it was nothing. Then she turned to look at her friend, and said.
"You're taking the first watch?"
"Yes, leave it to me. I'll call you if there's an emergency"
Helen nodded and yawned. It had been a long operation and frankly she was tired. She wasn't like Ray who seemed to have endless energy. A good night's sleep awaited her. Ray would stay to see that there were no problems.
"Well, I'll say goodbye. See you guys"
With that, Helen departed, as she waved goodbye to everyone. Everyone waved back and said goodbye again, thanking her.
They were relieved that their friend was well, but the most relieved was Dinah, who, when she heard that the operation went well, burst into tears.
She felt that, if he died, she could not live with the guilt. The knife was aimed at her, and he avoided it, saving her. He was practically her savior.
Moira, who saw Dinah crying, bent down to hug her. Together, they wept with joy at the news. Although he was not out of danger yet, at least the operation had gone well. That in itself was a great relief to everyone.
The others gave them their space, and went to rest. They were all exhausted from the hard fight against The Light, and some were still injured. But they didn't rest until they heard that their friend was okay.
With that, the whole group split up. As they walked along, the pair of Hawks, plus Cyborg and Vixen went off chatting. As they walked, Victor asked.
"Do you guys know anything about Superman?"
Carter was the one who took up the conversation.
"He's in the east wing of the hospital. They have him in the solar recovery chamber, and they're administering liquid nutrients. He was very malnourished. I think he's down almost 20 kilos. Even though he was a prisoner, they should have taken better care of him"
"As if The Light cared about that. But for all that, why was he a prisoner?" Shayera asked.
This was the big question. They hadn't figured any of it out. It was the most secret plan The Light had, and frankly the biggest, the one they had spent the most resources on. The unknown Project Cadmus.
It must be said, that The Light, had important projects such as:
-The optimized Venom drug. That they gave to the soldiers of the Liberation Front to improve their abilities. It was not as powerful as the one used by Bane, but it was less destructive and more friendly to everyone.
-Stimuli to awaken the latent metahuman character in people. When they detected that someone had this latent gene. They are kidnapped and tortured to awaken these genes.
With some it had worked, but with others....
-Totally destructive and advanced weapons.
And many other projects. But the most important project was the Project Cadmus, which practically nothing was known.
"I wonder the same thing myself. It's in the files that it's a secret project... but I don't know. We'll have to ask Superman. Or maybe Batman has already figured it out" Marie replied.
"By the way... what about Bruce, I didn't see him in the waiting room with the others"
"Oh, no, he's attending to a guest of his. A woman who arrived just as we were on the mission" Cyborg said with a slight sneer.
"Really, and who is she?" asked Shayera curiously, though everyone was curious at this.
Victor knew because he had Motherbox connected to the island's security system. When he saw the person's name, he thought she had infiltrated, but Batman quickly informed him that she was his guest.
"Someone you won't like..."
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"Hello, Bruce"
A beautiful woman told Bruce Wayne that he had arrived at the house where he slept on Lian Yu. The woman was drinking expensive liquor from a crystal glass. She was dressed in a black Russian collar sweater and leather pants that enhanced her good looks. She could only be described as 'gorgeous'.
..
..
..
"Selina" Bruce replied. That's right, she was Selina Kyle, aka, Catwoman. An executive member of The Light.
When Cyborg saw her name on the island, he was about to go and capture her, but Bruce told him she was his guest. And this was true. While all this was going on, Bruce had contacted her, and asked her for a favor.
"Not a, 'nice to see you Selina', or a 'good to see you after all this time'. How dry you are, Bruce. Is this how you're going to treat the person who risked her life for the request that you made?"
Bruce just gave a small smile and said.
"It's good to see you, Selina" which made her smile.
"See, it wasn't that hard. Now, to business... here's what you requested of me. This little file cost me a lot, Bruce. I'm the only one, on the entire planet, who has been able to steal from Vandal. I can practically say now, for sure, that I'm the best thief in the world"
Selina took some files and held them out to Bruce. Bruce analyzed them carefully, page by page. Every page he read made him frown more and more.
"It's worse than I thought" Bruce, who had a frown on his handsome face, concluded.
Some time ago, Bruce contacted Selina and told her that The Light was likely to recruit her. She didn't buy it, but contrary to her expectations, just that week, Ivy made her the offer to become her Commander. Not only did they want her in the group, they were practically giving her a executive rank.
At first everything felt right. Between her and Ivy used a task force and cleaned up Gotham. Now that city, which was the most crime-ridden city in the country, was known as a model city. This brought joy to Selina, who thought she was doing good in the world... until she later found out.
The killings. The Kidnappings. Everything under the rug that The Light carried.
This made her sickened. Of course she knew that sometimes sacrifices had to be made to do good. She didn't believe in that blind justice that Bruce had. But, practically The Light was behaving like the hand of God. They decided who lived and who died, and that was something that frankly disgusted her.
She contacted Bruce and asked him to help her get out of there. Ivy was blinded because The Light was making her dream come true of turning the world into a green one, and pretty much ignored everything, that Selina wasn't doing.
However, Bruce didn't help her right away, but asked for a gesture of goodwill, which Selina did by providing him with information.
Many of the most notorious details of The Light members or some of their plans were exposed by this beautiful woman. She practically became Bruce's informant.
But, seeing that things were already going to extremes, Bruce finally decided to intervene and bring her to Lian Yu, but not before asking her to help him with one last job. Information from the Project Cadmus.
The information that Selina had brought was little, it was even basic, but, for Bruce who already had an idea, it confirmed many of his suspicions.
They were creating a weapon with Superman's DNA. Perhaps an artificial Kryptonian, or soldiers with Kryptonian cells. Whatever ideas Bruce had in his head, they were all equally bad.
"So...what now?" asked Selina.
"What do you say If I give you a tour" Bruce only replied offering her his arm. Selina happily took it and they started walking.
However, Bruce's mind was racing a mile a minute with many ideas to fabricate plans about this information. However, he knew. The best plan he could make was to contact 'him'.
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Atlantis (3 days after the mission)
In Atlantis, in the great amphitheater, all the inhabitants of the 7 kingdoms of Atlantis were gathered. From the Fishermen to the Xebelians. All to witness the trial of the Atlantean traitors.
Three days had passed, and Arthur had practically not rested since he was fixing everything that Orm had changed. Which was fortunately not much.
But the things that had changed were pretty radical. Like the flesh eaters in the pit. Arthur had to get those fuckers out of the place with all his fury and power and banish them far away.
When finally, he and Vulko, his most trusted advisor, managed to organize everything, they finally had time to hold the great trial of the prisoners. Something that did not please Arthur, but it was necessary.
The said man was right in the center, carrying his trident and his ceremonial royal costume. He wore his golden crown of kingship. Behind him, were chained Orm's entire party. His trusted soldiers, of which there were quite a few, and Nereus and his men.
Striking the trident three times, it generated a ripple that silenced the whole place. When silence fell, Arthur began his speech.
"Inhabitants of Atlantis. You are here to witness the enforcement of our most sacred laws. This group of men has committed the worst crime. They have conspired against our people. I, as the King of the 7 Seas, sentence them, by the law of Poseidon, to death, by MY hand"
When he said this, everyone exploded.
"Yes, kill them all!"
"They don't deserve to live!"
"Fucking traitors!"
Arthur looked at the large group behind him. Sure, he knew there were more corrupt politicians allied with Orm, and he would seek each of them out, but for the moment, this was the group that did participate in all the events Orm stirred up.
Orm's lie, that Arthur was sick, ultimately backfired as everyone continued to recognize Arthur as their king. Quickly, causing all forces to follow his command.
This would have been a spectacular plan by Orm if Edgar's group never intervened.
He would practically slowly take away Arthur's power, and then let him die. When this happened he would simply pretend that his death was from the 'illness' he claimed he had, and his succession to the throne would be well handled.
Orm was the king's brother, and if the trident recognizes him, then the others would not see it as wrong for him to continue the monarchy. A simple power grab.
But Edgar happened. Which brought about this whole situation. Said prisoner, at this time, looked completely emaciated. He was pale and coughing up blood. He didn't know what was wrong with him, but He knew that this happening to him was not normal.
"What did you do to me, brother, vengeance for this, right?"
Arthur just looked at him pitifully. He moved closer to him, and said in his ear.
"No, brother. None of that. Everything that is happening to you is because of you, and your foolishness to use a power that did NOT belong to you. This was the same thing that killed your father, and it was the same thing that killed our mother"
"But... she said it was a rare disease"
"She lied to you. She could never tell you that, using the trident without acknowledging you, that is, by force, it would practically cause a severe reaction in your body. She sought me out when she practically knew that the trident had not recognized you. When the trident did recognize me, she was very relieved"
Arthur put his hand on Orm's shoulder.
"Even, on her deathbed, she asked me to take care of you. She loved you, Orm, too much"
Orm began to cry at Arthur's words. He thought that his mother had never recognized him. He thought he was a disappointment to her. And now he understood that everything she had done, was for him to live. And yet, here he was, being tried to death.
"I am sorry, brother. Though I made that promise to my mother, the law is the law, and you have broken them... and badly"
..
..
..
"Do what you have to do, brother" Orm no longer cried. He simply breathed, and closed his eyes, accepting his fate. Arthur positioned himself behind him and....
"SHING!"
Orm's head rolled on the ground. Then the decapitated body fell as well.
'I'm sorry, mother. I couldn't keep my promise' thought Arthur.
However, he couldn't even feel sad as he continued his task. It was barely one and five dozen more to go.
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Arthur, along with Edgar, Diana, Mera, Vulko and Raven, who wanted to come since she was bored of being in the tower of destiny, were sitting in the king's private room.
They were all drinking a pretty good Atlantean whiskey, except Raven who was drinking an Atlantean juice, which she also enjoyed a lot, while they were chatting and laughing like good friends. The atmosphere was good and cheerful.
"Edgar, And this girl, who is she?"
"She's Raven, and, if I were you, I'd treat her with care, Arthur. She can kick your ass"
"Is that so?" Arthur asked with slight derision.
However, Raven just put down her juice and started levitating everything in the place. She could levitate few things before, but now her control of her powers had advanced by leaps and bounds. Even Inza had taught her several tricks with her powers.
Arthur was amazed by this power. So much so that he even had his eyes wide open and his mouth slightly agape at this spectacle.
"My love, you should listen to Edgar. I've seen this girl fight and she's scary for her age" Mera told him, while using her hand to close her husband's surprised mouth. Lest he get flies in him.
"Mmm" Raven just nodded with her serious face and stopped using her power. Then she took her juice and continued to drink it quietly.
Edgar simply told her mentally.
<Well done>
Raven just smiled slightly and mentally replied.
<I know. I'm awesome, Ed>
Raven and he had made a mental connection. This was derived from Raven's powers. It was minor telepathy, and she could only use it on one person, and only if she touched them. Also, if someone had mental barriers, they could easily take her out.
But Edgar let her in so they could converse. Raven was trying to improve her power so she could use it in a group and without touching people, but there was still no progress on that.
"Well, as much as I'd like to keep watching the spectacle of this girl's great power, I think it's time to move on to the important issues... I sent to check what you asked for and it's worse than you told me. In three days I have stopped over 78 ships trafficking arms, drugs, and people. Practically The Light was using the sea to transport all of this"
Edgar sighed. He put his hand to his head in exhaustion. Diana just held his hand comfortingly, which made him smile.
"...I see. And you've already sent someone to prevent that, I presume?"
"Yes, I send the terrigenous. A marine species with the best sense of smell in the whole sea. As soon as they smell any of the aforementioned, they will let me know. I will confiscate everything. Also, needless to say, Atlantis will be assisting in the work against The Light. The sea will practically be on our side"
Diana interjected just at that
"Also, Themyscira will be helping. My mother is very upset with what happened in our city and will be sending the best to fight"
"Perfect. We're finally matching their numbers"
Edgar was starting to feel better hearing this. The Light was still powerful. He had many numerous armies at their disposal, weapons and so on. But, little by little, the game was leveling out. Against an army, you must use an army.
"Oh, by the way, Diana, I think I have found the Justice League, or where they are currently located" Arthur commented.
"Really, but how?, Fate said they were well guarded both magically and technologically" Diana exclaimed in surprise. Truthfully she missed her friends.
"Yeah, the fishes told me that a Batman's jets went through there near the China Sea"
"Wait, you talk to fish?" Edgar interrupted. He thought it was a myth this power.
"Oh, yes, and frankly sometimes they have better conversations than many humans I've talked to"
Edgar was about to say something more about this, but just at that moment, a golden portal materialized on the spot. They were no longer alarmed as they knew it was Fate. From there, out came Doctor Fate who had justly been missing these past three days. Even Inza was beginning to worry.
"Kent, where have you been all this time, Inza was starting to worry"
Kent took off his helmet, and there he showed a serious countenance, completely different from the carefree one he mostly always had. This caused everyone to become serious. However, what he said made everyone in the group nervous.
"Guys, we have a problem. A BIG problem. The future... the future has completely changed"
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Washington, DC, USA (2 days after the mission)
In Vandal's rooms, glass and other items were scattered all over the place, derived from the great fury that this man had. Zazzala, who was at his side, did not know what to say to calm him down. The always calm Vandal was not seen at this moment. He had given in to his wild instincts and had destroyed the whole place with his rage.
"Vandal, calm down. There will be more opportunities to catch them"
"Calm down?, we sent thousands to catch them and, they were simply outnumbered by a damn button. And then, YOU, the SO powerful people I recruited with care and planning, couldn't get the job done!"
Zazzala had not been in the fight because she had gone to mentally reprogram the important assets that The Light had. That is, presidents, governors, millionaires, and so on. But she was tipped off to everything that happened and how the Justice League made quite a show of it and in the end escaped.
"They had a plan to escape, besides, Thinker said it was all a trap and they were just stalling for time"
"So what, time or not, we should have captured them. That's what I requested you for. Now, we lost Cyborg Superman, Cheetah, Giganta, Black Manta, Orm, Circe, THEMYSCIRA, AND THE DAMN ATLANTIDA. We practically lost all the sea through which we were transporting our goods. Worst of all, I'm already getting reports of shipments not arriving. That damn Aquaman is confiscating everything. And the worst, they have an army now"
"Yes, but-"
"Go away"
"What?"
"GO AWAY. GET OUT, WOMAN, I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU HERE"
Zazzala turned red with fury. How dare he yell at her like that. At her, the BIG queen of Bialya. In the end, she simply swallowed her anger and left. When she came out, her faithful bodyguard Shiva, followed her.
Vandal poured himself some liquor in the only glass that survived from his rage and sat defeated in his chair.
'Well done, Batman. You beat me this time'
Vandal was 10 steps ahead of him, but Batman with only two moves on the board of this game had leveled the game. But it was time for Vandal to make his move.
He quickly grabbed his communicator direct to The Thinker and requested.
"Thinker, I want you to call an emergency meeting, NOW. I want everyone there. Including potential recruits for executive membership"
"Understood. Do you want me to alert 'her' as well?"
"Oh, yes, especially 'her'. Her skills and madness will come in handy for what's coming"
"Vandal, but she is not loyal to the cause. The probability of her, getting out of control is 81.64%. Pretty high if you ask me"
"I know. But that's exactly why we looked at the first asset in the first place, remember?, Besides, with a good incentive she'll do whatever we tell her. Tell her, I'll fulfill her request"
"You're talking about..."
"That's right, Tell Harley Queen that, if she works for me, I will fulfill the revenge for the death of her beloved, Joker"
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AN:
My P@treon
TioIroh99 (12 chapters ahead) I'm on chapter 59 in P@treon
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Tio_Iroh99
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