Bab 8: Paradise lost
"Are we there yet?" Sarah asked as they flew on the invisible plane to the Amazon island making Diana giggle while Sean bonked her on the head playfully making her giggle.
"You keep asking and i'll throw you off this plane into the shark infested waters." Sean said making her whistle in innocence.
"Don't worry we're nearly there." Diana said.
"Nervous?" Sean asked.
"A little. I didn't exactly leave the island with permission from my mother. I'm a little worried she's going to be disappointed in me." Diana said.
"Hey I'm sure she'll understand. After all you said it yourself you couldn't stand by and do nothing." Sean said reassuring her.
"I hope thats enough for her to see." Diana said before they neared the island however though it was in flames.
"The hell?" Sean said in shock.
"No." Diana said as they landed.
"What happened?" Dawn asked looking around.
"This was very recently judging from the fires. But where is everyone? I don't smell any indication of death here so there shouldn't be any dead bodies but something is up." Sean said as the walked around till they found one of the amazons turned to stone. "Ok that explains a lot. This is ancient magic." Sean said.
"How do you know?" Diana asked.
"When your around the Ghost Rider for years you tend to learn a few things. Thankfully I've got a solution to this." Sean said pulling out a cylinder device. "While Global Tech is mostly developing tech we also know for a fact that magic is always superior to science any day. Thankfully with a combination of both thats solves the problem." Sean said placing the device on the stone Amazon as it glowed red before she turned back to flesh and bone.
"What?" The Amazon said. The Amazon looked a lot like Diana.
"Donna." Diana said to her sister.
"Diana? When did you?" Donna tried to say before she saw Sean. "How did you get here Man?" Donna said pulling a sword out and aimed at him.
"Is that anyway you thank the guy who just un stoned you?" Sean said amused making her blink before looking back at Diana who nods.
"Sorry just a little on edge." Donna said putting her sword away.
"Sean this is my sister Donna." Diana said.
"Yeah I can see that since you two look a lot alike." Sean said. "Now what the hell happened here?" Sean asked.
"An intruder came to the island. A man who just turned us all to Stone." Donna said.
"Well if everyone here is all stone we're out of luck I don't have enough of these." Sean said since he only had one more device to reverse the problem.
"Wheres mother?" Diana asked in fear.
"Probably at the temple." Donna said as they rushed to the Temple not seeing a shadowed figure.
"No!" Diana yelled as they saw Hippolyta was also turned to stone.
"Hang on." Sean said putting the last device on her and seconds later she reverted back to normal.
"Huh?" Hippolyta said before she saw Diana and Donna. "Diana? Athena Heard my prayers." Hippolyta said.
"Who?" Sarah said to Sean getting her attention.
"One of the Greek Gods of Olympus." Sean said explaining it to her.
"Oh." Sarah said.
"Diana you brought an outsider here?" Hippolyta said in disbelief.
"This outsider just turned you back to flesh and bone thank you very much. Honestly is this how your people thank those that help your people Diana?" Sean asked.
"Mother its alright. If it wasn't for him you and Donna would still be stone." Diana said making her mother frown before seeing she was being truthful and could tell there was something special between them.
"I apologize for my words. Amazons aren't very trustworthy of outsiders." Hippolyta said.
"True I..." Sean tried to say till he saw a reflection of a man on one of the shields on the ground and used his foot to flip it up and threw it at the man knocking him out.
"The Intruder." Donna said.
"Hold him still." Sean said taking a different device and placed it on the back of his neck just as he awoke. He tried to cast a spell at him but couldn't.
"What have you done to me?" The man said in anger.
"Your body is paralyzed so only your head can move. Cant cast spells if you cant move." Sean said making him growl. "Now who the hell are... Wait A minute I know you. Felix Faust right?" Sean said making him blink.
"How do you know my name?" Felix asked.
"Your obsession with Greek legends caught my companies attention till you went MIA a couple years ago. Why are you here?" Sean asked pointing a sword that he picked up from the ground at his neck making him gulp in fear.
"I came seeking ancient knowledge thats buried here." Felix said.
"By Knowledge I assume your talking about the gate to the underworld?" Sean asked.
"How did you know that was here?" Hippolyta asked.
"I researched this island from old books thats how. If you think I'm going to let you open that door your dead wrong." Sean said.
"Kill me and you'll never free the others. AHHH!" Felix yelled as Sean stabbed his left legs harshly.
"Donna do me a favor would you? Take my sisters outside I really don't want them to see this." Sean said.
"Right." Donna said leading the twins away.
"Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either way I'm not leaving till you undo what you've done. Or I could simple get a friend of mine to come here and burn you to ash and undo the damage himself." Sean said making Faust shake in fear knowing the Rider would do that.
"Alright fine!" Faust said as he undid the spell and all the other Amazons were set free.
"Now then." Sean said pulling out a pistol.
"But you said..." Faust tried to say.
"I said we could do this the easy way or the hard way. I never said you would live through one of them." Sean said pulling the trigger killing him.
"Was that really required?" Hippolyta asked.
"Trust me its for the best. I'd rather not have him showing up in the world again causing trouble." Sean said putting his gun away.
Later
"Normally I would have had no choice but to uphold the laws of the island and banish my daughter but seeing as to how you've managed to save everyone on the island I'm willing to let it slid just once." Hippolyta said to Sean as they were in the palace.
"You know you don't always have to obey the laws of your people since they kinda hold you back from doing whats necessary like she did." Sean said.
"Meaning?" Hippolyta asked in interest.
"Well you told her to stay out of the outside worlds affairs and yet she took it upon herself to help the world instead of doing as you told her and she saves countless lives because of that. Are you saying she made the wrong choice?" Sean asked.
"Oh course not. The problem is that our people have lived by this code for a long time and change is unneeded." Hippolyta said.
"Well then perhaps you should reconsider that since in my view those who do not adapt to new times are left in the dust meant to be forgotten. I'm not saying you should forget all of your laws just that ones that hold your people back from being more then they possible could be now." Sean said.
"You seem to have given our laws some thought on certain flaws." Hippolyta said.
"Its just what I do. By the way I've got a question for you." Sean said with a grin.
"Oh and whats that?" Hippolyta asked.
"You got an embarrassing stories on Diana?" Sean asked making her let out one of her mischievous grins come on her face.
"Maybe." Hippolyta said.
Meanwhile
"Wow cool." The twins said looking around the island.
"They seem to be enjoying themselves." Donna said with a grin.
"Well their curious." Diana said to her sister.
"Why exactly did you bring a man here anyway?" Donna asked since it was unlike Diana to break the code of their people.
"I wanted to show mother why I was gone for so long and to her approval of him since the two of us have been dating for a few months now." Diana said with a smile.
"Is he really that important to you?" Donna asked in curiosity.
"When I first met him I came to ask about a man known as the Ghost Rider. A man who kills those who have spilled innocent blood and Sean had connections to him. I was around him and his sisters for only a day before I knew that I fell in love with him. They mean a lot to me." Diana said making Donna smile seeing her sister was truly in love with this man.
"There you are." Sean said walking up to Diana and her sister along with their mother.
"So how was your talk?" Diana asked.
"Oh it went well...Miss who had to run through the island butt naked after losing a bet with one of her fellow amazons." Sean said whispering the last part in her ear making her face become so red you'd think she would explode.
"Mother!" Diana yelled in embarrassment while Hippolyta just giggled.
"Sorry I couldn't help it." Hippolyta said remembering how embarrassed Diana was after that that she wouldn't leave her room for a week before Donna dragged her out.
"I so wish I had a picture of that. It must have been hot when that happened." Sean said still laughing.
"Ugh! I'm starting to wish she was still turned to stone." Diana said rubbing her temples in embarrassment.
"Oh calm down if anything in my view that just made you even more attractive if you managed to have the guts to do that in broad daylight." Sean said kissing her cheek making her blush more before smiling at him.
"Would you care for a repeat of that day?" Donna asked still giggling before Diana smacked her upside the head.
"Shut it." Diana said annoyed.
Later
"I still cant believe you asked for embarrassing stories of me like that." Diana said pouting.
"Sorry I couldn't resist. Like I said though that story of you just made you even more attractive since not many people have the guts to do that in broad daylight." Sean said making her smile at him.
"Fair enough." Diana said before she saw him looking on his computer. "What are you looking at?" Diana asked.
"One of my scientists had a breakthrough in something. Called it a dimensional portal. He believes he's found a way to travel to other dimensions basically different versions of Earth but things play out differently then they do here." Sean said.(I'm sure you know exactly where this is going)
"Really how long till he completes this?" Diana asked in curiosity.
"This is going to take months maybe even a year before its finished and another extra few months before its ready for testing." Sean said.
Later
There were some things Sean could tolerate. Idiotic critics who thought his company was all in it for the money. He could take competitive companies trying to threaten him which resulted in their deaths when they actually tried to kill him by the hands of the ghost Rider but this on the other hand.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me?" Sean said to Talbot who told him that a few of the more corrupt senators in the United nations planed to make him look like an amateur with a new fuel source created by Luthor to outshine him.
"I wish I was but if they pull this off odds are stock piles here will drop." Talbot said.
"Then I guess its time we reveal our ace in the hole. Everything that Luthor makes always has a flaw or more. Ours on the other hand though doesn't." Sean said referring to the Energon since they still haven't revealed the new clean and long lasting fuel source to the world.
"The meeting occurs in over an hour." Talbot said.
Later
"Now then Ive been told both of you have created a new clean fuel source but only one of you will get the contract to sell it to the United nations." Said the secretary of Defense who while Luthor tried to bribe but didn't accept was planing on making this fair.
"I assure you will like ours the most." Luthor said as a few of his scientist came in and showed them a blue liquid in a glass container. "This new fuel source is the most clean and efficient fuel source to ever be created and we've already used it on a few airlines and have shown great results." Luthor said as live feed appeared of one of the public airlines showing how efficient it was.
"Very impressive." The Secretary said before the live feed showed that they seem to be having problem before the plane dropped down and nearly hit the city had Wonder Woman Lantern and Martian Manhunter not arrived to stop it.
"Fully effective my ass." Sean whispered to Talbot who smirked. "My turn. Sally get in here." Sean said as one of his lovers came in with a small container of Liquid energon with her.
"What is this now?" The Secretary asked.
"We call it Energon. A natural fuel source found in the Earth. And unlike his fuel source we've tested it in more controlled environments away from the public. Energon while is extremely clean and leaves no pollution behind also has another bonus. Energon lasts for a much longer period of time in either liquid form of natural form which is rock. Energon the size of a football can power Metropolis for over a few decades." Sean said shocking the audience.
"How much of it does your company have right now?" One of the viewers asked.
"Right now about half the size of the pentagon. We've been digging in sights around the US and in Atlantis with Aquaman's permission to dig for it." Talbot said seeing the others were approving the results this new fuel source has while Luthor frowned.
"I believe we've all come to a decision. Global tech will be given full support to mine for more energon in all regions across the globe." The Secretary of defense said getting applause from the crowd.
Lex was not happy in the least as he left with a frown on his face.
Later
"Well that was impressive." Bruce Wayne said to Sean as he sat in his office.
"If Lex thinks he can outshine me like that he's dead wrong. Besides the only reason this happened is because a few high ranking members of the UN wanted me to look bad in front of the world but instead they look bad while our companies do even better then before." Sean said.
"How did you discover this stuff anyway?" Bruce asked in interest.
"I didn't. Sally was the one who discovered this stuff by chance when she was looking into an old abandoned mine after finding a unique energy signature. Got to say this stuff is going to change the world for a long time. And its not just here on Earth." Sean said.
"Meaning?" Bruce asked.
"We've detected Energon signatures on the Moon and on Mars. Now Martians have their own unique power source so they are giving us full permission to take it all off world." Sean said.
"I wonder where the source of this stuff is?" Bruce said since stuff like this clearly had a source.
"I wonder that myself but it will be found at a later date." Sean said.
Later
Clark Kent sighed in depression as he sat in his home. Not being able to help people in Metropolis was taken a heavy toll on his mind. While Global Tech the League and The rider were doing good around the world he still felt as though he should help. If he could take back his actions against Sean and the Rider he would in a heartbeat if he could be a hero again.
"Missing your old days Superman?" Sean asked as he dropped down making him widen his eyes as he sat up.
"How did you?" Clark tried to say.
"Hey I figured out who your cousin was you really think I didn't figure out who you were when you weren't in blue?" Sean asked.
"What do you want?" Superman asked.
"Seeing as to how miserable you've been for the past few months not being Superman anymore I've come to make an offer." Sean said.
"What kind of offer?" Clark asked.
"I convince the Rider to give your powers back to you and you help go back to being a superhero. Truth of the matter is your current situation was never going to be permanent. I just needed you out of the way for a while till The Defenders were finished setting up and my company had enough influence in the league." Sean said.
"To control them?" Clark said with a frown making Sean shake his head no.
"To protect them." Sean said confusing him. "The League while is a symbol of hope to many is also a threat to many high ranking members in the governments of the World Thats something The Rider and I discussed since it was formed. You've done a lot of good over the past few years. Your only flaw is your inability to kill like him. Answer me this? How many people would still be alive if those like Luthor Parasite and Metallo had been taken down for good?" Sean asked making him narrow his eyes before sighing.
"Probably more then I can count. The Reason I don't kill is because I fear if I do it even once I'll continue to do it till I feel like all those who commit crime no matter how small or for what reasons deserve to die. Thats why I don't kill. Ive been tempted to a lot but I always don't out of that fear." Clark said making Sean's eyes soften.
"Well I cant blame you for that. The Difference between you and the Rider though is that he cant kill innocent people by accident. The thing is that All the Riders are from a Spirit of Vengeance and the one who took your powers away is the leader. This isn't the first time they've popped up in the world." Sean said.
"What do you mean?" Clark asked.
"When the world is engulfed in to much evil they appear to eradicate that evil till it's completely gone then after that generation is done its job they remain to keep a close eye on the world till they pass away." Sean said.
"So they're not killing because they want to they kill because they have to?" Clark asked.
"Thats how it works. Theres more evil in this time then in the past due to the fact that technology and politics and greed have spread throughout the world faster then before. So heres the deal you stay out of their affairs of what they do and you get your powers back." Sean said.
"And what about the league?" Clark asked.
"You can rejoin provided you can follow the Riders Orders." Sean said making him sigh.
"It's going to be difficult for a while but I can live with it." Clark said.
"Good come to Global Tech Tomorrow early in the morning and we can get this started." Sean said.
Tomorrow in Metropolis
A construction crew was working on one of the new buildings till one of the machines started to go haywire.
"Hey what the!" One of the workers said before the machine started to fall.
The people down bellow saw this and started scream and closed their eyes expecting it to crush them but nothing happened when they opened their eyes they all gasped when they saw someone had stopped the machine from falling on them was none other then Superman.(I almost was going to do that its a bird its a plane BS but then I decided not to even if it would have been funny)
At Global tech in Metropolis Sean was looking at the scene from his office with a grin.
"I still say we should have left Fly boy in the dust." Talbot said taking a drink from his flask.
"Maybe but the world does need its source of inspiration to know right from wrong. Superman is that inspiration. He's already agreed to the terms I gave him so he wont be a problem for us and if somehow he is the Defenders will handle him." Sean said since the group was finally assembled consisting of the Leading Ghost Rider Frank Castle Dare Devil Luke Cage Jessica Jones Iron Fist and Elektra.
"And Batman?" Talbot asked.
"Forget about him he's been in Gotham since his little stunt a month ago." Sean said.
"Fair enough. Before I forget one of my sources told me Luthor is up to something again. Said he found some new energy source of some kind." Talbot said.
"Did he say what is was?" Sean asked.
"No he doesn't know much but it sounds almost similar to that Hammer that the Thor guy from New Mexico used 4 months ago." Talbot said.
"Asgardian? I don't think its that since we would have noticed it on our radar. Whatever it is though must be powerful. NevertheLess we'll remain on alert." Sean said.
Meanwhile
"So tell me where did you find it?" Lex asked one of his scientists as he looked at a blue glowing cube known as the cosmic cube.
"In an old village and like you said we eradicated the place to make sure there were no witnesses." The scientist said.
"Good. Mr. Ashburn might have outdone me this time with his new fuel source but this is something even he cant beat me with." Lex said.
Unknown to him though a purple skinned giant in deep space knew where the cube was and was making plans to retrieve it.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone