Interlude 3.3

(Harly Quinzel)

March 3rd, 2010AustraliaSydneyFreya’s homeNight

Harly was worried, Komand’r has been gone for a long time now. She fanned herself with a cardboard calendar, she still wasn’t used to the heat in this new country. Despite being in a white sleeveless blouse and blue jeans short; she still felt like she was in a sauna. If she was still insane, she wouldn’t worry she’s sure and go look for her new partner in crime after a week. She was compulsively eating the snack reserve in the house in worry, and was going to need to exercise outside at some point; but this was dangerous, Australia was hell on Earth.

She saw countless dangerous critters outside the property; she was lucky that there was some kind of field that was keeping them out of the house. Harly didn’t like the place, but the house was cozy, and she feared that she was turning into a social hermit. She didn’t try to socialize with the neighbors down the road or even try to go online to look at social media, that creepo Cyborg must be looking for her digital footprints.

While sitting on the sofa and watching an Australian soap opera, Harly asked herself how did she get attached so fast to another person? Maybe because Komand’r was as broken as she was? The alien girl showed clear signs of abuse and abandonment issues; Komand’r overcompensated at all times, her confidence wasn’t faked but there was a vulnerable core hidden under all that mental strength she was showing.

Some signs that she attempted suicide were there but it was still pure speculation at this point from Harly. At first, she started psychoanalyzing her roomy for fun; but she discovered that Komand’r was damaged as well; Harly took it upon herself to help her new friend, but it was hard, she was so… alien sometimes. Tamaranean people were really physical and emotional people; Harly had thought that Komand’r was coming onto her when she became overly affectionate, but she understood that it was a way to reassure her in some way. To show that she was under Komand’r protection and started to think of her as a friend.

When Harly switched her perspective of thinking of Komand’r from a human to a big cat, she understood what was going on here. Harly seriously was thinking about getting into Xenopsychology; the study of the psychologies of alien beings but it was a theoretical field of study here on Earth.

The noise of the door opening and closing notified Harly that someone was inside the house. She jumped out of the blue colored sofa, turned around the low table and ran to the foyer, only to see an exhausted looking Komand’r in her magical glamour. She was still in her Green Lantern uniform, it disappeared and she was back in that sexy bodysuit that put on display her tight and beautiful body.

Komand’r turned to Harly and put on a big smile when she saw her. Harly lunged at her and wrapped herself around the alien princess in an emotionally effusive way. “Kom, you’re back!”

“Hey, yes I am… How long was I gone?” The disguised Tamaranean floated in the air, still holding Harly who acted like a baby Koala.

Komand’r put her cheek against Harly’s and purred, eliciting a little laugh from the ex-psychiatrist. Though she stopped and looked at her with widened eyes when she heard Harly say, “One and a half days.”

The alien princess moved them from the foyer to her bedroom; it was minimally decorated, it was part brickwork and white plaster. The furniture was all in lacquered mahogany wood. The lighting system in the room was tasteful as well as gorgeous. Too bad Komand’r almost didn’t need sleep, the master bedroom was only used to watch TV and store clothes and shoes.

Komand’r put Harly on her bed while letting her bodysuit disappear. Komand’r stood naked and looked for human garb in her closet. Harly didn’t stop looking at the alien princess’ ass, she licked her lips; painfully aware of the attractive alien woman before her.

And here she thought that she was only Pam-sexual. *I want that booty.*

Komand’r stiffened, turned to the ex-psychiatrist with a surprised expression on her face as she looked at her. Then a smile blossomed on her face, Harly didn’t know why. Komand’r went back to choose something simple to wear, knickers, tight purple top with no bra and black skorts.

“My business in space took me longer than anticipated.” Komand’r said as she put on her clothes, not minding at all that she gave a reverse strip tease to the other woman.

Harly rolled her eyes. “You don’t say…”

Komand’r avoided looking at Harly at that point, she must have thought that all this wouldn’t take too long; this proved to Harly that the alien princess could get in over her head sometime. Life was full of unexpected situations… she crossed her leg and acted as if she found some lint on top of the bed while saying, “So, Kom… did you take care of the yellow wankers after your new bling?”

“They won’t be a problem anymore.”

This was delivered so matter of factly that it made Harly look back at Komand’r. There was no trace of guilt, no emotion when she declared that she killed the people after her. Harly nodded, “As expected.”

The ex-psychiatrist wasn’t a stranger to death, but she sensed that Komand’r seemed to not be bothered at all by what she did. *How much blood and death did she have to see to be this numb to it?*

Komand’r must have taken Harly’s silence as disapproval, because she asked, “Doesn’t it bother you that I killed them?”

There was a note of vulnerability there that startled Harly. “What?”

Komand’r moved toward her, feet not even touching the ground; then she sat at Harly’s side and said, “I heard that humans from this universe are big on the ‘not killing’ thing.”

She was afraid of rejection; Harly needed to be careful with her words and her actions here. Harly put an arm around Komand’r’s shoulder and looked into her eyes. “Honey, that’s Batman’s shtick; I wouldn’t try to emulate that guy, he’s kinda crazy. You won’t find any reprimand from me, you killed two monsters here.”

Komand’r kissed Harly’s cheek. “I’m glad, I didn’t pick up one of those sanctimonious white knights; you’re fun to be around, Harly.”

The ex-psychiatrist smirked at that, she liked being appreciated. A real change from other people needing something from her or treating her like dirt. Komand’r is quickly going to find herself on a short list of people she trusts, like Pamela. Speaking of Pam… Harly widened her eyes, how could she have forgotten her waifu?!

How could she breach the subject of getting her Pammy in the team with Komand’r? Why not try to be as direct as she could? It seemed to work with the alien gal.

“There’s something… I want to ask you.” She said after tightening her hold on the princess’ shoulder with her arm around them.

Komand’r cocked her head. “I’m all ears, like you humans say.” She rearranged part of her hair to uncover her right ear.

How can such a dangerous woman be so naively cute?! With a sigh, Harly thought that it was hard to speak her mind now, for the last ten years she was beaten up by her last beau for thinking or taking initiative. “I got an idea, I mean…”

Putting a hand on the arm holding her, Komand’r smiled and said, “Harly, tell me what you need of me, you’re part of the team. Your opinion matter to me.”

This couldn’t be a coincidence, Harly has been suspecting Komand’r to possess some kind of telepathic or empathic skill since they met. Did it change anything? No, instead it made things better! Komand’r understood how she felt, maybe almost all the time; this made opening up to her quiet simpler. “Sorry, sometimes it was hard for my opinion to be heard…”

The alien princess caressed her cheek. “I’m not the Joker, I will listen if your idea has merit. I am a stranger to this Earth, why wouldn’t I listen to you?”

Harly laughed, touched by Komand’r’s words. “Okay then, I want to make the team bigger.”

“Oh?”

Taking back her arm, Harly stood up from the bed and placed herself before the princess. She pointed at herself, then at Komand’r. “I want you to recruit more people for our group, it can’t be just us three.”

Aww, mom, she’s adorable. She thinks of me as people, like she should. The holographic avatar of MACHINA manifested, sitting right next to Komand’r.

Harly had discovered that the AI existed only recently. MACHINA was playful and a bit of an Imp. She may have the body of a woman but she sounded so childish, more like a pre-teen. She could also see how the synthetic intelligence could be somewhat manipulative, but in a harmless way.

MACHINA was good people, which is why Harly replied to the AI with, “I got you, Mach.”

Yeah! Machina jumped up and down on the bed with exuberance.

Something wonderful happened, Komand’r groaned in frustration. “Not now MACHINA.”

Komand’r glared at the AI who stopped moving and made her avatar sit on the bed; the huge smile on her face showed that she wasn’t repentant at all. Harly thought, *She has her hands full with this one…*

Floating up, Komand’r put her hands on Harly’s shoulder and sent a smoldering gaze at her, well it seemed to be serious. *Is it me or is it getting hot in here?*

Komand’r began to try to convince Harly with her flawed plan. “Harly, do we really need more people? I intend to infiltrate the two sides of this conflict with different personas and…”

After ten years of battling superheroes, other villains or the police; Harly learned something really important, you can’t take on those assholes by yourself. There’s safety in number, and having more people with diverse skills and powers was key to not treated like shit. Having a network of well connected people could help, at least that’s how it was in Gotham.

Harly placed her dainty hands on Komand’r’s; she had a pitying expression on her face. “Kom, it’s cute that you think that you can do all this alone with just little old me. But no, we need more people or things are going to start to go wrong.”

Mom, she’s right you know. You cannot do this alone, you need more allies. Your chances of taking down big blue raise significantly higher if you do.

The alien princess’ expression changed from a serious one to a pout; her feet landed on the carpet and she crossed her arms. “I suppose… maybe I need to review some of my plans…”

“I know just who to bring in first...” Harly smiled brightly as she thought about how she will bring Pam back into her life.

~/.\~

(Pamela Isley aka Poison Ivy)

March 4th, 2010New JerseyAppalachian MountainsWoods at the foot of the mountain08:30 PM

Those evil minions of the regime were getting on Pam’s nerves. Those bastards went crazy with power and are taking advantage of the fact that Superman had given them broad orders. They were tasked mainly with dealing with any perceived threats that do not warrant Superman’s direct attention because big blue couldn’t be everywhere at once. Like the saying says, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Pamela continued to drag the dead bodies of the soldiers who had tried to attack her and imprison her in their new fangled super secret prison.

She was going to use the black armored soldiers as fertilizer, they decided to fuck around, now they find out what was awaiting them. The long and sturdy Ivy vines under her control kept pulling the dead body behind her until she stopped before a field of wildflowers that she had genetically engineered to resist the cold. She was in her most warm winter wear and now she hated the cold; Pamela should be hibernating right now, but she couldn’t afford to stay asleep, she might wake up in whatever cell the League had for her if she did or worse they might kill her.

This was the second one of her hidey holes that the Regime’s soldiers discovered, despite her going dark, no internet, no TV; they kept finding her by some strange process. Plain investigation shouldn’t have caught her, unless they were using some kind of magic or alien tech to search for her. Pamela arrived at the cabin where she lived, the field of flowers was her early warning system, she crouched to touch a cluster of Crocus flowers. They are low growing plants, whose flower stems remain underground, that bear relatively large white, yellow, orange or purple flowers and then become dormant after flowering. Many are cultivated for their flowers, appearing in autumn, winter, or spring. The flowers close at night and in overcast weather conditions.

Pamela connected to the green, the flower blossomed, its purple petals spreading open slowly under her touch. “Hello my pretties-”

There’s an intruder, an intruder, catch them!

Familiar scent, familiar gait!

Pamela’s face darkened and she stood back up. “Damn it, another one?!”

The soldiers kept coming and that meant that she had to leave one of her places yet again. But she needed to take care of the intruder first, so she ordered the vines in the cabin to restrain the person inside. As she walked to the log cabin, she heard sounds of struggle, there was a feminine cry, then a familiar giggle. Pamela ran inside, the single room was full of plant-like furniture, a bed, a desk, even some genetically modified plant that gave the woman some modern comfort such as electricity and water in a sink and shower.

She looked in the middle of the room and found a familiar blonde woman being held upside down with Ivy vines holding onto each of her limbs. Harley began laughing as the plants tried to squeeze on her legs and tried to wrap her with more vines all over her body. Pamela ordered the Ivy plants to stop moving. The blonde looked at the cabin’s entrance as the bioluminescent plant came alive and her eyes sparkled with recognition.

“Hey, hey Pammy! You’re up for some tentacle play?!” Harley was wearing a black jacket with a purple lion roaring logo, under it she wore a red sports bra and really clingy pants. Pamela frowned when she also noticed the white bracelet with a glowing blue line on her forearm.

Pamela hoped that her on and off girlfriend didn’t get snapped up by Amanda Waller for her little Suicide Squad experiment. “Harley? Where have you been?! You just left without saying anything…”

Slowly and delicately, she ordered the plants to let go of Harley, who put her winter boots on the wood paneling. With a grin and a little jump, the blonde declared, “Came to bring you into the team, Pammy!”

Crossing her arms and showing a hostile stance, Pamela immediately answered, “Tell Waller to fuck off and that I won’t play disposable soldier for her.”

Harley froze at Pamela’s tone, sighed and said, “Um, I’m not working with that fat bitch. I must remember to go cap that whale in the head later. Anyway, my current boss is kinda…”

Pamela was about to have her Ivy vines take Harley outside the cabin and escape in the tunnel she’d dug after taking her go-bag. She wanted to bring Harley with her, but the bracelet at her girl’s arm made it look like the woman was chipped and whoever she worked for would know their location. That was how this game was played after all, you needed common sense in that villain gig.

VORP! Blue light wrapped around Pamela, she felt herself pulled up and her connection to the green momentarily cut, but it was still there in the background but the link was more quiescent and tenuous.

Harley raised her arm under her face and pushed a button on the white bracelet on her wrist. “Damn it, Kom! I told you I had it in the bag!”

Pamela understood that part of this white bracelet was a communicator, she glared at it as an amused and sultry voice replied aloud from the device, “I doubt that, Harly. Miss Isley was ready to throw you out of her home and run away. I took steps to not let it happen.”

The villainess looked around her, they were in a room with a smooth looking platform with some kind of emitter array on the ceiling and at her feet. Her eyes found the two consoles on either side of the platform. She took stock of what was behind her, even more glowing doodads that looked sciencey and important. This was clearly a transporter room, looking rather more advanced than what she saw when she was captive on the Watchtower.

Pamela understood that she wasn’t in New Jersey anymore; she turned to the attractive blonde at her side who was bickering with someone. “But you told me that you believe in me, Kom. This hurt a bit you know, I thought we understood each other!”

“Your friend wasn’t going to listen, she’s tired and was spooked by Regime Soldiers finding her safehouse. Her mood is scaring me a bit at the moment…” The voice was somehow making sense and it alarmed Pamela that the female alien -at least she thinks it's an alien- spoke as if she could feel her emotions or was spying on them when she met Harley in the cabin.

“Harley?” Pamela called out her friend with a sweet voice, interrupting the bickering between the blonde and that Kom person.

“Yes, hun?” Harley lifted her head and looked at Pamela with big blue eyes.

The vines around her arms wriggled menacingly like tentacles. With a dangerous tone, Pamela asked, “Did you just get me abducted by aliens?”

“Uh-oh.” Harley stepped back, mildly frightened. She knew Pamela wouldn’t be too rough on her and that she was just venting. “Don’t worry Pammy, I’m best buds with Kom, she won’t probe you! Unless you ask, she has a thing for redheads…”

Pamela groaned and was about to say something when she heard a ‘swish’ that attracted her attention. An orange skinned female with purple hair and green eyes with a bodacious body came floating. She wore a purple and black bodysuit; there was a golden sword at her hip. The alien woman stopped at the steps leading to the transporter platform and said, “Welcome to the Tempest, Pamela Isley.”

With a glare, Pamela was about to say something when she recognized the species the woman that was before her was from. The Titan had one member just like this, with orange skin, super strength and shooting green lasers from her hands. “I know you…”

*Ah shit, she’s one of those superpowered aliens.* Pamela realized as she remembered that incident with the Titans, wasn’t this person the sister of that Starfire girl? That didn’t bode well for her; Pamela was cut off from the green, she only had seed pods on the vines part of her costume under her winter gear. Pamela wasn’t sure that her pheromones or poison would work on the alien woman.

While she did an inventory of what she could do to take down Komand’r, the alien introduced herself. “Yes, you must be aware of my dimensional counterpart, I’m Komand’r, First Princess of Tamaran.”

She remembered that name, yes, this was the name of the woman who had tried to get Starfire back home not too long ago. Was it one year or two? But a dimensional counterpart? Pamela looked between Harley and Komand’r. “Not the Queen?”

She saw the Tamaranean lose her smile and put a hand on her sword’s grip. “I would never take the job, unless forced to. But I guess my counterpart got it.”

Pamela felt lost and decided to not feel like this by questioning the person who was the root cause of all of this. “What the hell is happening here? Harley, explanation?”

The blonde scratched behind her head, laughed a bit, then she said, “This is a really short story…”

~/.\~

Tempest scout shipGalley30 minutes later

Pamela looked into her mug of coffee, it was her own special blend; the beans have been cooked at 80°C, stirred counterclockwise for five minutes then some cream made with sugar, water, and oil all without additive and dairy-free. Just like she liked it.

It was even more delicious than any product on Earth as she didn’t taste any impurities. She blew on the hot coffee, then looked up from her mug and said after listening to Harley and Komand’r, “So, you’re from another universe completely?”

The Princess bit into a strangely shaped kebab-like bread with some weird smelling jam inside. When she was done eating, Komand’r nodded, “Yes, I am.”

“Did you have the same issues on your Earth as we do?”

This was important to know, Pamela wanted to see if another offshoot of humanity was better than hers. Komand’r didn't disappoint her and answered, “We don’t have the same tyrant problem as you here, Kryptonians are extinct in my universe, there's no survivors. And politically, I took steps to stop any kind of shenanigans occurring by entering into dialogue with Earth and showing them the reality of the dangers from space. The Earth in my universe is trying to unite currently, just not through force and oppression like Superman did.”

Harley looked between the two women, slurping on the milkshake that she replicated with the food replicator. Pamela drank a bit of her coffee. Then after a moment of taking in the statement of the Alien Princess, she went on a subject that mattered more to her, “What about the environmental issues?”

Pamela didn't see when the Princess had even moved, she had moved to the kitchen counter and fixed herself something with the replicator. While she typed what she wanted to eat on the holographic keyboard, she spoke aloud. “The last time I was there, I told them that they only had one planet and that humanity had only one hundred and fifty years to reverse the damage they’ve done. I made a deal with the powers that be and exchanged technology and knowledge and I put one of my personal friends in charge of the entire thing.”

In the microwaves-like device, there was a flash of white light. Komand’r opened the device and out of it, she took the biggest ice cream sundae Pamela had ever seen. She brought the huge sundae over with telekinesis and made it land on the triangular shaped table; the alien took three spoons from one of the drawers from the kitchen counter. Harley perked up, her eyes shining as she saw the huge hot fudge chocolate sundae with nuts sprinkled over it.

Pamela accepted the spoon Komand’r handed to her while asking, “Do you think the humans from your reality will listen?”

After taking a spoonful of the ice cream, Komand’r shrugged. “They better, I might have to scheme something if they don’t. A global  disaster or two might change their way.”

With a smile, Pamela dug in with her spoon into the huge cup sundae and tasted bliss; even more so when she seemed to have found someone who seemed of likemind with her way of speaking. "Hmm, I approve."

Harley looked between the two of them, a worried expression on her face. “You two, you’re scaring me…”

“Oh dear…” Pamela rolled her eyes, but she found it weird that Harley wasn’t telling her off right now. In previous instances she would tell the Champion of the Green to think about the puppies or baby animals that she might hurt if she did something too drastic.

But right now, Harley acted unlike herself. Komand’r put a hand on Harley’s arms and said warmly, “Don’t worry Harley, I won’t do anything too extreme. They are already killing themselves with China polluting everything and letting them do it.”

*Did Harley exchange the Joker for a more subtle villainess who likes scheming?* The redhead asked herself.

Then she replayed Komand’r’s sentence in her mind and asked, “Harly? Why do you call her that?”

Komand’r took another bite from the sundae. “That’s how she wants me to address her.”

Pamela’s eyes focused on Harley who kept eating, usually she would be making faces or playing with her food. “There’s something different about Harley, she’s… calmer?”

Harley, ever the helpful trickster gremlin, resumed her situation for Pamela in one sentence. “Kom zapped me with her sanity magic laser and now I’m almost back to how I was before the crazy fucker I used to crush on dumped me into a vat of chemicals.”

Pamela slammed the spoon in her hand on the table and stood up. “Mind manipulation? Did you put my girl under your thrall?!”

Harley stood up as well and shouted hurriedly, “No Pammy, she didn’t!”

Putting her spoon delicately on the table over a tissue; Komand’r looked at Pamela’s own green eyes and leaned her back in her seat. Komand’r didn’t look happy at the insinuation, her eyes blazed with purple glow. “I’m insulted that you think that I would resort to brainwashing. I am not that kind of sorceress.”

The vines on Pamela’s arms started wriggling, a sure sign that she was readying for combat. Komand’r’s hands started glowing with pink light. However, Harley placed herself between by jumping on the table and shouting, “Please don’t fight!”

Harley looked down at Pamela and crouched on the table, then put her hands on Pamela’s shoulders. “Pammy, she really didn’t do anything bad to me, I swear. I feel better than I ever had in ten years, my mind is clear and that pink haze over my vision has finally disappeared, I can focus on stuff. I no longer hear voices telling me to kill people or be loyal to Jack.”

The redhead lifted an eyebrow at the compelling plea of her girlfriend. Who the hell was Jack?“Who?”

“The Joker’s real name: Jack Napier.” Harley said in a conspiratorial tone to Pamela.

Pamela’s eyes widened, then she started to laugh. “No wonder he never used it, it sounds like the name of a mild mannered schmuck. No one would have taken him seriously if they knew his name. This may also explain his tastes in clothing…”

Harley giggled in turn. “I know right?”

Pamela sat down, her eyes looking down at her hands. “I apologize for having jumped to conclusions…”

“I acknowledge your apologies, Miss Isley.” Komand’r’s hands went back to their non-glowing state and her eyes returned to their glowing green.

Harley came down from the table and sat next to Pamela; she was really close, holding the redhead's arm between her breasts.

After this little excitement, they finished eating the entire sundae by themselves, though Harley showed signs that she wasn’t full at all. It had surprised Pamela when Komand’r went to make another Sundae and this time she ate it alone at super speed; even more so when she said that it was a good snack. When she finished, Komand’r came back to the table and primly sat down at the table as if she hadn't devoured the equivalent of 2L of ice cream.

Komand'r placed her hand on the table and said, "Let’s speak candidly, Miss… no, Doctor Isley."

Pamela's back straightened, she liked that her title was acknowledged. The Princess said with a sultry tone and a smoldering gaze, "I want you."

Pamela crossed her arms defensively under her ample bust. "Excuse me?"

"That was pretty ambiguous here, Kom." Harley chuckled at her boss.

The alien princess realized what she said, looked mildly embarrassed and said, "Sorry."

Harley giggled at the situation, while Komand’r coughed and fought through her embarrassment. "Anyway, I wish that you would join my team."

Linking her hands with her digits, Komand’r continued to speak. “I’m aware that you’ve been burned for trusting the wrong sort before, Doctor Isley. But I want to enter into a partnership with you.”

Just like she said, Pamela had been burned many times, by Doctor Jason Woodrue, by the military, the only person she could believe in was Harley. Komand’r was offering Pamela a seat at the table of decision, not just as an employee. This was new to her.

She was intrigued. “What would this partnership entail?”

Komand'r smiled, happy that her baiting worked. “First I'd like to tell you that you’ll be an equal partner in this endeavor, you won’t work under me but with me. I very much value what you’re bringing to the table, your abilities, and knowledge.”

Pamela nodded and she heard Harley whisper to her ear, "She's not gonna betray us."

“That’s a good start…” Pamela liked what she heard there; usually she is always treated as a minion by the villains she teams up with. This happened a lot, those villains or entrepreneurs -Looking at you Luthor- would make promises, promises that they broke after they got what they wanted.

Komand'r unlinked her hands and waved her right in the air, making an holographic screen appear. It showed the picture of a spacious lab filled with equipment. "You'll have access to the technology we have acquired recently. Kryptonian technology to be exact."

Pamela gawped at Komand’r; surprised that the alien had something like this. "Where did you…"

A little smug smile drew on Komand’r’s face. "I prefer to not reveal how I obtained this race's full technological and cultural archive, you haven't signed up yet."

The princess was a good negotiator it seemed, way better than Pamela was. “Next, I’m offering to fix any health issues you may have. I’m aware of many of your problems and the technology I possess can easily-”

“Wait, slow down.” The redheaded botanist raised a hand, as she stared in disbelief at the princess because of her statement.

The alien stopped speaking, staring neutrally at Pamela. The redhead asked with a bit of hostility in her tone, “You know about me?”

Komand’r nodded. “I’m aware of a lot about this universe, secrets that could destroy your homeworld. And obviously about prominent people like yourself or Harley.”

*How much does she know? Everything? I don’t like that.* This was akin to a violation to Pamela; just like when that fat whale Waller tried to force her into government enforced servitude. Pamela spit on the ‘land of the free’ name America was given.

“I see.” Pamela said woodenly.

Harley though was blunt when she said to Komand’r, “That’s a bit creepy, Kom.”

With a depreciating laugh, Komand’r shrugged. “I know, but it needed to be said. I don’t want Miss Isley nor you to be blindsided by my knowledge and getting trust issues while we’re fighting for our lives here.”

This was actually a good point to make. Komand’r put the annoying problem out of the way first, and she had spoken about her own background first forty minutes earlier. This wasn’t exactly an unfair exchange. Then Pamela asked herself why Komand’r wanted her? Pamela’s eyes fell on Harley, next to Komand’r and she finally realized! “You want to fight against the Regime.”

Komand’r didn’t blink and smoothly said, “I like smart people. Yes, if you don’t fight it right now. Superman’s tyranny will spread to the stars.”

The princess’ tone was filled with conviction, as if she was sure about what she was saying. “How do you know, Princess?”

She gazed into Pamela and Harley’s eyes and dropped a bomb on them. “That’s because I’ve seen it, I’ve seen multiple timelines where Superman wins or loses. And believe me, a lot of people died in either cases.”

Harley was the first to speak, Pamela was too shocked by the Dimensional traveling Princess’ revelation. “In which timeline are we then?”

Komand’r winced when Harley asked her question, her face was showing a sad countenance. “Harley, you caught that…”

The blonde grinned, letting go of Pamela’s arm and pointing her two indexes at her face. “Hey, before the idiot clown cooked my brain I was previously a valedictorian at Gotham U.”

Pamela wasn’t an idiot as well; she understood the implications of Komand’r not liking that question. “Obviously, we are in the losing timeline.”

The redhead sighed, so everyone was going to die to fuel the rise to a monster of the Joker’s creation. If she could, she would bring that asshole back and kill him again.

The Princess' answer was full of confidence despite how pessimistic the atmosphere has become. “Yes we are, my mission is to either talk down Superman from his current path or kill him. I would prefer the second option, MACHINA keeps reporting to me the atrocities he and his people are committing.”

Pamela began to think. Superman’s soldiers were after her and she has confirmation from an out of context stranger that he will eventually take over the world fully. People like her who committed crimes were going to be hunted down like dogs and she killed a lot of people in her career… she was surely going to get sent to wherever Superman had stashed the Arkham’s inmate or killed…

The redhead looked into Komand’r’s eyes. “In retrospect, I… I don’t have a choice but to join you.”

Komand’r seemed to have wanted to give her the illusion of choice, it was kind of her. “Are you going to?”

Pamela slapped her hand on the table and decided to bind her fate to those two. “Fine. I will join, now tell me about that technology that you have that can fix stuff.”

The princess nodded, and raised a finger.  “Yes but before that… MACHINA we’re going to Odyssey. Prep the ship for travel.”

Aye, aye Captain! The voice made Pamela jump as she heard it coming from everywhere.

There was someone else here and Pamela needed to meet them; the voice sounded quite young, was it a child? Komand’r’s attention came back on the redhead as she smiled at her. “So like I was saying, Doctor…

~/.\~

March 6th, 2010Mars’s OrbitL2Space station OdysseyR&D Lab

Pamela closed the regeneration tank, Harley was inside and she was quickly going under. After Komand’r had used her Mental healing spell on her, everything became clear to Pamela. All her previous decisions and actions made her cringe in revulsion…

How could she have become so enamored with nature at the detriment of others. Humanity is part of nature as well, Pamela realized that she projected her feelings of betrayal on everyone, men in particular. She had severe misandry because of what Jason Woodrue did to her, no wonder she fell for Harley, she was turned off of men because of the experimentation done on her.

Pamela walked toward the medical chair where she had scanned Harley previously and looked at the data on the blonde's body before she entered the regen-tank. On her new wrist computer that was part of her new soft-suit, she started to consult Harley’s medical data and discovered enough to be concerned… The Medical AI was able to make simulations about the patient it has analyzed.

…. Multiple health risks detected.

Medical AI Solution: Regeneration Tank, Human Augmentation (cognitive and physical improvements) to prevent subject H from dying.

The redhead widened her eyes and asked herself how Harley wasn't dead yet as she saw the long list of issues the blonde had. After seeing the list, Komand’r had gone to the other side of the lab, where the synthesizer was, while Pamela put the blonde under in the regen-tank. The Tamaranean had something planned for Harley, before the alien could do anything to her little blonde imp, Pamela expected to be consulted.

If this partnership was to work, she expected to be consulted before anything else. Pamela looked around her, some of the instruments she didn't know before were now familiar to her thanks to the knowledge download pod aboard the Tempest. The medical and scientific experience, knowledge and understanding from an advanced species was loaded into her brain in a day; this felt like cheating, like Pamela didn’t earn it. Fortunately, Harley talked her through it; knowledge was power, and in their case having power was better than to be powerless.

Odyssey’s R&D’s lab took two whole decks from the space station. The two decks were divided into research laboratories, development laboratories, and test laboratories; included was the highly secret theoretical area. There was even a telescope there linked to the powerful astrogation sensors of the mobile space station. For now the only researcher onboard was Pamela and she focused now on biology, botany in particular. She was looking to break through on the Terraforming technology that she has access to.

Accepting the princess’ offer was the best decision she made in her life. What’s more she had an apt test subject for her research, the red planet was going to receive life, but not before having the permission of the inhabitants. At first she hadn’t understood what Komand’r had said, until she was shown that the sensors on the station detected lifesigns.

But hadn't the Martian Manhunter told the League that he was the last Martian? This was why it was difficult to trust those heroes, they could lie so easily. Anyway, Pamela was content and was going to right some mistakes and have her redemption as she felt guilty about what she did over the years.

Harley has volunteered to get in the regen-tank to prove to Pamela that this wasn’t a setup to capture her and experiment on her. The blonde knew how she ticked…

She was authorized to grow a number of plants in the park on the top deck of the Odyssey, either from Earth or another planet. Somehow, there was a database of seeds that were replicable in the lab’s computer. While she mulled over what she would be able to do, Pamela’s attention came back on the green liquid filled regen-tank. Harley was floating in it while strapped to a respiratory device and some cable connected to her body.

The redhead felt the displacement of air as Komand’r moved fastly next to her with three big transparent vials full of a glowing red liquid. “I did it! I synthesized it.”

With a frown on her face, Pamela looked from the vials to the princess’ face showing a triumphant expression. “What did you do, Princess?”

“I’m going to make Harley even stronger.” With a toothy grin, Komand’r presented the vials to Pamela. “But first, check this, this is a serum that enhances its receiver to peak human potential.”

“Truly?” Pamela received data from Komand’r’s suit and was shown numbers and a brief description of the effects on the computer at her wrist that received the data. Her eyes became sharper as she realized what she was seeing; this serum has so much more potential, sure it was less than the quick power up given by the Kryptonian super soldier pill. But what was in those vials was something that could be built upon and eventually enhance humanity, they would be smarter, faster, stronger, and resistant to disease. And all without side effects.

“Yes, where I come from, the human Doctor from the 40s who made the super soldier formula was a visionary, well ahead of his time. But he was limited by the technology of his time, so the formula had side effects. Nevertheless, my royal Healer, Talonn, modified the formula and made it safe for humans.”

Komand’r put the vial into Pamela’s hands. “If you combine it with the regeneration tank solution, it could raise someone to the level of Wonder Woman easily. Well, the non-demigoddess version at least...”

The redhead paranoia kicked in, she wouldn’t inject anything untested into her girlfriend. Pamela nodded at Komand’r and walked away from the princess to place the vial on the lab table next to the computer terminal next to Harley’s regen-tank. She turned to the princess and said, “Give me five hours to test this, to see if it’s really safe.”

Komand’r didn’t seem offended by the redhead’s caution and started to float thirty centimeters from the deck plates. “Do that, in the meanwhile, I’m going back to Earth.”

“What for?”

The princess flipped her hair and her soft-suit was replaced by a green lantern uniform and she resumed the illusion of her human form. Orange skin was replaced by pale skin tone. “For multiple setups and to further my plans.”

Pamela didn’t think she would be even more surprised by Komand’r today; so she had more power than she let on… Pamela was glad to have chosen well with whom to ally.

“Later then.” The redhead waved the princess off and straightened her white lab coat. Komand’r disappeared with a flash in a mote of green light, leaving Pamela to her work.

~/.\~

(Cyborg aka Victor Stone)

WatchtowerMarch 7th, 2010

Victor was surfing the internet in his quarter on the Watchtower and let his machine side play Big brother as it looked for any dissenting elements to Superman’s Regime. He was also searching for clues about the Resistance's whereabouts, as well as this mysterious group who raided the Great Pyramid of Giza. The situation from Egypt was still worrying, three weeks have passed and there was still no sign of those who did it.

Searching for more data points.

The cyborg didn’t like this at all, the people behind the raid on Giza didn’t want to attract the attention of the Regime and that meant that they may come against them later. Victor was sure that they were scheming something to take them down. Did they declare war on the JL or were they warning them about something else?

Victor doesn’t know, but he was on the case, more than before; roaming on the internet for any sign of strange cases. The villains and criminal organizations have gone to ground since the inception of the One Earth Regime, however, Victor was seeing signs that those people were slowly adapting to the laws and restrictions put on earth’s population. There were multiple monitors before Victor, with many windows open and the cyborg found a video that intrigued him.

Peculiar event detected.

There was an alert that his machine side flagged on YouTube. A video showing a woman running or teleporting at high speed.

Victor played the video, when the woman stopped moving for a second, he put it on pause. He gazed intently at what she looked like; the new speedster was a redhead of over 170 cm in height. Her costume consisted of two different colors of green with yellow lightning bolts on the side of her thighs. There was a belt at her waist, it seemed technological in nature. Her mask was almost full, with strangely solid goggles.

The woman saved a kid from falling badly from a tree as he tried to rescue his cat. She caught him and put him on the ground, climbed the tree at high speed, retrieved the cat, and put it in the kids arms. She waved at them and at the other kid recording this on his phone and she disappeared.

“A new hero, huh? And a speedster to boot.” Victor decided to look for the woman, he was rather bored and had nothing better to do.

Seeing the development of a new hero was always interesting. His machine side took over and started a pattern recognition search all over the internet. Now Victor began looking for strange events centered on Africa, because this was the place where the video he found came from. The events were centered around South Africa, a blur was reported having been seen and knocked a little girl out of the way from a truck on the road.

Another sighting of the blur, this time called a streak was seen saving little tribe children from Hyenas. There were many little incidents like this that weren’t connected. It wasn’t just Africa, but Europe had the same string of inexplicable rescues.

First sighting judged to be mid February.

His machine side had already found the point of origin. It started in Australia. Victor looked for traffic videos in Western Australia and saw two different colored blurs. He sat down straighter when he realized that this was the flash racing with the female speedster! So this meant that Barry Allen was aware of a new hero, why didn't he bring it to the JL? Victor continued to do more research, following the trail of that mystery speedster and found a news report from Kenya.

Victor pushed the play icon with the mouse cursor. The screen showed a beautiful black woman who began speaking. “This is Aluna Mwangi for KTN News, we’re here to report that a team of three poachers has been apprehended in Lake Nakuru National Park. They had evaded the park rangers, and the detection grid to get at the last herd of white rhino. But before they could do anything they were neutralized by a hero who stopped them from killing some of the almost extinct animals…”

Then a video played out the scene where the woman speedster ran around the poachers, stripping them of their weapons and then tased them with bolts of pink lightning while moving at slower speed. When she was done with them, the speedster checked the pulse of each of the immobilized poachers, then proceeded to restrain them all with zip ties. Victor found the woman quite smart, she didn’t try to brute force her attacks and simply took them down in the least damaging way; he wouldn’t be surprised if she was able to calculate the voltage of her lightning attacks perfectly.

The speedster looked at the camera and waved, then took a satellite phone out of nowhere and Victor supposed that she called the park rangers.

“We thank the new heroine called Velocity for helping apprehend those three poachers…” The African anchor spoke until Victor stopped the video.

Victor started to contact Superman. When the Kryptonian appeared on screen, the Cyborg started to say, “Sir, we might have a problem…”

~/.\~

(Barry Allen)

WatchtowerMarch 9th, 2010

Barry didn’t know why he was being called back, but from the way Cyborg had looked at him with pity, he was fearing that it was going to be unpleasant. Walking at high speed inside the meeting room, Barry saw Clark looking down on Earth through the panoramic window in the room.

Clark turned to him, he put on a genial smile for Barry and greeted him. “Good Morning, Barry.”

“Morning Clark, why was I called?” Barry was always blunt, even more so when Clark was slowly turning into a despotic tyrant. He was trying hard to pull the man out of this funk he was in.

Clark was taken up short by Barry's candor, he wasn't used to making power plays with his friends and they knew him too well for him to pull one on them. “Well…”

Barry moved at super speed and sat at his usual seat on the conference table. He leaned against the back of his chair with feet on the table. “C’mon give it to me straight, Clark.”

Superman slowly floated toward him, crossed his arms and asked, “Since when did you take a new sidekick?”

Barry frowned, a slight bit of pain pricked his chest as he thought about Wally's death. No one could replace him, so he didn't know where Clark was going with this. “I don’t know what you mean. A sidekick, since when?”

Clark shook his head and slightly glared at Barry; for a man who could kill with a look, Clark was being strangely stubborn about this. “Don’t play dumb with me, Barry.”

“No truly, I don’t know what you mean.”

Barry didn't remember anyone fitting the Bill until Clark said a name that made him flinch. “Velocity.”

“Ah, her.” He has been looking over her, sometimes he caught her on their habitual racing road. But to call her his sidekick, this was a bit much.

Clark smugly said, “Victor and I guessed that she’s one of yours. You even raced against her, why didn’t you say that you met another speedster like you?”

The Kryptonian seemed vindicated to have blindsided his friend for once. But Clark calmed down a bit and started brooding, he shook his head again and decided to sit across from Barry. “She doesn’t want to be a hero, Clark and after what happened to Kid Flash…”

He didn't want to take anyone on, as if replacing him would tarnish his memory. Velocity had potential but she wasn't interested in the hero's life and her temperament showed that she was averse to fighting at all.

Clark finally asked a good question, he looked mystified by Barry’s revelation. “She doesn’t want to be a hero? Why?”

Barry looked up and took his feet from the table and straightened in his seat, leaning forward as he said, “She said that she doesn’t want to get her family killed like…”

“Mine?” Clark guessed.

Barry nodded, this was the current trend amongst the heroes currently, they all went to ground, unless Clark forced them back to work. The Kryptonian fell silent when he heard this.

“Then why did she start doing hero work in Africa and Europe?” Clark asked when was done brooding and mourning his wife.

Barry stood up in a blur of speed. “She what?!”

Clark pushed a button on the table and a holographic screen appeared. “Let me show you.”

The speedster was shown a series of clips of Velocity rescuing people from avalanches, rescuing cats, installing water filters in an African village, acting as a courier for the red cross… She even started to play with kids in a Masai tribe village. Barry kept watching the videos of Velocity's endeavors and put on a proud smile on his face. “Oh, she’s doing what she says she would be.”

Clark asked, “What?”

Barry spoke slowly and concisely, telling him what Velocity had told him in their first meeting. He pointed his finger at the third video and said, “Clark, Velocity doesn’t believe that being a hero is beating the shit out of someone. What you showed me is her trying to better the life of everyone around her. Look, she's changed the water filters for this village, and I bet it’s her own invention; she’s a scientist and an engineer first… she’s also doing rescue work, mostly.”

The young woman didn't want to fight and it was showing even in the story with the poachers, she took them down fast and without prolonging the fight. This showed a certain level of control of the speed force that even Barry didn't have when he started out.

“You’re right, beyond those poachers preying on Rhinos, she didn’t get violent at all…” Clark reluctantly said as he looked at the female speedster's videos. But he wasn't about to let go and pushed on. “However, it doesn’t make it okay. Velocity needs supervision and I want you to push her to join the League.”

Barry was afraid of this, just like he expected Clark wanted him to bring Velocity into the fold. He didn't give the Kryptonian more information about the technological speedster. With a reluctant nod, Barry sat down. “I will ask, but I doubt she will want to join.”

Clark smirked. “Then let’s not give her a choice…”

Barry frowned, not liking that expression on his friend's face. “Clark?”

~/.\~

(Mitchell Davies)

March 10th, 2010Meanwhile in Australia…Canberra173 Strickland Cres, Deakin ACT 2600Calvary John James Hospital

Mitchell fought against Superman and Wonder Woman in order to defend the rights of protestors; and now look at him, he was crippled by those two tyrants. But he felt vindicated, his heroes have gone to a darker path and as a result started to oppress the people around the world; each time he looked at the news, everything became even more depressing.

They sang Superman and his bullies' praises on TV and the radio, it was full of propaganda; it reminded Mitchell of the shit his grandpa had told had happened in the second world war and the resulting cold war. It sickened Mitchell, those tyrants were being lauded when they were clearly a poison to human society. Already their influence has spread everywhere with their super soldiers terrorizing the population of the countries they are based in.

Mitchell had never felt more powerless and useless than now. He closed his eyes and decided that he wanted to sleep, that’s all he could do right at the moment; he could barely move anything lower than his shoulders. He looked up at the white ceiling, it's been months since he was here and he was getting stir crazy about doing nothing.

He wanted for something to happen, anything!

Knock. Knock.

The blonde man turned his head to the entrance of his hospital room and looked as the door opened. He expected it to be a nurse or a doctor coming to check on him. But it turned out to be a drop dead gorgeous platinum haired young woman wearing a large blue hat and long sundress.

She stepped inside the room, smiled at Mitchell as she held onto her handbag with her two hands. "G'day, Mister Davies."

Mitchell rudely said, "Who are ya, Miss?"

With one hand, the young woman held onto her handbag's leather handle and said, "My name is Freya Eriksen…" and with her free hand, she snapped her fingers and a plastic chair appeared next to Mitchell's bed. "…and I am a sorceress."

*Okay, Murphy listened to me and decided to fuck up my life some more…* Mitchell moved, the bed’s Manchester sliding from his body and showed how devastating and ill advised his standing up to superman and wonder woman had been.

The woman's gaze slid on his body, she didn't show any sign of pity in her gaze, that was a plus to Mitchell. "What… do ya want?"

She smirked at him and leaned forward, her pink lips parting as she offered him salvation. "To offer you two choices, Mister Davies. Do you want to join me and help me right the wrongs perpetrated by those Justice League drongoes turned evil, the first choice requires of me that I make you whole and heal you. The second choice is me leaving this room and you forget you have ever met me and suffer as an invalid for the rest of your life. What is your choice?"

Mitchell's eyes were stuck on her neckline, but he heard everything and he wanted to take the first choice so badly. There was no way that he would stay handicapped all his life; what's more, she wanted to fight the people who had turned him into a cripple.

His blue eyes found her own. "Do I really have a choice?"

Freya nodded. "There’s always a choice."

Mitchell already took his decision, whatever happened… he would deal with it. "Okay do it. Heal me, and I will join ya."

The young woman stood up and put her blue leather handbag on the chair. She raised her hand and reached out for his face. Mitchell felt her warm fingers sliding on his three days old beard. "Are you sure? It's going to be painful… The body may heal, but the mind may not be so resilient."

He knew it, there's always a catch. "Do it, please."

The pain shouldn't be worse than when he got his back broken. Her other hands slid from his stomach to his chest. She smiled at him and whispered, "Welcome to the Fifth Column, Mister Davies."

White light sprung out from Freya’s hands and bathed the whole room, Mitchell began to feel an itching sensation at his back until pinpricks of pain suddenly started to affect his spine. It became more painful as the light gained in intensity and Mitchell started to scream. "Aaaaaah!"

~/.\~

(Komand’r)

30 minutes later…Mars’ orbit, L2Space station OdysseyHangar 01

My Tamaranean spaceship constructed with my power ring touched down in the hangar, passing through the permeable magnetic containment field keeping the atmosphere inside. Galaxor was with me in the small cockpit, he looked like a little kid who had been given a ride on an attraction. He had been surprised to see me wielding a green lantern ring and I had to reassure him that I wasn’t affiliated with the Justice League.

I turned the small ship into a bubble of will energy and made us land on the deck plates further into the Hangar and declared, "Welcome to space station Odyssey, Mister Davies."

Galaxor looked around in the hangar, there were some drones working on a Kryptonian scout ship in a NG (Null Gravity) construction berth. His eyes came back to me while I shifted from my Green Lantern uniform back to my soft-suit.

“Ya got your own bloody space station in Mars’ Orbit?!” Galaxor asked enthusiastically as he realized where I brought him when he looked outside the hangar's entrance where the red planet was visible.

I laughed as I pulled him out of the way of a drone bringing more material with an Anti-Gravity sled. “Bloody oath we do, my group and I- we needed somewhere away from Earth to not be constantly on guard because of the crooks in the JL.”

Galaxor seemed a bit lost as he looked at the technology being displayed and from realizing how far he was from mother Earth. “I need a cold one…”

“I’m going to give ya one, mate. Just follow me.” Hand in hand, we flew toward the nearest teleporter.

In the cabin, I chose to go to Deck 149, where the medical sector was located. This was the deck just before the R&D lab two decks, with a flash of blue light they went from the hangar to the middle of the station. Already I was thinking of which augment to give Galaxor, maybe the standard package, then maybe an upgrade to what his armor could do.

We walked out of the teleporter and found ourselves in a deck with a simulated sky and urban environment. It reminded me of a futuristic Miami; as I looked up, I saw that the ceiling was a hundred meters high. This was good work from MACHINA. Pamela has gone to work it seems and replicated seeds to be planted and speed grown everything with her power over the green. The scanners on my power ring passively scanned the plants for any genetic modification and… Phew no killer plants just just standards change for cold resistance and a boost in oxygen production and photosynthesis.

That’s good, I had thought that I needed to have words with the good Doctor.

We started flying to get to the Hospital, avoiding all the platforms available and climbed up to the highest one where the hospital was located. We ended up in front of a big white building, surrounded by trees and a garden. Galaxor followed me and we landed thirty meters from the entrance.

“Looks square…” Galaxor remarked as he took in the medical facility.

There were many windows and a large dome on top of the building. The lawn wasn't yet grown on this platform, showing that Pamela hadn't been there yet. “Aye it does.”

They entered the hospital, the automatic doors opening for them, they ended up in a large hall lightened by a giant skylight in the ceiling. It was obviously empty, there was no one to receive them, the benches were also folded, and the little interior garden was only full of soil. But there was a vending machine filled with drinks in the welcome hall. It was easy to find an unlabelled beer can, so I asked myself how MACHINA did it.

The synthesizer exists, Mom.

*So it does.* I snarked back.

I bent over and snatched the can out of the machine; feeling a spike of lust from Galaxor as he watched my posterior, I slowly stood back up and threw the beer can at the man. “Here, give it a burl.”

He caught it, smiled and said, “Ripper. It’s at the best temp.”

You’re welcome, Handsome. MACHINA purred in my mind.

*No way, I forbid you to manifest or contact Galaxor.*

But Mom! Look, he is so hot!

I ignored her as she gushed about the human; I sure hope she won’t be interested for long. Galaxor opened the can and raised it to his mouth and took a swig of it. He sighed with a happy expression. “That’s the best amber I’ve ever had.”

“Glad you like it.” I said with a big smile.

I let him finish his beer, then he threw the can into the recycler nearby. It was a simple square device that repurposed the metal from the can used to hold the beverage inside them. Littering in the station was forbidden, you see. I guided him further inside the hospital second level by flying. We faced a room made for deep diagnosis; the door opened and without Galaxor knowing we got scanned by a myriad of sensors.

“Where are we?” Galaxor looked into the empty room.

“We’re taking the scenic route, don’t worry.” I pointed at the other door on the other side.

Galaxor nodded and followed after me while floating. He looked somewhat emaciated, staying on the bed must not have been good for his muscles at all. On the other side was the space with all the medical tanks and computers monitoring the place.

“This is the Medical sector’s regeneration chamber.” I found myself saying and MACHINA showed me that Pamela was done with Harley and had injected her with the Super Widow Serum. I liked that name, it was in dedication to the first redhead I liked from Earth.

Harley was out of the tank, wow it hadn’t taken her a lot of time to bulk and curve up. She reminded me of Kara Zor L in a Harley Quinn outfit. This had potential, I might sample the poor girl… I’m sure she wouldn’t resist. Maybe if I brought Pamela to bed too, it could be a good experience.

With a sigh, I centered myself and tried to diminish my lust. It's been a year since I had any good nookie time. I missed Darcy, I missed my wife and her squishy bottom and her snores when we slept or holding her in her true sized body. Loneliness wasn’t good for a Tamaranean, it made them crazy…

“My friend just finished receiving her augment package, the same thing we’re going to give to you, Mister Davies.” I commented as we passed through the new door.

The man grumbled at me still using his family name. “Call me Mitchell, please.”

I giggled. “Alright, Mitchell.”

When we passed through the door we were automatically teleported to the R&D section of the station on Deck 150. That’s how strange this place was, taking the space station interior wasn’t going to be easy for an invasion force. Some places led to others. Teleportation technology was such a cheat. There were plants everywhere, I was gone for five days and Pamela already turned the R&D decks into her personal haven.

The flexible pipes connected to each tank in which the plant floated, Pamela was using water-based mineral nutrient solutions in aqueous solvents to grow them. It was simple Hydroponics system technology, not even Kryptonian. The plants grew with their roots exposed to the nutritious liquid. At the base of each tank were solar lamps to use for photosynthesis.

Pamela and Harly’s voice could be heard further in the lab’s space, a taller and amazon-looking Harley stood in a red and black soft-suit. “Hey, Kom you’re here!”

She was faster than before, but to me it was as if she was moving in a sea of molasse. I let her hug me and lift me in the air. I hugged her too, threading my fingers in her hair. “You look even more ravishing than usual, Harley.”

Harly let me go and began to flex her muscles to me. “I feel so… awesome right now, I didn’t even realize I was in a bad way before.”

I believed her. Her body must have been riddled with badly set bones and chemical damage; my eyes turned to Pamela who nodded to me, I smiled at her. Putting a hand on Harly’s bicep, it was rock solid.

I said, “Yeah, how is it to be back in your prime now?”

“I feel like a teenager.” Her hand fell onto my flanks and she did things that raised my temperature. I batted away her hand and smiled at her playfully.

Galaxor coughed to show that he was still present and interrupted our flirting. I laughed and showed the man, Pamela immediately became distrustful, while Harly waved at him with a big smile. "I will leave you with Pam and Harley, Mitchell. They will take care of your accommodations. I have another recruit to go fetch."

I kissed Harley on the right cheek and simply vanished, leaving Galaxor with the other two women. While I left, I was still observing them thanks to MACHINA who showed me what was happening. Harly looked at Mitchel’s body, he looked like a skinny guy. "Pammy, are you going to give him the special?"

Galaxor flinched when he saw the clinical way Pamela looked at him with. "Yes, Harley. Time to make a better him."

Harley was quick to catch Galaxor and toss him on her shoulder. They followed Pamela who walked toward the regeneration tank’s room. Galaxor, who didn’t know how to react to how they manhandled him realized, "Wait, I know who you two are. Aren't you…"

I smiled and cut the feed; I hoped that he saw that this hero and villain bullshit wasn’t going to play here. I walked toward the nearest teleportation station; entered the room and climbed on the pedestal. And I was transported back on the Tempest that was orbiting Earth, missing the rest of the conversation Mitchell was having with the ex-villainesses.

~/.\~

(Courtney Whitmore aka Stargirl)

March 10th, 2010CanadaManitoba Municipality of Emerson Dominion City10:00 PM

Courtney didn’t like the move they had to make. But there was no way her stepfather was going to let them return to the League after what they’ve been doing; they decided to go into hiding in another country. There was no more heroing to be done, Pat told Courtney to focus on her studies despite the world burning around them.

Everything had gone wrong, people were afraid, the economy was in shambles as the people's rights and freedom were trampled on. Superman had gone crazy with grief and Wonder Woman took advantage of it to exacerbate his condition; Green Arrow is dead and this caused the hero society to be split. Only the believers stayed with Superman and the JL, the others who've seen what the man of steel was about, have all gone to ground and are in hiding.

Courtney felt that she abandoned her friends and ideals. But her mother Barbara was fine with her giving up the cowl, her stepfather wasn’t going to be able to protect her from the Kryptonian’s depredations. The blonde girl was on her computer right now and passing the time; she had finished the school assignment for her new class. It was an interestingly boring life in Canada for Courtney, but they still had the super soldiers developed by superman coming in.

It was for complete control and there was nothing heroic about it. Superman was a tyrant and he would die like one; he should have understood that, you can’t keep humanity under foot for long. They always rose up; already forces were arraying against him.

Courtney sat before her computer, putting aside a bag of snacks she brought with her. It was as if living in that space station had taken away the heroes common sense, they didn't think like the little guys anymore.

She looked at the Cosmic staff lying on a display next to her, she never took off the conveyor belt in case of emergency. After finishing 'A Rising Thunder' she decided to discuss the new book, on the usual forum she was on. But life wasn't so easy as the past seemed to catch up to her.

It all started on a literature forum, where she was discussing the last Honor Harrington spin-off and then her computer's screen froze. A translucent blue woman with thick curves and long dark blue hair made out of electronic patterns moving along all over her body appeared on screen. She looked straight at Courtney, who noticed the webcam she had installed turning On.

The being waved at Courtney. "Good evening, Miss Whitmore."

This wasn’t good, they were found! And the villain knew her identity! "Oh no."

The electronic woman smirked and instantly replied childishly, "Oh, yes."

*Great, was she one those sassy villains who always played with their food?* Courtney thought as she reached for her cosmic staff, ready for a fight.

But when she turned back, with her costume on after it appeared with her handling the staff. The supposed electronic villain had an expectant expression on her face. "So, interested in getting your planet back to normal?"

Instead of a fight, Courtney was now offered something she deeply desired: Action. The younger woman was craving it, wanting to go back to it; for everything to go back to normal. Her stepfather and her had connected over it and without the action he was just a controlling man. She was young and didn’t know better, so she decided to listen, this action may have saved her family in the end. "What do you mean by that?"

MACHINA took advantage of this, simulation had shown her that the girl would appreciate a straight answer. "The JL has gone astray, and my Mother and I are here to set things right."

“But aren’t you a villain, why would you care about the world?” She felt childish to say something so black and white despite knowing that life had layers, shades of gray that she wasn’t happy to have discovered growing up.

MACHINA said with a smile. “You assume that I am a villain, well I do work freelance and the ultimate authority I answer to is my mother.” Ah, she was a fellow from a super family. “Who could be considered a villain, but she’s not from this universe and only cares about you humans because it’s her job to do good and fix wrongs.” Ah now people from other universes and dimensions were getting into this; this was beyond Courtneys paygrade! She was into the street stuff.

Lowering her staff, she let the villain talk; it always was informative to let them talk, they always gave you information about their plan and let slip up things into what they’re doing. She wasn’t disappointed, “Not every hero can do palatable things. Look how that turned out for Batman and Superman. Justice can be a red river and Batman couldn’t handle finding it. No, he refused to. Now everyone on Earth has to deal with cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censorship and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission.” They were into this feud because Batman refused to kill the Joker and do what needed to be done.

“But that’s not… our fault!” Courtney asked herself how this happened, why did they give the League so much power again? Metropolis got destroyed and people were afraid that they were next.

“Well certainly there are those who are more at fault than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.”

The blue girl continued to say. “You were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now recently widowed superhero, Superman aka Clark Kent. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.”

“And those who caused all this are still running free, unaffected by the plight of your fellow humans.” The electronic teenager crossed her digital arms, emphasizing her sizable breast. “I can’t say any more, you’ll need to join the club if you want to know how far the rabbit hole goes. Sweetheart.”

MACHINA knew that she got Courtney the moment she said, "Can you speak to my dad? Before I decide anything?”

This Civil War amongst the heroes was taking its toll on Courtney’s nerves; she was taking a side, Superman had done a lot of heroic things but what he was doing to her people was beyond the pale. She had read about people like him in history; it never ended well for the local population, she meant those monsters Stallin and Hitler, who wanted everyone to feel pain. Superman wanted the world to suffer because he couldn’t cope with his loss.

The blue girl smirked at Courtney, She herself wanted for Courtney to join them because she reminded her of Captain America. "Certainly. Bring him in. In the meantime, why don't you listen to some music?” Some awesome good music resounded from her speakers. A piano plays some rock…

Voices joined will never tireBrothers all are weStreets they run with blood and fireThe price of Liberty

My Revolution carries meIn a moment lost in time My Revolution sets me freeI will flow across the lines

…

Well, at least the villains had some rather interesting musical taste. She didn’t know such a group existed…

~/.\~

(MACHINA)

…

Révolution dans les rues Je vois le chaos en dessousLa justice est une rivière rougeJe te cherche, où es-tu?

***

The song had the time to finish before Pat Dugan came up, MACHINA had the time to look for her other target and download the internet from this Earth to look for differences with the original one from her mom’s universe. The internet was MACHINA’s domain, and she was without a doubt the strongest AI in existence, well if she didn’t count Amazo, but they were past this point in the history of DC.

*Let’s not borrow trouble and invoke the devil.*

So many things were different and similar here, the cape community of DC was similar to Worm’s. But was crushed when Superman became a despotic tyrant wearing his underwear over his suit crazy Mofos; no more forums or chat rooms where people could debate about the actions of the heroes. He didn't like seeing people arguing about his choices.

Even the Homelander wasn't this underhanded in “The Boys”, he knew his limits. Superman had become tainted, evil; there was no way to redeem him after he took Green Arrow's life. The nuclear options were already taken, a gold Kryptonite dagger was already fabricated in the depth of Odyssey; MACHINA could just reproduce the structure with the power ring that her Mother was always wearing.

This universe was vastly more dangerous than the Marvel one they had come from. They had the same traditions, and morals; but their sense of good and bad was completely fucked off. It must be because of the influence of those Chaos and Order entities.

As a result, some people who were important to history weren't born. There was a massive divergence in media culture. MACHINA could trace these divergences back before World War 2. A lot of people died who shouldn't have. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was at fault for this, a hero team preceding the Justice Society.

Still it was strange that the Matrix never came up in this reality, everything touching to reality not being real seemed to be absent. It was as if someone didn’t want to give the reality warpers any ideas; MACHINA could guess who might have done it, Either Luthor or the cabal of magi all over the world. Same with movies showing different power sets existing. In essence DC was boring, no wonder they were so unimaginative and devoid of common sense. Maybe MACHINA should introduce The Very Complete, Very Extended, Printer Friendly, Evil Overlord List (plus other evil stuff).

*Just to fuck with the Justice League. Teehee.*

“Good morning, Mister STRIPE.” MACHINA said in a cheery manner.

“Who are you, how did you find us?” He rudely went to the point right away. He was wearing some kind of undersuit with circuitry embedded into it, it must mean the human male was ready to fight. MACHINA could detect the mecha he used outside the house with satellite imaging.

“You think that you were thorough in erasing your digital footsteps? You’re joking, with this Brother Eye in the sky, it’s so easy to hack. The Fucking Batman sold you out of course.” It wasn’t even a lie Brother Eye followed everyone of interest to Batman.

This wasn’t the first time Batman got hacked and the secret identity of the entire League roster got leaked. Mister Dugan's face became darker. “Bruce, again.”

The first time was when he had made countless plans to take down everyone, he got his computer hacked and the plan almost killed everyone because they were adapted by villains for maximum destruction. To this day, Vandal Savage was still running free and no one knew what he was doing.

"Fate, it Seems, is not Without a sense of irony." Mister Dugan, looked at her with hatred, he didn't seem that formidable when MACHINA faced a being that collected worlds and destroyed them. But she has seen at what length some men could go to protect their loved ones and turn them into monsters.

MACHINA was happy to have conversed with Stargirl first… For the first time since she started speaking to those people she became serious. "What I want sir is a bit of your time, I don't trust any of the JL members nor the resistance. I came to you because you're neutral." While speaking with Pat Dugan, MACHINA analyzed the mecha the man used.

Primitive, yet innovative; but nothing compared to the Iron Man armor and its derivatives armors. The material used was common titanium, not even a molecular bonded shell; he should have had access to promethium and alien technology. Was it a lack of resources? Couldn’t Stargirl start mining asteroids and make them rich? How dumb were those humans?

Dugan must still think that he was being in control of this conversation, despite being shown the contrary. "How can we believe you? You approached us like a thief, tracking us down and putting eyes on us."

This amused MACHINA, now she knew why she liked playing with her inferiors and educating them. "Oh, all I did was follow the breadcrumbs that Cyborg left when he hacked Batman. I didn't do any of the hunting myself, the League already knows where you are, sir. So please can you stop the hostility it is unbecoming of you."

Courtney put a calming hand on her stepfather’s left shoulder. "Dad, please calm down."

"Remember, Sir… I came in good faith to give you advanced warning. All I want to offer you is the Truth. Nothing More." The electronic entity didn’t want to say more, keep it cryptic and then interested.

“What truth? That the world is slowly descending into a dark time? News flash I’ve seen it. I’d anticipated it.” Dugan boasted.

MACHINA chuckled. “Truly, none of your preparation shows this Mister Dugan. You’ve let yourself go with the flow with the League, you should have taken advantage of your membership. Your piece of junk in the garden is seriously outdated by my standard.”

*Was it only Batman who had balls on this Earth?*

The man looked angry when I insulted his knock off mecha armor. I shrugged, and showed him stuff he could have, I showed him Iron Man armor Mark 1 on screen. “If you join us we intend to change this. You should be able to take down any of the League with your intelligence.”

Yeah your piece of junk can’t hold a candle to Iron Man Armor Mark 1, Tony would humiliate you for still using your prototype dude. Dugan’s eyes shone as he saw the new piece of tech I showed him, I took it away. “At what price? There’s always a catch.”

MACHINA nodded, at least this guy wasn’t so stupid. Meatspace was very boring; she was lucky Komand’r could think at the same speed as her. “Yes, fortunately. I’ve come to give you a choice. Join us for the freedom your people sorely need, bring your family. You have Four hours to decide. I can only show you the Door Mister Dugan, Miss Whitmore. You're the ones that have to walk through it."

She realized that this should be a family decision for Courtney, Barbara and Pat, so the electronic intelligence gave him enough time to come to a decision. Dugan seemed to be interested in seeing where this was going, or if it was a way to work inside there and take them, he would be sorely surprised that he can’t do anything with Komand’r and possibly Ace on their team.“If we join you, will you give us full disclosure of what you’re about?”

MACHINA put an offended expression on her face. “Who do you take us for, Batman? No, we offer you protection, and peace, none of that bullshit the resistance would give you.”

“So your choices are limited to: you and your family take the Red Pill - You Stay In Wonderland; And the blue Pill - I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." Two orbs showed themselves on screen and then she left a text on Courtney’s phone telling her that she can contact her easily like this, that she would monitor her.

MACHINA disappeared from the screen, her electronic tendrils focusing on Ohio where one Ashley Nakamura, a Cadmus experiment, was hiding. Someone Komand’r wished to save.

~/.\~

(ACE)

OhioLincoln villageDisused playgroundSame time

Ace had gone far in her quest to escape the gestapo of Superman. She could read their minds, and knew for sure that they couldn't spell the word justice. She had to go to a little town with not a lot of people, it was barely enough for her to quiet her mind from those around her..

Lincoln Village was excellent, an unassuming little town where people were simple, still she surrounded herself with nature. The sheriff had tried to call CPS because she was a street rat and even offered her lunch. But she didn't go with the agent, she knew CADMUS was still looking for her.

Too many of their secrets had ended up in her mind, Ace knew more about how the USA ran themselves than Batman did. Her telepathy caught an alien mind coming toward her, their feeling passionate and full of vengeance.

Kom’s hope was to remind this world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words - they are perspectives. And they were robbed of it.

Ace was scared this person was strong, she kept seeing flashes of what they did. There was so much blood, so much suffering caused by them. But she calmed down when she noticed that what she was seeing was war. The mind of this person was ruthless, cold, methodical, focused and honed to be sharp, like a blade.

The rest was coated by sugar and rainbows, it was hard to describe the soft side that hid the destroyer beneath. The Joker didn't feel like that, he just wanted to see the world burn; Superman hid his pain and resented people, Batman was just crazy like his son and spread his brand of paranoia.

Komand'r, she was a dangerous person and Ace was now aware that she was made to understand who was coming for her. She didn't leave the abandoned playground she was in, running wouldn't help. After all she was already dying, she could feel it.

Kom wanted to help Ace, to make her happy. She showed her life on her planet and how she could sympathize with Ace.

Komand'r has always been alone, ate alone, and slept alone since she was a baby infant. Her parents always acted as if she didn't exist and was starved for love. Despite her disability she survived and became a harsh and cold warrior outwardly. She enrolled in the Tamaranean military and thrived here and eventually became a general of her army, a hero or more precisely a butcher, someone who won the war for her people.

Descending from the sky was a Tamaranean woman in a purple, silver and black soft-suit who landed at her side. She spoke in an Australian accent. "G'day, little Miss."

Ace sighed, swinging a bit on the swing. "How did you find me?"

She looked down at her feet, not daring to look into the glowing green eyes of the orange skinned woman.

"Easily, this planet is primitive and has no artificial intelligence dedicated to data protection. I first looked into CADMUS, and leaked all their research after subverting their computer systems. I destroyed them, the public is outraged by what they did to their citizens." Was the woman's answer, to Ace, that fit the style she saw in the alien's memories.

"The League is going to take care of them and take all the credit. Why have you come to me?" This woman was a true hero, she succeeded in her story. She wasn't like the idealized modern hero from Earth, Komand’r was more like the heroes of old who knew war. Like Odysseus or Achilles.

Ace felt bad when she said, "I've come to save you, Ace."

Because she was too late, Ace felt herself dying. She had come here because she wanted to die here surrounded by nature and be reminded of the childhood stolen from her. “No one can.”

Already she felt herself fading, her mind going places unknown. "You're too late… But… thank you… for what you did."

“Ring!!” Komand’r’s fist glowed with white and green light; her mind stayed in place frozen, she gasped in sudden relief. Ace felt herself revitalized somehow.

Rapid cerebral degeneration, coping… Administrating palliatives cures.

"I won't let you die, not on my watch. Who told you that you couldn't be saved? Batman? He is just human, flawed. He may be hot shit on Earth, but I am the first princess of Tamaran, General Komand’r, Captain of the Hyperdimension. Nothing is impossible. ”

To Ace the woman was blazing with hope and determination, then the teenage girl realized that the Princess was emitting those feelings to her. She had a form of empathy that was telepathy as well, beside the obvious other super powers. “You’re like me, you can speak to my mind.”

"You deserve to be happy." The princess insisted.

Ace understood completely why; Komand’r was seeing herself in the teenage girl position. "You're projecting your childhood onto mine."

In Ace's mind she didn’t think that she would ever be rescued by a charming prince, even more so by a princess. She had been a villain, a bad girl who felt that she didn't deserve this. “I’m opening a link between us to show you how truthful I am.”

The alien princess took Ace in her arms in a princess carry position. “Your Earth doesn’t have the technology to save you, but my universe does. Join me and I will make you happy, you’ll not have to fear yourself anymore.”

Even with all her power, Ace couldn't resist, Komand’r’s mind was more powerful than hers. "Come with me if you want to live. Please, don't resist."

She couldn't do that anyway, Ace was literally sustained by the princess' power. “I… okay.”

Komand'r smiled, and she wrapped Ace with warmth. As a green forcefield manifested around them. “Hang in tight, Ace. Mama Kom will save you.”

Ace for the first time felt something akin to motherly love and fierce protective instinct rather than apathy.

~/.\~

(Victor Fries aka Mister Freeze)

Arctic circleCanadaBunker 0212 days later

Victor Fries was a man of focus and full of determination. His life of crime was to complete his research to save his wife; he didn’t wallow or enjoy it. Now he couldn’t even go gather funds for his research, because of the Regime Super Soldiers. He was running out of power to feed the cryogenic tank his wife was in.

He looked at the pistol in the transparent lock box on his desk. If his wife died, he would soon follow her. But it wasn’t his time to die it seems as a woman phased into existence leaning against a lab table. “Hello Doctor Fries.”

She has platinum blonde hair, looked to be in her twenties and wore a blue sundress with heels; it seemed that the cold in the bunker didn’t bother her in any way. She created a chair made of ice with a snap of her fingers. Before she could speak though, Victor said, “Whatever you’re selling, I’m not buying it.”

The woman closed her mouth, took out something out of her silly blue handbag; a glowing blue solution in a vial. “You don’t want this serum to cure yourself and your wife?”

Then she took out a piece of paper, no it was better to call this parchment. “And this offer to become my exclusive researcher?”

Victor was desperate, a mage was offering to save him and his wife. He would at least listen to what he has to say. “I will at least listen to you...”

~/.\~

(Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot)

USALouisianaBelle Reve PenitentiaryOne day later

Originally the site of a former plantation. The Prison had slowly started to be filled with Metahumans. Deadshot is a hired assassin and the world's greatest marksman. Having been a super-villain and anti-hero, he'll commit any murder for the right price because of a notorious suicidal death wish. Despite this, he works very hard to protect his estranged ex-wife Susan Lawton and his daughter Zoe Lawton.

He was still part of the normal in the prison, but he wasn’t allowed any knives or forks, anything that could be thrown was a weapon, even rocks. He was located in the high security block. He had killed some guards that had been bullying him, and men paid to make his life miserable. Floyed was on death row.

Floyd wasn’t ready for a woman in a blue sundress to come meet him. “G’day, mister Lawton.”

Her accent was aussie? A fucking aussie woman was here and how did she get past the guards? Did she fake a conjugal visit?

“Who the hell are you?” Floyd sat on his cot, facing the woman behind the bars.

She smiled, it was like sunshine and rainbows shining. “Call me Lady Miracle, I want to hire you.”

Floyd looked at his surroundings and said, “I’m retired and… in prison and about to get the gas chamber in a few days actually.”

The woman grinned. “I offer you freedom and a clean slate.”

“How much pull do you have, Ma’am.” This sounded like a Waller Plot but Floyd wanted to give Lady Miracle the benefit of the doubt.

She snapped her finger and a portal appeared in the cell. Floyd wasn’t courageous enough to pass through it right now, hell may be waiting for him. “The otherworldly kind.”

“Get me my daughters and ex and I will follow you wherever.” Floyd asked, he didn’t care about himself, his family was everything to him. He couldn’t help them in prison, but maybe just maybe this was a second chance.

“Deal.” The woman passed through the bars and Floyd jumped into the portal.

It wouldn’t be found out that he disappeared until curfew. Sucks to be the guards..

~/.\~

(Leonard Snart aka Captain Cold)

Central CityLisa Snart’s hospital roomSame day

The Weather Wizard was dead, killed by Superman. He shouldn’t have tagged along with Mirror Master after he kidnapped the Kents. His tech was taken by some goons from the government. He promised his friend to take care of Lisa and the stuff he had left around. As if he had to ask…

Lisa was in the hospital though, brain tumor. He was sitting at his sister's sleeping side, it was strange to see her without hair, she was a meticulous woman, at least about her presentation. Everything changed when a portal opened and a brown haired man in a gray three piece suit was launched out of it. He landed on the hospital tiles with a oof sounds.

Leonard recognized the man, he was the one that he had coerced into working with him before. “Doctor Elias? What are you doing here?”

His answer was given by a powerful and cold voice coming out of the portal. “I brought him of course!”

Passing through, a woman in a blue sundress, sunglasses and a little blue handbag appeared before him. Doctor Elias turned on his back and looked at the woman with great fear. “Please let me go, Lady Miracle.”

The smile she had given the scientist gave Leonard chills and he was called Captain Cold… “No, you’re too dangerous and useful to leave alone, Herr doctor.”

Snart sighed, and guessed that this woman was one of those dangerous women that took what she wanted, when she wanted. A bit like his sister… he looked down at doctor Elias. “Please tell me she’s not really German.”

Before the scientist could answer, the woman did. “Ah, no I’m not, I come from the outback, junger Mann.”

She kicked the scientist with her dainty foot. “I just had to kiss that beauty he was with, a certain German spy putting the moves on him. He wanted protection from Villains like you who keep kidnapping him to get superpowers.”

That’s it! Leonard threw a blast of cold ice at the woman from his hand. With a giggle, the woman turned the frost into water that immediately turned into vapor. The water wrapped itself around Leonard and it froze on his body turning him into a snowman. “The cold never bothered me.”

The frost slid off Leonard like snow and fell heavily on the ground, his eyes shone with frozen light, the atmosphere in the room getting colder and colder. The woman’s skin began to sizzle with heat, surprising Doctor Elias and Leonard. Once again, the woman dismissed the cold with her… magic. Leonard hated magic.

She provoked him by blasting him in the wall with a blast of force. She walked toward him and said, “Let it go, Herr Snart. You don’t want to fight with the Fraulein in the room.”

Leonard stayed stuck to the wall, something kept pinning him there; he tried to call on his power, make some ice constructs… but nothing worked. She sauntered toward Lisa’s bed and put a hand on her cheek and said as if she was speaking about the weather, “Hmm, cancer? It can easily be cured.”

Leonard whipped his head toward the German crazy and said, “You can do that?!”

She nodded and replied, “But it won’t be for free.”

Lady Miracle, if this was her name, snapped her finger and Doctor Elias, who had tried to flee by using the door, found himself bound and gagged with restraints made of light beams. “Where do you think you’re going, Herr Doctor? You’re not going to see Earth for a long while you know? You should take advantage of this, I'm going to offer you the protection you deserve.”

“What?” Leonard shouted, he didn’t like this. This woman had too much power and willingness to show it off.

“Sleep, Herr Doctor.” Another snap and Elias fell on the ground; the gag disappeared and Leonard heard a loud snore.

The woman sauntered back to Leonard. She lowered her sunglasses and Leonard saw the ice cold blue eyes of this beauty boring into his own. “I’ve got an offer for you and the Rogues, Herr Snart. But to force the issue, I’m going to abscond with your sister and Doctor Elias.”

“No!”

“Yes! Es gibt nichts, was du tun kannst, um mich aufzuhalten. (There is nothing you can do to stop me.)”

Snap. And the leader of the Rogues found himself landing in the icy water of the central city park’s pool. When he got back to the hospital it was to find his sister’s room to be empty and with a note written in perfect cursive saying: Give in to me and find me in the mirror palace with your team. Any act of violence will be crushed mercilessly.

~/.\~

(Komand’r)

Mirror palaceHalf a day later…

“This is getting boring.” I've been waiting for half a day here.

Fortunately, I've called back up if anything goes badly for me, this was DC and this universe was dangerous, even more so than my own. The mirror palace was somewhere Mirror Master, one of the Rogues working under Leonard Snart, had rigged to become a maze and a base for his own criminal activities.

In the middle of the maze, I was sitting on a chair and having a glass of Kryptonian wine, it was a glowing blue solution from a fruit able to use bioluminescence to grow in a cave, the people in the shrunken city of Kandor exchanged it for resources that MACHINA has been synthesizing for them.

My Smart AI was in contact with a certain Alura Zor-El, the emergent leader of the city of Kandor. She was what remained of the Science council of Krypton. The council of Kandor said that they won't forget that it was a Tamaranean Royal who took them back from Brainiac's clutch.

A sound pulled me out of my contemplation of space politics. I wasn't surprised to see Captain Cold surrounded by different costumed men coming toward me, I dismissed the crystal glass, stood back up gracefully and the chair disappeared into motes of blue light.

"Hello, jungs!" I straightened my blue sundress, my handbag dismissed in motes of light and a leather umbrella appeared in my hand. It was the Skysword disguised as an everyday tool.

A tall bald man wearing a gray suit and red goggles spoke, "Guys, you didn't tell me that we would fight a Playboy centerfold?"

With a smile, I appreciated the compliment. All the men fanned around me in the room and Captain Cold said with a cold gun pointed at me, “Give Lisa back or we’re going to make you regret ever coming to this country.”

Interesting, I’d told him that violence was going to make me become merciless and he came with his team, believing that he could intimidate me. The man with the green suit with the hood and cloak and the big later A on it; he was trying to keep Captain Cold from attacking me. “Leo, man… calm down. Attacking the magic user won’t help.”

I recognized Captain Boomerang on my left. "YEAH! I don't wanna get cursed for life."

Cocking my head and taking leverage on my umbrella, I asked, “Herren (Gentlemen), have you decided to give in, I offer an excellent health plan and monetary rewards to my minions, the food in the MESS is to die for as well.”

Mirror Master, the man in red and silver outfit laughed at my offer. “Dude, these are some good terms. Too bad she’s squatting in my digs!”

Meanwhile, the man in a gray suit and goggles, Heat Wave, asked me, "Do you have an R&D lab at your base, Ma’am?"

I felt some strange energy coming from him, centered around his head; it was dimensional in nature. I asked MACHINA and TALI to analyze in the background. I started bringing the mirror palace into the mirror dimension through sheer concentration. “We have excellent facilities for test firing Herr Rory.”

The weapon of Captain Cold started humming with threatening sounds, as if it was charging. “I just want Lisa back…”

I just couldn’t tell him that his sister was awake and hitting it off with Harley, so I fibbed the truth a bit. “Fraulein Snart is currently recovering from the removal of the cancerous tumor in her brain, and just for your information, Doctor Elias is under my protection, he no longer wishes to work for anyone who isn’t me.”

He seemed to have forgotten the good Doctor, the guy who gave the Rogues their super powers. I twirled my umbrella and it turned back into the crystal bladed Skysword. “But if it’s a fight you want… I will give you one, Kapitän.”

Alchemy’s shoulders sank. “And it was going so well…”

“For the honor of the All-Father!” There was a flash of light and I started transforming like the original She-Ra with glittering light surrounding me.

Captain Boomerang was the first to react and enter into an attack pose. “Fuck, she’s a fucking magical girl!” He looked around and said, “Look for the mascot! It’s generally their weak point!”

Heat Wave turned into a giant of fire covered in blue flames, while my transformation finished and my Asgardian Armor finished materializing. He threw a blast of fire at me, making me laugh. Captain Cold shot his cold gun at me, bathing me in below zero cold blast. Hmm, space was colder and hotter…

Skysword sucked in the heat and the cold, not caring for the type of energy it absorbed. I floated thirty centimeters from the ground before Doctor Alchemy turned it into molasses. I raised my hand and threw a ball of stunning light at Alchemy, he was actually the most dangerous man here.

“Aaaagh!” It must have been painful, the momentum and kinetic energy of the magic was still felt for him.

“Sorry, Herr Doctor!” He fell on the ground, face first, then he disappeared. Focusing my senses, I saw that Top, the speedster had evacuated the man. I followed him out of the palace and found him putting the Doctor Alchemy on the ground.

I ran toward Top, faster than he could perceive and poked him with a finger and did the astral form trick of the Ancient One. His soul exited his body, still tethered by a light cord. “Stay there and don’t do anything. Am I clear?”

He looked around himself, touched his astral body; noticed his flesh and blood body on the ground and unmoving, he must have been thinking at super speed because he raised his hands in surrender. “Huh, yes ma’am!”

“Good!” I disappeared back inside the palace, using the mirror dimension to pave the way to the center of the maze for me. My arms moved counter clockwise, the world rippled into waves and inverted up and down.

Mirror master was nowhere to be found, I focused on his astral signature and… found him stuck between two non reflective structures. He wasn’t the master of reflection of this dimension, whatever he used to teleport and move it had shorted out. *Was this a mirror gun he had at his belt?*

I astralized him as well when I reached him, then knocked him out with a dimensional magic covered finger. I brought his soul back into his body, then I floated toward the center where Heat Wave and the rest of my gallery of Rogues was waiting for me. Putting Mirror Beginner down on the ground, I choose who to start with.

My eyes fell on the elephant in the room; Heat Wave was the first to go, I simply blew on him and his flame monster form simply dissipated. I moved at super speed and astralized him as well. Then I shut down his soul by poking at it with magic like I did Mirror Beginner. The only ones left were Captain Boomerang and Cold, and Trickster…

I stopped moving for a second and that gave time for the three men to see their biggest hitter down at my feet.

“You win.” The Australian criminal raised his hands in surrender, throwing his weapons that clattered on the concrete ground.

With a neutral expression I commanded, “Lay down on the ground, don’t move, don’t do anything Kapitän Koala.”

The man nodded vehemently. “Aye, ma’am. And it’s Boomerang!”

“Sure, Kapitän Kangaroo.” I smiled at him and flipped my hair and pointed my sword at the two men who didn’t give up yet.  “Giving up too, jungs?”

Trickster undid his utility belt and threw it far from him, then he raised his arms in the air. “I am, Leo, sorry man but I just have a prosthetic for my missing arm. I can’t be a match for her. Even with my gadgets.”

“On the ground, kneel before Lady Miracle.”

The man fell on his knee, obeying my orders. My eyes fell on Captain Cold who looked ready to attack me, he must have noticed that I didn’t try to kill any of his friends. Because he lowered his gun. I rolled my eyes at the meaningless gesture, even if he attacked me it wouldn’t do anything for him. “Your sister hasn't even been harmed, Herr Snart, she’s just having Strawberry sundaes and watching movies with my teammates. Are you still willing to fight?”

The man still glared at me. “That might change if I don’t join you.”

He didn’t have a choice, so I lowered my sword. The men who had given up were all listening raptly to me. “You can’t stay free, the One Earth Regime is already after you. Join me, we have cookies and decent contracts, you can even bring your families; I will protect them from the JL and the Übermensch.”

Those were the best terms that I could give them, I still had the recipe Pepper had given me. It was the best Irish cookie recipe.

“Say yes, Snart!” Trickster shouted. “She’s like a frigging Norse looking Wonder Woman, you can’t win.”

The blade of Skysword started to glow purple, drinking in my stellar energy. I smiled at Captain Cold. He stepped back away from me, with fright on his face. I don’t know what he saw on my face but he shouted in panic, “Fine, just FINE. I WILL.”

Lowering my sword and sheathing it, I dismissed the mirror dimension. The palace began returning to normal and they all looked at me in silence. “Welcome to the club, jungs.”

A/N: Part 4 is on, what do you think of the villain recruitment?

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