Supergirl: Identity

[Wyldfire]

Oracle, JLA, JSA, and Huntress.

As soon as the chaos had begun it ended. No rhyme or reason to it. In the Clock Tower the assault on Oracle's systems stopped. And with that the flow of incoming information started again.

".....Come in Oracle, we need back up, repeat, we need back up!" came the voice of Black Canary on one channel. Barabara shuddered, she had forgotten that the League's big guns were on Themyscira. The remainining Leaguers weren't really equipped for fighting the minions of Apokolips. Damn her to hell, she just hoped no one was too hurt there. Before she could answer or begin to get aid to Dinah th comm spoke up once more "Belay that! The enemy has pulled back. I think they got whatever they were after. I'll let you know once we get things back in order, Canary out."

Thank God. Dinah would have requested medical assistance if it had been needed. Barbara turned and began checking for anything from the Society. In the back records was a statement that the Society had handily contained the small contingent that had struck at the Titans and that injury to the young heroes had been kept to a minimum. A secondary report had come in that the enemy had escaped. That figured. Oracle began to wonder if there was a way to disrupt those damnable Boom Tubes. If there was, it would make dealing with Him so much easier.

She began running a systems analysis to make sure Godfrey hadn't left her any presents. With that running she turned and wheeled herself over to get a cup of coffee. This day had just not stopped, and Barbara was running on fumes from not enough sleep and the stress of the attack.

She sipped at her coffee, feeling the heavenly drink giving her a bit of a boost. God knew she needed it. A small part of Barbara Gordon twinged with the familiar pain of having to be the one behind the scenes. Before the Joker's attack she would have been out on the streets when this happened. She might have even been with Canary when the League went into battle. She was beginning to spiral into that familiar depression when she was thankfully interupted.

"Wake up pretty lady, the Cat's drug in something that needs your attention." came Catwoman's voice from the window she almost always used to get into the Tower. In her arms was a tattered and beaten Huntress. "I found her hanging from her cape from a flag pole. She's been put through quit a beating."

Barbara imediately went into action "Get her onto the cot by my computers! Then get the med kit from the cupboard and bring it to me. I ought to be able to determine how bad she is and whether or not she needs hospitalization." And the depression and fatigue was gone once again. Barbara would crash and crash hard once things stopped and she knew it would be a hard crash too.

 

[Lunaramblings]

Batman watched as Darkseid pulled back. He saw The Girl be taken. And it clicked. There was one answer. Darkseid wasn't here to usurp Themyscira. He was here for a prize.

Batman started weaving in and out of the ranks of the parademons, he saw Clark get angry. This was something he had always dreaded. For the second time that day he found his hand dipping into a certain lead lined pouch. However, thankfully Diana had reeled Clark in.

"Nightwing! Get to Diana and Superman. Now. Move."

The Batman continued his course as he saw Kid Flash hand something to Clark, and then Clark was firing the heat vision. Stood silently as the beams arched around the battleground. Parademons falling left, right, and center.

It was Nightwing that reached Clark and Diana first. The Batman stood, ring still on his finger. He watched, he waited. After a moment he put the ring away. And made his way forward.

"Ok, so clue a guy in huh? I mean, I was busting heads in Bludhaven, and then I get sent here, and it is world war three."

"I am sorry. We will get her back. If we have to raze all of Apokolips to do so. Nightwing, I need you to get back to The Cave, see if you can get a hold of Oracle. Make sure she is all set."

"Hey, you soooo don't call the shots any more Bats. I am a solo act now remember." Dick grinned as he looked at Bruce. But it lasted no more than a second. The seriousness of his stare told Dick this was not an issue to fight. "Ok. I will call Oracle in a moment, but you have a date."

"That may have to wait. This is a more pressing matter. Whatever Darkseid is planning is going to be the top priority."

 

[LuckyVic]

"Heaven only knows what Darkseid is going to do to and with her." Clark said as he looked aroud and began to see the Amazons recovering from the battle. There was any number of things that Darkseid could be doing with Kara. All of which had been done to him at one point or another. He could be experimenting on her, or even trying to subvert her will. All of which Clark only survived as a result of already having experience against them and timely intervention. Kara wouldn't have the experience, so they needed to move quickly.

"What's the situation with his other forces?" he asked. He wondered if his other forces had begun to retreat or if the Justice League would still have more fighting to do. Normally he would have known the answer to that, but his communicator had been lost during the confronation with Darkseid.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara Zor-El had been dragged, unwillingly, into the Boomtube that had opened up behind her. The parademons swarmed her body, dragging her tooth and nail through the portal. And when it closed, everyone gathered in its wake were left wondering what had just happened.

Apokolips

"Tell me when she is ready. I am tired of waiting," Darkseid said grumpily.

It was only a matter of time before Kal-El and his "friends" would make their feeble attempt at rescuing young Kara, and he wanted to be certain that they were greeted with a warm and kind welcome. A welcome that was most unwelcome...

"The process is almost complete. Just a little more time is all that is required," Granny Goodness said with a sinister smile and a jovial laugh. Though she was somewhat horizontally challenged, Granny could still move around quickly when she needed to. Buttons were pushed, and levers were pulled as Kara Zor-El slept silently inside her capsule.

"Her memory is a little foggy, it seems. It shouldn't be a problem giving her new ones," Granny added as Darkseid looked on with keen interest.

"I trust there won't be any problems like last time?"

"Most certainly not! I am taking extra care with this one. Her mind is a delicate thing," Granny said, trying her best to assuage her ruler.

"Good," Darkseid said finally before stepping outside onto a balcony that overlooked his kingdom.

Who am I?

"The answer to that is simple, my angel. You were born on a dying world called Krypton. Your parents decided to send you away in a ship where, as kind fate would have it, you were brought here... to Apokolips. The wise and benevolent Darkseid adopted you, raising you as his own daughter."

"He took me in?"

"Yessss. Darkseid was able to recognize the great strength inside of you. He helped nurture your powers... Don't you remember?"

"I... think so. It's all so... confusing,"

"There, there my precious. Don't fret. Take things slow. You've just forgotten, that's all. What you must remember is that you have great power inside you. And it is your privilege to use that power to further our noble cause.

Kara Zor-El tried her best to try and fit all the piece together... but nothing that Granny said was making any sense. It all seemed so... fake. Like an illusion.

Slowly... very slowly...

"What is going on?" Darkseid asked, his voice sounding even more impatient than before.

"She is... resisting the transformation. The process went a lot smoother with her cousin," Granny noted.

"Then perhaps it is time I took matters into my own hands," Darkseid said.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

I moved through demons like a scythe through wheat. Making my way to my sword, I reclaimed my blade and continued cutting through them, blocking a blade or blast meant for a Amazonian back.

I was finishing off another of the dog-soldiers when a red blur rose up and hover. I barely got my shield up in time as a blast of heat came from the hovering figure. Fire exploded around me, my shield heating as the blast incinerated demons with pinpoint accuracy. I lowered the shield when the conflagration ended, and looked out across the now still battlefield. My armor forming a scabbard I sheathed my blade, and moved over to a group of costumed heroes, shield at my side with steam rising off it in wisps.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Phillipus

Back to business. "So who is this "She" that He knew was coming?"

Phillipus shook her head, and watched in quiet reverent awe as heat speared down from the skies, eviscerating and lobotomising Parademons by the dozens of hundreds.

As many as were still standing after the bravery and valour of the defenders of Themyscira, that many were laid waste by Superman's wrathful gaze.

Phillipus closed her eyes for a moment. She was no priestess, she had no prayer for this instance. But Fire from Heaven, Prometheus' Gift, this was always a time for the holding of breath and the stilling of spirit.

When she opened her deep dark eyes, she reflected instead with a scowl on the losses the world had taken. "Typical. Only the darkest of gods would attack scholars and children with such little compunction."

Wiping her forehead with the back of her arm, and then letting her axes clack quietly to the rooftop, Phillipus allowed herself to relax by the tiniest of margins.

"'She,'" Phillipus murmured. "Another Kryptonian. A beautiful, headstrong young woman, full of vigour and righteousness and indignation. She only spoke Kryptonian... Superman... Superman said he was her cousin."

Phillipus set her agonised eyes firmly upon Firehawk: "Darkseid has captured the young and lovely cousin of Superman. Gods help us, and Her most of all."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Hymn of The Wasteland"

"Thank you son." he told Kid Flash as he returned the prisim to him. "Be careful with that it still might be a bit hot."

Kid Flash's golden eyes were wide and he nodded silently, awestruck, as the prism tumbled towards him. "S'okay. My Speed Force aura protects me against friction heat, I'm sure that it can--"

The prism landed in his gloved palm and he yelped and juggled it for a moment-- "Yowyowyow! Mamacita! Geezeohgeeze!" --his hands flickering back and forth at superfast speeds as the prism tumbled here there and everywhere.

After a few moments, just the breeze of Bart's passing limbs had cooled the prism enough to touch, and he caught it and held it.

"Holy crap, Supes," he mumbled, "the things you can do just by staring hard."

He busied himself reinstalling the prism into the goggles, just as Artemis and Cassie landed beside him.

He grinned and waved at Wonder Girl, showing her the psychedelic hardlight weapon. "B.R.B., Cass. I just gotta run this back to The Museum."

Cassie grinned softly, exhausted from combat without victory but still heartwarmed by the ever-optimistic kid speedster. "You ever think that maybe you guys shouldn't keep all The Rogues' gear in one place like that? All your eggs in one basket, right?"

Bart blinked at her like she'd said something unutterably silly. "'Keep all your eggs in one basket. And watch the basket.'"

...and he was gone again.

Artemis arched an eyebrow, weary as could be believed. "Wisdom. What holy writ does he quote that from?"

"Mark Twain," Cassie smirked faintly. "Official Storyteller of America, by Imperial Decree of Norton the First. (Bart always did have a soft spot for Twain.)"

Rose McCrimmon and Grace Choi jogged up, looking more than a little bit disheveled.

Rose was... pale.

She had seen radiant heat, infrared light focused impossibly tightly into a thousand beams split like atoms. And her senses, thus attuned to thermodynamic activity, had seen practically every photon of that surgically destructive power. Felt every last degree of that heat.

And it had been beautiful.

Elemental.

Lovely. The antithesis of the ungodly godhood of Darkseid.

Grace, on the other hand, was being less than gracious. (As was her wont.)

"He couldn't do that to fuckin' start with?" she demanded, under her breath, flexing her knuckles. "Woulda saved me a fortune in hand massages."

Rose chuckled faintly, sheathing her sword and slugging Wraith hard in the arm, a bit of rough-housing and solidarity. "It's not like her to regret a good tussle."

Grace arched an eyebrow at Wraith, looking him up and down with an assessing gaze... and if she had been in a better mood, she might have leered at him. But she wasn't in a better mood. "There weren't nothing good about this tussle."

Superman, on the other hand, was all business.

"What's the situation with his other forces?" he asked. He wondered if his other forces had begun to retreat or if the Justice League would still have more fighting to do. Normally he would have known the answer to that, but his communicator had been lost during the confronation with Darkseid.

Diana nodded quietly, and takked her earpiece. She considered calling Oracle, but then again... even with the aftermath of the attacks, the terrestrial co-ordinator would likely have her hands full. So, instead, she contacted The League's celestial co-ordinator.

"J'onn," she spoke into the earpiece, unhooking it from her ear and then holding it out in the palm of her hand, "forgive the verbal communication rather than telepathic, but I'm putting you on speaker. Can you give us an orbital sitrep? Have all of Darkseid's forces departed this world?"

J'onn's dusty, warm voice came out from the earpiece loud and strong: 'I have isolated reports of foot soldiers abandoned in the process of departure, but these are being hurriedly rounded up. It seems our Island Earth is no longer a priority.'

Diana's jaw tightened. "Of course it isn't. Well. Rest assured, J'onn, even if our world is now beneath his notice, his horrible pockmarked excuse for a globe is foremost on our minds."

(Kid Flash blurred into place just behind Diana at that moment, remembering this time to modulate his vibrations to cancel out the sonic boom, just in time to hear J'onn--)

'You intend a counter-strike, then?' The Martian mused, sounding more than a little taken aback. 'An attack on dread Apokolips itself?'

(Kid Flash went white as the proverbial sheet, and stumbled back a few steps, and Cassie hurried to his side.)

Diana's face was as grim as it had ever been, her eyes glinting and flintsome.

"You better. Fucking. Believe it."

("I can't go to Apokolips," Bart shook his head rapidly, pleading with Cassie, "I can't go back there. I died there, once. I totally-- I died there."

"It's okay," Cassie murmured, hugging him close, hugging him tight, "you don't have to go."

"You don't gotta go either, Cass," Bart mumbled faintly.

"Yeah, I do," Cassie chuckled softly. "Oh, yeah I do.")

The sound of breath catching in J'onn's throat was unmistakable. He had never -- in all his years -- ever heard Diana speak thusly. 'Wonder Woman?'

Diana shook her head fiercely, trying to master her anger but really not trying all that hard... the threat had passed, and her anger was stoking her flame like Hephaestus' own forge, causing her to forget her discomfort and instead remember only fury.

"He took her, J'onn," she snarled, curling her other hand into a fist. "He took her, not like a god, but like a man, he took her, like a darksome beast of a man he took her. Always stealing, always raping, no more. No more. It. Ends. NOW."

"Amen, sister," Grace nodded firmly.

Artemis saluted Diana with her sword, grim and delighted. "Amen and Amen."

Valkyrie M breathed softly, softly: "Selah."

Diana moved to say something to Superman, but then she suddenly fell silent.

Bewilderment crossed her face as five fingers flew to her forehead. Bewilderment... and recognition.

'Diana?' J'onn wondered from the headset. 'We may not be in full telepathic link at the moment, but I have detected in you a distinct psionic shift, noise on the line, what could--'

And then the sky tore open, all over again.

krekkaBOOOOM!

And Diana's wide wide blue blue eyes went skyward, her mouth open wide.

Bart flinched: "Is he back? What is that?"

A silver gleaming glinting shape streaked down out of the sky and landed, sliding, skidding, drifting sideways as it thrumbled to a stop in the Earth and rubble and dust atop a Themysciran cliffside... though it skidded to a halt well before striking any Amazons, it was in fact, too close for comfort.

It was a machine. A silver steel gleaming glinting machine.

It resembled a motorcycle, and it resembled a living thing, and a gleaming glinting skull was front and centre on its handlebars.

But its rider...

...as frightening as the machine was, this flying motorcycle from beyond the skies, its rider was the focus of everyone's attention.

She was beautiful.

Long and dark of hair and pale of features, she resembled Diana herself... as a sister might.

Her outfit hugged her muscles and her curves, deep deep dark dark black clothing that swam with a living moving crystal-white starfield. Constellations moved across her uniform.

She wore gleaming glinting silver steel bracelets, and her earrings were crescent moons.

She bled from a cut on her cheek and her blue blue eyes were narrowed in defiance as she stood astride that machine, that stolen machine, and gritted her teeth.

"That?" Cassie murmured, in response to Bart's worried question, a grin of renewed hope dawning on her lips, "is the party getting started."

"Where is he?" the woman on the bike demanded, seething whirling, climbing off of the bike and firing glances around of such righteous indignation... "Where is the son of a bitch? Don't tell me I missed him?"

Diana blinked, and smiled a satisfied, grateful graceful smile.

"Donna."

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

"This was not a 'good tussle', it was a feint. There would have been more demons if the objective was to take the island, this was a decoy."

Which became crystal clear once Diana began to talk. The young speedster arrived, growing agitated when Diana mentioned Apokolips.

Something familiar about that word.

I walked over to Diana, who was with a man in blue and red. This must be Superman. I began to say something then the sky opened up and another amazon appeared, on a motorbike unlike any seen in my time.

She too, reminded me strongly of Phedre.

"Excuse me, I realize I am new to you all, but if you plan to go take back the girl that was stolen, you can count me in."

 

[Wyldfire]

"Typical. Only the darkest of gods would attack scholars and children with such little compunction."

Wiping her forehead with the back of her arm, and then letting her axes clack quietly to the rooftop, Phillipus allowed herself to relax by the tiniest of margins.

"'She,'" Phillipus murmured. "Another Kryptonian. A beautiful, headstrong young woman, full of vigour and righteousness and indignation. She only spoke Kryptonian... Superman... Superman said he was her cousin."

Phillipus set her agonised eyes firmly upon Firehawk: "Darkseid has captured the young and lovely cousin of Superman. Gods help us, and Her most of all."

The news made Firehawk wince to herself. No wonder Superman was acting with such callousness, if it had been a member of Lorraine's family she would have been much more of a monster than Superman had been, but then too he was a better person than Lorraine Reilly. Lorraine had come into this fight and had been a lot harder than usual just because of the numbers against them. She could only imagine how hard she would have been if it had been her blood taken by the Beast of Apokolips.

Lorraine made good firm eye contact and replied "No. God help them when we are done with them, after this indignation there won't be any quarter given when we go after his cousin."

As the two women approached the conference and Donna Troy arrived Lorraine said to the group "So, what's the plan?" Her smile said volumes, making lies of the gesture, "And for the record I'm here as Firehawk, so I'm more than willing to do what I need to."

 

[LuckyVic]

As the two women approached the conference and Donna Troy arrived Lorraine said to the group "So, what's the plan?" Her smile said volumes, making lies of the gesture, "And for the record I'm here as Firehawk, so I'm more than willing to do what I need to."

It was in fact a good question. What was the plan, Clark thought to himself. They were defiantely going to form an assualt team to attempt to recover Kara back from Darksied. Getting there really wasn't an issue, Clark had a solution for that at least. The questions were how many of Earth's Mightiest Heroes should they take with them and still feel secure about the Earth's safety? And what type of assualt did they want to launch?

"Unlike Darksied, we can't launch a massive attack all over Apokolips. We just don't have the numbers to do that. So that leaves us with two options as I see it. We send a large enough contingant and and perform a full frontal assualt on the facility were they have Kara. Or we split up the force and send in several small person teams in order to infiltrate and release her without much confrontation, which I doubt will actually happen." he said speaking to no one in particular and then waited to hear from others.

 

[Wyldfire]

Oracle.

Damn it, Hell was in bad shape. She couldn't feel anything obviously broken, but ribs could be deceptive. Rolling back an eye lid and checking the pupil Barabara knew there was a concusion involved.

She reached up to the ear bud and changed channels saying "This is Oracle, I need a medical evacuation to Doctor Midnight A.S.A.P., please respond. I need The Flash here five minutes ago."

A rich deep voice came back to her. "Sorry Oracle, the Flash is unavailable, but the next best thing we have is on the way. Doctor Midnight is ready for casualties, please contact him and give the information he will need to help."

If this hadn't been an emergency Barbara might have made a joke about that voice. Mister Terrific could read a phonebook and women would swoon, but at the moment Barbara was more worried about her friend.

Oracle contacted Doctor Midnight and very quickly gave him what he would need to take care of Hell. As she turned she noticed Catwoman had taken her leave. Damnit, Barbara was going to need someone to be her liason with the outside world during this.

"I need to get more reliable help." Oracle said to no one in particular as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

From behind her she heard "Well, you know, if you could tolerate Hourman being around I might be convinced to help out."

Barbara startled. She hated being snuck up on, especially by a speedster. It was like when Batman would just disappear on you. Unsettling. She gave Liberty Belle a small smile. "Maybe after you get Huntress to Doctor Midnight we'll discuss it. But right now I'm more concerned with getting her to medical help."

Jessie smiled and said "Yes Ma'am. I'll take the best care of her as I can on the trip. Doc will let you know how she is soon."

With that said Liberty Belle gently picked up Huntress and was gone in a blue and gold blur.

A speedster that was stronger and tough as well? Maybe that would be a good fit for the Birds. It had been too long since the team had had a serious powerhouse in the roster. Barbara would have to seriously think about this idea.

 

[Lunaramblings]

Batman mulled over the situation. Analytical. Methodical. His mind was like a well oiled machine. With grace and fluidity he poured through the data he had at his disposal. This could be a trap. Or it could be that Darkseid was taking advantage of an exploitable weakness.

Nothing he had found pointed to this situation being a hoax. Batman looked at Clark. Looked hard. He had seen a lot in his time. But he had never seen Clark this... aggressive. This... hurt.

"We are with you. For better or worse. A full frontal will fail. And sneaking onto Apokolips is a fools errand. However, flanking the enemy might work. If we send the biggest guns we have available, yourself included Kal, then we might be able to sneak a small force in during the distraction. It will be hard. And many that go may not return." Batman started thinking. He knew of only a few people with the skill to sneak in like this. Dick, Selena, The Question. All viable. Mister Miracle was a given. He had snuck out in the first place. "Rally your frontal assault team. I will find suitable candidates for the extraction team. That is, unless some one has a better suggestion."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Remember The Name"

For a moment, all the troubles of the world fell away.

For a moment, Diana was overcome with joy.

She and Donna locked eyes with each other across the intervening distance, and in a blur of impossible starry speed, Donna flew to her sister, and they embraced tightly, foreheads touching.

Diana beamed with her eyes closed, and tears of joy mingled with the blood on Donna's cheek.

There in that moment, they reunited, filling in detailed blanks and synching back up together, two pieces of the same soul rejoined.

But then they parted, and Donna frowned. "You're hurt."

"Never mind me," Diana dismissed, touching Donna's cheek. "What about you?"

Donna sniffed, herself dismissive. "Got grazed by a hook on a chain whilst commandeering this civilian vehicle. Don't you worry, my girlfriend's taking it out of the owner's hide as we speak."

Diana blinked. "She's your... girlfriend now?"

The starfield-clad Amazon grinned at her sister, blushing red. (There could still be joy in the midst of disaster.)

"It just sort of happened," she murmured. "Lonely out in space, like the song says. Add to that mutual intense experiences..."

Grace arched an eyebrow. "Dirtbag owns that bike won't go down lightly. Who's your galpal, if she stands a chance?"

Donna grinned softly. "Koriand'r."

Rose went pale. "No way. You're dating Starfire? Erm. Romantical, like?"

Grace paused, and then broke out into a huge grin. "Damn, if I ain't jealous."

Bart mumbled helplessly, as red in the face as the lightning on his chest: ("Hottest couple. Ever.")

"No shite," Rose mumbled, shaking her head with eyes wide. "I need a cigarette."

"We went into space together," Donna explained, quickly. "We were going to reunite the disparate Tamaranean colonies on a central New Tamaran, but we ran into some trouble in The Vega System... The Psions put bounties on us. We were escorting a convoy with The Omega Men, we were attacked by bounty hunters, I got a featherwhisperfaint telepathic signal about Darkseid from Diana, and Kori helped me take out one of those bounty hunters and steal his ride."

"I'm so very glad you're here," Diana admitted, clasping Donna's shoulder. "The situation is rather dire, and we're putting together a plan."

At this, giving Donna's shoulder another quick squeeze, Diana focused her attention in on Wraith's offer of support, and Firehawk's...

...behind her, Phillipus and Cassie and Artemis converged on Donna almost simultaneously, holding her close as she yelped...

"You'll be welcome, Wraith," she nodded to the ancient Shadowy warrior. "You might say I've checked some of your references, and I'm told your character is unimpeachable by no less than Kent Nelson himself."

She turned to Firehawk, and bowed to her with fist in palm, the traditional martial arts gesture of respect and a promise of nonviolence. "Lorraine. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Your bright light is a boon in a time of darkness."

And with quiet born of Wisdom, Diana listened to suggested courses of action from both Superman and The Bat.

She crossed her arms over her stomach and tapped her chin with a finger as she concentrated forcefully.

"Here's my thought," she murmured, "and this is just a thought. Feel free to veto. But if Darkseid Himself entrusted The Girl's capture to none but himself, this leads me to believe that he will not entrust her continued restraint to anyone lesser, either. Thus, yes, we should bombard that foul planet with all the forces at our disposal and, in the ensuing distracting melee, separate a rescue team... but we need to invest skill stealth speed and raw power into the rescue team as well."

She rubbed one shoulder as she spoke, thinking hard... "You two and myself. Batman, Superman, and me. Darkseid will only be outmatched by our raw power, Kal, and even his bastard tactics are no match for Batman's cunning. Where Batman can sneak undetected, Superman and I can make up for with invisible superspeed... we'll drop the majority of our attack on them, and while that happens, the three of us can attack Darkseid and rescue Kara."

Diana hesitated, though, and clawed a pale lovely hand through her dark dark hair.

"But Darkseid is no fool," she shook her head. "The moment he sees that we are not on the front lines, striving to get back that which was stolen, he will suspect duplicity. We need to be there, we need to be in two places at once--"

She frowned hard.

Then stopped.

And glanced over at her sister with a look on her face like Helios dawning over The Atlantic. When Donna had first been given life, she and Diana had been identical, twins, but a long story had since conspired to cause them to only resemble each other. But still the resemblance was strong...

Diana's eyes flashed across to The Dark Knight's Squire, Nightwing.

And then to The Dark Knight himself, and then to The Man of Steel.

"Batman," she breathed, because she already knew they knew what she was thinking, they always did: "Kal. Could it work?"

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

I watched the reunion of the Amazonian sisters with a smile in my heart. I had no idea whom they were referring to, but obviously the Amazon in the black shirt had just passed some interesting, and personal news.

Then Diana told the assembled group her plan. I still do not know these people, but I know my own power.

I could help.


"Excuse me Diana, but you need to get somewhere undetected, and you need to do it soon, correct? I think I can help you do that, and depending on where we are going, I may be more help than you think."

 

[LuckyVic]

Clark rubbed his chin as he thought about what Diana was suggesting. "That could work." he said and then walked over to Kelex. After a few moments the Kryptonian robot left, and Clark returned to where Diana and Bruce were.

"Kelex is getting somethings that we'll need." Clark told them upon his return. "I agree with Diana, on the two forces. However the rescue team although needing to be smaller then the attack force, it needs to be more then just us. Darkseid is going to have Kara extremely well guarded. The attack force should be similar to the one that we pulled together to defend the world against War World." He said reminding them how they all banded together to stop that particular invasion. "Darkseid won't believe in any attack that doesn't have at least the majority of Earth's most powerful heroes in it. Then again he's also smart enough to expect two pronged assualt which is why the rescue team needs small and yet capable of holding its own."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Diana and Rose

"Excuse me Diana, but you need to get somewhere undetected, and you need to do it soon, correct? I think I can help you do that, and depending on where we are going, I may be more help than you think."

Diana's mind was still racing, but she was able to emerge from this in the face of Wraith's suggestion.

She gazed at him, cool blue eyes regarding blazing lavender.

"Dread Apokolips," she explained, as Superman was conferring with his robot Kelex, "is the dark half of an ancient primordial world named Urgrund, torn by a terrible cataclsym from all that was good about that world. Thus separated, it has become its own planet, just as the good half became lush and lovely New Genesis. Separated from our Universe by a dimensional barrier, Apokolips, under the rulership of the terrible evil of Darkseid, represents the antithesis of goodness and free thought. Darkseid wishes nothing more than the utter subjugation of all life and all will under his rule, under the heel of his boot."

Her eyebrows bunched a tiny bit in the middle of her forehead, and somehow even this awkward expression managed to be elegant on her face.

"What did you have in mind?" she wondered. "How would you deposit us beyond such a dimensional barrier? Has this to do with the magic I scent on your aura even now?"

Rose walked up, looking rather nervous, adjusting the golden bow across her shoulders as she moved. "He can teleport, ma'am. I've seen him do it. And my Uncle John says he's from some alternate parallel plane..."

Diana digested this for a moment, regarding her intern and this new, enigmatic, darksome force.

She opened her mouth to speak, but then Superman returned...

"Kelex is getting somethings that we'll need." Clark told them upon his return. "I agree with Diana, on the two forces. However the rescue team although needing to be smaller then the attack force, it needs to be more then just us. Darkseid is going to have Kara extremely well guarded. The attack force should be similar to the one that we pulled together to defend the world against War World." He said reminding them how they all banded together to stop that particular invasion. "Darkseid won't believe in any attack that doesn't have at least the majority of Earth's most powerful heroes in it. Then again he's also smart enough to expect two pronged assault which is why the rescue team needs small and yet capable of holding its own."

Diana remembered the War World strike team... she'd worn her golden armour that day, the eagle armour... Captains Marvel and Atom...

And the rescue team would have to have stealth and power.

"I know two people," she mused, "who can hold their own."

She returned her gaze to Rose, who looked stricken, horrified, who took a step back. "Wait. Bollocks. What?"

"Hush, Valkyrie M," Diana replied, sternly. And then looked squarely at Wraith: "You were saying, Wraith?"

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

"The dimensions of the 'verse are no barrier to me. I have walked many lands, swam through planes of water and fought in Hells that would probably put this Apokolips to shame. From my home, I can breach most magical barriers, though that will not be quiet, but if this place is not warded, then I can get us there. All it takes is the power of my will, and that has not been found lacking in half a Melania of waging war with Hell." I said, looking the Amazon princess in the eyes as I spoke.

"I would be glad to fight by your sides in this, for though I look like I follow the forces of darkness, I fight them instead. And I sense much darkness ahead."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Nightwing grinned at the Triad.

"I can take Bats' suit. And maybe Kon-El can wear yours Supes. I don't expect Darkseid to be on the front line himself, so from a distance he probably wouldn't be able to tell. It may throw him off enough to give you guys the opportunity to get in and get ummm... what's her name?" Nightwing ignored the stare he was recieving from Batman. "Come on Batsy, not like it would be the first time I borrowed the suit. And you totally have extras."

"Fine. As for who goes on the extraction... I believe our best bet would be to keep it to a small team. No more than a half dozen. If we get too many people clunking around it will only end badly. Kal, Diana and myself.We will need J'onn and Lantern on the front lines. Diana, Kal, who would you suggest?" Batman looked unfazed. As if planning inter-dimensional assaults were as common as Sunday brunch.

 

[LuckyVic]

"Already ahead of you Nightwing." Clark said to the young man he had watched grow out from the shadow of the bat. "I've sent Kelex to retrieve Superboy, as well as some spare suits, and a mother box unit that I have in my Fortress." He added while wondering if Superboy would one day be able to move out from his rather larger shadow someday. "Mister Miracle and Big Barda would definately be assets to the rescue team. I'd also think Maybe Captain Marvel and the other Marvels would do well as part of the assualt force." Clark told bruce and then looked over to Diana to see who she would suggest.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

The Female Furies

Granny Goodness had been dismissed by Darkseid, though she felt no anger towards her "benevolent" leader. She only wished that she had been better able to serve his needs. Taking true memories from a subjects mind and replacing them with new ones was a tricky affair, and even more difficult when Kryptonian's were involved.

"How are you holding up, my dear?" Granny said as she noticed Gilotina standing with her back against a wall, her head drooped slightly and eyes closed.

"I'm fine," she lied.

"There, there. Everything has gone according to plan. What's there to worry?"

Gilotina shook her head. She knew that whatever thoughts were playing through her head, Granny would stand to hear none of them. She trained the Female Furies with an iron fist, driving them to best serve Darkseids interests.

Failure was never an option.

"Good. We wouldn't want any nasty thoughts clouding your judgments, would we? Why don't you go rest for a while?"

Gilotina nodded her head silently and retreated into her private quarters. Granny replaced the smile on her face with a look of contempt, but she masked her scorn for the moment.

Suddenly the two large doors separating the outer hallway from the inner chamber where Kara Zor-El had been kept slowly opened up, and Darkseid emerged with his hands clasped behind his back, a pleasant smirk adorning his mostly unemotional face. Granny Goodness bowed low in his presence, yet he paid her reverence no attention.

It was required, after all.

A mere formality.

“Were you successful, my lord?”

“Was there ever any doubt?”

"Of course not," Granny said.

Kara Zor-El emerged from the inner chambers a few moments later, and she walked up close to stand beside Darkseid. The Ruler of Apokolips placed his hand upon the Kryptonian's shoulder, and he rubbed it rather gently. Granny Goodness didn't even have to inspect the new recruit to see that she was infinitely loyal to Darkseid. The fiery glow in her eyes revealed that much to her.

It was a look that she was all too familiar with.

Insane laughter suddenly filled the air, heralding the arrival of several of Darkseid's elite Female Furies. Mad Harriet and Lashina came slowly into view, rounding one of the corners that led into the hallway where Granny, Kara and Darkseid stood. Mad Harriet seemed just about as insane as ever, and her lips were spread wide in a devilish grin.

"Darkseid's Will! Darkseid's Way! Ha ha hee!"

Lashina rolled her eyes and felt like strangling her teammate, but inside she knew that Harriet would probably enjoy the pain a lot more than she would.

"How's our new girl doing?"

"Quite nicely," Darkseid said as he withdrew his arm from around Kara.

Harriet once again fell into fits of insane laughter, but it was obvious she ecstatic over the prospect of having a new member to their team.

"Darkseid's Will! Darkseid's Way!" she chimed again, the grin on her face becoming even more pronounced.

 

[Lunaramblings]

"Already ahead of you Nightwing." Clark said to the young man he had watched grow out from the shadow of the bat. "I've sent Kelex to retrieve Superboy, as well as some spare suits, and a mother box unit that I have in my Fortress." He added while wondering if Superboy would one day be able to move out from his rather larger shadow someday. "Mister Miracle and Big Barda would definately be assets to the rescue team. I'd also think Maybe Captain Marvel and the other Marvels would do well as part of the assualt force." Clark told bruce and then looked over to Diana to see who she would suggest.

Batman regarded Clark. He meant business.

"The Marvels would be welcomed addition to the front lines. We will need all the muscle we can manage. Some one needs to put The remainder of the JSA on alert. If we are pulling this much muscle out of Earth, they will need to coordinate with the Titans. Also, I might suggest Atomsmasher for the assault team, and The Atom to be present on either team. His knowledge and skills are singularly unique."

"I will get in touch with Oracle. She can coordinate between those that aren't going. She may have a few suggestions of her own too." The smallest of smiles played across Nightwing's face at the thought of Oracle.

Nightwing pushed a button on his belt and spoke. "Oracle. If you are available, we may need your assistance."

 

[Wyldfire]

Oracle.

Barbara was beginning to assemble a roster. Dinah was going to need back ups. The League couldn't be in too good of shape, so they'd need minor bolstering to their ranks until this crisis was over.

"Oracle. If you are available, we may need your assistance."

Dick! He was okay! Barbara hadn't even realized until she had heard his voice that she had been worried about him. It had been like a nagging tooth ache. But he was okay, and that made it stop hurting.

Her joy was short lived however. She knew she had to be the one to let Dick know about Hell. Her voice was it's usual calm and quiet as she replied "I'm here Nightwing. What do you need? I am recovering my systems from a cyber attack by a certain Godfrey of Apokolips," she took a deep breath and added,"I also had another casualty here in Gotham. Huntress was found beaten quite badly. I can only assume she encountered another citizen of Apokolips. She is currently being cared for at JSA headquarters. They have set up for casualty care if you have any at your location."

 

[Lunaramblings]

"Oracle, glad to here your in one piece. Hope Huntress heals up. Listen, we are mounting an assault. The bastard took Kal's cousin. Kidnapped her. I thought you might be able to act as a bit of a go between. Rally the heavy hitters from JSA and alert the independants that they need to be on high alert. Batman was requesting Atom and... is it Nuklon or AtomSmasher these days? Either way... Any thoughts?" Dick missed the banter. It had been too long since her sweet voice was in his ear. He would make it a priority to stop by once this got sorted.

 

[Wyldfire]

Barbara smiled. She'd figured this dance out already. She sent out a text message to Zatana inviting her to Themyscira and the ball. Another channel opened and the request for Damage, Starman, and Green Lantern from the JSA was sent along with the notice that they would have the ball on protecting the planet while the heavy hitters were offworld. She assured them she would be there helping them with the Birds and that the Tians could be brought in as well.

Oracle rekeyed the channel to Nightwing "I have some big hitters on their way to you as we speak,"she said smiling, "I can have you a pair of Marvels here in a second as well as an Atom and an Atomsmasher. Maybe a pair of Lanterns? Hell, if we get one more Lantern he could call for the entire corps couldn't he? Isn't Apokolips acting up like a Galactic incident?"

She turned as she spoke and began sending out text messages. One to Ray Palmer and another to Albert Rothstein, giving them the current key codes to the JLA teleporters and the coordinates to be sent to. She let them know this was highest priority.

Yet another channel opened and she redirected Mary to Themyscira. She sent another text message to Zee asking if she could contact Captain Marvel to assist.

"Okay Nightwing, now you get to let me know who shows up. I threw in a few extras that I thought might be of assistance. That is unless Red Arrow is there then she'd be a distraction. We all know his fetish for fishnets."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Nightwing chuckled. God it felt good to laugh. "Thanks Oracle. When this is done you should let me take you to dinner. I will be in touch." Nightwing turned back toward the group gathered. "Oracle is sending several JSA members, a Lantern or two and anyone else she can get. She also may be able to help treat any wounded we have."

"Good. Let's put some type of a plan in motion. Kal, this is your cousin. Who do you want on the extraction? You have heard our suggestions, but I leave the final choice yours to make." Batman looked directly into Superman's eyes. Something many men had a hard time doing for long. Batman waited for his answer. He hoped Clark would make a smart decision.