Hawkeye looked at the two women in front of him. There was definitely something strange about them. First of all, they had an uncanny resemblance to this green-skinned alien cyborg that Superman used to fight all them time. And also...
Where the heck did they come from? Alarm bells ringed in his head. There was no way he would trust any of them.
"Sorry, ladies, but I don't have the time to chat right now. Maybe next time," he shouted over his shoulder as he started running away from them. Fortunately, the two women were staying between him and Darkseid's approaching armies.
Those crazy bitches will provide me with the best distraction ever, he hoped silently, as he could never run fast enough to escape while at the same time carrying an unconscious Rogue.
Hang in there, girl, he prayed wordlessly, looking carefully at her. She already looks like a girly version of Darkseid, he couldn't help but notice. Rogue's body was unfortunately unable to process correctly the Omega Energy she had absorbed
from the Lord of Apokolips. Thankfully, Batman's cloaking device would prevent Darkseid from detecting her presence and taking control of the mutant teenager.
As he kept running, Clint couldn't see the two women behind him blasting the first row of Parademons to oblivion before teleporting away, making the distraction they provided a short-lived one. Soon enough, the beasts had recovered from their shock and started
chasing after Hawkeye. They were going to catch up to him eventually.
His only hope would be to jump into the nearest giant sewer conduit that led directly into the Slave Pits.
Which is only a few miles away from here. Fucking great! he groaned in his head. There was only so much torture his poor legs could take before collapsing under the combined weight of Rogue and his own body.
Over the horizon in the same direction as his destination, he could see a rapidly approaching flying figure.
A woman's figure, his tired brain remarked. His face literally lit up with joy when he recognized her, when she started blasting the Parademons that were closing up on him, providing him with the cover he needed to make his escape.
"Carol, you're a godsend!" he exclaimed excitedly.
"We can talk later, Clint," Ms Marvel reassured him. "Once we're out of here and back at HQ, I'm gonna yell at you and Bats so much, you'll be sorry that you survived," she half-joked.
Two hours and whole division of dead Parademons later, Hawkeye and Ms Marvel had joined Power Man and Firestorm at an intersection in the sewers. Rogue was still lying unconscious in Clint's arms and she had started muttering inaudible things. The Omega Energy
was having the same effect as a high fever, making poor Anna Marie delirious.
Firestorm looked at his approaching companions and sighed at the people missing from their team. "I guess there's no point in waiting anymore. Is there?" That wasn't really a question.
Neither Clint nor Carol said anything as they passed their two friends. The rest of the way back to their headquarters was also spent in silence.
Back on Earth, the head scientists of AIM were conducting their weekly meeting at their headquarters in Bangkok. Some of them were accompanied by a few assistants or bodyguards. They were patiently waiting for one of their newest recruits. They didn't have
to wait more than a few minutes before Timothy Drake crossed the doors to the council room accompanied by his mysterious bodyguard Black Bat.
"Sorry for being late, gentlemen, but I needed to make sure our newest weapon was fully operational for an on-live demonstration..."