Main Story Twenty-Two
Unfortunately, the awareness that came from her fresh awakening thoughtfully brought to bring fresh pain along with it. While she was well-accustomed to it, Diana had never grown very fond of it.
She opened her eyes slowly, blinking away the blurriness that obscured the lights above her as she lay down. It took her a few moments to recognize that she was currently resting atop a bed in the medbay rather than staring up at the lights of the cafeteria from the hard floor.
Her neck ached from where she’d landed on it.
Groaning from the effort, Diana reached her arm across her body and dragged herself onto her side. Preparing to sit up, she took notice of the occupant of the bed immediately beside her. J’onn did not appear to have moved much since she had last seen him, but someone must have decided to lay a blanket over the lower half of his body.
She felt a spike of guilt, instantly regretting her being awake when he was still comatose. Wonder Woman tried to quash the feeling, telling herself that her guilt was both wrong and pointless. The facts did not quite make her emotions quell.
“You’re up,” a voice behind her noted.
Diana closed her eyes again. “Where is he?”
Maxima’s hand gripped the bed beside her shoulder before she rested the back of her hand atop the Amazonian’s forehead. “No internal bleeding,” she noted. Her hand drifted to her scalp. “No memory loss, and no cranial damage that I can find. You’re lucky.”
Wonder Woman sharply turned onto her back, glaring up into Maxima’s eyes and knocking the hands off of her body with the motion. “Where is he?” she seethed.
The alien’s tired eyes met her own without the level of fear that most would give her had she looked at them in such a way. “He got away using a stolen fighter.”
Diana slammed her fist down onto the bed’s frame with a fierce growl. Maxima gave her an exasperated look, then focused on the dent she had imprinted. The damage suddenly repaired itself with a brief pop, courtesy of her telekinetic powers.
“You know, everyone was rather confused as to who was in charge with you, J’onn, Barry and Victor all out of commission,” Maxima continued. “Everyone actually looked to me for direction. Can you believe that?”
Gods, give me strength. Diana pulled herself into a seated position and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “We need to get to the Batcave, catch him before-”
“Already done,” the medic interrupted. “Once he reactivated, Victor sent a few people down to Gotham City to check around for him and to make sure that the people Bruce kept in fear didn’t start a riot.” She rounded the bed until she was standing just beside the wounded Amazonian. “No sign of him nor Poison Ivy, nor anyone else in Wayne Manor. They’re in the wind.”
Wonder Woman pressed both palms down on the surface beneath her, suppressing the pain in her neck. “I’ve got to go find him…” She tried to force herself back to her feet, not knowing how long since she had last been standing. “Bring him back…”
The other woman gently gripped her under her shoulder and helped her up, easing her until she didn’t shake while standing still. “We searched all of his known safehouses, Diana. You know he can hide himself when he doesn’t want to be found.”
She didn’t want to hear how impossible it was. She didn’t want to hear that every attempt before her had ended in failure. His betrayal during a moment she had thought had been intimate left her wanting- left her demanding- immediate retribution. Diana hadn’t been able to contain herself, and she had thought that his inconstant glances at her had signaled his similar desires. If only she had known what had really been going through his head, she would have broken both of his legs and dragged him off to the brig.
No. Diana resolved that it was not Bruce who deserved her anger. It was Ivy, and Ivy alone.
She bristled, then started as she realized something. Diana looked at her fellow Justice Leaguer out of the corner of her eye. “Did you say Barry was hurt?”
She paused, then turned her head to the opposite side’s neighboring bed. Diana followed her gaze, turning around to discover the bed to be occupied by a man with heavy white bandages wrapped around his entire head, leaving only his mouthed uncovered to allow a transparent tube to enter inside. Like J’onn, he too was draped in a blanket, but he had the added features of an IV machine and a morphine drip to his side.
Diana’s fists tightened again. She would make Ivy feel much, much more pain than this when she caught up to her. Then she’d hurt her some more just to be sure.
“The damage is mostly superficial,” the Almeracian informed her. “I’ve spoken with him in his sleep and let him know that we’re keeping him sedated until his eyes and throat have healed. It shouldn’t take longer than another day or two.”
“No permanent injuries?” Diana checked.
Maxima shrugged. “Like I said, mostly superficial. If anything, his vision and voice might be a little different for a little while. I’m just keeping him under until I can say with reasonable certainty that he won’t be blind when he wakes up.”
Wonder Woman released a breath of relief. “And everyone else?” she asked, sweeping around the whole room to find an assorted contingent Leaguers using the beds of the medbay.
“The decks near the crew quarters still haven’t been fixed; Victor told me to remain here until everyone has recovered and start putting the pieces back together later. Everyone off-duty is going to use this as sleeping quarters until then.” Maxima gave a small smile. “The worst is behind us.”
Diana did not return the smile. Instead she settled her focus back on the unconscious Martian. She took note of the emptiness of his expression. Wherever he was, she hoped he wasn’t trapped in some hell.
“Well, we do have a problem,” Maxima said.
“You’re kidding,” Diana muttered.
“While you were out,” Maxima reported, “we have received confirmation that both Kal-El and Hal have been captured. However, we were unable to track them in time to be able to follow them.”
“Ivy captured both of them?” Wonder Woman gasped.
“No, not her,” Maxima said quickly. “Amazing Grace took Kal-El and the latest incarnation of Star Sapphire took Hal. Both were taken off-planet, and while we can guess that Kal-El was taken to Apokolips, where the other two went is anyone’s guess.”
The Amazonian’s face withdrew into a grimace. Three of her friends captured, two of her friends killed, many more injured. It was almost as if-
Diana’s eyes snapped open. It was almost as if someone had been coordinating these attacks on the Justice League, all perfectly timed to isolate and remove key members of its ranks all at the same time. Someone who could manipulate them into their destruction with like a scripted sequence of attacks.
“I don’t mean to be rude, Diana,” the Almeracian said quietly, “but with J’onn…” She held off for a brief moment. “With J’onn hurt and just about of the founders unavailable… well, you’re in charge. You and Victor.”
“What about Arthur?” she asked distractedly, trying to piece together what had happened. Bruce had for years been able to fend off Poison Ivy and was perhaps the most uncompromisingly iron-minded man she knew. Diana vaguely remembered seeing still images of her moment of victory over the Batman and that there was supposedly a full video of the two of them-
Wonder Woman just barely held back a gag at the thought of the two of them together.
Still, from those heavily pixelated images that had appeared on the several monitors in the cafeteria, she could have sworn that Poison Ivy’s body had changed from the last time she had seen her. More defined, more curvaceous than in her previous encounters with Bruce. While it was possible that she had somehow managed to enhance herself using some plant concoction, it didn’t seem likely. Technological improvements also seemed to be anti to Ivy’s M.O. Perhaps, it was that someone had used some arcane magics to do that for her. And how had she managed to override Batman’s determination?
“Arthur has not responded to any of our calls since the attack,” Maxima continued. “All of our missives have been ignored and our messengers turned away. Victor told me that he had stormed out of the Watchtower after you all voted against him on the shield project.”
Superman himself was also strong of will. Darkseid’s numerous failed attempts to lure him to his side hadn’t made her friend complacent; he was always vigilant against the threats of Apokolips. Amazing Grace’s abilities had been troublesome in the past, but Diana had never conceived of a world where she could defeat Superman.
And what of Star Sapphire’s capture of Hal? No matter who bore the mantle of the power, they all had one thing in common: the desire to turn Green Lanterns to their cause. She assumed that the power from Star Sapphire’s emotions must have somehow been stronger than Hal’s, meaning that he might have been converted.
Wonder Woman turned to face Maxima. “How long was I unconscious?” she asked desperately.
“Not long,” she assured. “Fire was out up until an hour ago, but it’s only been five hours since we were attacked.”
Five hours? In just that short time, Superman and Green Lantern had both been captured and possibly turned against a Justice League that had been nearly destroyed by a surprise attack. Three masters of seduction and mind control were now in command of three of the most dangerous individuals in the world.
Gods… Her pleading felt inadequate. She needed something more than a prayer; she needed a plan.
Lex would know what to do.
From across the room, a sudden scream sounded out over the quiet murmurs from the crew. Diana and Maxima both turned to the source and dropped into defensive positions. Had another attack come?
She didn’t see anyone running for cover or for a threat. In fact, most of the crew were similarly confused about the source. She could see Fire and Ice scanning the room for threats, both displaying their respective abilities with glows at their fingertips. She could see Dr. Fate floating into the air, starting to pull closer to-
Dr. Fate. He had been in a coma since Brainiac’s invasion. He was flying.
Dr. Fate was pulling closer to the ceiling, smacking his head straight into it with his crown before stopping there with a slight recoil. Despite the impact, the expression on his face seemed to be one of intense anguish, not slight pain.
He screamed again, though it did not seem to be an immediate reaction to his head striking the ceiling. In fact, he did not at all appear to be aware of his surroundings, his eyes just staring sightlessly in front of him.
“It is coming!” the recently revitalized man announced in a strained voice. “Ruin, Eden, Paradise, Chaos, War, Control. The end!”
Diana swallowed, then looked at Maxima. “Can you get through to him?” she asked quickly.
She shook her head in response. “I don’t think he’s conscious.”
“The lords!” Dr. Fate continued. “The gods! The unworthy! They are coming!” His eyes closed and his expression contorted into one of agony. “The Masterplan has been broken!”
Within a few moments, the man’s body went limp. He collapsed from his position at the ceiling, falling to the ground. Diana reacted just a moment too late, arriving to catch his weight only after it had crashed into the ground.
Other Leaguers swarmed around the unmoving figure as Wonder Woman peeled his upper body over onto her knee and settled him there. Several voices rang out, asking if he was alive.
Diana could feel his pulse quite clearly with her hand on his collar. It was rapid, telling of a man in terrible fear and pain. She looked over at J’onn’s body in his bed, hoping that he might wake up with Dr. Fate’s abrupt albeit short awakening.
He hadn’t even stirred in the slightest.
Diana set her jaw, then bent down and lifted Dr. Fate into her arms. Without a word, she carried him back over to the bed he had occupied for several weeks. Gods, why did everything have to happen so fast?
Maxima appeared at the bed beside her as she set him down. “Did you hear what he said?” she questioned.
Wonder Woman stood up straight, certifying that the man was safely stored where he was. “I did,” she answered. The pain in her neck was silent, she realized.
Diana turned away. “And I’m going to find some answers.”