Snippets, Omakes and Short Stories

[AntonioCC]

"Before the inn took off, I worked part time as a tour guide." Ma said with a smile, "Believe me, I know what I'm doing."

STAR Labs. Gideon's room. A few hours later​

Harrison Wells had managed to get his nerves under control. To hear that, despite his precautions, he had been observed the whole time, had been unnerving, to say the least. But nonetheless, the show must go on.

He then noticed a pop-up appearing on the screen, showing a shooting star crossing the darkening sky. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Just in time. Nonetheless, he checked the weather. And as the history books said, an enormous storm front was starting to form following the path of the shooting star, covering the entire coast. One of the biggest storms of the Century.

'A fitting welcome for the arrival of the God of Thunder.' he thought.

He had considered for a long time when to set the opening of the Accelerator, but in the end, he had pushed for the opening being tonight. There had been... would have been other storms that would affect Central City and could have been used to ensure that Barry Allen would become the Flash, but he ended choosing this, as it didn't depend on fickle weather patterns that could be easily disrupted by a careless time traveler, but on events that could not be easily disrupted.

Not too long afterwards. Central City.​

"Okay, I forgot that tonight was the inauguration of STAR Labs particle accelerator." Ma said, having parked some distance from the CCPD headquarters. "I'll talk with Joe about the incident and then we'll be going back to Keystone City."

"Hopefully before the rain starts to get worse." Rogue said, looking at the cloudy sky and the drizzle that was starting to fall.

Rogue looked down at the city, finding the view strangely familiar, and then it hit her. One of her first visions. She started to look for the phone where she had been noting the visions and saw the description, as the image came back to her:

…She was in another place, a city bordering a river and saw an… explosion from downtown, that prompted the clouds to unleash a storm over the city. A lightning fell in a close building…​

​

She realized now that the explosion of her vision... came from STAR Labs.

'The particle accelerator.' she thought, as she started to run toward the police building. But it was too late, she could already see the wave of whatever it was expanding from the lab, reaching the clouds and unleashing the storm.

 

[AntonioCC]

Wayne Manor​

Bruce Wayne awoke suddenly, and sat on his bed. His dreams had been... unsettling, even more than usual. His nightmares always came to the alley, but this time, it wasn't just his parents, Buffy and Dawn were lying there in apool of their own blood.

He shook his head, before getingt up from the bed, and putting on a robe. As always, he hadn't given a single step after putting on the robe, when Alfred opened the door with a tray carrying an steaming cup of coffee, and the morning paper.

"Thank you, Alfred." he said before taking the cup and and the paper. As expected the storm and the explosion were today's breaking news.

'Godammit.' He said mentally, when he read that Blackout had escaped. 'Jim must be furious.'

"I presume you have read about the escape of that criminal, Master Bruce." Alfred said.

"Yes, I have the feeling we will meet him again." Bruce answered, "Did Buffy or Dawn call?"

"No, but Master Silas did call, he was going to meet them at the Tower." Alfred answered, "He apparently knew about their real relationship with you before."

"Interesting. I should be surprised, but I have always suspected he knew more about our family history that he let on." he looked at the time, knowing his uncle, he probably had invited them to his favorite restaurant, and cast aspersions on the playboy image he had been cultivating. Thinking about that, he had an idea. He asked Alfred about which of the italian sports cars was available.

"Perfect." he said, already sliding into the playboy persona.

A top of the line restaurant​

Vicky Vale had gotten a call from one of her sources. She hated having being exiled to the society pages after her failure to gather enough evidence of foul play in the Dixon case, but she was determined to do the best job she could to go back to real journalism.

That was why she was in a table of the restaurant wearing a power suit, sunglasses and using a brown dye, studying the people that Silas Wayne had invited to dinner from some distance. She had recognized one immediately as Doctor Charles Xavier, a retired geneticist with some past connection with the Waynes, who now was the headmaster of some exclusive school in upstate New York. From that it had been easy to identify most of the rest as school staff and some students. It was the blonde and the brunette teen that puzzled her.

 

[AntonioCC]

While Jubes told Jenny about the intricacies of Hemery cliques, Rica thought back to her last talk with Marcy yesterday morning. She had said something about some private school being interested in her, but she hadn't said much more, and she had not pried. Maybe she should visit her family later today.

"...and be careful at the prom with the Security guards, they tend to be a bit overzealous, and they're armed."

"Why would a prom need armed security guards?" Jennifer asked in a puzzled tone.

"Buffy Summers." Rica said, "She was the captain of the cheerleaders, eight or nine years ago, I don't remember the exact date. From what Marcy older sister told me, she started to frequent bad people, and some of them ended chasing her to the prom. Nobody knows how, but the gym caught fire. Nobody could prove she had been responsible though."

"That sounds something straight from a bad movie." Jennifer said, shaking her head.

"You'd be surprised." Jubes commented, "We're not too far from Hollywood, after all."

"Good point." Jenny said.

"Yeah, LA is a bit crazy sometimes."

"Hey!" Jubilee said.

"Jubes, I'm from San Francisco, remember?" Rica said.

"And what happened to that girl after the fire?" Jenny asked.

"She moved out not too long after the fire, her parents divorced or something, I think." Rica said with a shrug.

Somewhere in the Rockies. Genesis Institute compound​

Marcy Monroe stepped out of her quarters, a nice, but somewhat spartan room, to meet the members of her group or "pod" as the bosses seemed to call them. They were Pod 7, who were supposed to train, study and be subject to tests together.

She looked around but didn't see anybody. Well, there were other quarters past the corner, so she went and almost collided with a mousy redhead with glasses, that was turning the corner at the same time, and both fell on their asses.

"Ouch, sorry, I wasn't looking." Marcy said, as she was getting up.

"I wasn't, either." the redhead said, getting up, "Pod 7, too?"

"Yeah." she extended her hand, "Marcy Monroe, from LA."

"Caitlin Fairchild, from Portland... uh, the one in Oregon, not the one in Maine." the redhead said, shaking Marcy's hand, "I was hoping to meet the others."

"Hey, you go to Hemery, don't cha?" another voice said from one of the doors, revealing a brunette with a dyed purple bang falling over her face, "I'm Roxy Spaulding, I think that we were in the same bus here."

 

[AntonioCC]

She turned to run toward the police building, as she had realized that it was the one from her vision, where the lightning...

"Crap!" she said as the lightning struck the top floor, exactly like in her vision, and exactly like in her vision she saw a flash from the upper floor.

She ran toward the building, only to find Ma and a young woman exiting it.

"What the Hell has happened?" Ma asked, alarmed by Rogue's expression.

"Lightning struck the top floor, and STAR labs..." Rogue started to say.

"Oh, God, Barry!" the woman said, running back to the building.

"...exploded." Rogue finished, and then turned to Ma "Should we go to help?"

"Yes, we still have time to go to the station." Ma said after looking at her watch.

CCPD Stairs​

Iris ran up the stairs, as the emergency generators hadn't kicked in yet, followed closely by the teen who was with Ma Hunkle. The older woman was following them at a more sedate pace. After several flight of stairs she finally reached the door... that was closed.

"Barry! Godammit, Barry, answer!" Iris said, hitting the door with her fist.

"Get out of the way." Rogue said, taking a fire extinguisher and using it to bash the lock with all her strength.

The lock gave way and they both burst into the lab. It was dark, the only illumination came from some emergency lights, but it was enough to see a body lying on the floor.

"Barry! Oh, my God!" she said running toward the body. After checking he was alive she got her phone, "Dead, damn it." She then turned to Rogue, who had followed her, "Can you...?"

"Yes, of course." Rogue said, checking her phone. Fortunately she had service and called 911. After calling two times, as the lines seemed to be a bit overwhelmed, both by the explosion and the storm that was being unleashed over the city, she managed to connect with the call center and appraise them of the situation.

Outside the Central City PD​

After the paramedics loaded Barry into the ambulance, Iris boarded it, leaving Ma and Rogue behind in the stairs to the building.

"I hope he is alright, he such a good boy..." Ma said, shaking her head. She composed herself and started to walk toward their car, when she caught sight of the time, "Dammit, we're gonna be late. Come on, get running"

They quickly boarded the car and Ma used her knowledge of both cities' street layout to arrive in just the nick of time, not noticing the man who was following them as they entered the station.

"Take care of yourself, and don't forget to write. My email is in the card I gave you." Ma said as Rogue boarded the train.

"I'll do it, thanks for everything, Ma." Rogue said, hugging the older woman just before she entered the train.

She sat in a window seat and waved to Ma as the train started to get in the way not too long afterwards. She leaned back, thinking that the most dangerous part of the journey was already behind, and hoping to catch some sleep on the way.

Keystone City Grand Station​

Sid Jefferson was looking at the people in the station going toward their buses. So far, she hadn't seen the girl that that fucking asshole Trent had sent her to look for. Just his luck that of all the possible FoH operatives, he had to work for him.

'Hmmm... nothing.' he thought as he walked past a group that just had entered the station, and then he stopped. A teen and an older woman had entered just behind the group.

At first sight, the teen looked nothing like the mutie they were following, but one of the reasons he was here was because he never forgot a face. As he looked at her with more attention, taking care of looking like he was doing something else, he realized that the girl was who she was looking for. Her hair color was different, and she wasn't using makeup, but it was clearly her.

He followed discretely, mindful of his instructions and that he didn't have any backup, and took note of the bus she was taking, and where it stopped. Then he went back and called Trent, informing him of the development. He got orders to go to one of the stops, and he figured that the other agents here would go elsewhere.

"So, I'm going to Topeka, boss?" he asked to confirm his orders.

"Yes, I'll meet you there." Trent answered on the phone.

 

[AntonioCC]

She furtively made pictures of both women to identify them later, and then went back to watch the group.

It seemed like a friendly occasion with Silas showing, despite his infirmity, that he hadn't lost anything of the charm he had made him such a ladies' man in his youth. The contrast with his grandnephew Bruce was staggering.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the roar of a black Italian sport car, a Lamborghini Murcielago if she remembered correctly, passing before the restaurant and going into the restaurant underground parking lot. There were damn few Lamborghinis in Gotham, who could...?

'Oh!' she thought, realizing who probably was in that car. The phone she was about to get back in her handbag went to the table, propped up so it would have a good view of the table, and she activated the app that projected the view of the camera into the special Bluetooth-equipped sunglasses she was wearing.

She kept eating, slowly enough so she would be there for the whole situation, although she didn't have to wait for long as a side door opened, the one that gave access to the lifts and Bruce Wayne stepped in. He was wearing a relatively informal getup, without a tie and with an open neck, as well as wearing sunglasses. Given the wince he gave once he stepped into the full light of the restaurant, last night party must have been one to remember. She'd have to look where he went last night, now that she thought about it, one of her contacts told her that one of his cars was seen downtown, close to a rave that was held last night.

Bruce went to the table and presented himself. Hmmm..., he seemed to be more subdued than usual; he usually could give Tony Stark a run for his money to in the bombast. Even Silas Wayne seemed puzzled to his demeanor... one moment, the blonde's reaction, she knows Bruce...

'I wonder on their exact relationship. She doesn't seem his type...' Vicky thought as he kept recording the scene.

Down at Silas' table​

Once the presentations had been made, and Bruce had sat on the table, they started to talk.

"Talking with Buffy yesterday, I got the impression that the prospects of Dawn being invited to your school were not good." Bruce said.

"You have to be always that blunt, Bruce?" Silas said with a wince, "Although now that he has raised the issue..."

 

[AntonioCC]

"I'm Roxy Spaulding, I think that we were in the same bus here."

"Sorry, I don't think that I know you." Marcy said, weirded because this girl that she hasn't seen in her life knew her name.

"Ah, sorry, I'm a friend of Jubes." Roxy said, apologetically, "She pointed you to me one day that we were in the mall."

"Who?" Marcy asked, not knowing anybody with that name.

"Jubes, don't you know her?" Roxy said, "Ah, wait, of course. Jubes is her nickname. She is Jubilation Lee, she goes to Hemery too, a first year student."

"Ahm yes, her." Marcy said, vaguely remembering that girl, "So, who else is in Pod 7?"

"Well, there is Grant and Bobby." Roxy said, "And I think that I hear mention Kleinman that there was another guy, but he haven't arrived yet."

"Grant Wilson and Bobby Lane." Caitlin supplied, "Bobby is in his room, taking a nap."

"And Mister Wilson?" Marcy said.

"Grant, please. Mr. Wilson is my father, and please spare me the 'Dennis the Menace' jokes, I have heard them all." a male voice said behind them.

When they turned , they saw that the voice belonged to a tall and athletic young man with curly blonde hair and a serious expression.

"Sorry that I wasn't here when you came, Miss Monroe, I was called away by Director Baiul." he said, offering his hand, "Welcome to Pod 7, I'm Grant Wilson, the team leader."

"Err, thanks." she said, shaking Grant's hand. She didn't know what it was, but there was something she didn't like about him.

"I would like to give you the whole welcoming tour, something a bit more in depth that what Ms. Kleinman has given you, but unfortunately, we have training in ten minutes,and can't wait for our last member to get his medical exams finished." he said, "Get changed into your athletic clothes, and get ready."

"Hmmm, Grant..." Caitlin said timidly, "Bobby is taking a nap."

"Don't worry I'll deal with him." he said.

Genesis Institute Command Center​

The entire sequence had been watched by Director Ivana Baiul and two blonde teens.

"See, Matthew, Nicole, that's why I put Grant on Pod 7 and not any of you." she said, looking at the two teenagers. "Now go down and play your part."

 

[AntonioCC]

Next morning. Topeka, Kansas. Train Station​

Rogue stepped down from the train, having used the train washroom to change her aspect once more, to something closer to her usual appearance, although without makeup and keeping the red dye on her hair, that was now collected in a short ponytail, and to further the disguise she was wearing sunglasses.

As she was walking, she thought back to the night on the train. It had been quite peaceful actually, as Irene's power seemed to have already faded almost completely, as the only thing she remembered from her dreams was seeing the blue-eyed guy from last night again. Well, now she had to see the instructions that Irene had left for her in the P.O. Box.

As she walked through the station she didn't notice a guy taking note of her, and starting to follow her unobtrusively, as well as how the guy called somebody with his cellphone.

"Answer the damn phone, you goddamned jackass." he said between clenched teeth as the phone rang for the tenth time.

As if he had heard it, an sleepy voice answered the phone.

"What the fuck do you want, Sid?" Alex Trent answered.

"I've found her." Sid said.

"Good, follow her, and keep me advised of where does she go." Trent answered on the phone, "I'll get there with some of the boys."

"I'll warn my own crew, too." Sid said.

"There is no need for that, my people..." Trent protested

"...stick out like a sore thumb in Kansas." Sid interrupted, "While my own men are local, or close enough."

"...Very well, you win." 'For now.' was left unsaid, and Trent closed the line.

Sid followed Rogue, as he sent a message to his people, to the parking lot and saw her take a taxi and heard her destination, a Post Office. He sent Trent and his people a message with the address, and took another taxi to that address.

Post Office​

The P.O. Box opened without a hitch and as she expected, there was a letter inside addressed to her, written in Irene's neat handwriting, including a note to open it right in that moment.

'Okay, this is seriously weird.' she thought, before shrugging, opening the envelope and star to read.

After a brief salutation, Irene went right to the heart of the matter.

'Crap!' she thought as she read the letter and looked around. From where the box was she could see the parking lot and there were a group of people seemingly hanging around, but in a way that effectively cut her escape. She went back to reading the letter, and upon reading the next paragraph she smiled.

 

[AntonioCC]

"There was a sudden opening. I would give a more detailed explanation, but we are being watched." Xavier said.

"Yes, a woman in the upper level has not stopped looking at us since we arrived." Buffy said, without looking up, "She is pretty good, though."

"You mean Miss Vale? She probably got notice of Uncle Silas coming here." Bruce said, in a casual tone, "No offense, uncle, but you have become enough of a hermit in your old age that any outing of you would attract attention." and then he added to the benefit of the non-gothamites, "Miss Vale is a journalist of the Gotham Gazette. From what I know, she is currently covering society pages."

"A paparazzi? Wonderful." Buffy said with distaste.

"Not at all. She is not covering society events because she likes it. Her last article couldn't be published because it stepped on the toes of some 'honest'..." he airquoted, "...businessmen without enough proof, and she has been exiled to the society pages until things calm somewhat."

"By honest businessman you mean Carmine Falcone, don't you?" Silas said with evident distaste.

"Unfortunately." Bruce said with a grimace, and then explained, "Carmine Falcone is supposed to be the big man in the Gotham's underworld, but nobody has ever managed to get enough proof to put him behind bars."

"Mostly because the proof disappears, witnesses suffer sudden bouts of amnesia or die on suspicious accidents and things like that." Dawn said, "What? I have seen enough movies to know where it was heading."

"Yes, that's pretty much correct, Dawn." Silas said.

The Monk's lair. Blackout's room​

Dala entered the room, a glorified storeroom with a cot, and asked point-blank.

"You know people in organized crime here in Gotham, do you?"

"Not many. Apart from the Red Hoods, who are probably now all dead or behind bars, there is the Middleman."

"The Middleman?"

"Yeah, do you want something? Weapons, drugs, antiquities, hitmen, exotic animals, or any other thing? He has contacts that can provide them, and he only collects a fee." Blackout said.

"Interesting. Could you put us in contact with him?"

"I don't see why not, but what is in that for me?"

 

[AntonioCC]

Both teens nodded before leaving, though it was obvious that Matthew was not happy. Frankly, she didn't give a damn about his hurt feelings as long as he did what he was ordered to, and in case he wanted to protest...

"I assume that the control measures on our terrible trio has been implemented." she asked Kleinman, who had been staying in the back of the room while she talked with the twins.

"Ja, when they got their last medical exam." Kleinman, a burly, black-haired woman in her fifties answered, but before she could add anything, she received a message through her earpiece, "Excuse me, Frau Direktor, but it seem that Mister Chang is proving... difficult, during the exam."

"Go ahead; I'll keep watch on our new recruits." Baiul said.

Kleinman nodded, and went through one of the doors, meeting on it the security chief of the complex.

"I have increased the security on the corridors, and the exits." he said without preamble, "Electronic locks and movement detectors are nice to have, as well as the automated armed platforms, but few things replace trained guards on... containing unruly 'students', without killing them."

"Good thinking, Colonel Law." Ivana said approvingly, "We don't want to lose an investment because of a temper tantrum, the budget is under tighter constrains than in the old times." She then turned to watch one of the monitors, where Pod 7 was being led through the corridors by Wilson, "Let's see how our newer group fares in the physical training."

Genesis Institute Gym​

The group entered the gym, and almost collided with another group that had, given the fact that they looked as if they had just showered, finished their training. A native-American girl around her age that was massaging her temples caught Caitlin's eye, as she looked vaguely familiar for some reason.

"Hey, Fairchild, you are falling behind." Bobby said, interrupting her woolgathering.

"Sorry." Caitlin said, walking briskly toward the group. Bobby Lane had turned to be a slim guy with spiked blonde hair and a soul patch, and according to him the only person that remained was somebody called 'Grunge'. When asked if that was his name, Bobby smiled and said that she'll see.

Grant had stopped before a boy and a girl that looked like brother and sister, but before he could say anything, the attention of everybody was grabbed by a commotion on the opposite side of the gym, as a long haired Asian teen, clad on an hospital robe, ran from a burly woman in the staff uniform of the Institute and a couple guards.

 

[AntonioCC]

Outside a Post Office. Topeka, Kansas​

"Are you sure she hasn't give us the slip?" Trent asked.

"Positive, she has retrieved something from a PO Box, and she is now reading it." Sid answered, with an eye roll.

"Hmm..." Trent said as only answer. As much as he hated work with the likes of Jefferson, he had to admit that he was competent. He turned his gaze to the office, or more properly, to the armed guard outside.

They couldn't enter to pick her up, but she only had one way to exit the office and she couldn't stay there forever. He was tempted to send somebody out to call for reinforcements, as the cell coverage in the area was still down after last night's storm, but he dismissed it instantly, twelve people, not including Sid and himself, should be enough to keep a teenage girl controlled.

"She's making a call." Sid said. Trent looked and, effectively, she was making a call through a payphone on the outside of the office. "Good luck in calling the cops, with last night's storm, they are probably..."

His words were interrupted by the coming of a delivery van, which parked just before the doors, blocking the view of the doors and the pay phone.

"Just our luck." Sid commented, "I can't believe she gave you the slip in Central City."

"It doesn't change anything, actually. She can't get out of the parking without us seeing her." Trent said, choosing to ignore Jefferson jape, as difficult as it was for him, as a taxi went and parked just inside the blind spot caused by the delivery van, and got out like a bat out of hell just after a moment, "Fuuuck! Get back to the cars and chase that taxi!"

As they ran to their cars and started to chase the taxi, nobody noticed how Rogue started to walk down the street, having sent the taxi to the other end of the city. She was hoping that the distraction would give her enough time to shake her pursuers.

Unfortunately for her, Trent's rental car had ignition problems and chose that moment to refuse to start. He was about to open the hood to see if he could fix it, while a couple of his men waited inside, ready to start the car at his signal, when he noticed a girl walking down the street.

"It's the mutie bitch." he said as he recognized her, just loud enough for the others to hear it, "Come on, let's go, before we lose her."

"Shouldn't we tell...?" one of his men said as he got out of the car.

"That uppity bastard of Jefferson? Come on, we have to show that we are better than thrash like him." Trent said with a sneer, before he started to walk briskly in the same direction Rogue was going.

 

[AntonioCC]

At first they were gaining ground quickly, until the girl noticed them, he supposed, becasue she was walking at a quicker pace after they turned a corner. Thank God that that there was no alleys where the bitch could hide until they passed. They sped up to catch up with her, but she sped up her pace again.

When they started to run, Rogue started to do the same. It was not that long before both Rogue and her pursuers were running as fast as they could, and unfortunately, Trent and his minions longer legs and greater fitness meant that Rogue's advantage was quickly eroding, even after she threw her backpack in a dumpster.

/\​

Rogue looked back, and it didn't look good, those creeps were quickly gaining on her, even after throwing away the backpack. Maybe if she turned right in the next intersection, and tried to hide in a porch, they would pass and shge could go back to the dumpster.

As she reached the corner, she looked back at her pursuers, so she couldn't see what was on her way. A moment she was looking back, trying to gauge how much time she had, and the next she found herself sitting on the ground, her front hurting as if she had collided with a steel wall.

"Are you well, miss? I didn't saw you." a kind voice with a midwest accent asked, at the same time that a hand appeared on her field of vision, she looked up as she took the hand and used it as leverage to get up, and saw the same unearthly blue eyes she had been seeing in her dreams since she left Caldecott County. The guy they belonged to had messy black hair that fell in a boyish curl over his forehead, a red leather jacket slightly open over a blue t-shirt, jeans and workboots.

"Ah wasn't looking either. Sorry, Ah gotta.." she started to say when a voice interrupted her, as somebody gripper her arm and pulled her back.

"Found you, bitch."

/\​

Trent had left behind his two minions by a good margin when he turned a corner and saw the girl there. Without thinking it twice, he took a grip on her arm, checking in the last moment that it was covered by a sleeve, and pulled her to him.

"Found you, bitch." he said, smiling cruelly.

"Who the Hell are you?" a voice said, and he looked up, surprised, and cursing his luck. But he relaxed a bit when he saw that it was a farmboy trying to play tough guy, what with the leather jacket and all of that. But, as he looked again, there was something about him that set his teeth on edge, maybe it was the eyes, how somebody could have eyes so fucking blue?. Anyway, he had the bitch and teh farmboy better to piss off or else.

"Get off, kid, and nobody will get hurt." he said, producing his gun from the back, "Do you understand?"

 

[Prince Charon]

"Who the Hell are you?" a voice said, and he looked up, surprised, and cursing his luck. But he relaxed a bit when he saw that it was a farmboy trying to play tough guy, what with the leather jacket and all of that. But, as he looked again, there was something about him that set his teeth on edge, maybe it was the eyes, how somebody could have eyes so fucking blue?. Anyway, he had the bitch and teh farmboy better to piss off or else.

"Get off, kid, and nobody will get hurt." he said, producing his gun from the back, "Do you understand?"

Click to shrink...

Ooh. I think I know who Rogue found...

 

[AntonioCC]

Ooh. I think I know who Rogue found...

Click to shrink...

A guy in blue who tends to hangs around Kansas?

 

[AntonioCC]

Threatening him with a gun didn't have the effect Trent wanted as before he could do anything, he felt the gun being removed from his hand. He looked only to see the kid crunching it on his hand.

"Another freak." he said, taking a step back, but not letting Rogue go, just as his two minions appeared in the corner, "Finish him, guys, while I secure the bitch."

Both guys nodded as he started to run back to the Post Office. He didn't think that those two would stop the freak for long, but by now, even somebody like Jefferson should have realized that the taxi was a ruse and come back as fast as he could.

He snickered when he heard the boom of a shotgun from behind him; Martin must have gotten out the sawed-off shotgun before the freak could do anything. But then, to his surprise, he felt the air move, like an errant breath of wind, and, suddenly, the freak was standing before him.

'How the Hell?' Trent thought, before looking back and seeing one of his minions passed out.

At least the freak hadn't escaped completely unscathed, as his red jacket was done for, barely covering a completely unharmed blue t-shirt underneath with an strange red and yellow symbol, like an S inside a diamond.

"Let her go." he said.

"Don't think so." Trent said, producing a knife from his pocket, "Now you'll turn..." he started to say before he felt a bare hand closing over the hand where he had the knife, and a general feeling of weakness overtaking him. He had enough time to realize that the bitch must have removed a glove, before falling unconscious.

/\​

Clark looked at the fleeing man for a moment, but that moment of distraction was all that one of the thugs needed to get a sawed off shotgun from his clothes and shoot him in the chest.

The impact made him stagger a bit, and silently cursed the... thing that had been awakened by last night storm, as he wasn't fully recovered of the fight yet.

He looked down for a microsecond, seeing that the jacket was ruined, but the shirt where Ma Kent had serigraphied the symbol on the pod was still intact. It wasn't the first time something like this happened, but it always looked strange to him.

He decided not to take any more risks, and he used his super-speed to disarm the thugs, before bopping them on the head very softly. After examining them with his x-ray vision and noting that he hadn't made any permanent damage, he ran to intercept the first man.

Standing before him, he tried to make him drop the weapon, but to no avail as he threatened the girl with a knife.

It was in that moment, when he received a surprise as the girl, who seemed to have removed one of her gloves somehow, put a hand on the other man hand, and the man dropped down after a moment, unconscious. He looked at the fallen man, while the girl put back the glove she had removed.

"Will he...?" he asked, wary of the girl.

"Recover? Ah think so, Ah only drained him for a few seconds." she said, before starting to massage her temples, "Let me guess, you received a note telling you to come to this area."

"...Pretty much. Did you...?" he asked, her wariness not receding.

"...Send it? No, but the person who probably did it was the one who directed me to go to this area of Topeka." she said, "I'm a bit tired of being played like a pawn on a chessboard." she opened her eyes and winced immediately, before talking again, "I suppose that you don't have Tylenol or Aspirin, right?"

"No, I don't have anything on me, why?" he asked.

"I should have let you deal with him, Ah got a look at his mind when Ah drained him." she said, "Because of that, I have a killer headache; his head is not a pretty place."

Clark looked at her, she looked sincere, and he was still smarting after Lana gave him a wholly deserved dressing down last night. His mistrust had almost get Pete killed.

"Do you live somewhere near here?" he asked, an idea starting to take shape in his mind.

"No. I have been fleeing since my powers... activated. They are always on, you know." she said, "I have nowhere to go, and I have been keeping just barely ahead these... bastards since Central City."

"You can stay at my home, if you want." he said, having decided to follow his instincts.

She looked at him, suspicion evident in her face, before sighing.

"Okay." she said, "It's not like I have another place to go... but before, can we go to recover my backpack? I have all my things there."

/\​

While Rogue retrieved her backpack from the dumpster, neither her nor Clark noticed a trio of teens observing them from the roof of a nearby building.

"Brainy's aim is getting better, we arrived within a few days and only a few hundred klicks of our target this time." one of them commented, a blond guy with a blue and white shirt decorated with lightning motifs.

"Yeah, and now the great decision, we wait or risk another jump?" the only girl of the trio, a short haired blonde with a red and white shirt, with a ringed planet symbol on it, said, "Rokk, Garth, what do you think?"

"I think we should wait, Imra. The Sphere can cloak and travel under its own power, and we can use those days to contact him." Rokk, the leader of the trio, a black haired teen, slightly older than the other two, and dressed in black except for a purple band on his shoulders, said, "What's your opinion?."

"I agree." Garth said.

"So do I. Brainy may disagree, but he isn't here, right?" Imra said, "Besides, that would give us time to do some historical research. What we have about the pre-Great Disaster era is spotty at best."

"Yeah, okay." Garth said with a handwave, "By the way, that girl is one of the X-Men, right?"

"Not yet, if memory serves." Imra answered, "And yes, I would like to meet my ancestors too."

"I don't." Rokk said, "Braalians have enough bad reputation in the United Planets without reminding them of what Magneto did."

 

[Prince Charon]

Nice part, and I like your implication about the origins of the various types of empowered 'alien' humans.

 

[AntonioCC]

Nice part, and I like your implication about the origins of the various types of empowered 'alien' humans.

Click to shrink...

Thanks, and actually, I just used elements of one of the many Legion of Superheroes retcons (where many of the human 'aliens' were descendants of people the Dominators experimented on).

 

[Prince Charon]

Thanks, and actually, I just used elements of one of the many Legion of Superheroes retcons (where many of the human 'aliens' were descendants of people the Dominators experimented on).

Click to shrink...

I think I remember that one. It was the Reboot Legion, and resulted in Lar Gand being worshipped because he's the one who brought those groups to their planets.

 

[AntonioCC]

I think I remember that one. It was the Reboot Legion, and resulted in Lar Gand being worshipped because he's the one who brought those groups to their planets.

Click to shrink...

Actually teh original idea was a retcon to the original Legion (part of the series of retcons related to the erasure of pre-Crisis Superboy) that carried to the reboot (where they added the worship angle).

 

[AntonioCC]

The coast of Greenland. Close to the Arctic Circle​

Irene smiled, as her powers warned her that Rogue has made contact with the Starchild, and with that the worst of the possible futures had been averted Unfortunately, time resists change and some possibilities remained open that were almost as bad. That is why she was here, to redirect somebody's search elsewhere.

She left the sleigh and its driver behind, not that he had wanted to get nearer, as she followed the sounds of heavy machinery excavating on the ice.

She stopped when she reached the fence that surrounded the whole hollow where the machines were excavating. Although she couldn't see it, she knew that he had started to unearth a vehicle that crashed here decades ago.

Before she had even managed to touch the fence, she felt it, even through the layers of clothes she was wearing, the displacement of the air caused by the moving of the magnetic field that meant he was there.

"Hello, Erik." she said at the man standing before her.

"Irene, what brings you here?" Magneto said, "Have you decided to join my Acolytes, despite what you said a couple days ago?"

"My answer is the same than then. I only came to warn you that the wreck you have located is not what you are looking for.... And that you have attracted SHIELD attention with your excavation."

"Why would SHIELD...?" Magneto started to say, and then he realized how wrong had been, "It's HYDRA's ultimate weapon, the Valkyrie."

"Exactly. The alien derelict is somewhere else, and it won't be discovered by you in any future that I can see." Irene said. "I'm sorry, Erik, but that's the truth."

"But the Vakyrie may still contain the Tesseract..." Magneto said, thinking back to what he knew of HYDRA, "And with it..."

"No, it's not. It dropped to the sea during the fight between Captain America and Red Skull." Irene said, shaking her head, and letting Magneto come to his own conclusions about the fate of the First Avenger, "SHIELD found it, though it has been inert since." 'Though not for long, if my visions are right.'

Magneto didn't answer immediately. Irene could almost see him in her mind's eye, his shoulders slumping when he realized that most of his plans had vanished in smoke. 'Now, if it was so easy for him to abandon his other plans...'

"Very well, Irene. Do you need a lift?"

"No, I have a sleigh waiting for me behind that rock." she said, shaking her head, "I suggest you hurry, SHIELD will be here in less than an hour."

Friends of Humanity HQ. The next day​

Trent looked down as Trask and Creed left the briefing room, leaving only the white haired man behind. Creed had given him a savage dressing down, while Trask had icily informed him he was confined to HQ until further notice.

"You know, they are right, you goofed up." the man said, stepping into the light, allowing him a good look at him. He hadn't noticed before he had a goatee, or that he had golden eyes.

"Tell me something that I don't know." Trent said, "I should have told Martin or Garrison to call Jefferson through the payphone, while trying to keep my distance from the mutie bitch."

"Pretty much. But I'm not here to talk about your failure." the other man said, "It's about the a... about who stopped you."

"What about him? Just another freak, birds of a feather and all that jazz." Trent said with a shrug, although he was interested, he had been about to say something else, but he had stopped himself.

"Do you know that we have already a dossier on him?" the other man said.

"I had no idea," Trent answered.

"Yes, not providing you with the info was an oversight." he said, "Come with me and I'll told you what we have."

"Okay," Trent said, following the other man through the door."

"He is somewhat of an urban legend, the 'Kansas Super-Boy', they call him. He started to act around five years ago, or so, saving people, getting kittens down from trees, the usual."

"I sense a but incoming." Trent said.

"And you'll be right. His actions are centered on a small town called Smallville." the other man continued.

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Trent asked.

"A meteor storm almost eighteen years ago wrecked parts of the town and the county." the other man informed him, "And apparently the meteorites carried a mutagenic substance..."

He explained to him how exposition to the meteorites gave powers to some people in some circumstances, and how the Super-Boy had stopped a lot of them and how SHIELD had been trying to dispose of the mutagenic mineral for years.

"That's why our people have to act very carefully in that town." the man said, stopping before a vault-like door, with a number keypad on it,

"I suppose that this is my cue to go back to my quarters." Trent said, knowing that the area beyond the door was restricted.

"Actually, I want to make you an offer," He said, keying the code to open the door, "Our ultimate weapon to deal with those... things lies beyond this door. If you step inside, you will be a part of this project, under my direct command in the special projects section."

"Are you kidding me?" Trent said, with a smirk, "Of course I'm in."

"Good." the man said with a matching smirk in his face, "In that case, I'm Sebastion Gilberti, or as the people of the project is calling me, Bastion."

"Thank you, Bastion." Trent said as he stepped inside the door, and saw the giant robotic shapes being assembled inside.

"Welcome to Project Sentinel, Mr. Trent."

 

[AntonioCC]

Somewhere in the Midwest​

If he could still breathe, Adrian would had done so in relief when he got the news that Rogue had arrived to Smallville with Kal-El, through his hacking of traffic cameras. Thawne's and Allen's careless temporal bungling promised to be one of his greatest headaches in the next few years, as this incident showed. At least Garrick would prove to be an stabilizing influence in the young speedster.

At least he had the Wizard out of his metaphorical hair, as the time when he'll have to pass his powers to a new Champion approached. And with it, the return of the Wizard's former pupil.

But that was still some time from now. He quickly checked on his earlier self, still blissfully unaware of his true nature, and then on his old friends, who had started to gather... and in fact, they were going to recruit Priscilla right now. He quickly checked his databanks, and he would have frowned if he had still a face. It was a bit earlier than he remembered, although well within the margins of acceptable butterflies.

He dug a bit further in the data stream, nonetheless, and his worry deepened a bit more, IO had moved against her earlier for no discernible reason. He would have to do an analysis in depth of the causes, in case there was another time traveller around he didn't notice, but before that, he did a quick check of other places and saw that things were mostly still on their rails, though Lynch and his combat gynoid sidekick seemed to have vanished from the face of the Earth.

Interesting... he had almost missed it, but apparently the Legion had made an appearance. By their apparent youth and the group composition, it was very early in their career, so they were probably after Kal-El. He would keep an eye on them, just in case, although they tended to be more careful in their time travels than the Flash family. Now, what were the Doctor and Jenny doing right now?

Central City. Ma Hunkle's Bed and Breakfast Inn​

Ma tsked as she surveyed the damage. The storm had been unusually strong for this time of the year, even before the particle accelerator exploded. As such, the damage to the place had been substantial. She started to put things order, aided by her family, when the phone rang.

"Ma Hunkle's Inn. We're currently closed, but if..." she started to say the usual spiel that she had been repeating since she came to the Inn to any call.

"Abigail?" a voice that she knew quite well interrupted her.

"Rex!" she exclaimed delighted in hearing from her old friend, "How are you? And Wendy and Rick?"

"I'm fine, and so are they, but listen, do you have Ted Grant's contact info?."

"Yes, I have it, but why me? Johnny Chambers was the one with the Society rolodex." Ma said.

"Apparently it got torn out during one of their... discussions." Rex said.

"Oh." she said. Libby and Johnny's relationship had always been tempestuous, and she was not really surprised that some things would have broken in one of them. Their divorce a couple years ago hadn't come out as a surprise, being the third time that it had happened. "Okay, let me search in my agenda." She finally said, starting to rummage in her handbag for the small booklet where she kept the phone numbers, "What's so urgent, by the way?"

"Not by phone. But, are you free two weeks from now?" Rex said.

"I think so." she said, producing the booklet, "Hang on, I have the number."

"One moment," Rex said, probably to grab a pen, "Go ahead." The sound of a pen against paper could be heard while Ma gave him the number, "Thanks, Abigail. Al will be there in a couple days to explain things in person."

Smallville, Kansas​

A lone biker stopped just before the "Welcome to Smallville" sign and looked at it, and specifically to the two smaller signs after it: "Meteor capital of the Midwest" and "Home of the Superboy". He shook his head, and was about to start the bike again when he sniffed the air lazily, and looked around startled.

"What the fucking Hell?" Logan said, his claws slipping out in reflex. When nothing got out to attack him, and his brain had time to process that the smell he had caught was a few days old, he relaxed slightly, "Things got a lot more complicated, if some of those... things are around here."

He took a deep breath, starte dthe bike again and rode into the town.

---

Clark and Rogue further adventures, as well as their meeting with Logan, will be chronicled in "Kids of Tomorrow", the final part of "Last Son of Krypton". And Ma Hunkle and the Society will be part of a two-parter in the near future.

 

[Prince Charon]

Drawing a blank on who Adrian is, unless he's Veidt. Even less of a clue who Priscilla is.

 

[AntonioCC]

Drawing a blank on who Adrian is, unless he's Veidt. Even less of a clue who Priscilla is.

Click to shrink...

Wildstorm characters. 'Adrian' uses this name to differentiate himself from his present self who has a body and is called Hadrian,

Spoiler

Spartan from the WildCATS, and Priscilla is Priscilla Kitaen, AKA Voodoo from the same team, Spartan's love inteest in the comics.

 

[AntonioCC]

"I don't see why not, but what is in that for me?" Blackout said, looking straight at the vampiress.

"Do you mind settling in New Orleans?" she answered.

"Not at all, why?' he asked, thinking about what he knew about New Orleans, and guessing the answer.

"We have an... understanding with the New Orleans authorities." Dala said, confirming his guess.

"Oh?" Blackout said, interested.

"Yes, you would be one of our security people in the docks, once we finish our things here." Dala said, obviously not wanting to elaborate further.

"Okay, it will be a change, holding a steady job for a change, even if it is as a legbreaker." Blackout said, "What do you want for the Middleman?"

"Why you don't give us...?" Dala asked.

"...the means to contact him? Sorry, lady, but the man is very careful in exposing himself." Blackout said, his steel fangs gleaming in a not quite smile, "I don't think I ever met him personally, actually, all the talk was done through phone or e-mail, or through one of his minions, and even then I wouldn't swear that I could recognize the guy, the minion, I mean, if I saw him walking down the street."

"Merde..." she said under her breath, before continuing, "There are certain... antiques our agents bought abroad, and we need them in Gotham soon without too many questions."

"And...?" Blackout asked.

"And the Batman and that Slayer just disposed of the people we were going to use for that." she said.

"And they need to be moved here, right?" he guessed.

"No, we have them in another place." Dala said, smiling for the first time since they had started to talk, "No use in having all eggs in the same basket, right?"

A top of the line restaurant in Gotham​

Vicky observed the Wayne group as they finished the meals, and went their way, while she was paying, including a generous tip for the waiter. She then ran through the stairs to the underground parking lot, to arrive fast enough to be able to follow them. It was touch and go, but she managed to tail the cars, that didn't separate until they reached Silas Wayne residence, a relatively modest, for a Wayne, two-story house, with a small garden, in one of the better parts of the city.

Paparazzi would try to get photos by climbing a lamppost or something, but she was not willing to stoop so low, so she turned around and went back to the Gazette, and there she went directly to the IT guy in the basement.

"Hi, Ed." she said, giving him the memory card, "I have several pictures and a video recording..."

"Shhh..." the red-haired guy at the computer said lifting a finger, without even looking at her, "I want to see it for myself, Victoria, and see who is there and what and who are they doing."

Vicky refrained herself from rolling her eyes. If Nashton wasn't that good in this stuff, his little quirks, like trying to turn everything into solving some kind of puzzle, enigma or riddle, would had him fired long ago. At least he wasn't Day, the other IT guy, with his scheduling mania.

 

[AntonioCC]

"Herr Chang, stop running. We only need a bit of your blut for analytics." the woman said, with a German accent.

"No, no, no, you're not going to stick a needle on me." he said, panic clear in his face. He ran wildly, not noticing that the blonde guy had put his foot in the way, making him fall to the ground.

"Danke, Herr Callahan." the woman said as she expertly immobilized the teen, before the guards took him back to the infirmary.

"Well, that was our missing podmate, Percival Edmund Chang." Grant said, with an apologetic tone.

"Although he prefers to be called Grunge." Bobby supplied.

"Because he likes that kind of music?" Caitlin guessed.

"That too." Bobby said.

"Really?" Roxy said, wrinkling her nose, as she realized what Bobby was implying.

"Yeah, he is not all that fond of bathing." Bobby confirmed with a shrug.

"What a pig." Caitlin commented.

Meanwhile, Kleinman had taken the blood from the restrained teen while he was squealing like a pig, and then she gave the signal to the guards to let him go.

"Auf wiedersehen, kinder." she said, as she left with the guards, while leaving Grunge in the ground, who was rubbing his arm, where she had taken blood.

"Well, Mr. Chang, now that you are here, I can make the presentations." he then turned to face the other members of Pod 7, and pointing to the boy and girl that were expecting them, "People, these are Matthew and Nicole Callahan, they have been through the same training you are going to receive, and now they had been tasked to help the rookies like us, any question?"

East Los Angeles​

The taxi left them before a warehouse that had seen better days.

"This place doesn't look like the office of a Foundation like those guys are supposed to be." Jenny observed, looking to the general estate of the area, "I'm starting to think that this was not a good idea."

"We warned you that a good part of this area is gang territory." Rica said, "Why do you think I didn't want to come in my car?"

"Yeah, just our luck that the listed address in LA for that 'Genesis Foundation' is in the midst of Diablos' territory." Jubilee said, "And it looks abandoned, to boot."

"Yeah, let's give a look around the building to see if there is some way to enter." Rica said.

"And if we find some gangbangers?" Jenny asked apprehensively looking around, as some young men loitering in the streets were starting to look at them.

"Let me talk to them, okay?" Rica said.

"Bueno, linda, puedes empezar a hablar ahora mismito." a voice to their back said.

"What?" Jenny said, looking around.

As if called by a signal, other people, mostly young men, but also a few tough-looking girls also, appeared from the other warehouses, while the people loitering either got closer, blocking completely any way to escape or started to run.

"He said that you can start to talk now." another voice said, behind the main group, revealing another guy, a skinny guy with a shaved head and tattoos in his face to make it look like a skull, "I am Diablo, and this is my territory."

 

[AntonioCC]

This is the final part of the "Last son of Krypton" trilogy, although it's also connected with 'Flight of the Rogue'. The actions pick up roughly after Clark saves Rogue from the FoH thugs in 'Flight'.

---

Close to Smallville, Kansas. The day after the Great Storm​

Clark had received a letter without sender, asking him to be in a place in Topeka at a certain hour, '...and talk with the Goth girl that was going to arrive a bit later. She is in trouble, and needs your help'. It worried him that somebody had discovered that he was the so-called 'Kansas Superboy', and he feared a trap, especially given he was still not fully recovered from yesterday. But he would never be able look himself at the mirror again, if he left somebody to suffer, so he put on what Pete had once jokingly called his 'work clothes', and ran to Topeka.

Once he had arrived to the general area, he had gone slower and he had just turned a corner when the girl had collided with him, chased by a trio of thugs with guns. To his (not so great, admittedly) surprise the girl had turned to have powers, too, and had knocked out the last of the thugs herself. After recovering her things, that she had ditched trying to escape the thugs, he had offered her to house her at home.

"So you are this 'Superboy'?" the girl, Rogue as she had wanted to be called, asked as they passed close to the 'Welcome to Smallville' sign, with the two addenda about being the meteor capital of the Midwest and being the home of the 'Superboy'.

"Yes, it was a nickname people gave me when I started saving people, and only got a glimpse of the shirt. By the time I heard it, it had taken a life of its own." Clark said, "Not that it matters much, really, if they call me Superboy or Simba."

"How the hell are we talking normally?" she asked, "Ah mean, Ah have been in a convertible, and the noise alone..."

"I have some kind of aura that I can extend to whatever or whoever I am carrying." Clark said, as he saw a couple of familiar landmarks, that they passed less than a second later, and then he stopped before a house close to the road, with a couple barns behind it, and a cornfield not that far.

"So that bastard was not that far off in calling yah a farmboy, right?" Rogue said, referring to one of the insults that the thug leader had hurled to him.

"You could say that." Clark said.

"What's your name, by the way? With all the excitement, Ah forgot to ask." Rogue said, as she left her backpack in a corner.

"Clark Kent." he said, offering his hand.

"My birth name is Marie, but Ah prefer Rogue." she said, shaking it, after a moment checking that she still had the gloves on, "Do you have something to eat, Ah'm hungry."

"Come with me, I'll show you the kitchen." Clark said, as he started to walk, "So, what's your story? Got exposed to some green rock?

"What do yah mean?" Rogue asked, following him.

"There was a meteor storm about eighteen years ago..."

"Hence the meteor capital of the Midwest." Rogue commented, remembering what the Welcome to Smallville sign said.

"Yes and the meteors brought a mineral that have given powers to some people over the years. And did a number to the head of most of them." Clark said as he rummaged through the kitchen furniture.

 

[AntonioCC]

Silas Wayne home. Gotham City.​

Once Silas' butler had served the refreshments, tea for Silas, Charles and Ororo, coffee for Bruce, Buffy and Scott, and soda for the rest, and then removed himself from the room, Buffy was the first to talk.

"Professor, why don't you start from the beginning?" she said.

"Silas, do you remember what the grants I received from Thomas were for?" he asked.

"Something about atypical mutations on human DNA, if I remember correctly." Silas said.

"On broad strokes, that's right." Xavier said, before giving a condensed and simplified explanation about the x-gene and mutants, and then he told about he being a mutant and about his school, "...some people consider us mutants the next step in human evolution, some kind of Homo Superior."

"You don't agree." Silas said, recognizing Xavier disdain to that notion.

"The image of evolution as a series of steps from inferior to superior lifeforms is, while attractive and popular, completely wrong, and in fact evolution produces dead ends as much as successes, and frequently the difference between them is sheer chance." Charles explained, "Time will tell if mutants really become a further evolution of Homo Sapiens, or we're just another evolutionary dead end."

"And Dawn is a mutant?" Silas asked, and then noticed Bruce whole lack of surprise, "You knew?"

"She appeared yesterday night in the front porch of Wayne Manor, apparently stepping out from a portal." Bruce said, with a nod, "The terrain around the manor is covered by cameras and movement sensors, and Alfred monitors them. And when Buffy told me about your offer, I researched you, your work and your school. Joining the dots wasn't that difficult, though I have to recognize that I suspected less enlightened motives at first." he said with an apologetic smile, "But I want to know how did...?"

"How did I know?" Xavier said, "When the powers of a mutant awaken, it produces a spike of psychic energy that can be detected by a machine that I have developed, called Cerebro. Unfortunately, it vanishes very quickly, and Cerebro needs a powerful telepath to pinpoint the location and identity of that mutant."

 

[AntonioCC]

"And then you offer them a place in the school." Silas said, "But I gather that there are other people doing the same, with less altruistic intentions."

"Unfortunately, you are right." Xavier said, his gaze on the ground, "One of the first mutants that I met was a Holocaust survivor. I argued for peaceful integration, he was all for direct action, and we ended fighting. He has his own group of mutant terrorists now, and he is calling himself Magneto on account of his magnetic powers."

"Ouch." Buffy said, but whatever else she was going to say was interrupted by a loud buzzing from her handbag, "What the...?" she said, producing a cellphone from her handbag, "It's Izzy... Isabella Ferguson, from the NGO we are working with, I need to answer, you keep talking."

Buffy went to the corridor, while she pressed the button to answer the phone.

"Izzy? Did Xander call?" Buffy asked without preamble.

"Faith did, from Wakanda..." Izzy started to say, only to be interrupted by Buffy.

"From where?" She said, before dismissing it, and going back to the matter at hand, "It doesn't matter where they are, how are they?"

"Xander and Faith are well, but..."

"Ayesha." Buffy said, closing her eyes.

"Yes." Izzy said, "She was killed by the werehyenas they were chasing."

Buffy had to sit down on a nearby chair. A small part of her was relieved that it wasn't Faith, but that part was drowned by the grief on learning that the young Anglo-Arabian Slayer had been killed.

"Goddammit, I really hoped I was wrong and no one had died..." she said, after a moment.

"You know that this is not how this thing works." Izzy said.

"I know, I know, but 'Death is our gift' won't be of great help to the family and friends..." Buffy said, before pausing, "Xander, how is he taking it? He lost Anya and now Ayesha..."

"...I didn't talk with him, but, according to Faith, he is taking it better than she expected, but you know Xander better than me."

"Yeah, I do. I'll call Willow, and reserve air tickets for everybody to Gotham" Buffy said, knowing that Izzy knew that by 'everybody' she meant the surviving Scoobies, "Listen, the least we can do for her family is pay for the funeral and everything."

"I don't want to sound like McAuslan, bloody tightwad that he is, but are you sure?" Izzy said, "The funds are a bit tight right now, and the old coots may use it..."

"Don't worry about the money." Buffy cut her, "If necessary, I'll pay it from my own pocket."

"That means that Thomas Wayne left you something, I imagine."

"You could say that. I don't think that McAuslan and the other old coots keeping control of the moneybags are going to be a problem much longer."

"That much."

"Yes, but it's something that we can't discuss on the phone, okay?" Buffy said, "God, what a mess."

 

[AntonioCC]

"So, lindas, what are you doing here?" Diablo said after his dramatic entrance.

"Supposedly, this warehouse was the site of something called the Genesis Foundation..." Rica said, after a pause.

"Ah, those pendejos, sorry, chica, but they came, put esca... scaf... those orange things from construction sites all over this place, put a big plackard over the entrance, brought a number of office stuff, stayed a couple weeks, and then vanished one night with everything." Diablo said, "You came here for nothing, and now you have to..."

Whatever he was going to say was interrupted when an emerald beam knocked down several of the gangbangers. Rica and Jubes looked at Jenny, whose skin was now a vibrant green, a lighter shade than the light that had shot from her right hand, before going back to normal flesh tone in a moment. Rica made a hand gesture and the three girls started to run past the gangbangers toward the street.

They didn't dare to look back, not that they did need to as a big black muscle car appeared from nowhere and put itself between the gangbangers and the girls as soon as they had cleared the alley. The doors opened , and they asaw a bespectacled thin guy and a bald black man, who was driving, in the front seats.

"Come on!" the guy with the glasses said.

They boarded the car immediately.

"Get down!" The driver said as he started to accelerate while the car was peppered with bullets and a gout of flame that licked the trunk lid, "When did they get a flamethrower!?"

"They didn't, Gunn, that was Diablo's power. The reason why we were there, remember?" the guy with the glasses explained, with a mild British accent.

"Who the Hell are you, anyway?" Jubes asked before Rica could do the same.

"I'm Wesley Wyndham-Pice, and this is Charles Gunn." Wesley said, "We work for Angel Investigations, and we had heard some weird things about Diablo."

"I didn't believe it, gangbangers are always talking loads of crap about what their bosses can do." Gunn said, "But it seems that it was the truth this time."

 

[AntonioCC]

"Fruit or a sandwich? Everything else we have needs to be prepared, and..." Clark said as he closed the last cupboard he had been searching in.

"No problem. Give me an apple." she said, "That's how you got your powers? Being exposed to those meteor rocks?."

"...Not exactly." he said, trying to evade the question, as he took an apple from the fridge, "It's... complicated."

"Okay." Rogue said, not buying it, but deciding to leave it for later, as she caught the apple that Clark threw her "You don't know how to cook?"

"I know, the problem is that all my senses are... enhanced, so what may taste good to me can be completely bland to another." Clark explained, as he made a ham sandwich, "Ma is teaching me, but... Somebody is going around the house to the kitchen door."

"How do you...?" Rogue started to ask, before answering herself, "Supersenses, of course. Do you know who it is?"

"Yes to both." Clark said, opening the door, to let enter an attractive green-eyed redhead, "Hello, Lana."

"Hi, Clark. I saw you enter the house with... somebody." Lana said, stopping herself before coming face to face with Rogue.

"Lana, this is Rogue, I saved her from some thugs in Topeka today." Clark said, and turning to Rogue, "Rogue, this is Lana Lang, my best friend. She lives in the farm down the road with her aunt."

Smallville. Hartley Hunting and Sporting Goods.​

"Good morning. What can I do for you?" Isabelle Hartley said to the well dressed gentleman who had just entered the shop.

"I was told that you could have an Eagle-17 rechambered to 7.62 here." the gentleman said.

"No, but I know an weaponsmith that can do it for a fair prize." Isabelle answered, "I have the details in the workshop, if you come with me?."

"Of course."

The man followed Isabelle to the workshop where she nodded to a man working on some skates before entering the office. She closed the door, motioned the man to move close to the desk and pressed a button on it. The desk and the floor around it, including both people descended into a basement where some sophisticated equipment and a couple other people working on it could be seen. They stepped out of the desk space that slowly rose up to the office again.

"Ingenious," the man said, "I'm Felix Blake."

"Isabelle Hartley, and who had the idea of using 'Eagle-17' in the code phrase? Anybody with a bit knowledge of weapons here is going to know that there is only Eagle-15."

"Beats me." Blake answered with a shrug, "So, how are things going in the freak capital of the Midwest?"

 

[AntonioCC]

"God, what a mess." Buffy said, her eyes still closed. "Well, if that's all..."

"Hang on, Willow and Andrew are calling." Izzy said, "Hmm, do you mind if I made this into a conference call?"

"Go ahead." Buffy said.

"Is this thing on?" a very familiar and unexpected voice said.

"Giles? I thought it was Andrew and Willow calling?"

"I asked Andrew to set this... contraption, so I could call Headquarters."

"Still having problems with modern technology, Giles?" Willow said.

Giles tsked, and she could just see him cleaning his glasses.

"I assume that this call is about Ayesha."

"In part," Willow and Giles said at the same time. There was a pause for a moment, before Giles cleared his throat.

"Ayesha's death is a tragedy and I want to tell her parents personally, it's the least that I can do." he said, "Also, I think that we should..."

"...run with the expenses of the funeral? Already talked that with Izzy." Buffy said, "And if MacAuslan and his bunch get difficult, well, I have alternate means now."

"So the Waynes left you something in the will." Willow said.

"You can say that, but there are some other things that we should talk about in person." Buffy said, "Wills?"

"Well, I didn't know Ayesha much, but Xander had been closer to his old self since they were together, and that is always a plus in my books." Willow said, "Losing Ayesha is going to be hard for him, especially so soon after Anya."

"That's why I want everybody here in Gotham. He needs our support, something that we haven't given him much over the years." Buffy said, remembering some harsh words several months ago, "But we can deal with that later. What were those other things, beyond Ayesha that you wanted to talk about?"

"Andrew caught something on the Internet." Giles said, "I'll let him explain it."

"Buffy, ah, hello, and sorry for the pictures." Andrew said.

"What pictures?." Willow said, interested.

"We'll talk about that later." Buffy said with iron finality, "So, what did you find on the 'net?"

"Ah, yes, yesterday night, in the middle of the desert of New Mexico something fell from the sky during the storm." Andrew said, trying to sound mature, "A war hammer, with some peculiar inscriptions. I'm trying to get clearer images, but Internet is spotty in that area."

"A hammer and a storm? Why does that sounds familiar?" Buffy said.

"Norse mythology, Thor, the God of Thunder, wielded an enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, which only he could lift." Giles supplied.

"Okay, thanks, so a hammer, maybe Thor's, fell in New Mexico during the storm, right?" Buffy said.

"More than that. The storm took a wedge shape and started to disperse when the point reached the general area of New Mexico where the hammer fell, not too long after it fell."

"...Okay, that is quite more alarming." Buffy said.

"And that's not all; do you remember the 'Hulk' creature that was sighted in Culver U a few days ago?" Willow said.

"Yes?" Buffy said, it had been just before Dawn and her had to go to Connecticut, and everything that happened. "Ah, yes, when we arrived the area was cordoned by the Army."

"Well, there was another sighting of him, this time in Harlem, fighting against a similar creature in the midst of the storm." Willow explained.

"Did you manage to get something this time around?" Buffy said.

"No, the Army had cordoned the area, again." Willow said, "And Strange was doing his stuff between dimensions."