HOME | DD

Description

Stealth and Arch Angel returned to the hydro plant hideout lab in damaged condition. Arch Angel was missing both wings and his outer armor was scarred and burned through in spots from the nano thermite. Stealth was in similar shape, but her armor was even more heavily damaged.

They used the hidden entrance as usual, so the normal and ignorant hydro dam operators would not see anything. Upon entering the main work area, the two mechs saw a flurry of activity going on. The women were gathering equipment and other hardware while a few were tending to Ripper and Reaper. In the middle of the facility a large pile of paper files and computer hardware were being unceremoniously dumped, presumably to be destroyed.

Scorn greeted the two mechs with an unreadable face.

“Report.”

Stealth replied. “The distraction was only partly a success. The hired mercenaries for the downtown job were late and captured as we began our approach to the Powering Up ceremony. As a result, two unknown and unforeseen allies of the Batman arrived and further compromised our mission. During their assault, you called and ordered our return. I could not verify Tank's nor the Joker's deaths.”

Scorn looked between the two mechs and addressed Stealth. “Why did you proceed without confirmation of the first team being in place?”

“It took three calls to illicit a response from the merc leader, who said they were delayed. I calculated that they would never be in place in time, so I chose to move forward with the plan so as to keep the distraction up and to keep the Martian occupied. He is the only one who could have intercepted you if he had been notified. I detected a possible communique from the Justice Hall to his personal line, but it was during his encounter with Arch Angel. The Joker, as you predicted, was of no help, but Tank went off course immediately which further hampered our success.”

“No surprise.” Scorn said.

“What of the man and woman who arrived?” Stealth asked. “The woman seems capable of a supersonic projection that can be quite harmful to anything.”

Scorn paused and narrowed her eyes at Stealth. “Do you accuse me of something my dear?”

Stealth paused in response, but lack of facial muscles hid any sort of emotive reaction.

“No, it is not an accusation, but upon further analysis, it seems that this has been partly a test.”

Scorn's face lit up and smiled until her head went back in a laugh. “My wonder girl! You have come so far.” Then she turned to Arch Angel. “Tell me Angel, how did she do?”

Angel's head swiveled once to Stealth than turned to Scorn and answered. “Well, she did quite well for having no real combat experience. She adapted quickly to changing situations and made alternative choices when the situations changed outside of the original plan.”

“Excellent!” Scorn said. “Indeed, this was something of a test. You see Stealth, your compatriots are all seasoned fighters and strategists. They were also human and have tremendous experience in adapting to ever changing situations and circumstances. I guessed Batman or the Martian may call in reinforcements from somewhere, but I could not predict precisely who. The Arrow and Canary were top of the list, but Batman has been quite unpredictable.” She gave Angel and Stealth a closer visual inspection and continued. “It seems you've taken some serious damage, but survived with all circuits intact. Batman seems to have an endless arsenal of useful gadgets, so the best we can do to counter is to have our own set of defenses against numerous possibilities. That is something that can never be a solid factor as Batman is always thinking outside the box. However, it seems that the fire foam did the trick. And Angel, I believe the flames to disable the Martian worked quite well.”

“Yes. If we were not attacked by the two newcomers, I would have destroyed the Manhunter once and for all.”

“Tsk, tsk, Angel. If Batman was still up and mobile, that is not something you can assume. Even the pesky bird Robin had a hand in your defeat. An EMP with rotating magnetic flux. No doubt another Batman invention and operated by the boy, who was hidden and out of reach.”

“Yes ma'am. I stand corrected.” Angel said.

“And what of the Joker and Tank?”

Stealth answered. “I saw Tank toss Joker's body into a cement wall, but it was something he might survive. At the very least he is likely immobile and back in Gotham custody. As for Tank, I remotely turned off his life support system. His technology may fall into their hands, but he cannot survive more than a few minutes with out his system.”

“Good enough for now.” Scorn said. “Tank's armor is nothing too new and it will take even Wayne Tech engineers years to figure out the technology to adapt flesh with machine. And I doubt they'll be as willing to use live subjects.” She smiled.

“Have I passed the test?” Stealth inquired.

“In short, yes. There will always be more tests and most of them not by my design and that was the reason for this convoluted plan. So you could learn to multitask and adapt to changes when things did not go as planned. Indeed my dear, you did very well. You learned in months what most would take years to learn. Your adaptation to human experience is progressing beautifully. But you two are a mess. Modular pieces are ready and the ladies will replace your damaged parts and resupply your arsenals and defenses. Too bad that the Martian got away, it is unlikely he will be lured close enough to the flames again. So, we will have to equip all of you with some incendiary projectiles.”

“Where did you learn of this weakness in the Martian?” Angel asked Scorn.

“The one who has been helping me recently learned of this “safety switch” imparted to the Martian people by the Guardians of Oa.”

“The guardians what?...” Angel said.

Scorn grew impatient. “It matters not! Go to Lana and Eva and begin repairs, we need to leave ASAP, it's only a matter of time before Batman or the others figure out where this place is.

“As you command master.” Both mechs responded and then clanked off to receive their repairs.

Packing, repairs and dumping of unnecessary equipment progressed and by first light all was ready.

As everyone was finishing up, one of Scorn's entourage came up to her. “Ma'am, there is an airborne vehicle approaching fast. It is headed directly here and will arrive in fifteen minutes.”

Scorn smiled. “Humph. Even sooner than I expected. No sign of our envoy?”

“No ma'am.”

“Unfortunate. We may need to leave before it contacts us. I was hoping to leave the place and the nearby town in ruins, but now, perhaps, we can take out the heroes at the same time. Set the explosives to go off in thirty minutes. That should give them time to be fully inside and no time to get out. Are we ready to leave?”

“Yes Ma'am. The two trucks have already left and everyone else is on the invisible jet with engines running.”

Scorn tented her fingers. “Excellent.” And she gave the most sinister smile. “Let us be off!”

The timer was set and Scorn and the last woman were on board the jet in three minutes. They took off and were out of the area ten minutes before other jet arrived. Wonder Woman's jet would not be detectable by normal radar, but it is likely that Batman would have some other way to detect the plane. Scorn used Diana's knowledge to use false signature beacons to hide the plane rather than go invisible. They would be well out of visible range, so it would be better to act like a small personal aircraft seen on radar rather than trying to hide and get caught.

Once airborne, she turned on the signal and blended in with a few other craft in the area issuing mock flight patterns and flew off at a non distinguishing speed until they were out of the local airspace. She then adjusted course for the southern, eastern U.S. coast. From there, the next stop would be Themyscira, but she needed to make a couple of preparations before the final flight to Paradise Island. Nothing could go wrong there, or it could seriously damage her plans. As long as her benefactor over all this time held up his end, things would work out. She had a backup plan too if he turned out to be uncooperative. With Wonder Woman's strength and speed, she had full confidence in the plan ahead. Besides, it is in his best interest to go along with the plan.

Thanks for stopping by.

Some characters owned by DC Comics, copyrights may apply. Original story arc by me.

Description

Stealth and Arch Angel returned to the hydro plant hideout lab in damaged condition. Arch Angel was missing both wings and his outer armor was scarred and burned through in spots from the nano thermite. Stealth was in similar shape, but her armor was even more heavily damaged.

They used the hidden entrance as usual, so the normal and ignorant hydro dam operators would not see anything. Upon entering the main work area, the two mechs saw a flurry of activity going on. The women were gathering equipment and other hardware while a few were tending to Ripper and Reaper. In the middle of the facility a large pile of paper files and computer hardware were being unceremoniously dumped, presumably to be destroyed.

Scorn greeted the two mechs with an unreadable face.

“Report.”

Stealth replied. “The distraction was only partly a success. The hired mercenaries for the downtown job were late and captured as we began our approach to the Powering Up ceremony. As a result, two unknown and unforeseen allies of the Batman arrived and further compromised our mission. During their assault, you called and ordered our return. I could not verify Tank's nor the Joker's deaths.”

Scorn looked between the two mechs and addressed Stealth. “Why did you proceed without confirmation of the first team being in place?”

“It took three calls to illicit a response from the merc leader, who said they were delayed. I calculated that they would never be in place in time, so I chose to move forward with the plan so as to keep the distraction up and to keep the Martian occupied. He is the only one who could have intercepted you if he had been notified. I detected a possible communique from the Justice Hall to his personal line, but it was during his encounter with Arch Angel. The Joker, as you predicted, was of no help, but Tank went off course immediately which further hampered our success.”

“No surprise.” Scorn said.

“What of the man and woman who arrived?” Stealth asked. “The woman seems capable of a supersonic projection that can be quite harmful to anything.”

Scorn paused and narrowed her eyes at Stealth. “Do you accuse me of something my dear?”

Stealth paused in response, but lack of facial muscles hid any sort of emotive reaction.

“No, it is not an accusation, but upon further analysis, it seems that this has been partly a test.”

Scorn's face lit up and smiled until her head went back in a laugh. “My wonder girl! You have come so far.” Then she turned to Arch Angel. “Tell me Angel, how did she do?”

Angel's head swiveled once to Stealth than turned to Scorn and answered. “Well, she did quite well for having no real combat experience. She adapted quickly to changing situations and made alternative choices when the situations changed outside of the original plan.”

“Excellent!” Scorn said. “Indeed, this was something of a test. You see Stealth, your compatriots are all seasoned fighters and strategists. They were also human and have tremendous experience in adapting to ever changing situations and circumstances. I guessed Batman or the Martian may call in reinforcements from somewhere, but I could not predict precisely who. The Arrow and Canary were top of the list, but Batman has been quite unpredictable.” She gave Angel and Stealth a closer visual inspection and continued. “It seems you've taken some serious damage, but survived with all circuits intact. Batman seems to have an endless arsenal of useful gadgets, so the best we can do to counter is to have our own set of defenses against numerous possibilities. That is something that can never be a solid factor as Batman is always thinking outside the box. However, it seems that the fire foam did the trick. And Angel, I believe the flames to disable the Martian worked quite well.”

“Yes. If we were not attacked by the two newcomers, I would have destroyed the Manhunter once and for all.”

“Tsk, tsk, Angel. If Batman was still up and mobile, that is not something you can assume. Even the pesky bird Robin had a hand in your defeat. An EMP with rotating magnetic flux. No doubt another Batman invention and operated by the boy, who was hidden and out of reach.”

“Yes ma'am. I stand corrected.” Angel said.

“And what of the Joker and Tank?”

Stealth answered. “I saw Tank toss Joker's body into a cement wall, but it was something he might survive. At the very least he is likely immobile and back in Gotham custody. As for Tank, I remotely turned off his life support system. His technology may fall into their hands, but he cannot survive more than a few minutes with out his system.”

“Good enough for now.” Scorn said. “Tank's armor is nothing too new and it will take even Wayne Tech engineers years to figure out the technology to adapt flesh with machine. And I doubt they'll be as willing to use live subjects.” She smiled.

“Have I passed the test?” Stealth inquired.

“In short, yes. There will always be more tests and most of them not by my design and that was the reason for this convoluted plan. So you could learn to multitask and adapt to changes when things did not go as planned. Indeed my dear, you did very well. You learned in months what most would take years to learn. Your adaptation to human experience is progressing beautifully. But you two are a mess. Modular pieces are ready and the ladies will replace your damaged parts and resupply your arsenals and defenses. Too bad that the Martian got away, it is unlikely he will be lured close enough to the flames again. So, we will have to equip all of you with some incendiary projectiles.”

“Where did you learn of this weakness in the Martian?” Angel asked Scorn.

“The one who has been helping me recently learned of this “safety switch” imparted to the Martian people by the Guardians of Oa.”

“The guardians what?...” Angel said.

Scorn grew impatient. “It matters not! Go to Lana and Eva and begin repairs, we need to leave ASAP, it's only a matter of time before Batman or the others figure out where this place is.

“As you command master.” Both mechs responded and then clanked off to receive their repairs.

Packing, repairs and dumping of unnecessary equipment progressed and by first light all was ready.

As everyone was finishing up, one of Scorn's entourage came up to her. “Ma'am, there is an airborne vehicle approaching fast. It is headed directly here and will arrive in fifteen minutes.”

Scorn smiled. “Humph. Even sooner than I expected. No sign of our envoy?”

“No ma'am.”

“Unfortunate. We may need to leave before it contacts us. I was hoping to leave the place and the nearby town in ruins, but now, perhaps, we can take out the heroes at the same time. Set the explosives to go off in thirty minutes. That should give them time to be fully inside and no time to get out. Are we ready to leave?”

“Yes Ma'am. The two trucks have already left and everyone else is on the invisible jet with engines running.”

Scorn tented her fingers. “Excellent.” And she gave the most sinister smile. “Let us be off!”

The timer was set and Scorn and the last woman were on board the jet in three minutes. They took off and were out of the area ten minutes before other jet arrived. Wonder Woman's jet would not be detectable by normal radar, but it is likely that Batman would have some other way to detect the plane. Scorn used Diana's knowledge to use false signature beacons to hide the plane rather than go invisible. They would be well out of visible range, so it would be better to act like a small personal aircraft seen on radar rather than trying to hide and get caught.

Once airborne, she turned on the signal and blended in with a few other craft in the area issuing mock flight patterns and flew off at a non distinguishing speed until they were out of the local airspace. She then adjusted course for the southern, eastern U.S. coast. From there, the next stop would be Themyscira, but she needed to make a couple of preparations before the final flight to Paradise Island. Nothing could go wrong there, or it could seriously damage her plans. As long as her benefactor over all this time held up his end, things would work out. She had a backup plan too if he turned out to be uncooperative. With Wonder Woman's strength and speed, she had full confidence in the plan ahead. Besides, it is in his best interest to go along with the plan.

Thanks for stopping by.

Some characters owned by DC Comics, copyrights may apply. Original story arc by me.