Okay, Genomorphs situat-
I step into the hush tube and appear back in Challenger Mountain.
20th October
14:43 GMT -6
-ed, Dox busy, shipyards up and running, ship-building coming on
acceptably… Tamaran can have a
tick. Cranius has released Mister Blake on his own recognisance and he's reacquainting himself with Human civilisation, twin-man -and it turns out that his name is Ph'yzzon- well enough to return home, Karna firmly under friendly control… Mr Near is finalising our coup plans with Ms Savage. Mr Talbot is adapting well enough to his power ring. Admiral Oswin wants to know when I want to move against the Psions. He's a bit eager to move his fleet out of Vega so he can carve himself a duchy out of formerly pirate-controlled space, but I'd like to wait until the first batch of Tamaranian ships are ready for real combat. Ah, he doesn't need an answer right
now…
Mother Box, anything interesting happen while I was gone?
Ping!
Hah! They
did? What sort of idiot attacks three Kryptonians-?
Ping.
I suppose it's nice that they're spending time together. It's not
quite on a level of that petty burglar in Happy Harbor, but that's still a pretty high difficulty curve. A little surprising that he legged it but I suppose that even an axe-wielding cosplayer can take a hint
that big.
So: next item on the agenda. What am I going to say to the people who will be running the British government after we kidnap them and then kill their less moral colleagues? And what are we going to do about the monarchy? Now, I've got a lot of time for Elizabeth Windsor
Prime, but I've seen a list of some of the things Cabbage 16 used to get up to and, damn. Nothing I feel obliged to kill her for, but-.
I
dart back four metres as an axe blade cleaves its way through the air just in front of me,
signalling additional drones and
armouring myself as I do so. That slice matches-.
Someone in a metal face mask lunges through-. A woman,
clearly. The helmet fully encloses her head but for the two red eye pieces and the hole at the back for her ponytail, but… Okay, I'd give her a pass on that. Compared to what most super people wear, not a bad effort. Except that the jacket..
thing she's wearing doesn't merely have a deep 'v' to show off her cleavage to its best advantage. No, it also shows off her abdomen as well. And I don't think it's even
armoured. And her trousers are those stupid hip-hugging things…
"OhthankGod!" She waves the haft of her axe at the rift, which closes behind her. "
You gotta help me!
He's-."
"Yes, because I
routinely help people who break into my home. Who are-?"
Wait, I… Dimly remember. Terror Titans, wasn't it? She was Clock King's… Oh,
darn, what's his name? The guy from the Legion era? He was in an episode of Justice League Animated…
No, gone.
"
Elise, my name's
Elise Kimble! And I-." She waves the axe, then appears to notice it. "I'll, ah…" She takes a firm hold on it with both hands and sets the butt on the floor. "I was minding my own business when this guy dressed like a ren faire reject cuts a hole in the air in front of me and kidnaps me. He made me put this.. get up on."
"I
see." Mother Box, is she more threatening than she looks?
Ping.
I think I can dodge a great axe.
Based on past performance, Corpsman, I wouldn't give exceptional odds.
Alright, I think the drones I've got lined up can shoot her
dead before she can swing it.
Better.
"Would this be the same 'ren faire reject' who picked a fight with Superman and sons a few days ago?"
"Did he?"
Sinestro,
hologram.
An image of whateverhisnameis appears just in front of me. "This man?" Ms Kimble nods. I dismiss the hologram. "And he forcibly abducted you?"
"Yes! He picked me up and threw me through this.. like, cut in the air. He said I was one of his ancestors or.. something."
"Yes, he's most likely from the future. Did he give any indication as to why he picked
you, as opposed to any of his
other ancestors?"
"It wasn't just me. There was this guy called
Cole, and I think he was planning on getting
more."
Oh,
splendid. "I assume that the axe is a gift from him?"
"I… Yeah, he-?"
I raise my right hand to my
ear. "Jean, highest defence status
immediately, please. Make sure Circe and Adom know."
"Of course, Grayven. Whom should we expect?"
"Some guy with a super axe."
"He's
really strong!"
I move my ring away from my head for a moment. "Strong, like a man who exercises a whole lot, or strong like
super strong?"
"Super, super strong."
I move the ring back to my ear. "Some guy with an axe who is also super strong. And possibly some other people with axes."
"We will bear that in mind. Should I activate the 'special' drones?"
"For a guy with an axe?
No."
"Understood."
I lower my hand again. "We've probably got a minute or so before he gets here. Are you planning on joining in?"
"What? No, no one saw me leave."
"Both your axe and your helmet are transmitting a locator signal, s-." I see the axe blade appear next to her neck and
yank her out of the way as it cuts across where she had been standing. In its wake space itself is cleaved apart, revealing a.. squad of poorly dressed axe men.
Oh dear.
"Is one of you the…" P-something. Wasn't it? "Peruser?" No reaction, though the masks make it a little hard to tell. "Pursuer? Ppppp… Punisher?" The stare. "Perambulat-. Come on, give me a clue."
"I am the Persuader." The voice comes from the one nearest the front. "I chose the name for myself because-."
"Your axe is very persuasive, got it. Any chance I could persuade you to go back to bothering the Legion?"
He straightens slightly at the name. "You are not from this time? No, it is of no consequence. I do not care about you, but that bitch betrayed me. I will have her head."
"He's
craz-!"
I raise my right forefinger at her. "Ah juh-juh-juh. Going out on a limb here… 'Betrayed' in the sense that she accepted your equipment and training but fled before your rematch with the Supermen?"
"Just so. Stand aside."
"
You can't-!"
"
Juh!" I take a deep breath and smile at the Persuader. "I don't.. really care about her, but you picked a fight with some friends of mine, and… Can I assume that if I refuse to give her up, you'll attack me?"
"Of course."
"Ah-"
Open fire "-well, I-."
The drones behind me drop stealth and fire, purple light
blazing through the air as I
lunge forward, daiklave in hand. The Persuader is already reeling back as I jam -yep, more than normal Human toughness, must take samples later- my blade through his chest, through his heart and out through his back!
I flick his corpse off my weapon as the rest of the crowd raise their axes. "Lads…
Get a clue.
Drop your axes now."
There's a brief moment of hesitation… Then they
comply.
"And
you." I point backwards at Ms Kimble with my right hand. "Don't even
think about running."
"
Staying right here."
Another one. Pfff. Sod it, I'm going to find Cassandra Cain and Rose Wilson before someone
throws them at me.
It's openly stated in the TV trailers. It's literally stated to be his goal by Gamora's voice over.
