They swarmed up from beneath the city, misshapen, almost mindless creatures consumed by rage and pain, seeking nothing but destruction. They raced forward in the dozens, in multiple colors and forms, but all of them were powerful and clearly furious. "I thought Metropolis was more Supergirl's territory," Kestrel remarked, the black and purple clad heroine using a karate style strike to drop one of the creatures then pulled a capsule from her belt. Exploding in the middle of an upcoming group the tear-gas overwhelmed the creatures, sending them staggering around blindly. B-ko used her wrist launcher to blast another group back into the abandoned tunnels they had emerged from. "Well, we were in the area," Steel said crisply. A laser bolt came from the other side of them and the blue haired girl smiled as she said hesitantly, "Thank you, mom." Lena Luthor nodded with a slight smile, hefting an impressive looking laser weapon in her arms. They were still adapting to their new relationship, though they were slowly becoming a bit more relaxed together. "I just wish I knew where these things were coming from, they're stretching out Lexcorp security and the Metropolis PD to their limits," the redhead said grimly, sighting and firing again to blast another few of them backwards. "Oracle?" Kestrel asked curiously. "They look like D. N. Aliens," Oracle answered as she used projectors mounted on the Steel armor to generate a hologram of her usual mask icon, "created by the Cadmus project in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century." "Wait just a minute," a frowning Lena quickly protested, "wasn't Cadmus shut down by the government years ago?" "No, I'm remembering something," Kestrel frowned as she asked, "didn't the D. N. Aliens manage to break out, somehow?" "Exactly," Oracle reported crisply, "the scientists were evacuated and the facility sealed up. but obviously they figured out how to break out." She paused, "Mecha and the Martian Manhunter are attempting to break in the other side of the tunnels." "So do we try to reseal them up," Steel wondered aloud, "or try to enter Cadmus itself and deal with the source?" "I'm leaning towards sealing them up," Kestrel admitted, "otherwise we're going to have to kill a lot of these D. N. Aliens." There was a tingle at the back of their minds, a telepathic communication coming in from the Martian Manhunter. "I've detected a force guiding the attack," J'onn reported, "they are being driven forward by something deeper inside the complex." "There goes that idea," Kestrel said wryly, "looks like we're going in." "All right," Steel nodded, "you and I will go in here, try and drive past the D. N. Aliens and meet J'onn and Mecha in the center." She turned to Lena, "Please stay here and hold them back from the city with the police and your security." "I'm going with you," Lena said crisply. "You can't..." Steel started only to freeze. Lena activated a slim metal wristband and was enfolded by a golden light. When it faded a suit of battle armor enfolded her from head to toe, silver mesh and heavy metal gauntlets in a very familiar looking design. A clear helm revealed her impish smile as she said, "Why not? I've even dressed up for the occasion." "I can see where you get your design sense," Kestrel murmured. "Thanks a lot, love," Steel sighed. She looked at her mother thoughtfully, "We won't be able to protect you down there, you know." Lena hefted the laser cannon much easier as she answered, "I can take care of myself, thanks." Much more gently she continued, "Let me help, please." Steel studied her a moment then nodded. "We could use the help with Supergirl and the others busy," she admitted. They turned to the tunnels together, watching the creatures milling out in the darkness as she asked, "Ready?" Kestrel took a wing shaped throwing weapon out from her belt, snapping it open with a smooth gesture, "Always." Lena snapped the safety off her cannon, "Of course." "Then let's go," Steel cried as she fired off a flight of missiles into the monsters then the three of them charged forward. A ghostly figure dropped through the roof of another section of the complex, dropping into an nearly empty chamber. The green skinned Martian solidified as he looked around, his golden eyes narrowed as he used his telepathy to probe outward. Boom! The door into the chamber exploded inward as a metallic figure walked over the rubble, looking around her curiously. "Are you picking up anything?" Mecha asked, the robot girl looking more dangerous than usual with her arm cannons and shoulder mounts popped up. J'onn nodded grimly, "Not far ahead, thankfully. And it seems that whomever it was drove most of the D. N. Aliens away, so the way seems clear." "Oracle has heard back from Firestorm on a coded frequency," Mecha reported as they headed down a long metal corridor, "he's coming back to the Watchtower from investigating the old Injustice Society satellite." "Empty, of course," J'onn noted. He looked grim, "We've been running around putting out small fires, but there's someone pulling the strings behind it all." "The same ones behind the Fortress breakout, maybe?" Mecha speculated, connecting to a computer port in the wall to open up the next door. "I've passed the information on to a certain associate," J'onn said, thinking of Bruce Wayne with a smile, "I'm hoping he'll be able to offer some theories." Mecha tilted her head as they neared a heavier set of metal doors. Plugging into the wall she murmured, "I'm picking up vibrations ahead, movement." J'onn winced visibly in pain, "The telepathic broadcast is strengthening, too. Looks like we've reached the source of the trouble." "Incoming," Mecha smiled suddenly. There was a distant rumble, then a sharp detonation as the wall collapsed inward and three figures moved into their line of sight. Kestrel, Steel and Lena were all dusty and a little the worse for wear but otherwise they looked to be all right. "Oh sure," Steel said to the two dryly, "you took the easy way in." "Nice to see you made it here all right, ma'am," Mecha smiled happily. "Your friend Oracle sent us the plans of the facility," Lena noted the wary glance the Manhunter gave her but ignored it as she said, "the command center is just beyond this door." "Mecha opens the doors and goes in first," Kestrel said crisply, "the rest of us follow her in, keeping an eye on each other as we go." "Why Mecha first?" Steel had to ask. "If it is a telepath we're dealing with," Mecha nodded thoughtfully, "as a robot I should be immune to his influence." "Kestrel," J'onn nodded as Mecha cracked the security and opened the doors. The command center they raced into was badly in disrepair, conduits and cables broke and dangling, viewscreens cracked. The only light came from the wretched figure sitting in the center of the room, advanced life support equipment helping to support his hideously oversized head. He didn't even speak telepathically, they only felt a wave of agony wash over them! "Hector Hammond!" J'onn blinked in surprise, trying to use his own telepathy to shield their minds from the man's projected agony. His eyes narrowed as he studied the devices attached to the chair, "It's torturing him, somehow." Mecha, Lena and Steel didn't wait for an order, they quickly raced forward, opening up panels and studying the technology filled chair. "Psionic shields in your armor?" Lena asked, gritting her teeth as another wave of pain hit them. "Yes," Steel sounded a bit strained, "but they're not working as well as I hoped." "Are you all right?" Mecha asked as she passed needed tools over. "For now," Steel sighed. She pointed to a module that they had just uncovered and said, "I think this is it." "Delivering electric shocks every few seconds," Lena agreed grimly, "I'll remove it, you bypass systems around it just in case." Working as a team they had the device out in moments, the waves of pain stopping as soon as they finished. "Torturing a man just to send an army of D. N. Aliens against Metropolis," Kestrel frowned. "who would do that? And why?" "Just a calling card," Hector rasped out, the badly misshapen man's voice raspy from screaming, "they wanted you to know they were back." A weak breath and he finished, "They call themselves the Injustice League."
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