Chapter 9
The greatest and most powerful supervillains in the world, Bane, the Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Sinestro, Gigantia, and Captain Cold were now gathered together in the secret headquarters of the man who’d just arranged for them to be broken out of jail. They still weren’t quite sure exactly what he wanted from them in return, but he’d promised them all a chance at revenge against the superheroes who’d put them all behind bars, and that was enough.
Finally, the man who’d made all of this possible, Lex Luthor, arrived. “Greetings,” he said, smiling at the group of supervillains he’d just assembled. Are you ready to find out why it is that I brought all of you here?”
The group of supervillains collectively nodded and mumbled “yes” in answer to Lex’s question.
“Well, I promised you revenge against all of your enemies, and you will get it,” replied Lex. “The first stage of my plans involves attacking Paradise Island, the home of Wonder Woman.”
“Good luck finding it,” Giganta retorted. “I’ve tried to locate it many times, and I’ve never been successful.”
“You weren’t given directions from Wonder Woman herself,” Lex replied coolly.
“Why would Wonder Woman tell you where to find her home?” asked Captain Cold.
“Because I used this on her,” replied Lex. He then held up Wonder Woman’s golden lasso proudly.
The supervillains gasped in shock. They couldn’t believe that this ordinary man with no special powers had managed to do what a woman who could grow to extraordinary heights could not do. He’d somehow managed to best the most powerful woman in the entire world and use her own weapon against her. If they hadn’t respected Lex before this moment, they certainly did now.
“Now, as I was saying,” Lex continued. “Paradise Island, as I’m sure you all know, is occupied by many women with the strength of Wonder Woman. That’s why I need you. I need you to beat the Amazon women into submission.”
“If I may interrupt, I do not see why it is that you wish to attack Wonder Woman’s people,” said Bane. “Do you plan on using them as leverage against Wonder Woman?”
“No,” replied Lex. “It’s what can be found on Paradise Island that interests me. There is a mineral known a Feminum on the island. It’s the same substance used in Wonder Woman’s bracelets. With armor built using Feminum, I’d be invulnerable. I’d be potentially more powerful than Superman.”
“But Superman has more powers than just invulnerability,” said Mr. Freeze. “Surely, he could still defeat you in battle, even with a suit made out of Feminum.”
“That’s why my plan originally involved more than just a suit made out of Feminum. I paid to have Green Lantern’s ring stolen, but it wouldn’t work for me. I also kidnapped Flash’s girlfriend in order to force him to replicate the circumstances that gave him super speed, but he was unable to do so.”
“So, you were trying to take the abilities and weapons of the other superheroes in order to make yourself more powerful than Superman?” asked the Scarecrow.
“Precisely,” said Lex. “Unfortunately, my plan didn’t work quite as well as I’d hoped. So I had to resort to my backup plan.”
“And what is this backup plan?” asked Sinestro.
“Individually, we’ve all been defeated time and time again by our enemies,” explained Lex. “However, in the last battle where you combined forces to face them you pulverized them.”
“Are you proposing that we work together to take down our enemies?” asked Captain Cold.
“Yes,” said Lex. “That’s exactly what I’m proposing.”
“And what if some of us would prefer to work alone?” asked Giganta. “I care nothing about the other superheroes! My only concern is with Wonder Woman, and I believe I can beat her all on my own.”
“You fool!” Bane shouted. “Don’t you know who you are talking to? This is Lex Luthor! He has a reputation in the criminal underworld for doing terrible things to his enemies!”
“Perhaps to ordinary criminals, but we are special,” said Giganta. “He couldn’t do anything to us if we opposed him!”
“On the contrary,” Lex replied, not looking the least bit nervous that a woman with the ability to grow to colossal heights was opposing him.
Lex swiftly took the golden lasso and tied it around Giganta’s waist. Giganta simply laughed in response to this.
“Fool,” she said. “I could easily use my powers to break that piece of rope.”
“While bound by the golden lasso, you are under my control,” Lex replied calmly. “I command you to help me attack Paradise Island and then attack all of the superheroes afterward. You will obey, and you will forget the reason that you are obeying after I remove the golden lasso. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand,” Giganta replied. The expression on her face looked like she was under some form of hypnosis.
Lex then removed the golden lasso and asked Giganta if she was interested in joining forces with him and the other supervillains. She replied with enthusiasm. Lex smiled and held up the golden lasso threateningly towards the other villains.
“Now that you have seen the power that I possess, do any of you wish to oppose me? If you do, just remember that I can easily turn you into a mindless puppet, just as I did to the powerful Giganta!”
None of the other supervillains spoke up. Despite the fact that Lex had no powers of his own, they knew now that he was not to be underestimated. He’d just succeeded in scaring the most powerful villains on earth.
*****
Later, Lex and his new crew of supervillains were flying over the Bermuda Triangle in a private jet. After getting directions to the approximate location of Paradise Island, Lex had hired a pilot to scout the area for the legendary island. This pilot had successfully found the island, and now, he was taking Lex and his friends there.
After spotting the island, the pilot landed on a beach. Several of the female inhabitants of the island saw the plane land and ran up to it to investigate.
“Remember,” Lex reminded his cohorts. “These women have all of the strength of Wonder Woman. Be ready to attack them before they realize what we are up to!”
Outside, there were now six women inspecting the jet. These women looked to be in their early twenties, though the truth is that they were all several hundred years old. They were also extremely beautiful, almost as beautiful as Wonder Woman herself. By looking at them, one might correctly assume that all women on Paradise Island are beautiful. As for their wardrobe, they all wore a simple, white toga and sandals.
Suddenly, the hatch of the jet opened up, causing the women to jump back, startled. Captain Cold and Mr. Freeze were the first two to exit the jet, and they each used their freeze guns to completely encase two of the women. Sinestro followed them out, and he used his ring to shoot out a yellow laser that caused a nearby tree to fall on top of three of the women, trapping them. Finally, Bane came running out of the jet. He simply picked up the last of the women and held her as she struggled to get loose.
“You’re strong, senorita, but I’m stronger,” he said as he stared at her.
Afterwards, Lex came walking out of the private jet clapping.
“See?” he said. “I told you that as a group, you were more powerful than on your own.” He then turned to the woman Bane was holding in the air. “Now, dearie. Would you be so kind as to take us to your queen?”
*****
At first, the woman had refused to take Lex to the queen, but after he’d wrapped the golden lasso around her and ordered her to comply, she’d obeyed Lex’s request. She took him and the others on a two hour hike through the most beautiful, untouched jungle that any of them had ever seen. Some of them were starting to wonder if she had somehow been immune to the powers of the golden lasso and was leading them on a wild goose chase when they finally saw sight of the main city.
This city was a magnificent sight to behold. Located right in the middle of a jungle, there lied a city of hundreds of buildings with designs similar to that of the ancient Greeks, but they were all made out of gold! Right in the center of this city was an enormous palace. Lex was sure that the queen was located inside. The problem was making their way to that palace.
“I’m not going to lie. It will not be an easy task for us to take the queen hostage,” said Lex. “We’ll probably have to face a couple of hundred Amazon warriors just to make it to the palace. However, if we work together, I am sure we can succeed.”
Bane turned to Giganta and said, “Ladies first.”
With that, Giganta grew to her enormous size and began to stomp her way through the city, crushing many of the buildings with her feet as she went along. Some of the Amazon women ran out of the buildings with spears, throwing them at the massive giant that was attacking their city. Sadly, this had little to no effect on Giganta, who just continued to stomp on and kick at the beautiful buildings of the city.
With Giganta leading the way, the others followed. After Giganta would crush a building, Mr. Freeze and Captain Cold would use their freeze guns to cover what was left of it in ice. They’d also plaster some of the women themselves in ice.
Sinestro used his ring to create a bazooka, which he then used to blow up entire buildings that Giganta hadn’t bothered to crush. The warriors were left defenseless against a weapon like this and had to resort to taking cover behind the ruins of already destroyed buildings and watch on as Sinestro blew up their homes.
In order to stop some of the women from being able to fight back, Scarecrow unleashed his fear gas on the city. The villains had come prepared with gas masks, but the Amazon women themselves were helpless. The gas caused them to hallucinate an even worse attack than what was actually happening, with monsters attacking the city. Most of them fell to the ground in fear, unable to even fight any more.
Bane used his great strength to beat up whatever was left of the warriors, punching them as well as picking them up and throwing them as far as he could. None of them were a match for Bane.
Finally, after making their way through the city, they were at the palace. They’d left half of the city in ruins behind them, and now, they were ready to attack the queen herself!
As the destruction of the city at the hands of these supervillains was taking place, Queen Hippolyta, Dianna’s mother, and Drusilla, Diana’s younger sister, watched on in horror. Drusilla wanted to join in on the fight, but her mother refused to allow her to leave.
“But we can’t just stand by and watch as our people suffer and our city is destroyed!” Drusilla argued.
“We will not just stand by,” Queen Hippolyta replied. “But, you are not as skilled of a warrior as your sister. You’d serve your people better by going to America to retrieve your sister than by fighting a losing battle.”
“But how do you expect me to escape?” asked Drusilla. “The fiends are at the palace doors! No doubt they’ll be in here within minutes.”
Queen Hippolyta walked over to a fireplace in the back of the room and began to pull the logs out of it. She then swept some leftover ashes from the last fire that had been inside the fireplace. Finally, she felt around the back of the fireplace until she touched a brick that caused an opening to appear.
“A secret escape!” shouted Drusilla. “That means that we can get out of here before they get to us!”
“You can, but I must remain,” replied Queen Hippolyta.
“But, why!” Drusilla cried. “If they find you, they could kill you!”
“They came here for a reason,” said Queen Hippolyta. “They want something. I have to be here to negotiate with them to protect our people. That is my responsibility as ruler.”
“I guess I understand,” Drusilla replied, though she was beginning to cry.
Her mother hugged her and said, “Now, listen. Follow the tunnel in our secret escape door until you reach the royal hangar. There, you’ll find an invisible jet. That is the vehicle that I want you to take. You’ll be able to leave undetected that way. Go to America. You’ll find many maps inside the invisible jet in case you need them, but I’m sure you will not.”
Drusilla went through the secret escape door, and her mother managed to cover it back up just as the intruders broke into the room. Drusilla ran as quickly as she could to the hangar. Once there, she made sure to carefully check to see if the intruders were there before running up to the invisible jet. She then checked the map, started the engine, and took off for the United States. Just as her mother had said, nobody even knew that the invisible jet was missing.
*****
The next morning, Clark was still in bed resting from the major battle he’d just been in the day before when he was awoken by a knocking at the door. He sat up and used his x-ray vision to determine who exactly it was that was paying him a visit. It turned out that it was Lois, and she was carrying a bag.
Clark reached for his glasses and put them on. Then, he walked over to the door and opened it.
“Lois!” he said, trying his best to sound surprised. “How’d the story go?”
“Great,” she replied. “I thought I’d stop by to bring you a few things in case you’re still not feeling well.”
She then opened up the bag to reveal a variety of items. There were a few cans of soup, a package of cough drops, a box of tissues, and a newspaper.
“I thought I’d make you a bowl of chicken noodle soup while you read this morning’s edition of the Daily Planet.”
“Thanks,” said Clark. “I really appreciate this.”
Lois took the bowl into the kitchen area of the hotel room and began to prepare Clark his bowl of soup while he sat down and looked at the front page of the paper. He was shocked to read the headline, which was ‘Martian Manhunter Cleans up Arkham Asylum Breakout.’
He hadn’t put it together before, but now, he realized that the story Lois had told him she’d been working on was all about the mysterious hero who’d helped him and his friends stop the breakout. He continued to scan the article and saw that Lois had even managed to reveal the Martian’s secret identity, Michael Horn.
His reading was interrupted when Lois came back into the room with the bowl of soup. She placed it on the table sitting in front of Clark, and Clark took a spoonful of the soup into his mouth.
It was terrible! Clark knew that Lois wasn’t that great of a cook, but he was astounded that Lois had somehow managed to mess up something as simple as a bowl of soup. Still, he pretended to enjoy it. Lois was trying to be nice, and he didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
“How is it?” she asked.
“Wonderful,” Clark lied.
They were then interrupted when somebody started to knock on the door. Clark lowered his glasses to x-ray the door, and this time, it was Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern, all in costume, standing outside. There was also a young girl he didn’t recognize. Clark panicked. How was he going to explain this to Lois?
“Who could that be?” Lois asked.
As Lois got up to go answer the door, Clark jumped up and grabbed her by the arm to stop her.
“What’s your problem? I’m just going to answer the door, Clark,” she said.
“No, Lois, don’t,” he said, but she didn’t listen. She opened the door and saw the superheroes standing there.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, stunned. Then, before any of them could answer, she turned to Clark and said, “Oh, I get it now. You were never sick. You were just faking the whole time. Well, good job. You had me fooled the whole time, and that isn’t easy to do.”
“Lois, I can explain,” Clark said as he put his hand on her shoulder, but she smacked his hand away.
“Don’t even bother, Clark,” she said. “This whole time, you just wanted the Batman story to yourself. To think, you even convinced him to meet you here for an interview, and you didn’t even let me in on it. You’re a dirty, rotten snake.”
“Lois, that isn’t it,” said Clark.
“Perhaps I can explain,” interrupted Batman. “You see, we’re looking for Superman. We need his help desperately. Since Mr. Kent is known to have some sort of connection to Superman, we decided to ask him to contact him for us.”
“Oh,” Lois replied, looking a little ashamed that she’d jumped to conclusions. “I’m sorry, Clark. I shouldn’t have thought you’d pull a dirty trick like that.”
“It’s fine, Lois,” Clark replied. Then, he turned to the superheroes. “Why do you need Superman?”
“My home, Paradise Island, is under attack by those escaped supervillains,” said Wonder Woman. “We won’t stand a chance without his help.”
“I understand,” replied Clark. “I’ll let Superman know right away.”
Wonder Woman placed a small sheet of paper into his hand. “Tell Superman to meet us at these coordinates.”
With that, he dashed out of the room. Lois tried to run after him, but she was too late. He’d already vanished by the time she got out of the room. By the time she got back inside the hotel room, the superheroes had vanished as well.
*****
Superman and his friends met by the shore on Paradise Island soon afterwards. Superman, thanks to his super speed, had arrived before the other heroes, but not wanting to barge in without a plan, had waited for the others to arrive. The others had arrived by the invisible jet.
When the others disembarked from the jet, Superman immediately said, “We’ve got to hurry! I’ve been scouting around to see what is going on, and they’ve wrecked the entire city!”
“Why exactly do they want to wreck Paradise Island?” asked Flash. “What purpose does it serve to them?”
“I can answer that question,” said Superman. “They’ve been forcing the Amazons to mine for some type of mineral and then loading it onto their jet.”
“Feminum!” Wonder Woman exclaimed. “The material my bracelets are made of. They’ll be unstoppable.”
The heroes’ discussion came to a halt when several explosive devices landed near them. Superman lunged on top of these devices and shielded the others from the explosion that resulted. Then, the air suddenly filled with gas.
The heroes suddenly saw images of their loved ones being killed. Flash saw his girlfriend, Iris West, being frozen to death by Captain Cold. Green Lantern saw Sinestro using a giant saw created by his power ring being used on his girlfriend, Carol Ferris. Wonder Woman saw her mother, Queen Hippolyta being stabbed by Lex Luthor. Batman was brought back to the tragic death of his parents. Only Superman remained unaffected.
“Batman?” Superman asked. “Wonder Woman? Anyone?”
They were all screaming, crying, or both. Superman knew that he needed his friends if he was going to be successful, so he tried to grab onto each of the heroes to try to shake them out of it. Unfortunately, they seemed unaffected by this.
“Listen!” Superman yelled. “What you’re seeing isn’t real! It’s just the Scarecrow’s fear gas making you hallucinate!”
Most of them didn’t even hear Superman’s words, but Batman did. Though his hallucinations didn’t disappear, he was able to bring himself somewhat back to reality.
“It’s no use, Superman,” said Batman. “Scarecrow’s fear gas would get the best of anyone unless you get the antidote.”
“Where can I get the antidote?” Superman asked.
“At the Batcave,” Batman replied.
To be continued...
