B E Y O N D . C R I S I S

Katana’s blade clangs off the swords of two attacking mummified knights before slicing through them both with quick precision. Manhunter, in full werewolf mode, scampers past him as she continues tracking a scent through the halls that will lead Shadowpact to the exit portal that will safely take them to the surface. Blue Lady trails behind at the rear of the group as she drags a heavy ball she is chained to along with her, demanding incessantly that Z or Ibis undo the binding spell restraining her abilities.

( There is not enough to for them to stop and accomplish that, though. )

Um, Warhawk’s got like... everyone’s attention now. You better hurry before the clone gets pulled into it too. It looks like if you turn left down the next hallway you can intercept him if he’s heading to the arena.

Artemis and Whisper turn left down the hallway and break into a run. A fair bit of this plan is being made up as they go, but the basics are that Warhawk makes some noise while they grab Chris Knolls’ clone unnoticed. That still stands, even though things aren’t happening exactly as they thought.

Reaching an intersection where the hallway ends in a T, they look both ways for any sign of who they are looking for. Artemis catches sight of him almost to the entrance to the arena.

( So much for intercepting. )

The underground metahuman fighting circuit has returned to Las Vegas. A local convention area has been displaced by 64th century technology to accommodate the arena. It dramatically appears to most people as magic despite being nothing of the sort. It is all for show, and it is a show many pay to see.

Dr. Cyclops sprints to the center of the arena, where he deems the best position. His visor rotates around his head. Its singular eye searches out his target and begins firing beams of energy. The target, Ragdoll, dodges in insane fashion, twisting his body in extreme contortions as he crawls and rolls toward Dr. Cyclops. The distance between the two combatants closes, and Ragdoll worms his way around Dr. Cyclops’ body. Dr. Cyclops’ eye rotates around 360 degrees trying to blast Ragdoll but continually misses as Ragdoll tightens his hold.

( This bout is near its end but not in the way anyone expects. )

The Independence Day tradition begun by Jay Garrick continues as always as superheroes and their families converge for a barbecue in Keystone City, hosted by Wally West. If they canceled this every time some alien horde had just attacked, it would hardly ever happen.

Early in the day, Rex Stewart pulls up in his huge Hummer SUV truck, which is stocked with his own grill and plenty of food, charcoal and beer. His slave labor, Davis Karnes, is left with the job of unloading it all. The caravan of the Arrow Family arrives soon after with Oliver Queen directing traffic, commanding his minions to bring the large pots of chili inside.

( The barbecue begins to kick off from there. )

A dockyard has erupted into chaos as Green Lantern and the CCPD have raided a major smuggling operation. However, the the criminals have a secret weapon, the metacriminal known as Concrete.

Green Lantern catches a large shipping container with her ring before it falls on her and the three police officers around her. She returns it to sender, hammering it down on Concrete. However, he merges with the asphalt ground and easily slips out from under the container, advancing on her and rising from the ground with a stone-fisted uppercut.

( CODE ORANGE ALERT. CODE ORANGE ALERT. )

It began with Artemis saving a scientist held captive by Blight, only to find out the scientist had already done as Blight wanted. The radioactive criminal had pieces of a dangerous android, and he forced the scientist to reassemble it for Blight to sell. This set off major warning flags for the Justice League as one thought came to mind.

Amazo.

A functioning Amazo, whether or not it came preloaded with the powers of the old Justice League, would be worth a great deal of money on the black market.

( The Justice League have acted quickly to stop the sale. )

Slipping free of Copperhead’s crushing grip, Redbird turns and axe-kicks his head down onto a desk. The clone’s head bounces from the devastating impact, and he flops onto the floor.

Redbird races after Jace Tresser, finding an unconscious clone of Captain Boomerang first. That at least tells her she is heading in the right direction. The next clue to his whereabouts is even clearer but less comforting.

( Redbird follows the trail of blood. )

Activity at Middleside Medical Viceroy is unremarkable for this time of year. The emergency room is busy but not to the extent the staff is overwhelmed. The surgery teams are overbooked, but that is the case on most days.

An ambulance approaches the doors slowly -- very slowly -- in reverse. It struggles to find its way into the space allocated for ambulance drop-offs, having to stop and go forward more than once to realign itself. Eventually, it gets close enough to where it wants to go and drops into park. Two paramedics -- the disguised duo of Starman and Redbird -- exit the vehicle with Redbird still giving Starman a look.

( The two enter the hospital, pushing along two occupied bodybags on maglev carts. )

It has been awhile since the Hall of Justice has seen so many occupants. The last time was weeks ago when Aquagirl abruptly announced that she was stepping down as chairperson due to a conflict of responsibilities and, as rumored, a personal conflict with Starman. Since that time, the Justice League’s activity has dwindled. A vote to choose the next chairperson was simply never organized as everyone became too distracted with their own business to take the initiative to coordinate it. Monitor duty schedules ran out, and for all intents and purposes, the Justice League ceased to be before anyone even realized it.

With Redbird at his side -- more figuratively than literally in most cases -- the Flash has reached out to what former members of the League that he could as well as some who have never been.

The Flash stands at the head of the table, looking at everyone who has attended. He isn’t nervous about any of this. It may not be something he ever foresaw himself doing -- putting together a Justice League -- but he is all about the forward momentum. Once he set himself on this, that was that.

( Though, he admits the several batches of Christmas cookies he set out on the table for everyone may obscure everyone’s perception of his seriousness. )

Overlooking a crowded plaza, Artemis and her assembled non-Justice League position themselves out of view of any on-lookers to assess the situation. They have just arrived at the latest location a message from Ryder Evans has indicated he can be found, making this their third attempt to extract him after Artemis’ run-in with the Suicide Squad.

The only one seemingly missing from their group is Batman, but he appears after not too long, sitting magnetically attached to a wall near Artemis courtesy of his suit’s cloak. “The D.E.O. are all over the place. They’ve set up a perimeter. It’s tight. No one is getting in or out of here without them knowing it.”

So that begs the question of how Batman got in.

( ”As )

A few years ago.

”Looks like you missed a couple of spots.”

Rex Stewart sat on a barstool with a beer bottle dangling from his intertwined hands and a grin on his face. A few fewer scars, a little less muscle mass, some fuzz on his chin that he believed actually looked good once upon a time. This was not the Rex of today. He had not yet been hardened by his father’s death. ( ”Far )

Siena Harper’s suspiciously secretive behavior did not go unnoticed by the keen senses of Tay Lance. When someone gets a phone call and immediately ducks away someplace private, that is potentially interesting.

( ”What )