M.I.A

Supergirl:

"What do you can't track him," I ask. "Anthony, didn't you track The Man before? I remember you gave me a location."

"Yes," Anthony answers, "So do I, but not now. The Man's tracker is off, and his location is right here you are right now."

I grind my teeth as I look around the empty doctor's office. My eyes going to the counter, I see used bandages, dirty cotton balls, and empty ointment bottles.

"Anthony," I say, "Thank you for trying."

"No problem," Anthony replies. "I hope you find him soon."

I tap my wrist and end the call with Anthony. With the screen disappearing, I walk over to the counter and examine everything. As I pick up one of the empty bottles, I hear someone and turn around.

"He left in a hurry," Oliver says. Walking into the room, using his bow as a cane, Oliver almost trips but Dinah and I catch him in time.

"Are you sure you should be here," Dinah asks.

"Yeah," Oliver moans, pushing himself up. "Don't worry about me. Just, it has been a while since I used my legs. Sleeping in that damn incubator."

Taking a seat on the bed, Oliver places his hand on his shaking head.

"Ahh," Oliver says. "Anyway, The Man left here in a hurry."

He pushes himself off the bed and walks over the counter. Reaching behind, Oliver pulls out one of his arrows and uses it to move the things around.

"I have known The Man for last than five months now, which I guess means I still don't really know anything about him, but I do know this. Unless something else was really important, he would have cleaned this up."

Pushing a dirty cotton ball, Oliver puts the arrow back in his quiver.

"The only question is what was so important The Man had to drop everything and disappeared off the map."

The Man:

Shooting through the night sky at high speed, I keep a constant eye on the Night Bird's radar. Watching as the yellow line goes in circles over and over again, it shows nothing in the air with me.

"At this rate, I should be back in Hub City in about 10 minutes, and back in my private city with the others in 15."

As I keep shooting through the air, I hear a thudding in the back of the Night Bird.

"Let me out," Raven shouts. "Let me out so I can pull you apart! Let me out!"

While screaming at the top of her lungs, Raven is also stomping non-stop against the wall.

"Hey," I shout back, slamming my hand against the wall. "You dent it, I dent you!"

Despite my warning, Raven keeps on screaming and kicking. I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"Yeah, she definitely fixing the Night Bird. I don't care what it takes, she is fixing their dents."

Imagining all the dents Raven would have to fix, I come back into reality when I hear beeping coming from the radar.

"What the heck," I say, checking the flashing radar. Looking closer, I see something quickly approaching the Night Bird from behind.

"What is that? It can't be a plane or a helicopter. Moving too fast, and it's way too small. Superman? Wonder Woman? Black Adam? No. It can't be."

I check the radar again but it's working fine. 

"If it is Superman or any regime, their badges should be registering on the radar. This is something else. And it's getting closer."

Eyeing the radar, I watch as the unknown target closes the distance between us.

"150 meters. 100 meters. 20 meters. 0 meter!"

Something, or someone, lands on the Night Bird, shaking the whole bird. I look out the windows but I don't see anything. Checking the monitors on the control, it tells me there's something on the top of the Night Bird. Whatever it is, it crawls toward the cockpit. Looking outside, I see what is attacking me.

"You," I say. Right outside the window, I see a large pink and purple humanoid with four arms. The humanoid is glowing so bright, it makes the Night Bird's camouflage system useful. Crawling onto the window, the humanoid holds on with three hands while using his fourth to try and break the window.

"Give me the gem," he demands.

"Bite me," I say, pushing a button. Activating one of the Night Bird's defenses, the whole plane is electrified, and a current blasts the intruder right off. He disappears into a cloud, and I'm given some space. Hoping to have a little more space, I pour more power into the plane's rockets. Jumping from 60 mph to 100 mph, I look down at the radar.

"Son of a," I cry, seeing the humanoid quickly catching up. Already less than 50 meters away, I push another button and activate a second defense. A component in the back opens and unleashes dozens and dozens of flares.

"I can't kill you with conventional means but I can slow you down."

I watch as the flares blind him. He screams and shouts while swinging his hands around wildly. Knowing that the flares won't last much longer, I turn the Night Bird around and fire some rockets.

As expected, the flares die and their lights vanish. The humanoid lowers his eyes when they die only to see rockets flying toward him. Watching as the rockets hit him and the night sky turns orange, I turn the Night Bird around and set a path for Hub City.

"Come on," I say, "Come on! Just a little more! Just a little more!"

Only a few miles from the Hub City's city limit, I reach for the radio.

"Attention Insurgency," I say. "Insurgency! Do you copy me? This is The Ma--"

While trying to radio the others, a golden cross appears in front of me. A single beam shoots out of the cross. Dropping the radio, I grab the control and tilt the Night Bird. I manage to avoid the full power of the beam but it still clips part of the wing. The part that got hit set ablaze, with a thick trail of smoking following the fire. All the lights in the cockpit turn red and alarms start flashing non-stop.

"Come on," I say, pulling the control back. "Come on! Come on!"

With the Night Bird tilting back, I look out the window as the ground gets closer and closer. Bracing for impact, the radar goes off again. I look down and see the unknown target flying toward us at unmatched speed. With no sign of slowing down, it flies right through the Night Bird, breaking the plane in half.

The whole cockpit breaks off from the rest of the Night Bird and I watch from inside of it as it falls to the ground. All the windows immediately shatter. All the controls either break off or are hanging by exposed wires.

Moaning as I take off my seat belt, I clear away some broken glass before crawling through the window. Once outside, I push myself up and look around.

"You know," I say, seeing the pink and purple humanoid carrying the other half of the Night Bird in his arms. "I would think 'To my surprise', but this isn't really surprising. I guess you guys really are desperate."

The humanoid gently sets what's left of my plane on the ground before ripping the cover off. He then reaches in and pulls out a stilled tied-up Raven.

"Hey," I shout, walking toward him. "That's my plane!"

Shooting out my hand, one of my swords appears out of thin air and in my hand. About to attack, I see a light appears behind me. Then, something wraps around my wrist, keeping me back.

"Ahhh!"

Turning around, I see another golden cross, shining brightly. Three other humanoids walk out of the cross. They, plus the first humanoid, surround me. They chant a spell and move their hands. Summoning magical ropes, they throw them and capture my feet and hands. Pulling at all once, I'm knocked off my feet and hang in the air.

"Ahhhh!"

The magical ropes begin to electrocute me. I can feel my body shakes and burns as the four pull harder and harder on the ropes.

"Now," they say. They let go of the ropes but it doesn't fall. Using magic to hold their ropes in place, the humanoids begin chanting a new spell.

"Ibansh ishtamn to reanoth lpace," they begin.

"Oh no," I think. "I recognize this spell. I have to break free."

I try to pull my hands back but can't. The binding they're using is very strong. I can't break free. At least not in time.

"Ibansh ishtamn to reanoth lpace," they repeat. "Raf afr yaaw."

The ropes pull harder. They do more than burn me. They're literally trying to pull me apart.

"Ahhhhhh!"

"Ibansh ishtamn to reanoth lpace. Raf afr yaaw. Veern to eb eesn agani!"

The ropes give one last tug. They pull me apart, my arms and legs separating from my body. Once they're apart, five golden crosses appear, each taking a different part with them before disappearing.

Lord Structure:

Watching as the last of the man in the sunglasses is banish, I turn to the other Lords.

"Sister Symmetry. Master Pattern. Count Control. We have done it. The man in the sunglasses is dead."

"He may be dead," Count Control says, "But we are not done yet."

"Agree," Master Pattern continue.

"The ritual must be done," Sister Symmetry finishes. "To Jump City."