Chapter 40

Magpie swiping the technology in the midst of the battle had been surprising to all. Both the bad guys and the good guys alike.

"So, what's our next move?" Artemis asked. "Because, literally, she came out of nowhere, grabbed the necklace, and boom, she's out of here."

"Magpie is aptly named," Harry said. "She likes collecting shiny trinkets. However, there's something deeper than her normal heists. She was able to avoid us all and snatch the necklace."

"Actually, kind of impressive," Cassie said before her team gave her a few cross looks. "And bad, very bad indeed."

M'gann shook the cobwebs off. She had been so close to finally bringing her brother down. Although what she would do when she did, M'gann did not know. That much really scared her. A small part of her hoped to never be the one to have to make the decision.

"The technology was far beyond her," Blue Beetle said. "Could use some of that when I'm late for school"

"We've seen it before," Artemis said.

"I know," Harry said. "I have too, Intergang. That raises so many questions."

So many questions. Harry could see the despondent Perdita and he put his arm around her.

"I'm not worried about losing the crystal," Perdita told him. "I'm more worried about what she'll do with it. Or really who sent her after it."

"You think someone sent her after it?" Artemis asked.

"Well, it does make perfect sense," M'gann said. "She just came in here, at the right moment. She took advantage of the chaos, and stole it. And we need to get it back, before the Counter-Team or Mordred gets it."

"Or whoever gave Magpie her shiny new toys," Harry said. "Which is the real puzzle. She either has been stealing from Intergang, or they have the same supplier."

"Either isn't promising," Artemis concluded grimly.

Harry responded with a nod. He had tracked the energy signal of the crystal. Everything blipped into place. He could only get a general area, but if he cross-referenced it with rumored Magpie hideouts, he could find it. Thankfully, Harry had access to Barbara's database at the clocktower, so he would be able to blow the lid open on this.

Magpie smiled giddily at the pretty little necklace which she had in her hand. Out of all of the shiny little trinkets, this might have been the shiniest and prettiest of all. She had several of her little shinies lining around the deep room she lived in. The necklace, it would be hers forever and ever.

"So, did you get it?"

"Yes, yes, I have it, I have the shiny pretty, and I didn't even have to make things go boom to get it," Magpie said, giggling almost childlike. "Oh, I feel like a pretty pretty princess with how this necklace glows. All shiny."

"Hand it over."

"Hand it over?"

"Yes, hand it over," the figure in the shadows repeated. "You need to hand over the trinket to Granny as promised."

"NO!"

Magpie pulled away and clutched the necklace against her breast. Ever since the bad men took her memories, Magpie had to create new ones. She needed to take all of the shinies and bring them to her, so she can have new memories, and take a new life. Oh, yes, she would have it, and these bad girls would not take it away from her yet again.

"It's mine now!" Magpie said. "Not Queen, not Granny, not foul Martian, not little brat sorcerer, not Superman, not phony rodent, but mine. My shiny!"

"Don't make it harder than it is."

The trio of Female Furies, in the form of Lashina, Stompa, and Mad Harriet appeared from the shadows. They all leered down at Magpie who clutched the necklace.

"You have one more chance," Lashina warned her.

"Yeah, hand it over," Stompa said shortly.

"But, she likes shiny things," Mad Harriet chortled. "I vote that I make her face all shiny. When I cut it open and spill it with blood."

"Or, I could show you another shiny!" Magpie said.

"We're after the necklace, you little nut, now give it to us!"

"Oh, no, I think you'll like this shiny!" Magpie giggled.

Stompa lost her patience and grabbed Magpie. Magpie showed her shiny, in the form of a knife, which she whipped out and sliced Stompa's face. She did an impressive flip and landed on her feet. Mad Harriet flipped over her head and grabbed Magpie only for Magpie to flip over the back and kick her to the ground.

Lashina's electrified whip sparked as she moved towards Magpie. Magpie took out a metal canister and threw it into the air which released a dust which sent Lashina staggering back. Magpie jumped onto her back and dug her fingernails into the side of Lashina's eyes!"

"No, you won't have it!" Magpie cried. "You're going to be shiny now!"

Lashina hurled Magpie off and caught her with a kick to the ribs and another to the face. The crazed criminal would not relinquish the pretty necklace in her hand.

A boom erupted from above. Lashina groaned, as if they did not have enough problems. Their mission was to get the necklace and avoid contact with Superman, no matter what.

The Team arrived, but they were not alone. Grail and M'comm appeared next to them. Lashina sunk into the shadows, almost paralyzed with fear.

"You have one second to hand it over before I rip your mind in half!" M'comm told Magpie.

"NO! DON'T TOUCH MY BRAIN!"

Grail caught her when she was having an episode, only for Artemis to fire an arrow and catch her in the hand. The crystal flew into the air. Stompa moved to catch it only for Wondergirl to catch her in mid-attack.

"I've got this one!"

Impulse rushed for the crystal, but Lashina flung the whip and wrapped it around her ankles. She yanked Impulse away and the crystal flew into the hand of Mad Harriet.

"I don't have it."

"No because I've got it!"

Blue Beetle fired at a blast at Lashina and a few more whipped through the air. They had to get their hands on the crystal and now.

Mad Harriet blocked an arrow fired by Artemis. Another arrow had been caught, only for it to release a small explosive blast. Artemis snatched the arrow. Only for Grail to charge towards her.

Harry caught off Grail and the two grappled to the ground with each other. Lashina sent her electrified whip at Harry, only for Harry to dodge and Grail to get entangled in the whip.

"What are you doing, you idiot?" Grail asked.

"Sorry!"

Lashina pulled back instantly. Allowing Impulse to knock her out from one side. And for Harry to send Grail flying on the other side.

'You don't have the nerve to do what's necessary,' M'comm thought.

The crystal locked in a tug of war between the two Martians. M'gann tried to channel all of the mental power possible. Even then, M'comm was dragging her back. She had to keep the crystal away from her, at all costs possible. And with Harry tied up with Grail, M'gann had to do this alone.

A loud crunch and M'gann's ears rang. The crystal almost slipped out of her telepathic grip and into M'comm's hand. Only for a flash of light to erupt.

Modred's greedy little fist clenched the crystal. Power erupted from his finger tips. Finally, he had been waiting for this for centuries and soon, his dream would be fulfilled. And he didn't need his mother or Doom to do it either!

"Now that your little game is over, it's time to face reality!" Modred cried. "You will be living in my world. You will bow down before your King and soon Camelot will rise again! Nothing can stop….."

Harry casually blasted Modred into the wall and the crystal flew out of his hand and into Harry's.

Modred laid on the ground, silently fuming. Although not so silent, given he had been vibrating underneath the attack.

Impulse noticed a device on the back of the downed Stompa. She grabbed it. Boom Tube, of course, and this Fatherbox would allow her to get the bad guys out of there, and transport them to somewhere else, hopefully Siberia. But things were getting a little too crowded.

With a few pushes of the button, the portal opened up and allowed Impulse to send the Female Furies, M'comm, Grail, and Modred off into their merry way. The topsy turvy trip was not exactly pleasant at all.

"Where did you send them?" Blue Beetle asked.

"Hopefully some place where they take time to get back,' Impulse said.

Magpie rocked back and forth, hands on her head.

"No, shiny, no shiny, my shiny, gone, no, no no!" she cried.

Harry created an exact duplicate of the necklace, only without the power that it wielded. He threw it down into Magpie's lap. She looked giddy and thus proved Magpie could care less about the necklace's power only the shiny he willed.

"Oooh!" Magpie cried. "You know, your "S" is shiny too."

A very uneasy feeling spread over the various team members spread.

"And we better leave," Artemis said.

Thankfully, the glint of the necklace distracted Magpie from the team leaving. Harry pocketed the real thing and flew back to the lab where Perdita waited for him. Genesis would be ready to teleport the rest of the Team back to headquarters, to regroup.

"I told you I would get it back."

Perdita threw her arms around Harry and kissed him passionately. The Queen smiled as she slowly pulled away from him.

"And I have no doubt," Perdita said. "Ms. Luthor, Ms. Arias, and Doctor Sandsmark are all healthy. And they might have found something."

With a small smile, Harry allowed Perdita to take him by the hand and back into the lab.

As Perdita informed them; Sam, Helena, and Lena had all been doing okay.

"Long and eventful day, but that's par for the course," Lena said.

"Yes, unfortunately," Harry said. "So did you ladies find out something…."

The necklace started to vibrate in Harry's hand. Lena's eyes widened a fraction of an inch as the humming grew even more louder.

"Has that happened before?" Helena asked.

"Never," Harry said in response.

Suddenly, Sam's head whipped back and her pupils glowed purple. Lena's horror was obvious as she looked at the woman.

"Sam? Sam? Samantha!"

"The end of days are here," Sam said in Kryptonian. "The Worldkillers will bring about a new age. For, they will fall and their master will rise."

The crystal stopped glowing and vibrating. Sam snapped out of it, confused as all hell. Lena's mouth hung open and she leaned over towards Harry.

"I know a few bits and pieces of the Kryptonian language, but not enough to hold a full conversation," Lena said. "What did she say?"

"She said something about the end of days approaching, and the Worldkillers will rise," Harry informed Lena.

"Okay, you need to go into observation," Lena said. "Because, there's something really wrong with you."

Sam nodded grimly. She wondered if Lena was right. She thought she might be. One more grim thought filled Sam's mind. Sam wondered if the dream she had about tracking down Black Beetle the other night was really a dream after all.

Harry poured over McElroy's notes, in an attempt. He had to find some kind of gateway. Only he did not know where on Earth such a gateway could be. A soft hand brought Harry out of his thoughts and over to M'gann. Who looked a bit weary.

"I've been doing some thinking," M'gann said.

Harry just nodded. He figured she would. Likely to get her mind off of today's events. He could sense M'gann's hesitation regarding M'comm. Now not the time to bring it up, especially with everything which had been going on. A lot of people wanted this necklace for many reasons. And it appeared to be the key of somesort.

"We're looking at this from the wrong angle," M'gann said. "We saw something on the Moon, carvings. And we found the elements which matched the crystal on the moon. What if…."

"The gateway this thing opens is on the Moon."

They both exchanged a smile. Yes, Harry flashed back to everything he saw. He might now have a good idea where it was. Although, opening this gateway and going into the unknown was an intimidating prospect. And quite necessary to achieve his goals.

"We'll do this," M'gann said. "My brother wants it. Mordred wants it. And I guess the Light wants it and….he wants it."

Yes, the presence of the Female Furies resulted in another problem. Harry encountered one of Darkseid's minions before, Desaad, and Barda warned him that Darkseid had his attention on Earth.

"I can't believe it! Superman once again! He stole it from me! My birthright! The world should be mine!"

Modred did not care what he broke. He was entitled to break some things after Superman once again bullied him out of the necklace.

"We have a mutual problem."

A very familiar figure appeared. Modred lunged out to grab him out of reflex only to feel his hand slip through the creature.

"You're the Martian," Modred said with a certain disdain in his voice.

"I was born M'comm M'orzz, but I now am known as Ma'alefa'ak"

Modred could not help and snort. Oh, such a name indicated an overinflated sense of self importance, at least it did in Modred's mind.

"Doctor Doom does not respect your power," M'comm said. "You will be nothing but a little brat which he had been burdened with. But I can make you a King. If we work together."

Modred found himself skeptical that he could trust this filthy creature. But, perhaps, Modred could use him for his own means. And show both his mother and Doom that he was capable of making moves on his own.

"I'm interested in your proposal," Modred said.

The fish had been baited, as the Earth saying went.

"Then meet me at the following location."