BOOM! #148

"It's about time..." The Riddler muttered as he entered a dark alley, having left the meeting with Ivy and the other villains. He leaned on the wall, retrieved a syringe, and jammed it into his neck.

He froze, leaning on the wall as his veins bulged and his eyes glowed green for a second before the simmer dimmed, prompting him to sigh in relief.

Having flushed Poison Ivy's pheromones from his system, The Riddler grinned as he stood straight and raised his wristwatch to look at the time, causing his smile to grow more pronounced.

The Riddler wanted Waller to go down as much as any of the other villains in their little group. However, much like the others, he had his own ulterior motives for being a part of the flimsy alliance under Poison Ivy's leadership.

Ivy wanted to enthrall everyone and put them under her command, and Mothman was the only one dumb enough to fall for it, as the others had taken precautions against the botanist's pheromones.

Not like Ivy would have any use for the anti-batman villains since the caped crusader had already neutralized him, but that was neither here nor there.

The Calculator wanted to gather information on the other members of the group and Grayson himself, while Mothman only wished to get Batman's attention, which The Riddler helped him achieve.

Perhaps Anarky was the only one who genuinely wanted to get rid of Waller with no other ulterior motive, as the self-proclaimed freedom fighter viewed her as a legitimate threat to his cause.

The Riddler, however, only joined out of boredom, and he immediately gave in to his whims once he found a chance to play with the caped crusader.

It was all going according to plan, and now The Riddler only had to sit back, enjoy the show, and make a grand appearance at the end to mock Batman and reveal how he played the latter like a fiddle.

Would it endanger many people's lives? Yes. Would it give Waller a chance to succeed? Yes. Would The Riddler gain anything by it? No. Did he care? Absolutely not.

It was all about the games, after all. The bigger the stage, the more fun the games would be. Needless to say, this was the perfect stage, and The Riddler would not miss it for the world.

...

Always the perfectionist, Clay's face leaned on the wall while waiting for the scientists and Enchantress to start whatever they were doing, still intent on discovering what it was exactly.

His primary objective was to stop whatever the scientists were doing, but doing that without figuring out their plan didn't sit right with him. It felt like half-assing things, so he waited, watching like a hawk as the scientists began their preparations.

They didn't keep him waiting for long.

"Everyone get in positions," the elderly scientist said, waiting for everyone to follow his instructions before pressing a button that revealed the pulsating red stone inside a showcase in the middle of the laboratory.

Other than shining brighter, almost blindingly so, it did not look different. However, Clay's face couldn't help getting a strange feeling as he looked at the red stone. It almost looked alive.

"Isn't it beautiful?" the elderly scientist remarked as he walked to the red stone with Enchantress following behind him. "After all this time, it still had signs of life..." he added with an obsessive smile as he looked at the red stone as if entranced.

"What vigor... what vitality..." the elderly scientist muttered, getting carried away for a second, but he quickly shook it off after taking a deep breath.

"By injecting the stone with different stimulants, we were able to bring it back to life... but it's not yet living..." the scientist said as he turned the brunette heroine, causing her to frown.

"Though alive, figuratively speaking, the stone didn't develop sentience," he added as he touched the glass containing the stone with his right.

"We could not uncover the secrets of its vitality as it had no conscience to steer itself, no will to survive, no self-preservation instinct," he went as he turned to Enchantress, giving her a hard-to-read expression.

"Waller had provided me a sample of your magic energy..." the elderly scientist said, his expression and tone souring as the word 'magic' came out of his mouth like he was tasting dog shit.

"After a thorough study, I've come to conclude that your energy is what we need to get the stone to live truly," he blankly concluded, going quiet as he allowed the heroine time to process his words.

"And what am I bringing to life, exactly?" Enchantress asked, frowning as she alternated her gaze between the red stone and the elderly scientist who looked like he was waiting for her to ask the question.

"You are looking at the remains of The Brimstone," the elderly scientist grandly said, his smile growing maniacal. "The fiery titan that brought earth's mightiest heroes to their knees..." he added, gesturing towards the stone, to which the heroine's frown immediately intensified.

"No need to worry... we will only give the stone enough energy to form a conscience, not enough for it to recover its strength," the elderly scientist said as if to assure Enchantress, having picked up on her concern.

"You only need to channel your energy through this device. It will measure your energy and cut the flow at the right time," the scientist added while pointing at a handle sticking out of the console attached to the glass showcase.

"Should the experiment take an unexpected turn, we have the rifle, which the mercenary, Deadshot, used to kill the original Brimstone," he concluded as if everything was under control.

Enchantress hesitated as she paused to think and weigh her options, but ultimately, the choice was clear. She had a deal with Waller, and the elderly scientist's words were assuring enough.

"I'll do it," Enchantress said, firming her resolve as she walked to the glass showcase, ready to channel her magical energy through, but a hand on her shoulder interrupted her.

"Not so fast," Clayface, still disguised as a security guard, said as he stopped Enchantress, getting a displeased, impatient look from the elderly scientist, which he didn't bother him.

"We need the director's permission before we begin," he added, buying time as he prepared to revert to his mud form and take out Enchantress first since she was the only real threat.

However, alarms echoed in the laboratory, declaring the arrival of an intruder as soon as the words left Clayface's mouth. Still, it didn't faze Clayface as he changed into mud.

He quickly wrapped around Enchantress, locking her limbs and flooding her mouth with mud to kill her as he reached for the glass showcase to snatch the red stone.

The laboratory's door burst open before Clayface could reach it, revealing Batman's figure as he scanned the room to assess the situation. The caped crusader quickly came to a conclusion and immediately attacked Clayface.

Batman sprinted into the center of the room, his batarangs flying ahead and hitting Clayface to distract the latter. He stopped before the surprised muddy villain and hit him with a taser gun.

Hit with his only weakness, Clayface's body liquified, forcing him to let go of Enchantress, who suffered her fair share of the electric assault, falling to the ground and going limb.

Batman kept the taser's wire attached to Clayface as he inspected the red stone the villain was reaching for, ignoring the stunned scientists, who were simply unable to make sense of the situation.

"What is this thing? Who are you people, and what are you doing here?" Batman asked as he turned to the elderly scientist, having figured he was in charge.

The elderly scientist was ready to answer. However, he had to swallow his words as Enchantress' body began glowing, and she let out a loud shriek that almost deafened everyone around.

Batman's expression quickly changed. He took out an ancient-looking stone from his utility belt, pointing it towards Enchantress, but it was too late as she exploded in a radiant shockwave of magical energy.

"It's coming to life....!" was the last thing Batman heard as his vision turned white, and the magical shockwave pushed him out of the room, robbing him of his consciousness.

...

Gotham

The Diamond District

"So, what will it be, young man?" Martian Manhunter asked as he stared me in the eye. He did not seem to be in a rush, content to wait for me to reply, despite giving me ample time already.

"I thought about it..." I said, sighing as I scratched my head. "I couldn't decide, but now that I'm here..." I added, taking a deep breath as I met the martian telepath's gaze.

"I..." I intoned and didn't get to complete my sentence as a loud explosion resounded in the distance, accompanied by a wave of heat that brought Martian Manhunter to his knees.

...

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