Chapter 65

"While the Justice League was a very useful idea in principle, in practice, it was another thing entirely. We allowed the League too much freedom and as a result, they went rogue."

The members of the United Nations heard Lex Luthor's speech and hung on his every word. The man, at the height of his glory, looked out of the United Nation.

"But, I believe we can see the merit of having protectors, who are most closely guarded and regulated," Lex responded. "Therefore, I am proposing what I call the Thunderbolts Initiative. A newly funded group of government sanctioned heroes who will be more effective then the League, and I hope will have the full backing of the United Nations."

"Well, Mr. Luthor, we're interested in your proposal, but I'm curious why you feel the need for such a program."

"Because, the League's irresponsible actions have flashed a beacon on Earth, and put us in the spotlight in the world stage," Lex said. "The Kree is just one of many groups, I fear, who will turn their interest to his planet, and while they were easily appeased, others were not. I will fund it, but all I need is the blessing of the United Nations and the cooperation to recruit."

Everyone put the matter to the vote and the quickest resolution in the entire history of the United Nations had been reached, with pretty much every representative agreeing to Lex's proposal.

From the shadows, Maxwell Lord observed, with a small on his face. From behind, sat both Vandal Savage and Hugo Strange.

"The Starro Tech is a worthwhile investment," Savage said.

"Indeed, it's remarkable how much he is able to allow the United Nations to comply without their usual argument," Strange said.

"And now that Batman, and likewise Bruce Wayne, is out of the picture, it will be time for our friend to strike," Savage concluded.

Lex smiled, pleased at how this was going. They may have suffered a minor setback or two as of late, but the Light turned it around and accomplished many great things and they would accomplish many more great things in the future.

Harry arrived at the edge of Sheldon Park in Gotham City, with Helena, Mareena, Whitney, Donna, M'gann, and Artemis. The Team wondered why they were asked to visit in this place.

"The world of tomorrow, circa 1972," Artemis said. "What they envisioned the world to be in the far distant time of...the year 2000."

"A bit off the mark, isn't it?" Whitney asked. "Still don't have our flying cars."

A small group of masked women appeared. Helena and Donna both tensed up, ready for battle. They recognized them as Talia's guard in the League of Assassins. One of them smiled.

"We've been expecting you," the lead of the guard said. "Follow us."

The Team had made their way into an underground tunnel. Past the exhibits of the former World of Tomorrow, buried deep in Sheldon Park. A strangled voice garbled in and out, although it had mostly been silenced and the recording had been very restored.

One of the members of the League activated the panel and a flash of light emitted, to allow the team inside.

"Well, this is interesting," Harry murmured.

Several familiar faces greeted them. Raya Vestri, Rebecca's former friend from her circus days. Lyta Zoda, Nora Darhk, Talia al Ghul, and Emma Frost.

"It's time for all of us to work together over a common goal," Emma said.

"Especially since the League Six had been taken off of the chess board by the Light," Nora said.

"Another secret, Nora?" Harry asked.

Nora just responded with a sheepish smile. Emma and Raya all looked highly amused at Harry, pretty much folding the fearsome Nora Darhk under their finger. Not that they would mind being under his finger, or other parts of his body for that matter.

"The last one, I swear," Nora said. "Maybe a couple more, but….I don't think there's anything big."

Noor Harjavti walked into the room right behind them, which shocked Harry.

"You're a part of this as well, Noor?"Harry asked her.

"Only recently," Noor said. "I've been recruited only recently, and they made a lot of sense, when they laid out all of the problems we're going to have to deal with."

"Recruited for what?" Whitney asked.

"For Earth's last hope against a tyrant's mad plan."

Lady Shiva stepped into the room, alongside Indigo, who was disguised as Queen Bee's aide, and Queen Bee herself followed in. Marina stepped in and all of the team looked very nervous.

"When the Light decays, there's only a Shadow left," Marina said. "And we are the final evolution of a group which has been around for thousands of years, and most of them, our...Black Queen has been seeking to bring Vandal Savage down once and for all due to his betrayal."

"So, the Black Queen?" Harry asked.

"She will be joining us eventually," Marina said.

"We have been laying in wait, for the right time," Emma said. "Our interests have finally aligned."

"So, you've been around for a long time…." Mareena said.

"You're the Hellfire Club," Helena said. "The Inner Circle, although...the latest incarnation of it."

"Yes, Child of the Detective, we are," Talia said with a smile.

"And it's time for our mutual interests to align," Marina said.

Harry exchanged looks with the team. There had been something devious going on and while he was willing to hear the Shadow out, if nothing else other than to weigh his options.

"So, you got a party invitation as well?"

Off to the side, Lena appeared at the door and stepped inside.

"I knew you were up to something big," Lena said to Emma. "But, I had no idea how big."

"And now you do," Lena said. "But, we're waiting for the Black Queen to show up."

"And you shall not wait for long."

A very beautiful, although at the same time very deadly looking dark haired woman appeared, slightly obscured in the shadows.

"It will soon be time to settle a score with Vandal. He'll wish that bear mauled him."

Lena's mouth hung open the second the woman walked out of the shadows. She could not believe it. Actually, numb with shock described what Lena was feeling perfectly.

"M-mother!" Lena stammered out. "No, it's not possible, I saw you die."

"She's...she looks nothing like the pictures of Lillian Luthor though," Artemis said.

"No, not Lillian, Mom was Lex's half sister, remember," Harry said. "Product of an affair between Lionel Luthor and a woman he met in Ireland."

Lena looked torn between shock and anger, anger that her mother, her birth mother, was here.

"I've not been forthcoming with many things, my dear daughter," she said. "I allowed you to believe I died, I had to send off to live with the Luthors, so I knew you would grow up strong, even if I now realize you would be strong without them. And my true name, you never know it."

"Your true name?"

"Yes, my name is not Katrina Cassidy," she said. "I'm not even Irish."

She let the bombshell hang and drop.

"My name is Selene Gallio."

Aquaman slammed Black Manta onto the ground and bombarded him with fists of fury. Rage flowed through the eyes of the King of Atlantis. The time was now, for the reckoning of one of his most deadly enemies.

"Finally, you will pay for all of the hu….argh!"

Black Manta smiled when an electrified charge caught Aquaman from behind. He almost felt sorry it had to end like this. The King dropped down to the ground, to his knees before Black Manta. As it should be, along unfortunately not by Black Manta's hands.

Hila, Mera's sister, appeared. She held the energy staff and sent a pulse of energy through her.

"My sister was sent to your Kingdom to assassinate the enemy of our people,' Hila said. "But, she...was too soft...weak...and she even had your child. Disgusting traitor...and now you're going to die at my hand, for jailing me all of those years ago!"

"You...shouldn't join up with Black Manta," Aquaman wheezed. "He will use you, and then kill you."

"You stall for time," Hila said. "Time to put the falling King out of his misery."

Hila slammed a dagger into the heart of Aquaman and also sliced his throat for good measure. The King of Atlantis fell to the ground, blood spurting out of his neck and his chest. She bathed in it, the symbol of her superiority and victory over the foolish king.

"Long live the king," Black Manta said.

Black Manta crushed Aquaman's limp body underneath his foot.

"And now that Arthur is down, that leaves both Mera and Mareena," Black Manta replied.

"In time," Hila said.

Black Manta firmly grabbed Hila by the arm and forced the woman to look him in the eye.

"If you want Atlantis, you need not be soft as your sister," Black Manta said.

"You put your hand on me one more time, Manta, and you'll see how soft I can be," Hila said with rage bubbling through her eyes.

Manta stepped back, pleased with her fire. He just hoped for Hila's sake it down burn her.

Mareena rushed home due to urgent news. Mera looked rather somber and the people of Atlantis were in a tear. Tula rushed to her.

"The King's been assassinated!" Tula yelled.

At this point, Mareena caught a sight of several of the guards, moving forward carrying her father's body. Battered, broken, dead, the final sign of them.

"Who did this?" Mareena demanded.

"We believe that it was Black Manta and...well Hila...she had escaped during a prison transfer."

Mareena had been too distracted by the business regarding the Kree and the Shadow to hear about Hila's escape. She wanted to punch something and almost destroyed one of the statues in a magical fury.

"Mareena, calm yourself, please!" Tula yelled.

Mareena said nothing, only seeing red. She could not see anything other than the rage emitting in front of her. The need to rip Black Manta and Hila apart for killing her father. Despite the fact they clashed, Mareena never, never wanted to see her father murdered in such a fashion.

"For the sake of the future of our people, keep your head together, my child," Mera said. "They will face justice."

"Justice doesn't work," Mareena said.

Upon that moment, Harry and Donna arrived at Atlantis. Donna rushed over to Mareena and pulled her into a consoling hug.

"I'm so sorry," Donna said.

Harry turned his attention to Mera.

"If there's anything we can do…."

"We need to prepare," Mera said. "I feel that there is going to be discontent with what happened. There will be those who will strike when Atlantis is without their King. And there will be those who will try and do something foolish out of justice."

Also, Manta had if not allies, then people who were sympathetic to him hidden deep within Atlantis. Mera stood up straight.

She would not only have to face Manta, but also her own flesh and blood who had been responsible for this murder.

X-X-X

The war-torn, damaged Earth, twenty-five years in the future had been reduced to several broken chunks of floating rock fragments. On the largest of them all, the former Mount Justice stood, with a large hole blown through it. The generators converting the toxic chemicals into a breathable atmosphere continued.

A young redhead woman stepped closer towards the time sphere. Sixteen years old and with the weight of the entire universe riding on her shoulders.

"I know we ask a lot."

Lian appeared, the oldest of the group of girls. She had been followed by another girl, with dirty blonde hair, dressed in a tank top, leather jacket, and pants, with a bow over her back, and green eyes, and a third girl, another blonde, with a haunted look.

"But, it will work," the haunted looking blonde said. "Loir designed the time sphere, modified it from Thawne's original plans, and it should...work…."

"Of course it will work," the redhead said. "She's a Luthor."

"Technically, we're all Luthors, given who our father is," the dirty-haired blonde said with a smile.

"Mia, now's not the time," Lian said.

Thankfully, they had a much better relationship at this age than their mothers did at this age. Cousins, sisters, they did squabble a bit here and there, but they had each other's back, through and through.

"Hopefully it won't fry your brain, even more so than usual," the haunted blonde said.

"Thanks for the pep talk, Esme."

The speedster stepped closer to the sphere. Another blonde, older, dressed in battle armor, with a sword strapped over her back, and a shiny golden necklace on her neck appeared to them.

"Can you hold the line while Nora makes the time jump?" Esme asked.

"Yes," she said. "I've scrouged up every single meta, inhuman, and mutant that haven't been sent to the slave pits, although this is one last ditch gambit."

Nora West-Kent-Luthor, which was a hell of a mouthful come to think about it, just grinned at the armored woman.

"Well, Perdita, going back in time in a device which was the brainchild of a madman as well,' Nora said.

"They want to crush the last bit of hope," Perdita said. "And Granny's lead assassin, she's hunted down every meta who has escaped."

"To think, this all started with a bunch of beetles," Mia murmured underneath her breath.

"Blink will take you and your team as far away to their camp as possible, and you can...keep them at bay,' Esme said. "In minutes, this won't matter."

"Although time does take a while to settle like cement," Perdita said. "At least according to Ava."

Nora stepped closer towards the peddle. She had to get into character, before heading back into time.

"Time to crash the mode," Nora said.

"Nora?"

Another blonde appeared, dressed in traditional Amazon attire.

"Remember, you stop the virus...my virus, from mutating, you stop the decay. Otherwise, you and your sisters...will be the final generation."

The virus started targeting men, but thanks to a vengeful alien getting a hold of a sample, it spread to women, until there were no more births, and as the birth rate went down, more people died. The old and infirm were always the first to fall. Then the young followed, thinking they were invincible.

Until there was nothing left, but a wasteland.

"I'll stop it, Aresia," Nora said.

"I wish you could go further back in time to prevent me from creating the virus in the first place," Aresia said. "But, it's doubtful I'll listen...don't worry Perdita, I'll back you up."

"Zari, are you in position?" Perdita asked.

"Yes, and waiting for your word."

Nora, Impulse, stepped into the time sphere and it sent her off straight into the past. One year before everything went to hell. One year before the near extinction level event of the human race, which led to Darkseid's eventual control over the planet.

Esme watched. She had nothing left to lose, having lost so much.