Chapter 45

Piloting the bioship, M'gann bit down on her lip in determination. It had been a long time since the original team had been together on a mission. Harry, Helena, Whitney, Mareena, and Donna joined M'gann on this mission, and the group was ready to head out to Egypt.

Granted, the Team only had been together for all of a month before Artemis joined them. Still seemed like a lot longer in many ways. And a lot of things changed in the time since they had gotten together for that first time. And after those initial few missions.

Of course, despite having much changed, one thing that did not change is a mission brought them to some exotic part of the world. The only difference between then and now was Batman did not give them the mission. Rather they took the mission on their own accord.

Mareena stood up to give the team briefing as they reached their destination.

"As you know, Doctor Helena Sandsmark attended an expedition which was only supposed to take a grand total of ten days," Mareena said. "And she's been gone for three weeks."

"While her daughter, Cassie, thinks this is not odd, something about it is concerning, as Helena normally does check in with her loved ones while late," Harry continued.

"So, do you think she ran into trouble?" Whitney asked.

"Always a possibility on these missions," Donna said in a solemn voice. "And Diana was unable to join us, due to….complications back home."

Diana assured Donna this was nothing she needed to worry about and it could be resolved in no time. She did give Donna all the blessing to track down the lead on Doctor Sandsmark and if Diana finished the matters on the island, then she would join them.

"Something's up," Helena agreed. "Especially given her expedition had been funded by Professor William McElroy of the Egyptology department of Gotham City university."

"The name rings a bell," Whitney said.

"It should because McElroy was infamous for a series of psychotic episodes thirty years ago in Gotham City, against the JSA, including the original Black Canary," Helena said. "He adopted the persona of King Tut. He got the treatment he did, and it took years of hard work before he built his reputation back up. Although...he's very eccentric, even without the alter ego and this is the first time he's been on an expedition for years."

"So, he's joined them," Whitney said. "Do you think he's been playing possum for years?"

"Maybe," Helena said. "Or maybe the trip has just awakened old habits."

"Something is off about the air," Harry said. "I can't pinpoint it what, but it's off. M'gann, take it down as close as you can."

"Right," M'gann said. "Everyone strap on tight, it's going to be a bumpy ride."

The bioship groaned. She had been picking up some strange readings. M'gann brought the ship down and the Team prepared for their mission to rescue Doctor Sandsmark and maybe even the rest of their team.

In a temple, a rotund looking gentleman paced around and peered at his surroundings thoughtfully. A large smile, which made him look very terrifying, popped over his face. He leaned down, towards the unconscious Helena Sandsmark. Placing a hand on her cheek, the man stroked the cheek of the woman with a large smile on his face.

Professor William McElroy had slipped into his alter ego, the criminal who had caused trouble for the Justice Society of America, in King Tut. The rotund king bounced around with uncharistic agility for a man both his size and age.

"Soon, my Queen, soon you will awaken, pristine as ever," he said. "They tried to lock away your potential, as they did mind. But, I saw the light, my royal adviser opened the door and now me and my Tutlings, we will rule them all, bringing me back to the kingdom which should be mine! I, the Greatest Pharaoh of them all, King Tut!"

The man's voice echoed throughout the temple. One of the henchmen nudged another one.

"Didn't the real King Tut die when he was eighteen?" one of them asked in an undertone.

A few of the henchmen looked nervous. Facts tended to not go over well among the mighty Pharoah.

"Shut up," another one of the henchmen hissed out of the corner of his mouth. "A guy like that, he's bound to beat us up if we step one toe out of line. Just smile, nod, and bow before him."

As if on cue, all of the henchmen began to bow, hailing their king. The squirming form of Doctor Helena Sandsmark moved on the table. She had been unable to move due to being tied and unable to speak on the account of being gagged.

Tut flew practically to the table and placed a hand down onto the top of her head. Stroking the woman's hair and getting a look of both confusion and revulsion in the process.

"Shh, shhh, do not harm yourself, my dear," King Tut said. "It's going to be alright. Once the stars align and the planets are in center, you will be woken up in this Earthly vessel. And together, we can smite those who will refuse to see the brilliance. People will wait in line to see me, from Thebes to Babylonia to Arizonia!"

"Actually, it's Arizona," one of the thugs said.

Tut simply waffled the man on the head with staff and he crumpled to the ground. All of the other Tutlings bowed before the king.

"Does anyone else want to try and be smarter than their King?" Tut asked.

The Tutlings shook their head and they bowed down to worship their king.

"No, I thought not," Tut said.

Maxwell Lord, from the shadows dressed as Tut's royal advisor, just smiled. He managed to maneuver his way into this mission to obtain this rare power source the temple was sitting on top of. Legend had it that years ago, aliens visited this world.

The Pharaoh awakening proved to fit into Lord's plans quite nicely.

Helena Wayne frowned when she got the information. Now in their stealth gear, then team moved around the temple.

"I found out something interesting," Helena said. "And it's….not promising, and it's regarding McElroy. Or rather regarding his doctor."

"Oh, I can only imagine," Whitney said.

"It's Hugo Strange," Helena said.

"Of course it is," Harry muttered while scanning the surface of the temple.

"We haven't seen Strange since he's fled Belle Reve in disgrace," Donna said. "Do you think it's possible that he might be….."

"Anything's possible," Helena said.

Speaking of possible, Harry wondered about the temple and the find. He could feel something in the air, an extremely intoxicated power. Something which would draw the worst of people out there.

"So, Strange said he was clean, but then….we don't even know if McElroy is even dressing up in his old alter ego," Megan said.

"Prepare for anything," Mareena said. "You're feeling what I'm feeling, right?"

Harry's mind was on the temple. One of the walls slid open and he took half of a step. Testing for traps, Harry motioned for the team to follow his lead.

"No speed," Harry said. "I need to have time to vett the traps."

"We need to find Doctor Sandsmark," Donna said worriedly.

"And we will."

Harry heard a pounding at the end of the hallway. Almost like a human heart and at the same time more creepy. He hovered an inch above the ground and looked all around before focusing at the front. The runes on the temple flickered to light.

"Okay, I'm not a magic person, but that can't be good," Whitney said.

"No, it's not good," Harry said. "Heads up, we're going to fight the guardian of the temple."

A loud rumbling from afar indicated the guardian had not been too happy the temple had been breached. Any temple traps paled in comparison to the upcoming threat of a monster of some sort.

"How did Doctor Sandsmark and her crew find a way around all of this?" Donna wondered.

"Good question,"

M'gann heard the thoughts and then thousands of voices, echoing from afar. Those who had been long lost to the ravages of the war in this valley came through her head and overwhelmed the Martian with a sense of vertigo. She needed to grab ahold of Harry's hand to steady herself.

The monster took a few steps back to reveal a large statue which looked pretty high tech. Gusts of wind came from the statue, which might as well have been a more primitive version of a giant robot.

"Wow, Deja-Vu much" Whitney said in awe.

Indeed, this harkened back to the team's first mission, against Mister Twister, years back. Only, their timing had not been fluid, they had been barely able to function together as a team back them. And they did know each other and how to sync their own movements about as well as they did right now.

A thunderous smash of the robot's foot down on the ground echoed. Mareena took in a deep breath.

"Right, Whitney distract it," Mareena said. "Donna and Harry, come from the top. Helena and I will come from either side and M'gann, take him from underneath."

The Team knew what they needed to do.

"Hey, I bet you can't blast me!" Whitney yelled. "Oooh, too slow!"

Whether or not the robot had anything approximating a human soul did not matter at this point. It moved towards Whitney and sent a cannon blast of wind energy at her. The fastest girl alive sped up, ducking, dodging, and moving around the blasts from the robot. She came around the wall running up it and flipped down to the ground.

Donna slammed down to the back of the robot's head to distract it. The minute the robot turned around to face Donna, Harry punted it in the side of the head. And Whitney ran up around it, jumping from shoulder to shoulder and getting the robot down.

Helena's retractable staff caused energy to erupt through the robot's core. She managed to damage it somehow.

"Go for the heart!" Helena yelled.

Mareena retracted two daggers made of hard water and jumped down to slash down onto the robot. A loud crumpling sound echoed throughout the room from Mareena taking down the adversary. The robot, stepping back, almost crumpled back down onto the ground until Mareena could pull back one more time.

M'gann, the final piece of the puzzle, reached underneath and made the robot's feet sink through the ground. It struggled and made an attempt to break away until Whitney slammed her fist through the robot's heart and vibrated it before causing it to smash into bits.

"Well, that's done and dusted," Whitney said. "But, we're still not close to….."

Harry put up a hand and Whitney went silent. A series of muffled screams from one level below were audible. Harry picked up the strong smell of something from up above.

"Follow my lead," Harry said.

"Always,' Donna said.

Harry found her and now the Team were going to head on up to see what they could do to get ahold of Doctor Sandsmark.

King Tut spread his arms as the temple flowed with energy. The same energy coursed through his staff.

The Tutlings all watched very eagerly. Well, at the very least, Tut would get his kingdom back. Or would fry Helena Sandsmark to ash.

"And now, the time has come, for your grand arisal, my dear Queen!" King Tut said. "Be alive, rise, be alive, rise, be alive and RISE!"

Tut's staff vibrated, the excitement at the radiance of the Queen charging it to fever pitch.

A blur of light snatched Helena off of the table before the light could hit her. The staff reduced the table to ashes and Tut threw his staff up into the air in shock.

"WHO DARES BESMIRCH THE INNER TEMPLE OF TUT?" he bellowed.

Two of his Tutlings dropped down from a super fast blur from a speedster in yellow and red. Kid Flash stopped with a smile at Tut.

"Could we get some cheese with that ham, please?" Kid Flash asked.

"Pest, you will fall before your feet at me!" Tut yelled.

The energy blast from the staff shot at Kid Flash. She dodged it, with the energy coming from the staff nowhere near as fast. Tut fired the staff, not caring if he would hit his own men in the process with it. They ducked for cover as the mad king fired and kept firing at them.

A lasso came around the staff and Tut flew forward, almost doing a comical pratfall in the process. Like a turtle knocked over onto his back, Tut struggled to get up.

Robin dropped down from the sky and slammed down onto the back of the head of one of the larger goons. The goon pulled out a knife only to be swept off of his feet.

M'gann grabbed one of the goons and pulled him down to the ground. One of them speared at her. M'gann went intangible as the spear flew through her body. The thug backed off and M'gann grabbed him around the arm before flipping him down to the ground.

"NO!" Tut yelled. "Tutlings, protect your kingdom!"

Another one dropped to the ground. One of them picked up a large torch and swung it around. Miss Martian stepped back a couple of inches until Aquagirl directed the water attacks at the torch putting it out. Miss Martian dove behind the man and knocked him down to the ground.

The sole Tutling tried to fight bravely, only for Harry to tap him on the shoulder. The pressure would not be enough to knock him out. But, Superman tapping the goon on the shoulder was more than enough to put him down for the count of ten.

Tut backed into the wall and the shelf came attached. A loud crash echoed when Tut had been conked on the head and he collapsed down to the ground.

Maxwell Lord, cutting his losses, moved to the side entrance of the temple.

"There goes the Royal Advisor!" Whitney shouted. "You want me….."

The rocks in the temple started to fly. Whatever the Royal Advisor did, it blocked Kid Flash. And also ensured the entire Team, along with Tut, Doctor Sandsmark, and Tut's goons, would be buried alive.

"Genesis, teleport us out!" Harry yelled.

"Of course, Har-el," Genesis said.

A flash of light emitted and sent the entire group into a secure facility in the middle of Metropolis. Used as a go between point by the League before prisoners had been transported to their fiddlesticks.

"Oh fiddlesticks, did it happen again?" Tut, or rather McElroy slurred.

"Afraid so," Superman said.

The door opened up and Cassie Sandsmark practically jumped off of the couch to rush towards her mother.

"Mom!" Cassie yelled.

Cassie threw her arms around Helena and Helena pulled her daughter into a hug with a smile.

"I'm really sorry for worrying you like that Cassie, but...the point is I'm safe right now," Helena said.

"And you won't go on any trips without Diana backing you up next time, right?" Cassie asked.

"For you, honey, I promise," Helena said. "I'm fine, I'm just tired...that's all."

Cassie had been relieved. Her mother, the only stable influence in her life, had been lost. Donna had been a big help and she recruited some help to track down her mother and bring her home.

"Thank you," Cassie said. "It's….it's...good to have her back."

She barely stifled a yawn. Helena put a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"I really hope you haven't been skipping on sleep and slacking on school because I've been gone," Helena said. "We both need some rest….Diana!"

Diana stepped inside and her worn down spirits brightened excitedly when stepping inside of the room. She pulled Helena into a hug which Helena returned with a very warm smile before pulling away from her.

"It's good to see that you're back, Helena," Diana said. "I was worried."

"It's good to be back and I didn't mean to worry you," Helena said with a frown. "One thing you should know….McElroy's royal advisor looked a lot like Maxwell Lord."

"Maybe it was, and that would explain why McElroy sprang back into his other self," Harry said.

"Maybe," Helena agreed. "Hopefully he gets the help he needs, real help this time."

"And not from Hugo Strange," M'gann said with a sigh. "Has anyone even seen him?"

"Not for three years," Diana said with a sigh.

"I should get some rest," Helena said. "Thank you for saving me, Harry, I would like to pay you back someday….when I'm feeling more up for it."

The members of the Team exchanged knowing looks with Harry. And Cassie's mouth widened, before she threw her arms around Harry and hugged him tightly. While she was only fifteen years old right now, Harry had a feeling she would have potential in a couple of years.

Cassie, on the urging of her mother, finally got some sleep, and Doctor Sandsmark, on Diana's urging, followed suit.

Donna knew this would be a meeting which would need to happen involving the Team sooner rather than later. She took a deep breath, focusing on them. Diana joined her for moral support on this meeting.

"I've been doing some thinking," Donna said. "And….I'm feeling a bit spread thin. With my schooling, the team, my responsibilities as a diplomat, and I also want to start helping train some of the younger Amazons…."

"Yeah, I notice you've been working very hard," Mareena said. 'If you want to take a step back from the Team, we understand."

"We really do," M'gann said.

"There will always be a spot on this Team for you," Harry said.

"I know, and thanks, but I'm not out of here just yet," Donna said. "This team would not be right without a Wondergirl, someone to represent the Amazons. Our reputations….might be damaged over the past three years. I'm not sure if it will ever be repaired but….I'm going to try."

"One person at a time," Diana said. "Unfortunately, some minds can be very rigid and cannot adapt to change so easily."

Oh Donna knew all about that. She hoped with time there would be minds changed.

"And I want a word about the Team and their future," Diana said.

"Look, Diana, with all due respect, the League's not really talked to us much outside of a few people in the past couple of years," Harry said. "I know you're all concerned about those missing sixteen hours, but….the Team's doing fine without the League and you can't really disband us."

"I'm sorry if you got the wrong impression," Diana said. "We were preparing for our newest recruitment drive and….I was wondering if your opinion about joining the League has changed in the last three years."

"My opinion is the same," Harry said. "Spots in the LEague for Mareena, Donna, Helena, Artemis, M'gann, and Whitney, should they want them, at the very least. And a seat at the head table for at least one of us, so our concerns can be represented. Mareena should get that."

"Actually, you should get it," Mareena said. "I think you're more ready than you've ever been."

They could hash it out at a later date. For right now, they needed to figure this out.

"I'll...talk to the others, see what they say," Diana said.

Diana hoped they could settle this because the League had pretty much been in shambles. Most of the members operated independently these days, and the United Nations had been asking more questions and enacting more sanctions.

"And Diana, I know about the politics the League are in," Harry said. "If they push me, I will push back."

"I understand," Diana said. "You are your mother's son."

And the Team knew Diana was not referring to Superwoman in this case. Regardless, Diana said her goodbyes and left.

"So, are you heading off as well?" Mareena asked.

"No, got to stick around to train my replacement," Donna said. "Although this time….I don't have any idea."

Harry peered down the hallway to where the Sandsmark women were peacefully asleep.

"I might if my theory is correct," Harry said.