Chapter 76

Ivo worked on the bonding process, with some help from Ivo. Sportsmaster paced back and forth, very agitated by the entire mess as it was taking place. He always paced when he had gotten frustrated. And the frustration only grew by each second.

"Is it done yet?" Sportsmaster asked.

"Come now, my friend you can't rush genius," Ivo said. "We are going into uncharted scientific territory. Surely you should be excited."

"Oh, I'm tickled pink," Sportsmaster replied in his most bland and bored tone of voice. "I would be even more tickled if I was certain that…."

Suddenly, Klarion's hair stood up on the back of his neck. Sportsmaster hated whenever someone acted like this. Especially when he had no clue of his thought purpose.

"There's a disturbance in the force," Klarion said.

"What?" Sportsmaster asked.

The suspense had been killing Sportsmaster. That creepy bastard Klarion did a pretty good job in dragging it along to the point where Sportsmaster wanted to smash a bowling ball over the creepy bastard's head. It would be an improvement on his looks at any rate.

"Superman, oh Superman's here!" Klarion yelled. "And he's brought friends."

"He will ruin everything!" Ivo howled.

He was so close to reaching something great. All he needed was five, ten, maybe fifteen more minutes to complete the bonding of the nano-tech to the Starfish before Klarion juiced it up.

"Take care of it," Klarion said.

Sportsmaster turned to Cheshire who had been looking quite disinterested at the entire process.

"Superman is here along with a couple of his little playmates," Sportsmaster said. "I want you to take care of him."

Cheshire stood up straight and put her finger into Sportsmaster's face.

"Let me make one thing clear, I'm working with you, but I did not sign up to be bossed around," Cheshire said. "But, if you think you can't handle the Junior Justice League, then I will."

Knockout and Scandal already moved halfway out of the door. Cheshire knew that their bloodlust would be very impressive and they would be kept in line, by her, if Cheshire could manage it. But, they were hot-blooded woman, not that Cheshire had any room to talk.

Black Panther crouched on the edge of the trail. She had been getting closer.

"You shouldn't run off like that."

She jumped up and saw Superman lead the way with his companions. Despite knowing them now to be no threat, she did not withdraw the dagger in her hand.

"And you shouldn't sneak up on other people like that," Black Panther said. "It is very bad for your health."

"And nosing around where you shouldn't be is even worse."

Scandal appeared in the shadows, brandishing a pair of knives. Knockout appeared right behind her and stopped, to smile at Harry. At least until Scandal tightened her grip around the knife and practically shot Knockout a death glare. The third occupant of their group showed up, in the form of Cheshire.

Cheshire stopped and stared down at Red Arrow.

"Long time, no see, babe," Cheshire said.

"Not long enough," Red Arrow said.

One fired arrow had been blocked, with Cheshire zig-zagging out of the way. She planted herself firmly on the ground. Red Arrow came back for the attack and another one had been blocked. And a third arrow, had been stopped with Artemis firing at the same time. The pair of arrows zig-zagged away from each other.

A loud of smoke erupted on the ground. Scandal dropped to the ground with a spinning roundhouse kick from the Black Panther. She clamored for the knives, but Black Panther already moved into position, and knocked Cheshire back to the ground.

"Tell me where the Vibranium is!" Black Panther yelled.

The claws bared and Cheshire faced a fear the likes of which she had never faced before. Artemis's eyes widened as Black Panther appeared to have gone feral.

Before, Artemis could do anything, Scandal knocked her down from behind. Black Panther released Cheshire from her grip and jumped into the air. The two women clashed in the air, knives down.

"You are a pampered princess," Scandal said. "While I've done everything in my power to survive all through my life and you don't know what hardship is like."

An arrow came from the side. Scandal caught it in her hand and snapped the arrow. She came back at Artemis, at least until Red Arrow shot an arrow at her ankles. The arrow exploded and wrapped up Scandal's ankles with some kind of cord which dropped to the ground.

The eyes of Scandal Savage widened as she tried to force her way out.

Knockout faced off against Superman. The two circled each other.

"It's nothing personal," Knockout said. "Strictly business."

"I think you're in the wrong business," Superman said.

"Agree to disagree," Knockout said.

Knockout's powerful punch almost cracked into Superman. He pushed back her hand back and flew her up onto the cave. Superman twirled Knockout around and sent her flying down to the ground. Right into position for White Canary's cry to send her crashing up against the tree.

"Back in business," White Canary said. "And so is she."

Scandal jumped high into the air. Black Panther clanged against her in mid-air. Cheshire came off to the side, and White Canary took out Scandal with a double kick to the side of the head. Scandal tried to reclaim her knifes, but Red Arrow shot an arrow, to pin her sleeve into the ground.

Cheshire threw her hands up in surrender right as Black Panther rushed to her.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't rip you apart," Black Panther said.

Artemis fired an arrow at Black Panther to get her attention. Black Panther caught the arrow and turned around to face her. White Canary, Superman, and Red Arrow stood side by side to her.

"We don't cut off heads just for stealing for one thing," Red Arrow said.

"They would not offer you the same courtesy," Black Panther said.

"And besides, I wouldn't be able to tell you this if you killed me," Cheshire said. "You can find Sportsmaster, Klarion, the Brain, and Ivo in that cabin...at the end of that trail."

Ivo had been a bit of a surprise. Because, the last time Harry had checked, Ivo had been locked up in Belle Reve. Of course, that was another point of the corruption which was going to that place.

With Scandal and Knockout secured, and Cheshire not aggressive against them, their path to the cabin should be cleared.

"Am I paranoid to say we could be walking into a trap?" Red Arrow asked.

"No," Harry said. "Just prepared."

And once again, Black Panther gave them the slip. She could give Batman some lessons in the stealth goodbyes. But, at least they had a pretty good idea where they were going this time.

Klarion looked about as giddy as a teenage girl with a fresh new vibrator. It would be the time soon, time to bond the Vibranium to the tech to give it a new kick.

"Yes, we're almost there," Klarion said. "Just a little bit closer and just sit back and watch the magic happen."

"Magic is right," Ivo said. "If we make a misstep...we're all blown straight to the beginning of creation."

"Yes," Sportsmaster said. "Get on…."

The windows shattered upon an impact and Sportsmaster shielded himself from the flying debris. From the window, a sleek figure dressed in black showed up. Sportsmaster tried to withdraw the nearest weapon, but Black Panther hit him in the right pressure point and caused Sportsmaster to drop down to his knees, in agonizing pain.

"Black Panther," he said. "I thought he was dead."

"Oh, come on, even I know if there's no body, there's no death!" Klarion yelled. "And even if there's a body, it might not be them!"

Black Panther picked up Ivo off of the chair and slammed the scientist down onto the ground. Ivo squirmed underneath the grip of Black Panther.

"You're making a huge mistake," Ivo said.

"The only mistake is thinking you could get away from stealing…."

The flying Monkeys came out. Black Panther dropped the scientist down to the ground. She picked up Sportsmaster's javelin and slammed it into several of the monkeys. She took them out one at a time with ruthless efficiency. The monkeys exploded underneath the impact the Black Panther.

"You will not prostitute Vibranium for your own purposes," Black Panther said.

"Prostitution is a service, not a crime!" Klarion sang. "And I disagree."

A beam of light sent Black Panther up against the wall. The humming of the Vibranium grew even louder in the building. To the point where it was almost ear splitting.

"Oooh, pretty!" Klarion cooed.

"You fool!" Black Panther yelled. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"It's not supposed to do that, is it?"

Ivo shook his head. Vibranium needed to be handled with care and the battle, and the attempts to bond it to the nano-tech had caused some kind of chain reaction.

Suddenly, the weapons on Black Panther's body, they started to vibrate in tune with the shield and sound waves echoed through the cabin.

"More vibranium," Klarion said. "That's what we need."

"That's the last thing we need!" Ivo howled.

Klarion put a hand up in the air and just smiled. He wondered something, for purposes of science, Klarion wondered, he pondered something.

"I wonder if we're going to see Black Panther become a shower of blood of guts before we all blow up," Klarion said.

Even if they did not know where the cabin in the woods were, they would be able to find it. The pulse of energy echoed from the cabin and Harry closed his eyes. The combination of magic and technology resulted in one big problem and it would lead to one horrific bang if they did not stop this.

Harry broke down the door, with White Canary sending the flying monkeys out with a huge canary cry. She took another one out. Red Arrow joined her and picked them out of the air with several rapid fire arrow shots.

"Just like shooting...well you know," Red Arrow said.

Sportsmaster backed off and did not take only two steps, before Artemis caught him directly in the knee with an arrow, with disabled him.

"And he used to be a super criminal," Felicity said. "Right before he took…."

"Overwatch, now's not the time!" Red Arrow yelled.

The waves of energy almost took them down. Harry was able to push through, just barely. Despite the ripples of energy just burning into his body. He came closer. Through the waves of energy, Black Panther had been pinned to the wall. A cackling Klarion and a cowering Ivo, who had his hands clutched onto the table.

Harry whipped his hand back and sent Klarion crashing to the wall at an alarming, hurling speed. Klarion's eyes flashed over and he growled in agony.

"You...are beginning to become a pest!" Klarion howled.

"If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black," Superman replied.

Klarion hurled his fists back and came inches away from hitting Superman head on. The Man of Steel dodged the attacks, disrupting Klarion's spell. The more Superman dodged it, the more rattled and shaken Klarion had felt, and the more sloppy his attacks came off.

Black Panther freed herself from the wall. The energy around the shield pulsed, as she tried to get her hands on the Vibranium, but the pulse of energy blocked her back.

Knockout and Scandal arrived on the outside, ready to rejoin the fight. Given the vibration effect going through the building, they found it extremely difficult to keep their heads up above the water.

"Well, it turns out that Vibranium could not be properly bonded," Klarion said. "Good information have in the future, isn't it?"

"YES!" Knockout yelled. "But, this place is going…."

Klarion picked up the part of their little technology that managed to work, while leaving the unstable hero. He waved his hand, the entire group disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Sportsmaster, Klarion, The Brain, Knockout, Scandal, and Ivo all blinked out of the woods. As much as it was frustrating to see the criminals disappear just like that, Harry had far greater problems to deal with. Namely the fact the cabin was about ready to go off.

"I can taper the chain reaction!" Black Panther yelled. "But...you need to leave."

"My way is faster and will not involve you being blown up," Superman said. "You're going to lose the Vibranium though…."

"No, I can't lose it!" Black Panther yelled.

A firm hand placed on Black Panther's shoulder. It was a mark of the respect she had for Superman that she did not tear it off of her shoulder. Superman cleared his throat.

"What's important, The Vibranium or your life?" Harry asked. "Your brother...he wouldn't have wanted you to be so reckless. You're supposed to be one of the smartest women in the world."

"One of?" Black Panther asked.

"Act like it,' Harry curtly replied.

She nodded, understanding. Black Panther had tackled this in a very unfortunately T'Challa way, instead of using her brains. And it almost got her and several others killed. She realized Superman had a good idea who she was underneath the mask.

Swallowing, Princess Shuri, realized just how much her grief and determination caused her to make some very foolhardy decisions. And she belted out the door.

Harry closed his eyes and started to contain the Vibranium in a magically created box. It was much like the rune stones which they used for the containment field during the experiments.

Flying to the outside, Harry just barely made it outside of the cabin. The minute he moved back, Harry formed a second protective barrier.

The end came with the cabin exploding. Chunks of Vibranium vaporized in the air, reaching critical mass. The field managed to hold back the explosions.

"So can we breath easily?" Sara asked.

"A little bit," Harry told them.

They would have been able to breathe a bit more easier if they had figured out what Klarion, Ivo, and the Brain were doing in this cabin. Harry got only the slightest glimpse of the technology. Bonding magic and technology together, always a dangerous cocktail.

Off in the woods, Cheshire caught Harry's eye. She disappeared into the darkness, leaving Harry and the Team, along with Black Panther, who had not slipped off.

"Thank you for saving me," Black Panther said. "I have some thinking to do...whether or not I'm worthy of this mantle."

"Oh, you're worthy of the mantle," Harry said. "Just make it your own."

Black Panther just nodded. She did have a lot of growing to go. Perhaps she had been too hard on T'Challa a lot of the time. The mantle of Black Panther had a lot of responsibility, and with her country in such duress, the pressure just increased to reclaim the one piece of Vibranium out of its control.

"It's a shame that you could not save even a bit of the shield," Black Panther said. "But, perhaps we need to learn to let go of the past, and go forward to a bright new future."

Harry smiled and allowed Black Panther to disappear into the shadows. Harry had a feeling that they would cross paths again.

"So, how did you steal a piece of the shield without her noticing?" Red Arrow asked. "Especially before it blew."

A look of mock indignation crossed Harry's face, as Artemis and Sara just looked amused by it. They were curious on how Harry pulled it off.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Harry replied.

"Right," Red Arrow said. "Looks like ARGUS has a hell of a mess to pick up."

Harry whistled. She had said the understatement, to end all understatements for sure. It was time for them to head off. Today had been a long day, and a very long mission.

One of history's greatest artifacts destroyed just like that. Harry, Sara, Artemis, and Thea moved off, to allow ARGUS to do their job. Harry just brushed a finger around his pocket and then pulled it away a second later.

"So, your first official mission with the team?" Harry asked.

"Yes?" Thea asked.

"What did you think?" Harry asked.

"Well, things could have gone a bit better," Thea said. "But, then again, when you fight against Klarion, that just goes with the territory. What do you think he's after?"

"I don't know," Harry said.

With Klarion, Harry thought the statement, expect anything, should be the top of any person's mind. They cleared the area. One of history's greatest artifacts destroyed, by that chaotic madman. Just to create something, something which Harry did wrap his hand around.

"It's just another mystery," Artemis said.

"I wish I knew what their end game was," Harry said.

Harry hovered over the top of the field. He switched on the earpiece.

"Hey, Caitlin, how are you doing?" Harry asked.

"Busy," Caitlin said. "Karen's at the League meeting, so I've been trying to find a substitution for Vibranium. And I heard from Overwatch that the entire shield just went off, poof like that."

"Well, not all of it," Harry coyly said.

"What did you do?" Caitlin asked.

"I'll head back to Starrwave and show you," Harry said. "I just hope it's large enough."

"You really think that Lena's theory was right?" Caitlin asked.

Harry did not think, he knew. It might take some work with the Vibranium. And he hoped that it had not been damaged too much by Klarion and Ivo working with it. Still, it was the only lead.

"I have to take care of this," Harry said. "See you in about an hour."

"I told you," Red Arrow said.

Artemis just snickered at Red Arrow's very casual statement. She really had only one thing to say.

"Alright, alright, no one likes a bragger," Artemis said. "So, we...could have gotten off on a better foot. I guess there's room on this team for two archers."

"Hey, you're quicker, I'm more accurate," Thea said. "Sorry...but…."

"It's true," Artemis said. "But, you've been doing this for longer, but I'm improving. One day, I swear."

Thea just mounted her bike and it drove off into the distance, back to the cave. Sara got on hers and Artemis took hers. Back for the mission briefing with the rest of the team.

Of course, today raised more questions, then they did answers.

"So, how did it feel to shoot him in the knee?" Thea asked.

"Oh, it was therapeutic," Artemis said.

They moved back to the cave. Black Panther gone, Superman gone. As for Black Panther, they had a feeling that they would see her again, all too soon. As for Sportsmaster, well Artemis knew he was down, but not out. The same went for the rest of his associates.

Klarion and the Brain returned to a room with the rest of the Light. Queen Bee, Ra's al Ghul, Vandal Savage, Lex Luthor, and Ocean Master all crowded around.

"We would have succeeded in bonding the Vibranium if not for Superman and Black Panther," the Brain said.

"Yeah, he's really chapping my ass!" Klarion said. "Can't we do something about him? Wasn't he supposed to be under our control?"

"All in due time, my friend, all in due time," Vandal said. "I know you can't wait to move this plan forward. But we cannot move this plan forward while thinking about petty revenge."

Klarion did not think his thoughts of revenge over Superman were petty. Although, maybe they were, just a little bit. But, it was for a very good cause. He would have it right there.

"We did manage to bond the two elements together," The Brain said.

"And then, we should go forward," Lex said. "The time reaches near for the next phase. Humanity's future, is our hands."

"Yes," Queen Bee said.

"Once the time is right, we will have them all under our control," Vandal Savage said.

"Even Superman?" Klarion asked giddily.

Lex chuckled at the passion of their friend. One could argue that Superman was one of the most integral parts of their plan. Lex always hated losing an asset and never had been able to right one off. Despite Lena's...frustrating influence, Lex would make sure to finish the job next time.

His soft heart damned Lex at times. But, Lex's eyes opened just to how problematic certain weaknesses could be.

"The future is bright," Vandal said.

"The future is ours," Lex said.

Lex passed around a bottle of vintage wine for them all to enjoy. Yes, in a matter of weeks, they would have the entire world, eating out of the palm of their hand.

The Justice League wrapped up their discussion about several new recruits. They had spent the better part of the last six hours debating the pros and cons of the various potential new recruits of the Justice League. Many of them had their share of positives and many of them had their share of drawbacks.

"It's time to vote," Wonder Woman said.

"Yes," Superwoman said.

"You see all of these candidates," Batman said.

The images of several of the names they talked about appeared. They moved around the table, with the tablet devices of the League coming out on the table. They all looked at the options. Batman rose up to his feet to give the speech.

"I don't have to tell you how keeping your personal thoughts out of this selection process are very important. We need to make the selection with what is best for the League."

All of the members of the League nodded. They said what needed to be said. Everyone had their say. New members were voted, or in the case of both Captain Marvel and Flash, who were replacements, they would be voted on whether or not to stay in.

"Alright, no matter what happens, no hard feelings, right?" Iris asked.

There would really be no hard feelings at all. To be fair, Iris put in a lot of hard work and only teamed up with the League to help out after Barry's demise. It would be a pity if she had been taken out. Some kind of knot appeared in Iris's stomach and she sighed.

Do or die now, while she would like to be in the League, Iris hoped she had done enough to deserve it.

Mary sweated bullets in particular. She tried to reconcile that she put a lot into the League and a lot of time. However, the fact was she lied about her age and that could be a big problem.

Regardless, Mary abstained from voting for herself. And it almost amused her that Mary would not be old enough to vote in any elections in her civilian identity. Yet, she was going to be able to vote to decide the future of one of the greatest groups of heroes in the world. To be honest, Mary found that kind of funny, in so many ways.

After the mission ended and the team briefing concluded, Artemis appeared at the foot of the steps leading up to Harry's room. And she almost ran into Thea who had been coming up from the other direction.

"So, you heading the same way?" Thea asked.

"Mmm, thought I might….."

"I know," Thea said. "I guess you could say that great minds think alike."

The door opened and Harry looked at their line of sight. Thea and Artemis just grinned the moment he showed up.

"And what could I do for you fine ladies?" Harry asked them.

"Well, we've decided to come to some common ground today," Artemis said.

"Oh have you?" Harry asked.

"Yes, we did," Artemis said. "And it's a good thing that we've come to a common interest."

Thea wrapped her arms around Harry's waist from behind. Artemis pressed a finger down Harry's chest and stroked his abs through the edge of his shirt.

"How about we show you how good we are at teaming?" Artemis asked.

"Wouldn't mind if you showed me your teamwork," Harry said.

Sure, Thea hoped for some one on one time with Harry, but she would be more than happy to improvise. With a lovely archer on each arm, Harry took the girls into his room where the real fun could begin.