| Euphorix - October 12
Harry Hokum hovered above a burning city, listening to the wails rising from below. He and a hundred Gordanites had crushed Euphorix's resistance in hours.
Any who resisted, he killed—and not just the n, but the won, and the children too.
They should have embraced the prosperity he intended to bring under his new empire finally unifying the entire Vega star system. Instead, they defied him and suffered.
The Oga n had barely escaped; he'd still managed to tear off one of their mber's arms. Vermin. He would finish them eventually.
In another part of the galaxy, thousands of Gordanites and millions of Gordanians were fighting the Kroloteans—a stunted race notorious for grotesque experintation and for provoking Lantern intervention. Hokum wasn't worried. His Gordanites were stronger, and the Corps would likely let the two empires weaken each other before stepping in.
Pathetic. If Lanterns were allowed to kill, maybe their average career span wouldn't be four years and three months.
A sudden flash of yellow light snapped his attention upward. A magenta-skinned figure in white armor and a purple cloak materialized.
Hokum tensed. Teleporters were rare. "Who are you?"
"I am Shat-Ru, a Lord of Order."
Instantly Hokum felt a torrent of cosmic knowledge flood his mind—Order, Chaos, the struggle between them.
"A few of us have severed ourselves from the hive mind," Shat-Ru said. "Chaos rises, and we seek soone capable of restoring balance."
A flash of yellow produced a crown.
"Wear this, and you will wield the power of an agent of Order," Shat-Ru continued.
"How do I know you're not lying?"
"What reason would I have to lie?" Shat-Ru lifted a hand—Hokum froze, paralyzed. "If I wished, I could easily possess you, although your body would quickly unravel like my present one from not being able to contain a being like myself."
Control returned. Hokum's skin prickled with sweat.
"You are mighty," Shat-Ru continued, "but defenseless against magic. Beings from New Genesis, Apokolips, even Earth—a nexus of Chaos—could kill you instantly."
Hokum bristled. Him, the apex of evolution surpassed by his primitive forr howorld? He would verify that insult one day.
"Fine," he said, placing the crown on his head. His eyes ignited with yellow and violet light.
"An empire cannot be built without Order."
**
| tropolis - October 15
Joseph sat in the back of a new G-Wagon while Sebas Tian drove. Sure, Joseph could drive—but what was the point of having an advanced android butler if he didn't get to butle?
Beside him, Cassandra sat quietly with her school bag, staring out the window.
"Excited for your first day of school?" Joseph asked.
Cassandra shrugged without enthusiasm.
"Why not?"
"I prefer watching TV."
"You can't have fun all day. You need to learn, too."
"But you have fun all day. And can't you just put things in my head like when you put English and Mandarin in? Aren't you a magician?"
"Don't say that at school. It's a secret. And that was a one-ti thing."
Cassandra pouted, making Joseph laugh.
"I'll get you ice cream after school if you promise to learn well."
"Okay. Deal. But don't bring Kori if she's gonna make try on clothes for hours." she said seriously.
Joseph laughed again. "Fine, have it your way."
They arrived at the elentary school. Cassandra hopped out and began walking toward the entrance.
"Bye, Cass! And rember—no fights! If anyone tries to bully you, tell their na and I'll handle it!" Joseph called in Mandarin out the window.
She just waved and kept walking.
They grow up so fast.
Nova had infiltrated governnt systems and fabricated full legal backgrounds for Sebas and Cassandra. Through that, Sebas was able to "adopt" her, giving her the na Cassandra Tian—adding an extra layer of protection against anyone looking for the child of her biological parents. Not that Joseph worried; no assassin would approach his ward.
And with her gone, Joseph had the day free.
His reforms for LuthorCorp moved slowly. Even with Nova accelerating paperwork, he couldn't push too fast—not with the governnt and Justice League watching.
Chicago barely needed him anymore; cri had plumted and Carla Viti managed the remainder. Heroes protected the streets, but the real goal was to make communities strong enough to protect themselves. He'd done that.
"Nova, any interesting news?"
"Kroloteans have partnered with the Reach to fight the Citadel and their newly engineered Gordanites," Sebas reported, relaying information Nova had intercepted from Lantern communications.
Joseph shrugged. Not his planet, not his problem.
He hoped those backwards empires would wipe each other out. Innocents would die, unfortunately—but that was the Lantern Corps' responsibility as the self-appointed guardians of the universe.
Joseph was curious about these Gordanites' strength. But he wasn't about to draw intergalactic conflict to Earth like Savage hoped.
Better to prepare the planet instead.
"Drive to LuthorCorp," Joseph said. He would build an android army to defend Earth. The League couldn't be everywhere; Nova, integrated into global networks, could.
A purple figure suddenly crashed into parked cars ahead of them. Sebas swerved. A red-and-blue blur followed.
Superman and Parasite were going at it.
Just another day in tropolis.
**
| LutherCorp Tower - October 15
Joseph leaned back as he finished the schematics for the androids he'd been working on for hours. They would be constructed from a durable high-entropy alloy with ceramic matrix composite plating—light, durable, and resistant to extre temperatures.
Their elental capabilities—hydro, aero, geo, and pyrokinesis—were taken from T.O. Morrow's designs. Optic beams powerful enough to cut and lt tal ca courtesy of Professor Ivo's MONQIs.
The units would fly independently and possess superhuman speed and strength on par with the Justice League, borrowed from the Superman Robots.
For ranged disruption, he integrated forearm-mounted sonic weapons stolen from the idiot Shockwave. And of course, Joseph added his specialty: nanites. Each android could morph its limbs into blades, pincers, or arm cannons on command as well as self repair.
Visually, their form resembled an early version of a project Lex had wanted to pursue—humanoid "Lex-Bots" in green power armor. Finally, he incorporated an idea from Maxwell Lord's OMACs: the entire army would be linked through a hive mind controlled directly by Nova.
He wasn't opposed to OMACs in principle and had no intention of stopping the program. But he would make it so Nova would control who beca a cyborg and what they did. Innocents would only be converted if they were seconds from death. Vile criminals, however, could be repurposed into sothing useful for once in their lives.
It was harsh and hypocritical, especially after what LexCorp's vaccine had done to him… but he rationalized it. No one would suffer or die from these nanites; LexCorp's research had been perfected for a while before the Light—now calling themselves the Secret Society of Super-Villains—stole it.
Soone entered the office.
"How's training going, Waylon?" Joseph asked.
The crocodile-like ta wore a dark tailored suit, dress shirt, tie, and polished oxfords that looked comically delicate on him.
"It's going," Waylon grumbled.
His green, scaly features—results of regressive atavism—were fully exposed. People stared. People feared. No one liked being treated like a sideshow attraction.
"Yo, catch," Joseph said, tossing him a gold pendant. Waylon caught it cleanly. "Put it on."
Waylon did—and his entire appearance shifted into that of a large Black man.
"You—what did you—" Waylon stamred, startled by his smoother voice and now human looking hands.
"Just sothing I won in a card ga. It changes how others see you—appearance and voice. Take it off, and you're still you. Just figured you didn't need people gawking every five seconds. Underneath the scales, you're still human."
Waylon swallowed hard, eyes glistening. "You… man… damn."
"When we're in public, though, take it off. I'm not paying top dollar to have a regular guy standing next to ," Joseph added casually.
Waylon managed a laugh, wiping his eyes. "Sure thing, boss."
**
| tropolis Mall - October 15
"Made any new friends?" Joseph asked as he sat on a bench with Cassandra, both eating icecream.
"Yeah, her na is Sharon Vance. She's cool." Cassandra said, happily enjoying her cookies and cream icecream.
"Anything else you want to tell ?" Joseph said biting into his mint chocolate icecream. He didn't have to worry about brain freezes ever again.
"No."
"Then why'd the teacher tell you made several boys cry."
"They were making fun of and my friend so I hit them a little."
"Cassandra"
"What? I didn't leave any marks."
User Comments
0 comments from readers