Mera Submits, Catwoman Calls

Amnesty Bay.

By the time Damon and Diana arrived, both the human and Atlantean dead had been removed. Only the wreckage of battle remained. Most of the military had withdrawn, leaving a small force to handle the aftermath.

The heroes were still there. They hadn't officially formed a team, but they were close enough to a Justice League.

Inside the temporary command post, Damon was surprised to find Barbara absent and someone else present.

Mera.

"Good timing," Batman said grimly. "There was an incident at the Red Room laboratory last night. Steppenwolf's Parademons attacked. An explosion followed, and they took the Mother Box."

Damon sat down. "How did you find that out?"

Batman paused. "Lex Luthor overstepped. I investigated his private files and found information about Steppenwolf."

Damon shrugged. That sounded about right. Batman could dig up something like that.

He glanced at Diana. She gave the others a brief account of Steppenwolf, the New Gods and Old Gods, and the invasion in the distant past.

"Then our priority is finding him. I've tried tracking the Mother Boxes by satellite, but..." Batman shook his head. The technological gap left him with few options. "Do you have a way?"

He looked at Damon.

Damon shook his head. Why hunt Steppenwolf now? Once he started putting his plan into action, finding him would be easy enough.

"Take your time. I'm heading back." He stood, pulled Diana close for a kiss, and left the command post.

Mera followed him out almost immediately.

"Can we talk?"

He glanced at the cleavage above her neckline and smiled. "The first time I gave the Corps an order, I told its members to find the emotional entities. You ignored it. The second time, I told you to submit. You refused."

"If you don't want to be part of the Rainbow Corps, what is there to discuss?"

Mera rubbed the finger where her ring had been. "I need your help."

"Do I owe you something?" He raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head. "I found Tula. She's badly hurt. While she was conscious, she told me some things. I confronted Orm, and he banished me from Atlantis."

"I want to get Tula out. I want to know whether Orm was responsible for the queen's death. I want to avenge our people and defeat Steppenwolf. I need your help. I need... the red ring." Mera lowered herself onto one knee and looked up at him. "I want to rejoin the Corps."

Even without the ring, she was among Atlantis's strongest fighters. She might have beaten Orm in single combat. But he controlled the kingdom, and Tula lay critically injured and unconscious. Even rescuing her would be difficult, let alone avenging the queen or Atlantis's dead. After her exile, Mera had come to her former enemies for information about Steppenwolf and help getting Tula out.

Batman had refused.

His reasoning was simple. A rescue could reignite the war with Atlantis. Their immediate priority had to be Steppenwolf.

But he had offered one suggestion: ask Damon.

"You want this. You want that. Do you think wanting something means you get it? What do you think the Rainbow Corps is? A club you can join whenever you feel like it?" He looked down at her. The view from that angle was remarkable.

The deep V of her tight suit did little to contain her generous bust.

Quite a sight.

Mera gritted her teeth. "I'll renounce my place in Atlantis. Once this is over, I'll devote myself to the Corps and follow your orders."

"Whatever I tell you to do?" He sounded interested.

"Yes."

"Last chance." He took out her Red Lantern ring and tossed it to her. "Bring Tula back, then come to the Disciple. The ring will show you where it is."

Delighted, she slipped it onto her finger. Red light flared, clothing her in the uniform marked with Damon's Corps emblem.

He waved and left through a breach. Mera dove into the sea and headed for Atlantis.

The Disciple.

Damon returned.

Over a cup of coffee June Moone had made, he called Indigo in.

"There's a doctor at the Red Room named Silas Stone. His son, Victor Stone, was a football star. He was badly injured in the Parademon attack yesterday. He survived, but absorbed material from the Apokoliptian Mother Box and became part human, part machine. Go see whether your abilities can give us access to the Mother Box's technology and anything else from Apokolips."

Indigo nodded. "He might die."

"Do you know him?" Damon raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head.

"What a coincidence. Neither do I. Why should either of us care whether he lives?"

"Understood." She smiled, dissolved into data, and disappeared.

Damon truly didn't care whether Cyborg survived.

He didn't care much about Steppenwolf, either. It wasn't as though Darkseid were here. In the movie, Superman had overwhelmed Steppenwolf by himself. Things might not be quite that one-sided in this world, but the fight still shouldn't be difficult. Nekron was the one Damon really wanted to meet.

Now that was a proper final boss.

His phone rang.

He checked the caller and smiled as he answered. "Kitty. Miss me?"

"Who'd miss a bastard like you?" Catwoman said.

Damon chuckled. "Then why call? It can't be about the Birds of Prey. Felicity, Laurel, or Thea might call about that. You wouldn't. You want a favor. Something personal. Don't you think you should sound a little more polite when you're asking for help?"