V is for Vagenda (Part 11 - Family)

V is for Vagenda (Part 11 - Family) 

 

Deep in the Mojave Desert, a dust storm begins to subside. A tortoise emerges from his shell as the winds settle. Tumbleweed's slowing to a still, the cacti become still, but far up in the sky, the clouds continue to circle. The silence is almost deafening, the only relief a mild hum coming from Solar Two. Dust settles as the sun beats down mercilessly, scorching everything. The dry heat and hostile conditions invite death, and some who dare to travel this way do indeed find it. Moments can seem like hours in this intense heated stillness.

Approximately three and a half miles below the surface is an extension built to the Cadmus Research Facility known as Area 52. Vagenda has been drugged and abducted by Lex Luthor and is currently dreaming blissfully in a specially created white containment chamber to keep her and her powers completely isolated should she manage to awake. Various panels move mechanically to allow all forms of scanners to monitor her physiology and Lex tries to uncover why this healer is seemingly sticking out as a greater nuisance than the others. If he can unlock her secret, then he can replicate it for himself.

Almost in mirror to the intense heat miles above threatening all living things, Lex threatens his entire staff frustrated that there have been no results that can tangibly explain and quantify how Vagenda works. They used a variety of forms of Nuclear Medicine, Fluoroscopy, Ultrasounds, MRI's, Tomography, ECG's, an unprecedented amount of blood work. Lex tries to hold onto some measure of control as another lab team comes back with the latest platelets.

"Yes?" Lex scowls demanding not only the results, but that they be productive ones.

"Sir, um..." the tech swallows hard, "the latest blood sample suggests that Vagenda is a Rana Catesbeiana, or as some authorities would say, a Lithobates Catesbeianus, sir." The tech takes a step back as Lex turns to him glaring.

"You come to me telling me that she is a god-damned Bullfrog?!!" he screams, throwing an IV-Pole at the tech, which hits him in the face drawing blood from his nose. Two of the other lab techs assist the poor guy out of guilt - after all, he was the only one of them brave enough to announce out loud what the tests actually did say to Lex. "Get that imbecile out of my sight before I..." Lex begins but stops as two voices of cackling laughter no longer able to contain themselves are suddenly heard seemingly resonating from every corner of the room.

A bright purple oval appears shining in the middle of the room as Klarion, tenderly stroking his familiar Teekl, and Jim Craddock emerge in near hysterics entirely pleased at how long they've strung Lex along in Lex's efforts to interfere with Vagenda.

Lex, unamused at being toyed with, growls "Gentleman Ghost", as he reaches and presses a button that seals all exits and drops a net over them.

"Ah Ah Ah" smiles Klarion lifting a finger that throws all the doors open and makes the net hover, having moved less than an inch from where it had been previously suspended behind the now retracted panel that had been covering it prior. "Wow, Thanagarian Nth Metal doors and net - you really think you are ready for anything, don't you? This level of paranoia makes Batman look pedestrian."

Lex, realizing that this contingency measure was thwarted, screams at the invaders "How dare you interfere with my work! Do you know who you are dealing with? Who the hell do you think you are?!"

Gentleman Ghost, blasting Lex into a frozen incapacitated state with a purple beam from his ethereal cane, shows his grimacing horrible face to a now horrified Lex Luthor and screams a response to the question:

FAMILY

Meanwhile, in the Watchtower, Batman enters the Control Spire. "Any luck yet, J'onn?" Batman asks Martian Manhunter, who is diligently managing operations most days lately. If one did not know better, then one might think the look on J'onn's face imparted a sadness and a concern. Upon closer inspection, it was hard to distinguish the current expression from that on his face at any other time.

"I have not been able to get a signal from the transponder chip you installed into her hat, and I have not been able to sense her thoughts. If she is not dead, she is either very far away, or sufficiently shielded from both our technology and my abilities." J'onn says calmly, while simultaneously managing several other ship functions and team deployments on the console.

"This doesn't sit well with me, or with anyone else. How can she vanish from the face of the earth like this, without so much as a lead, for three weeks. J'onn, have the night shift install these modifications to our communications array - it will improve the system's energy efficiency and net a 62% increase in range. Contact me if there is so much as a ping from that ..." Batman gets cutoff by a shrill ping on the console.

J'onn, turning to the caped crusader, calmly exclaims "It seems that she is now asleep peacefully in her quarters. Shall I have a security detail bring her here?"

"No. Let's see how this plays out. Have the upgrade installed anyway, and maintain a constant psychic link with her until she wakes. Notify me immediately if she disappears again." Batman instructs, weighing what is known.

J'onn turns to his console to lock the signal from the hat. "Bruce are you sure I shouldn't just watch over her myself?" Not hearing an answer he turns to look at Batman, but he is not there. "Perhaps that is ironic..." he says partially annoyed while resuming his duties.

Meanwhile, in Cadmus Labs, seismic alarms threaten to create a panic as the facilities vibrate violently, all staff slowly awakening from a stupor no longer aware of the past three weeks of their lives. A parting gift from Gentleman Ghost and Klarion. First they toy with the attempt to decipher Vagenda. Second, they seize the facilities and all within it. Step three, wipe their minds and computer data of the last three weeks, including Vagenda's mind. Step four, teleport Vagenda directly into her room so that the Watchtower has no opportunity to trace her presence at Cadmus - a precaution Klarion insisted upon as Gentleman Ghost nearly broke seal the containment room built for her by walking through the wall. If he had done so, there would have been opportunity for the signal to be sent from her chip. Lex only inadvertently prevented the signal from reaching the watchtower as both the room and the original trap he had laid for her were able to sufficiently block the signal - he had no idea about the chip in her hat, but Klarion and Gentleman Ghost had been watching the story all along to great amusement. How uncharacteristic for a Lord of Chaos to be so meticulous.

Lex and his colleagues in the lab are in the same precarious position as everyone else in the facility. Confusion reigns supreme as hundreds scramble to designated reinforced shelter areas. As everyone reaches safety, the lab created for Vagenda implodes upon itself creating a faint crater in the displacement of ground above.

"Why did you let them even take her in the first place, Jim?" Klarion asks, stroking his familiar as the images of the delicious chaos ensuing at Lex's Lab play out in the cauldron.

Arrogantly, Gentleman Ghost stands proudly "Why does any predator play with his food? Because it pleases me to do so."

"You are so sick and weird - I knew this would be fun!" Klarion smiles back.

The next morning the news casts are filled with reports on the tremors felt throughout South-Western California. Naturally, with the involvement of the military and Cadmus in Area 51, no mention of the facilities were brought up in connection with these events and it is reported as natural phenomena caused by a shift in the San Andreas Fault Line. Dealing with the media was old hat for Lex Luthor and his legal teams, but what was troubling for him personally was having no idea why he built the extension that had been lost in the first place.