The Titans of Justice Chapter 20 – “One Wild Night”

Written by: Power Guy
Co-conspirator: Scotty2Hotty/Green Lantern
Editor: Marcus Mebes


Metropolis, U.S.A.

“Celsius, I’ve finished the scan,” Nucleus informed his leader. “There’s no sign of Star Sapphire or Kid Zoom anywhere. They must be laying low for now.”

“Hmm…this is strange,” commented Celsius, stroking his chin. “Even Junjie can’t figure out what Kid Zoom would want with Star Sapphire. The more pressing problem though, is that Mordru is somehow involved. Why would he steal the Star Sapphire gem and then give it away?”

“I touched based with Nightvision. The only thing he could find was that Mordru has always been obsessed with gems and jewels,” advised Nucleus. “Maybe he simply didn’t like the cut of the Star Sapphire?” he added in a bit of a jest.

“I don’t like where this is going,” grumbled a concerned Celsius.

As Celsius and Nucleus were wrapping up their conversation, Sargona walked into the room. “Hey boys!”

Celsius turned to greet his teammate. “Hey Sar. What are you doing here? Don’t you have a date with Green Lantern tonight?” he asked.

“I do,” answered Sargona. “He was running late so I told him to meet me here.”

“But why are you in costume?” inquired Nucleus.

“Well, GL and I talked about this and we’ve decided to go out in costume,” Sargona informed her teammates. “It was actually my idea. Not once have I gone out for dinner in costume and not gotten a free meal!”

“Sar, you are something else…” Celsius said, shaking his head with a smile on his face.

Green Lantern then entered the room. “Hello all.”

“Hey GL – how’s it going buddy?” asked Nucleus.

“Not bad, how about yourself?” Green Lantern said returning the gesture.

“Hanging in there,” replied Nucleus. “I just got done with monitor duty so I’m a bit tired.”

Sargona interrupted the men. “Good evening Green Lantern,” she said, calling attention to herself.

“Same to you Sargona,” responded Green Lantern. “Ready to go?”

“I was ready hours ago,” Sargona said with a smirk on her face.

“Where are you two going to eat at?” Celsius asked.

“We’re going to that new Indian restaurant you recommended,” answered Green Lantern. “Sargona has never had Indian food before so I thought I would show her the ropes.”

“You’ve got to try the Tandoori Chicken with spinach and the cheesy nan!” advised Celsius. “Two of my absolute favorites!”

Sargona was greatful for Celius’ suggestion.“Thanks Cel. I’ve heard a lot of good things about your country’s cuisine. I’m always excited to try new dishes!”

“Should we be going?” Green Lantern asked Sargona.

“Sounds good!” answered a very excited Sargona.

“Bye guys!” shouted Celsius to the exiting duo.

“Have a good time!” Nucleus said right before yawning. “I’ve got to get some caffeine. I still need to run those tests on Venus.”

***

The home of Amanda Waller…

Amanda has just finished up her evening shower. Still in her bathrobe, she made her way into her living room carrying a cup of freshly brewed green tea. “What a hell of a day,” she said to herself. “I swear, if the Reactron causes any more trouble, I’m going to have put down.”

Out of nowhere, came grim voice. “You always play hardball, don’t you Amanda?”

Amanda dropped her cup of tea in pure shock that she was not alone in her home. She raced over to the light switch but before she could flip it on, someone else did for her. Her eyes jerked open at the sight of Nightvision and the Huntress, both standing in front of her. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the erstwhile remnants of the Bat-family. Don’t make a move, I’m having you brought in on trespassing!” She scowled as she grabbed her phone.

“Don’t bother,” suggested the Huntress, holding up the other end of the phone-cord which had been pulled out of the wall.

“What the hell do you want?” the rotund woman demanded. Her eyes shot around her home, searching to see whether or not her other telephones had been disconnected, or if her emergency trip wires were disabled as well.

“You’re holding a woman for a crime she didn’t commit and now you don’t even have someone to testify against her,” Nightvision pointed out.

Waller gave the two heroes a dirty look and retorted with, “Giganta will be back in Belle Reve soon enough. I’ve got my Squad looking for her.”

“No judge in this country is going to take Giganta’s word after her recent attack on Paradise Island with Villainy Inc. The incident was reported to the United Nations… and let me make it clear Miss Waller: It’s going to be your head on the platter when the question is asked as to why Giganta wasn’t in complete lockdown at Belle Reve—with her record,” Nightvision added angrily. “Tell your dogs that Huntress and I will be picking up Jemstone in an hour. Make sure she’s had a shower and a complete meal!”

Waller was outraged. She knew that Nightvision had her by the throat. She didn’t say word. She just gazed on the two heroes with the dirtiest look she had ever given someone. Too late she realized that her house had been wired for intruders, but NOT for members of the Bat-family.

“Don’t be so uptight lady. Surely someone as scandalous as you knew that something like this would blow up in her face eventually. You keep using this world’s deadliest criminals to do your dirty-work and you expect to no-one to notice,” the Huntress gloated. “And with that, good night!” she appended as she threw a smoke-bomb down on the floor to conceal the exit that she and Nightvision would made.

***

Back at the Hall of Justice…

Nucleus had completed his tests on Venus and was looking over the results on his clip-board.

“Well, don’t just stand there. Say something! Can you tell me who I am or where I came from?” demanded an anxious Venus.

“It appears that your body is able to absorb an incredible amount of solar radiation which, in turn, seems to act like a nutrient for you. I’m wondering if you’re part Kryptonian… like Power Guy?” Nucleus looked a bit perplexed. “It’s just a guess as you haven’t shown any other Kryptonian abilities besides super-strength; but then again, we don’t know how long you’ve been on Earth, so it could be the start of your powers coming into effect. Other than that, I’m not able to conclude anything further at this time.”

“I was hoping to get some answers,” Venus said in a small voice, burying her face in her hands.

“Don’t get discouraged. We’ll solve this mystery eventually and remember: I’m still new to this whole biology slash science thing. As I learn more, I may be able to help you figure it all out,” Nucleus responded trying to calm his distressed friend.




***

Later that evening at Metro Park, Metropolis…

“Dinner was downright scrumptious!” declared Sargona. “Celsius was right about that Tandoori Chicken.”

“It’s delicious, isn’t it?” commented Green Lantern.

“Plus we didn’t have to pay a dime!” Sargona said with a huge smile on her face. “Being a hero does have its perks!”

“I still don’t feel right about that,” Green Lantern said feeling a bit of guilt.

“GL – how many times have we saved the world? I think a free meal every now and then is peanuts in comparison,” Sargona said, trying to change Green Lantern’s mind.

“I suppose. Anyway, how does a girl like you eat all of that food and stay so skinny?” inquired Green Lantern.

“Let’s just say, you’re not the only one with a lot of will-power. I exercise every day. Sometimes twice,” informed Sargona.

“So you’ve got will-power, huh? I wonder if you could make my ring work?” Green Lantern said in jest.

“Let’s find out,” Sargona said surprising her partner. “Here – you take my ruby and I’ll take your ring. The first one to get the other’s trinket to work buys dinner the next time we go out!”

Green Lantern thought for a minute and then responded. “Ah, what the heck. Let’s do it!” He took off his ring and presented it to Sargona while she took the Ruby of Life off of her headband and gave it to him.

Green Lantern held the ruby in his hand and struggled to get to work. He touched the smallest of objects in his possession such as a penny and the piece of paper in which he had written down Sargona’s phone number on, neither of which budged an inch.

Sargona in turn had placed Green Lantern’s ring on her finger and just gazed at it for a few minutes. “Wow…this is certainly better than any diamond.” She then curled her fingers into a fist and projected it outwards from her body trying to get the ring to make a baseball. “Ugh…come on, come on!” She struggled vainly.

Green Lantern was amused at the sight of Sargona trying to get his ring to work. “You need to concentrate more. Put your will into it.”

“I’m trying, I’m trying!” responded Saronga. She was starting to sweat and shake. She was even grunting a bit under her breath. “Work! Ugh……….!!!” Then, much to her surprise, a green beam shot out from the ring and created something that almost resembled the baseball she had pictured in her mind but in turn, the exhilaration of the act caused her stomach to become quite ill. “Oh no, I’m going to puke!” exclaimed Sargona as she covered her mouth with her right hand and raced off to the park’s restroom.

Green Lantern chuckled a bit. While he felt bad for Sargona, he knew that this was her idea and found it a bit humorous that her curiosity had led her to this ending. “Maybe now she’ll learn not to be so inquisitive… but then again, that’s one of the things I love about her.”

“How endearing…” came a voice from the shadows.

“Who’s there?” demanded Green Lantern. “Show yourself!” he ordered.

“I am showing myself,” replied the voice.

Green Lantern spun himself around but all he could see was darkness and shadows.

The voice came again, “Hand over the ruby and you won’t get hurt baldy!”

The menace Green Lantern was facing became clear. The shadows around Green Lantern merged into a single form: The Shadow Thief.





“Shadow Thief – you coward!” grumbled an angry Green Lantern. He then made a fist and attempted to strike his opponent. Not surprisingly, his fist passed right through the Shadow Thief’s form and the momentum of his movement caused him to stumble forward.

The Shadow Thief turned solid and countered with and elbow-jab to the back of Green Lantern’s head. He then kicked Green Lantern in the stomach and took both hands and knocked him over the head, knocking him out. “You’re done!” gloated the villain as his stood over his adversary. “Thanks for saving me the trouble of having to deal with your power-ring.” He then looked down at the Ruby of Life and whispered, “Mordru will be pleased.” He quickly took Sargona’s ruby and disappeared into the night.

Moments later, Sargona returned from the restroom still a bit nauseous. “Hey GL…you can have this back. It’s a little too much for me…” She then noticed Green Lantern’s fallen body on the pavement. “Oh my God! Lantern! Lantern!” she yelled as she stooped down checking to see if her date was alive. She lifted up his arm and checked his pulse… which was normal. She then started to shake him in hopes that he would wake up. “Come on GL, be okay, be okay!”

Seconds later, Green Lantern started to wake up. “Ugh… Sargona. You’re going to hate me.”

“I could never hate you,” replied a worried Sargona. “What happened? Are you sick too?”

“No, it was the Shadow Thief. He stole your ruby,” answered Green Lantern.