DCU Chapter 82 - The Forgotten Days

Metropolis

Beckett Residence

“Miles, there is something you have to see,” Zalika called from her work room. He turned the TV off, his curiosity piqued. 

She was watching a certain group of recently escaped criminals through a laptop’s camera. “I found them following a tip-off to the GCPD. They are searching for you on the internet,” she said, pulling up their search history. 

He narrowed his eyes. “Is that so?” Sinestro must have made the connection.

“Sinestro seemed to know you. Apparently he suggested you could be the one who revealed their location to the League,” she said. Grodd did ask Sinestro for anything that might help them find Miles.

“What did they find?”

“Nothing. I left no mention of you anywhere.”

He patted her on the shoulder.

“What are we doing, Miles?” Claire asked, glaring at the screen. That monkey had another thing coming if he thought he could target her boss.

“Seems they need a bit of mental cleaning.”

“So we are taking them out?” Baraka asked.

He pulled out his phone and called his most frequent contact these days. 

“Good morning. You are a bit early today.”

“Good morning. There is an issue. I know you tend to be busy, but could I take you out for an hour or so?”

“Did something happen?”

“Grodd and his goons escaped from Arkham, and they are searching for me. I thought it would be prudent to erase their memories of me.”

“If it's for you, I can spare a couple of hours. Though, I do expect to be properly compensated later.”

“Dinner at the downtown Italian place then.”

“Call me when you’re ready,” she said, hanging up.

“That’s me, Baraka, and Karen then,” she said. Miles wasn’t exactly a fighter, so it was three to five. 

“Count me in too,” Raven said, floating inside.

Starfire followed her. “Me as well.”

“That’s five.”

“More than enough for our adversaries,” he said.

—

Raven and Starfire refused to wear the suits. He didn’t see a reason to insist. 

“Starfire, you have Killer Frost. She controls ice and has a fetish for murder. Nothing someone of your talents can’t handle.” He would have to warn her to take it easy and not break something important.

She took the offered tablet, which included videos of Killer Frost’s battles. “Very well.”

“Raven, Sinestro is all yours. He is like a Green Lantern, except in yellow and a coward.”

She nodded, glancing through the file. 

“Baraka, you’ll deal with Parasyte. Your powers are similar, but you have the armor. Hit him hard and make sure he doesn’t get up,” he said. Parasyte couldn’t drain anything from the armor, and Baraka would return any energy-based attacks back to him.

He turned to the last member of the crew. “The big girl, Giganta, is Karen’s. She doesn’t pose any threat to you, and you are the only one who can hit in her weight class.” Giganta’s one and only battle was a short and humiliating one. There wasn’t much to include in her file except her origin and size-shifting ability.

“I’ll handle Grodd. Afterwards, an associate of mine will wipe their memories clean of me, and we’ll hand them to the cops. Any questions?”

Karen raised her hand. “How are you supposed to erase Grodd’s memories? He is an extremely strong telepath.”

“He gained his telepathic abilities when Flash sabotaged a helmet he was wearing. With access to his medical reports and an injection of nanobots, we will be able to dampen or completely erase his newfound power.”

Karen decided to take his word for it.

—

Gotham

“This is hopeless,” Sinestro said, gritting his teeth. 

“He is right. If nobody knows about that person, I doubt he’d just advertise himself on the internet,” Frost added. They were searching the name through databases and on the open internet. Nothing had surfaced at all.

“Do you have a better idea? Or do you two just enjoy complaining?” Grodd asked. He too did not enjoy the inefficient method, but Gotham was swarming with superheroes. They couldn’t afford to leave this hovel.

“We should capture one of the Leaguers. You can read their minds and we can find out if they actually have a man behind the scenes,” Parasyte said, standing up from the corner where he was sitting. 

They knew he wanted to feed, but his idea made sense.

“Who?” Giganta asked, rubbing her sore jaw. Definitely not Superman and Wonder Woman.

“Green Lantern. He is the easiest to capture,” Sinestro suggested. Superman and Wonder Woman were power houses. Flash would run circles around them. Manhunter was rarely seen. Hawkgirl was the only other candidate, but he didn’t have anything personal against her.

“And not Batman?” Frost asked.

“Oh yes." Grodd rolled his eyes. "Brilliant idea. Chase the superhero known for his stealth. That can only end so well.” 

You did not find Batman; he found you.

“Fine, then we catch the Green Lantern,” Sinestro said, unable to resist smiling.

The door to the house opened and a man stepped inside. Dressed in a dark suit with a coat, he strolled inside as if he owned the place. “How about you five be good little piggies and return to your pens in Arkham?” he asked, smirking.

“That’s him!” Sinestro said, raising his ring towards Miles. His teammates got into position quickly. Giganta couldn’t even grow in size, so she wouldn’t go through the ceiling of the slum.

“So it is true. There is a man behind the scenes assisting the League,” Grodd said. 

Killer Frost stepped forward, her face turning almost deranged. “And you came here all alone.”

“Just like Batman, I don’t make those kinds of mistakes.”

Karen burst through the roof, feet down towards her target. Giganta found herself kissing the floor in an instant. Parasyte was frozen at the sight of the new hero, shining like a star. Sinestro and Killer Frost didn’t stop, pouncing on the armored hero.

Having learned their lessons, they were quick to disperse when a black beam and two green bolts came from their flank.

Karen hurled Giganta at Grodd. The gorilla ducked, letting her sail over his head. His attempts to read or control their minds didn’t work. Which pointed out they too had come prepared.

She floated towards Grodd, cracking her knuckles.

—

Raven didn’t bother holding back. Someone on a Green Lantern’s level should have no issue tanking her hits. Sinestro’s yellow-colored serpent met her magic. Both sides fought for dominance. 

Unfortunately for the Yellow Lantern, Miles had brought in reinforcements.

Three androids shed their invisibility, tackling Sinestro out of the air. They didn’t offer him a chance to surrender. Their punches rained down on the villain. He couldn’t even retaliate. 

She would have felt bad if it were someone else.

—

Koriand’r had offered her talents for two reasons. One, to help her new friend. Two, to stretch her legs in glorious combat. The Murderous One of Frost also appeared to find great joy in the combat as well, though her smile of the slaying indicated it was for a most different reason. 

Per her request, Miles had agreed to withhold aid to her. She wished to relish this battle in a one-on-one as a warrior.

Her flight made it simple to dodge her enemy’s ice attacks. Once she was in range, she swung her fist. 

Frost created a layer of ice on her face against the punch. She didn’t know how strong this new hero was but wasn’t about to take chances. She gambled wrong as the ice shattered and she saw stars.

Koriand’r caught her spinning enemy by the leg, raising her to the air. She began to slam her on the ground repeatedly before launching her at the wall. She was advised to stop once her opponent appeared unconscious.

She did exactly that.

—

Parasyte groaned as the hit to his liver made his knees go weak. The armored bastard was keeping him from getting to the real prize. He had only seen that kind of energy on one other person until now.

Superman himself.

Whomever she was, she was a Kryptonian or something close enough.

“Argh!” he bellowed, swiping at the hero. His enemy didn’t even attempt to dodge, letting the armor take the hit. With nothing to drain from, he was barely stronger than an ordinary human. This fight was not in his favor at all.

—

Grodd backed off from the flying heroine. His mind raced to find a way out of this situation. For the second time in the same week, they were caught by surprise. All because of the same man.

Who was nowhere to be seen.

“Nighty night, Grodd,” he said from behind, laying his hand on his back. Grodd slowly turned around, seeing the root cause of his troubles with a Cheshire grin. 

His muscles seized as electricity began to run through him. His fur singed and smoke rose from his body. The current was high enough; he passed out in seconds, swaying on his feet for a moment before hitting the ground with a thud.

—

They dumped the beaten villains together, letting the androids tie them up. Power dampeners were fitted around their necks, rendering them powerless.

“Manchester, you are up,” Miles said. The door opened, letting a purple-haired individual inside. She narrowed her eyes, vividly remembering one villain who had given Superman enough grief.

“He is your associate?” she asked. Her cousin had fought Manchester and his gang. He had won but not without taking some hits. 

“Yes. Is there a problem?” He was, of course, clueless about who Manchester would be.

“Nothing. He was a villain back in my dimension. A pain in the ass kind of one.”

“He works for me. He won’t be a problem.”

“If you say so.”

“The monkey’s going to be a problem,” Manchester said. The bloody ape, even with the dampener, had strong mental shields due to his telepathy. “Can’t guarantee I won’t lobotomize him by accident.”

Miles reached to his back, pulling out a canister. He pulled Grodd’s eyelids open, pressing them over the open eye. The nanobots were programmed to handle the rest. 

He had actually prepared them to completely erase Grodd’s abilities weeks ago. They had to be modified since he couldn’t lobotomize the gorilla right now and draw too much attention. Merely erasing his memories was enough.

The purple-haired telepath felt the monkey’s telepathic barriers slowly collapse. Whatever the bossman had done, it was working. He laid his hand on the furry bastard’s head, erasing every mention and every sight of Miles Beckett. He had never heard it from Sinestro while incarcerated in Arkham and had never researched the name.

He repeated it on the other villains, making sure to avoid touching Parasyte at all.

When it was Sinestro’s turn, he stopped momentarily as he saw the memories. 

“Been in space, eh, bossman?” he asked. 

“Yes, do erase that part too.”

“Got it.”

Karen leaned closer to Miles. “How did you get him to work for you?” The telepath was a tough nut to crack from what she had seen. He wouldn’t just accept working for anyone so easily.

“Surprisingly, he applied to EnviroCorps' metahuman recruitment drive. I thought it would be better if he worked directly for me.” 

“Done,” Manchester said, letting Sinestro go.

“Well done. You are dismissed for now.”

“Alright, see you, boss,” Manchester said with a lazy wave. Zalika teleported him out of Gotham, and it was as if he had never been there to begin with.

Miles pressed his League communicator. “Batman, are you available?” 

“Busy chasing the leads you gave,” he replied. His words were accompanied by the sound of a fight, a yelp of pain as someone met the Caped Crusader’s fury.

“I have Grodd and his Secret Society neutralized. I would prefer if my involvement remained clear,” he said, winking at Karen.

She crossed her arms, turning her head away, but he could hear the amused huff.

“Send me the address. I’ll have GCPD take them.”

“Sending it now. Good luck out there.”

“Thanks.”

They waited long enough to hear the sirens in the short distance before leaving.

—

Metropolis

Beckett Residence

“That was really quick,” Karen said as her armor melted back into the watch. Not even an hour and five villains were on their way to Arkham. 

Miles let Baraka take his coat. “Fighting for the cause is infinitely easier when you know your enemy’s every move.”

"Indeed." Starfire pumped her fist up. “This battle was most joyous. I am looking forward to challenging Earth’s villains in the future.”

“I’ll arrange something for you,” he said. If she wanted to fight, he would give her plenty of targets.

“Right, what’s with Starfire?” Karen asked. It was like whenever she saw Miles, he had someone new in his home. Members of the Royal Flush Gang were one thing, but she didn’t know how Miles had taken Starfire under his wings.

“She is royalty back on her planet. Got an evil sister who sold her to the Gordonians. She escaped and accidentally made her way to Earth.” Of course Karen most likely knew all of that.

“And you are keeping her out of the hands of the government,” she said. She already knew Starfire was a capable warrior back in her dimension. She had also seen her smack Killer Frost aside like an amateur.  It was exactly the set of powers that would have the government agents salivating to get their hands on.

“Anyway, enough work. I’ll pick you up at six.”

“Make it seven,” she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek before she was teleported away.

He was beginning to truly enjoy that.

With Karen gone, one last part of the plan remained to be implemented. Androids had handled the half of it, creating a chemical hazard in the abandoned part of the slums. Zalika’s task was to rewrite police and health department records, showing there indeed was illegal chemical dumping in the slums.

The rest was a simple matter of switching everything on paper, and the perfect alibi for why the Secret Society didn’t remember came to be.

—

Gotham

Arkham

Grodd woke up with a killer headache.

“What happened?” he grunted out, rubbing his temples. He shook his head to disperse the fog in his mind. He felt as if he were missing something. 

He last remembered escaping from Arkham due to the latest breakout. Then it all went dark.

“You don’t remember?” one of the guards asked in a drawled delivery. “You idiots got yourselves knocked out while hiding in the slums abandoned due to chemical leaks. You are lucky to be even alive.”

“We were?”

“The doctor said the headache and the confusion are normal.”

Grodd turned away, trying to focus but truly couldn’t remember much. They had reached the slums and had found a decent place to hide, but it all went dark after that.

He slammed his hand on the wall, realizing he had failed again.