[Emissary] Chapter 36 - Black Adam (II)

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It was at the crack of dawn in the Middle East when a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.

From the beginning until the end, he never suffered even the slightest scratch. Bullets, RPGs, rocket missiles, and even airstrikes proved to be useless. He was like a juggernaut. He was an unstoppable force.

That morning, the leaders and the governments of both sides of the war were killed brutally.

That afternoon, all the military were massacred.

That evening, the war came to an end.

He did not care for who was right and who was wrong. He did not listen to anyone’s reasoning or attempts to negotiate. Anyone who stood in his way died a violent death.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of politicians lost their lives at his hands on that day.

In a matter of hours, one man brought two countries to their knees.

In less than a day, Israel and Palestine ceased to exist. They were annexed to Kahndaq.

⁂

Just as Roger Williams, the Head of the CIA, had predicted several months ago, the ARGUS initiative had proven to be extremely successful and popular with the public. Following that, Patrick Miller, the former Vice President of the USA, won the presidential elections.

Due to the work of ARGUS and the incredible drop in the organised and violent crime rate Patrick Miller was enjoying a rarely seen popularity for presidents in modern times.

Alas, that idyllic period did not last long. Only a few months into his tenure, the first major problem had arisen: Black Adam.

The president stood with his elbows on the desk and his interlocked fingers in front of his mouth as he listened to the CIA director’s report on the situation.

At that moment, there were only three people in the Oval Office: the President, who sat at his desk; the CIA Director, who stood opposite him, arms folded behind his back, expression cool and composed; and the Secretary of Defence, who sat nearby, a visibly tense expression on his face.

"Sir, the entire world is watching us now. China and Russia, especially, are keen to see how we will react. Other than Israel and Palestine, Black Adam also destroyed four of our military bases and killed over 500 of our men.”

Officially, the public only knew about the existence of one US military base in Israel. It was a radar installation to detect incoming missiles from Iran. However, the reality was different from what the public knew.

"We can’t afford to appear weak," the president muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "But we also can't send our troops against someone who can level a country before breakfast. It would be no different than telling them to commit suicide."

The other two men in the room could not contradict his words. It was as he said. The emergence of metahumans had shifted the balance of power and even changed geopolitics.

Located in the Sinai Peninsula, Kahndaq was a country roughly the size of Croatia or West Virginia. A small country with a low population and a small and poorly equipped military would have never held any sway a few decades ago. But now? Solely due to Black Adam’s existence, Kahndaq had become the strongest country in the Middle East.

He paused, letting the words sink in before continuing.

"I wholeheartedly agree,” said the Secretary of Defence. “If we show weakness now, Russia and China will take it as a green light to expand their sphere of influence even further. East Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East. . . we could lose it all without firing a single shot."

The president leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly.

At his silence, the CIA Director said:

“Mr President, I could handle it. Just give me the word, and I will remove this thorn from our side.”

Patrick Miller let out a frustrated sigh. “We can’t possibly send ARGUS after him. Think of the consequences, goddamnit! If we break the Hague Convention, the entire world will turn against us!”

The Hague Convention, signed in 1994, was a worldwide treaty that banned the use of metahumans in military operations outside a nation's own borders. Under its terms, every country had agreed that while metahumans could be deployed for national defence, they could not be used as weapons in foreign conflicts. The reason for it had been simple: everyone feared that a single superpowered individual could destabilise the world more easily than any nuclear bomb ever could. Even rivals like the United States, Russia, and China had found common ground in that fear, and for once, the entire international community had stood united.

Naturally, the secret services of any country still tried to make use of metahumans, but everything was done covertly. Not even the US dared to do it in the open because breaking the Convention would not just mean political backlash; it would mean economic sanctions, military isolation, and the collapse of the alliances that the United States had spent decades building.

“I never had any intention of getting our metahumans involved,” Roger Williams said firmly.

The Secretary of Defence walked to the desk and placed a wide tablet down in front of the President.

“What’s this?” asked President Miller as he looked at the strange devices on the screen.

They looked like a swarm of robotic spiders. As he watched the clip showing off their capabilities, the president paled. Each robotic spider was no bigger than 10 millimetres.

“Most radars can’t detect them,” the Secretary of Defence explained. “Despite their size, they are extremely powerful. They can burrow into people’s skin and dig through their bones and flesh effortlessly. They are also small enough to crawl through people’s ears or nostrils, not alerting them until it is too late.”

The president appeared to be frightened as the clip showed one of those robotic spiders crawling into a sleeping man’s ears. When the man’s head exploded messily, he flinched so hard, he almost fell off his chair.

“We tested them on living people,” said Roger Williams calmly, as though a man’s brains had not just been splattered all over the place. “This was one of the terrorists we apprehended four years ago in Washington.”

His heart beating as if it was going to jump out of his chest, the president broke into a cold sweat. Even a layman like him could tell that they were not of Earth origin. Unless he was seriously behind the times, as far as he knew, they did not possess that kind of technology. No, it was alien in origin.

“This is the key to solving this entire mess,” said Williams, the CIA Director. “Even someone like Black Adam has biological needs. We already have his residence under surveillance. All we need is your approval.”

"And what if it fails?" the president asked, his voice heavy. “What if he’s too durable and survives?”

A cold smile appeared on the CIA director's face.

"It does not matter. If they fail, we still win, politically. We show strength. We show action. We show the world that we responded. And should Black Adam retaliate... well, like I said, the moment he crosses our borders, ARGUS and our metahumans will annihilate him."

"You’re that confident?”

"I’m pragmatic," the CIA director answered. "We have contingency plans for domestic threats of all kinds, including alien invasions and rogue metas. The moment Black Adam sets foot on US soil, he’s dead.”

The president stayed silent for a long moment. Then, finally, he nodded.

"Very well. Authorise the operation.”

⁂ One week later ⁂

On the other side of the globe, in southern France, the Potter family went about their day peacefully.

Harry had opted to take some time off; that day, he would not go back to Africa to work on the Green Wall. Power Girl had taken a day off from her company as well, and she had also informed the Justice League that she would not be available that day.

It was a special day for them: their two children, Astrid and Harry, were going to start attending Hogwarts. Therefore, they wanted to spend as much of their last day together as possible.

They had started off their day by cooking and eating breakfast together. Then, until noon, they visited Atlantis, the underwater kingdom of Aquaman. Little Harry and Astrid were left dumbstruck to see the city at the bottom of the sea. Even for the older Harry, it was not exactly a common sight, despite his long life.

Now, the four of them were back in France, somewhere in the hills of Provence.

Little Harry and Astrid were playing at the river, competing in a game of skipping stones. With her Kryptonian powers, Astrid would have won easily, but they were only using their magic, so it was more even.

As for Harry, he was sitting in the shade of the trees with a look of concentration on his face as he painted on a canvas. Every once in a while, he would close his eyes and dip his hand in a round stone bowl next to him. It was a Pensieve, and inside it, a silvery cloud-like substance was rolling incessantly.

Next to him, Kara was just sitting quietly, resting her chin in her palms, and smiling as she watched him paint.

She had seen his magical paintings before: he had paintings of a hippogriff named Buckbeak, a phoenix named Fawkes, a white owl named Hedwig, a large green anaconda snake, and so on. But he also had portraits of people. A portrait of Dobby, a house elf; one of Sirius Black, a handsome man in his late 30s with black hair and blue eyes; one of Hagrid, a mountain of a man with a kind face and an enormous beard; and many more. Among those, two particular portraits stood out the most in Power Girl’s memory: Bellatrix Potter and Fleur Potter.

Unlike in the past, however, there was no jealousy toward them in her heart anymore. Since she and Harry had opened their minds to each other and he had helped her heal from her trauma, restoring her lost memories, their trust in one another had grown beyond anything words could express. Kara now understood that, as beautiful as they might have been and as much as they might have once meant to Harry, Bellatrix and Fleur were only memories from a distant past, from lifetimes ago.

But just as important was the fact that Harry showed what his feelings were for her and for the children every day. Though he was not the type to often voice out his emotions, his actions spoke for himself.

He had put aside his conflict with the Justice League for her sake; he had spent weeks researching and working on creating enchanted jewellery and clothing for Power Girl and the children; he supplied her and the rest of the heroes with Portkeys and property damage restoration for months. In the present, he was also in the midst of a titanic task, running himself ragged almost every day to complete the Green Wall of Africa, something that he was also doing because he wanted to help her.

And now, he was making a beautiful painting of their family.

From what Harry had told her about his other works, it appeared that everything that he had ever painted had left a mark on his heart. Hagrid had been his first friend and the one who introduced him to the world of magic; Sirius was the first person who showed him a resemblance of what it felt like to have a father; Buckbeak had helped him rescue Sirius from a fate worse than death; Dobby had sacrificed his life to rescue Harry and his friends; Big Head and Hedwig had been his beloved familiars. And so on and so forth. The fact that he was now making a painting of Kara, Astrid, and little Harry spoke volumes about their importance to him.

The more she thought about it, the more her feelings for him grew.

Harry’s concentration was broken when, all of a sudden, two arms wrapped around him from behind and a pleasant weight settled on his back.

“I love you, Harry,” Kara said, resting her head on his shoulder and pressing her cheek against his.

Harry smiled as he continued painting, not minding Kara’s weight on his back now.

⁂

Evening came, and it was time for them to get ready for their departure. Having already visited the Wizarding World several times, Kara no longer tried to stand out with her modern and provocative clothing.

“How do I look?” Kara asked.

Seeing his eyes light up and his pupils dilating slightly, Kara smiled in a very self-satisfied manner.

She was wearing a red turtleneck with a long camel coat on top, culottes pants with a checked pattern, and a pair of black, high-heeled, mid-calf boots. Her outfit was completed by a black leather crossbody bag and a beige newsboy cap.

“You’re so beautiful, even a newsboy cap looks great on you somehow.”

His answer turned her grin into a growl. “Hey, are you insulting me or praising me?”

“Yes.”

He was forced to turn his body into that of a wraith in order to escape when she suddenly lunged at him.

“Asshole,” she said, pouting.

Harry Apparated behind her back and embraced her.

“I was joking. You look fantastic," he said, chuckling.

“You’re just saying it.”

“No, I mean it. You always make me feel underdressed.”

“...That’s never my intention,” she muttered, turning in his arms to face him.

With her short bob-cut blonde hair and the beige newsboy cap on her head, Kara looked especially cute at that moment.

“You’re adorable,” he said and covered her lips with his before she could fire back any retorts.

“I’m not—”, he kissed her again, “adorable! I’m—” and again, “I’m Power Girl! I’m a strong-", and again.

He wouldn’t let her continue her words in peace, interrupting her every time with a kiss.

“Ugh, they’re kissing again,” said little Harry, grimacing.

“Just get a room, Jesus,” Astrid said too, making a similar face.

Harry pecked Kara one more time before grinning at his kids.

“Overdramatic much? Or, perhaps, are you jealous again? Do you want a kiss too?” he asked teasingly.

“Who is jealous? I’m not jealous! Who wants your kisses? Hmpf. Not me-” Astrid said, but she let out a squawk as Harry suddenly pulled her into his arms with his magic and kissed her on the cheek.

Little Harry suffered a similar fate as Kara embraced him for all he was worth.

“Alright, are you ready? Did you pack up all your belongings?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“You didn’t forget your trunks, I hope?”

“No, look,” little Harry replied, taking out a small trunk from his pocket.

Astrid followed suit, showing her magically shrunk trunk as well.

“Alright then, let’s-”

At that moment, Kara’s phone vibrated, and a man’s voice rang out without her even answering:

“Power Girl, this is Cyborg. I’m sorry to hack into your phone, but this is extremely urgent!”

“Cyborg, I told you beforehand not to count on me today! I gave you a three-week notice!" Kara said in a fed-up voice.

“We need your ice breath-”

“Then just call Supergirl!”

“Supergirl is not even on Earth right now. She went to help Queen Maxima on Almerac yesterday. I’m sorry, but we really need your help this time, Power Girl. A massive landslide occurred in Italy at the Vajont Dam. A tsunami wave over 200 metres tall was triggered and 50 million cubic metres of water were displaced, spilling over the dam. Thousands of people are about to be killed! Hal is there now, doing all he can to stop the water with his Power Ring, but he won’t last. He has one minute left of power tops!”

“Damn it!” She complained, but she instantly changed into her Powergirl costume, faster than Harry’s eyes could perceive. “I’m ready. Teleport me there.”

“Astrid, Harry, I’m sorry,” she said, glancing at them with an apologetic look on her face. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

That was all she had time to say before her body blurred like a hologram and she was teleported away. It was the Watchtower’s new teleportation system. Thanks to Cyborg and Mr Terrific, the Justice League no longer depended on Emissary’s Portkeys to teleport around. Now, being able to teleport their members at will, anywhere on the globe, the Justice League’s efficiency in dealing with crime and natural disasters was many times greater than in the past.

As his adoptive mother disappeared, little Harry was reminded of the words that his father told him only a few days ago:

”Your mother and I are doing our best. We both try to help in the way we can; I’m helping with my magic, and Kara is helping with her company and with her Justice League work. But we are not gods. . . And I have a life too. I can’t spend 24/7 tending to others. . . I want to be with my family too. I want to be with you, with Astrid, and with Kara. As much as I like to help other people, you three are far more important to me.”

Ever since they had that talk, it became a lot more apparent to him how hard his parents were working and the sacrifices they were making for the sake of making the world a better place. Now, Kara had to give up on being there with her children and seeing them off to their boarding school because the Justice League needed her. Because people’s lives were at risk.

It was not the first, the second, or the third time something like that happened. It was a common occurrence. It was also one of the main reasons why many heroes did not have a social life outside of the Justice League work.

⁂

Once the teleportation ended, Kara found herself flying above the Venetian Prealps, in northern Italy. It took only one glance at her surroundings for her to understand how dire the situation was.

“Power Girl, you’re here!” Hal Jordan exclaimed, his voice a mixture of exhaustion and relief.

Beads of sweat marred the Green Lantern’s forehead as he was single-handedly stopping an utterly enormous wave of water by himself.

Cracks started to appear in the dam-like construct of green light that Hal had conjured, and Kara did not waste a second. She left a small shockwave behind as she burst with great speed towards the colossal amount of water, and her chest rose as she inhaled. A powerful gust of wind burst from her mouth, and the immense torrent of water froze instantly..

Hal finally let his construct of light dissipate, and he fell on his butt, exhausted.

“Oh, man, this was a close one,” he said, and he let himself fall on his back. “I was afraid I’d pass out.”

“Weren’t you supposed to be fearless?” Powergirl asked, grinning.

As on cue, Hal sat up and glared at her.

“I’m so annoyed with this misconception people have about the Green Lantern Corps! Just because I’m a Green Lantern, it doesn’t mean I don’t feel fear. I’m still human, not a robot, you know? Being a Green Lantern means you have the power of will to overcome your fears!”

Kara giggled at his outburst.

“Do all space cops have such fragile egos?”

Instead of replying to her, Hal touched his earpiece, calling Cyborg.

“Hey, man, why couldn’t you have sent Supergirl instead of her?”

“Supergirl is off planet. What’s wrong with calling Power Girl instead?”

“I simply can’t deal with her, man.”

“You just don’t have any banter game,” Powergirl said with a grin. She was goading him.

“But I thought you liked her,” came Cyborg’s amused voice. “Especially her b-”

“She has super hearing, you dumbass!” Hal burst at him, cutting him off before he could finish his words.

When Kara and Cyborg started laughing at the same time, Hal Jordan had to massage his temples with both hands.

“Did you guys make a pact to mess with me?”

Still laughing at his expense, Power Girl said:

“Not in the slightest. You’re just a low-hanging fruit, Hal.”

“PG, I’m ready to teleport you. Should I send you back home?” Cyborg spoke into Power Girl’s earpiece now.

Kara shook her head.

“It’s too late now. They already left…”

“I’m sorry, PG. I didn’t know who else to call. Other than Supergirl, you’re the only one who could have dealt with this catastrophe.”

“Don’t sweat it; I understand,” she said. “What do we do about his huge chunk of ice now?”

“We could let it melt naturally and have the authorities deal with it, or maybe you could take it and fly it to the North Pole. If it’s too difficult, you could also just take it to the sea nearby and melt it with your heat vision.”

⁂

Half an hour later, Kara found herself in the Watchtower’s lobby, socialising with her fellow heroes. She was chatting and laughing with them, but her mind was somewhere else.

Normally, she would have gone home straight away after solving the incident, but now, she would return to an empty apartment. Her children were now on the Hogwarts Express, heading towards their magical school, and Harry would likely spend quite a bit of time talking with Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster.

A chorus of excited murmurs broke out, and Kara turned to see what the cause was for that.

A fit woman with red hair and two large angelic wings had appeared on the teleportation platform.

“Hawkgirl!? You’re back!”

“Oh my God!”

“Girl, it’s so good to see you back!”

“Are you alright now?”

Over a dozen heroes mobbed the Thanagarian woman, bombarding her with questions. But she smiled widely, inwardly touched to be welcomed back with such warmth.

She spent the better part of ten minutes talking with the heroes before she flapped her wings and flew to Power Girl. Hawkgirl wasn’t the mushy, sensitive type of girl, but, at that moment, she unexpectedly took Kara in her arms, hugging her dearly.

“Thank you so much, Power Girl. You and Emissary saved my life.”

Kara returned her hug, smiling.

“We were happy to help. It took him a while to find a potion that would not hurt you. Unfortunately, most of his magical remedies are too toxic for regular people. Luckily, you’re a Thanagarian, so your constitution made you tougher than the rest.”

“It’s more than enough. Even if I had survived, it was unlikely that I would have walked on my own two feet again, let alone be able to fly with my wings. Thank you, truly,” Hawkgirl said sincerely.

Cadmus’ assassination attempt had left her severely injured, on the brink of death. She had been shot dozens of times all over her body, and she had bled so much that she had fallen unconscious standing.

She had been in the hospital for months, in a critical state, with the doctors not knowing whether she would make it or not. Even if she survived, they didn’t know if she would ever be the same after the severe physical trauma she had endured.

But Harry’s magic potions had saved her. Potions such as the Skelegro would be no different from lethal poison if given to Muggles, but Hawkgirl was a Thanagarian. Thanks to Death, who had led Harry to the other dimension where the Wizarding World existed, he was able to acquire the necessary potions to heal her. Animal Man had received Harry’s help, too.

“It’s amazing what magic can do,” said Black Canary. “Even the scars left by bullets are gone.”

“That’s actually an ointment that Emissary created,” said Powergirl. “I also used it last year when I had problems with my powers, and I was frequently getting injured. In fact, this healing salve can be used by non-magical people too. The FDA is performing human tests with it now; we’re just waiting for them to approve it before releasing it on the market.”

“Wait, seriously??”

Quite a few other girls among the heroes became interested in that. If that cream could even heal Hawkgirl's gnarly bullet scars and Powergirl's severe bruises in the past, it was like a pharmaceutical wonder for women.

⁂

Half an hour after Hawkgirl’s arrival, the heroes present at the Watchtower stood up and headed towards the teleportation platform.

“Power Girl, are you coming with us?” asked Wonder Woman. Her sword and shield were strapped on her back, and her Lasso of Truth was hanging at her waist as well. She seemed ready to go too.

“It could be fun to watch the circus from a first-row seat, I guess,” Kara replied, making Diana chuckle.

“It’s an interesting way of looking at things. But, unfortunately, I am not going to attend ARGUS’ awards ceremony for the fun of it. I have a feeling things may become dangerous today. The villains have been too quiet lately.”

“Is that goddess Athena’s wisdom speaking?” Power Girl said teasingly.

“No, it is just an educated guess.”

The Kryptonian and the Amazon walked together towards the teleportation platform, with Kara trying to get a reaction out of her and Diana doing her best to keep a straight face.

⁂

ARGUS was the abbreviation for the "Advanced Research Group Uniting Superhumans". In the eyes of the Justice League, ARGUS was just Cadmus 2.0, but in the eyes of the American public, ARGUS was what many people had always wanted the Justice League to be. They were an organisation of heroes who weren't afraid to kill the criminals when they endangered lives. It was a superhuman police force under the control of the government.

A large part in pushing that propaganda was played by the “Hero of the Month” award that the US government had come up with after the creation of ARGUS. Publicly, it was a ceremony to give heroes an award and recognition for their hard work while also igniting their spirit of competitiveness to put even more effort into protecting the innocent.

However, in the eyes of the Justice League, that award was nothing but a way for ARGUS to push their agenda. Since the creation of the award several months ago, nobody in the Justice League had ever won it. The winner had always been a member of ARGUS.

“If Cyborg or Mr Terrific don’t win this month, this shit is rigged,” said one of the Justice League heroes.

"Why would Cyborg or Mr Terrific win it? They're almost never out there in the field," answered another.

“Mate, there’s more to contributing to people’s safety than punching villains in the face. Cyborg and Mr Terrific created the Watchtower’s teleportation system, which drastically enhanced the Justice League’s ability to react to crimes and disasters.”

“The fact that both of you are ignoring Emissary altogether is wild. How many times had he fixed the demolished buildings, towns, and cities in the wake of metahumans' fights? And look at the humanitarian work he’s doing every day in Africa. Can’t believe that the government is completely ignoring him.”

“Maybe this award is just for American heroes? As far as I know, Emissary is from the UK?”

Hundreds of heroes and spectators were debating in the stands as they waited for the ceremony to begin.

“What does Emissary feel about this?” Diana also asked Kara, curious.

“Grandpa doesn’t care one bit about this award,” she said, making Wonder Woman giggle at the nickname she used for Harry.

At that moment, the very President of the United States, Patrick Miller, came onto the stage and started giving a speech.

But Kara and Diana continued talking to each other in a quiet voice, not paying much attention to his words.

“How are the children? We don’t often get the chance to catch up,” said Diana.

“I wish I could have more time, but it’s been so busy with the company, getting the healing salve approved by the FDA, Justice League work, and also with the Green Wall of Africa. It’s to the point where I’m starting to miss my family. I was supposed to go with them together and send them to their boarding school. . .”

Kara let out a sigh when Diana unexpectedly patted her comfortingly on the leg.

“Stay strong. It’s going to be better. But if you ever need any help, just let me know. I promise I will do all I can to support you.”

“Thank you, Diana.”

Suddenly, loud murmurs broke from all the heroes around them.

“Ragman?”

“Who the fuck is that guy?”

“Never heard of him.”

“Hahaha, I knew it. This whole thing is corrupt as hell.”

Kara and Diana turned their attention to the green-cloaked man who walked on the stage. It appeared that he was Ragman; his patchy suit lived up to his name. He was the winner of that month's "Best Hero Award".

Just as Ragman came to the microphone and cleared his throat to give a speech, a massive tremor shook the entire building.

The regular people in attendance cried out in a panic as the ceiling caved in and massive chunks of concrete started falling down.

Luckily, John Stewart happened to be there (he was accompanying Hawkgirl) and he reacted immediately. A dome of green light encapsulated everyone in the great hall, protecting them as the ceiling collapsed.

However, an arc of lightning flickered through the air, and Green Lantern grunted as his shield was shattered into countless specks of light.

Before Ragman could even react, he found himself launched into the wall to the side, slamming into it violently.

“Good morning, Mr President. I’ve come to talk to you.”

A very tall and muscular physique, sharp ears, a strong jaw, and wearing a black skin-tight suit with a large yellow lightning motif on his chest. He was none other than Black Adam.

Despite his words, Black Adam didn’t give the president a chance to speak because he caught him by the neck and started choking him.

Holding the president hostage by the neck, Black Adam turned to the rest of the heroes and said in a menacing voice:

“Nobody moves, or he dies.”

⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂

AN: Things are about to get difficult for Power Girl. Hope you enjoyed the chapter

Harry’s paintings were mentioned a few times in the previous chapters, like when the Justice League visited his house to recruit him or the paintings of Bella and Fleur in his room at the watchtower. I didn’t make a big deal out of them in the story, so I wanted to remind you of it in case you have forgotten.

As for the Vajont Dam Disaster, it actually happened in real life, in Italy, in 1963. It’s one of the worst dam disasters ever recorded. You can watch more about it on youtube if you are interested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k06c8LduVog . There are also animated simulations of what had happened.