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***
Vanessa pressed herself against the wall as several dozen iron robot guards flew past her, heading straight for the arena. And she knew what the reason for this behavior was-it was highlighted on her suit's screen, which showed her what was happening in the arena through the bat-watcher she'd launched to keep an eye on Willard Light.
Willard Light defeated the arena champion so quickly that she didn't even have time to realize what had happened.
"I don't even know if that's bad or good," a nervous grin appeared on her lips.
But unfortunately, Mongul, the Great Ruler of the World of War, found the winner's insolence audacious and decided to kill him in front of onlookers.
"What mixed feelings... Is he going to make it or not? I don't know what happened, but it doesn't matter now. We have to hurry or it will all be for nothing."
The best way to save Willard Light was to hack into the Control Center, which contained a device that sent remote signals to all the robot guards. Besides, hacking alone wasn't enough, something else had to be done to the robots themselves.
By the time Vanessa was thinking about her plan, Willard Light had already been surrounded and she was getting nervous.
"It's too fast. How can I help him?"
She remembered how people cheered for Dreigo, remembered how they raised and lowered their fingers depending on whether they wanted to spare or kill the gladiator. And always, when the crowd was in agreement, so was Mongul.
Vanessa waited for the robots to fly farther away and spoke into the palm of her hand:
«... Yellow lightning!
***
Grandmother, who had been watching the gladiators battle all this time, watched with pity as the Great Mongul was about to kill the new champion of the arena. In the back of her mind she did not accept this decision, but to confront the Ruler himself for the sake of a stranger?
And then there was a loud scream from the side of her that made her jump up startled on the spot:
«Yellow lightning! Yellow lightning!
The woman's voice that rang throughout the podium belonged to a small black robot that hovered above the podium near the babka.
Blinking a couple times at this "miracle", the grandmother clenched her fist.
"If that little brat isn't afraid to speak his mind, why should I be afraid?!"
The grandmother raised her green wrinkled hand and roared at the top of her voice:
«Yellow lightning! Yellow lightning!
***
Yellow lightning.
They were words of encouragement. They were the only way out Vanessa could think of in less than a minute. In the short time Vanessa had managed to spend on the World of War, she had realized that the Great Mongul's entire power was built on the people's love of the carnage he carried out in the arena. If you deprive Mongul of audience sympathy, he won't be able to execute Willard.
But would she succeed? There were a million doubts, and so far Vanessa was the only one screaming, her lonely voice helplessly silenced as if swallowed up by the very arena of the World of War. She alone could do nothing.
"Come on, get to work!"
And so her voice was backed up by the one who had been standing next to her all this time.
«Yellow lightning! Yellow lightning! Yellow lightning! - Vanessa's words were immediately echoed by a woman in a scarf.
And after the grandmother, Vanessa's words began to be picked up by others. And now the spectators, excited by the recent battle, began to pick up the words one by one, standing up and raising their inhuman paws and muzzles. And by now the entire arena was shouting the name of the new World of War champion in unison. Not Drego anymore, but...
«Yellow lightning! - Granny said, and grinned at the little robot Vanessa had left in her place.
Vanessa came up with the nickname "Yellow Lightning" on the fly. She thought it was the most appropriate name for Willard Light's abilities, because he left a distinct flash mark after every move.
And then she ran to Mongul's Tower, because there was less and less time left. Soon the robot guards would surround Willard Light and kill him.
***
Drego fell, and the battle in the arena was finally over. But the Great Mongul was not pleased that the crowd had chosen to support the insolent champion. They shouted his name, cheered, and begged for the Earthman to be spared.
In slight confusion, the Great Mongul began to look around, not believing his eyes.
The people of World of War were restraining his hands, preventing him from finishing off Willard Light.
«Well, if that's what the humans have decided, then so be it. You're not going to die today," Mongul hissed.
"But I won't leave it at that, you miserable worm. There were brazen men before you who thought they could oppose me, but they all submitted sooner or later."
It was the same with Draigo.
Mongul looked up glumly to the crowd cheering the champion and ordered the robotic guards to knock Willard out.
And if there were only three robots at first, more were soon to follow. Mongul realized that the disobedience of one could cause others to revolt, so he gave a special order to suppress them.
***
Willard Light helped Nz-z-zik up.
«Glad you survived.
«Buzz, buzz, buzz!
«Hmmm...I'd love to chat with you, but it looks like we have company.
Silver machines with guns instead of arms hovered unfriendly over them, preparing to suppress them. And none of them were going to kindly ask to come with them. They were going to knock Will out with laser cannons and force him into a cage like a dirty dog.
Fearful that they would harm the Uzrikzuan, Willard tossed the kunai into the air and disappeared from the robots' sight. He knocked out three of them in a matter of moments, and looked around.
"It clearly won't end here," and judging by the chakra fluctuations he could feel in the distance, Vanessa was moving away from the arena, heading for the High Above.
«I can't take you with me, Nz-z-zik. Do you have a home?
As Will spoke, another dozen robots flew out from behind the bleachers, and then another, and another, and another... He grinned.
«And that's the least of the problem...
***
After most of the robot guards had gone to the Colosseum, Vanessa was able to get deep into Mongul's Tower and knock out the remaining lizards who were doing research. She ran over to the control panel and pulled a small wire out of her sleeve, which she stuck into the alien computer. A couple of quick strokes of her fingers on the keyboard, and lo and behold the Bad-Girl Drive virus was loaded.
Vanessa tapped her finger on her ear a couple times, and a virtual screen showing Willard Light's face appeared in front of her eyes.
«Will... I have infiltrated the control center, but it will take me a while to find out where our ship is and disarm the robots. There are a large number of robot guards headed your way. You must run. You can run, can't you?
***
«Well...
After hearing Vanessa's words, Will lowered his gaze guiltily to the mountain of scrap metal that lay beneath him, sparking unevenly. He scratched his cheek with his finger and looked away, hoping to find someone else, but there was no one else. Only Nz-z-zik was silently flapping his black eyes in incomprehension.
All those hundred robot guards, or how many there were, Will lost count, didn't seem to threaten his life.
«I'll give it a try," he added.
And yet the moment Will finally relaxed and no one else threatened him, he exhaled tiredly and felt something high in the sky, no, probably even in space. Two strong creatures were approaching him at high speed, but they both seemed painfully familiar. It was as if someone was desperately flying to see him. Involuntary relaxation turned to drowsiness, his consciousness began to wane, and his eyes closed.
"So sleepy..."
Consciousness was fading, and without noticing it, the man who had taken himself for "Will Light" realized something. He was not who he thought he was. And his self was about to disappear, giving freedom to another self.
And then there was a loud, somehow familiar scream above his head:
«Will!
***
«Yellow lightning, yellow lightning! - a loud, insistent chorus of voices struck my ears.
Will shuddered at the noise and woke up as if from a dream. At least that's what he thought when he opened his eyes and started to fall, losing all balance.
«Shit, what the hell!
He struggled to his feet and looked up. There was a crowd chanting an unfamiliar name before him, and they all seemed to be looking only at him. The reason for their joy and admiration was not clear until Will found a pile of broken and burning robots at his feet. Will froze, opened his mouth, gasped. Stepped forward, stopped right by a defeated Drego giant, three robot guards sparking with damage, and... poor Kyria, which made Will's face cringe. Someone had severed her head and left her lying on the ground. Only poor Nz-z-zik had survived, and he seemed to be humming something happily, as if repeating himself to the crowd of onlookers. But poor Nz-z-zik was badly beaten and could hardly stand on his feet.
Only Will stood still and flapped his eyes, listening to the homage in his direction.
«Will!
Will heard Kara's voice a second before she slammed into him at breakneck speed, nearly crushing his chest. The thudding pain echoed throughout his body, and all the air and saliva was expelled from his lungs.
«Bhuu...
«Will, what was that! - Kara exclaimed, a look of joyful delight on her face.
Following Kara, Vanessa appeared beside Will in her black suit. Wayne took off the mask and curled her lips in disgust, clearly unhappy with what was happening.
«I wonder what that was about, too. However, I can understand what happened without your words.
«And what's that?
He wanted to say, "We're in big trouble, Mongul's troops are coming here and there's going to be a massacre," but Kara hugged him tightly and wouldn't let go, as if they hadn't seen each other in ages. And then he let go, hugging her back and keeping silent.
«You were so cool! Where'd you learn that? Did Clark or Bruce teach you? - Kara asked.
«He doesn't know what you're talking about," Vanessa snorted, crossing her arms over her chest, "he doesn't even realize what happened to him.
«I don't know what happened to him, but there's a Great Achievement Award waiting for someone tonight," Kara murmured.
«Let me get a word in edgewise! - Will said.
«Clark's dealing with Mongul. I've already told him the whole situation, and we're going to need more help soon. You've already done your homework, though," Vanessa grinned.
Will didn't understand who and what he'd dealt with, but Vanessa was obviously alluding to the defeated enemies at his feet. Like he'd defeated them? Oh, come on, that's bullshit. Bullshit, right...? Will glanced at the big Dregoi-machine-killer, a mountain of muscle that could break anyone, even Mongul himself one-on-one, and nodded to himself as if he'd just had a bad dream.
As Vanessa finished speaking, there was a heartbreaking rumble from the stands, and Superman flew out of the crumbling Coliseum. He fought Mongul right into the air.
Though the fight between Superman and Mongul had been fierce, Will couldn't remember a time when Mongul had ever been able to give Clark a decent fight. That meant it would soon be over, but he couldn't relax. Mongul had a whole robot army that was about to be here.
Yet Vanessa and Kara stayed on their wavelength and didn't worry about anything.
Vanessa didn't even raise an eyebrow when a couple of cobblestones fell a few meters away from her. Her gaze was still cold and confident. She'd clearly gotten the worst of it from her parents.
Okay Will knew the problems were over, Supes would take care of the rest of it. At the very least, Kara would help him. But why was Vanessa so calm? Did she really have it all figured out?
"It's kind of hard to believe what's going on."
«You say I've figured it out...?
«That's right. But you don't remember anything.
Vanessa unapologetically pulled Kara away from Will, took him by the chin and peered intently into his eyes.
«Just as I thought. Completely different look.
«Hey, what are you doing to him?! - Kara was about to use force on Vanessa, but she stepped back just in time.
«Not anymore. Your boyfriend has a split personality," Vanessa turned and headed away.
«Where are you going? We need to help Clark," Kara blocked Vanessa's path. And there was an uncomfortable tension between them.
Vaness sighed and looked away.
«Don't worry, I have everything under control. The people of War World have already begun to suspect that their Overlord is an idiot and a tyrant. Soon his bloody empire will come to an end.
During her time on World of War, Vanessa was by no means inactive. She quickly infiltrated Mongul's main security base and hacked into the local network. Control of the robot defenders was in her hands. She pulled out a small beta-belt remote and twirled it in her fingers in front of Kara's eyes.
«What is it? - Kara asked.
«A well-timed explosion," Vanessa pressed a button, creating a lingering silence.
And then, just a few seconds later, there was a massive explosion.
The World of War's control tower blew to hell, leaving behind a large cloud of smoke that blurred into the air. A huge number of Mongul's robot defenders were knocked out, and the rest of the robots started flailing around randomly until they finally exploded. This was how the virus Vanessa had launched, the Badgirl Drive, worked.
«Won't they be rebuilt? - Kara asked.
«They won't rebuild," Vanessa said as she walked past a surprised Kara.
The alien engineers of World of War immediately detected the Badgirl virus and gathered in the Control Tower to purge it, but to their dismay they were met with the cruel trap of Vanessa Wayne.
A timely planned explosion left them no chance of escape.
Badgirl Drive was downloaded into the robots' control system and would take effect after the Control Tower exploded. The robot defenders were set to obey Mongul, but if their system malfunctioned, the reverse signal from the Control Tower would "fix their brains". This time it was the other way around, Vanessa used this signal to spread the virus to the robots and then blew up the tower. Thus, all the guardian robots were out of service, and it was now impossible to restore them without the control center.
Vanessa had only one sole purpose left, one that had kept her busy ever since she'd gotten to the World of War - those Reptiloid hunters who'd thrown her in the dungeon.
"You're finished, you bastards."
***
Vanessa was out of sight before Will could stop her. Something about the tight black suit reminded him of a female version of Terry McGinnis from Batman Future. Vanessa's female costume was also equipped with state-of-the-art gadgets and modifications that literally made her a superhero of the future.
And her figure in this outfit was absolutely gorgeous, just like her juicy ass as she wiggled her hips from side to side. Will was impressed.
"I won't stop enjoying this marvelous view. I wish I had one," he thought.
In the meantime, a battered Mongul, who could no longer be called "Great," had fallen at Will's feet. Clark had given him a good thrashing, and now he looked more like a beaten thug who'd been kicked out of a club for bad behavior. What was worth it was her face writhing in pain.
Clark landed following Mongul and immediately glanced at Will.
«Glad you're okay, buddy," Clark said smiling, shaking her hands off as if after dusting.
«Yeah, I survived somehow, but I don't know how.
«Are you sure? That's not what Kara and I saw.
«Vanessa said he had a split personality," that voice belonged to Bats, who appeared in a holographic form next to Clark.
«A split personality? - Clark asked.
«We will discuss this matter later. In the observation tower.
«Oh, shit," Will muttered.
"I knew this moment was inevitable. At least I'll be on trial with the Justice League, which means I can count on a pardon if they suddenly realize I'm occupying someone else's body."
As far as Will knew, the Justice League had a lot of do-gooders, like Clark and the Flash. He wasn't too sure about the others, but in that cartoon, even Batman had been a nice guy. How things worked here was anyone's guess.
***
After freeing the World of War from tyranny, a Justice League ship came for Will and the others, and they traveled home.
All the while, Clark had been debating about Will, his suddenly awakened abilities and split personality.
«Do you remember anything from that battle in the arena? - Clark asked.
«No, nothing at all. I don't even remember passing out. I feel like I woke up from a short nap and suddenly found myself in the center of the arena.
«That's weird. Do you have any ideas, Bruce? - Clark asked.
«Got a couple. We should check his body when you get here.
What kind of test awaited Will he vaguely imagined. He would lie down in some capsule and be scanned. Considering Batman's individual approach to every situation, he would probably have time to readjust the capsule's settings to Will's situation. Maybe even invent new equipment.
Will felt relaxed and detached. He didn't care about what was going to happen anymore. How in the world could a regular guy like him fool a guy like Batman? Okay Clark, he wasn't much different from the average person in terms of intelligence and education, but Batman would have figured him out even if Will was hiding as hard as he could.
Will cursed the fact that he had been thrown into the body of Kara Danvers' boyfriend specifically. If he'd been thrown into any other person not affiliated with the League, Batman would hardly have turned his attention to him. Unless, of course, Will was blowing his nose.
There were enough problems on Earth without Will, and, fortunately, even Batman couldn't keep track of everything at once. Even the united forces of the Justice League could not always cope with all the threats hanging over the world.
Heroism in general is a hard and unfair thing.
***
When he found himself under the gaze of Batman and the rest of the Justice League, he whistled involuntarily. It was the same round table where they usually met, and almost all the major heroes were here: Batman, Superman, Diana, Martian Manhunter and Flash, Falconer, Green Lantern. And that wasn't all of them.
"Apparently I've gotten into the extended version of Justice League. Not surprising since Batman already has a daughter, but how long has it been? He doesn't seem that old," Will thought to himself.
«So what's wrong with him? - Diana asked.
Batman began to talk about Vanessa Wayne's report, which she had put together from the situation on the World of War and from her personal observations of Willard Light. In a way it looked like a betrayal of his companion, but Will took Vanessa's behavior for granted.
"Just showing off for his dad."
For many reasons, Bruce is under the impression that Willard's superhuman abilities are just the tip of the iceberg.
Batman didn't say directly that Will was a hit man or some kind of parasite. Apparently, he treated the situation with some mysterious understanding. However, Bruce was never verbose.
«What are you suggesting? Experiment on him like a guinea pig? - Clark asked, clearly snapping at Bruce.
But Bruce, as always, kept his cool and looked the irritated Clark straight in the eye without question.
«No, but we need to find out what's happening to him. If the source of his abilities is mutation or radioactive waste, he could be unwittingly harming people.
«If that were true, you would have taken action long ago, Bruce. You're hiding things from us as usual. How about you don't play one for once?
«I'm acting in the best interests of the League, you can rest assured," Bruce replied.
«Come on, boys, that's enough. Why don't we see what Willard has to say? - Diana asked.
It seemed as if Diana was favorably disposed toward Will. Maybe it was just his imagination, but she looked at him like a little brother or just a good guy who was in trouble. Fortunately for Will, Diana's opinion was far from the latter.
«Honestly, I don't know what to say," Will said.
He had thoughts of confessing, but what good would that do? He'd be found out, and then his life could change dramatically. What would Kara do if she found out the truth?
«You can trust us, Will. I won't leave you in the lurch, no matter what happens," Clark put a hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly.
The decision was hard. Will knew that telling the League the truth wasn't such a bad idea, but he couldn't bring himself to admit it. It was as if his mouth were shackled with iron and his tongue was tied to his teeth. He'd been coming to this point for almost six months, afraid of the unintended consequences.
Sometimes such "simple decisions" led to irreparable consequences. From the outside, it could look like anything, but one wrong word could change the situation. Unfortunately, Will was not an eloquent speaker.
«If you don't want to say anything, I'll understand," Clark added.
«Or you can hear my version of what's going on," Batman said.
Will finally realized what kind of outcome he wanted. The one where his secret would be discovered by someone who had already figured it out.
"I must take my chances, there's certainly nothing to lose," he thought.
«If I may, I'd like to talk to Batman alone," Will said.
End of Volume One.
***
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