jla_watchtower | Secret Society of Super-Villains

A flicker of yellow light...

And the image of Sinestro stands, arms crossed, waiting.

Professor Milton Fine arrives third to this somewhat auspicious meeting. He's dressed well, having just returned from an awards ceremony at Kansas State University, and actually resents his night being interrupted, to some extent.

"Welcome, gentlemen. Sinestro - too busy to make it in person? I'll save your gift for later, then. And Brainiac, I think you'll appreciate it more than most."

He pats the box near him, which makes a dense rattling noise in response to the impact.

Slade isn't entirely comfortable with the genocidal aliens being involved, but he's present. Because Grodd needs to die and Sivana needs to hurt.

His arms are crossed as he leans back in his chair. Letting Noah run the show for now.

The next arrival is one of the more surprising. Though nominally a member of the Society, Orm's barely made any of the meetings, and was in fact entirely absent during the recent business with their opposite number.

The squabbles of landwalkers are not his concern.

Still, he holds sway over the seven seas, and with Aquaman's continued absence, that might is not to be taken lightly.

Orm takes his seat, trident in hand as always.

"Lord Orm, gratifying to see you here."

Noah nods to the new arrival.

Talia entered, taking a moment to flick black hair over her shoulder. She was well dressed, and even though she was wearing stylish heels she didn't make a sound as she moved. Her face was impassive.

She simply took it all in.

The gentlemen, if there are such things, can greet the lady for she said nothing to mark her own presence.

"Ms. Al Ghul. Glad you decided to join us. I suppose we can get started - Zoom may not make it, he was badly concussed in the fight at Iron Heights."

The screen behind him lights up with pictures of Major Force, Dr. Sivana, Dr. Light, Prometheus, Cheshire, and the General.

"The new Monster Society of Evil."

Shade gives the pictures the barest of acknowledgements. "A collective of true sound and fury. With as much significance as you'd expect." He then turns his look to the rest of the table.

"Of course, we shan't throw stones it seems."

Lady Shiva stands in the back of the room looking at the picture before looking at the rest of those in the room. It is hard to tell how long she's been here exactly - her expression is rather neutral, one might even say bored.

Slade glances to Noah.

"Where is Grodd in this?"

Yes, that's what on his mind.

Talia didn't acknowledge Shiva's presence, though she knew the other woman was there. She stayed silent for now. This was her problem by virtue of joining this group, she knew.

It didn't mean she had to jump up to offer anything. She simply listened. Listened to see where the interests of the others lay.

"I've saved your favorite for last, Slade."

Grodd's picture appears on a second screen, along with a compilation of data about him.

"I haven't been able to confirm if Grodd has joined the group or merely was working with them in this case. What is clear, though, is that after his incarceration for an incident in Metropolis, he had all but completely taken control of Iron Heights."

Cameron arrives a moment late, taking a seat at the big table quietly as he listens to Noah, then adding.

"He certainly seemed chummy with them."

Grodd's leering visage earns a disdainful sneer from Orm.

"Surely these fools must be punished for their insolence? To do anything less would be to invalidate the existence of this Society altogether."

Another newly-promoted member of the Society shows himself, taking a seat at the table.

"They were decisively defeated. Major Force was dispersed and contained by Deathstroke. That isn't to say we shouldn't take further action, but I don't know that we should wipe them out entirely."

He folds his hands.

"It is useful to have an opposing factor."

Deathstroke eyeballs Faust.

"Grodd has to die. And the reason this Society was formed in the first place was to keep the hero leagues in check when they cross the line. We have an opposing factor."

"So let's take out Grodd. Faust's not wrong though - the Justice League are our enemies. What we need is something like a loyal opposition. Democrats to our Republicans. We could work with Sivana. It's a thought."

"You're not seriously suggesting we write off their attack on us as a love tap? We push back before we even consider a deal, which I'm not convinced we need anyway. All an opposition force does is get in our way, slow us down and hamper our effectiveness."

Talia spoke up here, "Oh yes, and while we are focused solely on Grodd what happens if the Justice League suddenly decides to turn their attention on any one of us?" she asked, her accent adding a slight lilt to her voice. "You will forgive me if I do not wish to throw down everything on one foe," she said coldly. "So if Grodd must die, should they all not follow suit? That alone would demand a great deal of time and attention."

Talia was business first. She could understand revenge, but for her, it didn't seem prudent. She had too much work to finish.

"If you wish to take him down, take him down yourself. You are capable, are you not? Or we find a way to take them down from the inside out." A knife to the back was preferable to a full frontal attack.

"I'm not suggesting we write it off. We take out one of them to send a message. That lets them know we won't take their shit and that we have the upper hand. I'm suggesting we stop short of eliminating them."

He shrugs.

"If we squeeze too hard, we become 'order' and they become 'chaos' and I needn't tell you how many of the people we work with who find chaos appealing. We don't want our crackdown to give them a recruitment drive."

"I'll take down Grodd," he affirms. "He won't require the bulk of our resources. I have enough focus on him for all of us. As for the League, they've learned their lesson about being too proactive."

"The other reason I don't want to wipe them out is that I'm not convinced Sivana is the top of the pyramid. He's smart enough, but too apathetic to mess with us without a bigger payoff at stake. I don't think we have all the variables yet."

Orm pins his intense stare on Noah. Despite the seeming ridiculousness of his mask, it's clear he is not in the mood for laughing.

"I understand their efforts were very coordinated and came close to success. You were personally targeted for assassination, Calculator."

Orm might spend his time with his head in a fish bowl, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have good information.

"Are we to reward coup d'état with a token punishment?" He looks around at his fellow Society members in turn. "This is about more than order versus chaos. It is about fealty. If we do not take decisive action, those who follow the Society banner will perceive weakness. Insurrection will follow. We must make an example of this Monster Society's leaders, an example powerful enough than none shall question our authority."

He looks directly at Deathstroke. "Am I wrong?"

Shiva shakes her head just faintly as she, too, looks toward Slade. The game proposed is one that no one wins, slowly increasing in brutality until everyone is broken or dead. If you retaliate it must be quick and appropriate to the target.

There are some, if you hit them hard enough, who will never attempt to stand against you again.

Others are motivated by such retaliation and should be dealt with accordingly.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, please. What I propose is pure pragmatism. By a full-scale retaliation, we acknowledge them as a threat, and that projects weakness. With a firm punishment levied against one of them, combined with our success, we send the message that they are nearly beneath our notice."

He raises his hands.

"Of course, This council does not proscribe the actions of its members. Should you wish to act as individuals to seek vengeance against those who have wronged you, or us, then you don't need my blessing. All I ask is that you consider the situation carefully."

Noah turns to Orm.

"It is true. Prometheus breached one of my safehouses and attempted to kill me. It was nothing personal, purely business."

He taps the box on the table in front of him.

"Shall we table the issue for now and move on to the presents? I have one for each of you, plus two for our absent members, Cheetah and Zoom."

Fine has been sat back, barely listening to the bickering and conjecture from those around him with his eyes shut. Amazing, these human meditative techniques. You truly can block out the noises of chaos if you focus your mind on one specific thing.

He opens his eyes again to smile at the Calculator. "I am afraid I am a poor guest, for I did not bring a gift in return. I hope that this does not preclude me from the receipt of your present though, Mr. Kuttler."

How much of this matters to Sinestro? Deathstroke's vendetta against Grodd is blinding him to the realities of their situation-if the Flash has yet to kill him, chances are Grodd's not going to die.

"The simplest way to deal with Grodd is to fake the death the current monarch of Gorilla City, throwing the government into chaos and giving Grodd an opportunity to seize power." Sinestro finally says, clasping his hands behind his back. "He fixates on his homeland to the point of making strategic errors, and this change in focus will cause a rift in the Monster Society, as Sivana will not tolerate Grodd going off on his own when they have a goal to pursue."

"Once Grodd seizes power, we release the monarch, causing a direct threat to Grodd's rule. He will be so concerned with keeping his little empire of the Gorillas that he shall not have the time to meddle in our affairs."

Professor Fine cocks his head as Sinestro talks. A voice of wisdom and strategy, clearly.

"Tell me, Sinestro. Does your Corps hold a representative for the sector of space that Colu is deemed to inhabit?" He leans forward, and puts his chin on the back of his hand.

"Sector 2813?" Sinestro smiles inwardly at the irony of that also being the former home of Krypton, birthplace of Brainiac's great enemy. "Romat-Ru of Xudar, I believe, is the current representative."

Noah opens the box, taking out what appears to be an ordinary mobile phone device.

"I trust most of you are familiar with Blackberrys. Well, these are our own special variant. I call them Blackguards. In addition to the typical mobile phone functions, in the hands of an authorized user, it allows full access to the Unternet. In addition, it allows for secure communications."

He smiles.

"And when I say secure, I mean secure. I've borrowed one of Kord Technologies' new patents for our use - it uses quantum communication techniques. To eavesdrop without seizing and hacking one of the devices, someone would need Captain Atom's powers and a supercomputer."

"Cheeky. But will it blend?" Shade maneuvers the Blackguard in his hand, before glancing at the others.

"This amount of planning is still rather reactive, Gentlemen, Lady, and Shiva. As far as the monkey, however. Killing him makes him a martyr. Showing the rank and file that maybe Grodd's way was the right one. Which its not. But if we make an example out of him? Or better the yet, find a way to tone down the mind-foolishness. We can strike ahead of time."

Deathstroke clenches a fist.

Grodd will die, but if he has to let these people think he'll live in order to get into position to kill him, so be it. He'll ease off for now.

"We don't know Grodd is anything more than a temporary ally for the Monster Society, so there's no guarantee of causing that rift. But making an example out of him - even if it's working with the Gorilla City apes who hate him as much as I do to set a trap - I could be on board for."

He takes one of the devices, with a look to Noah.

"Kord Tech is bound to have a back door for their own innovations," he says, although he knows Calc has no doubt found a way around it.

"Their innovation is simply an incredibly precise sensor. There's no software for them to have left a backdoor in. With these devices, we can each communicate with the rest of this group with absolute security. They have some countermeasures built-in in case anyone should try to tamper with them, and I can cut any one of them out of the group from the master hub if we confirm or even suspect it has been compromised."

Talia took hers and looked it over. Culturally, she should've brought a gift as well, if gifts were to have been exchanged. Pragmatically, she made the decision to not let it bother her. If she continued to operate as culture dictated she would have to search for and then relinquish control of what she had to her father.

Until such time as her Beloved came to his senses and married her.

No one else there would know of those errant, fleeting, thoughts of hers. Her father was gone, her romantic entanglements were her own business. This was a facet of her interest.

"I thank you for the gift," Talia said, ignoring the on going talk about Grodd. "If we could conclude soon? I have business I fear I must attend to."

"Wonderful." Fine means that seriously. Advances in human technology are usually fairly primitive, but good parts can often be salvaged from the rubbish set up around them. Just from basic analysis however, this device seems quite decent.

"Aside from retribution on an ape, do we have any further goals? No banks that need overturning, heroes that need assassinating, or worlds that need dominating? I do have lectures tomorrow."

Noah grins.

"Well, they do have one other feature I'd like to demonstrate before we go our separate ways."

He takes up his own Blackguard, and taps a button sequence. He vanishes in a swirl of light, reappearing several yards away in the corner of the room.

"Site to site teleportation, courtesy of a new satellite network. It can pick you up nearly anywhere in the world, and deposit you at any one of your predefined destinations."

"You boys and your toys." Shade muses while tapping the buttons. "Forgive me for being as old-fashioned as my whiskey. But I'm not that tossed on being accessable. But I love the notion behind it."

He taps his cane, melting into the shadow, and emerging behind Calculator with a clap on the back. "Thank you, my friend. I'll treasure it forever."

"Cute. The transportation is just as untraceable as the communications themselves, I assume?"

Noah starts to retort to the Shade, and is caught just a little off-guard by the sudden relocation - raising an eyebrow.

"Well, most of us can't do that.."

Then to Slade.

"Nearly. The satellites that provide the translocation beam are cloaked with the finest alien technology. Of course, the down side is that if you get tagged with a tracer, then they'll suddenly see you show up at your chosen destination. Apart from that, I'd say it's a lock."

"By finest alien technology, I do wonder what you might mean." Fine begins to pry the BlackGuard apart, and examine the insides. He lets out a short laugh, and then puts it back together again with mechanical precision.

"How wonderful."

Shiva looks at the blackberry and ends up putting it into a pocket. She has been accused of not knowing enough about technology in the past and this might be a way to learn. Or start learning.

"So, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Secret Society. Keep your eyes open for members of the so-called Monster Society, and we can all correspond with ideas on how best to teach them a lesson via the new communicators. Let's remember our common goal - we're not megalomaniacs. We're not psychotics. We're the pragmatists - we achieve our success by measured means."

Secret Society of Super-Villains

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