Tornado

[jon-el87]

Tornado - Sketch on a possible continuation

Chapter 1

Five minutes. If she had just arrived five minutes earlier, DEO agent Eve Welch was certain that she could’ve prevented it. Welch had gone to the Metropolis Museum of Modern Art that day for a simple reason: to collect information from a source. However, upon arriving she had seen police cars outside and was soon informed that her source had been found in the bathroom, with his throat cut. Her source may have been a scumbag, but nobody deserves to die like that. Not to mention, whatever information he was getting her on the Norvell case, which she had been working on for months, was now lost.
Things only got worse, when Welch departed the museum and went back to her car. Just as she was about to get in, a 20-something tall man with curly brown hair rushed up to her with a smartphone, with intent to record her. The man couldn’t more obviously be a reporter, if he had worn a hat that said “Press” on it.
‘Agent Welch,’ the man said ‘Justin Moore, Daily Planet. Why is the DEO involved in this investigation?’
‘We’re not.’ Welch replied.
‘My sources told me that the victim was an employee of Norvell, Inc. Does the murder have anything to do with the recent allegations against the company’s CEO.’
‘I’m afraid that I can neither confirm nor deny anything, without clearance from director Trevor.’ Welsh replied, almost on autopilot and drove away, before Moore could ask her anything else. But Moore’s nose for journalism told him that there was indeed something fishy going on. Mere minutes after a Norvell, Inc. employee is found murdered, an agent of a government agency, that specializes on matters relating to metahumans and aliens and other things, shows up and takes charge. There was no doubt in his mind that the whole thing tied back to the allegations made against Emil Norvell, the CEO of Norvell, Inc., an arms manufacturing company. Allegations that Norvell not only sold arms illegally, but that he sold weapons of a more illegal nature. Of course, nobody had been able to prove anything. Norvell had been in the business for too long to make mistakes. If Moore was to believe the rumors, Norvell had illegally sold arms to South Africa, in the 1980’s. If Norvell truly was involved with the museum murder, Moore already knew that there’d be no way to connect Norvell to the murder and prove that he sent an assassin to take care of the man. He’d be allowed to walk away from it, just like how Norvell was believed to have gotten away with many things in the past.


Chapter 2
The next morning Lola Cortez arrived at the Rhode Island mansion of Mr. Emil Norvell. In her long coat and red hat, she exuded the mystique of a Latina Greta Garbo. Upon entering the mansion Norvell’s butler took care of the hat and the coat, while she headed into Norvell’s office. Cortez despised the revolting man, but he paid her well for her services. Besides there were worse things that she could, and had done, for money, than to put up with this balding overweight man with a silly mustache.
‘Did you complete that contract?’ Norvell asked as he was smoking his cigar. The smell made Cortez want to throw up.
‘Yes, the matter has been taken care of.’ Cortez replied and sat down.
‘I hope there wasn’t too much trouble.’
‘The asset completed the task. I do wish it hadn’t left a body, that could be found so quickly. We almost didn’t have time to get away before the cops showed up.’
Norvell got up from behind his desk and walked over to her. Placing his hand on her shoulder. Cortez didn’t know what disgusted her more. The thought about this revolting person making physical contact with her or the smell of his cigar.
‘My dear,’ Norvell proclaimed, ‘we’ve entered a new era of weapons. If you didn’t want the body to be found, you should’ve instructed the asset to get rid of it. You’re living too much in the past. Before, you hired someone to take out your enemies and they handled all the problems for you… but they’d also have dirt on you. Our boys in the lab have created an alternative. Now the assassin and the weapon are one and the same and they’ll never talk, but there are still bugs to be worked out.’
‘If there was nothing else, sir…’ Cortez remarked, wanting to spend no more time in Norvell’s presence, than she absolutely had to.
‘No, you may go.’ Norvell replied and Cortez began to walk out of the room.
‘Oh, there is one more thing, Ms. Cortez. The asset might not talk, but there are always others who might.’
‘Whoever do you mean, sir?’ Cortez replied, as she suddenly felt a sharp blade pressed up against her throat. It was the last thing she ever felt. If there was one thing that Emil Norvell had learned in over 40 years in this business, it was to leave no loose ends.


Chapter 3
As much as Tess had hated to admit it, Lois had been right when she told Tess that she needed a life. The 18 months following the “crisis” certainly had been eventful. As a member of the Justice League, Tess had fought against an alien starfish, Appellaxians, the androids built by former STAR Labs scientists Ivo and Morrow, along with brother Lex’s “Injustice League” and other threats. The problem wasn’t Tess’s place as a member of the League, it was her existence outside of the team. All the other members returned to their daily lives, after missions. Had day jobs, private lives, friends, family and dealt with threats, that didn’t require the attention of the whole team. Certainly, the last one applied to Tess as well, but outside of that, she didn’t have a life outside of the Justice League. At first, she had filled her time with monitor duties – a duty now redundant, with the new system they installed. Occasionally, other members would invite her to their homes, but outside of that she didn’t socialize much as a civilian. Especially now that Emil Hamilton wasn’t with her anymore – never a good idea to have your sort-of boyfriend, also be your sort-of therapist.
Part of her problem was that she was Tess Mercer, the illegitimate child of Lionel Luthor and Pamela Jenkins and the adopted daughter of Edgar and Trisha Mercer. But, Tess Mercer had died, as far as the rest of the world was concerned, during the event known as “Contact”. It would be a nightmare to try and reclaim her former identity. She couldn’t just show up, as Tess. Lex would be able to use the remains of her original body to disprove her claim. Not to mention, he’d probably try and kill her again. The action might also have required her to reveal her dual identity as the android superhero known as “Red Tornado”. Tess had already gone through enough hassle over her robotic status. As a woman, she may have sometimes been treated as a second-class citizen, but as a machine, she had sometimes been treated worse.
The answer had been to create a new identity for herself, which required a new name. “Jane Smith” sounded too lazy and too much like she was living under an alias. “Tess Jenkins” would be too obvious. Apart from changing the color of her hair, she had chosen to retain her original face – some things she wasn’t ready to give up. A blond Tess Mercer look-a-like is one thing, especially as she had been “dead” for a few years and wouldn’t reside in Metropolis or Smallville. There are plenty of look-a-likes in the world. Heck, Tess remembered some guy in IT at LuthorCorp getting into troubles with the police when he was mistaken for Winslow Schott. But, a Tess Mercer look-a-like, who was also named Tess, and have the last name of her biological mother, would be too much.
Tess finally settled on the name “Kathleen ‘Kathy’ Sutton”. She didn’t have past connection to anyone named Kathleen or Sutton, so nobody would be able to connect her and Tess Mercer. Luckily for Tess, she wouldn’t have to start from scratch. Before going underground and hiding from Checkmate, she had set up several secret bank accounts, that she never got around towards emptying, after Checkmate was destroyed and she was able to return home. Emptying the accounts and placing all the money in the account of Kathy Sutton, Tess found herself with little over $36 million. Welcome money indeed, as it meant she could afford an apartment and wouldn’t have to worry about employment - at least not for the time being. After all, several of the other JL:ers had day jobs and she had seen them having trouble getting away from them, when they had to handle a crisis. Not that Tess was against getting a job, but she was just unsure about what she’d want to do – thanks to her current state, she’d be able to give herself any skill and degree.
The money was also useful, as she would not only have to get an apartment, but everything inside it. Be it furniture, houseware or clothes. An easy mistake to make, when one is setting oneself up with a new identity and a new life is to buy all new stuff. Meaning anyone who’d enter her home would find nothing, but brand-new things and she would constantly be seen wearing new clothes. Sure, she was rich. But even rich people don’t have homes with only brand-new furniture. Real people have heirlooms, furniture they’ve owned for 5-10 years. Brand-new television, computer and kitchen utensils were one thing. But outside of that, Tess felt that a person shouldn’t own more than 10 % of brand-new things. Instead she went hunting for second-hand furniture and clothes. Things that would make it seem like Kathy Sutton was a young woman, who had existed for longer than ten days.
Going into her new life, Tess knew that Kathy would need a complete backstory. A consistent backstory. If Kathy had an ex-boyfriend, that she ever brought up, Tess would need to base him on a real person. Ensuring that her description of the mythological ex-boyfriend would be consistent. Wanting to avoid people who might have known her as Tess Mercer, she certainly wasn’t going to live in Smallville or Metropolis or Houma in Louisiana. Especially not Houma, where she had grown up. If she hadn’t liked coming back there as Tess Mercer, she sure as hell wasn’t going to go there as Kathy Sutton. In some ways, the choice ended up being made for her. After the destruction of the Watchtower outpost on the moon, the League had moved their base to a forgotten military mountain base, from the early days of the cold war, which was located near the town of Happy Harbor in Rhode Island. Wanting to be near the base, Tess decided to live in the town. Needing a backstory, that motivated the move of Kathy Sutton to the town, Tess went with the explanation that she had she had been left some money by her late father – not entirely a lie – then broken up with her boyfriend and decided to relocate to Happy Harbor, having visited it as a child and liked it. Nothing too fancy or eyebrow raising. Just some heirless, who decided to start a new life, after a bad break-up.

[jon-el87]

Chapter 4
The first two months in Happy Harbor had been relatively quiet. The only problems had been a fire in a warehouse and a bank robbery, which the police and fire department were able to handle on their own. Ensuring that Kathy Sutton was able to arrive and be settled in, without anyone connecting the young blond woman to the red-headed android superhero. It wasn’t until she had to prevent a plane crash, that she had to appear as Red Tornado in Happy Harbor. By that time, Kathy was just another resident of the town. No reason to suspect her of being the town’s occasionally resident superhero. Especially as Happy Harbor was a sleepy coastal town, while most of Tess’s activities as Red Tornado took her away from the town. Meaning that the locals saw Red Tornado, on the news, fighting monsters in China, on the same day that Kathy Sutton was in Happy Harbor and having coffee with some of her new friends at the Mad Yak Café. Why would anyone connect the two?

However, trouble didn’t seem content with staying away from Happy Harbor. Which Tess discovered one Saturday, when she turned on the local news and heard about a man barely escaping a killer. At first, Tess didn’t think much about it. Attempted murders were a matter for the police, not her. However, she would soon find herself crossing paths with this very man, through her activities as a volunteer at the local medical center – she did need some way to socialize with the public. She never entered his room. She couldn’t, because of the guard outside. Apart from seeing the guard, she put it out of her mind and didn’t think more about it, until she left the medical center, that night. When she was about to enter her car, Tess felt a hand grab her arm. What was she supposed to do? She was certainly strong enough to fend off an attacker. Heck, she was strong enough to lift the car, but that would risk exposing her dual identity. Reacting quickly, Tess chose to flip the man over her and onto the ground. A simple self-defense technique. No reason why a young woman wouldn’t know how to do this. Much to her surprise, the man screamed with pain, when he hit the ground. Louder than she had expected.
‘I’m sorry,’ the man pleaded, ‘I didn’t mean to scare you. I just need help.’
‘Stay where you are!’ Tess replied and reached for the phone in her purse.
‘No, please, don’t. You’d only put more lives in danger.’ The man pleaded.
‘Says the guy who attacks women in parking structures.’
‘I’m not a carjacker, certainly not what else you might be thinking,’ the man said and began getting to his feet, ‘look, my name is Justin Moore. I work for the Daily Planet in Metropolis…’
Tess almost froze, when she heard the name “Daily Planet”, but she couldn’t place his face. If he was telling the truth, he must’ve started there after her time.
‘I came here yesterday to investigate a story. Some very bad people are trying to kill me.’ Moore said.
‘You expect me to believe that?’ Tess replied, as she dialed 911.
‘Listen, both of us are in danger, the longer we…’ Justin was suddenly interrupted by a gunshot, that prompted both him and Tess to duck behind her car.
‘What’s going on?’ Tess proclaimed, while pretending to be scared and trying to figure out a way, to deal with the shooter, without exposing herself to this Moore guy.
‘You believe me now?’ Moore remarked.
‘Y…yes.’ Tess responded, while the shooter kept firing at them.
‘Listen, I’ll try to draw the fire from you,’ Moore told her and turned his back on Tess, she saw her only chance and tapped him on the head. Hard enough to knock him out cold, now all she needed to worry about was the guy with the gun. Bullets couldn’t hurt her, but they could expose her, and they could harm this Moore guy. Which would be a shame, if he was telling the truth. Which seemed more and more likely by each passing gunshot. Tess was facing a problem. Someone was shooting at her, while another person was in mortal danger, but she couldn’t change into Red Tornado, without people, especially this Moore journalist, wondering why Red Tornado suddenly showed up to saved them in a parking structure. But, she also couldn’t let him die. Thinking fast, Tess crawled to the back of the car and aimed her right arm towards the wall. She was able to produce enough of a mind, that bounced off the opposing wall and knocked their assailant off his feet and banged his head against the trunk of a car. Knocking him out cold.
Getting up, Tess ran and grabbed the gun and reached for her phone to call the police, but the assailant also got back up. Tess put the phone away and aimed the gun at the assailant.
‘Stop or I’ll shoot!’ Tess proclaimed. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d kill someone, but some of them – more specifically Livewire and Eva Greer – had been under orders from Checkmate. Not to mention, they had only been clones and not the real deal. Of course, these days some would argue that she herself wasn’t the real deal. Despite her warning, the man kept coming towards them, so she fired a shot and hit him in the shoulder. Tess didn’t expect what happened next. Suddenly the man morphed into a brown-haired woman. One that Tess recognized. It was Eva Greer. No, Eva Greer was dead. Tess realized that this had to be another clone, based on the DNA of the same subject: a former Smallville High student named Tina Greer.
Much to Tess’s joy the injury and the fact that Tess showed herself able to handle a gun, caused the brown-haired woman to flee the scene, meaning Tess wouldn’t have to kill her… again. With what she had seen, Tess knew that this was no longer a matter for the police. Tess looked over to the unconscious Moore. She may have saved him from the assailant, but she was clearly going to need to protect him from someone. Remembering what she had heard on the news, she connected herself to the medical center’s data system and confirmed her suspicions. Justin Moore had been the victim in question, but that wasn’t all she picked up. Also monitoring the communications of the local police, Tess learned that mere minutes before the guard outside his room, had been found dead with a broken neck.
Tess couldn’t risk either anyone else in the local law enforcement getting hurt. She couldn’t leave this to them. Realizing that someone probably had heard the shots fired at them, Tess knew that she had to get Moore out of there before the cops showed up. She lifted him into the backseat of her car and drove away. Hopefully, it’d be too dark for anyone to notice the bullet holes on the side.


Chapter 5
Norvell almost broke his hand in anger, when the asset, the brown-haired woman, returned to his mansion. She had failed at the task he’d given her. To make matters worse, while he liked the idea of a silent assassin, he didn’t appreciate that she didn’t give him answers to his questions. Who was the woman, who had stopped her? Where was Moore now? The asset was in his complete control yet couldn’t do what he’d asked of her. Clearly this asset was no longer of any use to him. Especially as the boys in the lab were already putting together the finishing touches on an improved and more advanced asset. Norvell thought about shooting the asset and getting rid of it, but why waste his energy? Instead he handed the gun to the asset and said: ‘Would you mind doing something for me, my dear?’ Without blinking, the asset put the gun to her left temple and pulled the trigger.


Chapter 6
Justin Moore awoke the next morning in a bedroom that he didn’t recognize, but he soon recognized the blond woman who stood above him and handed him a glass of water.
‘Drink this.’ Tess told him.
‘What happened? Where am I?’ The disoriented Moore asked.
‘My apartment. As for what happened last night, you passed out and I brought you here. Of course, that was after you jumped me in a dark parking structure. By the way, I had to fix the stitches in your shoulder, from what I can only assume is a bullet wound. Must’ve been ripped up, when I threw you to the ground. I’m not apologizing for that, by the way.’
‘I wasn’t expecting you to. I’m the one who should be sorry. I barely made it out of my room, from that guy chasing me. Then I made it to the parking area and saw you. I knew I had to get away, but I also couldn’t leave you there.’
‘How noble of you,’ Tess sarcastically replied, ‘and why was that wo… man out to kill you anyway?’
‘About that… What happened to him?’
‘He fell, I managed to grab the gun and shot him in the arm. Then he ran away.’
‘Why didn’t you let the police pick me up…?’
‘I…I,’ Tess hadn’t thought about an answer to that question. All her time since the incident had been devoted towards checking up on this guy and treating his wounds, ‘I don’t know. I just panicked, I guess. But why was that man after you?’
‘It’s better that you don’t know.’
‘We past that point, right around the time someone started shooting at me! Now spill it.’
‘Okay, okay. My name is Justin Moore and I work for the Daily Planet.’
‘Yes, I know…’
‘How could you…?’
‘My mom was a cousin of Senator Kent and I’m…’
‘Second cousin of Clark Kent…,’ Moore interrupted, ‘I take it you’ve called him.’
‘Just to check up on your story. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t inviting a modern-day Jack the Ripper into my home.’ And if Moore would later check up on her story, he could without it exposing her. It had all been part of her attempt to create a new backstory for herself. Real people have relatives, so Tess had given herself two who could answer the required questions if anyone snooped around. And there was a grain of truth to the story. Martha Kent had had a cousin in North Dakota, Darleen Clarke, who passed away a few years ago. So, all Tess had needed to do was to make a fake birth certificate, that listed Darleen Clarke as her mother.
‘I can’t believe it. Hundreds of miles from home and I run into Kent’s cousin of all people.’ Moore proclaimed.
‘Believe it. Now back to why we got shot at.’
‘Ever heard of Emil Norvell?’
‘Sure, he’s some CEO. Has a mansion a few miles away from town. Heard he’s being accused of all kinds of things.’
‘Which is why I’m here. I was investigating Norvell, when one of his goons tried to take me out, but I survived. Mind you, with a few bullet holes. What’s your name, by the way?’
‘Kathy… Kathy Sutton.’ Tess replied after some hesitation.
‘Nice to meet you.’ Moore replied and tried to get up from Tess’s bed, but she pushed him back.
‘Hang on, you’re injured and shouldn’t be moving. You stay here, and I’ll get us some coffee.’ Tess declared and left the bedroom. She was unsure about leaving him alone, while she went to the Mad Yak Café, but no one knew he was in her apartment and if he’d try to leave, she had planted a tracker on him. Tess grabbed her purse and headed down to the carpark, when she realized that she couldn’t use her car. The only thing keeping the bullet holes hidden was the tarp that she had placed over it last night. She had to walk the nine minutes to the coffee house. At least that would give her some time to come up with a plan. Contrary to what she had told him, she hadn’t been in contact with Clark, but had accessed the Planet’s employee database, to check up on Moore – after all, members of the League were supposed to signal each other for situations of extreme emergencies, not for every little problem they faced. Clark certainly didn’t call for help, when he had to handle John Corben or that new Bizarro. Bruce didn’t call for help to deal with that clown guy and Diana didn’t call for help to deal with Barbara Minerva. Why would she call for help to deal with an arms dealer? This was hardly the second coming of Darkseid.

[jon-el87]

Chapter 7
To enter the Mad Yak Café was like stepping back in time to the 1960’s. Of course, the establishment was owned by Riker, an aging hippie. The walls were covered with psychedelic art, posters from the period and the staff all wore tie-dyed clothes. Despite old Riker’s anti-establishment views, Tess often couldn’t help but feel like the coffee house was like the hippie version of Starbucks. She wouldn’t be surprised if Old Riker secretly owned a chain of Mad Yak Cafés, all over the country. Of course, the first time she had met old Riker, she had briefly become convinced that Jerry Garcia had faked his death and opened a coffee house in Rhode Island. While Tess was waiting for her order, she suddenly heard a stranger’s voice calling to her.
‘Why, if it isn’t Kathleen Sutton! I haven’t seen you for years.’ The voice said.
Tess turned and saw a petite young African American woman, whom she had never seen before. Yet, this woman seemed to know her. The woman walked up to her and began shaking her hand.
‘You probably don’t remember me. It’s Stephanie Kandel, from Collector, remember?’
The only “Collector” that Tess was aware off was a shell company used by agents of the DEO. At least Tess had some idea of who and what she was dealing with and figured that it would be best to play along.
‘Of course, where are my manners?’ Tess said and gave her “old friend” a hug and then picked up the coffee for her and Moore, ‘Let’s talk about old time, if you’ve got the time.’
‘I have all the time in the world.’ The woman, who identified herself as Stephanie Kandel, replied. When they had gotten a safe distance from the coffee house, Tess turned to her and asked:
‘So, who are you really, agent?’
‘Eve Welch. I’m in charge of the Norvell investigation. Last night a potential witness disappeared from the Happy Harbor Medical Center. The guard was found dead. Imagine my surprise when I learned that you had left the medical center mere minutes before the alarm went out, Ms. Mercer.’
‘Sutton,’ Tess protested, ‘And how do you know about me?’
‘Oh, after the mess with the Ivo and Morrow androids, we decided to keep an eye on you. I know. It’s totally profiling, I’m sorry.’
‘Never mind that. What you’ve got on Norvell? And why was I attacked last night by a clone of some Smallville kid, who died over a decade ago?’
‘You’ve got nobody to blame for that last one, but yourself, I’m afraid.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘Remember when you took over LuthorCorp and shut down all of your dear brother’s experiments?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, where did you think everyone, and everything went? You shut everything down and all the material, including genetic material, were sold by some of the people involved with Lex’s 33,1 project, to anyone who was willing to pay.’
‘And Norvell was one of them?’
‘It seems like it. As you know, in recent years, some quite advanced tech has hit the black market. We suspect that Norvell is one of the major supplier but haven’t been able to catch him. Now, Te… Kathy, if you’ve got Justin Moore, it’s vital that I speak to him. Every other source I’ve gotten have had a nasty habit to, well, die… But, with Moore, I’m certain that I’d be able to arrest Norvell.’


Chapter 8
Nothing could’ve pleased Emil Norvell more, than what was right in front him at this very moment. For years, his scientists had manufactured clones of metahumans, that Norvell then sold to the highest bidder, but Norvell knew that there was something better out there. He had read about it, in the LuthorCorp documents, that he had acquired. The clones also presented a variety of problems. Most only had a single ability. Meaning you’d have to choose between someone who was fast or someone who was strong. When Luthor released many of the sources for the DNA samples, that Norvell had acquired, he had purged them of their abilities. Causing the metahuman DNA to be in short supply, even if the genetic donor was still alive.
But, Norvell knew that LuthorCorp had managed to create something extraordinary, through their Ares Project. Something that Norvell had not only aspired to recreate, but to improve. And now the boys in the lab seemed to have finally accomplished it. A single asset with multiple metahuman abilities. Norvell looked proudly upon, when the new asset was brought online. Finally, he might have the ultimate super-soldier, that his buyers kept asking for. And he even had the first assignment for it.


Chapter 9
Despite Tess’s instructions, Justin Moore had gotten up from the bed after a few minutes and begun walking around her apartment. He wanted to be certain about where he was, but he was also undeniably curious about just who this mysterious woman, who had saved his life, despite him probably frightening her half to death. If he could, he would’ve gone back in time and fixed their first encounter. He certainly found Kathy Sutton very attractive, but he doubted there could ever be anything between them, if he’d ask her out, when this thing was over. Not after the way they met. Moore made his way into her living room and was struck by her extensive collection of books. His kind of… ‘No, stop it!’ Moore told himself. Sitting down on her couch, he noticed a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo on the table next to him. He picked it up but noticed that it was all in French. ‘good looking, well-read and speaks French.’ Moore thought to himself, but soon told himself to knock it off. He was being ridiculous to even thing it. Suddenly, Moore heard the door open and Tess walked into the living room.
‘Um, hi…’, Moore exclaimed as he put down her book, ‘I was just… reading…’ Then he heard that there was someone else in the apartment. Thoughts raced through his mind. Everything from that they had been found and the poor woman in front of him was about to be killed, because of him, to that perhaps “Kathy Sutton” was in league with Norvell’s people and that this whole thing was a trap of some sort. This whole situation was making him paranoid. Moore soon calmed down, when he could see that it was DEO agent Welch.
‘Good morning, Mr. Moore.’ Welsh said, ‘I need you to come with me.’
‘How did you…?’ Moore asked
‘The DEO has a lot of resources. Tracking you down to the home of a hospital volunteer wasn’t difficult.’
‘Volunteer? I figured she was a nurse or a doctor or something.’
‘Never mind that,’ Welch proclaimed, ‘I need to get you out of here. Your life is in danger and this young lady is in danger, the longer you’re in her home.’
Tess and Welch quickly got Moore up on his feet. Welch handed him a bulletproof vest, just to be on the safe side, before they headed down to the carpark, where another DEO agent waited by a car. Tess helped Moore walk, while Welch discreetly held her right hand in the pocket of her coat, clutching a gun. Above all, Welch didn’t want to take any chances. Not when she was this close to finally getting her hands on Norvell.
‘What about Kathy?’ Moore asked, as he entered the car, ‘if Norvell’s people find out I was here…’
‘No, we’ll have another agent stay with her. She’s only in danger if they think you told her anything. She’d be in more danger, if she’d come with us.’ Welch insisted and pushed Moore into the car before they drove off. Moore looked at Tess through the back window. All he could do was hoping that agent Welch was right.

[jon-el87]

Chapter 10
The DEO car departed Happy Harbor and drove into the surrounding woods. They continued for several miles, but Moore couldn’t stop thinking about Kathy Sutton. He hated the thought of leaving her there. Moore had done his research into Norvell. He knew what happened to people, who were believed to have something on Emil Norvell. They say most people have a few skeletons in the closet, but Emil Norvell had entire graveyards.
When they were nearly halfway to Providence, the car came to a sudden halt. A Strange figure in camouflage gear and a ski-mask was standing in the middle of the road. The figure pulled out an M16 and Welch ordered the other agent to drive as the figure began firing. Luckily, they were equipped with a bulletproof car and they drove past him. Little did they realize that this was Norvell’s new asset, who super sped after them and grabbed hold of the car with super strength.
‘Guess you were right to leave Kathy behind.’ Moore proclaimed, as Welch instructed him to keep his head down. All she could do was hope that Mercer followed her instructions. The asset lifted the back of the car and flipped it upside down, before ripping off one of the doors. But, as he was about to grab Moore, a powerful wind hit him and blew him away two miles. Red Tornado landed next to the car and checked if everyone was okay, but they didn’t have a chance to answer as Norvell’s asset super sped back and tackled Red Tornado into some trees. Red Tornado quickly pushed him away and tried to hit him with one of the trees, that she had knocked over, but just hit an invisible force field. She saw sparks coming from his fingers and was hit by a massive dose of electricity. Enough to kill an ordinary human. Luckily, Red Tornado wasn’t human anymore. But, it did knock her off her feat for a few seconds.
Agent Welch got out of the car and began firing at the assassin, with no effect. As Red Tornado got back up, Welch heard her scream that she should hold onto something, so she grabbed the car and saw Red Tornado generate a tornado, that pulled in Norvell’s assassin, while Welch herself held on for dear life. How she missed the old days, before the world got this crazy. The winds blasted away the assassin further than before. Red Tornado doubted that the assassin had died, but hopefully, it would buy them some time. She was a bit angry at Welch. They had discussed the possibility of Norvell sending an assassin after Moore, but Welch wouldn’t agree to letting her fly him to a safehouse. No, this whole thing was to be handled by government agents. Red Tornado had only been allowed to serve as back-up, in case of an emergency. As she landed, before Welch could say a word, Red Tornado connected herself to the mountain base and summoned a boom tube. Moore, Welsh and the other DEO agent covered their ears when the loud booming sound of the portal was heard. The three were amazed at the sight of an apparent tunnel of energy appeared out of thin air. Red Tornado headed in and signaled the others to follow her.


Chapter 11
Tess had been unsure about taking Moore to the Sanctuary, the new base for the Justice League, which is why she had taken him to her apartment. Moore looked around in astonishment. It looked like a vast cave, that someone had filled with concrete and built several sections and rooms into.
‘What is this place?’ Moore asked, when they arrived.
‘A place that’s been forgotten for a few decades. My friends and I turned it into our new home, after the destruction of the moon base,’ Red Tornado replied and walked up to a computer panel, ‘if you excuse me, I must put in new coordinates, to send you three to the headquarters of the DEO. Perhaps you’d like to catch your breath before. It’s not possible for your attacker to find us here.’
‘Why didn’t you simply portal us to our headquarters directly?’ Welch asked.
‘Not how it works. The technology allows us to create portals between this place and others. It’s not possible to create a direct one between two other points.’
‘Can I make a phone call from here? I need to check if someone’s okay.’ Moore interrupted.
‘No,’ Red Tornado replied, ‘and if your talking about whom I think you’re talking about, there is no need to.’
‘Why not?’ Moore asked.
‘Justin?’ Kathy Sutton asked, as she stepped out of the darkness. Moore rushed up and hugged her. ‘But… how…?’ He asked.
‘Like I said, we had another agent stay with Ms. Sutton.’ Welsh explained, while trying to get a handle on the situation herself.
‘Perhaps you two would like some coffee or something to eat?’ Red Tornado asked, ‘you’ll find a kitchen through that door over there.’ As Kathy and Justin Moore went into the kitchen, agent Welch walked up to Red Tornado.
‘So, what’s the deal with that other Ms. Sutton?’ Welch asked.
‘Just a little something we’ve been working on,’ Red Tornado replied, ‘This whole superhero thing can be difficult, while you’re also trying to hold down a day job. The woman you just saw is a stand-in, for when League members have to be at two places at once.’
‘So, you’ve all got one of those?’
‘So far, it’s just me. Due to my digital state, I’m able to exist in multiple places at once. It’s been a bit difficult to create a passable robot double for the rest.’
‘So, wait… You mean that while you’re here and talking to me, you’re also…?’
‘In there having coffee and talking to him. Boy, is he a flirt. Mind you, it’s easier, when both bodies are close to each other.’
‘What about Norvell?’
‘You’re gonna take Justin and “Kathy” to your base.’
‘And then…?’
‘And then we’ll pay Mr. Norvell a little visit.’


Chapter 12
Emil Norvell was hardly pleased, when his brand-new asset returned, without having completed his mission. It couldn’t even locate the target anymore. He ordered his scientists to run a full diagnostic on the asset and began walking around his office. It had been hours since the asset’s encounter with Red Tornado. Moore was no doubt in DEO custody by now and talking. Would there be time for him to flee the country? A question he realized the answer for when agent Welch and 20 other DEO agents barged into his office.
‘Emil Norvell,’ agent Welch said, ‘you are under arrest for murder, illegal arm deals and illegal experimentation on humans.’
Norvell didn’t give any response. Instead, he placed his hand over his watch and pressed its hidden panic button. Before anyone could blink, his new asset rushed into the room, pushed aside several of the agents and grabbed Norvell. The asset carried Norvell, while he ran out of the mansion at super speed but was knocked over by the powerful blast of wind. As the asset got back on his feet, he could see Red Tornado floating above him. He tried to blast her with electricity again, but she managed to duck it and blasted him with more wind, that was deflected by his force field. The asset began running as quickly as he could and jumped into the air and tackled her. Sending them both flying into Norvell’s mansion.
As Norvell got back on his feet, he tried to make a brake for his car, but was intercepted by agent Welch, who apprehended him. Inside the mansion Red Tornado and Norvell’s asset threw each other through walls and floors. Red Tornado remembered what she had read about two of the LuthorCorp Ares prototypes. That it had taken the equivalent of a mini nuke to take those down and this one was clearly stronger. She also couldn’t use the full force of her wind manipulation, as that would destroy the house and kill anyone in or around it. But, she had no choice and blasted the asset with all she could to send him away from the house and deep into the woods. She flew after him and landed near him. The asset recovered quickly from the impact and got back up, but Red Tornado had been prepared. She summoned all the power she had to generate a massive tornado. Capturing the asset in the wind, with the force field the only thing that kept him from being thorn to pieces. However, she didn’t need to wait for it to fail, as the powerful winds of the tornado prevented him from breathing and he collapsed after a few minutes and fell to the ground, as Red Tornado dissolved the tornado. Leaving the DEO agents to contain the asset, like they had with other threats she and others like her defeated.


Chapter 13
Over the next week, the patrons at the Mad Yak Café were all talking about the events that had transpired. Even old Riker, who was otherwise not interested in talking about anything that happened after 1974, got in on the conversation. Most couldn’t believe it. Metahuman experiments, super-soldiers and super-heroes. That’s the sort of thing that happens in cities like Metropolis, Gotham or New York. Not a sleepy Rhode Island town. As Bethany Lee, the daughter of the local chief of police, arrived for her shift at the coffee house, a job she had partly gotten to enrage her cop mother, she saw her friend Kathy Sutton, sitting alone at a table. Drinking coffee and staring at her phone. After seeing her doing nothing but this for several minutes Bethany walked up to her with a pot of coffee and asked:

‘Do you want a refill, Kathy?’
‘Yes, thank you’ Tess replied and placed her cup in front of Bethany.
‘So, what’s with the phone? Has old Riker finally convinced you that it’s going to explode one day?’
‘No…’ Tess paused, ‘I was just thinking…’
‘Thinking…?’ Bethany remarked and smiled, ‘Well, that’s always a good thing to do. Haven’t seen you in here for a few days. What have you been up to?’
‘Nothing really… I was just helping a… friend, who needed my help.’
‘I see. Hope everything worked out.’ Bethany paused for a few seconds, ‘So, any plans for today?’
‘Not really. Figured I’d catch a movie or something.’
‘Well, that’s what happens when you don’t have a job and just sit around with a lot of money. You end up with nothing to do. Why don’t you talk to old Riker and see if you can’t take a few shifts here at the café? Sure, you may be rich, but the old man’s pretty openminded. I mean, he hired me and my mom’s the chief of police.’ Bethany was fully aware of old Riker’s mixed feeling about her mother. On the one hand, she was a cop. A fascist pig. On the other, she was a Chinese-American woman, who had risen to the top of her profession, despite the obstacles and old Riker respected that.
‘I’ll think about it.’ Tess replied as Bethany left to serve other costumers. Tess smiled and looked down on her phone. She figured she probably should perhaps call Justin Moore and see how he was doing at the hospital. After all, they had gotten to know each other quite well, between their conversation in the kitchen at the Sanctuary and spending two days together in DEO custody. ‘Maybe later’, she told herself as she put the phone down in her purse. Tess wasn’t sure she was quite ready for whatever this could lead to. She got up and walked out of the Mad Yak Café. Continuing down the street, she began to feel that she had become more and more comfortable as Kathy Sutton, than she had been two months ago. This is who she was now and for the foreseeable future. She had gone by many names throughout her life: Lutessa Lena Luthor, Tess Mercer, White Knight, Watchtower. Now she was “Red Tornado” and Kathy Sutton. Who she was supposed to be.
The End


Bethany Lee first appeared in Hourman #1 and was created by Tom Peyer and Rags Morales.


Emil Norvell first appeared in Action Comics #2 and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.


Eve Welch first appeared in the Wonder Woman TV series episode “Light-Fingered Lady” and was created by Bruce Shelly.


Justin Moore first appeared in Superman #383 and was created by Cary Bates and Curt Swan.


Kathy Sutton first appeared in Justice League of America #106 and was created by Len Wein and Dick Dillin.


Lena Luthor first appeared in Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #23 and was created by Jerry Siegel and Kurt Schaffenberger.


Lola Cortez first appeared in Action Comics #2 and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.


Red Tornado first appeared in Justice League of America #64 and was created by Gardner Fox and Dick Dillin.


Riker first appeared in Hourman #2 and was created by Tom Peyer and Rags Morales.