Somewhere in Egypt:
The aircraft touched down without a sound, its cloaking systems fading on the back as the hatch lowered. The desert heat hit them instantly. Sand and dry wind stretched endlessly across the horizon, broken only by the small town nestled beside a thin river.
Kara adjusted her glasses, scanning the whole area, just out of habit. "Are we near the designated location?"
Satoru didn't bother looking up from his phone. "Dr. Isley's in that town." He tilted the screen casually before pocketing it, memorizing the direction on his head.
Harley fanned herself with both hands, groaning. "Couldn't we have landed in, like, Canada instead?"
Barry spoke, "I'll sweep the perimeter. You guys go ahead; I'll meet you there." He turned into a scarlet blur and vanished before anyone could answer.
A short walk later, they stood in front of an old three-story building that looked like it had been standing against the desert for decades.
Both, Satoru and Kara could sense the blooming plant lives inside the house. It's atmosphere was completely different from the surrounding that this house was in.
Before Harley could jab the bell, the door swung open. A beautiful woman stepped into view. Her red hair was tied into a high ponytail, green lipstick catching the light.
Her emerald eyes held a sharp look behind the square glasses, and was wearing simple white shirt with bluish-grey pants.
She gave a welcoming smile and said, "ah, you're finally here-" Her gaze froze on Harley, and her smile curled. "Well, well. Long time no see, Harley."
Harley stiffened, trying for casual reply but landed on an awkward one, "Yeah… same."
Satoru blinked, almost in disbelief. 'Harley? That Harley? Acting like a schoolgirl?'
Kara leaned close to him and whispered, "They're divorced."
Satoru's head whipped back and forth between the two women like a confused bird. 'That actually makes sense?'
Pamela's eyes slid to Kara next; her tone got a bit more colder, "didn't think you'd be here." Kara said nothing, choosing to respond with silence.
Her gaze then locked onto Satoru. Her chest tightened ever so slightly, at the sight of those deep azure eyes. 'Damn those eyes.' She thought.
He caught it instantly and smirked. "Oh, what a curse! Another one instantly falls for me, and I didn't even have to try."
Embarrassed, Kara pressed her palm to her forehead. Pamela's brief tug of attraction snapped like a twig, the small bud of hope stomped by two big imaginary words, 'Narcissist and Arrogant."
(A/N: Way to go, Mr. I'm gonna go ahead and cockblock myself.)
Yet she gave a smile then turned to Harley and said, "So… got yourself a pretty boyfriend, Harley? Guess you always did have a thing for men who don't listen."
Harley looked between them, finger jabbing toward Satoru and herself, as if to say, 'wait, what?' But Satoru answered first, giving a lazy two-finger salute as he introduced himself, "Satoru Gojo."
"I know," Pamela said smoothly. "Hard not to know about the man who took down a demigod." He just responded with a casual shrug.
She extended her hand, saying, "Pamela Lillian Isley. Call me Dr. Isley." Seeing that, Harley moved like she was about to warn him, but Satoru had already clasped her hand.
Pamela smirked at first, until confusion flickered in her eyes. Satoru thought to himself, 'Lady, I'm constantly pumping RCT like a crackhead. If your toxins worked on me, I'd be embarrassed for both of us.'
Bruce's warning also echoed in the back of his mind, 'don't rely too much on her. She's helpful, yes, but don't trust your back to her. No sane individual is thrown into the Arkham Asylum multiple times.'
Satoru had a subtle smile on his face, as he asked, tilting his head slightly, "something wrong?"
Pamela drew her hand back and said, "Nope, nothing… Come on in guys, it's too hot out here." She turned around, opening the door for them.
"Ugh, finally," Harley muttered, storming past her ex like she owned the place.
But Satoru raised a finger and spoke, "One second, he should be here any moment."
Right on cue, a sharp whisper of air brushed past them and Barry's voice followed. "All clear, nothing seems off for now." He appeared beside them, back in his casual clothes this time.
Pamela just gave a brief glance and said again, "Come inside, I'll explain the situation." Harley was already in; the three gave a nod to each other and walked in.
The inside of the building felt like another world compared to the dry environment outside. Humidity clung faintly to the air, the space was filled with plants both common and exotic, thriving in impossible conditions.
Every leaf pulsed faintly with energy, echoing with the same frequency that Satoru felt off of Pamela herself. He'd already been briefed on her abilities.
'Chlorokinesis,' he thought, eyes sweeping across the greenery. 'A Semi-mystical link to all plant life. Just the versatility alone would make her a terrifying opponent. Although… that does make me wonder why she's so weak.' He shrugged and let the thought drop.
Kara kept stealing weird glances at him, with an unreadable expression. He'd noticed it right when they entered the place.
When he turned his head, she looked away instantly, pretending to study a fern. Confused, he slipped on his shades.
There was too much detail in here, his Six-Eyes were endlessly analyzing every root and vein. The glasses dimmed the overload.
They all gave him a glance, thinking as to why he just put sunglasses, when he was inside. But none made any comments.
A few minutes later, they were gathered inside room around a projection table. Pamela stood on the far end with her arms folded.
"I know you got the briefing but here it goes again. This is how this started. Some of my researchers vanished a while back. I assumed they were just more Regime casualties."
"But once the troops started pulling out of smaller territories like this, peoples complaints started piling in. People who hadn't found any corpses of their friends and families. Hell, many of them hadn't even seen them die. People had simply been, disappearing…"
Barry leaned in. "And you're sure this isn't coincidence?"
Pamela's eyes flicked to him, flat. "Tens of thousands of reports, all with the same patterns? Coincidence?" She tapped the hologram. "If that's coincidence, then she's a nun." She pointed at Harley.
"Hey!" Harley frowned, caught off guard, suddenly being thrown under the bus.
Data scrolled above the table, names, dates, maps littered with blinking markers. Barry and Kara scanned through the files again, but Satoru immediately caught a key detail.
"All around the same timeframe," he muttered. "It's like I'm reading a clean and controlled report…" 'Feels too damn suspicious, there's something definitely off about this.'
Kara spoke up, her voice edged with guilt, "I know that you're thinking about some obvious questions. Like, why did no one say anything sooner?"
"But you also know how far Kal went, for absolute control. Any complaints, any voices at all; they were all silenced before it got traction."
Satoru clicked his tongue and leaned on the table, 'and it looks like someone, or something definitely used that silence to their advantage.'
He then looked at Pamela and asked, "so, got any leads? Something we can actually start investigating on?"
She nodded, tapping a location onto the projection. A city closer to Khandaq. "This place has the highest number of disappearances."
"The Border with Khandaq is closed, but there are still several Regime troops operating in there. If you want to investigate, you'll need to keep quiet or go undercover."
Barry asked, "Why don't you come with us? You've got more insight into this mess."
Pamela smiled thinly. "Sweetie, I'd rather eat a fistful of sand than leave my children alone here." She gestured around at the plants that filled every wall and corner like her own personal army.
To her surprise, Harley finally spoke, her tone cutting through the room. "Why are you even doing this, Lillian? Helping Batman? I'm not asking why you're trying to be good or bad; you never cared about anyone else before, anyone… human."
Pamela's expression softened, just slightly. "True, I wouldn't have. But those few people I worked with; now that I know that they didn't just 'pass away.' That's enough for me to want answers. Think of it as… for my own personal satisfaction."
Harley stayed silent, then gave a half-shrug, her eyes drifting down. Pamela made a mock-hurt face, leaning closer. "Harley, honey… has your trust in me really dropped that low?"
Her tone was sing-song and playful. She tilted her head, trying to look disarming, almost cute. Harley pulled back awkwardly, looking anywhere but at her ex. "Don't start."
Satoru stepped in, breaking the awkward tension. "Wait, Khandaq's Black Adam's territory, right? Any disappearances across the border?"
Pamela straightened, and answered quick. "Nope, not a single one. There are cases closer to the border, yes. But nothing from the other side."
Satoru, Kara, and Barry all kept that info away immediately. Someone was clearly drawing a clean line and that never happened by accident or coincidence.
Meanwhile Harley kept fidgeting, too distracted by Pamela's proximity to think straight. Satoru found it quietly amusing.
'The clown queen, acting like a kid with stage fright. These two really have some unresolved stuff to unpack. And Batman, he sent her here, knowing this, huh? Guess he really wanted her out of his face for a while.' He chuckled.
After a while of back-and-forth over maps and data, Pamela tapped her finger against the projection. "So, these are the two places you'll want to start with."
Another city blinked into view beside the one near Khandaq. "This one's free of troops now; you shouldn't have much trouble digging for information."
"The one closer to Khandaq… though," her eyes narrowed, "you'll have to work your way around the Regime's presence."
Satoru stretched, speaking before anyone else could. "Then let's split up. I'll take the city close to Khandaq and one other person with me. The rest can handle the other place. Shouldn't be too hard."
"Me, me, I'll go with you!" Harley jumped in instantly, seizing her chance to escape the presence of her Ex.
Pamela's hand closed gently but firmly on her shoulder. "Harley, dear… didn't we have something to talk about? Maybe let the superpowered types handle this one."
"And besides, you're not exactly subtle, in many ways than one." Her smile was almost kind, but Harley froze like a deer under headlights.
'I can't run, can I?' she thought, shoulders slumping down. The others exchanged quick glances, quietly praying for Harley's non-existent sanity.
Barry eventually volunteered for the other city, choosing to go in plain clothes and take things at his own pace. He also looked like he needed the headspace. That left Kara and Satoru heading for the Khandaq border.
Sometime Later:
The city greeted them under an orange sky, the setting sun dripping molten light across rooftops and the wide oasis that fed it.
Regime soldiers patrolled in squads, rifles ready, as they marched around with precise formations that looked more rehearsed than anything.
A few people on the streets walked with lowered heads, cautious eyes, and stiff movements. The streets, mostly empty, occasionally hummed with the sounds of some vehicles passing by.
The place simply lacked the bustle that a city this size would normally have.
In a narrow alley, two soldiers crouched by a dumpster, their helmets tilted low. The tall one, a man, straightened up, wiping imaginary sweat from his brow. "Phew!"
The shorter one, clearly female, spoke flatly through her mask. "Remind me why we're doing this idiotic plan again?"
The man's voice was muffled but giddy. "Because this is the dream, The Dream. The holy grail of spy movies. We're undercover in full disguise! And will be walking straight past them! This is peak cool."
She turned her helmet toward him, deadpan radiating even through the mask. "We can fly, you know that, right?"
"Shhh, don't be such a kill joy now and let me have this," he fussed and then helped adjusting her helmet straps, straightening it properly, and nodded like a serious soldier on duty.
She muttered something under her breath, but didn't refute. A voice suddenly barked from the alley entrance. "Hey! You two! What's going on back here?"
The pair turned in unison. An elite soldier stood at the entrance, blocking the way; his voice was full of suspicion.
The female soldier's visor tilted toward her partner, and she spoke, "another one for the dumpster?"
"Yup!" the tall one chirped, muffled excitement bubbling in his voice.
There was a faint whisp of air and she was gone. The glow of two red visor-lenses lingered in the air for a split second before she reappeared, holding the unconscious soldier in her arms.
She'd supported the back of his head properly, avoiding any whiplash from the speed. She eased him down carefully and together; they bound him and shoved him into the dumpster with the others.
Moments later, they straightened, adjusted the rifles on their shoulders, and shuffled awkwardly out of the alley, practicing stiff military marches that looked about three seconds away from falling apart.
Avoiding patrols and keeping to the quieter streets, the two of them moved through the city in stolen uniforms.
To the locals, they looked like just another pair of Regime soldiers, which made questioning people far easier, since no one dared to refuse.
A few nosy soldiers had to be "handled" along the way, all of them ending up stacked in different dumpsters like garbage.
As they crossed into another block, Kara finally asked what she'd been meaning to ask for a while, "So… you speak Arabic too?"
Satoru gave a lazy shrug. "I was bored when I was twelve, so I decided to learn pretty much every language on the planet."
Kara's brows twitched under the visor. "…Every language?"
"Almost," he said, tilting his head like he was trying to recall the exact count. "Took me about a year before I got bored and dropped the project. Maybe I should finish it, just for fun."
Kara let out a short sigh. 'A year… really?' She knew how brutal learning multiple languages could be, and even then, she was definitely not close to having learnt them all.
Diana's "lessons" had always been more tyranny than teaching. She bit her tongue before the memory could sour her mood further.
They continued their rounds, questioning more civilians, whose answers never changed. Fear was baked into every word.
Almost no one had wanted to talk about it, or worse, they simply didn't care anymore. Their voices had been smothered for so long that silence was easier.
Later, the two stood on a rooftop overlooking the city. Their helmets sat at their feet, the evening wind brushing against them.
Kara's eyes were distant and unfocused, as the wind ruffled the thin tuffs of blonde hair framing her face. Her thoughts were spinning in circles.
She wasn't unaware of the sheer number of lives that had been crushed by their rule. Just the thought of it, made her more disgusted towards herself than anything else.
How many stories like this had she ignored because it was easier to follow Kal? She pushed her senses outward, letting them stretch across the city.
Everything hit her instantly. A flood of whispers, anger, and despair. Every hushed curse spat against the Regime roared in her ears.
Every cry of pain, every word of hopelessness hammered at her skull. She'd long since gotten used to that kind of sensory overload before, but this time it felt heavier, and more painful.
Her teeth clenched as the noise threatened to overwhelm her. Then all of a sudden, it all blinked into silence as a hand rested gently on her shoulder, bringing her out of the stupor.
"Relax," Satoru said, his voice softer than she'd ever heard it. "Take a breath." And pulled his hand away.
She exhaled slowly, tension bleeding out with the air. She gave a small nod, the ringing in her ears fading away.
Satoru studied her for a moment. He could clearly feel the sheer guilt radiating off of her, and he knew no words could erase it.
It was her who had chosen the Regime, and she'd have to live with that. But maybe, for now, distraction was better than comfort.
"We still don't know what's behind these disappearances," he said, tone shifting back to his usual cadence. "Not one person we talked to saw anything. Not even a hint."
Kara's gaze dropped back to the city below. "We still have time before night. Let's keep moving. We might get lucky."
She slipped her helmet back on. Satoru grinned as he adjusted his own. "So you do like the whole spy act, huh?"
She gave the faintest shrug. "It's working well, isn't it?"
"Fair enough," he said, sliding his visor into place. He rested a hand on her shoulder again, and in a blink, both of them vanished from the rooftop with a small implosion, that faded into a whisp of air.
Satoru and Kara spent the next hour or two circling the city, most people repeating the same rehearsed lines of fear and silence.
But finally, tucked away in a dimly lit corner shop, they found someone who gave them something different.
The shopkeeper was an old man in his fifties with weathered hands. He fidgeted behind the counter, his voice trembling as he spoke.
"I… it was one of my employees, six months ago. We'd just finished the evening shift. Both of us stepped out back to dump the trash and then-" his throat bobbed, eyes darting as though he was reliving the moment.
"I- I swear, I saw shadows. Dark shapes, that looked like humans. And the kid… he was just gone. Vanished before my eyes. He was a good boy…" His tone saddened at the end.
"And the-" He choked back the rest, shaking his head. "I reported it to the commanding officer, but… no one cared. They never even wrote it down. Please, don't arrest me. I swear I have nothing to do with this."
Satoru's spoke, his voice muffled and deepened under the helmet. "Where's this commanding officer usually stationed?"
The man blinked, clearly thrown off by the question; why would soldiers ask what they should already know? Kara stepped forward, and said in a sharp tone, "just answer the question."
The shopkeeper hesitated, then nodded quickly, "the old Army barracks, southwest side of town center."
"Good," Satoru said, his tone abruptly polite, "you have a good night then, mister."
The then pair stepped out into the night, and with a hand to Kara's shoulder, they were gone in a beat.
By the time it was completely dark, the two were standing atop a rooftop overlooking the barracks.
"So," Kara asked, adjusting her visor. "What's the plan?"
"Easy," Satoru replied. "You stay here; I'll bring our guy."
She gave a reluctant nod, and in the next breath, he was gone; space folding in on itself with that same muffled implosion.
Kara frowned at the empty air, as she thought, 'As I thought… It's not exactly, all magic. More like the manipulation of physical space itself. But a part of that energy, it's so very similar to magic.'
Seconds later, the air bent with that same sound again behind her. She turned to see Satoru standing there, still dressed as a soldier, holding the limp body of a middle-aged man slung over his shoulder.
"Is that-" Kara began.
"Yup," Satoru cut in. "Chief officer stationed here, and now we interrogate."
Later, inside an abandoned house on the city's edge, the man now sat tied to a chair, head propped up, looking straight at the two soldiers standing in front of him.
His scarred face and iron-grey hair looked as though they'd seen decades of war, but it was his eyes that froze Kara; eyes that were completely vacant and hollow.
"You did wake him up, right?" Kara asked, side-eyeing Satoru.
"Uh…" His hesitation was almost comical, even behind the mask. Then he pulled it off, stepping closer, his own blue eyes flaring with faint light.
He studied the man like a puzzle, gaze narrowing. That look in those eyes, is what he would call; eyes without any light in them.
"He's awake," Satoru said with a low voice. "But it's… This guy's brain, it's running on fumes. His Neural activity that governs autonomous thinking, is almost gone."
"Well, I could've guessed that much," Kara muttered, folding her arms.
Satoru didn't turn to her. His eyes glowed brighter, tracing the invisible lines only he could see. He thought, 'the way his mind's shut down; It feels… burned out. Like someone reached into his soul and rewired it.'
'Kind of similar to that Patch Face's soul manipulation.' He then said, "he's more like a drone now. Seems like his mind has been re-programmed to do just a fixed set of activities."
Kara blinked, surprise cutting through her skepticism, "and you can just tell that by-"
"I can see analyze things down to atomic and sub-atomic levels," Satoru cut in, still watching the man's lifeless stare.
Kara looked at his back, tilting her head, she said, "is that why your brain looks like it's on fire all the time?"
"You can see it?" He asked, still looking at the man.
"Not in that level of detail, but I can see it being constantly damaged and healed." She replied.
"Wait, is that why you were giving me those weird looks earlier today?" He asked.
"I didn't know how to ask at that time. What would I say, do you have brain damage or something?" She shrugged.
He just chuckled and straightened up, and said, "Alright, I don't think we're getting anything else out of him, maybe we should grab someone else-" he couldn't finish when their comms beeped, and Flash contacted them.
His voice was low and serious as he spoke, "Ah, guys, I think you should see this."
To be continued!