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Near Kangso, North Korean Coast

The night sky was clear, the stars sparkling across, adding to the moon's illumination. The temperature was remarkably cool, his breath rising as mist. Jungle surrounded him, the sounds of animals in the distance echoing all around.

In front of him, a large steel door was embedded into a solid rock face, the summit of which was several hundred feet straight up. The door itself was nearly twenty feet in height and twice as wide. A keycard access point was located in the middle of the door, a dim red light glowing on it.

The door was locked. He didn't have a key.

Good thing I brought one , he thought.

Several minutes later, he walked up to the door, nonchalantly, without a care in the world. He stopped in front of the immense steel door and looked up at the camera lens located above the keylock at just above eye level.

"Open the door," he said to the lens.

The keylock clicked and the bolt slid out. The massive door opened enough for a man to walk through.

Someone walked out of the door towards him. A beautiful woman stopped in front of him and gave a look as cold as ice..which was not unusual, since her name was Killer Frost.

"Prometheus, you weren't expected until tomorrow," she said. Her tone and demeanor made it clear this was not good.

"Plans changed," he replied. "Are we going to stand out here and talk all night?"

Frost continued to stare at him, her gaze biting into him. Had he been anyone else, he would have flinched. As it was, he almost did. "Let's go," she said. She turned back into the door. He followed.

As they entered the doorway, the massive steel slab closed behind them. For a moment, he was in total darkness until his eyes adjusted. The lighting here was dim, but enough to get by. The lights led down a long hallway..he couldn't see the end of it from where he stood.

As they walked, Frost spoke to him. "You've impressed the others very much..not many would have had the audacity to do what you did last year. However.some of us were not impressed at all."

He smiled at her, a smile that might have attracted many a woman were it not for the creepy leer that followed it. "How could you not be impressed? I'm going to go down in history for what I did.even Luthor can't disagree with that. Hell, I did him a favor if you think about it."

Killer Frost turned to face him. "You did no one a favor here. The Society may have some members that were impressed with what you did, but I am not one of them. You've attracted the wrong kind of attention to us and our operations."

Prometheus laughed. "The wrong kind of attention? You guys bomb the living hell out of Bludhaven, almost level Metropolis and you think I drew you unwanted attention?"

"Bludhaven..was a necessary means to an end. Metropolis..was not for the reasons you may believe."

They walked on in silence. Minutes later, they entered a vast underground chamber. It was easily the size of several football fields and entirely underground. Lights were strung up across its ceiling enough to give ample illumination. In the centre of the massive room, a clear sphere of glass or plastic floated suspended in the air, held aloft by magnetic fields. The sphere was easily 50 feet across at its diameter. Inside it, something floated..something humanoid?

"Who's the guest of honor?" asked Prometheus.

"Not who..what. It's a suit of armor..Belonged to a member of the Justice League. Ignore it..this way." Frost walked off to her left and into another tunnel. Prometheus looked again at the armor as energy sparked out of its chestplate.

"Who else is here? Seems like a big place for just you."

"There are several other Society members here," said Frost. "They're occupied."

Frost led him another hundred feet into another room. Inside, a man sat tied to a chair, blood running down his face. He had been severely beaten.

"Looks like hamburger," said Prometheus.

"He's being..reticent in giving us information. You will get it out of him."

"Who is he?"

"Surely you recognize him," said Killer Frost. She walked over to the beaten man and pulled his head up by the hair.

"Hey, isn't that.."

"Yes," she replied. "One of the richest men in the world..Bruce Wayne ."

 

DC Infinity Proudly Presents

#1

"Nesting Dolls"

By Mike Hintze

 

 

Prometheus grabbed a chair, set it backwards in front of Wayne and sat down.

"The Billionaire Playboy, eh? Not that I mind doing some work on him, but why the hell does the Society have him? Last I saw, he didn't wear a cape."

Frost leaned against the cell wall. "No, he doesn't. But he has access to information.and funds.the Society desperately needs. Besides, the Leader wants him broken."

Prometheus smiled. "Give me five minutes alone with him..he'll talk." He grabbed his baton from its holster and twisted its grip. It crackled with energy. "Oh, he'll talk."

Killer Frost smiled. "I want to watch."

"No can do, Frosty," said Prometheus. "I don't perform for an audience."

Frost's small, pleasurable attitude quickly went away. "Fine. Just break him. The Leader wants him pliable."

"No problem," said Prometheus. He smiled as Killer Frost left the cell and the door closed.

As soon as the latch clicked, he went to work. He looked around the cell, noticing one closed circuit camera. He switched on a device on his belt, and set it from the angle of the in-cell camera for 10 seconds as he pretended to shove Wayne around. He then retrieved the device and pressed a button before attaching it to the camera, causing it to broadcast a video loop. He knew he had only a short time to get Wayne out of here before the faulty camera was noticed, especially if the Society were still using H.I.V.E. and Kobra agents as cannon fodder.

He took out a smelling salt and broke it under Wayne 's nose. He immediately awoke with a start, his bruised face twitching. "Huh-What the hell?"

"It's ok," said Prometheus. "You're going to be alright. Do you remember who you are?"

"Yes..I'm Bruce Wayne."

"Not anymore," he replied. "Now, your name is Prometheus."

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Killer Frost entered the communications centre of the facility and sat in front of a monitor bank. She switched to the prison cell surveillance system and toggled over to Wayne 's cell. She knew the guy was rich..but there were a lot of rich guys out there. She couldn't see what Wayne had going for him..but in the end, it wasn't her call. The Society had a new boss now..and he wanted Wayne broken.

Wayne was one tough cookie, though. Killer Frost had tried her best to make him talk, but he had yet to mention even foul language. Billionaire boys must be made of strong stuff , she thought.

She turned to watch the footage of Wayne 's torture by Prometheus when a chime sounded. It was the communication link to the Society's new leader. Frost quickly answered the call on her communicator.

"Killer Frost here," she said.

" Have you broken Wayne yet ?"

"No sir, not yet. He's amazingly resilient. Prometheus is working him over now."

There was silence on the line.

"Sir?" she asked again. Fear began to tickle her spine. Despite her powers, she felt a chill.

" Why is Prometheus there ?"

Frost was speechless for a moment. She regained her composure. "You..you said you were sending someone to assist with Wayne . I assumed it was Prometheus. I mean, he is a day early, but.."

" Get him away from Wayne , now! That is not Prometheus !"

Frost, ironically enough, was frozen. "Then who is he?"

" MOVE !" he yelled.

Frost put down her communicator and went to the monitor bank. Wayne 's cell was still broadcasting. Prometheus was shoving Wayne around. She was about to head back to the cell when one of the rotating security channels on another screen came to another view and saw Prometheus in the hallway they had just entered by, walking quickly into the massive chamber. Something seemed odd about the way he was walking.

Frost grabbed the intercom and switched it on. "Alert! Everyone, stop Prometheus! He's heading to the main exit!"

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Bruce Wayne's head perked up at the sound of the alert. "Dammit," he said out loud to himself, "He'll never make it out of here now." Wayne sat up, his bonds lying cut on the floor. He moved to the hallway and saw no one was present. He left the cell and ran.

Moments later, a shrill sound came from behind him. KRRRRRRIIIING! Wayne dove as a bluish white stream of super-cold air burst where his head had been. He rolled as he fell, coming up again and taking shelter in a recessed alcove hewn into the rock wall.

"Freeze, Wayne ," yelled Killer Frost with a slight giggle at her little joke. "You can't possibly escape from here, not in the condition you're in."

"You-You're right," said Wayne . "I'm-I'm coming out now..don't kill me!"

He sounds different , thought Killer Frost. "Come out with your hands in the air!"

Wayne slowly walked out into the hall, sidestepping the snow and ice left in the wake of Frost's attack. His face was pleading, tears streaming from his eyes. "Don't kill me!"

"You're lucky it's not up to me," said Frost. She lowered her arm. "But then again", she said as she raised it again, aiming her hand in imitation of a handgun, "Who's to say you didn't die in the escape? Unless you tell me who that really was..it wasn't Prometheus."

"You're right," said Wayne , "It's not Prometheus. But you'll never know the truth." In a split second, his arm came around and a pistol seemed to appear out of thin air. Two shots were fired in rapid succession, high pitched squeaks from the silencer. Killer Frost took both shots in the abdomen. Red flowed over her torso, a stark contrast to the blue and white of her costume.

Wayne hesitated for a second. Finish off Frost or rescue his objective? You're lucky, thought Wayne , You might live through those hits..but maybe you won't. He turned the other way and headed back down the hall.

As he ran, he went up and pressed near the front of his throat. A white gas came billowing out of something in his neck, enveloping his face. In seconds, Bruce Wayne was gone. Now, he was his true self:

Tom Tresser, aka Nemesis.

He spoke into his wristwatch. "This is Nemesis. Plan B, repeat, Plan B!"

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Bruce Wayne stumbled as he made his way out of the facility. The Prometheus helmet was difficult to see in, far from the high tech modality of the original, but so far he was able to walk past any H.I.V.E. agents without another glance. It was difficult to walk without pain, but the beatings and frostbite he had sustained in the last twelve hours combined with the exhaustion he felt was taking its toll. He hoped he could remember the directions his rescuer had given him..otherwise, this rescue was all for naught.

" Alert! Everyone, stop Prometheus! He's heading to the main exit !"

Bruce Wayne stopped for a moment. Two H.I.V.E. troopers had stopped as they walked past him and took a second glance. Now they pulled their weapons and aimed at him.

"Stop right there, Prometheus! Do not move!"

Wayne/Prometheus turned to face the troopers. As authoritative as he could, he said "Weapons down, gentlemen. You know exactly what I could do to you."

The troopers faltered. Their weapons tilted down partly as if they were unsure what to do. One trooper looked at the other. "Hey man, we're not paid enough for this."

"Maybe not," said the other, "But I don't want to deal with Killer Frost if she's pissed off, either." The trooper brought his rifle up to bear, but it was too late. Wayne/Prometheus gave a lopsided kick, knocking the trooper on his back. He then grabbed the fallen trooper's rifle and fired it at the other one. The fallen trooper tried to get back up, but was shot by his own rifle a second later.

"Nice shooting," came a voice from above. "Try that on me, Prometheus."

Wayne/Prometheus looked up. Floating in the air above him was a man surrounded by flame, wearing a red costume. "Who the hell are you?"

"The name's Effigy," he said, "And while I may not be as big a deal as you, that's gonna change in about five seconds." The flame around him expanded and arced into the air in the shape of a massive dragon, ready to pounce on Wayne . Wayne brought his rifle up but it was snatched from his hands by another tendril of flame energy. "Ah-ah-ah! No guns allowed in this party!" The dragon flew down.

Wayne dove for cover, but the cumbersome uniform slowed him down. The flame dragon's jaws clamped down on him and picked him up. He tried to wriggle free, but he was held fast. The dragon's jaws began to squeeze.

Wayne looked over at Effigy, who was smiling wide. As Effigy squeezed his own hands together, the dragon's mouth squeezed even more. Wayne couldn't breath. He was blacking out.

The entire chamber began to shake and shudder. Effigy paused in his crushing and looked up to see chunks of the rock ceiling coming loose and falling down. Something exploded out of the chamber ceiling and landed on the floor, creating a crater thirty feet wide. Effigy tried to get a better look before the dust settled. He never got it.

The next thing he saw was a fist as it connected to his face. Shattering his nose and jaw, Effigy went flying across the chamber and slammed into the rock wall. He slid down it and lay in a heap.

Wayne dropped to the ground as the fire dragon winked out of existence. He never hit the ground, though, as he landed on some kind of cushion. It was some kind of marshmallow-like substance. Suddenly, a face appeared out of the soft goo. "Thought we almost lost ya there, big man," said Rex Mason, aka Metamorpho the Element Man. "I'd hate to be Effigy when he wakes up..Grace's punches tend to be pretty punishing when she's pissed..hell, even when she isn't." Wayne found himself drawn up into the air by Metamorpho towards the new hole in the ceiling.

Wayne looked below and saw an extremely muscular, partly Asian woman in fatigue pants and a black tank top. Beside her was a black woman wearing a uniform with lightning bolts arcing from her shoulders to the centre of her chest. Every step the black woman took, the rock beneath her feet sunk in several inches.

"Don't worry about Grace and Thunder," said Rex, "They'll cover our escape." Wayne and Rex then ascended through the gaping rooftop hole.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nemesis came running into the chamber just as Grace and Thunder were making their way to the inert body of Effigy. "I think he's down, ladies."

Grace turned to Nemesis. "Just wanted to make sure," she said, "Energy wielders are a tricky bunch."

Nemesis looked down at Effigy, who was groaning slightly. Remarkably, he was coming to. "Not trickier than a bullet," said Nemesis. He aimed his pistol at Effigy and shot both of his kneecaps. Effigy began to scream as much as he could through his broken jaw. "Takes concentration to manipulate energy."

Grace gave a wry smile. "It'd be easier to just kill him."

Nemesis nodded. "That it would, but the boss man had strict orders: No killing. Nothing against messing them up, though."

Thunder pointed up. "Heads up, guys..we've got company."

Above the heroes, H.I.V.E. agents were flying on jetpacks towards them, firing laser rifles as they approached. Thunder and Grace moved in front of Nemesis. "Stay behind us!" yelled Grace.

"No can do," said Nemesis. "I have one more thing to do." He ran from the two women and ducked behind storage crates. He began to make his way to the center of the chamber.

"Men," exclaimed Thunder. She grabbed a piece of ceiling that had fallen from her massive entry, lifted it and lobbed it at the oncoming attackers. "Put a gun in their hands and they think they're James Bond."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce Wayne was surprised when he saw a hovering ship floating outside the crater that Thunder had made on the surface. A bay door was open and they flew inside. It closed behind them. Rex gently set Wayne down on a cot recessed into the side of the craft. Rex removed the helmet and set it aside.

"Just relax, pal, it'll be okay. You're safe now."

Wayne sat up anyway. "Why are you here? Why are all of you rescuing me?"

Rex smiled. "Let's just say you have friends in high places."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nemesis was now directly below the immense glowing sphere with the suit of armor in it. He didn't know what it was, but if the Society wanted it, that was enough reason to take it. He saw a throng of cables were attached to the back of the white and gold armor and feeding off towards another part of the chamber. He headed there and saw a computer network among storage crates. Nobody was staffing it.

He looked at the monitor and saw it was taking readings off the energy the suit was emitting. It showed a graphical representation of the electromagnetic spectrum with the suit's energy going off the scale on both ends. I'm no physicist , thought Nemesis, But this can't be good .

He wasn't sure what to do with the system in front of him, but could tell that the computer network was controlling the suit's output somehow. Knowing he only had minutes before more Society reinforcements arrived, he decided to take the simplest solution.

He unplugged the computer from its wall socket.

Immediately, the computer died. At the same moment, the sphere stopped glowing. The armor stopped emitting energy. Robotic arms came from above and as the sphere opened, they entered and took the suit from it. They gently put down the suit on a gurney nearby, and then retracted.

Nemesis looked at the suit. Now that he was closer, he thought he recognized it..but he couldn't put his tongue on who it had belonged to. He stripped the last of his civilian clothing, revealing a black jumpsuit with a red and black rendition of the scales of justice as an emblem. He reached into his belt and took out a length of cable. He looped it through the armor's helmet, gauntlets, boots and body suit. It was surprisingly light. He clipped the ends onto his uniform harness on his back.

He spoke into his watch again. "That's a wrap, ladies. Time to go."

He hit his belt buckle and side compartments swung out revealing a jet system. He rocketed up into the air, the armor lashed to his back. As he made his way to the hole above, he saw Metamorpho grabbing the two women and carrying them back up as well. Within seconds they were aboard the craft outside and leaving North Korean airspace.

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24 Hours Later

Bruce Wayne walked into an office building that was unmarked and unassuming. There were many such buildings like it in this particular city.

He approached an elevator and waited as he was scanned biometrically. The door opened and he was let in. He descended.

He dropped for what felt like several minutes. Finally, he stopped and the door opened. He stepped into a well lit hallway that led past several doors, but it was the one at the end that was his destination.

He knocked as he came to the door, which was slightly ajar. "Come in," a voice said.

Wayne walked in and approached the lone man in the room. It was tastefully adorned with an oak desk and antique furniture. On the wall, a portrait of a man and a woman looked down upon them over the fireplace, which was lit and burning gently.

"I'm glad you made it," said the man. He turned to Wayne . "My apologies for what you went through. It was more difficult to track where the Society had taken you despite the tracking device you were set up with."

Wayne touched his puffy face. "Part of the risk I take when I do my job," he replied. "Thanks for the rescue."

The two men faced each other. Despite the bruises on Wayne 's face, they were identical twins.

"I presume this concludes our bit of subterfuge?" asked Wayne . The other Bruce Wayne nodded and held out a small canister. The first Wayne took it and sprayed his face. Within seconds, his features were changed. He was no longer Bruce Wayne.

"Thank you, Christopher," said the real Bruce Wayne. "You have no idea how valuable an asset you've been."

"All in a day's work for a Human Target," replied Christopher Chance. "But if you need me again, give me a few days..I need to see a dentist."

Bruce gave a small grin. "I have the best on standby for you. The jet's waiting for you at the airport."

Christopher Chance and Bruce Wayne shook hands. "Anything, anytime, Bruce. I believe in what you're doing."

"Thank you, Christopher. I'll be in touch."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce Wayne sat at his desk watching the field reports submitted by Nemesis, Metamorpho, Grace and Thunder. He had seen operations go far better..and also far worse in the last year.

Christopher Chance had assumed Bruce's identity when intelligence sources had indicated that Wayne was going to be a target of the Society. The fact he had been a target was also something that had been arranged prior as part of another plan. The Society had kidnapped 'Bruce Wayne'. Taking over 12 hours to find him had not been part of the plan. Bruce dispatched Tom Tresser and the others to retake Chance before the worst could befall him. The disguise chemicals used by Tresser were difficult to remove even with force and had been used to assure the kidnappers that they had the right man. Chance was good, very good..but even a good agent could find himself in over his head when the Society was involved.

The rescue had gone well enough..Chance was alive..and they had also retrieved something unexpected: the armored suit formerly worn by the superhero Aztek, the Ultimate Man. Aztek had died during a Justice League mission several years prior. Somehow, the Society had gotten their hands on it. This would bode well for Bruce's discussions with the enigmatic Q-Society, the benefactors of Aztek and the creators of the armor.

It's almost been a year, thought Bruce. Checkmate was under his complete control. Its resources taken from the hands of the government..and they didn't even know it. Max Lord had managed to effectively do the same thing..but Bruce's intentions were far nobler than Lord's had been. The Society, after what they had done to Bludhaven and Metropolis..and in Washington ..they needed to be brought down. Bruce had seen the opportunity in using Checkmate to move his fight against injustice to a global level..and had been able to surround himself with his most trusted allies.

He missed the action of patrolling Gotham each night, but his presence was needed here. Checkmate was almost ready..but until then, he would be calling the shots. Gotham was being well looked after in any regard.

Bruce turned back to his reading, content that another operation had ended well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Leader of the Society was not pleased. His installation in North Korea had been effectively destroyed. While he had arranged their operations there at the pleasure of the North Korean Government, the events of yesterday were such that they could not ignore it in the face of the world media.

Someone had been taking great pains to see his new organization was being hit where it hurt most. He had suspected Bruce Wayne was a part of it.and yet, while he had been rescued, indicating a connection of some sort, he had reviewed the interrogation tapes of Killer Frost and Effigy and had come to a conclusion: Wayne's money might be a part of the force against him, but he was far too stupid to be any sort of leader. Many wealthy men were easily manipulated..Wayne was no different.

And if anyone knew about manipulating people, it was the Ultra-Humanite.

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Next Issue : A new mission..new agents..and team of new villains designed to counteract Checkmate! Don't miss Checkmate #2 !