Thea followed them inside at an unhurried pace. Her steps were relaxed, yet she effortlessly kept up with the agents who were jogging ahead.
She tried using Horus' Eye to see what was happening deeper inside, but whatever material A.R.G.U.S. used for their interior structures—walls, fixtures, reinforced metal doors—it completely blocked her sight.
A.R.G.U.S. lived up to its reputation. This anti-x-ray, anti-vision technology was very advanced. Obviously made to defend against Superman, the Martian Manhunter, and of course people like herself who liked to "take a peek" now and then. Thea thought bitterly.
As for what Amanda was actually doing in there, Thea wasn't sure. But the gunshots and screams coming from below made it obvious things weren't going well.
As she walked, Thea wondered—Did I guess wrong earlier? Amanda wasn't planning to threaten me, but to play the victim? To direct a whole fake crisis just to win my sympathy?
Following Lyla for less than ten minutes, they finally reached a wide, empty chamber. Thea didn't even have time to examine it before a hoarse roar echoed:
"Out of my way, insects—DIE!"
The voice was raspy and metallic, like steel scraping across steel. A wave of invisible force surged toward her.
"Looks impressive, but it's all show," Thea said calmly, raising her left hand to counter the blast.
But halfway through casting the spell, she realized she had miscalculated. It wasn't magic. It was… some kind of twisted telekinesis.
Telekinesis was still a form of psychic power. If it were normal telekinesis, her magic would've blocked it easily. But this one carried a strange, unnatural aura that slipped around her barrier and smashed into the group like a crashing tide.
Within a tenth of a second, Thea assessed the strength of the attack: not strong. To her enhanced physique, it was no more than a breeze.
But while she could handle it, the others couldn't. She quickly wrapped a wind-shield around Lyla, halving the impact—she at least knew Lyla; it was worth saving her. As for the other two agents… well, tough luck.
The two unlucky agents vomited blood in perfect sync and collapsed like felled trees, twitching a few times before falling completely still.
Being shielded last-second, Lyla fared far better. The telekinetic blast slammed straight into the wind barrier she wore, sending her staggering back three steps. Blood trickled from the corner of her lips and stars danced in her vision—but she would live.
No one paid her any attention, though. The enemy's gaze had already passed over her and locked directly onto Thea.
Since she wasn't working today and wanted to get more sun, Thea had dressed lightly—her long hair tied in a high ponytail, a plaid shirt knotted below the chest revealing smooth toned abs and a neat navel, shorts with a wide belt, and canvas shoes.
To avoid making her spatial ring too conspicuous, she added a diagonal shoulder bag where she kept a few daily necessities.
Her casual, almost shopping-trip outfit instantly ruined the tension of the chamber. And her calm, leisurely inspection of the area only amplified the pressure on everyone else.
Thea first looked at the creature who had attacked her—and immediately took a step back. Not because of the aura, but because he was hideous.
A pure reflex, like seeing a giant toad. It wasn't about danger—it was about disgust.
He had limbs and a torso, clearly humanoid, but his facial features had been crushed and squeezed together beyond recognition. His clothes were filthy, covered in dried blood and sludge.
But the most striking part was his forehead—swollen upward and forward. The upward bulge elongated his entire skull by a quarter, and the forward growth protruded like an upside-down bowl. Strange yellow fluid pulsed through veins across the swollen mass.
One glance was enough. Thea didn't want another.
She remembered him now.
Wasn't this the small boss from the Green Lantern storyline?
His mutated telekinesis was infant-level compared to her. Weak, laughable—nothing worth mentioning.
Thea's mastery of psychic power far outstripped his. She mimicked his psychic wavelength, blending with it like a drop of water merging into the ocean. The toad-man could see her, yet no matter how he pushed, his supposedly unstoppable telekinesis harmlessly slid around her as if she didn't exist.
Confused and panicked, he tried controlling some metal debris to stab her, only to watch the telekinesis curve away again and again.
The monster was completely dumbfounded. He couldn't figure out whether the woman before him was human or something else entirely.
Ignoring him, Thea stepped onto the central platform. Just seeing him in profile had made her suspicious—and now, facing him head-on, she finally confirmed it.
"Well, well. Isn't this the most honorable senator of our great United States? What was your name again…?"
She pulled a small black notebook from her bag and eagerly flipped to the first page.
"Ah, yes. Senator Hammond of Coast City! The esteemed gentleman himself. Do you remember me?"
Bound to the platform was a white-haired senator. The moment he saw Thea, whatever dignity he had left shattered as he cried out desperately:
"I remember! I remember—save me! Please save me! I agreed to everything you asked back then! I still have money—I'll pay you! Just get me out of here!"
"Oh? You remember me? Then what… is my name?"
Thea asked sweetly.
The senator's face turned ghost-white. He stammered, "You… you're… Quinn…"
"Not bad, you remembered the surname. But the first name? I suppose a noble gentleman like you couldn't be bothered to learn that part, huh?"
She waved dismissively.
"Hey, frog-face over there—you two keep doing whatever you were doing."
She glanced between them.
Right, they were father and son.
A family of freaks indeed.
"Carry on."
Then she finally looked up, scanning the chamber until she found Amanda Waller—plastered like a starfish against a reinforced glass panel in the ceiling.
Thea flew halfway up to talk to her, but saw Amanda's face completely flattened against the glass by telekinetic force. She had to circle around to the other side so she could pretend—at least superficially—to "listen" seriously.