Showing a little dissatisfaction was fine, but too much was pointless. Thea released the telekinetic hold on Amanda, lowering her carefully with a cushion of magic. Looking at Amanda—high heels, pencil skirt—sure, she used to be a top-tier special forces operative in her youth, but after years behind a desk, who knew how much of that foundation was still left? From five meters up, Thea worried the woman might twist an ankle, and then she'd have to spend time healing her.
But Amanda wasn't grateful at all. She jerked her chin toward the lump of a man—Toad—who was slicing into Senator Hammond with a tiny knife not far away.
"This thing—can you handle it?" she asked.
Thea glanced over. "I need a moment…" And then she stopped moving entirely. Toad might be an impossible opponent to an ordinary person, but to her, he wasn't any harder to deal with than Harley Quinn. Again—different league entirely.
But she didn't rush in to knock him out and drag him away. She was still waiting… Waiting for Senator Hammond to die. Watching Toad carve him left and right, Thea felt a certain satisfaction—and it also served as a warning to Amanda. Playing with fire should be done less often.
Nobody here was an idiot. Seeing Thea unmoved, and remembering her earlier conversation with Senator Hammond, Amanda immediately guessed their last encounter hadn't been friendly.
Still, luck was on Amanda's side today. If she hadn't called Thea, Toad rampaging here would've been enough to kill her. The helplessness echoed even louder with the senator's screams in the background.
After three minutes, Thea glanced over. Good. He was dead. Time for cleanup.
Toad's telekinesis was crude, but she still couldn't control him mentally; only physical force would work.
She didn't want to expose her spatial ring, so she looked around the room for a weapon—anything she could use to knock him out in three strokes.
"Killing him won't be a problem, right?" Thea whispered.
"If you can take him alive, take him alive."
"His mental strength is high. Even if I knock him out, you can restrain him?"
"Hmph." Amanda finally caught a chance to regain some dignity. "You can't imagine the technology A.R.G.U.S. has."
Thea nodded without comment. She'd already noticed Amanda was wearing a device that resisted mind control. This wasn't 1918—science advanced every day,especially in a world stuffed with black-tech. Anti-telepathy gadgets weren't rare.
Toad hadn't given up on trying to crush her. Wave after wave of telekinetic force rolled toward her, all gently dispersed as if by a calming breeze.
"Ooh? This is good!" Thea bent down and picked up a long rope. She'd trained with Diana's lasso on Themyscira, then practiced again in that small village. She wasn't at Diana's level, but dealing with this crippled frog-man was too easy.
Toad didn't dodge the incoming loop around his neck—or rather, wanted to dodge but failed.
Thea tightened the rope and yanked him up like pulling a carrot from the ground. She swung her arm half a circle—bang—slamming him into the wall. A.R.G.U.S. walls were solid; the two-hundred-plus-pound Toad hit it without making it tremble.
"So disgusting…" Thea gagged at the yellow pus smeared on the wall. This thing counted as a natural enemy of female heroes. As punishment for being so disgusting and ruining the scenery, she swung the rope and smashed him against the left wall, then the right, again and again.
At first he yelled defiantly, but by the fifth impact, the telekinetic presence in the room completely faded. He was out cold.
"All right, he's done. Now tell me—why exactly did you drag me here?" Thea wanted to wrap this up fast. Toad's appearance meant Hal Jordan had already become Green Lantern. And according to the movie timeline, Parallax would be arriving soon!
Not a single extra minute here was acceptable.
In the movie, Hal Jordan leaned hard on Earth-people's "ingenious wisdom": throwing every monster into the sun. And the sun never disappointed—burning whatever he tossed in. But how could that be real? Parallax destroyed countless star systems; how could he fear the sun?
In the real world, Thea preferred to believe some higher being repelled Parallax for unknown reasons. Because saying Hal Jordan—Green Lantern rookie—beat the Corps' ancient nemesis was like saying Damian Wayne could learn magic for one day and then beat Merlin.
Amanda's original plan was to use Oliver to threaten Thea, but Thea's current power level was beyond her understanding. She didn't dare act rashly.
So she switched to Plan B. "I don't know why you're building a temple, but we did smooth things over with the government. You agree with that, right?"
"But I just saved your life. Don't tell me this guy on the floor—whose head is swollen like a pumpkin—knocked himself out on the wall?" Amanda's tone had softened, so Thea's did too. They even exchanged a few friendly jokes like nothing had happened.
Amanda grinned—her white teeth especially bright against her dark skin. "Saving me is personal. Using A.R.G.U.S. to help you was official business. I'll compensate you personally later."
Compensate, my ass! Thea ran the numbers. Based on the timing, Oliver was definitely in Amanda's hands right now. Amanda probably thought she didn't know—and Thea had to pretend she didn't. Knowing the plot was a curse; she couldn't explain how she knew. "Compensation" would probably be returning Oliver. Damn! Saving her was a waste!
"So what's the job? Isn't Batman your usual contact? Couldn't you call him…?"
At the mention of Batman, Amanda's face twisted. The Joker was the perfect candidate for her villain squad—smart, insane, no powers. If she could recruit him, half the project would be done. But Batman refused—completely. Not even Amanda's personal calls worked. Zero negotiation.
She couldn't possibly tell Thea they'd failed their talks with Batman, so she dodged. "Batman has… a lot on his plate recently. And you looked free."
Thea didn't bother responding. I'm free, and that's your business? Even the President has free time—you wouldn't dare give him chores.
"Then say it clearly. Why did you call me here?" Thea was out of patience. If it was easy, she'd agree. If not, she'd refuse.