The Reliance, #5

The King Of Crime- Part 3

Soon after the team's encounter with a group of villains at the outdoor concert, the police arrived and took The Pied Piper and Deadshot into custody. Road Warrior elects to re-group with the others after going back to the prison to absorb some villainous powers, if possible.

Just moments later, the heroes hear a transmission over the police radios indicating a series of massive tremors coming from the Central City baseball stadium.
Realizing that the stadium might be the answer to the mystery of Central City's "biggest diamond", the Reliance, now consisting only of Candice and Iron Hand, rushes to the scene.

Upon arrival, they discover that the insane stage performer from the future, Abra Kadabra, has ripped the baseball diamond out of the field, along with nearly 50 tons of earth and rock, and is levitating the massive load away from the stadium.
For a moment, they can only look on in horror. They need to stop Kadabra, but if the magician is distracted, or rendered unconscious, the floating island he carries may fall to the ground where it will destroy property and possibly claim lives.

Iron Hand flies to one side of the island, withstanding a momentary assault by multiple Flashes, created by Kadabra. Iron Hand tries to push against the oncoming load, but Kadabra's control is too strong. Candice unleashes a mystic attack on the villain but its effects are resisted.

Redoubling their efforts, Candice inflicts divine fear on the magician, who begins to flee as a result. The Island plummets to the earth, but Iron Hand destroys more than half of it with his armor's energy blast weapon. Meanwhile, Candice has taken hold of Kadabra, and calls out to Iron Hand, who understands her plan. The full might of Iron Hand's armor slams into both Candice and Abra Kadabra, pummeling them into the ground. Although even the half-angel's nearly immortal frame suffers some damage, Abra Kadabra is subdued.

In the aftermath, police and ambulence crews arrive on location to help with clean-up and to look for survivors. With the end of the day approaching, Candice and Iron Hand feel the pressure to find the last criminal before the city is attacked again. However, in their haste to stop the next potential crime, they seemed oblivious to the needs around them as ambulence crews and policemen tirelessly began digging through mounds of dirt, looking for trapped survivors. Only time will reveal if members of the Reliance are able to maintain the stated purpose of their group, or if they will have to re-evaluate and change their stated values.

Gaining what information they thought would be helpful from police on the scene, The Reliance rushes to a local bar that police officers frequent, hoping to find the criminal planning to have "a nice cold drink of Central City's finest". Inside the eskimo themed bar, the heroes mistake a young man interviewing for a position as bar tender, for Captain Cold, but luckily avoid doing any harm. Despite this detour, they learn from the bar's manager that the water supply to the entire city has stopped.

Wasting no time on regret, Candice and Iron Hand race to the Central City reservoir, but find they are already too late. A giant cannon left behind seems to be the catalyst for the entire city's water supply being frozen solid. With no trail to follow and a decisive victory achieved by the enemy, the Reliance is momentarily beaten. But a city-wide broadcast from the mysterious villain behind all of this gives the heroes the clues they need to stop this new criminal underground once and for all.

Warned that the city will be blown off the map if all heroes do not leave before 10pm, the Reliance has no choice but to find the source of the transmission and tackle the problem head-on. The trail finally leads them to the 57th floor of one of the tallest buildings in the city. Although attempting to be stealthful, the heroes give away their presence to the enemy, who surprisingly welcomes them inside the large boardrrom they are conducting a meeting in.

Seven powerful villains stand over a long table. Leading the group is The Thinker, a human-turned artificial intelligence made of pure energy. He invites the heroes to join their society, or die. In a shocking move, Candice implies, for the moment, that she will join, and agrees to bring the heads of Road Warrior and Surge to The Thinker as a test of loyalty. Iron Hand tries to back slowly out of the room, but is unable to leave before all seven villains target him for a devastating attack...