"Don't matter where you go, the desert always looks the same." Deadshot, Floyd Lawton, commented as the battered hulk of a surplus military helicopter trundled across the orange sky. Strapped into the back alongside the other five members of the group he had gathered at Mockingbird's behest, Deadshot leaned back, bottom of his mask rolled up to the bridge of his nose, cigarette hanging limply from between his lips. He blew a plume of smoke and watched it get yanked out of the chopper by the wind below.

"I like the desert. Teeming with life. So unlike home." Knockout said, leaning against Lady Vic, fingers trailing across the assassin's knee. Knockout grinned at the smaller woman. "Don't you agree Elaine?"

"No. And I told you if you touched me again, amazon, I would gut you." Lady Vic said calmly, a leaf-shaped blade appearing as if by magic in her hand. She tapped Knockout on the tip of her nose with the flat of the blade. "I am not interested in your unsubtle advances."

"Ooh. Cat fight." Fastball laughed. He leaned back in his harness, juggling several of the explosive spheres he carried. "And free to boot."

"Quiet clown." Knockout snarled, whirling and raising a fist, as if to strike the mercenary. Fastball jerked back, nearly dropping his spheres.

"All of you be silent." Bane rumbled. He sat across from Deadshot, staring out into the wastes.

"Or what fatso?" Plunder said from his spot. "You going to 'break' us?"

"No. You I will pitch out of the helicopter." Bane said without turning. "I think that will be enough."

"Bane." Deadshot said. Quietly. Softly. Bane glanced at him.

"Lawton."

"Bane."

"Lawton."

"It's just like Abbot and Costello. Only not funny." Fastball said. Bane and Deadshot both looked at him. Fastball shrugged. "Sorry."

"City coming up." Deadshot gestured towards the point on the horizon the chopper had been steadily coming closer to. "Shiruta."

"And when we get there?"

"Do what you boys and girls do best. Break stuff."

THE SERPENT SANCTION
Issue #2
Hit The Ground Running

"Where is he?" Kobra, Lord Naga, said softly. He looked around the dimly lit cell, green robes draped over one orange clad arm. For a decade he'd kept Jason Burr captive here since faking his death. Tortured him. Tormented him. All to find the secret of their connection. Of why they each felt the other's pain.

Now Burr was gone. And with him, the surety of Kobra's survival.

"Where is my brother?" He turned to look at those of his followers who were unlucky enough to be present. Clad in green costumes, faces hidden beneath half-masks that approximated the features of the serpent they all worshipped, they looked like so many bobbing emerald worms to Naga's eerie eyes.

Worms. Just worms. Hiding in the earth from their enemies. His enemies.

But not for much longer.

Kobra had his freedom. The world would soon know fear once more.

"H-he is gone Lord." one said, voice dripping with fear. Naga's tongue slid outfrom between thin lips, tasting the air. They all stank of it. Of fear. And with good reason.

"I can sssee that. What I meant was, where did he go?" Kobra reached out, fingers stroking the man's cheek. When he reached the edge of the man's jaw his fingers curled around his throat, gently, softly. Then tighter. Tighter. "Where. Did. He. Go?"

"Es-escaped. Into c-city." the man gurgled. Kobra squeezed and a sharp crack filled the room. He let the body fall and pointed at another man.

"I assume men are already tracking him?"

"Y-yes Lord Naga. We have four squads combing Shiruta as we speak. We will run Jason Burr to ground and kill hi-"

"NO!" Kobra snarled, fangs flashing. "You will not kill him!" He grabbed the nearest of his followers and hauled the man into the air, shaking him like a rag doll. "Jason Burr must live!" He hurled the weeping man aside and glared at the others. "Those you have sent out will serve to drive him towards his fate. Imprisonment by Arrakhat."

"Lord, you can't...the creature is uncontrollable!"

"Indeed. Unless one possesses this." Kobra stroked the strange amulet that graced his throat. "With it, I induced Arrakhat to free me from that detestable American prison after my servants in that corrupt country smuggled it to me. And with it, I shall soon be free of the damnable curse that ties me to Burr."

"Do you know the old saying about eggs and counting, Lord Naga?" a voice asked. It was a distorted melange of a dozen voices of all kinds, all languages. A spike of light appeared and blossomed into a vaguely human shape, its face a pixelated approximation of human features. "If not, you should learn it."

"Who dares?" Kobra whirled on the shape, eyes blazing.

"We are Mockingbird, Lord Naga. And we have come to offer you a chance to surrender the Talisman of Arrakhat before it is too late."

Kobra clutched the medallion tightly and laughed. "What foolishness is this? I will surrender nothing to an electronic wraith!"

"Oh but you will Kobra. And gladly. Or we will destroy you utterly." Mockingbird pointed a crackling finger at Kobra and slowly faded from sight, pixels dispersing randomly.

Kobra stared at the spot where Mockingbird had been and then turned back to his men.

"Double the men hunting for Burr. I want him run to ground. Now."

Jason Burr ran.

Dust rose up from the street and bit into his lungs as he slid into an alleyway, seeking the shadows. Blessed coolness. He slid down the wall, hands dangling between his knees, head bowed. Tired. He was so damn tired. Tired of everything. Life, death. All of it was a game to his brother. People Jason loved were only pieces in Naga's game.

Faces swam before his eyes. Old friends, lovers, enemies. All dust.

Only he and Naga survived. And his life was only spared because of the psychic connection to Kobra. If Jason died, so too did his brother. But Naga was working on that wasn't he? Testing the limits of their bond. Trying to find a way to free himself.

"But you haven't yet, have you brother?" Burr hissed between broken teeth.

"No. He hasn't. But it is only a matter of time, Jason Burr." Mockingbird shimmered into view, electronic shape seemingly bleeding out from between the very bricks of the wall Burr leaned against. "A matter of hours by our reckoning."

"What are you supposed to be?"

"Your salvation."

"Big talk from a ghost made of static electricity." Burr rasped, pulling himself into a standing position along the wall. "What do you want?"

"Simply to help you. To help you escape. That is what you want isn't it?"

"What do I have to do?"

"Run." Mockingbird said, even as its body burst into a thousand shimmering sparks. Burr blinked, then cursed.

Four men stood at the other end of the alley, the sunlight drizzling down and glinting off of their scale covered costumes. One of them pointed at Burr.

"There he is! Get him!"

Jason Burr ran.

The helicopter swung low over the dusty city. Its shadow cut the orange streets like a shark through shallow waters and the thunder of its rotors caused the citizens to look up from their labors. Deadshot looked at the others. "Okay kids. Mockingbird has bought us a two hour window with the local boys. Means we can tear up this dump without worrying about getting our asses shot off. Bane, Knockout, Fastball. You lucky ducks get to play distraction."

"Meaning?"

"Kobra's hiding his base directly under the central market street. You three get to raise the roof."

"Don't ever say raise the roof again." Fastball said.

"Can I say 'tear his shit up'?"

"Have at it."

"Really? You sure?" Deadshot said. "Cause we can sit up here until you're comfortable."

"Really?"

"Nope." Deadshot nodded and Bane grabbed Fastball by the scruff of his neck and leg and hurled him out of the helicopter. "You kids play rough now. Be a good distraction for daddy Floyd." Bane and Knockout followed Fastball towards the ground. Deadshot glanced at the remaining mercenaries.

"Now we three get to do the fun stuff. Tag and bag."

"You always know what to say to a girl." Lady Vic said, pulling on her helmet. "Roof-top foxtrot?"

"You got the gun for that type of dance?"

"You know it baby." Lady Vic hefted an antique flintlock and patted it fondly. Plunder laughed.

"Old piece of crap."

"Me or the gun?"

"That an invitation to check you for gray hairs?"

"Only if you want a katar in your jimmies Morillo."

"Don't call me that!"

"Got to call you something. Plunder sounds like a bad transvestite stage-name." Deadshot laughed. Plunder snarled and hefted his rifle. Deadshot's wrist popped up and he twitched a finger.

"Nunh-unh."

"Looks like this is my stop." Plunder muttered, sliding out of the chopper onto a roof that passed below. Deadshot glanced at Lady Vic.

"Touchy-touchy."

"Long as its not feely-feely." Lady Vic said, leaping gracefully out of the helicopter moments later. Deadshot watched her go. A crackle of displaced air alerted him to Mockingbird's presence.

"You sure about this?"

"Of course Mister Lawton. We are Mockingbird. Burr is being herded back towards the market square by Kobra's lackeys. All you have to do is intercept him while your companions keep Kobra occupied."

"Don't you mean Arrakhat?" Deadshot said, head cocked. Mockingbird was silent for a moment.

"See to your end of things Mister Lawton. Mockingbird will handle the rest."

"There's the wind-up, here's the PITCH!" Fastball crowed, the explosive sphere hurtling from his grip to smash through the window of a nearby building. The explosion that followed ruptured the building and shook the entire street. Fastball pumped his fist in the air as he rocked back on his anti-gravity disc.

"Stop fooling around." Bane rumbled. The brute squatted, getting a grip on the battered car in front of him. With a hiss he hefted it almost above his head and swung it into the air, bringing it down with a scream of tortured metal. People were running in every direction, the gabble of their voices passing overhead and flowing around the three criminals like a river of noise. Knockout stood in the middle of the street, fingers interlaced over her head. With a wild cry she brought them down, slamming a crater into the very rock. A water main exploded at the point of impact, a vomit of a dark water exploding upward in a geyser. Knockout laughed and turned, arms wide as she let the water run over her.

"Perhaps instead you should lighten up Bane. Enjoy yourself, as every true warrior must."

"Whatever made you think I was a warrior, fire-hair?"

"That magnificent build...your brutal carriage...your very name, all of it speaks to my blood." Knockout turned slowly, hip cocked. "Surely you can say the same."

Bane didn't reply. Instead he stooped and grabbed the rear of another car. With a growl he shoved it through the front window of a nearby cafe.

"Sexu-a-l heeeeealing..." Fastball crooned, lobbing another bomb. Knockout whirled, hurling a chunk of street at the villain.

"Quiet clown!"

"Hey just 'cause Big Poppa Pump ain't got an interest in your hinky bits babe, don't mean nobody does." Fastball said, deftly avoiding the debris. "I mean, I'm here for you! Hug me!"

"The very thought fills me with disgust."

"Hey! I resemble that remark!"

"Quiet! Both of you." Bane roared. He gestured at one of the few buildings directly in the square that was still standing. A veritable flood of Cobra cultists was pouring into the bright, sun baked streets, weapons held aloft, warcries heavy on their lips. "We have company."

"Good. Real men. At last." Knockout snarled, settling into a crouch, fists raised. Bane glanced at her, eyes unreadable behind his mask, then he did the same, massive fists cutting the air towards the head of the closest cultist.

"Yee-haw!" Fastball yelped, swooping over the head of the cultists, arms flashing out as quickly as he could pull his spheres, hurling them into the crowd. "Ducks in a barrel!"

"Fish." Bane said, wrapping his fingers around a cultist's masked head and squeezing. The cultist panicked, fists beating helplessly at Bane's arms. Fastball looked down.

"What?"

"Fish in a barrel. Not ducks. Ducks go in a row."

"You're very helpful. You got some brain jelly there on your hands..."

Bane let the body fall and wiped his hands on his chest, smearing blood and brain matter. Fastball blanched.

"Oh, you're just gonna wipe all that-yeah, right there, hunh. Dirty boy. Really dirty boy."

"It is only proper for a warrior to clothe himself in the juices of his foes." Knockout laughed, yanking a cultist over her head and bringing him down on several of his fellows. Fastball shook his head.

"Whatever turns you on babe."

"What is going on UP THERE?" Kobra shrieked, his voice echoing through the underground temple. His fingers convulsed around the amulet dangling from his neck as he watched his slaves scurry about. Dust sifted down from the ceiling, spattering Kobra's hood.

"We are under attack, Lord and Master! North American meta-humans! We've ordered several squads up but they're killing them!" a slave yelped, whirling from the screen that dominated one wall even as he gestured at the images it displayed.

"The JLA? Those infernal simpletons calling themselves Bad Blood?" Had they tracked him here? Followed him from the United States?

"No lord...criminals!"

Kobra eyed the images, eyes narrowed as he tried to place names with the faces. The three criminals destroying the street above had no prior connections, no allegiances. So why...he blinked. The creature calling itself Mockingbird. With a snarl he jerked the amulet away from his neck and spat burning words into the dust laden air. The words coiled and snapped visibly as they slipped from his lips, scarring themselves upon the air.

The fire writhed like a living thing, growing larger and larger before Kobra's eyes. There was a sound like the chittering of night insects and a clawed hand burst from the flames like a fish leaping from a river. A face followed, a grinning, red-eyed thing, features ever shifting beneath a hood the color of dried blood.

Arrakhat.

Kobra stood in the face of the infernal heat battering at him, seeping from the creature's home dimension.

From Hell.

Arrakhat hissed, words tumbling like drops of molten gold. Kobra gestured at the screen and the images displayed there.

"Go. Kill them. Teach them the folly of incurring the wrath of KOBRA!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

Next Issue: The hunt for Jason Burr! The Secret Six versus creature known as Arrakhat! Be here in thirty for 'DJINN & TONIC'...