Kobra glared at the shimmering, crackling shape of Mockingbird and swept an arm back, gesturing at the two fallen villains that lay nearby.

"One bleeding to death, the other scorched by fire. I have thousands 'Mockingbird'. I can spend men like bullets. Can you say the same?" Kobra hissed. Mockingbird laughed, a distorted, warbling noise.

"Oh yes. Yes indeed."

"Who are you creature? Are you Checkmate? Or perhaps even the Suicide Squad? I recognize several of these pieces of filth-" Kobra gestured at Bane. "Him, for instance. Bane. An assassin."

"Clever eyes." Mockingbird said, arms crossed. "But no, we are neither Checkmate nor the lamentably termed Suicide Squad. We are merely Mockingbird."

"A title. Nothing more. Tell me who you are!" Kobra snarled, half-reaching out towards Mockingbird with curled fingers. Mockingbird laughed again and Kobra screamed in frustration. Then, suddenly, in pain.

Kobra stumbled and staggered back, his hands clasping his leg.

"Ahghk! What-what-" He sank to one knee, clutching his thigh. "How?"

Mockingbird leaned forward. "We told you that you would bow to us, Kobra."

"RAAAGH!" Kobra shrieked, lunging forward to claw for Mockingbird's nonexistent neck. Mockingbird's form flashed and faded and Kobra collapsed on his face. Mockingbird reappeared behind him.

"Such lack of grace and subtlety from one who styles himself after a serpent. Perhaps we were wrong to target you Kobra. Perhaps you are not the man we thought you were. The coming moments will tell..."

Kobra struggled to his feet, his leg aching with a throbbing, bone-deep pain. His mind flashed quickly across several possibilities. Only one made sense, given recent events.

Burr. They had Burr.

An explosion gouged the street behind him, hurling him forward onto his face. Shaking his head, he peered up and over his shoulder through cracked lenses, blood and dust mingling in his mouth.

The criminal known as Fastball stood in the window where Arrakhat had thrown him, an explosive sphere bouncing up and down on one palm. With a grin, he wound his arm back and hurled it towards Kobra.

"Fastball special, snake-man! Courtesy of Mockingbird!"

THE SERPENT SANCTION
Issue #4
WAR & PEACE

Jason Burr fell as the bullet entered his leg. Blood pulsed and wet the dusty ground turning it an unhealthy ochre hue. He screamed, more in shock than pain and rolled onto his belly. His muscles weak with fatigue, he tried to lever himself upright but fell again, face first into the dirt.

Deadshot stepped back from the edge of the roof and shook his head.

"I got to give the man credit. No give in him."

"Bullet don't care how tough you are." Plunder said from behind him. Both the gray masked mercenary and Lady Vic had left their posts and rejoined Deadshot on the rooftop overlooking the street where Burr lay.

"We came all this way just to shoot a man we helped to escape?" Lady Vic said. "Seems like a bloody waste to me."

"Didn't ask your opinion, did I?" Deadshot said without turning around.

"Careful Lawton. I take offense easily."

"Don't we all."

"We got company." Plunder said, hefting his rifle and peering through the scope. "Ugly monkey too, by the looks of it."

"That's who we came to shoot." Deadshot said. Lady Vic looked at him.

"How can you tell?"

"He's the only one still standing."

Below, an ugly gash in the fabric of reality had taken shape over the prostrate form of Burr and an intolerable heat rolled over him. He rolled onto his back, eyes widening.

Arrakhat.

Arrakhat had found him. His brother was done playing with him.

The grinning demon stepped out into reality, its hooves burning molten tracks into the street as it swept its ragged cloak aside and unsheathed its twin scimitars. It gurgled something in the language of demons and raised the blades over its malformed head. Burr closed his eyes tightly, teeth gritted against the pain he knew was coming. An eternity of pain. All at the command of his dear brother.

The explosion took Arrakhat in the gut, sending it staggering backwards. Bullets stitched its smoke-wreathed form, eliciting a strangled screech that sounded like the cry of an impaled cat.

A lithe form dropped to the ground beside Burr and Lady Vic smiled down at him from beneath her white mask. "Sit tight, luv. We'll send the bad man packing."

"You-I-who-" Burr stuttered. Lady Vic ignored him and sprinted towards the reeling monster, clutching twin katars in her slender hands.

Flaming scimitars met the finest Damascus steel in a crash of metals as the assassin leapt and danced around the monster, blocking its blows and countering with her own.

"Little help!" she called as she narrowly avoided a sizzling slash.

"Ask and ye shall receive." Deadshot said, dropping to the ground, his wrist magnums spitting. "Plunder! Give the monkey something to think about!"

"Don't order me around Lawton!" Plunder said from his position on the roof. He hefted his rifle and pumped the grenade launcher attachment. It burped and the explosive hurtled towards the melee.

Deadshot threw himself into Lady Vic, knocking her flat as the grenade struck Arrakhat in the head and exploded.

"Comfortable?" Lady Vic looked up at Deadshot from her position beneath him and grinned. Deadshot rolled off of her.

"Slept on better."

"Bastard."

"So my mother tells me." Deadshot got to his feet and gave Arrakhat a burst in the belly as the demon lurched towards them, blind.

Lady Vic snorted and darted past him, her blades punching into the creature's side with no appreciable effect. It lashed out and caught her on the shoulder, sending her skidding across the street.

"How the hell are we supposed to kill this thing?" Plunder shouted.

"We ain't! Just keep him distracted!" Deadshot yelled back. He stood between Burr and Arrakhat, weapons held at shoulder height. Arrakhat shook its head, its sight finally clearing. It snarled as it saw Deadshot in its path.

"Yeah. I know the feeling ugly." Lawton said. "But what are ya gonna do?"

"Die!" Kobra caught the explosive sphere and whipped it back at Fastball. The mercenary stared at the sphere in shock for a few seconds before throwing himself out the window in a panic. The top of the building exploded and a shower of debris followed Fastball to the ground. A silver disk whipped through the air and Fastball grabbed onto it desperately as it hoisted him out of danger.

Kobra watched him rise up, still dangling from the platform and bared his fang-like teeth. The pain in his leg was easing. He gauged the distance of a possible leap. It would feel good to choke the life out of something. Anything.

A bulky form smashed into him from behind.

Kobra twisted sinuously, trying to get a glimpse of his attacker. Bane tightened his grip and forced Kobra to the ground. He hauled him up and slammed him down with jaw rattling force. Kobra wrapped a foot around Bane's ankle and they toppled, Kobra squirming to get on top. A set of stiffened fingers dug into the mercenary's throat and Bane released him, gagging and clutching at his neck. Kobra flipped out of reach, landing in a crouch, eyes narrowed.

"Addict. Brute. I have killed better men than you."

"What about women?"

Kobra whirled even as the sign post shattered against his head, sending him flying. Knockout laughed and tossed aside the splintered wooden pole, her other arm still pressed to her belly.

"Apokalyptians heal fast snake-man. It's either that or die in the Fire-Pits."

Kobra shook his head, trying to clear it. The light metal hood he wore beneath his mask had saved his skull from collapse, but only just. He clambered unsteadily to his feet, looking around for his staff. He spotted it nearby and leapt for it, fingers reaching.

An explosion sent it skittering away and Fastball swooped towards him, knocking him off balance with a boot to his shoulder.

"Bane! He's trying to steal home!"

"Or not." Bane said, his throat rough from Kobra's blow. He grabbed Kobra by the ankle and yanked him backwards. Kobra kicked Bane in the face and narrowly avoided a strike from Knockout that shattered the street. He sprang up, grabbing onto Fastball's platform and swinging up onto it, catching the mercenary in the gut with both his feet. Fastball fell to the street and bounced into the side of a car. Kobra balanced easily on the platform and swept his eyes over its controls. Then, with the proper application of pressure, he caused it to rise. Standing, he glared down at the three villains.

"Well. That was an amusssing diversion. But I am done playing."

Dozens of heavily armed cobra cultists burst out onto the street from hidden trapdoors and passageways located in the surrounding buildings. Kobra smiled. "As I told your leader, I have thousands at my disposal here. Millions worldwide. I simply needed to give them time to reach the surface." He raised a hand, and let it fall.

"Kill them."

Burr was unconscious. Probably due to blood loss. So was Lady Vic. Probably due to the German import Arrakhat had bounced her off of. A thrown scimitar had pinned Plunder to the roof of the building by his costume, his gun out of reach and the sword too hot to pull loose. That left Deadshot holding the bag.

As usual.

He stayed between the demon and its prey, keeping it occupied and angry. His shots didn't hurt it really, but they were apparently annoying as all get out. Arrakhat seemed to have forgotten all about Burr as it lunged and cut, the ugly, evil blade slicing the molecules of the air itself, leaving a stink like burning rubber in its wake.

"Lawton." Mockingbird's voice whispered. Deadshot rolled beneath a swipe from a flaming scimitar.

"Busy."

"Get un-busy. Shoot Burr."

"Again?"

"Yes."

"You're the boss." Deadshot twisted in the air as he avoided another swipe from Arrakhat's blade and put a bullet into the slumped form of Jason Burr. The unconscious body jerked as the bullet smacked into the small of its back.

Kobra screamed a second after he'd given the order to attack and fell from the platform, clutching at his back. He landed heavily and lay still. The cobra cultists halted and stared. Kobra grunted, a painful sound, and tried to lever himself up, but his legs didn't seem to be working. He screamed again and pounded the street with a fist.

"You called?"

Kobra looked up, his teeth bared, eyes blazing. Mockingbird looked down at him.

"You! You did this-"

"Technically, one of our agents did. We merely orchestrated it. The medallion. Hand it to us." Mockingbird's form squatted and held out a glittering hand. Kobra cursed and writhed, trying to stand but the pain overrode even his endurance. Mockingbird waited.

"Give us the medallion or our agent will kill Burr. And unlike death by Arrakhat's hands, it will have lasting repercussions for you."

"I-"

"The medallion."

Kobra ripped the amulet from his throat and hurled it weakly towards the phantasm. It disappeared with a pop.

Across town, Arrakhat shrieked as it felt the hold of its master fade, and a new one superseded it. A voice whispered in its head, commanding it back to the Infernal Oasis, back to Hell, murders unfinished. Arrakhat could not say whether it was pleased or not. It stepped away from the prone form of Deadshot and sheathed its blade. With a snort it seemed to twist in upon itself and vanished in a curl of sulphur, leaving an acrid stink to mark its presence.

Deadshot blinked and lowered his arms.

"Well. That worked out nicely."

"What worked out nicely? What happened? What was that thing?" Plunder snarled, abruptly freed as the sword that had pinned him flared into nonexistence. Deadshot stood and looked down at Burr.

"Never mind that. Get down here and help me."

Back at the market square, Kobra glared up at Mockingbird. "You have what you came for. Return Burr to me. Or kill me and be done."

"What makes you think we came here for the amulet?" Mockingbird said, distorted voice sounding amused. "That was only to get your attention. And to keep your attention, we shall keep Mister Burr. Safe and sound, we assure you. Until such time as we contact you."

"Contact-"

"At that time, we will make you an offer Lord Naga. A proposal."

"And if I refuse this proposal?"

"You won't." Mockingbird said and vanished. Kobra stared at the space where the apparition had been and snarled as a ripple of pain crawled up his spine. It was only temporary, but for now, he was helpless. At the mercy of a faceless enemy. He looked at the three villains his men surrounded-Mockingbird's dogs-and lowered his head.

"Release them."

Later.

"The envelopes contain your pay." Mockingbird said from the monitor screen. "Take it and leave. We will contact you again, should we have need of you. Mister Lawton, you will stay." The monitor went dark.

"Why does Lawton get called after class?" Fastball said, looking around. Deadshot shrugged.

"Maybe I'm just the teacher's pet."

"To hell with that! I thought this was something big! A permanent gig!" Fastball snapped. "Money is good, but regular money is better!"

"Leave it alone." Lady Vic said. "You heard the special effect up there...there'll be more jobs. Enjoy the money and wait for the call." She looked at Lawton. "Course, it'd be more fun if you were along."

"Everything always is."

"I can more than fill his place, my vixen." Knockout said, her fingers running through Lady Vic's hair.

"I'm happy and well-paid, so I won't shoot you." Lady Vic headed for the door. "Touch me again and I can't promise the same."

"Ah well. What about you?" Knockout turned towards Bane. The big man stuffed his envelope in his belt and shrugged.

"I am going home. It is up to you if you wish to follow me."

"That sounds like an invitation."

"It wasn't." Bane followed Lady Vic to the door. He paused and glanced at Deadshot. "Lawton."

"Bane."

"Lawton."

"Bane." Deadshot waved. "You two kids have fun."

"I'm out of here." Plunder said. "Got a job lined up in Gotham."

"Hey! I'm heading that way! You mind if I tag along?" Fastball piped up, his previous mood dissipating as he examined the money in his envelope. Plunder didn't stop.

"Yes."

"Don't be that way."

"What way?"

"That way."

"Stop following me."

"C'mon. It'll be fun. We'll be like Crosby and Hope!"

"What about Stills and Nash?"

"Who?"

"Okay, really. Stop following me. I will shoot you."

"Really? Nah. Come on, we could be a team! Or start our own! We could be the new Cadre! Or the Sinister Six!

"There's only two of us."

"We have to plan ahead, get those merchandising rights..." Their voices faded as the door closed. Deadshot waited for a ten-beat and turned back towards the monitor. He pulled off his mask and lit a cigarette. Then, smoke trailing behind him, he tapped a button hidden under the table. The floor beneath the table sank away and down, carrying him with it. He descended for only a few seconds and the hidden platform juddered to a halt inside a metal walled room, filled with computer monitors and databanks of all sizes and types. Technology from S.T.A.R. labs mingled with Lexcorp, Waynetech and even Thanagarian and Rannian devices.

Mockingbird sat within a control platform, surrounded by smaller monitors and control panels, form shrouded in a hooded cloak. Deadshot blew a puff of smoke. Mockingbird glanced up.

"I asked you not to smoke down here."

"And I asked you not to wear that stupid get-up. I already know who you are. Why play dress-up?"

"Do you really? Are you certain of my identity?"

"Pretty sure."

"Hunh. You are more intelligent than I was led to believe then."

"Nah. Just observant." Deadshot looked around. "What makes you think this is gonna work this time?"

"Is what going to work?"

"This." Deadshot waved a hand. "All this. You tried this before and it all fell apart." Mockingbird laughed.

"Ah. True. But this time...this time, it will truly be a secret."

To be continued in 'SECRET SIX: DEVILS & THE DEEP BLUE SEA' in thirty! Be here or be square!