He didn't know when it started, but the theme song of "Tunnel Warfare" had been looping in Su Ming's head.
Maybe it was after the picnic, when Oliver led them through narrow alleys, over several walls, then found a wooden doghouse, crawled in, and opened a hidden tunnel under it?
Even Su Ming had to admit, hiding a tunnel entrance in a doghouse was pure genius. After all, who would go check if there was a mechanism in some doghouse deep in the docks district? Not even Black Arrow, the villain who knew Green Arrow best, would think of that.
Of course, it would've been even more perfect if it hadn't been a stormy day and they hadn't needed to kick out two stray dogs who were in the middle of mating from their "home."
Su Ming grabbed the two dogs who couldn't be separated, swung them around like a pair of Nunchaku, then flung them onto the roof next door.
That move fully proved he was no animal protectionist. Seeing the tragic state of the strays, Bo Bo quietly swallowed.
But getting into the tunnel wasn't the end of it. For the next several minutes, the group went up and down through the cramped passage, turning left and right. After looping like a game of Snake several times, they finally got where they were going.
"Too suffocating. This tunnel's built so damn narrow, even a Gorilla like me is about to puke."
He really was standing and talking without his back hurting. Among the group, he was the smallest; he could squat and shuffle forward. The other three had to crawl using both hands and feet the whole way.
"It's not so bad. At least it's dry. A submarine airtight door under a doghouse floor is weird as hell, but pretty effective." Diana was in a skirt, so she took the rear of the line.
Su Ming had considered just turning himself fully liquid and leaving only his head floating at floor level, but in the end decided it wasn't worth showing off over something so trivial.
Just reveal a little to boost Green Arrow's confidence. Reveal too much and you're just being an idiot.
The storm brought more than downsides; it also had an upside—if Luthor was trying to monitor them by satellite right now, the thick black storm clouds would block his line of sight.
And Oliver had brought them here precisely to regain the upper hand in intelligence, which made this route mandatory.
"Open the door, Oliver." Su Ming watched Green Arrow's ass swaying in front of him without moving forward and couldn't help urging him.
Oliver's helpless voice came back: "I haven't been here in way too long. The battery that powers the gate's actuator is dead!"
Su Ming sighed. He knew it. Nothing ever went that smoothly.
Bo Bo crawled up from the back, his prone advance textbook-perfect as he wedged his way between Su Ming and Green Arrow to reach the front.
A moment later, he shook his head as well. "Yeah, it's safe all right. But I can't bypass the circuit from this side of the door. Couldn't you have done it like Batman and installed a nuclear Reactor or something in the warehouse?"
Green Arrow shot him a "are you serious?" look, face full of disbelief. "How could I just randomly install something like that? I'm responsible for the safety of the citizens. What if there's a nuclear leak?"
Batman's nuclear Reactor wouldn't leak even if villains shot it with a Weapon, whereas Green Arrow's… it might spring a leak if a blade of grass fell on it…
Su Ming was actually quite satisfied. At least Oliver had a clear understanding of his own bad luck, didn't he?
"Forget it, I'll open the door. This is nothing."
"Back when I built this tunnel, I made it narrow for safety. There's no way us two men can switch places." Green Arrow shrank himself as much as possible, but could only free up enough room for a Gorilla.
Su Ming answered with action. He turned into a puddle of black sludge, only his head—unable to undergo Transformation—floating above the muck.
He slid past the startled Oliver as if it were nothing, red lenses of his Mask blinking with light.
"Sorry, what were you just saying?"
Oliver scooted back a bit to clear space for Su Ming to resume his normal form. "God, is that also Magic? That Magic is way too dark."
"Just think of it as Magic..." Su Ming pulled Godslayer out of his backpack, and the golden glare instantly lit up the dark passageway.
In that moment, he finally realized why he kept getting a weird sense of déjà vu. Weren't they basically like Tomb Raiders crawling through a grave-robbing tunnel?
Where did Green Arrow even learn his feng shui? That "grave passage" sure had been long…
Lost in random thoughts, Su Ming swung his Weapon at the door. Fortunately, it was just a heavy steel gate—if Green Arrow had used Promethium Metal for the door, even Su Ming would've had to put in some effort.
After a burst of sparks, they finally entered a spacious interior. Green Arrow rushed to repair the generator, while Diana was stretching her waist, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
Noticing Deathstroke glance her way, she snapped her hands back from her lower back in a flash. She couldn't let him see her looking weak.
Diana hadn't gotten off easy during the earlier incident either, though it wasn't like she'd never had to fight back-to-back battles before. But for some reason, this time she felt like her skeleton was about to fall apart, her waist and hips aching all over.
To cover up her little movement, Diana forced some small talk, a bit guilty: "Where's your N Metal Greatsword?"
"Lent it to a friend. I've got enough X Metal." As he spoke, Su Ming made a strand of X Metal extend from his palm, squeezed out two drops, and casually kneaded them into little discs.
He handed the silver metal discs to Bo Bo and Green Arrow, motioning for them to stick them to their foreheads. "Prevents Mind Magic control, plus Mind Reading and that kind of thing."
While he'd been having dinner with her, Strangulation had already done a little tampering with her Starlight Crown; otherwise, how could it be that Batman hadn't contacted Wonder Woman in so long?
They just couldn't get in touch, that was all.
Su Ming was doing it for Diana's sake too. Otherwise, if the Justice League needed her at the same time he needed her, how awkward would that be?
With the signal blocked like this, dealing with Groot and Circe would also be safer, and they wouldn't have to worry about being pestered by Can Luo or Megan. Isn't that just perfect?
As long as they didn't stray too far from him, he could keep the X Metal in his body vibrating at a low amplitude, causing these X Metal chips to resonate faintly, and thus stir any Mind System Energy transmission into a total mess.
If Megan tried to contact Diana right now, all she'd probably hear would be "General's Order," right?
Last time, when dealing with the Celestial Divine Species, Su Ming had used X Metal resonance to escape from countless timelines. For every timeline that existed, there was a different Su Ming repeating that action again and again.
Then he spent a few years settling down in Marvel's Hawaii, and his development of X Metal's applications took another step forward. Forget blocking something as special as Mind-based Energy—he felt like he could probably sever Divine Speed and Static Force now too.
He'd have Barry come test it when there was a chance—but he'd have to make sure Batman never found out.
Green Arrow turned the little chip over in his hand, then tucked it under his Mask to cover his brain. The pineal gland should be closer to where thought activity happens, after all.
"But if we do this, won't our teammates be unable to reach us too?" He followed instructions but still had his doubts.
Bo Bo once again stepped up. "That's the last thing you need to worry about. I don't think Batman even remembers you."
Oliver clutched his chest, head tilted back as he blinked rapidly, lips pressed tight. Only after a long while did he lower his head and grit his teeth around a glow stick while he worked on the generator.
This monkey had only been gone a few days—how had his words gotten so savage?!
What a painful realization! The Justice League used to be his everything…