Damon Breaks the Script, and Element Woman Pays for It

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Bang.

Damon placed the female soldier on the table, far away from Laurie, then turned and walked out as if nothing had happened.

What was going on?

Laurie froze for a long while before slowly rising, intending to approach the soldier. But the moment she stood, she heard a sound and immediately shrank back.

She was like a bird startled by the twang of a bowstring.

The door opened.

Damon came in holding the Lasso of Truth. He glanced at Laurie, then searched the female soldier from head to toe before binding her and tossing her onto the floor. The Soviet uniform had clearly been prepared in advance. Whoever had arranged this had been careful; there was nothing on her that could prove her identity.

"Mm..."

The soldier woke faintly after being thrown to the floor. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw the battered, exhausted Laurie.

"You're Silk Spectre, Laurie? Do not worry. I came to rescue you."

Laurie said nothing.

Rescue me?

How was she supposed to rescue anyone like this?

"Speaking of which, why did you not run when you had the chance?" Damon asked Laurie with curiosity. "The door was not locked."

Laurie answered with silence.

Even if she managed to leave this place and somehow make it back to the United States, how was she supposed to face her mother? How was she supposed to face the Comedian?

What he had done to her mother made Laurie want to kill him. But... he was also her biological father.

That complicated, contradictory storm of feeling left her unable to make any decision.

So she had escaped nothing.

So she had stayed.

Damon had only asked casually. His interest quickly shifted back to the female soldier.

The unfortunate woman tried to use her power to break free of the rope. Transforming was possible. Escaping was another matter. The Lasso of Truth was not something so easily broken.

Speaking of which, Diana had become the new God of War. The Lasso of Truth probably no longer affected her, did it?

Damon shook his head slightly. It seemed his earlier concern had been unnecessary. Otherwise, this would not have been the first time he had thought of her in so long.

"What is your name?" Damon asked the soldier with a smile.

"Emily... Emily Sung."

She resisted in terror, yet still answered.

"Identity."

"Codename Element Woman. Affiliated with the CIA."

"Element Woman? Do they know about your ability? How did you get it?"

Emily Sung unwillingly began to explain.

She had originally been an ordinary CIA operative. Later, she participated in a secret experiment under a government program called Project M, and the experiment gave her powers. Afterward, she continued carrying out special and dangerous missions for the CIA.

Government secret experiments were everywhere in Marvel and DC worlds. What interested Damon was that this program's origin was actually connected to the Justice Society of America.

The Justice Society was born during the Second World War, with members such as Hourman, Commander Steel, Obsidian, Stargirl, Doctor Mid-Nite, and Vixen. In 1956, most of its members supposedly died during a mission, which led to the team's dissolution. In truth, Vixen had joined the second lineup of the Legends, while the other members had been sent to different eras to protect fragments of the Spear of Destiny.

The Justice Society disbanded, but research connected to them began.

How could ordinary people be given superpowers?

According to Element Woman, the success rate of those experiments was extremely low, but this could barely be considered a success.

"You?"

Emily Sung stared blankly as Damon untied the strange rope binding her, unable to react.

"You came to rescue her, correct? Take her and go," Damon said casually.

Emily Sung looked at Damon suspiciously.

He was letting them leave just like that?

His expression did not seem false. She turned to Laurie.

"We are leaving."

Laurie did not move.

Emily thought Laurie might be injured or too weak, so she reached out to help her.

Laurie dodged.

"You..."

Emily looked at her in confusion.

Laurie shook her head faintly.

"Thank you for risking yourself to rescue me, but... I do not want to leave yet."

"Are you insane? If you do not leave, are you going to stay here and let him torment you?"

Emily shouted in shock.

Laurie stayed silent for a long moment, then still shook her head.

"I need to stay and think. I need to understand some things."

"You really will not leave?"

Laurie shook her head.

"Fine."

Emily turned toward Damon.

"If she will not go, can I leave?"

"Of course."

Damon pointed toward the door.

Emily Sung did not hesitate. She left immediately.

After leaving the basement and seeing that Damon truly did not stop her, Emily cautiously made her way out of the villa. She had to return and report Damon's situation to her superiors as quickly as possible.

Someone could copy another person's abilities. More than that, he needed no time to master them, and could even wield them with greater power.

A person like that was too dangerous.

They had to understand exactly how his ability worked.

They had to... control him.

Emily Sung left the Soviet Union as fast as she could, returned to the United States, met with her CIA superior, and reported the matter.

What awaited her was not a serious response from the top, but imprisonment.

The reason was simple. Someone suspected that she had failed her mission and fabricated intelligence, and that she might very well have defected.

Absurd?

Perhaps. But no one believed Laurie would refuse to leave after being kidnapped and tortured. No one believed in a strange ability like Damon's either, one that could copy another person's power, master it instantly, and become stronger than the original user.

Was that possible?

If a power like that existed, there should have been some trace of it. Then there was the glowing rope that forced people to tell the truth. It sounded like a fantasy.

Most importantly, Emily could not explain why Damon had not killed or imprisoned her, and had instead let her go so easily.

This was the height of the Cold War. Emily could not explain herself, could not prove her claims, and held a sensitive position. Being locked up for investigation became the natural outcome.

Emily Sung had been wronged.

Under normal circumstances, to preserve secrecy, someone would at least silence a witness, if not kill her outright. Damon, however, had simply let her leave.

He had not followed the script at all.

It was not that Damon had deliberately set her up.

He simply did not care whether anything stayed secret.

What would happen if people learned about him?

At worst, he would copy a few more abilities.

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