Lost and Left for Dead <THIS HAS BEEN REWRITTEN>

Chapter 3- Failure and Success

An: I think this might be one of the longest chapters I've ever written for a fanfic.

Bialya was founded in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed. The people young and old came from all over the new country to cheer as a new flag was raised; for that one day, Bialya experienced unity and peace between its people.

Ody's eyes, steel in quality and color, hardened when they saw her; and she knew an unanswered question burned on his lips. The look on Jon's face was worse, though: the light frown, and the way his chin tilted down, yet the way his wide blue eyes gazed up at her with not the "what-the-heck-did-you-do, idiot!" glare that she expected, but the simple "I trusted you." let down that hurt so much worse.

It took about a week before the Centrifugal forces of the country caught up with them. Bialya was home to five different ethic groups, four political parties, three different languages, two different belief systems, and one dictator with a ruthless family.

Their knees bit the concrete ground of the monstrous building, and their shoulders brushed one another. The computers- the ones she was supposed to hack- stood behind them. Psimon stood before them, his boots clinking the ground with every step he took. The grin on his face, Meredith noted, didn't reach his eyes. "You failed."

The first Queen Bee died in her first two years of service at the hand of her brother Sumaan. Then Beatriz, sister of the first Queen Bee, murdered Sumaan and gained power. She's stayed head of the government ever since, ruling as the "new and improved" Queen Bee.

Ody snorted. "That's all you have to say?" Meredith didn't turn her head as blood splattered on her face, and a black boot lowered back into her line of vision. "Don't cross me, boy!" His voice was shrill, but there was a low growl behind it. Meredith wanted to shrink back and hide behind the other two, but both her pride and her shame held her in place.

Bialya served as a refuge for criminals, who enjoyed the casinos and fine beaches in turn for the occasional favor. Al-Qawiya, the capital, had a whole side of the city section apart for the Queen's refugees. Meredith and the guys camped out to the left of the back of the criminal's section, keeping right under their noses. They all worked in side of town where the Muslims clumped together, too- which was a little farther to the left of their slum-house.

Jon jutted his chin up, his lips pursed together in a firm line. "Or what?" Meredith stared at the ceiling, or more specifically at the vent that got her in here. Her eyes flew to the guards around them. One held Ody's silver shield, which reflected the light. She had to squint to look at it- didn't Ody say it was magic? That it could block anything... even a mind attack?

The Muslims, in general, were the most opposed to Queen out of the rest of the people for various reasons, making their district the safest place for them to hide. If anyone recognized them, there was a higher chance that they could talk he/she into not turning them in. Plus, if the Queen made a move on the Muslims, then they would be right there to stop it.

Psimon grabbed her cheeks, forcing her attention back to him. "You may be invisible, but these two aren't. She most defiantly isn't... poor little human." He squeezed tighter- his fingers were clammy, or maybe her cheeks were. "Trying to keep up with an Amazon and a Kyptonian- how's that going?... Oh my, are you bleeding? That looks bad,"

Sometimes the villains refused to comply with the Queen, for which the Queen was well-prepared. In the center of the city stood the royal palace. Around the edges- or what were the edges at the time, slums had since expanded farther- stood five lone towers. A signal was communicated from the palace, were the generator for the plasma field was. The towers received the signal and became the barrier between the outside world and Al-Qawyia.