Episode 1: Steps
APOKOLIPS: July 5, 00:16 UTC
Vandal Savage stepped through the Boom Tube and into the palace halls of Apokolips. He passed wordlessly by Dessad and Gordon Godfried, standing together and speaking in hushed tones, without breaking stride, not even half glancing their way.
He wasn't here for pleasantries. Not that he was likely to get any on this planet.
He moved out onto the large platform balcony and up to his gracious host, who was standing at the edge looking out at his world. As he walked, Savage reveled in the power around him, relishing in the fact that his own planet would soon be as evolved as Apokolips. He stopped a foot or so behind the ruler of this world.
The immortal was struck with a sense of deja-vu. Standing just behind the great and powerful man was too similar to the many times throughout Earth's history, where he had been the one in the shadows, whispering ideas and plans into the ears of great conquerors and kings. Leading them to strength and victory and power.
But that was in the past. No longer would he stand aside and let the weak rule, not his planet, not his Earth. He would not be content simply guiding the evolution of man. Now, now he would pave the way to the future of mankind.
The hulking, stone-like figure ahead of him turned and held out his hand. Savage did the same. Powerful hands gripped each other firmly at the wrist.
The deal was finished. The bargain made.
"Business as usual."
Theme song!
Batgirl hastily dodged a laser blast that would have fried her black kevlar cape into ashes. She landed smoothly into a roll and whipped a batarang out of her belt, sending it spinning towards the wall-mounted blaster. Upon impact, the device beeped red for a few moments before exploding and reducing the laser to a pile of charred metal debris.
She allowed herself a brief moment of satisfaction before another laser blast from behind almost took her head off.
"Yo, Red, hit the deck!" Lagoon Boy's familiar voice triggered her defensive instincts and, without hesitation, she ducked behind a solitary wall. Chancing a look behind the panel , she saw one of the large, zeta-class robots moving towards her and shooting volley after volley of energy bolts in her general direction.
It was lucky she moved when she did. Moments after her dash for cover, Lagoon Boy's body expanded into a mountain of solid muscle. The Atlantean gave a loud, furious cry before smashing a scaled fist straight through the robot's metal torso.
But the hero wasn't done yet. He grabbed the bot with both hands and, with a spinning toss, pitched it into two more of the approaching robots.
Batgirl rose from her position and moved to stand by Lagan's side as he shrank back to his normal build. He tried to hide it, but the water dweller was clearly exhausted, bent over his hands on his knees and covered in dust and soot alike. Still, Lagan managed a confidence in his voice, even as he struggled to catch his breath.
"This…(gasp)...better not be...the best these guys can throw at us…I'm barely breaking a swea-ahh!" his boast turned to a yelp as Blue Beatle crashed into his back, knocking both boys to the floor.
"Ugh…what was that you were saying ese? I can't hear a thing over the ringing in my ears!" Blue Beatle attempted to pull himself off the ground but had to work to disentangle himself from Lagan's lean limbs. The blue-clad hero rubbed the back of his head, due to more than sheepishness if the pained tone evident in his voice was any indication.
Batgirl helped pull the guys up to their feet, just in time for another round of electronic attacks. Lagan prepared to enlarge again while Batgirl and Blue pulled out their weapons. The robots raised their own lasers, preparing to fire when-
The lights turned on. The robots powered down, and the remaining wall lasers pulled themselves back into the built in compartments.
"Fail: Training group: B" The metallic female voice of the computer resounded through the training room. Batgirl winced at the announcement. It was like the stupid, emotionless thing felt the need to broadcast their shortcomings to the entire world.
The doors to the training room slid open with a metallic hiss, and the three heroes, defeated, walked through the hall, quietly nursing their tired muscles and bruised egos. Their uniforms and bodies were covered in scorch marks and rips, though luckily they knew it was nothing a change of clothes and a long, hot shower wouldn't fix.
Despite their discomfort, the three young heroes did not hesitate to pause at a window, to take in a view that would never grow old. For, far above the Earth, the Justice League Watchtower stood strong, silent and stoic as always, orbiting the Earth like a satellite, waiting to respond to any call for help.
WATCHTOWER: July 7th, 10:22 EDT
Finally, the walk of shame that was the hallway came to an end and a set of doors opened up to one of the many lounges on board, where sofas, chairs and a coffee table eagerly awaited them. Lounged on two of those couches were three other members of their team.
Wonder Girl, Robin and Static all looked just as terrible as Barbara felt. Dirty uniforms, full of rips and scratches made it apparent that they hadn't changed yet, choosing instead to watch her own group try their luck at the Justice League training room. Over the past week the team had been encouraged to try out their skills against the training programs used by the League, and Kaldur had been the quick to suggest that they first tried it in groups so they wouldn't be too overwhelmed.
Just whelmed, she thought humorously, only for the humor to be replaced by sadness at the thought.
"So...how'd we do?" Jaime asked as his Blue Scarab armor shrank and uncovered his civilian clothing. He was still breathing heavy, despite the fact his suit had taken most of the damage.
"Ya…we beat your score…by a mile didn't we" Lagan asked, still gasping for breath. He gratefully took a water bottle offered by Cassie, taking a sip then poured the rest over his head haphazardly. He sighed in relief as the water hit his skin.
"Congratulations, you guys lasted a whole four seconds longer than we did." Virgil or Static, the newest member of the Team, said sardonically. He was spread out on one of the sofas, with his blue baseball hat pulled down halfway over his eyes.
"So, between the six of us, our total time comes to…eight minutes and twenty two point three-two-five seconds." Robin, the snarky little brat that he was, piped up without tearing his eyes away from his laptop screen. Batgirl did not appreciate the sarcasm.
"Oh come on, we can't even break the ten-minute mark?" Barbara felt the frustration build in her gut.
"Ugh! I know! The seniors make it look so easy, too. Did you see Conner in there this morning, he was going strong solo even after twenty minutes!" Cassie's hands combed through a handful of her hair again and again, a nervous gesture that Barbara was sure the Wonder Girl had picked up from Dinah.
Batgirl felt like saying something, whether it was going to be inspiring or depressing she wasn't sure, but she was saved by the watchtower intercom going off and Kaldur's voice resonating throughout the lounge. Robin (finally) looked up from his laptop and Static sat up, pulling his hat up over his dreadlocks.
"Gamma, Report to briefing room C." the teens glanced at each other briefly and pulled themselves painfully, to their feet. After taking a heavenly moment to groan unanimously, they set off towards the briefing room as instructed.
Kaldur was waiting for them when they arrived. He was busy pulling up their data files on the Light and Vandal Savage onto the large holoscreens, not even bothering to acknowledge them before starting to inform them of the situation.
"Given the internal damage suffered by The Light during the aftermath of the reach invasion, including the arrest of The Brain, Deathstroke, and Black Manta…" Kaldur pulled up stills of the mentioned villains, each with the word 'Incarcerated' in big red letters across the photo.
Barbara ignored the tiny hesitation in Kaldur's voice when Black Manta's picture came up. She had the feeling the others noticed too, and she was grateful that everyone had enough tact to know that it was still to soon to bring it up with Aqualad. Kaldur continued the briefing.
"As well as the heavy injury suffered by Ra's al Ghul, which should leave him out of action…for now at least." As Kaldur spoke, he brought up an image of the assasin lord. This picture had 'Location Unknown' written over it in the same red print as the others.
Once again, no one pointed out what they all knew to be true. They had no idea exactly how long "for now" was, Ra's al Ghul had the bad habit of outrunning death at every turn, and however long he was out for would probably be shorter than expected.
"As we stand now," Kaldur continued, "Vandal Savage's next move will be impossible to predict with any kind of certainty. But yesterday we came across a very promising lead." He pulled up a video file as the other six listened wordlessly.
The footage was shot from the upper corner of some kind of laboratory. The time stamp said two thirty this morning. She and Robin had found it while fishing through news reports and police files the night before, during a coffee break. The quality of the video was terrible (cheap security cameras, she thought to herself, an annoyed frown tugging at her lips), but the interesting part was still clear enough to make out.
About a ten seconds into the footage, a swirling, white portal appeared a little ways away from a wall. A few seconds passed, and three or four shadowy figures made their way through the the swirling mass. They were large and lizard like, with long limbs and longer claws, small heads and sweeping tails. But beyond that very little detail could be made out, the room was dark aside from the backlight of the portal, and the intruders were hidden in shadows. The figures immediately spread out, searching the room, frantically pulling open drawers and knocking over tables. This continued for mere moments, before one of the creatures caught sight of the camera.
It stared at it for quite some time, and the quality of the screen was just good enough to make out chilling, yellow eyes wide and unblinking. Then, as suddenly as the portal had appeared, it pulled out a handgun sized mechanism (which Barbara assumed was some kind of blaster) and shot the camera.
Electric snow filled the screen.
Aqualad shrank the window down and pulled up an image of the newspaper that had covered the break in. The headline read "THIRD GEOLOGY LAB ROBBED!", and the paper was complete with a large photo of the trashed laboratory, obviously taken several hours after the robbery itself.
"Stolen rocks? That's the best lead we can come up with?" Barbara rolled her eyes at Lagan's incredulous tone and elbowed him in the side. The satisfying grunt was interrupted by Aqualad. He cleared his throat and reclaimed the attention of the room.
"This is the first sign we have had of The Light since the Reach invasion ended. To go to such extreme measures for apparently such meager gain? We need to investigate." Kaldur gave Lagan a scolding look and the younger Atlantean had the decency to look abashed.
"How do we even know it was them?" Jaime questioned, "I mean, it could be any small time crook."
Robin was shaking his head before Blue had even finished speaking. "The portal that you saw? It's an exact match of a blueprint for a transportation system we managed to take from The Light a while back. So either it's them, or it's someone they supply to."
"Or," Barbara interrupted, "it's someone who stole it from them."
Robin acknowledged her with a nod. "Either way, it's a connection."
Kaldur nodded at Robin meaningfully, tilted his head in a gesture. Barbra could see Tim take a deep breath to prepare himself before he walked up to the screen.
He tapped out a few commands before three photos of different buildings pulled up on the screen, along with a few catalogues of mineral identification.
"So far all three robberies have occurred at labs or private collections that work on the identification of unknown rocks and minerals. And as far as anyone can tell, only the still unidentified samples have been taken. We're pretty sure that this is their next target." He pulled up a forth location, a large compound of white buildings on a grass covered hill above a rocky beach. "A StarLabs facility outside of Coos Bay, Oregon."
"Robin will be running Gamma, your mission is to find out exactly who is committing these thefts, and what they are after. Engage only if necessary." Kaldur looked at them meaningfully before continuing with a slight, supportive smile on his face that was obviously meant to relax them. Barbara could feel it working.
"Call for backup if you feel the need." He shut down the holo-screen, and addressed them a final time. "And watch out for each other. I fear this is the beginning of a whole new strategy. We have to stay sharp until we know exactly what we are dealing with.
COOS BAY: July 8th, 04:59 EST
Robin had developed a love-hate relationship with being squad leader.
On one hand; he was in charge! With all the responsibility of the mission on his shoulders alone.
On the other hand; he was in charge! With all the responsibility of the mission on his shoulders alone.
He always felt the need to remind himself that Robin could handle that kind of responsibility. But then he would realize that maybe, just maybe Tim Drake wasn't ready for that much pressure.
Sometimes when he was feeling really depressed, he would watch old footage of Dick when he had been Robin. It discouraged him even as it inspired him. Tim saw Dick as the golden standard of 'Robin-Hood', as Barbara had once called it when he had confided in her, and Tim wanted more than anything to live up to that standard.
Maybe that's what having an older brother is like…
He shook himself out of his thoughts and tried to focus on the matter at hand, activating the comm in his ear.
"Report, any sign so far?" he ignored the pointed look from Barbara, who was keeping watch in the tree branch above him.
"No trouble down deep, Minnows." Came from Lagoon Boy and Blue Beetle, who were keeping watch from the shore below the laboratory. But after five long hours of nothing, they were instead passing the time by skipping rocks along the surface of the ocean.
"No sign of anything…just like the last ten times we checked in." Cassie grumbled under her breath from where she and Static lounged around in the camouflaged bioship.
"We can't even be sure that this is the place that's gonna get hit next, right?" Static was perched on one of the seats, absently creating little pictures in the air with his electricity, a bird, a fish, a tic-tac-toe game. He was the first to question the solidarity of this plan...the first in the last hour anyway.
Back at the beach, Jaime leaned back against a rock with his arms crossed behind his head. He absent mindedly watched Lagan throw another rock into the sea. Eleven skips, which, according to the fish boy, was about the Atlantean average. Upon hearing Static's complaint, he activated his own comm and answering back.
"Dude, Kaldur said this was our best bet for some action. So we wait and see-" he was cut off by the metallic voice of the Scarab buzzing in the back of his head.
"Apokaliptain energy detected. Preemptive action is advised!" Jaime felt the wings on his suit expand and the sonic canon on his arm build itself from the Blue Beatle armor. He jerked to his feet and looked up the side of the cliff, toward the laboratory.
"Heads up guys, we got Apokalitian energy readings heading our way." No sooner had he spoken, several of the lab windows lit up with a white flash.
Robin pulled the binoculars from his face before leaping gracefully down from the tree.
"Move in."
The hallway was long and dark and quiet...at least, it was before some certain teenagers ruined the peace. A feminine "Ouch, watch it!", followed by a metallic bong, and a male voice replying "Ow! You watch it!" echoed from the ceiling or, more specifically, from the air vents.
An electric field unscrewed the vents and gently lowered the grate to the ground, and Supergirl's head popped out of the opening, long blond hair pulled by gravity far beyond her head. And, just like that, any remnants of stealth that the team might have had was gone.
"Coast's clear!" She squeaked in a whisper that was both quiet and loud at the same time. She let herself drop from the ceiling, twisting midair to land on her feet.
Virgil opted to just come down the standard way, dropping from the vent feet first. Upon landing he used his powers to refasten the vent cover. Then he looked to Cassie for orders. He felt that, despite his time with The Runaways, she had far more experience at the whole 'Mission' thing than he did.
"Now where?"
Wonder Girl looked thoughtful as she glanced down both ends of the hallway, but before she could make a decision, a loud crash! along with a low scratchy growl came from the left. The two young heroes glanced at each other.
"That way." they spoke simultaneously, and pointed down the hall before dashing down into the darkness.
On the opposite side of the building, Robin plugged his hologlove into the buildings mainframe. The hard light screen above his forearm showed the surveillance feeds from six cameras, and none of them showed anything but empty hallways.
Batgirl made her way stealthily back into the room. She had been checking the other rooms in the wing for anything suspicious, and now she looked at the newest Boy Wonder with an unsatisfied frown decorating her face. Tim felt his anxiety and frustration building.
"Ugh! There's nothing here! There has to be something! Blue Beetle, are you sure that the scarab picked something up?" At the last sentence he activated his com and called over the radio. His frustration leaked into his voice, and even Robin himself could hear the nervous strain behind his words.
"I'm telling you man, I did pick something up!" The crackle of the earwig only seemed to solidify Blue Beetles sureness.
"And don't forget that we all saw that freaky lightshow." Lagoon Boy added as he and Blue Beetle turned the corner and came to yet another empty lab. Jaime tried flicking the light switch a few times but it did no good. Lagan swung his flashlight around the dark, abandoned space. It fell upon a few desks full of unlabeled rocks and a pile of picture guidebooks for mineral classification.
"This is definitely the right place, but it looks like nothings been taken yet." He turned to his teammate of whom the comment had been aimed at, despite the comm being on.
Blue Beetle walked around the room slowly. Scarab scanned for any unusual energies, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Nothing ese. Whatever I was picking up, it's not here now." Jaime looked out the window. The moon was high and the sky was clear. Coupled with the view of the rocky beach and the ocean, it was pleasant.
Something wasn't right.
It was too perfect, too peaceful, and his gut said they weren't alone.
He was turning back to Lagan to relay his hunch when he saw it.
A shadowy silhouette running down down the hall past the door way. The silhouette of a big, scalesd and long tailed something. His reflexes took control.
"There!" The wings of his armor snapped open and he was flying down the hall after the figure in a split second. He could hear Lagan following close after him on foot while radioing the others, telling them that they had found their target.
"We've got visual," he breathed frantically, "pursuing down the south hall. And whatever this thing is, it's definitely not human."
That was the understatement of the year. It was still eerily dark, with only the dim moonlight from the windows and the dull beam of the now wildly swinging flashlight illuminating the hall, but they could still make out the gruesome details.
It wasn't pretty. It looked a bit like, Jaime realized, a part lizard, part robot and part piranha, mutant hybrid.
The stuff of nightmares. And, coming from someone who faced evil every other day, this was saying a lot.
They came to a T in the hallway, and the thing, instead of racing left or right, leaped onto the wall in front of it then spring boarded off and straight toward Blue Beetle, its razor sharp claws at the ready.
Jaime had no warning, and no time to dodge the attack. The thing rammed into him, forcing him to the ground. The air was knocked from his lungs, accompanied by a cry of pain as he skidded across the hard tile floor, the creature on top of his chest, its weight pushing on Jaime heavily. His eyes shut in reflex, and when he did manage to open them again he was confronted with a horror show.
Gold metal clashed against vomit green scales and neon blue veins. A metal helmet covered the things eyes, but the creature's large mouth, full of razor white teeth, was free to wrestle with Jaime's desperate arms in an attempt to, presumably, bite his head off.
Blue Beetle managed to force his forearm under the thing's neck in order to keep it from chewing on his face, while his other hand got a hold of one of the thing's wrists. The monster kept thrashing and clawing at him almost urgently.
Out of nowhere, however, the beast reared up and off of Blue Beetle's body. It was suddenly much more interested in Lagoon Boy, who had been pulling on its tail in a desperate attempt to save his friend.
"Hey, hammerhead! Mess with someone your own size!" Lagan's body expanded at the line. The two were about the same size now, though the lizard thing may have had an edge with the extra limb, the tail that was still tightly gripped in Lagoon Boy's webbed hands.
The creature let out a loud and very angry shriek that had Jaime covering his ears. It then leapt back and smashed claws-first into Lagan. The two fell backwards, crashing through one of the hallway's walls.
Stone and dust rained around Blue Beatle, who was still stunned in a ball on the floor. He might have stayed frozen there indefinitely if an electric version of his own voice hadn't buzzed through his mind at that very second.
"Jaime Reyes! You must engage! Our enemy is of Apokoliptian Origins: Not Compatible."
That certainly snapped him out of his brain freeze. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, then forced himself to rise to his feet and start moving. His entire body shook with adrenalin, and his steps were wobbly. Finally he managed to lean against the new hole in the wall. He could hear the fight carrying on in the near distance, and he could just about make out the shadowy forms. He couldn't tell who was winning.
His hand finally steadied enough for him to activate his comm.
"Guys we're engaged with the creature; we need backup fast. We're in the south hall near the-"
"Sorry but kind of have our hands full here." Cassie had to cut him off while she could from where she was trapped in the arms of a super gross, super ugly robot lizard thing.
She had been pounding her free fist against the things face when the request for backup buzzed into her ear. Those monster things were really strong. And, apparently, punch resistant.
Jaime's voice trailed to the back of her mind as she was forced back into battle. The creature tossed her into the ceiling, directly into an inset light fixture. The sting of glass shards and the burn of electricity shot through her before she landed in a smoking heap on the floor.
She recovered quickly, however, and managed to roll out of the way as the monsters closed fists closed in on her. The tile twisted and cracked under the force, and a large crater was left in the exact spot her head had been not three seconds before.
"Uhm, gulp…" she thought outloud nervously.
She flew backwards as it made another swipe at her with its claws. The thing growled, annoyed with the resistance, but before it could try again a metal chair and a computer screen flew into the monster's head. It stumbled, stunned for a split second, before it turned toward her the source of the meager attack.
Her partner, Static, was surrounded by a light blue field of electricity. His face was determined as he shot out his hands and a literal wave of electric energy slammed into the monster. The creature went colliding into a wall of computers, then fell to the ground, stunned again. The electronics crashed on top of its still form.
Cassie was impressed, and was about to say as much when she looked back at Virgil and saw him leaning heavily against one of the lab tables. He had obviously exhausted himself with such a massive explosion of power.
"Oh my gosh! Are you ok?" She flew to his side and pulled one of his arms over her shoulder for support. He shuddered and leaned into her as he tried to collect himself, though he did manage to give her a cocky grin.
"That depends, did I win?"
Cassie chuckled at his cheek. Up until now she hadn't really known what to make of Virgil Hawkins. She didn't know him very well, and there had not been a lot of time recently to try and get to know him in a casual "not in uniform" setting. His time in the "employment" of Lex Luthor and the chrysalis thing aside, he had never been on a mission before. They had done some training together since the end of the invasion, but he had always been a bit quiet and obviously a little nervous around them, still unsure of his role amongst all the famous heroes.
But she was finding herself starting to like his optimism and tendency to joke his troubles away. She had a feeling that he would fit in with the team just fine.
Before she could say anything supportive, however, the creature burst out again from under the pile of broken electronics, it's body still twitching in response to the electric attack. Despite this, it barely paused as it barred its claws and fangs at them, letting out a loud snarling roar as it rushed at them again.
Cassie groaned, annoyed. "This thing doesn't give up."
Half a building away, Blue Beetle shot another sonic blast at the creature. It raised its arms in defense, though the force still pushed it back a foot or so. Other than that, there was little effect...that is until Lagan punched him straight in the snout when it looked up again. There was a satisfying crunch and the creature fell back, straight into a window. A rain of glass shards and twisted metal followed the creature as it landed brutally on the rocky ground surrounding the building. As the boys watched, curiously, it twitched a bit, then a burst of electricity ran through its body, effectively stopping it moving at all.
Jaime whistled appreciatively while Lagan tried to catch his breath and reached for his comm.
"Ok, one down. We totally had that handled." Before he could say anything else, though, Robin's voice both echoed from his ear and from a small way behind him.
"Good, then you can help us handle this one!" He and Batgirl practically leapt through the broken door. The bird turned to toss a pair of birdarangs at yet another snarling mutated monster that was pursuing the pair.
The small explosions in its face caused the beast to slip on the dusty tiles, and slide past the open doorway and down the hall. The ear-bleeding sound of razor sharp claws on tile was painful, but it at least gave the young heroes a few seconds to regroup.
"What are these things?!" Batgirl asked as she pulled her grappler into one hand and a batarang into the other.
"Scarab says they're from Apokolips. I think they're some kind of foot soldiers, maybe." Jaime readied his cannon as he relayed the little bit of the information that the Scarab had been able to uncover. Lagoon Boy had expanded his body in preparation for another battle and Robin pulled his collapsible bo staff from his belt. His expression was grim.
The creature jumped through the doorway, landing with a thud, and made to pounce on them when something equally as large and loud crashed through the ceiling and landed on top of the monster. The combined weight of the two monsters, and the force in which the second had been hit with, was too much for the floor below and, with a loud crash, the floor shattered and ripped open under the burden. The two monsters disappeared in the darkness of the room below. And judging by the sound of things, neither one was moving.
Jaime swore quietly in spanish.
"Oh sorry, did we interrupt?" Wondergirl floated down from the hole in the ceiling, Static followed down a second later on his flying disc. Both looked satisfied, but also simultaneously dirty, bruised and tired.
All six heroes moved to examine the large hole in the floor.
It was almost pitch black. Lagan had long ago lost his flashlight, so Robin and Batgirl each pulled out one of their own from their belts and shone beams of light into the darkness below. Judging by the metal pipes lining the walls and the large wooden crates stacked all over, it was a storage space of some kind.
"Soooo, we drawing straws to see who goes first? Or-?" Jaime didn't get to finish as a peircing, high pitched ringing suddenly filled his ears. Lights sizzled on and off as Blue Beatle fell to the ground, his hands clawing over his ears. He yelled in pain as the scarab's voice filled his mind.
"Not Compatible! Not Compatible! Not Compatible!" Over and over, again and again until the words blurred into one scathing, emotionless noise. The sound ripped through his brain, shredding his thoughts until all he could contemplate was the pain.
"Blue! What's wrong?" Cassie, on her knees, clutched at the teen's hand as he writhed on the floor. Lagoon Boy attempted to hold the armored hero down, though it did little. The ringing sound was heavy around them, but apparently only painful to Blue Beetle.
A deep throated chuckle came from the open door, and the conscious heroes tensed and surrounded their fallen comrade. A tall and lean humanoid silhouette stepped into the dimly lit laboratory, an intimidating aura surrounding it.
The being looked to have been made for the sole purpose of combat. He was tall and imposing, arms and legs both corded with muscles on top of muscles. Olive skin contrasted against the dark green armor that covered his legs and his chest. His arms were bare except for a set of green gloves with spikes on the knuckles. A literal mane of glossy black hair surrounded a face in a way that looked more lion than human, and the unnaturally pointed ears that poked out and the yellow, fanged teeth only strengthened the effect.
One massive hand fondly patted a device on his belt, black, red and silver with bits of circuitry running across the surface. It buzzed away as the tone emanating from it continued.
"Reach technology, truly pathetic against the power of Apokolips." the large man boasted as he watched Jamie cried out again, the sound getting louder.
The realization that the cause of their teammates pain was the person before them took only a second, and to defend their comrade, the heroes moved to action as one.
Robin and Batgirl both threw a set of bird/batarangs at the remote. But the man raised his other arm to defend the device. The bat weapons went off, the concentrated explosions combusting against his arm, but when the smoke cleared there wasn't even a scratch on the man's skin.
"So you humans are what have given my Parademons such trouble?" The fanged smile only grew as the team fell into battle stances.
Wonder Girl, forever strong of heart if not always strong of self control, was still pumped from her victory over the attacking monsters (or, as they were newly named, Parademons), and was now raging because this wacko was hurting her friend.
"Who are y-!"
But a new noise, a loud screeching one, interrupted her. One of the Parademons crashed up through the ground floor. Neon blue liquid dripped down from cuts on its limbs, one of its wings was gone altogether and one arm fell uselessly on its joint, but still it stood.
In its working arm, it clutched a small metal case. About as big as a laptop, but a few times thicker. It crouched, and the team got ready for an attack, but it seemed the feral, mindless creature that they had battled before had vanished, and it instead knelt to the ground before the dark figure at the doorway.
He took the metal case from the kneeling Parademon and opened it, took a quick look inside then snapped it shut. He smiled at the cowering creature before him kindly, then in one deadly movement backhanded the half dead beast into the wall behind him. The Parademon smashed through the thin inner walls like butter, going through three walls before stopping. Broken and beaten, it lay on the floor of an office space.
"Such pathetic bugs" He said with a superior smirk. It took Cassie all of two mili-seconds to realize that he didn't mean the monster he had just launched halfway through the building, but was talking about her and her friends.
"Who you calling a bug!" she flew at the guy, fully intending to ram her fist straight through his stupid face-
But he caught her fist. Mid flight, just like she was nothing, he had stopped her. She managed to cover up the flash of shock by pulling back her other fist for a close up strike and-
He caught that fist too, in a horrifying parody of a friendly handholding.
She struggled for a moment, suddenly scared. She pulled desperately against the hands that held her captive, going as far as to fly backwards in an attempt to put some distance between them, but he only brought her closer. Right up close so she was mere centimeters from his face.
"Normally such insolence would bring my endless wrath down upon you." He growled, then, for the first time, he seemed to acknowledged the young heroes as more than 'pathetic bugs', and a look that was a cross between amused and annoyed made it's way into his face.
When he slammed her against the wall. The hit stunned her. He was strong, stronger even than the Parademons. He continued to speak.
"Yet I will indulge your question. For it is your last."
But she didn't have time to make head or tails of what he was saying before he tossed her across the laboratory and into the exterior facing wall. The plaster cracked under the pressure, though she didn't quite go through the wall, the unfortunate reason being the support beam that she could feel under the metal and steel.
As she fell forward and hit the ground, she had a vague impression of glass and dust dancing around her. A superior voice surrounded her.
"Know that it is the mighty Kalibak of Apokolips that will destroy you, and this planet."
Cassie's vision went dark.
COOS BAY: July 8th, 05:09 EST
There was a stunned second of shock and disbelief. Wonder Girl, the same Wonder Girl that had stood against Devistation, Mongol of Warworld and had even held her own against Black Beetle and the entire Reach army…
had gone down in less than five seconds.
Then the shock was gone and the anger hit them hard.
Then were moving.
Then they were attacking.
And then they were losing.
Lagoon Boy grew to full size and managed to get a few hits in, but they didn't even seem to faze Kalibak. With a backhanded hit to his expanded chest, the Atalantian was knocked up into the ceiling. He flew upwards, up at least three stories, and then back down again. When Lagan fell to the ground a good chunk of cement and metal fell down with him, knocking him out. The light of the rising sun seeped into the room from the top floor ceiling. The fish boy groaned but didn't move any further.
Static threw every metal object he could reach with his powers at the beast man. Chairs and desks and computers, even whole cabinets bent to the boy's will as he tried to subdue the enemy. But he was already tired, and was fighting a losing battle with unconsciousness.
Robin and Batgirl tossed more explosives at him. Then closed in for combat. Robin's bo staff hit the side of Kalibak's face, only for him to grab the staff and fling it and the Boy Wonder across the room and straight into Static. Both boys tumbled to the ground.
Kalibak paused a moment to savor his superiority, but then noticed a small beeping device on his shoulder. Before he could move the gadget detonated and a green smoke surrounded the Apokoliptian.
Batgirl used the opening and launched her grappler at the alien. Robin had recovered enough to do the same.
Tangled up in two separate lines Kalibak seemed trapped, but before the Team could even dare to hope that they had a chance, Kalibak managed to get a grip of Batgirls's line and whipped her around and straight into Robin. With both cables loosened, Kalibak easily slipped free-
Only to be blasted from behind. He stumbled forward under the onslaught of energy. Blue Beetle had recovered from the Apokoliptian sound weapon. Kalibak reached for his machine, the one that had been keeping the Beetle down, but to his astonishment it was gone. Jaime wasn't flying just yet, but he was doing all he could to keep the fight going in their favor.
Kalibak took a step back and reached for his fatherbox. Only for it to be gone from its place at his belt as well.
"Looking for this?" Batgirl mocked as she held up and waved the transportation device, along with the sound box.
Kalibak grit his fanged teeth, whether it was due to annoyance at being outmaneuvered, or because of the strain of holding against Blue Beetle's ongoing blast attack, no one could tell.
But he managed to grab an overturned desk and lob it in the beetle's direction. Blue managed to avoid it, but it did distract him enough to give Kalibak the opening he needed to charge and punch Blue Beetle in the chest. The young hero flew back into a pile of tables, but quickly started to pull himself back on his feet.
Kalibak glanced around the destroyed room. Batgirl and Robin were back on their feet each pulling out more gadgets from their belts. Lagoon Boy had expanded again and was pulling himself out of the rubble around him. Blue Beetle was trembling with fatigue but on his feet and readying another blast, and Static was supporting a shaky but quickly recovering Wonder Girl to her feet.
Kalibak laughed. These children were stubborn, he would give them that. But they were nothing compared to his strength, and, as he had realized at the beginning of this battle, children. Lacking the experience and resolve that only true warriors combat could grant. They were already battered and broken, and he hadn't even begun to take theoffensive. He laughed at how absurd the odds truly were
"Ha! You are the young heroes that Vandal Savage gave so much credit. You think you can stand against the might of Apokolips? This isn't even a fraction of my full strength." Outnumbered he may be; he would be victorious. But, he remembered, he had more important things to do than indulge these bugs in battle. Unfortunate, he had been almost enjoying himself.
"I could easily bring each of you insects to your knees, begging for me to kill you while I make your deaths last for days." He activated a switch on his gauntlet.
"But I have been ordered to show restraint."
A bright red light started flashing from the Parademon that Kalibak had knocked into the wall, another from the darkness of the hole in the ground. A piece of the unconscious creatures' armors flashed, as did the same piece of armor on the Parademon that had been knocked outside. The rapidly flashing lights were accompanied by the familiar accelerating beeping that only ever accompanied a bomb.
"So I show restraint." He activated something at his belt. Then smiled at the young heroes. "By only killing you."
The explosion destroyed most of the compound. For several miles around the sound of the blast could be heard, and the resounding fireball of devestation could be seen from several boats out at sea.
A fiery implosion forced the structure inward. Metal and concrete twisting and collapsing in on itself and compressing into the absence of space at the center of the blast.
Then a secondary surge of energy blasted outward. Burning heat and electricity moving along the quickest path outward. Metal acting as conduits for the seemingly endless waves of power.
Flame and electricity fused together in a terrifying firestorm of destruction. Metal bent and burnt under the heat and pressure. Stone and cement melted then crumbled as the shockwave passed.
Then only fire remained.
COOS BAY: July 8th, 05:28 EST
Crushed concrete and red hot iron rod was all that remained as the fire burned all around. Any traces of shattered glass or broken wood had burned up in the aftermath of the fire. Only ash and melted puddles of liquid glass remained. Dust and debris continued to swirl around the now toxic air.
Something moved. Near the edge of the devastation a blue electricity field faded away as the metal around it fell harmlessly to the ground. Static all but fell face first in the dirt from his exhaustion, the barrier that he had held to cover him, Batgirl and Robin having taken up the last of his energy. From behind part of a large stone wall that had been held in place against the force, Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle and Lagoon Boy pushed what was left of their barrier up and away from them and their companions right before they also fell to the ground inches from unconsciousness.
All six heroes were exhausted, dirty and covered in wounds, ash and blood.
But they were all alive.
Barely. The word absently floated through Robin's pain addled mind. He couldn't think straight, but a flash of light from beyond the wall of debree around them forced him to refocus. Still, he could see the black edges working in on his vision.
"Get… down..." Robin whispered and gestured desperately, though he knew that his team was either out cold or in absolutely no shape to move. Another bright flash of white light and a thrumming that sounded like the boom of thunder echoed around them. Robin painstakingly raised his head from the debris to see through a gap in the wall of wreckage surrounding them, covering them, hiding them.
Standing there, appearing completely unharmed apart from a few dust stains on his skin, was Kalibak. He stepped up to the portal, the metal briefcase and his fatherbox both in his hands once again.
Kalibak turned in Robin's direction, obviously pleased with himself, and Robin had a horrible certainty that Kalibak knew exactly where they were, and that they had survived. But the alien only laughed, a laugh that was amused in its sadistic enjoyment of pain and suffering.
"The Light has clearly overstated the abilities of you young heroes, just as you have underestimate the power or Apokolips." He turned away and disappeared into the white energy portal. A moment later the feedback loop stopped, and the portal vanished too.
Robin's vision went blurry. He rolled to his back, grunting and groaning the whole way, then collapsed. He could see the sun rising over the ocean around them. It was a beautiful sight, ruined by the reality that sank into him as the night faded out and the daylight made itself known.
They had lost.
Badly.
His scattered and hurt mind scrambled to make sense of the situation. The team was hurt, their enemy had escaped and an entire Starlabs facility had been destroyed in the process.
Robin's shaky hand rose to his ear. He activated his comm on muscle memory alone, his brain to out of focus to actually think about the task.
"Robin to Watchtower." his voice was shaky and scratched, from the explosion and the smoke most likely. Or maybe injuries. Blood loss? Was he bleeding? He didn't know, couldn't tell. His brain only working on half speed. There was darkness at the edges of his vision.
"Requesting-" a series of ragged coughs interrupted his voice. The dark edges were bigger now. He was so tired. So, so tired.
"Requesting, backup…" Robin leaned back against the earth as darkness filled his vision and he passed out.
There was silence, save for the dying fires around them and the distant sounds of the ocean below.
And that was the scene that the League arrived to, not five minutes later. The sun shined down on the Heroes of Earth as they looked in shock and horror at the devastation left behind, as they rushed the broken and beaten forms of their sidekicks to the watchtower for medical treatment.
WATCHTOWER: July 11th, 12:31 EST
"Well, all things considered," Static coughed up another bit of insulation "I think that mission didn't go too badly." He felt a lot worse than he now looked. After changing into a hospital gown he could really appreciate the extent of the damage to his new uniform. Full of burn holes and claw gashes. Virgil himself had several cuts and scrapes all over himself, though they were now covered in bandages.
Cassie had woken first and Lagan soon after, but they were all pretty down. They had been out for almost two days. They had basically blown the mission, along with a full research facility, into smithereens.
"You are all alive, and at the end of the day, that is all that matters." That was what Kaldur and the Black Canary had said once they were all conscious. This had comforted Virgil, but he didn't think his folks would feel the same. They were still nervous about the whole superhero thing, after all. He doubted this would do much to help their views.
Robin glared at him from down the row of medical beds, but it had a somewhat lessoned effect with his sunglasses on. His left ankle was now in a brace. Not broken, just a bad sprain according to Red Tornado, and three of his ribs were bruised. Fun. He was about to let the new kid know exactly what he could do with his optimism when a petite but an impossibly strong pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders.
His girlfriend, Cassie (that was still such an exhilarating thought). She looked at him so kindly now. Supportive and full of relaxed confidence. Even covered in bandages and missing one of her earings.
"Oh come on Boy Blunder!" only she could get away with calling him that without getting a punch in the nose) "It could have gone a lot worse and you know it!" she almost punched him in the arm to emphasize her point but she caught herself just in time. Then sheepishly giggled as she returned to her own medical bay across from him.
Batgirl, Lagoon Boy, and Blue Beetle also lay in or sat on beds. None of them were in great shape, but not the worst. Heavy bruising, dislocations, contusions, cuts and minor concussions were the worst of what they had to deal with.
The league was handling PR as far as the demolished laboratory. Gas explosion, he was pretty sure was the story the media was going with.
Cassie was right, it could have been a lot worse. But still… a growl of frustration built up in his throat.
"Gruh! But we still don't even know what they were after." Robin gripped his hair. They had survived only to have failed. They didn't know what was going on, they didn't know why the thefts had happened, they didn't even know what the rocks had to do with anyth-.
"Actually…" Barbra's voice was dripping with smug satisfaction as she pulled something out from her utility belt and held it up between her thumb and forfinger.
A small, rough, light red rock about the size of a golf ball.
WATCHTOWER: July 11th, 14:32 EST
"I managed to grab it from one of the Parademons that chased us." Kaldur's dark hands explored the mineral as he listened to Batgirl. He didn't recognize the material, that disturbed him, though not as much as the enemies that Gamma described.
Kaldur stood at the head of a horseshoe table, while Gamma, still exhausted from their mission, sat around each other.
The meeting hall of the Watchtower was silent. Most Leaguers were off on other missions, and so all was quiet save for the hum of the stations engines. Despite everything, the noise put Aqualad on edge, reminding him too much of his time with his father on the submarine.
"It's definitely not from Earth ese, Scarab's been going on and on about how 'not compatible' it is, so we think that it might be from Apokolips." Kaldur didn't say anything in response to Jamie as he set the odd stone back into its metal container.
"This material, along with these new adversaries, are concrete proof of what we have feared." He looked away from the squad and out the window into the forest gardens of the Watchtower.
He couldn't see it from here, but he knew that past the tall trees the memorial garden lay hidden and safe. Safe in remembrance to those lost souls who had sacrificed everything in order to protect the world.
A love lost, and a best friend taken. And that was just for him, the people that had been lost...they had touched countless lives. He turned back to the team.
"Vandal Savage still remains priority. But we can not ignore this new threat. Nor can we ignore the very real probability of an alliance between these enemies." Kaldur sighed, it was like deja-vu, in a bad way. But he would not let it discourage him. He would continue, he would keep going.
"Remain alert and aware of everything. We may not know much, but we will learn all we can." He picked up the metal box that contained their only clue to what Savage and now the Apokoliptans were after.
"Today, was just the beginning of a whole new war."
APOKOLIPS: July 11, 14:35 UTC
Dessad was in his laboratory. Working on a few projects as he often did with his time. He poured a glowing blue liquid from a glass tube onto a small fury faceless creature. The pathetic beast screeched pitifully as the liquid burned through fur and flesh. A satisfied smile formed on Dessad's face. The formula was much closer than the last batch.
The large doors behind him slid open at the command of Kalibak. Dessad couldn't help the annoyed scowl as he turned to the brute, but seeing the case in the ape's large hands his smile returned in even greater earnest.
"Ah, ssso the great warrior returns triumphant I sssee." Dessad's misshapen hands ran over the case in reverence. He pushed aside his earlier project and placed the metal carrier onto his work table. He opened it slowly. A dozen or so small red rocks lay on the black surface of the case's interior.
"It was too easy, no challenge at all for a warrior as powerful as myself." Kalibak sounded more disappointed than proud. That was one thing he would never understand about warriors. As though, if the battle wasn't hard, then it wasn't worth it. Kalibak had returned with the prize, who cared how challenging it was. All the better it be easy and fast than hard and waste valuable time.
"Of coursssse my lord. But," Dessad pulled out one of the stones and turned it in his spindly hand. "I will need much more… If I am to accomplish the Masssster'sss wishes."
Kalibak looked unhappy, he always looked unhappy, Dessaad thought to himself, but he nodded in acceptance.
"Very well, Dessad, you need more, I will get more." He turned to leave when another voice called both of their attentions.
"Now, now, sweet Kalibak, you need not do everything yourself." A large figure stepped in from the lit hallway. The voice was sympathetic, condescending and complimentary all at once.
Long white hair and a strong angular jaw. The figure was a woman, that much was clear from the anatomy, though the voice sounded far to strong and deep for one of the fairer sex. She was taller than Dessad, but shorter than Kalibak. Her large boots made almost no sound as she stepped up to the two males. She met the eyes of both of them. Standing tall and proud, with her hands clasped behind her back.
"After all." She smiled, obviously pleased with whatever was on her mind.
"Granny's little ones deserve to have some fun as well."
ok so after some edits, i am reposting chapter 1. i hope this won't become a pattern to go back over what i already wrote but what can you do.
anyway i sent out a call for beta readers and got a great response.
those who helped me out were
Batmam,
Lowkeytimdrake
REDROBIN707
Night of the Cheshire