Title: Fire

Word Count: 2,109

Rating: T

The orange plumes of smoke that spread through the air clawed at her throat, the heat was almost too much. But the empty hole in her chest made her want to just collapse, and fall asleep, never to wake up again.

"Don't tell me the mission was a success." M'gann choked out. "The price was too high."

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Her uncle stood, watching her warily, like she was a fragile statue of glass, about to shatter and break. The martian didn't say anything.

The pain in her chest was weighing her down, pushing her down, because nothing was left. Because humanity had no heroes, and she herself had no hope. The Justice League was gone, all of the Team disintegrated or lost in the explosion that destroyed the mothership.

M'gann knew she had to be strong. She and her uncle had to help rebuild the earth, to thrive once again as Earth's last heroes. A surge of confidence, a surge of hope that maybe humanity still had a chance. All of the aliens would be destroyed. Their mothership was gone. M'gann could do anything to get her revenge.

The sound of a ship landing, or perhaps just her imagination, shocked her back into reality. M'gann's eyes snapped upwards, and her heart seemed to stop. Another mothership. Disbelief hit her like a punch to the gut from Superman.

No, not another one.

When would this ever end?

Conner was faintly aware of the fact that he was alive. He shouldn't have been. Robin's act may have fooled M'gann, but all along he had known the beam wasn't a teleportation device. Maybe he had been convinced that it was the last bit of hope, hope that the League and the members of the team were still alive.

It was dark. Conner knew it even though he hadn't opened his eyes. He didn't know where he was, but the place seemed strangely familiar, like he had been there before but never paid any attention to it. Conner couldn't have gone many places, he was a clone, a younger weaker version of Superman, a constant reminder that he was weaker, stupider, more naive.

His breathing seemed to make a slight echo in the area, a small closed in area. Maybe he was becoming claustrophobic, the panic closing in on his heart. His hands pressed against the cold smooth surface- of glass? So the beam had teleported him. Somewhere.

Conner's eyes snapped open. Great. He was inside a pod. Once again. His eyes darted around the dark room. Other pods, holding other heroes, some he recognised, others he didn't.

Many Justice Leaguers, but not a single one of his teammates. Well, not that he knew of. He looked close at all of the heroes, realising some of the captives weren't even heroes. Villains were there too. Ones that had been hit by the beam. Then he looked around again, something that should have been obvious hit him.

All of the people in the pods, all of them, had powers. Conner had to get out. He pounded on the glass. Nothing happened. He punched the glass with all of his might, and the glass didn't even crack. For a moment Conner didn't even feel it, but all of a sudden his hands started screaming with pain.

Glass had never hurt him. Not even bulletproof glass did. Panic clenched in his chest. He felt around his body for anything that could stop his powers, like those collars he'd seen in multiple prisons for Super-villains. Nothing. Not even a single bracelet.

Maybe it was Kryptonite, but even if it was a small piece Conner wouldn't feel perfectly okay. At least there was one good thing. He didn't feel tired or anything, so he was perfectly fine.

Or more like perfectly powerless.

Now all he had to do was wait for his friends to save him. If, they were still alive.

Somebody has to be out there.

Robin was sure he was dead. Maybe he was in heaven or something.

His vision was clouded, like he was looking through fog and smoke at the same time. A face stared down at him, not clear enough for him to see properly.

Somebody was shaking him. Telling him to wake up. Slowly, his vision cleared.

First thing he noticed: He was in a bed.

Second thing he noticed: He was alive.

Third thing he noticed: Wally was shaking him. Hard.

"Wally, can you please stop shaking me?"

"You're alive!" Wally shouted, squeezing Robin halfway to death. He struggled for breath while shoving Wally off of him.

Robin scanned the area. They seemed to be in a small farmhouse, obviously still near or in Smallville. Sitting on a chair next to his bed was a blonde girl. At first Robin didn't recognise the girl, until he noticed the sign on her chest.

Now he knew why he was still alive. Because the one who had saved them, was Supergirl.

"Kara?" He asked, just to make sure.

"Hey Robin."She answered. "Glad to see me?"

"Sure."

"Well you sure aren't very thankful to people who saved your life."

"Yeah!" Wally agreed. "Robin, say thanks to Supergirl."

Robin rolled his eyes. "Thanks"

He stared outside the small window, expecting to see a destroyed mothership. Instead, he saw a new one, perfectly in shape, with no damage inflicted upon it at all. His jaw dropped.

Supergirl looked at him grimly. "That isn't the worst news. I have good and bad news. Which one do you want to know first?"

"Good."

Kara Kent sighed. "The good news it that the disintegration beams were actually teleportation beams."

"Really? That means every one is alive!" Robin almost jumped with joy. Bruce was still alive!

"But the bad news, is that everyone the aliens have in captive, everyone that has powers, the aliens are, well, de-powering the heroes and villains that used to have powers."

Shock wiped any words about to come out of Robin's mouth. Without heroes that had powers, Conner and Kaldur would be near defenceless. And Superman, the Man of Steel, would just be Clark Kent. No more Man of Steel.

But would that really matter? Now, at the edge of destruction of all humanity, did it really matter if people had powers or not? As long as heroes gave their most, then all of that wouldn't matter.

"Kara, do you have a computer I can borrow?"

This was calling upon the last heroes surviving on Earth. This was calling upon all allies, good or bad. Because it was their world too.

Nothing can stop us now.

Barbara Gordon never liked having to live in hiding. But this was the only place that was safe in Gotham.

Days were spent worrying, hoping heroes were still alive. Talking in hushed whispers with Bette and Alfred, hoping that friends, family, were still alive.

There was one television in the shelter. One that would come on if a hero, or anybody that had access to a computer that could send live updates to broadcast around the world. The last time the screen wasn't buzzing with the 'No Signal' sign was what seemed like years ago, even though hadn't been too long ago.

But today, something would be different. Barbara could feel it. And as if the heroes could hear he thoughts, the TV flickered on. Everyone in the shelter crowded anxiously around the device, other switching on phones and computers.

A face showed up on the screen. A Superhero with tattered clothes and looked like he had been caught in an explosion. Robin. Barbara was glad, but not too much. Where was Superman when you needed him?

Robin started speaking.

"This is Robin. I'm currently with Kid Flash and Supergirl. I want humanity to know that there is still hope. No matter what heroes are left. You may not like the heroes you see on the screen, but I need you to have trust in us. The Justice League have given their lives, and we won't let their deaths be in vain. I know there are still heroes out there, ones that would willingly give up their lives for planet Earth. This is calling all of the heroes out there willing to help. This is calling ones who were once heroes, allies of us heroes, and even villains willing to help. This is calling back hope, calling back the people that will bring back humanity. If you answer my call, as a hero, as a villain, you can help. This our fight for our planet. This is Robin. Out."

Sudden cheering erupted the room, not nearly as loud as before, but it was a cheer that showed all of humanity that there was still hope to cling to. And all of a sudden, the screen of the television lit up once again.

"Red Arrow, Zatanna, and Rocket answering your call Robin. There are still heroes. We will be here."

The screen changed once again. A different person stared back. A person Barbara could recognise a mile away.

"I may be a thief. I may be Catwoman. But this is my world too. After all, what use would I be in a world without humans?"

Once again, a few people didn't quite like the fact Catwoman was there. But their attention was back to the screen. A new face, someone people didn't know as well.

"I am Batwoman. Most people don't know me. But I can help. Robin, all heroes are ready. I'm sure there are many more out there."

A few more cheers, but they died as the screen became the same old 'No Signal' display. But soon eyes were lit up, as one last face showed up on the screen.

"This is and Martian Manhunter. We thought that many heroes had died. But they haven't. Heroes are still alive. We can still thrive, we can still rebuild. Robin, I hear you loud and clear. The aliens are going down."

And with that last word, the loudest cheer broke through the area. Cheers of hope, determination, and trust. Cheers that showed the aliens, that humanity would still thrive, that the world would still be protected. Some sort of war cry that sounded like it could be heard all over the world. Cheers from every city on earth, every family in hiding, every individual. Because nobody could take what they had, and nobody could stop them from protecting the only planet to live on, the only planet they stood for.

The rings of cheers would be heard galaxies away, the cries of the scraps of life on Earth joined together.

We are one. We stand tall. We can hope, and it will all be okay.

Artemis had woken hours ago, inside a small dreary cell. All of her equipment was still with her, but she had exhausted the idea of escaping hours ago.

If she barely touched on of the bars that held her inside, she would be shocked. Hard. The only form of connecting with others was her phone, which was almost dead on battery. Artemis had noticed she wasn't dead. Even some civilians that were hit by the beam were in some of the cells in the area. As far as Artemis could tell, everyone that were hit by the beams and didn't have powers were placed in cells.

Others, she had no idea. Artemis had tried keeping her cool. But it was slowly getting harder and harder. Worry clawed at her heart, until her phone flickered to life, and on the screen was a face far too familiar.

Robin's speech was heard on every screen around the world. Artemis just knew it. And she heard it too. Slowly, the worry started melting away, until it was just something shoved away in the back of her mind as more heroes answered Robin's call.

Hope was a burning candle in her heart. In everybody's heart. And just as finished her speech, Artemis' ran out of battery. She didn't actually care. She cheered along with everybody else. She could hear the voices of people miles away.

Because she knew there were still heroes. It wasn't the end of Earth.

But the good thing, she knew what had made her smile the most.

Because the line between good and bad was now erased into nothingness, like black and white blending into a pleasant colour that would last forever.

Hope was a candle that lasted forever.

Justice was a spark that lit a flame.

And from that flame, there would be a fire.

A fire that couldn't be ceased.

We are strong.

End.