Truth, Justice, and… a Vampire?
Prologue
You all know the Justice League. Yeah, that's right, Batman, Superman, The Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc. etc. You know the rest. Well, this is the story of a teenager who mysteriously appears at their doorstep. Yes, of their headquarters; in space. There turns out to be one little problem. If you read the title, you should know. The teenager is indeed, a vampire. With blood-sucking tendencies and all. Will her background drag her back into the darkness? Where did she come from? Why is she here? You probably have a lot of questions, but you'll have to read to find out!
Chapter 1
The sky was shrouded with darkness, except for the millions of stars that reflected the sun. Through the large main window, full view of the planet Earth could be seen. Suddenly, an alarming chirp sounded.
'Unknown object approaching! Warning! Unknown object approaching!'
The computer screamed, setting off any and all alarms, flashing red lights and all.
"Holy Hell, Batman! Can't you turn that off?" A man's, well ok, a teenager's voice yelled over the blaring sirens. He walked up behind Batman with his hands over his ears.
"Shut up, Flash." Batman said. His black gloved fingers floated over the many keys on the keyboard. Then, with a sudden dull groan, the computer and all its alarms shut off.
"What was that all about?" The Flash said. Batman turned to him, black cape moving slightly. He looked down at the teen dressed in red spandex, and lightning bolt accessories.
"An incoming object."
"Well thank you Captain Obvious." Flash said. He dashed down to the lower deck and over to the large window. "It's a…"
"It's a box." Wonder Woman had silently appeared next to him, causing to jump.
"Yeah, a box."
"Diana," Batman said. "Collect the box."
"Yes sir." She said as she flew out of the headquarters.
"What about me?" Batman looked down at The Flash.
"No way. You stay here." The Flash pouted. "You can open the box."
"Yes!" They watched as Diana flew out and collected the box. She returned, dragging the wooden crate.
"What the Hell is in here?" She breathed.
"Maybe a dead body?" Flash joked. "I'll open it." He ran off and appeared again in ten second flat, wielding a crowbar. He unwound the seeming miles of CAUTION tape. He jammed the crowbar between the lid and the crate's side and pulled downward, causing nails to fly. He began throwing out its popcorn layers to reveal…
"Oh." He breathed. Diana peered into the box and gasped. "Oh my god." They said. Inside the box was in fact, something dead. Flash threw more popcorn out of the box to reveal the body of a 19 year old girl clutching a small bag.
"Batman?" They said as they looked to him. He took the stairs to the lower deck where they stood and looking into the box.
"Let's defrost her and see if she is really dead." The two nodded and closed the box.
"Place her there." Batman said, referring to a small glass, coffin-like chamber. Flash gingerly picked up the frozen body and placed it into the chamber.
"That's just… plain creepy." He said as he stepped back. "A dead girl, a frozen girl shows up on our doorstep, so to speak, and now we're trying to revive her. Why not just put her back in the box and keep the CAUTION tape on for good?" He looked in through the glass at the girl. She was dressed in somewhat odd clothing; a red and white colored tunic, a black or maybe even brown leather corset with gold fastenings, dark colored breeches and what looked to be boots as if she were about to hop into the saddle. She was curled with her face hidden behind her long, wavy black hair and knees. It seemed as though she was fair skinned, but the fact that she was frozen probably had something to do with it.
"It will be a few hours before she is completely defrosted." Batman interrupted The Flash's thoughts. The Flash nodded.
"I'll stay here and keep watch, just in case." Flash said. It was Batman's turn to nod. Both Batman and Diana left the room, leaving Flash with the frozen girl.
Flash stood next to the makeshift coffin. He gazed through the clear top at the girl that lay curled and stiff on her side.
"This is going to be a long day." He sighed as he sat on a bench against the wall. He glanced back and forth between the clock and the glass case. The girl hadn't moved for what seemed like hours. Flash glanced at the clock again; it had only been about twenty minutes since she had been placed there. The clock read 8:15 PM.
He leaned back against the cool metal wall and sighed deeply, closing his eyes.
"So how do you think she ended up that way? I mean in a box, out in space and in front of HQ more or less." Diana said to Batman as they walk down the hall, back to the main control room.
"That would be a wise thing to figure out." He said.
"I look forward to it. I'm interested in finding out more about her."
"As am I."
"Men of little words." She sighed as she broke off step and crossed the hall into another room, leaving Batman to continue on their original path.
Flash jolted awake at the sharp clang that echoed against the steel walls of the room. His eyes searched around wildly before settling on the glass coffin.
"Look who's waking up…" he whispered as he stood up and walked to the coffin. The girl had defrosted almost completely, leaving herself lying in a pool of water. She had mostly uncurled, but lay twisted face down with her head resting on her forearms. He looked at the clock. It read 10:25 PM. Any time now… he thought. He placed his elbows atop the case, staring into it with dull eyes.
He began to drift off into sleep again when something red flashed before him. He stumbled back, realizing the red were in fact, a set of eyes. Ha hadn't seen her move. She was laying face down of her side, then next thing he knew, she had her hands pressed against the lid and she was staring straight at him, never blinking.
He ran to the door and it slid open to let him through. "Batman! Diana!" he yelled as he ran out of the room. He dashed down the hall and into the control room. He skidded to a stop next to Batman. Diana came up behind him.
"What Wally?" Diana said, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"She alive! She woke up!" He dashed back down the hall and stopped before the door. Batman and Diana ran into the hall and up to Jay. He stood there in the doorway, mouth hanging open.
"Wha- Where?" He slowly walked into the room with Batman and Diana in tow. "How could she?" He walked over to the coffin. "It would have set off the alarms." The hinges on her chamber had been broken clean off, yet the lid remained as if it was still safely locked. Water was still pooled at the bottom of the coffin. They all look at the floor, but no footprints were there.
The light in the room flickered and they looked up. There she sat, crouched atop the light fixture. Her eyes glowed a deep shade of red, with cat-like slits in them. Her sharp nail-pointed fingers clutched the rim of the lamp and her boots were perched on its slim cover as if she were walking a power line.
"You fools!" She hissed. The lights flickered off for less than a second. When they resumed power, she was gone.
"Find her!" Batman said, and they all ran out of the room in search for her.
Batman ran into the control room. He pressed the 'big red button' setting off the alarm. Over the intercom/loud speaker, her announced for every able body to report to the control room immediately.
Every able bodied person quickly made their way to Batman's location. Before him, on the lower deck, stood those such as Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Superman, The Green Arrow and more.
"We've got trouble." He announced to the group.
"What now?"
"Where?"
"What is it this time?"
Questions came from almost every individual.
"Someone is loose in HQ. And we have to find her."
"Her? Shouldn't a girl be easy to find?" The Green Arrow spoke up.
"She would be, if she was a normal girl." Whispers broke out amongst the group.
"What do you mean by if she was a normal girl?" Hawkgirl said.
"Let me explain." Batman said, raising his hand for silence. The room fell eerily silent. "A wooden crate set off the alarms at approximately 7:48 PM earlier tonight. Diana brought the box in and Flash discovered a body of a young girl inside. She was about nineteen years of age, had jet black hair, and wore an outfit that looked outdated. Her body was frozen."
This brought more gasps and whispers from the group of superheroes.
"We placed her in the defrosting chamber at approximately 8:15 PM. Flash stayed in the room to watch her. He came running to Diana and me at approximately-"
"Alright enough with approximates junk. Hurry up with the story." The Green Arrow said.
"And you will learn to hold your tongue." Superman said, elbowing him to the ground. The Green Arrow fell with a 'thud'.
"Carry on."
"Anyways… He came to us saying that she was alive and had awoken. We returned to the room to find her missing from the defrosting chamber."
"What's so bad about that? She just let herself out." Green Lantern said.
"The hinges were broken clean off."
"Oh."
"So we have a problem. We have a girl with superhuman powers. Powers like us, or possibly much stronger. We need to find her ASAP to prevent her from causing any possible damage. Or anything negative at all."
"Yes sir." The group said in unison.
"And what exactly are we looking for?" Hawkgirl inquired.
"A girl about nineteen years of age, black hair, outdated clothes, about five foot nine, and-"
"And with red eyes." Flash interrupted him as he dashed into the room. Batman nodded. "We've looked all over Batman. No trace of her."
"There will be a greater chance of us finding her if we all work together. I want us all to work in teams. This girl is quick. We need to be quicker." The group broke up into multiple teams and ran, flew, or vanished out of the room.
Selene, darling, what have you gotten yourself into this time? The thought flowed through her head over and over as she watched the search teams scurry about below her. She hung suspended in mid-air, her glamour allowing her to blend with her metallic surroundings. Someone stopped directly beneath her. She would have gasped, if her body required the oxygen. Instead, she just snapped her jaw closed.
The man looked up. He looked odd with his blue-green tinted skin, but that was her opinion. She had seen things much worse after all. He stared directly at her, despite her perfectly camouflaged self. Then he said it.
"She's here. I can sense her aura." He shouted. His voice was very monotonous. He's very boring she thought, I'd hate to get stuck somewhere with him. Especially in a- Her thought was cut off as a few others ran or flew into the room. That was quick. She was beginning to admire the group for their efforts. "She's… there." He said, pointing in her direction. She swallowed the saliva that wasn't there. She closed her eyes and dissipated out of the room.
She reopened her eyes and found herself in what seemed to be… a bedroom. Maybe I could find a change of clothes. She made her way to the dresser that stood against the far wall. Yuk, men's clothing. OK so I'm in a man's room. She looked about, eyes drawing on her surroundings. Not much to it. She stopped her gaze on what seemed to be a closet. She hummed out loud as she went to it.
Placing her hand in the handle, she tugged it open, jumping back as all kinds of things from shoes to… who knows flew out at her. Ugh men. Such messy beasts… Her eyes darted to something red in the corner. She reached and pulled it out with a bit of difficulty. Holding it in her hands, she tugged on the soft fabric. I wonder… She moved to stand in front of a full body mirror.
She held up a red suit in front of her. What kind if a goon would wear something like this? She shrugged as she put the suit over her shoulder and began unlacing her corset. She pried off her riding boots with a bit of difficulty and squeezed out of her breeches, then slipped off her corset and slid out of her tunic. She slowly slid on the tight fitting suit and pulled the mask over her face. Selene likes the goon suit… She ran her hands down her hips. She stifled a laugh as she spread her legs and placed her fists upon her hips, posing like a hero.
The suit was scarlet in color, except for the yellow lightning bolt that raced around her curved hips, and the bolt that dashed across a white circle on her chest. Her mouth formed an "O" as she noticed a yellow circle with a lightning bolt emerging from it over each ear. The mask covered all but her perfectly sculpted nose and mouth. Her blue-black hair was tucked inside the suit, trailing down the back of her neck. She stood in front of the mirror, making funny poses and gestures at her imaginary opponents. She spun and fumbled over a pair of yellow boots. She raised a spandex-covered eyebrow and slid the boots on. The fit was just too large, so she placed her glamour over them so they fit just right. She nodded in satisfaction and continued her posing.
"It- She- Her aura is gone." The teal man stuttered, looking for the right words.
"How can that be? She wasn't even in the room!" The Green Arrow yelled as he threw his hands up in the air in frustration.
"Simple, she has covered herself somehow. We do not know the full extent of her powers, remember?" The Green Arrow Grunted, folding his arms across his chest.
"She must have some kind of cloaking powers. The thing that puzzles me is that I cannot detect a heart beat, a pulse, or even a simple intake of breath. I should be able to, even if she is invisible." Blue man said.
"She must have a way to disguise that too?" Arrow inquired.
"We will have to find that out as soon as possible. We should find Batman and tell him what we know first." Arrow nodded and they left the room.
Alright, Selene, enough modeling in front of the mirror. Time to go play some games with these pathetic souls. She laughed silently to herself as she exited the room. As the door slid shut behind her, she closed her eyes to focus on her greatly enhanced hearing. Down the hall to the right, there was the sound of shuffling, but it was far away. Very far away. Down the left side was shouting. And it sounded fairly close from the way it rattled her eardrums. Why do men have to be so loud?
Not bothering to use glamour, she strode down the hall. More like a dash. She skidded to a halt as she came into a room.
"Batman," the blue man said. "This defiantly isn't a normal girl we're dealing with. I sensed her aura in the room Arrow and I were in, but she had no heart beat, pulse, or-"He was cut off by Green Arrow tapping him on the shoulder. "What." Blue spun around and saw what he was gesturing at.
"Flash?" Batman said at first glance.
"No. It's her." Just then the real Flash came running in.
"Someone say my-"He stopped, staring open mouthed at the scene. "Well look what we've got here." He quickly brushed past the group and stood before the Flash look-alike.
"Flash I wouldn't-"
"Don't worry Batman I've got everything under con-"In less than a blink of an eye she had locked her arm around his neck in a choke hold.
"So you're the goon that wears this suit." She snarled, her foreign accent flowing freely across her tongue.
"Hey! I'm no goon!"
"Shut it motor mouth." A growl rose from deep in her chest. Flash shut his mouth. "There, isn't that better?" She mused.
"What is it you want?" Batman questioned.
"What do I want? More like, why are you chasing me?"
"We were just trying to prevent you from doing any further damage."
"What damage?"
"Our defrosting chamber.
"That piece of junk? You should replace the hinges on that."
"We have to now that you broke them."
"Wasn't my fault you don't know how to contain someone like me."
"Which is?" She fell silent, her grip around Flash's neck tightening.
"Not so cocky now, are you?" Green Arrow spoke up.
"You want to come say that to my face?" she said, tossing Flash aside and folding her arms across her chest.
"Bring it on." He stepped forward, accepting the challenge.
"You asked for it…" She lunged forward and he raised his fist. She moved too fast for him to see as she dropped to the ground and spun her leg around. Catching him way off guard, her shin collided with the back of his knees, sending him to the floor with a loud 'thud'. She jumped back to the wall as he whipped out his bow and strung an arrow, pulling back and releasing. She didn't bother to do so much as flinch as she caught the arrow inches from her face.
"Now, now. That's not fighting fair." She said, gesturing to his bow. Her snorted as he placed it back in its holster.
"Better?"
"Much." She said, her voice drowned in resentment. He lunged with his fist pulled back. She simply stepped out of his way, allowing his fist to collide with the solid metal wall. He winced at the pain and rubbed at his hand.
"How is that fair?" He gestured toward her inhuman speed.
"Alright. I'll stop. You still won't win." She had yet to even sweat, unlike her opponent who was now lathered.
"We'll see about that." She stood there with a smirk upon her masked face as he raced up to her. He drew his fist back and let it fly, only to have it caught in the palm of her delicate hand. With a flick of her wrist, he was sent flying.
"Had enough?" He sat up, shaking the rubble from his hair. He laughed.
"Not yet." He stood up, furious. He stopped right before her. "Let's finish this. Fist to fist."
"You've got it Robin Hood." She raised her fists to match his stance. "Your posture is terrible." She said as she used her yellow-booted foot to position his legs accordingly. "Now crouch, don't just stand there with your hands up like an idiot."
Her words sent him off. He yanked his fist back, but again she caught it.
"Haven't you ever heard of 'ladies first'?" She gently hit him in the gut with her fist then kneed him square in the face as he doubled over in agony. He fell to the floor in sheer pain. Then Batman stepped forward.
"You want some too? Bat Boy?"
"Keep the comments to yourself." He said, placing his hands on the Green Arrow's shoulders to hold him back. "Enough." He said sternly. "What is your name?"
"I am Selene. Selene Miran Clandestine Pierce. Daughter of Captain Quincy Harker Pierce. Perhaps you've heard of him?" By the look on all three of their faces, she assumed that it was a no. A big, fat no. "Ah well. Your loss." She shrugged as she lifted her hands in a shrug. With an earsplitting shriek, she fell to her knees.
"What... have you...?" She attempted speak, but her voice came out ragged and broken. She pressed the palms of her hands against her temple and collapsed onto her side, thrashing out in agony, hissing and screaming. Others came running into the room, wondering what all the noise was about. They all gaped at what they saw, and no, not her writhing on the floor.
"Oh my god. You're a… You're…" Flash couldn't seem to force the words out. Everyone stared at her hissing, open mouth. Inside, replacing her eye teeth, were in fact fangs.
"Yes! I'm a damned vampire! Now get these cuffs off me!" Seeming to find her voice for a moment, her rage rumbled deep in her chest before escaping to the surface, coming out as an enraged tiger's roar. A simple rule of thumb. Don't piss off a vampire. You think they would know, right?
Everyone in the room stared as Selene's body went still, then limp. It was if the whole room could breather again.
"Okay, am I the only one that's confused here?" Flash spoke up, breaking the silence after a few minutes.
"I used my telepathic abilities on her." J'onn said.
"Effective." Batman mused, seeing the questioning look on Flash's face. "It didn't seem like brute force was going to work."
"So..." Flash paused for a moment. "You like, mind raped her then? That's creepy. I mean, that's completely pedophile status."
"I wouldn't word it exactly like that..." J'onn muttered, then said, "We should confine her now." Everyone nodded in agreement, but no one moved. No one wanted to touch her. No one wanted to even come close, just in case she regained consciousness.
"Well let's not all volunteer at once." Flash piped in.
"Then why don't you carry her?" Batman suggested. Flash raised a hand to protest, but everyone turned their back and walked out of the room except J'onn.
"I'm guessing you're going to leave me with this monster too?" Flash said, turning to face the Martian.
"No. I must stay in case she wakes up."
"So you can mind- I mean..." Flash looked at the vampire curled up on the ground as if she were asleep. "So you can do this again." J'onn just nodded.
"Follow me." Flash hesitated, nudging the girl with his foot. When she didn't stir, he bent down and picked up her limp body and followed J'onn down the hall.
