To all fans (though they be few now), I have returned! And I bring good tidings: I have beaten Injustice 2 and have gotten a spark of inspiration.
I am talking a story to last the long haul. Perhaps it may be a precognition to Injustice 3. Or not. Who knows?
Any way, I must give out some spoiler warnings: This is a continuation after the Absolute Justice storyline. If you haven't played the game or read it yet, you may not want to continue this fanfiction after this chapter until you do. I'll try not to spoil everything, but some things can't be helped.
You've been warned. I won't warn you again.
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN INJUSTICE OR DC COMICS.
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"Ten seconds to Earth impact. Ten, nine, eight-"
"Oh God! I don't wanna die like this!"
*Record Scratch* *Freeze Frame*
Hi. See that whining brat screaming his head off in that alien-like pod crashing straight to earth? Looks like he's hit rock bottom (or is about to in couple seconds or so). Well, that guy's me. Now I bet you're wondering about how a 19 year old nobody gets in this type of situation. Well, it's certainly not by effort, I can assure you….
Few minutes earlier….
I'm not an expert in beauty in all those things, but it's good thing I'm not because they say that type of stuff is in the eyes of the beholder. To some people, they find paintings like the Mona Lisa to be just about as beautiful as it is expensive. To me, it's a pretty picture. When you think about it, there's thousand of other pictures made by crazy people who see beauty in the most bizarre places, and the famous one is a picture about a lady? Boggles me.
Still, skewed preferences to beauty aside, all can agree that seeing Earth from space….there's nothing more beautiful than that.
We've all seen it in pictures and movies, but I think what helps elevate that beauty is that out of the several trillion people that exist or have existed in the world, only a few hundred have seen Mother Earth from an outsider's view.
Guess I'm one of those hundred now.
"Movies don't do it justice." I said in awe, basically craning my head against the glass. Against the pitch black of deep space, the planet looked full of light and vibrant, made a wonderful contrast to my eyes. The sun laid out in the distance, surprisingly not as bright as I remember.
But I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something-"Oh yeah, how the heck did I get here?"
Others would find it crazy how you could forget you're in the middle of space, but I've had a rather….well, stressful would be the G rated way of saying how my day's been going so far.
Luckily, in this tight and dimly lit pod-craft-thingy, the buttons and knobs are right in front of me, illuminated in a crimson color. Super eerie, almost in the 'don't touch these oh-so-important knobs' kind of way, which was good. Rule 1 in space: touching bad knobs equals death.
"Touching bad knobs equals death." I said. "So what would be the right-"
"Subject is awake." A female mechanized voice bounced from the walls. "Hello Subject, my name is Computer."
"Well-uh Computer, that's a very generic name for an AI or whatnot, but if that's your name, then might as well not change it." I said. Added on the list of things I did alongside going to space was now talking with artificial intelligence, and I planned to be on my best behavior so she doesn't go crazy and kill us meatbags. "Any chance you could land this thing back on earth?"
"You wish to descend?" Computer specified.
"Yes! Please and thank you."
There was a pause. "Pre-landing safety features checked. As a reference for the future, please know that I am programmed to answer to your voice commands alone. Beginning descent now."
"Wha-"
Suddenly, the pod gave a violent thrust. I was pushed back into my seat where leather straps popped from the sides and connected together to fasten me in. A low hum from thrusters filled the pod as my view of Earth steadily grew bigger and bigger. And me? I was getting what I wanted, a ticket straight to home.
Still, my heart began to beat faster and sweat began to accumulate.
"My scans indicate high stress."
"Oh, I'm okay." I said, flashing a smile to no one; I didn't know if Computer had a visual thingy installed, but I like to think it helped me convince her. "I just never did this type of thing before."
"I too have never attempted something like this before." She admitted.
"What, land a ship?"
"I have done that plenty of times. I mean to say that I have never landed a ship without proper parachutes."
"….You're joking."
"I joke not. My pre-landing check indicated that this vessel's parachutes were intentionally removed. I thought it to be illogical that you would want to attempt such a landing without parachutes, but I am programmed to follow your procedures."
"Of course that's illogical! Why didn't you tell me!?" I yelped.
"…It has come to my attention that you were not previously aware of this development." Computer supplied ever so helpfully. I was starting to rethink my earlier thought about her being artificial intelligence.
"Gee whiz, like I'd ever want to land without a parachute!"
"Sarcasm detected. Does that mean I am allowed to utilize my comedic personality?"
"Whatever floats your boat." I said hastily as the ship began to shake rougher than before and the window started to glare red. "Now may we please focus back on my saving my ship?"
"Searching for landing alternatives." For a brief moment that felt like a sweltering eternity, I was left alone to sweat from the heat and my rising fears. "I have discovered that music helps alleviate stress. Deploying calming music now."
"I see trees of green, and roses too…" From speakers I could not find came the most overused, ironic, frustration rising song Computer could have ever chosen.
I officially took back my statement about her being intelligent. And I plan to kill her if I -however unlikely-somehow survive this.
"…what a wonderful world…"
'Still,' I thought to myself. 'Nice song.'
Present time…..
The earth vanished from a shade of white clouds to green grass that was getting closer and closer. I was screaming my head off still. The ship was shaking a storm and white hot inside and out. Computer somehow counted down from seconds to milliseconds.
When the ship hit the earth, it felt like stopping a car abruptly and your body hits the seat, except the seat is your body and your body is your soul. And there's a lot more force involved.
Getting over my shocking realization that I haven't automatically died upon impact, there was an ungodly screech as the ship scraped across the earth in super-speed, steadily getting slower and slower by the second. I only hoped it stopped before the thing hit a mountain, or an ocean.
My neck felt like it was going to snap in half and everything else in body was sure to have turned to putty. But I kept my eyes shut, no matter what. Even when it was all over.
"I have great news!" Computer chirped. "I have made an extensive scan of the ship and have determined that the material of the outer shell would be structurally solid enough to handle atmospheric entry!"
"….Open the ship, Computer. Let me out." With a hiss, the top part of the ship slowly raised itself, letting cool fresh air enter my craft.
My ship still had a red hot glare and all the ground around me was a lovely charred black. Looking back, I could see a streak of scorched earth and flames that trailed what seemed to be a mile back. If I was on private property, there was no way I'll be able to pay for the damages.
Climbing out of the crater, I found the most beautiful sight I've ever seen:
Absolutely nothing. For miles.
Did I forget to mention that I'm sarcastic?
"We seem to have landed in the middle of North America, specifically Montana, as the local 'humans' call it." Computer suddenly perked up from my belt.
"You're in my outfit. Great." I sighed. Just when I thought I was getting away from her. "Well can you at least tell me how to shut you-"
"Subject should know that my scanners are detecting several unidentified objects heading to our location." Computer interrupted. "It is to be expected, our landing was not in any fashion 'subtle,' but Subject should prepare in case UOs turn hostile."
"'Subject' has a name." I said. "And as you clearly can't see, but there's nobody here but-"
I didn't even finish my sentence as jets streaked the air above me. As if appearing out of thin air, over a dozen helicopters hovered around me and my ship as soldiers clad in green rappelled down. More vehicles came driving from the distance.
How in the world I didn't see this the first time will forever be beyond me.
"As I stated." Computer said as a hundred or so red dots aimed at my head and several orders of getting down on the ground were shouted out me. "Several unidentified objects."
Like before where I was so enamored of Earth's view that I forgot I was in space, here I was surrounded by hundreds of trained soldiers ready to kill me if I so much as breathed wrong, a computer with a questionable IQ span, and I just now noticed what I deemed the biggest shock to me.
"Why the frag am I pasty white?" I wondered.
"Don't move!-" "Down on the ground right now!"
Over a hundred soldiers pointing their guns at me, telling me to not move and get down on the ground. Considering that I made a colossal crater in my ever-so graceful landing, I'm convinced they'll probably shoot me if I even sneeze the wrong way. Then there's the problem with me being a pasty faced patsy.
My arms and hands were so drained of pigment it looked like I took a bath in paint or bleach. Also I don't remember growing out my nails, sharpening them to a point, then painting them black.
Heh, paint it black-
"Get on your knees right now!"
'Right, should focus right now.' I thought, cutting myself out of fantasy land. Narrowly escaping burning up in atmosphere entry only to be surrounded by a bunch of trigger happy soldiers, today is definitely turning out to be the worst day I've ever had. The only question is: how to get out of this situation without dying….
I kept my hands in the air. "Relax, friends. I come in-"
A soldier in front of me cocked his gun. "Don't you ****ing move!" He shouted.
"Harsh…" Something was up with me. As far as I recalled, this was the first time in my life that somebody was pointing a gun at my head and I had the privilege of having not one, but several guns pointed at me simultaneously, so shouldn't I at least be pissing my pants?
Then again, just survived certain death.
"Subject, you should know that there is a 98% chance that these men will open fire if you do not immediately comply with their wishes." Computer said on my belt.
"Yeah?" I muttered. "Well, you don't know these guys like I do, and they'll probably kill me if I comply with their wishes. As long as I don't make any movement, they won't have a reason to-"
Suddenly there came a sound like thunder, but it had some weird electric sound in the middle of it, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. But out of nowhere, there came this red glare that I could barely see. If I blinked, I would have missed it entirely.
"I'll take it from here guys!"
Standing between me and this army of guns aiming straight for my head and chest was a man clothed in crimson red from head to toe, a man with a yellow insignia on his chest, and at the sound of this man's voice, my day took went from awesome to fraggin' unbelievable.
"The Flash…."
The frag part I'll catch on to later. Much, much, much, much later.
Chapter Completed
In the future, I'll try not to make these chapters so short, but there was no other way that I couldn't end it here and not feel rushed.
Once again, this fanfic won't spoil the game much (or that'll be my intention at the beginning).
Comment, Review, even Flame for all I care. Just enjoy and have a good day!
