I do not own Teen Titans, Justice League and any of the characters therein or related, Batman and any characters therein related, and any or anything else that can be possibly construed to be something that someone else owns. All I own is the plot.
Prologue: World War III
The world is like a pot of water simmering on a stove—it always has the potential to boil over. In the fall of 2015, it did. Civil unrest in Taiwan prompted the Chinese to invade the tiny island nation. In response, the US 7th fleet was dispatched to secure the straits. What should have been a quick naval engagement cascaded. The North Koreans, pressured by Bejing and encouraged by an overstretched US military, invaded South Korea. At the same time, the Mideast exploded, with Iran launching missiles at Israel which were intercepted by a joint, newly-created US-Israeli missile defense system. Similarly, the US armed and encouraged independence groups in Tibet. Russia, in the final gasp of a dying empire trying to capitalize on the distraction of its two biggest rivals, invaded Manchuria and the Caucasus, with troops massed on the border of the EU, which had, in turned, hastily erected a defense line on its Eastern border. Eventually, more established lines were drawn, as nations allied themselves. The Circumference alliance of the US, Israel, South Korea, Taiwan, and Iraq ringed the Interior pact of communist China, North Korea, and Iran. Finally, the new Russian empire, composed of chunks of northern China and the Caucasus formed a third party. India remained neutral, but provided tacit support to the Circumference alliance. In response, Pakistan gave tacit support to the Interior pact. Sixty years after the end of the last world war, another one was being waged.
Once battle lines were firmly established after the first year of confusion, the Chinese controlled a rebellious Taiwan and the North Koreans had pushed the South Koreans back to what became known as the Seoul perimeter—a defense line centered on the capital of Seoul. Iran's first strike against Israel was a failure, and a coalition of forces of American, Iraqi, and Israeli troops had pushed far into Iran. American commandos were engaged in hostile action in Tibet, organizing the resistance forces. In addition, the Chinese halted Russian advances into Manchuria and the US had dispatched the 1st fleet to harass and check Russian advance into the Black Sea.
Previous wars had been fought, with metahumans aligning themselves with the fighting powers. The Metahuman Soldier Restriction Treaty, or MSRT, signed at the end of the Cold War, explicitly prohibited the use of metahumans in action who were impervious to conventional weaponry, rapidly transport troops behind enemy lines in a manner unknown to modern science, or could, themselves, be considered a WMD. The potential for destruction that such mutants could cause—and did cause—scared each nation into following the treaty. For every powerful metahuman that could be brought into the battlefield, another one could be found. World War III was, therefore, a purely conventional war. However, this did not mean that metahumans were not interested in the goings on of the war. The scope of the conflict caught the attention of the Justice League. The question of participation divided the core members into two camps. The Hawks, led appropriately enough by Hawkgirl joined by Wonder Woman, advocated for intervention. In response, the Doves, led by the Flash and the Green Lantern, and frequently joined by Batman, argued against intervention. Restricted by the MSRT, the rest of the metahumans in the League joined one side or the other, some pledging their allegiance to the non-state Justice League, others arguing that the function of the League did not include armed intervention into nation-state conflicts. In the first year of the war, Superman and the Martian Manhunter kept out of the conflict, insinuating, however, that if things got out of hand, the League would intervene.
After a year of fighting, the belligerents had come to a stalemate. In order to break the stalemate, China and American put pressure on Pakistan and India, respectively, to join the fight. Nationalist parties in both states agitated for war. The tipping point was reached on November of 2016. Terrorists smuggled a nuclear warhead into Mumbai, detonating the weapon annihilating half the city and 9,000,000 people. In response, the nationalist took over the government and launched a warhead against Karachi, destroying the city and 10,000,000 Pakistanis. Within minutes of the destruction of Karachi, Pakistan launched a full out invasion of Kashmir and a nuclear strike against Kolcatta and Delhi. Because the US had not fully installed a missile defense system in the region, both cities were hit, leading to another 8,000,000 casualties and a nuclear arms strike, with India annihilating Islamabad and Lahore, killing 5,500,000 Pakistanis. Within a day, six cities were destroyed and 32,500,000 people dead. However, the opening of the Kashmir front, and the chaos from the nuclear strikes, was enough to revitalize the war. The Russians, hoping to restart their offensive, attacked Chinese troops along Manchuria with Sarin gas and followed up with a counterattack. The Chinese then dropped a hydrogen bomb on Moscow, annihilating the city and the Russian government. The Russia dissolved, with a multitude of parties seeking power, gaining access to the Russian nuclear stockpile. The US, South Koreans, and Japanese, meanwhile, managed to push the North Koreans back from the Seoul perimeter and had, within a week, reached the gates of Pyongyang. Unwilling to let the city be taken, Kim Jong Il detonated a nuclear warhead, destroying the city and advancing Circumference forces.
By the beginning of 2017, large tracts of India, Pakistan, Russia, and North Korea lay in waste. The battle lines became very fluid, as advancing armies would flow around one another. By the summer, the Chinese had managed to invade Alaska through Irkutsk, using it as a launching pad for cruise missile strikes on the continental US, capitalizing on the chaos in Russia, which, by this time, had devolved into a fanatical, nationalist core centered on the remains of Moscow in the West, and various factions in Siberia. The US, in turn, stepped up bombardment of Chinese cities, taking Hong Kong and laying siege to Shanghai while supporting an EU push against the hostile Russian extremists. While, at the same time, Iranian terrorists attacks on Israel and Iraq increased in frequency and destruction and the Russian nationalists were threatening to nuke all opposing forces.
The increasing threat of nuclear war and the potential for a very long, protracted conflict, finally convinced Superman that the Justice League needed to step in. Superman declared an ultimatum—either all powers sit down and discuss peace terms or the Justice League would intervene militarily. To say that such a declaration shocked the world powers was an understatement. Each leader viewed such a threat as a direct attack against the sovereignty of their own nation; the Justice League did not have the jurisdiction to make such a move. Hostilities continued. When the Russian extremists launched a nuclear warhead at Berlin did Superman follow up on his threat. The Watchtower's canon destroyed the Russian silos stationed outside of St. Petersburg while Superman and Hawkgirl, leading a cohort of other League affiliates flew down—landing in western Virginia to take the White House and force the President to stop the war. Wonder Woman and the Green Latern led a similar effort against Beijing. Both the Flash and Batman still dissented, eventually leaving the Watchtower to return to their respective cities. Taken by surprise, both Washington and Bejing fell to the League, as its members appeared in other hot zones, capturing and neutralizing other military leaders. However, both the Chinese and Americans had managed to evacuate most of their critical military personal. The two sides met, and agreed that such an act by non-state actors must be met.
Eventually, the lack of numbers on the part of the League began to tell. The heavy American and Chinese counterattacks forced them to retreat, but only after making the two forces suffer heavy losses. The willingness of the nations to engage the League infuriated its members. Who were these people, who had fought each other with such vigor previously, to ally together to fight the League? Superman, the previous Dove, now harbored a belief that the only way to end all such wars and nuclear exchanges was if the Justice League controlled the world. To do this, the League sought allies among the nations and separate metahumans. With promises of League protection, training, and technology, many of the previously non-aligned nations in Africa joined the Justice League. In addition, many metahuman based around cities in the world began to align themselves, they were either neutral, overseers if they supported the League, or nationalists. On the other side stood the former belligerents: the US, China, India, the EU, Japan, Israel, and South Korea. For political reasons, Iran and Pakistan joined the Justice League while the Russians remained their own allies. Multiple missile launches against he Watchtower brought it down, forcing the Justice League to make its headquarters in central Africa. The national alliance eventually took the war to Africa, seeking to remove the League's allies and wear them down through attrition. However, they were tired and worn out after a year and a half of bitter fighting, and had to fight on multiple fronts: Africa and at home against the overseers.
Thus began the next phase of World War III—the metahuman war.
A/N: I know, long intro that is short on the main characters. I apologize, but this background is necessary, and actually kinda fun to write. Hopefully, it isn't too dry. Anyway, I think I'm going to put Dark Legacy on hold for now (for those of you who have read it, or care). I may go back to it, but we'll see. As for this one, it is something that has been buzzing around in my head for awhile. Hopefully it comes together like I think. Expect the Titans to appear in the next chapter, dealing with war.
Hope you enjoyed the story, reviews and criticisms are, of course, appreciated and desired.
Mors101