Well, this here will be my biggest story, the one that I will take my time with. Also this will be the story of a kid who thinks of himself as a beast that is still trying to be a man. This is the story of the Wolf of Lightning in the world of Justice.
Ch.1 Star-Crossed
Edd just looked at one thing at the moment, and that was the carnage of what had happened an hour ago, replaying what happened in his head over and over.
Flashback: 1 hour ago.
While he was coming back from Egypt, he saw smoke at where his family's home is, when he got there, he noticed it was all devastated, then he noticed the bodies, the bodies of his mother, brother, and sister, he didn't know where his father was until he saw them. The Greek gods Ares, Hercules, and the King of Gods himself, Zeus, the one who had his father in wolf form by the neck.
"Dad!" he yelled as he gained the gods attention, and before they did anything else, the neck of his dad was broken by Zeus.
"NOOOOOOO!!" Edd yelled in rage as the beast came out, and the beast was immediately put into his rage. The fight that presumed ended with Ares and Hercules dead, and Zeus mortally wounded, but had escaped.
Flashback Over
Back to the current time, the young god killer looked at the bodies of the ones he lost, the family he would never see again. Then his senses told him he wasn't alone.
"This isn't your fault Edd," said a voice from behind him. Edd couldn't believe it, his bestfriend, his loyal Mastiff, Grizzly, was still alive. Edd immediately gave the dog a hug, seeing that he was his only family left.
"Don't scare me like that," Edd said, almost crying. The dog saw his concern and gave him an assuring lick, then out of nowhere, a light flashed and the boy and dog were gone.
-Metropolis-
Edd immediately knew he wasn't at his home anymore, nor was he dead, because the dead don't feel pain. He then noticed Grizzly on top of him. "You okay bud?" Edd asked concerned over his dog's safety.
"I believe so Edd," the dog said as he got up off his master. "What happened?"
"I have no idea, and I also have no idea what is with the big golden planet on top of that building." Edd pointed out, looking at the mentioned building. The two then tried to find any familiar scents, but to no avail.
His enhanced hearing then took effect as several footsteps were making there way towards them. "Grizzly, hide." Edd ordered, Grizzly did so without questioning, hiding behind a dumpster. Edd turned around to see several muscular men with bird wings coming out of their backs, and spears in their hands.
"Halt, human!" one of them shouted. "Show us your identification, or you will face punishment!" Edd, was already pissed off as it is, so he thought it's time to unleash that pent up agression, but since he wasn't sure what was going on, he won't kill.
"Let's get one thing clear," Edd said to the birdmen as his eyes changed from hazel to amber. "I'm not human." He let his form change rapidly, black fur growing with dark blue fur shaped like lightning bolts on each arm. His jaws broke and skull reformed into that of a wolf. He was now also 10 ft tall and well muscled aswell. The StormWolf was here.
"I'm the StormWolf, and you're about to get pummeled." He then proceeded to beat the absolute shit out of them and shocked the crap out of others. Once he was done, their was several bruised and shocked, but alive, alien soldiers. Then one was behind him, Grizzly came out from his hiding place and took care of the soldier long enough until Edd knocked him out. "Good boy," Edd said as he petted the mastiff.
They then noticed a large shadow, they looked up and saw a large ship, that clearly wasn't human.
"Even on the worst day of my life, the world needs saving," Edd said to Grizzly, he then saw a door and when he opened it, they were looking into a clothing store. "Grizzly, in here, I'll be back for you." Edd told him, the dog nodded in agreement.
Edd, now knowing that his dog is safe, then looked up at the sky and leaped.
- Thanagarian Prison Shuttle-
Six members of the Justice League, some of Earth's greatest heroes, had been defeated. They had been betrayed by Hawkgirl, one of their own. Trapped in a sphere of red sun radiation lay Superman, the Man of Steel. In another cell, Wonder Woman, Princess of the Amazons, was bound to a pole by her own indestructible lasso. Near her cell was the Flash, the Fastest Man Alive, pinned to the ground by gravity generators. Across from him lay the Martian Manhunter, the last son of Mars, held by metals that he could not phase through. At the end of the hall were the cells of Batman, the World's Greatest Detective, and Green Lantern. The Lantern had been stripped of his power ring, and was thus helpless. Batman was simply not seen as a threat. A sense of defeat hung in the air, along with silence.
The silence was then broken by the sounds of shouting and gunfire. The Leaguers tried to see what was going on, then the door broke and was sent flying. A couple semi-electrocuted Thanagarians were laying on the seconds later. Then the StormWolf walked in and saw all the colorful people infront of him thinking what the hell was he looking at.
"Why is it always me that gets stuck with the saving." StormWolf said as he looked at the heroes. "Who are you guys?" Edd examined the captives closer, getting a familiar scent somewhere in the room.
Superman spoke up. "We're the Justice League. We fight to protect the Earth, and the people who live here."
The werewolf sighed. "And here I thought StormWolf was corny, Avengers is a better name by the way, if you know who that is."
Flash tried to raise his head, but the gravity was too strong. He managed to say, "See? I'm not the only one who thinks so, but who are the Avengers?"
Edd sighed, then stopped infront of Wonder Woman's cell, and he recognized the scent of a goddess. "I guess you're a goddess, am I right?" Edd asked as he looked at her.
"Yes I am," Diana answered, "is there a problem?"
"No," Edd said, even though his hair was standing up, as he punched through the glass and untied her, not really liking these Thanagarians for how they're treating women. "Just bad history. Name's StormWolf."
"People call me Wonder Woman," Diana smiled. Edd knew that if their wasn't the age difference, he would probably be drooling over her, any man would, she's a goddess afterall.
Any further conversation was halted by the appearance of a dozen Thanagarian guards rushing through the remains of the door. "Get your friends out! I'll take care of these bastards!" StormWolf rushed towards the guards, punching, kicking and electrocuting his way through, leaving unconscious and shocked bird-men behind him. He kept another group of guards busy while Wonder Woman helped each of her fellow Leaguers escape their cells. It was here that Edd noticed that these people had superpowers. Well, four of them did. Wonder Woman could fly and had super strength, the Flash had incredible speed, Superman had all that and could shoot lasers out of his eyes, and the Martian could become intangible, in addition to super strength. Batman and Green Lantern, who had no powers, were still more than effective.
In short order, the already unfair fight became a beat-down. The few remaining Thanagarians were quickly subdued by the heroes. However, they were surprised by another group of guards attacking from behind. Wonder Woman was able to deflect the energy blasts coming from the guards' spears, but StormWolf noticed a particularly rotund hawk-man carrying a very large cannon. Rather than risk one of his new-found allies getting hurt, he jumped in front of the Amazon. When the Thanagarian fired his cannon and it hit Edd, everyone expected one dead wolf, but to everyones surprise, there he stood, smoke coming off his fur, his healing factor taking affect. "My turn." Edd said as he unleashed a devastating lightning strike, taking out the hawk-men and leaving a massive hole in the side of the ship, putting the city into view. "Anyone who flies, take someone that can't." Edd said as he howled and dived down towards the city, just as a thunderstorm was coming in.
"That guys insane," Flash commented as Wonder Woman picked him up and they followed Manhunter, who was carrying Lantern, and Superman, who was carrying Batman. Flash then looked up at the princess as they flew after the falling wolf. "You know, it's possible, and I could be wrong here, but it's possible that the wolf guy is on our side."
-Metropolis: Street Level-
The Justice League and StormWolf, after managing to avoid the Thanagarians, made their way to the clothing store Edd put Grizzly in. At first, the League were rather shocked at seeing the dog talk, but quickly calmed down. Feeling his anger still fuming, Edd walked out of the store to take it out on the Thanagarians. As the League caught their breaths, Green Lantern turned to Superman.
"That x-ray vision working again?"
Superman looked at the wall. "Enough to see every Thanagarian in a two-block radius electrocuted or beat to a pulp."
Flash gave a low whistle. "Glad he's on our side."
Superman turned to Diana and the Martian, J'onn J'onnz. "Did either of you get anything from that guy? Is he really here to help us?"
J'onn shook his head. "I did not enter his mind, but I sensed no ill will towards us; only mild irritation."
Green Lantern looked at the Martian. "Why would he be annoyed with us?"
Flash gave a small smile. "Maybe because the guys who always save the day needed saving?"
The rest of the League rolled their eyes, while Diana shook her head. One of the many gifts given to her by the gods was the ability to read emotion. "I sensed anger, pain and despair; whatever happened to him was terrible, and it nearly broke him."
Flash looked down, a little ashamed of himself for making jokes at the expense of someone in pain. Everyone else paused, lost in their own thoughts. The moment passed as Batman asked an important question.
"Still doesn't explain why he got defensive when he found out what Diana was," Batman said.
"Because she's a goddess," said Grizzly, catching the League by surprise. "A Greek goddess might I add."
"What is me being a Greek goddess have anything to do with how he acts?" Wonder Woman asked.
"It is not my story to tell, but let's just say, Zeus pushed him to far." The dog said ominously, just before Edd entered the room, still as StormWolf.
"They're taken care of for a while, so what's next?" Edd said, fully aware of the conversation they had before hand.
J'onn spoke up. "The whole city will be covered by now."
"Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll all go home." Flash quipped. The others looked at him.
"Knowing this line of work, we're never that lucky," StormWolf said.
"A little optimism can't hurt at a time like this!"
Just as the werewolf was about to reply, they heard a booming voice from outside.
"THIS IS THE VOICE OF THE THANAGARIAN OCCUPATIONAL AUTHORITY. THE JUSTICE LEAGUE ARE ESCAPED PRISONERS AND VIOLATORS OF OUR MARTIAL LAW. THEY ARE TO BE CONSIDERED AN ENEMY, AND DEALT WITH ON SIGHT. ANY PERSON OR PERSONS FOUND AIDING OR HARBORING THEM… WILL BE SUMMARILY PUNISHED."
"There goes your optimism." Edd said to the fastest man alive, who slumped.
Batman spoke, his voice laden with authority. "We're going to have to go underground for the time being. Keep low and rethink our plan of attack."
"How exactly do we hide when the whole city is looking for us?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Plus you look like you're going to comic con," StormWolf quipped, but got confused looks from the rest of the group.
"I believe you confused them," Grizzly stated, Edd nodding in agreement.
"He is right." J'onn said, drawing the others' attention away from their new ally and his dog as he held the sleeve of a nearby coat. "They're looking for our costumes. But without them, we are ordinary citizens."
As he spoke, the Martian shapeshifted into a human man in a brown trench coat.
"Whoa, wait a second!" The Flash exclaimed. "What about the whole secret identity thing? I mean, I trust you guys, but what about him?"
The speedster jerked his thumb in StormWolf's direction. The werewolf narrowed his eyes dangerously and a low growl could be heard.
"True. You definitely can't trust the guy who pulled your sorry asses out of a prison ship. That would be the dumbest shit ever." He snarled the last few words, his patience already at its limit considering he would rather be alone in the mountains with Grizzly rather than dealing with a group of incompetent, brightly-costumed heroes and saving an Earth that he was completely unfamiliar with. Grizzly tried to calm him down as lightning was starting to come off of him.
"Whoa, little hostility there!" Flash reacted, lifting his hands in a passive motion and taking a step back as the lightning grew.
"I didn't want to be here you know, especially after the bullshit I literally just been through, but since I'm here, I'll help you, since protecting the planet was already a damn job of mine, but afterwards..." he trailed off, letting the others to get an idea of what will happen. "And here's for your secret identity crisis."
They witness the wolf form slowly revert back to human, and their stood the 18 year old figure of the 6'3" brown haired, hazel eyed, freckled Edward Cravens. "My name is Edd, Edd Cravens."
The others were stunned.
"A kid?" Lantern asked in complete disbelief. "You're telling me a kid had to rescue us from the Thanagarians? We must be doing worse than I thought!"
"I'm 18 green bean, and I've been doing what I've been doing since I was little," Edd commented.
"Well since you were seven," Grizzly pointed out.
More stunned silence.
"Since you were seven?" Superman questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Edd nodded. "My family is a long line of werewolves, and we only had one job. That job was to watch over the Earth, and protect it from the gods that want to rule it, and now I'm the last."
"How are you the last?" Diana asked.
"And how does he talk?" Flash asked, pointing at Grizzly.
Edd frowned, a trying to fight a growl. "Look, how about we go over mine and Grizzly's history after we sneak out of the city that is currently occupied by bird-man aliens."
Batman nodded in agreement before stepping forward and removing his cowl, revealing black hair and piercing eyes. Edd paused, recognizing the look in those eyes. They reflected the pain that he himself now felt. The pain of losing your whole life in an instant.
Maybe they shared something in common after all.
"Bruce Wayne. Flash is Wally West. Superman is Clark Kent. Green Lantern is John Stewart. And you know Diana and J'onn," the billionaire explained.
"Wally?" Edd criticized.
"Really?" Grizzly asked, trying to hold back from laughing.
"Shut up." Flash sighed.
A few minutes later, every member of the Justice League was dressed up as a normal civilian, with Superman wearing a blue business suit and glasses, Diana wearing a long sleeve blue shirt and jeans while tying up her hair in a long ponytail, Green Lantern with a skull cap, brown hoodie and brown pants, Batman wearing a leather jacket along with grey pants and a turtleneck, and Flash going with dark jeans and a brown jacket. Edd wore his black jacket, dark blue t-shirt, blue jeans, and boots, while also having the brown leash for Grizzly.
They were now standing outside in the alley that they had come through previously, Bruce poking his head out to see if the coast is clear.
"We need to split up. They expect seven of us," John strategized. "Who takes the kid and the dog?"
Edd and Grizzly both glared at the powerless Lantern, Edd's eyes changing from hazel to amber as Bruce spoke up. "We need to get to Gotham City. We can regroup at my house there. Try not to draw attention to yourselves."
The dark knight looked over the group. "I'll take Diana, Edd, and Grizzly. We can pose as a family out on the town."
"Fine, but if they ask, you're my uncle and aunt," Edd said darkly as him and Grizzly walked on. The Gothamite glanced over at Diana with a raised eyebrow. She shook her head, warning Bruce not to dig any deeper. She could still feel the despair and rage flowing from the young man, so much so that it was almost painful. She also thought about what Grizzly said, that Zeus had something to do with it. Then she realized something frightening.
He was fully prepared to turn that pain and fury on the Thanagarians, and he had the power to act on those feelings.
- Above the Gobi Desert-
Onboard the Thanagarian mother ship, Shayera Hol, formerly a member of the Justice League under the alias of Hawkgirl, was at a loss for words from what she was seeing on the vid screen.
When Hro Talak, Commander of the Thanagarian forces and her soon-to-be husband, had discovered that the League had broken free from their prison ship and caused it to crash in Metropolis, he had been furious. In a rage, he demanded that recovery teams check the security feeds on the ship to find out how they had managed to escape. That was a few hours ago, and Talak had calmed down enough to think out the situation. While a formidable team, the Justice League could not hope to defeat the might of the entire Thanagarian invasion force. They were outgunned, and the Thanagarians knew all their weaknesses, thanks to Shayera's information.
Of course, this was before Talak received the images that were now posted on his screen. Images of a mysterious wolf-like being that seemed to be shooting lightning. The wolf-like creature had managed to break the Justice League out of confinement and fight off a legion of Thanagarian, withstand an up close cannon blast, and took down an entire prison ship with a single lightning strike.
Shayera had no idea what this being was, or if it was even from this planet, but she knew that it would make the occupation of Earth a little more difficult. The creature was a wildcard; if it was able to do all these things, what else could it do? How dangerous was it?
At the moment, Talak was speaking over a vid-screen with Paran Dul, a female Thanagarian who was in charge of the construction of the shield generator, the one necessary to protect Earth from Gordanian invasion.
"Be aware that the Justice League has escaped, due to the interference of a strange, wolf-like being," Talak warned. "Stand ready for an attack."
"Any attack on this base would be suicide," Dul boasted, completely unconcerned about a possible strike on the Thanagarian forces.
"Keep me informed of your progress. Let nothing delay you," the Thanagarian commander ordered.
"By your command." The video screen then went blank. However, Shayera was more concerned with a topic mentioned earlier on in the conversation between Talak and Paran.
"Humans as slave labor?" she questioned, having overheard Paran mention using humans to 'lift and carry as well as any animal'. The former Justice League member was concerned.
"Unfortunate, but necessary." Shayera took note of how little remorse her betrothed showed as he said this before he continued, walking over to a nearby console to check up on a few details. "We are on a most unforgiving schedule. We must move as quickly as possible if we want to finish the hyperspace bypass in time."
Shayera's eyes widened. Hyperspace bypass? This wasn't what he told the human race!
"Bypass?" she asked, quickly walking over to look Talak in the eye. "I thought we were creating a force field for Earth!"
"That was simply our cover story."
Shayera paused as dozens of thoughts raced through her head. But the first and foremost was...
"When were you going to tell me this?" she nearly growled. "Did you not think you could trust me?"
A long silence ensued, as both Thanagarian warriors gazed into each other's eyes, neither one willing to back down. In all their time together, Shayera had never felt this angry at Talak, nor this betrayed. What was wrong with him?
"Follow me," he said quietly, snapping Shayera out of her thoughts. The Thanagarian leader began to walk away, and Shayera began to do as he said.
After about five minutes of walking and an elevator ride later, the two entered the war room of the ship, were Talak brought her over to a large screen used for battle strategy and tactics.
"As you are well aware, the Gordanian homeworld has been protected for decades by an impenetrable defensive line," Talak explained, drawing up an image of the Gordanian home system, with their planet being shown as surrounded by legions of ships and space stations that make a frontal assault a fruitless endeavor.
"But this chain of hyperspace bypasses will allow the full force of out armada to go around their defenses by jumping behind them, which will let us wage a direct assault on the heart of their empire."
Shayera saw what he meant, and it was strategically brilliant to be sure. But there was something else going on here. Something very bad...
"Earth is the last link in the chain. Once we finish it, we can finally attack and annihilate the threat of the Gordanians forever."
The former Hawkgirl was beginning to hear a hint of what sounded like victory in Talak's voice. But that wasn't what was bothering her the most.
"But ripping a hole in hyperspace will destroy this entire planet, and everyone on it!" she protested.
"Unfortunately, yes," Talak said quietly, his voice becoming heavy, revealing how long and how hard he had been fighting this war, and what it will cost him. Thanagarians normally didn't believe in souls, but Talak still felt that he would face eventual retribution for his actions.
"For Thanagar to live, Earth must die."
-Outskirts of Metropolis-
As Edd, Grizzly, Bruce and Diana made their way out of Metropolis, the billionaire and princess each took the time to think about Edd. Bruce was thinking about the ramifications that Edd's power might have on the world, while Diana was more concerned with Edd's state of mind, aswell as Grizzly's comment. She wanted to ease the young man's pain; maybe she could get him to talk about himself a little more. At the very least, she would learn a little more about him.
"Edd?" the teen looked up at the princess, the same neutral expression on his face.
"Yeah?"
"I was wondering if you could tell me a little more of your abilities." Diana glanced at Bruce. "It might help us fight alongside you better."
Edd thought it over. He didn't see the harm in telling the League his capabilities. It wasn't like he planned on continuing this kind of lifestyle after this mission. He looked down at Grizzly for reassurance, and the dog gave him a nod. "Super strength, super speed, control over lightning, razor sharp claws, jaws strong enough to bite through metal, I know over seventy fighting styles, and have a healing factor, and I speak over 20 languages. I also don't know some of my limits, because I have yet to be truly tested." He said that last part with a smile.
Both of the older heroes were shocked. If what he said was true, then Edd had more power than the entire League."So are you the badass of the group?" Edd asked Bruce.
"How would you think that?" Bruce asked.
"Because you don't have powers, and yet you hang around these guy with abilities that normal people would compare to gods." Edd said.
"You should have seen Edd when he was first trying to master the beast, half his battles involved him being entirely human." Grizzly added.
"And with lady luck on my side, I won most of them." Edd finished.
Bruce was a little impressed. Not many people could so easily admit to being powerless, nor could they admit to only winning by luck.
Diana, however, had another question. "How is it that we have never heard of you? Someone of your power should have been seen before, especially if you've been doing this since you were seven."
"Two reasons: 1) The only ones that knew about what my family did were the gods. 2) We're not from your universe." Edd said casually.
Both Bruce and Diana froze. Well,that was certainly unexpected.
Grizzly then stated. "Diana confirmed it, all gods and goddesses know of the StormWolf."
"Also, from where we're from, we have no Justice League, no Metropolis, no Gotham, none of it." Edd finished.
Bruce nodded, then gestured to Diana that they needed to keep moving. They would decide on how to proceed regarding these two later, provided they survived the Thanagarians.
-Gotham City: Wayne Manor-
Bruce, Diana, Edd, and Grizzly were the first to arrive at the stately Wayne Manor. Edd was impressed by the mansion, but it wouldn't be something he'd want to live in. As they reached the door, it was opened by an older, balding man. Bruce introduced him as Alfred, his butler. Alfred offered them refreshments, which Edd gratefully accepted. He hadn't eaten anything all day long. Neither had Grizzly apparently since he dug right into the meat he was given.
After that, Edd decided to leave Grizzly in the main building to sleep. Bruce then led them to a grandfather clock, which opened up to a tunnel. At the other side was an enormous cavern. A large computer occupied one niche, while a large black car was parked in another area. In yet another spot were several dozen objects, including a twenty-foot penny and a mechanical T-Rex. Other, smaller objects were in glass containers.
Bruce had a small smirk on his face as he watched Edd's expression go from emotionless and neutral to astonished and interested. Bruce put on a hand on the young man's shoulder.
"Welcome to the Batcave."
"I like it." Edd responded.
-Several Hours Later-
After waiting impatiently, the last two members of the League, Flash and Green Lantern, arrived at the manor and were led to the Batcave by Alfred.
"You're late." Was all Bruce said.
"Good to see you too." Replied the Lantern sarcastically.
"How is it that a guy with superspeed is late?" Edd asked Wally, who paid him no mind.
Wally noticed the T-Rex. "Hey, that's a giant dinosaur."
"And I thought Batman was the detective." Said Alfred. Edd decided that he liked the aging butler.
J'onn spoke as Flash rejoined the group. "We were just speculating why the Thanagarians are really here."
"Obviously not to protect us." Said Clark.
"But if the Gordanians aren't anywhere near Earth," said Wonder Woman, "why do they need to build that force field?"
"If it is a force field." Said Bruce.
"I can tell you what it is."
The owner of the new voice, Shayera Hol traitor to the Justice League, stepped from the shadows as the seven got into battle stances.
"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here" Clark says menacingly as he removed his glasses.
"We should thank you. It saves us the trouble of hunting you down" Wonder Woman added.
Shayera meanwhile put her hands up in surrender. "I didn't come to fight. I came to help."
"Hawk people all over the planet? Martial law? I don't think we need any more of your help" Flash said as he crossed his arms.
"She's telling the truth," Edd said to them, gaining their attention. "My sense of smell knows better, it's never lied to me yet, but if she has other ideas, I'll tear her wings off, fry them, and let Grizzly eat them." Shayera looked at the man, shocked at the threat he just made, then notice the eyes change from hazel to amber, then back to hazel.
Shayera stared at him for a moment, then turned to the League. "They're building a hyperspace bypass. When it's active, it'll destroy the planet and everyone on it." She approached Bruce and handed over what looked like a purple video cassette. "Here; this has all the information on the project." Bruce simply glared at her. "Believe me; I didn't know the magnitude of Talak's plan."
"We'll check it out. There's the door" Batman said bluntly as he took the disk from her. Shayera meanwhile, walked away calmly, ignoring the others as they avoided eye contact with her. StormWolf however, watched her carefully. He didn't trust her to not backstab his new friends. Friends… Were they even his friends? He was still cautious around them, especially Wonder Woman for her being a Greek goddess, but Grizzly did say to try and be part of the group. He also needed something to take his mind off what happened. He then noticed Shayera give John a ring before leaving.
"Did she ask for your hand in marriage?" Edd asked sarcastically.
John shot him a mild glare, then slipped the ring onto his right hand. A green glow surrounded his body, and then he began to levitate off the ground.
"That's pretty cool," Edd said, impressed.
The two heroes joined the others, who were watching a simulation of the effects of the hyperspace bypass. They watched as a simulated Earth was consumed by a bright, crackling energy.
"Ingenious." Batman muttered.
"Yeah, I'm impressed," said Superman, taking off his glasses again, "let's go wreck it."
"How?" asked Green Lantern, "It's behind a force field."
"The bypass is too dangerous to have a crew maintaining the force-field that protects it on site" Batman says as he types away at his keyboard. "They must be keeping the device powering the force-field on the command ship over Mongolia" he continues as he finishes typing. After he did so, an image of the Thanagarian flagship was brought up, and he highlighted a particular section of it. He then turns to the League before standing up. "Go shut it down. I'll take care of the bypass".
"That thing's the size of a city. What are you gonna do? Throw a batarang at it?" Flash asks skeptically.
"Something like that" Batman replies before looking to the computer screen. "Proximity sensors were just triggered. Suit up"
The heroes quickly went into costume, Edd just quickly changed into the Wolf before backing into the dark, his fur blending perfectly into the shadows.
"That is truly scary," Flash said as he ran back into the cave to see two large amber eyes staring at him.
"Get ready to ambush them." Batman's glare dragged them back into their current predicament.
Just as they hid, the doors to that lead back into Wayne manor exploded inwards as several heavily armed Thanagarian soldiers stormed into the cave. "Spread out" the leader said. "They're hiding somewhere in here"
Before the hawk-people took another step, a green blade sliced through one of the cannons, while large strike of lightning pierced the other weapon, rendering it useless, aswell as knocking several birdmen unconscious.
"Who's hiding?" StormWolf said as he snarled wildly at the bird men as the League also came out of the shadows.
"Come and get some." Green Lantern's eyes glowed with emerald fire, then he lifted off the ground, avoiding Thanagarians attempting to kill him, while blasting one of them in the face with his power ring.
Wonder Woman used her lasso to catch one alien by the ankles and swung him towards the Manhunter, who simply stuck his arm out, catching the bird-man in the head. Flash weaved through the soldiers, hitting them at high speeds, then rushing away.
One Thanagarian drew a bead on the speedster with his pistol, but Superman crushed both the weapon, and the soldier's hand. As he cried out in agony, Superman said, "Let's use our indoor voice." He then punched the Thanagarian into a stone wall.
Two more Thanagarians were pursuing the Flash, but he avoided every shot they fired. He zoomed around them and spun his arms fast enough to create a small tornado. The twister blew them into the bottom of the giant penny, which collapsed on top of them, tails-side up.
Flash ran on top of the penny. "Tails," he quipped, "I win."
Batman swung from the ceiling on a grappling line, kicking one soldier in the face. He let go of the line to land on the ground. As he did so, he threw three batarangs into the chest armor of three Thanagarians. The blades didn't penetrate, and the warriors hovered in the air with a look of contempt on their faces.
"Your weapons are pitiful." One gloated. None of them noticed the blinking red light on each batarang.
"Wait for it." Behind the Dark Knight, hundreds of eyes glowed in the darkness. Hundreds of bats swarmed the Thanagarians, attracted by the signals emanating from the batarangs. The soldiers were quickly reduced to unconscious, bleeding wrecks.
StormWolf felt bad about his opponents, they weren't even a fight, their weapons were practically useless against his healing factor, and he overpowered the men with ease. It took him a matter of seconds just to knock out his opponents.
Soon enough, the fight was over. After tying up the aliens, the seven heroes walked out of the Batcave and back into Wayne Manor. They found Alfred sweeping up the shattered remains of the front windows, and Grizzly laying infront of the couch, droozy eyed as he was still tired.
"Mind the glass, sir." He warned calmly, as they left.
"Behave yourself Grizzly, I'll be back for you." Edd told the Mastiff as he stepped outside.
Batman turned to Green Lantern. "I want you, Superman, Wonder Woman and StormWolf to go to the command ship, and shut down the force field."
"And the rest of us?" J'onn gestured to Batman, Flash and himself.
"You're going to help me retake the Watchtower." StormWolf remembered Batman telling him about the League's advanced space station, in orbit around the planet.
"It's crawling with Thanagarian soldiers," Flash pointed out, "how're you planning on getting inside?"
"With that." Batman pointed outside, where the shuttle that the Thanagarians had arrived in lay waiting.
"Good luck fellas," Edd said as he sped off at speeds that could give the Flash a hard time, following the other three heroes out towards the direction of the Thanagarian fleet.
- With Batman, Flash, and Manhunter-
Batman, Flash and the Martian entered the alien craft. J'onn spent several minutes examining the controls.
"Well?" Batman asked.
"I have no idea how to fly this vessel."
"What's this do?" Flash asked as he pressed a button. A beam of energy fired from the ship, making a fairly large hole in the side of Bruce's house.
Batman moved his face very close to Flash's. "That's. Not. Helping." Batman said through gritted teeth.
J'onn looked up. "I need one of the hawk-men."
It took a few minutes, but Batman brought up their leader, whose name was Kregor, and was one of Talak's chief advisors, and slammed him into the side of the ship.
"You think I'll tell you anything?" Kregor sneered. "I'd sooner choke on your bones."
"Okay by me," said Flash, cocking back his fist, "can I start with these?" J'onn stopped him before he actually struck.
"We're running out of time," the Martian said, "I'll take the information from him."
"I thought you couldn't read their minds?" Flash asked his telepathic friend.
The Martian's eyes glowed as he gripped Kregor's head. "I'll just have to tryharder."
Neither Batman nor the Flash could see what J'onn was going through in the Thanagarian's mind, but somehow Kregor's mental defenses were strong enough to affect the Martian's physical body. Slash and claw-marks appeared all over him, and his cape, which was just skin shapeshifted to look like a cape, was torn to ribbons. However, this didn't last long. After only a few more moments, J'onn released his hold on Kregor, stumbling slightly. His wounds immediately began to fade.
"I… I have what we need." J'onn clearly did not enjoy what had just happened.
A few minutes later, the Thanagarian shuttle lifted off, heading towards the Watchtower. As it left, Alfred stepped out onto the yard. He spotted Kregor lying on his side, a small stream of drool falling from a corner of his mouth. It was possible that J'onn's mental attack had left him comatose.
Alfred, remembering how the alien had struck him when he and his ilk had intruded upon the Wayne household, merely glared and said, "I'll have to ask Master Bruce to not leave trash in the yard."
"I'll take care of it," Grizzly said as he grabbed a wing of the hawkman and proceeded to drag the man of the property.
-Watchtower-
As the stolen shuttle neared the Watchtower, J'onn shapeshifted to look like Kregor. Activating the communication systems, he spoke in Kregor's voice.
"Shuttle Elipson-sixteen, requesting entry." He sent a code to the waiting Thanagarians. "Confirm docking code."
"Docking code confirmed." Came a response as the Watchtower's docking bay opened. "You are clear to come aboard."
When the shuttle landed, 'Kregor' stepped down the ramp towards a pair of waiting Thanagarian guards.
"We weren't expecting you, sir." Said one in surprise.
"There's been a change of plans." Said the Martian, as he shapeshifted into a creature that resembled a blue Cyclops.
He quickly subdued the two guards, but more entered the docking bay. One prepared to open fire, but he was disarmed when a batarang disabled his weapon, and Batman punched him in the face with an electrically-charged set of brass knuckles. The rest of the Thanagarian garrison was swiftly defeated by Batman, the Flash and the Martian Manhunter.
-Thanagarian Fleet-
It was quickly apparent to StormWolf, Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern that the three flyers had been detected. They might have been tipped off by a swarm of fighter-craft surrounding the flagship that was hundreds strong.
"Pretty bad odds." Commented Wonder Woman.
"For them, maybe." Was StormWolf's response through the comm set they gave him.
Superman agreed. "Yeah. They don't stand a chance."
They then heard a long howl, and then the sky getting darker as a storm took control over the Gobi. The three heroes looked on at awe as lightning came out of the storm and struck ships down. "How are you planning on getting up here," Lantern asked the werewolf.
"Same way I got up there earlier." responded Edd as he leaped into the air and landed on one of the air-crafts before breaking it with a single punch before running on the lightning strikes.
To say it was a battle would have been a lie. It was a beat-down. Superman and Wonder Woman simply flew through the fighters, their enhanced durability allowing them to be unaffected by the impacts, while leaving a trail of falling wreckage behind them. Green Lantern and StormWolf took out the stragglers with energy blasts and lightning strikes.
Most of the fighter pilots saw Superman and Wonder Woman as greater threats, and focused their attacks on them. Nobody on the outside seemed to notice Green Lantern cut his way through the hull of the flagship and make his way inside.
-Watchtower-
Batman, Flash and the Martian Manhunter stood over the unconscious bodies of the last Thanagarians on the Watchtower.
"Okay," said the Flash, "the Watchtower's ours again." He ran over to Batman, who had been using one of the computers while the other two had been fighting the soldiers.
"So where's your secret weapon?" He asked the Dark Knight.
"You're standing in it."
Flash's eyes widened. "Wait… you mean we're gonna…"
"Take the Watchtower out of orbit and drop it right on top of their little science project." Finished Batman. He gestured to the fallen Thanagarians. "Get them to the escape pods."
As the heroes dragged the soldiers away, the Watchtower's engines pointed the massive station towards the coordinates that Batman had programmed into the navigational systems. The three moved as quickly as they could to get the Thanagarians to the escape pods. Thanks to the Flash, it was quick work.
"Are these the last of them?" asked J'onn.
"Yep," said the Flash, as Batman began to silently back out of the pod, "the 'tower is completely pest-free."
"Good." Was all Batman said as he pressed the launch button. The doors closed and the pod launched, with Batman still on the Watchtower.
Flash and the Martian rushed to the communicator. "What are you doing!?" demanded J'onn.
"I can't risk having the Watchtower burn up on reentry. I'll have to guide it in manually." Batman paused for a moment. "Gentlemen, it's been an honor."
The heroes in the escape pod bowed their heads in sorrow, knowing that Batman had just consigned himself to death.
-Thanagarian Flagship-
The first that anyone knew that John Stewart was aboard the flagship was when he burst through the lower decks, blasting any Thanagarian in his way. Using security cameras, the soldiers on the bridge, including Hro Talak, could see what the Green Lantern was doing, and where he was going. At the sight of the human's face, Talak ground his teeth. He hated John Stewart. That man had stolen the love of Shayera Hol away from him. She had even betrayed her people, warning the Justice League of their plans, and even giving the Lantern back his ring. For her treason, she had been imprisoned in the brig. He had tried to reason with her, told her that the only way for their people to survive was if the humans died. Instead, she had decided that Earth's people were more deserving of her love. One person on Earth in particular.
"Intruder alert!" one of the bridge officers cried into the ship-wide communication. "All security teams to engineering!"
"Belay that!" barked Talak, as he strode towards the door, his axe in his hand. "Green Lantern ismine."
Had Talak stayed on the bridge for a few minutes more, he would have seen Wonder Woman slam a fighter through the hull surrounding the bridge. She quickly flew through the hole that she'd created, followed by StormWolf. After subduing the bridge officers, Diana picked up a sword and marched through the door, followed by StormWolf. Unfortunately, there were two separate paths leading towards engineering.
Wonder Woman looked at her werewolf ally. "You ready?"
"Diana," Edd said as he smirked with his canines. "I was born ready." He then looked at the forked path. "What ya think? You go left, I go right?" Diana nodded. "Great. Let's see who gets to the shield control first."
Wonder Woman gave a small laugh. "You're on." Giving an Amazonian war-cry, she rushed down her path. Not to be outdone, StormWolf let out a howl and charged down his own hallway. Woe to any Thanagarian in their way.
-With Wonder Woman-
Wonder Woman found the Thanagarians to be fierce opponents, but she could still take on small groups of them without much trouble. As she defeated one group, she noticed a door covered with irregularly-placed bars. Behind the bars, and inside of a force field, stood Shayera Hol. Once known as Hawkgirl, she had been one of Diana's best friends. But she had spat on that friendship, and Amazonians do not take kindly to traitors.
"I should leave you to burn." The Amazonian princess all but snarled the words. She then raised her sword and slashed it through the controls to Shayera's cell. The bars withdrew into the wall and the force field disappeared. Without another word, Diana marched away. As soon as she was gone, Shayera stepped out of her cell and, after picking up a fallen mace, flew off towards the shield control.
-With Green Lantern-
On the engineering deck, Green Lantern used his ring to pry open a set of door. Behind them was a large room with a force field, shaped like a pillar, inside of which was a small device with a plunger-like attachment.
"The force field controls." John looked up to see Hro Talak, the Thanagarian commander, land in front of the force field. "That is what you came for, yes? You want it?" he raised his axe into a ready position, "All you have to do is get by me."
"It'll be a pleasure." Lantern raised his ring and sent a beam of energy at Talak, who deflected it with a swing of his axe.
"No." Talak gave a glare. "This won't be like the last time that you took something that belonged to me."
Lantern's eyes narrowed. He knew that Talak was talking about Shayera. "Anything I took was freely offered. Maybe you should take better care of your stuff."
John sent several more bolts of energy at his foe, all of which were deflected. Both flew into the air, with John forming a triangular shield to block Talak's axe. The blow still took a chunk out of the shield. After several more blows, Lantern figured that he would be better off dodging Talak's blows than blocking them. Unfortunately, he still took several hits from both Talak's fist and from the hilt of his axe. One blow in particular knocked him into some machinery, which exploded, giving him several cuts on his face.
Stunned, Lantern couldn't stop Talak from picking him up by the throat. "I've beaten you, little man." Talak raised his axe. "Any last words?"
As Lantern's head cleared, he said, "Yeah; you can kiss my axe!" His ring created a green battleaxe in his hand, and both combatants swung at each other, attempting to overpower the other.
-With StormWolf-
StormWolf sent a lightning strike through another pack of Thanagarians. Aside from a few cuts and bruises, which healed almost immediately, he was doing alright. He wondered how the others were doing. He knew from fighting alongside them that the Justice League knew what they were doing, but in the short time that he'd known them, he had come to care for them. Even brooding Batman, and the Goddess. He idly wondered if it was just his grief making him attached again, like he thought of before, he literally just lost his family earlier that day, all except Grizzly.
As StormWolf rounded another corner, he spotted another group of soldiers. With a roar, he crashed into them, punching, kicking and even striking one with lightning. As he was finishing, he noticed another one out of the corner of his eye, a pretty female with long, red hair. As he turned to charge, she held up her hands.
"Wait, please!"
Edd paused. Sure, she had been wearing a helmet the last time he'd seen her, but her scent and that voice…
"Shayera?"
The Thanagarian blinked. "Yes, it's me. You're… Edd, right?"
StormWolf nodded. "Right now, you can call me the StormWolf. What are you doing?"
Shayera hefted her borrowed mace. "I want to help take down the shield controls." She looked down, shame obviously on her face. "And I want to atone for what I've done. Maybe I can never fully repair the damage I've done, but I want to start here and now, before it's too late."
Edd nodded. He could understand wanting to fix a mistake, especially one that had lives on the line. He still hadn't come to terms with what happened. It was too soon, way too soon.
"Let's go." As he started off, the werewolf looked over his shoulder, "If you stab me in the back, you better make sure it kills me. Otherwise, it'll be the last thing you ever do." He said the last part with bared teeth, making her get the idea.
Shayera nodded. That was as good as she deserved. Maybe even better.
They didn't encounter further resistance on their way to the shield controls. StormWolf just couldn't wait til this was over, but then he and Shayera found a horrible sight. Hro Talak had just brought down the blunt part of his axe like a club across Green Lantern's forearm, shattering the bone. With a scream of pain, John fell to his knees. Talak then delivered a wicked uppercut, sending Lantern across the room where he lay very still.
As Talak raised his axe for the killing blow, Shayera called out. "Hro! Enough!" Talak turned. His eyes widened when he saw snarling, but his gaze quickly went to Shayera. The traitorous Leaguer continued to walk toward him, until they were inches apart.
"The fight's over. You're a soldier, not a murderer."
Talak paused for a moment, then delivered a vicious backhand, sending her to the ground.
"I'm a fool!" he shouted, "For ever loving you!"
He would have attacked her further, but he was then hit with the force of a freight train, sending him into the wall. When he regained his senses, he saw what was the equivalent of the devil himself. StormWolf glaring right at him, his eyes glowing blue with lightning coming off of him. He was also snarling with rage.
"What's with you assholes and disrespecting women. I mean seriously, you had Diana tied up to a pole, but this, this is just a load of bullshit, and now... I'm gonna kick your ass." Edd said as he charged the Thanagarian.
Talak charged at the werewolf, then swung his axe towards him, only for it to cut into the StormWolf's midsection.
"No!" Shayera was still slightly stunned, but seeing the man that she'd once loved do something so needlessly cruel was too much. She was about to rush into the fight, when something amazing happened. The midsection healed itself in a matter of seconds. Edd then smirked at the stunned general before sending a lightning bolt his direction. Talak was so stunned that he didn't have time to dodge.It brought a smile on Edd's face when the man got up, fully enraged.
"Shayera!" he called out. The Thanagarian had been helping Lantern get back to his feet. "See if you can shut down the shield while I keep him busy!"
Shayera and John both nodded. It was now or never
-Watchtower-
As the Watchtower entered the Earth's atmosphere, Batman struggled to keep the station on course. Activating his comlink, he radioed Superman.
"We're cutting it a little close." He flinched slightly as a flaming piece of debris fell near him. "Have you shut off the force field?"
Back at the outside of the flagship, Superman shot down another fighter with his heat vision before replying.
"Not yet. Where are you?"
"Aboard the Watchtower." Admitted Batman, "Guiding it to target."
"That's insane!" was Superman's worried response. "Get out of there!"
"Negative. I'm staying." Anything else Batman might have said was lost in static.
"Batman!" Without even a backwards glance, Superman flew towards the Watchtower, easily finding it with his enhanced senses, but praying that he would reach it before it was too late.
-Thanagarian Flagship-
Talak knew that he was outmatched. This creature, this beast, was in an ultimately different league than anything he has faced in the past. It was probably powerful enough to kill him with ease, but he had a suspicion that the creature was holding back.
"Not going to kill me?" he taunted. "Are you too scared to bloody your hands?"
"Trust me, if I wanted you dead, the first punch would've killed you," StormWolf said darkly as his fist charged with lightning as he ran up to the Thanagarian and decked him with a lightning punch, knocking him out.
As he was checking to see if the madman was still alive he turned his head towards Shayera and John. "Hey!" He shouted. "How's it coming, you two?"
It had been hard for Lantern to draw up enough willpower to crack through the shields of the controls. He was in so much pain, but he managed to push past it, thanks to his training from both the Marines and the Green Lantern Corps. Once the shield fell, he tried to push the plunger-like device down, but with only one working arm, he wasn't strong enough. That is, until Shayera placed her hand over his, and adding her strength to his own. Together, they deactivated the shields around the bypass.
-Watchtower-
As the fiery remains of the Watchtower plummeted towards the bypass, Batman struggled to remain conscious. The extreme heat of reentry had pushed him to his absolute limit. Sweat rolled off of him in waves, and the only thing that he could still focus on was the targeting path on the computer screen in front of him, which miraculously still worked.
Finally, just when he knew that there was no way that the station wouldn't hit the bypass, did Batman allow himself to pass out. Fortunately, before the impact, Superman crashed through the walls of the station, and pulled both Batman and the seat he was strapped to, to safety. Seconds after they exited, the Watchtower, home and base of the Justice League for two years, crashed into the hyperspace bypass. The entire device, the size of a city, exploded with a force not seen since the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. Over 200 miles wide, and nearly 20 miles deep, the crater could be seen from orbit.
Superman and Batman, who'd regained consciousness, took a moment to look out over the devastation, before the Man of Steel turned to the Dark Knight.
"Always have to be the hero, don'tcha?"
Batman looked at his friend for a moment, before giving a tired smile. "Right back at you."
-Thanagarian Flagship-
StormWolf, Green Lantern and Shayera looked at the crater that was the hyperspace bypass via a viewscreen in the room. Shayera gave them both a satisfied smile before she looked down at the floor with a sad, guilty expression.
'Yep, she's now realizing what she had done,' Edd thought to himself. 'She's betrayed her entire species. I wonder what will she do now?'
Further introspection was interrupted by the appearance of several dozen Thanagarian soldiers that flooded the room. The three prepared to defend themselves, when cries of pain from the back of room caused everyone else to turn. Standing over the unconscious forms of several Thanagarians, bloody, bruised but unbowed, was Wonder Woman!
"Who's next?" she asked, raising her sword. As more of the soldiers began to charge, a voice rang out.
"Stand down!" electrocuted, bruised and beaten nearly to a pulp, stood Commander Hro Talak. "Lower your weapons." The soldiers quickly obeyed.
"Commander?" one of them asked.
"Our mission is a failure." Talak went on. "There's no more reason to fight. Let them go." He ignored the incredulous looks from both his soldiers and the heroes and limped over to Shayera. "I hope you're proud of yourself. It'll take years for us to rebuild elsewhere."
Shayera stared at him, unflinching.
"Then you'd better get started." With that, she, Lantern, Wonder Woman and StormWolf marched out of the room. No one made a move to stop them.
-Wayne Manor, Next Day-
Eddward Cravens and Shayera Hol sat next to each other on the couch, watching the news, while Grizzly was laying on the floor at Edd's feet. The television showed hundreds of Thanagarian ships leaving the planet. The reporter went on to thank the Justice League for what they did to save the world.
'Would've been nice if I had publicity back home.' Edd thought as he stared at the tv.
Shayera turned off the TV and looked at her feet. "They've been in there a long time."
"Yeah, and unfortunately I have the pleasure of hearing the entire conversation," Edd mused.
"You aren't the only one," Grizzly commented.
They were referring to the League, which was currently having a discussion about its future, and the future of its traitorous teammate, in the dining room. Since she had betrayed them, she had lost the right to voice her opinion on League matters. Since Edd wasn't a League member at all, he had been politely asked to leave.
The three had spent the last several hours talking, Edd and Grizzly trying to raise her spirits, and she spent the time listening to some of Edd's adventures from when he was younger. She had been more than a little surprised to learn that Edd had begun his god slaying career at only seven years old, and even more surprised to find out the lovable Mastiff speaks English.
Though Edd had been trying to make Shayera feel better, in truth, he'd actually improved his own mood. Talking about the good times from his younger days allowed him to remember the other happy times with his friends and family. Maybe he'd never get over it, but at least he knew that hecould feel better. At the very least, he knew that he wouldn't try to isolate himself from the world.
Although he was feeling slightly better, he could tell that Shayera was still depressed. She had lost everything. So had Edd, minus Grizzly, but he had gained a few friends that would support him. Shayera had betrayed those friends, as well as her entire species. Grizzly then did what most dogs do when they notice sad people. He jumped up on her and licked her in the face.
"Grizzly," Edd said laughing as his dog was doing his best to cheer up the redhead. Shayera on the other hand was actually enjoying having the large dog giving her affection. When Grizzly got off of her, her white shirt had drool on it.
Edd sighed. "Look, Shayera." The Thanagarian stopped looking at his dog to look at him. "I know at least part of how you feel. I know what it's like to lose everything." She looked at him, confused. Mustering up his courage, Edd continued. "You may have lost your friends' trust, but at least they're still alive. You can rebuild that trust, as hard as it might be. My family, everyone that I've ever cared about, besides Grizzly here, were killed yesterday." There. He'd said it out loud. Grizzly put his head on Edd's lap.
Shayera looked at him in shock. He'd gone through that kind of trauma, and had been thrown into a universe that was completely strange to him, and he'd still risked his life to save a world that wasn't even his?
"I'll say this," Edd said, "if you didn't do what you did, there's a good chance that we wouldn't be here today to hear that reporter's annoying voice." Shayera gave a weak smile. Edd put a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever they decide in there, you're a hero in my book."
Shayera gave Edd another smile; this one, however, was genuine. Then Grizzly shook, sending slobber all over them. "Grizzly!" both of them said as the dog just looked at them innocently.
-In the Kitchen-
"She exploited our weaknesses, betrayed us…" Wonder Woman had been ranting about what Shayera had done to them, and by this point had probably repeated several of her own points.
"Come on," Flash said, in Shayera's defense, "she was in the ultimate no-win situation; but when push came to shove, she came through for us, just like always."
"She is a pariah to her people." J'onn added. "We are all she has left."
"Believe me, J'onn, I feel for her." Said Superman, "But after everything that's happened, I honestly don't know if I can ever completely trust her again."
Green Lantern looked at the table, silent since the discussion began.
"We're arguing in circles." Said Batman, "It's time to take a vote."
-Back in the Living Room-
"Excuse me Miss Hol," Alfred said as he entered the room. Both Edd and Shayera stood up, apprehension on their faces. "They sent for you."
"Thank you, Alfred." The butler nodded, and walked away. Before she headed to the dining room, she gave Edd a small hug. "Thanks, Edd."
Edd returned the gesture, though it was hard to hug someone with wings, even for his long arms. "No problem, Shayera."
"Thank you to Grizzly," she said as she kissed the dog on the nose. Then she walked in, both werewolf and dog used their enhanced hearing while the butler put his ear against the wall.
-Back in the Kitchen-
Shayera entered the dining room to find the other six League members standing in a line. All stood with their backs straight and their shoulders squared. Even Green Lantern, whose right arm was in a cast.
"Hawkgirl…" Began Superman.
Shayera interrupted him. "Before you start, I have something to say." She took a deep breath. "I came to this planet as a patriot. I had a mission and I carried it out. What I couldn't know was that I would come to care for the Earth, and her people." She looked at each of her teammates in the eye; even Batman, who looked at her in suspicion, and Wonder Woman, who still gave her a look of contempt. "That I'd come to care for all of you. I've spent the last five years torn between my feelings and my duty. I won't ask you to do the same." Her spine straightened, and some of her old fire returned. "Therefore I am resigning from the Justice League, effective immediately."
She turned and walked towards the door, leaving six stunned ex-teammates behind. Flash recovered fastest and stopped her long enough to give her a hug. She returned it, and whispered in his ear.
"Tell the others to take care of Edd; he needs friends right now."
With that, she let go, and walked out the door. She didn't look back.
"Great," muttered Flash, "no Hawkgirl, no Watchtower; what's gonna happen to the League now? Do we all just walk away?"
"No," said J'onn, "we rebuild. Starting today."
"J'onn's right," agreed Superman, "Earth still needs us, and we'll never let her down. It's our duty."
Green Lantern looked down, still silent.
-Back in Living Room-
Edd didn't know what to think. He'd known Shayera for even less time than the rest of the League, but he still counted her as a friend, and now she was leaving? He wanted to say something, anything, to get her to stay, but knew he couldn't.
"I hope you find what you're looking for," was all he could say. Still, he made sure to give Shayera one last hug, and she petted Grizzly again before she left. She was a lot like him, in a way. They'd both had their lives shattered, and now she was going to find her own way in the world. How could he do any less? He wasn't sure about being the Wolf of Lightning he once was, but that didn't meant he couldn't live his life.
Edd sat there for a bit thinking about his future, then Alfred walked in, Grizzly following.
"Excuse me, sir." Edd looked up. "They're ready for you."
"Thanks, Alfred." Edd walked into the dining room. The Justice League was present, minus Green Lantern.
"Now then," said Superman, "What to do with you?"
-Outside Wayne Manor-
Shayera stood at the edge of the cliff near Wayne Manor. She heard footsteps, but didn't turn around. She knew who it was.
"You never asked how we voted."
Shayera barely glanced at John Stewart before returning her gaze to the sunset. "It doesn't matter."
"So… where're you gonna go?"
"I don't know." Said Shayera after a moment. "Some place where the fate of the world isn't in my hands. Some place where there are no more secrets, no more lies."
"Was it all a lie?"
Shayera turned to look at the Lantern. "I love you, John." She said that with a small smile. "I never lied about that."
After a moment of staring into his eyes, Shayera Hol turned around, opened her wings, and flew off into the sunset.
John Stewart watched her go, until she was too far to see. Only once she was gone did he allow the tears to fall.
"I love you, too."
Woooo, now that was a long chapter to write. Just to clarify, I won't update this regularly, it will be once I finish a chapter.
As you wait, patiently I hope, I was wondering with next chapter being the StormWolf meeting Supergirl, how should they meet: Peacefully or Kara thinking he's a monster when she sees him in wolf form.
Also, I added a companion for Edd in this story, Grizzly the mastiff, and yes the dog talks. How, you may ask, it'll be explained next chapter, aswell as Edd telling the League what happened an hour before he arrived. Anyway, don't forget to review and check out my profile for my other stories and future content.