Imperfect Heroes

Prologue

Ka-BOOM!

The explosion rocked the small shelter housing the handful of human refugees. Rocks broke off from the ceiling and crashed around the young men and women—the last of a dying race.

"Stand your ground." Twenty-seven-year-old William Gabriel stood at the front of the group of young men protecting the women. "Those freaks out there think they're better than us. Let's prove them wrong!"

His speech drew an uproar from the small resistance, but it was soon drowned out by another explosion. A large crack found its way up the wall, and William knew the next eruption would break it down.

"We are the last of our people," he continued, pulling a laser gun from its holster at his side. "Let's show those metas just what humans are made of! Prepare for battle, my brothers!"

He quickly entered the group of women and children at the center of the shelter. A young woman, about eighteen years old, ran to him, and he held her in a tight hug. Another young woman who had been standing with her approached William.

"And how's my dear sister?" he asked the young woman in his arms. "How are you doing, Azalia?"

"Are you going to stop the metas this time, Will?" Azalia's bright blue eyes shined at him as she smiled.

"Yeah, I'll stop them." He kissed her cheek and then turned to the other young woman.

"I'm worried, Will," she said quietly. "I don't like this."

"I don't like it either, Philana, but it can't be helped. The metas aren't going to stop just because we don't like it. They want us all dead. There's nothing we're going to be able to do to change that."

"I just…what if we lose you, like we lost Dad?"

"You won't lose me," William assured her. "It'll take a lot more than a few metas to get rid of me. Now, where'd Alex go?"

"Right here, Will." The twenty-two year old man stepped up to the small group.

"There you are." Will brushed the young man's dirty blonde hair from his face, and looked him in the eye. "I want you to look after Azalia once the fighting starts."

"But Will, you said I could help you! Why do I have to sit back and watch again?"

"Someone has to take care of Azalia. It's a much more honorable job, Alex. She's more important than the fighting. From the moment she was born, Dad said she would amount to great things. Dick said it, too, from time to time. And I believe both of them. Somehow, she's going to be able to help make this world right. She's going to figure out a way to stop this fighting. If anything happens to either Philana or myself, you have to be the one to guide her. You have to watch over her. You are the one who will keep her safe from the metas. She and you are the only ones who can save us. Dad said it himself every time he watched you play with her when you were younger. You two will one day save us all."

Alex nodded slowly, still disappointed, but hiding it well. "Come on, Azalia, let's get back there. We wouldn't want to make Will mad now, would we?"

Azalia nodded, although she could hear the resentment in Alex's voice, and followed him back to the crowd of women and children. She turned back to look at her older brother and sister as she left. "Good luck, Will, Philana. And be careful."

"Don't you worry, Azalia," William replied. "We'll be careful."

Ka-BOOM! CCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!

The explosion shook the small shelter, tearing through the wall and roof as if they were only paper. The women and children backed up against the remaining wall, with Alex and Azalia near the front of the group in case they were needed. Outburst—a young metahuman with the power to create explosions at will—stood just beyond the crumbling wall, a wicked smirk on his face. Behind him was a mass of countless metahumans; among them were Lady Midnight, daughter of the Shade; Narcissus, son of Poison Ivy; Clayface; Mordred, son of Morgaine LeFay, now a sorcerer himself; Apollyon, a young man claiming to be the earthly incarnation of Satan himself; Inferno, daughter of Fire; Ice II, son of the original; Cyclone and Typhoon, twin speedsters, son and daughter of Wally West; Hurricane, a young meta female with control over the weather; Nucleus, a man with powers concerning nuclear, radiant, and electromagnetic energies; and a whole host of other metahumans.

"This is it!" Will yelled, raising his gun. "Let's teach these metas a lesson! Let's show them who the real masters of this planet are!"

The battle was mostly one-sided, the metas having a huge advantage over the humans. The laser guns that Will and Alex had created as defense did little damage against most of the metas, if there was even a chance to use them. The majority of the humans fell within minutes.

"All right, everyone, let's move!" Alex was in charge of directing the women and the few children to safety in times such as this. He led them from the battle zone along a path he and Will had plotted earlier.

Azalia took up the rear of the group, looking back at the battle while she made sure the rest of the company got out of there all right. She watched her older brother and sister fight the metahumans valiantly along with the other humans, but she knew their chances of survival were slim to none in this battle. With so many metas gathered for this attack, the remaining human resistance stood little luck of coming out of the fight alive. With her talents, she also knew she would be a great help against the metas. But no one could ever know about her "gifts". So she turned back to follow the other escaping humans.

"Not so fast, girly." A hand clapped over Azalia's mouth while another strong steel hand wrapped its flexible fingers around her neck. She strained to look back at her captor, and swallowed hard. It was Adamant, a metahuman with the right half of his body made of steel and the left half a normal, fleshly body. The hand around her throat tightened, and Azalia knew she had no chance of escaping.

"That's right, doll," Adamant sneered. "There's no use in fighting me. You won't get away. And I'm gonna squeeze the air right out of ya. Just try and scream. Hehe…" His grip tightened even more around her throat, and she could feel her neck starting to crack in his strong hand.

"Let her go, Adamant." Azalia heard the powering up of a laser gun and smiled in spite of herself at the familiar sound of Will's voice.

"Why should I?" the meta demanded. "That little toy of yours ain't gonna hurt me!" His hand clenched around Azalia's neck, and she somehow managed to cry out in pain.

"Let her go, now, and I just might let you live."

"Try me, human. If you shoot, you'll hit her, not me. Besides…do you actually think you can kill me, the great Adamant?"

"You're so full of yourself." Will pulled the trigger, and before Adamant could react, the laser went directly through his heart. The villain stood there for a few minutes, his eyes wide and glassy, before toppling over on top of Azalia. Will hurried over and rolled the meta onto his back, slowly prying his steel hand from his sister's throat. Once free, Azalia coughed, gratefully taking in much needed air.

"…thanks, Will…" she said hoarsely, looking up at him.

"Hey, I'm your brother, right?" He smiled, helping her to her feet. "I could never let anything happen to you."

"Maybe you should be more worried about yourself, then, William." As the young man turned toward the voice, he was hit square in the chest with a beam of magical energy. Mordred smiled, shooting more blasts at him, until he fell to the ground, motionless. Azalia's eyes widened as the young sorcerer shot one final magical ray at Will, this one causing him to disappear entirely.

"I guess he wasn't as hard to beat as the boss said, huh, Mordred?" Azalia turned around to find herself face-to-face with Apollyon, who grabbed her arms and lifted her off the ground until she was eye-level with him. "My, you are a nice one, aren't you? Maybe we'll just have a little play session before"

"Honestly, you men." A black aura surrounded Azalia and she was pulled from Apollyon's grasp. Lady Midnight guided the shroud of darkness enveloping the young human girl toward her. "The boss wanted her alive and unharmed, Apollyon. You are so immature."

"Thanks, babe," he said sadistically. "C'mon, you know you love me."

The mud near them started to move, sloshing and stretching until it rose up into the form of Clayface. "Stop it, all of you. Give me the human girl."

Lady Midnight complied, releasing Azalia from the black cloak that surrounded her. The young girl fell into Clayface's muddy grasp. She struggled to get free, but the more she fought, the deeper she sunk into Clayface's hands.

"You're not going anywhere, girl. I'm takin' you to the boss."

"That's where you'd be wrong." A laser beam hit Clayface, and Azalia felt the clay around her beginning to bake and harden. She craned her neck to get a better look at her savior, and her eyes fell upon Philana. The older woman had the small hand-held laser set on the heat beam, obvious by the way Clayface was baking so quickly. She also had another, larger laser which the trained on the group of metas surrounding Clayface.

"You can't get us all, human," Mordred snapped confidently, raising his hand to attack.

"Don't move." Philana shot at his hand with her laser, barely missing it. His hand dropped back to his side. "Back away from Clayface. All of you." The metas obeyed, taking a few steps back. Keeping her laser aimed at them, Philana slowly approached the statue that was Clayface. Using the butt of the hand-held laser, she hit his arm repeatedly, until it was nothing more than gravel at her feet. She then helped Azalia from inside the statue and supported her until she regained her equilibrium.

"Philana…they…they killed…"

"I know, Azalia." She trained the two lasers at the group of metas, her eyes narrowed. "And they're going to pay."

"What can the two of you possibly do?" It was Lady Midnight who spoke up. "You're just humans."

"Is that right?" Philana started to power up the larger laser. "We're 'just humans', is that it? Care to try your luck against me?" She aimed the laser, now nearly at full power, at the young metahuman female as a small smile crept across her face. "Say 'Goodbye'."

"Goodbye." Tigris, a pupil of Cheetah's who was tiger-like rather than cheetah-like, sliced through Philana's back, causing her arm to jerk up as she shot, the beam missing Lady Midnight, and she fell to her knees. The catlike meta then jumped with feline agility over the human, landing in front of her. She licked her lips just before sinking her teeth into Philana's neck, her powerful jaws crushing the spine easily.

Azalia, although shocked and sickened, took off running before the metas could react. She ran as fast as she could, the rush of adrenaline carrying her farther and faster than she could have normally gone. Her legs carried her along an unknown path, a path to the place her brothers and sister had always told her to go if she was ever in any trouble: home.

It had been years since she'd been home, but Azalia remembered the way like it had been just yesterday. Tears fell down her cheeks the whole way there, the horrible scenes she had just witnessed playing themselves over and over in her mind as she ran. It merely caused her to run faster in a futile attempt to outrun her fear and guilt. The miles passed by within what seemed like seconds, and she was soon approaching her destination.

"Azalia!" His voice seemed to come from nowhere, but Azalia knew where Alex was. She slowed to a jog as she neared a battered grandfather clock and pushed it aside, heading down the staircase hidden behind it. Many odd objects were littered about the large cavern: a half-destroyed giant penny; the remains of what once was a large model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex; shattered glass cases holding shredded costumes; a huge, nearly destroyed super-computer; and a broken down black car. The cave retained little of its former glory.

"Alex…they…they didn't…oh, God…"

"Come on, Azalia. We've got work to do." He stepped out of the shadows of the cavern, revealing a long plasma burn on the left side of his face.

"You're hurt!"

"I know. But that's not our biggest problem. No one else made it, Azalia. No one else. We're all that's left." Alex lifted a small medium-sized pack up onto a small tabletop, setting it next to a row of supplies. Weapons, food, extra clothes…everything.

"Uh, Alex?"

"It's time. I'm sending you back." He tossed her a wristwatch and got back to the packing.

Azalia put the watch on, inspecting it carefully. It just looked like an ordinary watch. Nothing special about it. That is, until she pressed the small button on the left side of it. Then, a hologram screen shot up from the watch, demanding a date, time, and place of arrival. Apparently, the watch had already been set; 25 years prior to the present date, in the middle of what used to be Metropolis. The time: in the middle of one of the Justice League's biggest battles.

"You can't be serious," she whispered, looking back up at Alex. "Already? You're going to send me back to do this now?"

Alex stopped packing again, sighed, and turned to Azalia. "We're the only ones left. No one else made it. This might be the only chance we get." He grabbed a couple of small bundles and slipped them into the pack, along with a small pile of extra clothes.

"Are you sure this'll work?" Azalia looked down at the watch on her wrist skeptically. She knew her brother was somewhat of a genius when it came to these things, but could a plain-looking wristwatch really take her to the past?

"It'll work, trust me." Alex gathered a few more weapons and heirlooms for Azalia's pack. He looked into the bag, making a mental check of everything in it. "Now, have I forgotten anything?"

"I think you've got everything in there but the kitchen sink," Azalia joked, smiling at her older brother. "I'll be fine, Alex. Really. You don't have to keep worrying so much."

Alex smiled back, closing the small bag and handing her a belt. "That has all the weapons on it you should need right away. If you run into any trouble, you know how to use it." He then handed her the pack. "There's enough food in here for a week or two, and extra clothes, and…all of the things Dad gave to us."

Azalia fingered the red jewel on her necklace absently when he mentioned their father. "Did you put the picture in there, too?"

"Yeah, it's all in here. You remember the mission, right?"

"I prevent the destruction of the Justice League," she replied, determination crossing her face. "I gain their trust, join their ranks, and prevent their deaths."

"Right. Your best bet as a confidant will be Martian Manhunter. He'll be able to read your mind to find out about your life and everything. But whatever you do, don't let him know the details of the League's demise. You have to keep that to yourself."

"But what about the telepathic block? Won't that prevent him from reading my mind?"

"There's a way to control the block," Alex assured her. "To lower it enough for him to read your mind. I've never tried it, but I know you can do it, Azalia. You're the strongest of any of us. If you can't do it, no one can."

Azalia smiled a bit at her brother's optimism. "I'll do my best. You can count on that…" She sighed slightly, thinking of what her experiences in the past would be like. "I can't wait to see Dad again…"

"About that…you're going to want to be discreet about him being your dad and all. First of all, it could change the fact that he actually has us. And second, he probably wouldn't believe it, anyway. Don't go broadcasting who you really are. There are reasons Will changed our last name to Gabriel after Dad died. The only person you should tell is Martian Manhunter. As I said before, he should be your confidant. You can trust him not to tell anyone else."

"Did you know him, Alex?" The question was an innocent one, like a question you would expect from a young child. Alex smiled at his four-years-junior sister and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"None of us really knew him, except for Dad," he replied quietly. "You'll have a lot more privileges than the rest of us ever had. You're very lucky, Azzy."

"You know I hate it when you call me that," Azalia said, giving her brother a playful look.

"I know, I know. And you should really get going. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. Let's get this over with." She closed her eyes in a moment of silent prayer, and then gave Alex a quick hug. "Wish me luck."

"You won't need it," he assured her, giving her a knowing smile. "You'll succeed without luck. God speed."

The eighteen-year-old gave him one final smile, put on the small backpack filled with her things, and then entered a code into the watch on her wrist. In a bright flash of light, she was gone. For a few moments, Alexander Gabriel stared at the spot where she had been standing, the smile fading from his face.

"Good luck, little sister," he whispered to the emptiness around him. "Good luck…for all our sakes."

"Well, Alexander." He felt the muzzle of a plasma gun at the back of his head. "What a surprise to find you here. Give me one."

"One…one what?" the young man asked fearfully.

"I'm going to follow her. Give me a watch. Now."