Ultimen Salvation
By Churnok
Disclaimer
The JLU and the Ultimen are the property of DC and Warner Brothers and are used here for non-profit entertainment purposes only. Beacon and the multi-dimensional organization he works for, along with their powers, technology and abilities are my creation unless otherwise stated, but I've tried to design them so that anyone can use them as long as they send me a copy of the resulting story. Permission is given to anyone who wants to archive this story as long as they let me know first and give me a link to their site. I welcome any comments, questions, and/or constructive criticisms. This story takes place between Hunter's Moon and Question Authority.
The founding members of the Justice League had gathered to discuss what to do about the ailing Long Shadow, the last surviving member of the Ultimen.
"We could consult Cadmus," J'onn J'onzz suggested in his usual monotone. "They created the Ultimen they might be able to help."
Wonder Woman slammed her fist on the table. "Out of the question! They may have created the Ultimen but they didn't care about those kids. They already had replacements cloned and waiting. If Wind Dragon and the others hadn't found out and gone berserk they would've been allowed to die, been replaced with their clones, and not even the clones would have known! Cadmus Still managed to kill the others after they were arrested!"
"That wasn't proven," Batman stated calmly. "I went over the area myself and couldn't find anything to indicate that the explosion at that facility was anything other than an accident."
"The boys in the cover-up department will be thrilled to hear that." All of the founding members turned to look at the source of that voice. A gentleman emerged from the shadows dressed in business casual and carrying an ordinary attaché case. "They are experts in their field and are lead by an anal retentive perfectionist, but there was some concern. You are considered to be the greatest detective since Sherlock Holmes after all."
"Who are you and how did you get aboard the watchtower?" Superman demanded. Though they remained sitting they were all clearly ready for a fight. The intruder seemed unconcerned by the hostile attitude of the heroes in front of him.
"My associates call me Beacon, and before you try probing my mind Mr. J'onzz, I must warn you that I came to this meeting prepared. You can scan me just far enough to prove I'm telling the truth, but any further and a whole bottle of Excedrin will not be enough for your headache." He looked thoughtful for a moment before asking, "Do earth medicines actually affect you the same way as they do us?"
"You're trying my patience," said Superman. While Beacon had been speaking the Man of Steel had tried to scan him and his case with x-ray vision, but found both his clothes and the case to be lined with lead.
"Relax Mr. Kent," beacon replied calmly. "I'm here to help. I even brought gifts as a symbol of goodwill." He walked over to the table and put his case on it.
"Why would Cadmus want to help us?" The Flash asked.
"Mr. West, if I were employed by Cadmus then they would not feel as threatened by the Justice League."
"How do you know our real names if you're not with Cadmus?" this from Green Lantern.
"The same way you knew the Justice Guild of America Mr. Stewart." They were all taken aback by this casual statement.
"You mean there are comic books about us in your dimension?" Flash asked in disbelief.
"Cartoon series actually, and is that really so hard to believe given your experience with alternate dimensions?" Beacon asked in return as he opened his case and tossed J'onn a couple packages of Oreos. "Cadmus probably knows about the Martian's vulnerability to fire, but I don't think they would bother noting down his fondness for those cookies. I wasn't sure which you preferred so I got both original and chocolate." He tossed Superman a white rock. "That white Kryptonite should help the next time you encounter Bizzaro."
"Kryptonite!" Superman dropped the rock like it had burned him and Green Lantern caught and shielded the rock with his power ring.
"White Kryptonite," Beacon said patiently. "It has the same effect on you as the green stuff has on your fractured mirror image with the mental impairment. The reverse also applies. White will bring him down the same way green brings you down."
Superman thought about it, and realized that he had been unaffected during his brief exposure. He carefully accepted the white Kryptonite back from Green Lantern. "But how would you know that? Your cartoon is of our lives and I've only encountered green Kryptonite."
Beacon sighed, "I'm going to get in trouble for this but I suppose it's the only way. I work for an inter-dimensional organization. We've encountered many different worlds, including different versions of your own world. In many of those worlds your least favorite rock comes in a rainbow of different colors. Each of which has a different effect on you and your kind. White, as far as we know, is the only color that affects Bizzaro.
"As interesting as this is," said Batman, "I don't think you're here to play inter-dimensional Santa."
"You're quite right Mr. Wayne. My job in the organization is to find people from the various dimensions who need help, and give them new lives within our organization."
"And you think we need help?" asked Shayera, formerly known as Hawkgirl.
"Actually I'm here for Long Shadow. We've already rescued Wind Dragon, Juice, and the Wonder Twins from Cadmus so he won't be alone."
"Wait," said Superman, "You mean the other Ultimen are still alive?"
"Very much so," Beacon replied with pride. "We were hoping that you could help Long Shadow, but that appears to not be the case."
"So you thought you could come in here with gifts and sweet talk us into just giving him to you?" everyone could hear the ice in Wonder Woman's voice.
Beacon gave her his full and honest attention, "Our only concern is for Long Shadow's welfare. We could've done the same thing to you that we did to Cadmus and spirited him out from under your nose, but we have considerable respect for you and thought we could do this openly."
"We have improved security since the incident with Task Force X," J'onn stated coldly.
"And it is impressive," Beacon said with honest respect, "but they had neither our skills nor our resources. Had we wanted that pile of junk we would've replaced it with an exact replica and no one would be the wiser." He dismissed the idea with a wave, "but we are a peaceful organization and have neither use, nor room, for such a large and limited thing."
"So why this meeting?" asked Green Lantern. "If you can just take what you want, why not just take Long Shadow?"
"Because that would be kidnapping, and that is not how our organization works," Beacon stated as if the idea was unthinkable. "We may acquire what technology we have a use for through any means necessary, but all our employees join of their own free will. We talked with the other Ultimen before we rescued them and convinced them that we saw them as people rather than tools. We waited with Long Shadow because we hoped you could help him. Now he is in a coma so, according to our rules, you are the people I talk to." He sighed, "I admit that my employers have their own reasons for saving him, but they will be honest with him about what his job options will be and respect his choice even if he chooses not to stay with us. I am their best recruiter because I care about the people I'm sent to recruit and deal with everyone honestly. We have the resources to not only save his life but give him a new one. Even if you do find a way to save his life, Cadmus will either try to get him back, or eliminate him. With us he would truly be free of them. He can't become a member of the Justice League, but he will become part of a force for good."
"Will I, we, ever see him again?" Wonder Woman asked sadly.
"Absolutely," Beacon replied confidently. "He won't be able to help you in the field because I'm afraid we'll have to fake his death to prevent Cadmus from causing additional problems by trying to get him back, and maybe even discovering our involvement in the process, but he will be allowed to come back and visit after he has recovered and his training is over."
She looked at J'onn who said, "He knows more than he is saying, but he has been telling the truth the whole time he has been here."
"We'll have to discuss this among ourselves," Said Shayera.
"Of course. Feel free to look through my case as you talk. The gifts it contains are yours regardless of your decision." Beacon walked over to the window and gazed down at the Earth while they discussed the matter in lowered voices and Batman examined the remaining contents of the attaché case. There was a gift for each founding member of the league in it. A formula for a concentrated nutrition/energy bar for Flash, books on diplomacy and martial arts for Wonder Woman, a virtual reality program of Thanagar for Shayera , designs for a new bat-a-rang for Batman, and a Justice Guild decoder ring for Green Lantern. All the gifts were confiscated for analysis. The dark knight also insisted that J'onn not have any of the Oreos until one from each package could be examined. Very few people can effectively combine a solemn expression with that of a hurt puppy but the Martian managed quite well. Finally, after an hour of discussion, they reached a decision and called Beacon over.
J'onn acted as spokesperson, "we have decided to trust you and allow you to help Long Shadow on the conditions that we see proof that the other Ultimen are alive and one of us accompany him to your facility."
"I'm afraid we can't accommodate you on the second condition," Beacon said regretfully. "Security precautions you understand. But I have asked Wind Dragon and the others to help me transport Long Shadow. When they come here you can talk with them."
"And how do we know they haven't been brainwashed?" asked Batman.
"Because if we were that dishonest I wouldn't have bothered talking with you and there would be a dead clone in Long Shadow's place right now," Beacon stated. "Honestly Mr. Wayne have you been spending too much time with The Question?"
"Would you be willing to submit to the magic of my lasso?" asked Wonder Woman.
"I'm afraid we prepared for that as well." Beacon adjusted his jacket. "As Mr. Kent has already found out, my clothes are lined with lead. They are also lined with Nth metal which, as you know, disrupts magic. Your lasso won't work."
"You know, for a guy trying to earn our trust, "said Flash, "you sure don't trust us."
"I trust you with my life Mr. West," said Beacon, "but I have information that could adversely affect your future if you were to learn it."
"So your defenses against the powers of my teammates aren't to protect yourself from us," said Batman, "They're to protect us from you."
"Precisely Mr. Wayne. I wish they weren't necessary, but we can't afford to take that risk."
"But what information could you know that could be so dangerous?" asked Superman skeptically.
Green Lantern looked thoughtful before saying, "do you use episodes of that cartoon you mentioned as a conduits to our dimension?"
"Yes, and once we have that conduit we have limited access to the entire timeline, past, present, and future."
"So, what," asked Flash, "we're in a rerun?"
"A more accurate description would be between episodes," Beacon explained, "Although this meeting might be chronicled in a literary form. You never can tell what will appear in the fiction of another world."
"So you know what's going to happen next," said Batman, bringing them back to the topic at hand, "because you've seen the next episode, but can't let us know because it would disrupt our space-time continuum."
"So how can you take Long Shadow if you don't want to disrupt our timeline?" Wonder Woman asked.
Beacon sighed, "My employers are going to be furious with me for revealing this much information, but I can recruit Long Shadow because he plays no part in events to come. Don't ask why because we don't know. We can access the almost the entire timeline, but before we enter a dimension our only source of information comes from the source that provides the conduit."
"In other words," said Green Lantern," you only know what was covered in the cartoon and the fate of the Ultimen wasn't revealed in the cartoon."
"That's it in a nutshell Mr. Stewart," said Beacon, "but we do know for certain that Long Shadow plays no part in future events, either positive or negative, so we can save his life without altering the timeline dangerously."
"So how did you know to be here now?" asked Superman. "You've already stated that we're in a section of time not covered by the cartoon and the cartoon is your primary source of information."
"Because They've been to our world before and bugged our system," Batman stated flatly. "Probably also have spies among our employees the same as Task Force X, only better hidden."
"You're half right Mr. Wayne," said Beacon. "We have observation programs hidden so well in your system that not even the combined skills of you and the Question will be able to find them before they erase themselves, but we don't employ spies for long term assignments. The risk of discovery is too great and we have better uses for our information gathering agents."
"So let me get this straight," said Flash, "you've got spy programs hidden in our computer, you've got defenses against us pumping you for any information that you don't give us voluntarily, not that you've held much back, and you expect us to trust you with a guy in our intensive care ward? Why should we?"
"Because he trusts us," said J'onn. "His defenses are minimal at best and he has told us what they are, so we could still overcome them and force him to tell us more. He has already given us enough information to cause him problems with his employers because he truly wishes to help Long Shadow. The only way he can do that is to earn our trust, and the only way he can do that is by being as honest with us as he can without risking our future."
"So I guess the only question now," said Superman, "is do we trust him?"
"I don't think we have much choice," said Wonder Woman. "We can't help Long Shadow any further. If beacon can really help him I say we have to give him that chance."
"I agree," said Shayera. "My actions have already hurt people I care about. I'm not going to risk losing someone else because of my inaction."
"It looks like you have three votes in your favor Beacon," said Green Lantern.
"Would it help matters if I said the vote had to be unanimous?" Beacon inquired.
"Clever," said Batman, "if even one of us says no and Long Shadow does die that member will feel guilty for not trusting you."
"An unintentional but admittedly useful side effect of the condition," said Beacon. "The life of any person is simply too important to leave to a simple majority vote."
"I agree," Batman replied, "and I think we can trust you to do as you claim."
"Well if Batman's convinced," Flash added, "then count me in."
"I think I'll reserve my vote until we talk with the Ultimen," said Green Lantern.
"Same here," said Superman.
"Fair enough," said Beacon as he pulled what looked like a cell phone from his pocket, pressed a button and said into it, "you can come in on my location." As he put the phone away a glowing doorway appeared on the wall behind him and out came Wind Dragon, Juice, downpour, and his twin sister Shifter dressed in the uniforms of watchtower employees.
"OK, how were you able to get in here unnoticed with an entrance like that?" asked Flash.
"I was here before you arrived and used the shadows in this room, my own natural ability to go unnoticed to conceal myself," Beacon stated humbly. "Though the later was augmented by Gallifreyan perception filter technology."
"Wait, you mean Doctor Who is real too?" asked flash in disbelief.
"If you think that's something," said Wind Dragon, "You should see the Star Trek gear they have in the medical bay."
"I did say it was a multi-dimensional organization," Beacon stated. "When you work between dimensions you learn that even the hokiest stuff in any form of media is real somewhere."
"Sounds like a comic book geek's dream," said Green Lantern.
"So can we take Long Shadow back with us?" asked Juice.
"Not quite yet," said Superman. "First tell us a bit more about this place and what your're expected to do there."
"Nothing so far," said Wind Dragon. "We're going to be part of a special unit in the police force, but they've been waiting until they knew for sure if you could help Long Shadow. If you had been able to, we would've started training without him."
"Personally, I'm a little glad that you couldn't, " said Shifter, "no offence, but I was hoping to have the whole team back together."
"Me too," said her twin. "He always was the most level headed of the group."
As they talked, Superman and J'onn scanned the Ultimen and found that they were as protected as Beacon, but talking with them did convince theleague that Beacon could be trusted. Soon plans were made to transfer Long Shadow into his care without letting anyone else know. A week later, as Long Shadow was finishing the treatments needed to save his life, they had his funeral. The last of the Ultimen was now officially dead. It was time for all of them to start their new lives.