Lex Luthor has been kidnapped by vampires. Now, what remains of the Justice League is headed to Cadmus to rescue him.
Perhaps, this is not the right place to begin this story. Everything started with the invasion three years ago. A scientist had been experimenting to develop a way to travel to parallel worlds. He succeeded, but what came through his portal brought death and destruction. His machine opened a portal to a world ruled by vampires. Apparently, the humans in their world were dying out, so they decided to invade the world now open to them. They used a magic gem to place the entire Earth in a state of eternal night. Before humanity even had a chance to resist, the plague spread. When the vampires came, they brought a disease with them which spread rapidly, killing every human under the age of twenty. In a matter of weeks, the world was in ruins. Vampires now control most of the planet. There are those who resist the vampires. Their leader are the last remaining members of the Justice League.
There is Cyborg, a human that was in an accident before the invasion and had nearly all his body rebuilt with machinery. Kyle, a Green Lantern that is only eighteen. Jean, a Blue Lantern that is fifteen and has dark brown hair. Nightwing and Red Hood, who are former pupils of Batman. Scarlet Archer, a student of Green Arrow that no longer has a voice. And Yang Fist, a seventeen year old girl with super-strength.
Red Hood wears a red mask that covers his entire face, a brown coat, a belt filled with all kinds of tools and weapons, and has a bat symbol painted on the front of his shirt. Scarlet Archer wears a red hood, a mask over his eyes, and all of his arrows are spray-painted red. Yang has long blonde hair, wears knee pads, boots, and a yellow jacket. She does not wear a mask because to her costumes and the like are lame.
All of them are making their way through the ruins of Washington DC. They are approaching Cadmus, and advanced genetic laboratory now run by vampires. Outside the lab are patrols of them, wearing black and white uniforms. Twenty total. Cyborg, Green Lantern Kyle, and Nightwing moved toward the main entrance, while the others headed to a secret entrance a block away. The plan was for the three strongest to draw the forces inside Cadmus outside while the other heroes went to rescue Luthor.
"Nightwing, Beta squad is in position." Red Hood said through the radio communicator in his ear.
"Acknowledged." He replied. "The mission begins now."
When Red Hood's team heard the explosions in the distance, they entered an elevator. Cadmus has over fifty sublevels and the elevator takes them to sublevel forty-two. It was installed by the Justice League years ago. Carefully, Red Hood opens the door, while checking for vampires. The team makes their way through the hallways, checking each room until they find the one Luthor is being held in. After a few minutes, they find him. Luthor is a bald, sixty year old man who develops the most effective weapons to use against the vampires. Right now, the vampires are forcing him to work on some machine for them. This is strange to Red Hood because he has known Luthor for years and know he would never help the vampires. Not without a good reason.
"I count six Ghouls and one blood-sucker." Yang said. "We can take 'em."
"Count again." Red Hood replied, pointing at the ceiling.
Hanging from it were about nine Ghouls. A Ghoul is a creature grown from the blood of a vampire. Their form is close to human, but they are extremely thin, have red eyes, claws, and fangs. Just like their creators, they crave human blood. However, they do not need it to survive. Every vampire has a telepathic link to their Ghouls, which gives them total control. In short, the Ghouls are nothing more than mindless puppets that vampires use when they don't want to get their own hands dirty.
"Blue, take out the Ghouls on the ceiling while they're asleep." Red Hood ordered. "Archer and I will deal with the ones on the ground. Yang, eliminate the vampire before-"
"Before what?" The vampire said, suddenly looking in their direction. "Before I summon reinforcements? Don't worry, I plan on having the honor of eliminating you myself."
There was a Ghoul in the room behind them. It jumped out at them. Blue Lantern blasted the creature with energy from her ring. At the same time, the rest of the team stormed into the other room to retrieve Luthor. The Ghouls dropped down from the ceiling, then proceeded to attack with the ones on the ground. Yang plowed through four of them to get to the vampire. When she tried to punch him in the face, he grabbed her arm and throw her at the wall. She could not stop herself from crashing into the wall, but Yang quickly got back up and charged at him again. Meanwhile, the others were taking down the Ghouls. Archer shot three arrows into a Ghoul, then kicked the one trying to sneak-up behind him without turning around. Blue used the power of her ring to create a pair of giant blue hands to crush the Ghouls. Red Hood attacked the mindless beasts with a taser and brass-knuckles. When Ghouls are defeated, they crumble away into nothing.
As quickly as he could, Red Hood got to Luthor. Once the others finished-off the Ghouls, they went to help Yang who was being beaten to a pulp. The vampire they were facing had super-strength and thick skin. Blue fired a blast of energy at him, but he simply jumped up to dodge it. Archer shot an arrow at him that exploded on contact. No effect.
"Luthor, we need to go!" Red Hood said.
"Despite what the vampire told you, I have no doubt more are on their way." Luthor replied. "Our only possibility of escape is this."
He was referring to the machine he was working on. Now that Red Hood was close enough, he realized what it was. The same machine that brought the vampires to their world years ago. It was a silver disc the size of a DVD with blue lines criss-crossing on.
"Why are you working on that?!" Red Hood demanded.
"The dimensional coordinates are locked." Luthor explained. "The vampires wanted me to unlock it so they could invade other worlds. However, I have a different idea."
"What?" Red Hood asked.
"With this we can go to other worlds to get help." Luthor replied. "I have finished unlocking it and programmed the coordinates. Now, I would suggest we leave immediately."
Red Hood looked over to his team, who were struggling to hold back the vampire. If Luthor plan had even a chance of working, he needed to take it. To save his friends and honor his fallen comrades.
"Alright." He said. "Start it up."
Luthor simply pressed his thumb against the center of the disc and it activated. Suddenly, it turned completely blue and began to glow. Then there was a flash of blinding light. When everyone opened their eyes, they were no longer in Cadmus. Instead, they seemed to be in a hollow mountain. This was clear because of the large, slanted walls that appeared to be made from stone and dirt.
"Wait, I know this place." Red Hood said. "This is-"
Before he could finish his sentence, the vampire punched him in the face. He was knocked to the ground. The jerk had a wide smile.
"This is the place of your death, human!" He said with a laugh.
Yang then kicked the vampire in the back of the head. He went flying into a nearby wall.
"Shut it, scum." She spat.
The victory was short lived as the vampire pulled himself out of the wall. In a burst of rage, he charged at Yang. However, before he reached her, he was suddenly lifted into the air by an invisible force.
"Intruders!" A voice shouted.
Red Hood recognized the voice. When he looked toward its origin, he saw many he thought people he thought he would never see again. The six original members of the Justice League's covert ops team. Robin, student of Batman and master hacker. Aqualad, first team leader, skilled in hand-to-hand combat and low-level Atlantean sorcery. Artemis, the second archer trained by Green Arrow. Kid Flash, the reckless speedster train by the Flash. Superboy, a quick tempered, half human clone of Superman. Lastly, Miss Martian, a kind superhero who can become quite tough when her friends are in danger. All of them were comrades of Red Hood and all of them died in the vampire invasion.
They're not the same people, Red Hood reminded himself. This is an alternate world and they are simply alternate versions of my dead comrades.
Still, it felt good to see them again, even if they were not really the same people. Of course, that feeling only lasted until Kid Flash tackled him while moving at super-speed.
"Hood!" Yang shouted.
Then she impulsively grabbed Kid Flash and throw him at the Team. Superboy caught him. The Team looked ready to fight. Red Hood was about to explain things to them when Miss Martian screamed in pain. Above them, the vampire laughed as he dropped to the ground. His eyes were glowing purple. So, this vampire has the power to disrupt psychic powers. The moment his feet touched the ground, Archer shot his two last arrows at him and Red Hood throw mini-explosives at him. Neither had any effect. Typical.
He smiled at them, revealing his fangs. In the blink of an eye, he dashed at Aqualad. Blue used the last of her ring's power to stop him. She tied him with chains. Aqualad quickly distanced himself before the monster broke free from his restraints.
"He's the enemy, not us!" Red Hood shouted.
Fortunately, the Team believed him. Superboy charged at the vampire while Yang grabbed his arms from behind. He landed some blows before the jerk broke free and swatted him away like an insect. Artemis tried her arrows on him, but they were as effective as Archer's. Aqualad attempted to shock him with his electric power, but it only seemed to annoy him.
"How do we beat this guy?!" Robin asked.
"Is this place equipped with UV lighting?" Red Hood asked.
"Ya, so?" Robin replied.
"Turn them on, now!" Red Hood ordered.
Robin ran to a control panel, but the vampire blocked his path. With one hand, he lifted Robin and throw him across the cave. He lost consciousness. However, that was not the only control panel. Kid Flash managed to get to another one while the others fought the vampire. The second the light changed, the vampire screamed like a dying lion. In less than twenty seconds, the monster turned to ash. When he was a hundred percent dust, Kid returned the lights to normal.
Aqualad walked straight to Red Hood.
"I believe explanations are in required." He said.
"I think I should be the one to explain." Luthor said, walking over to them and leaning on his cane.
For some reason, the sight of him caused an uneasiness in the Team. Especially Superboy. He was looking at Luthor with a mix of disgust and hate.
"Luthor, why are you here?" Aqualad asked in a very serious tone.
"To begin, you are mistake." Luthor replied. "I am not the Luthor you know. My compatriots and I are from a parallel world."
"Ya right!" Superboy said, in an angry tone. "This is probably another one of your tricks. We are not going to allow to manipulate us!"
"Actually, it looks like he may be telling the truth." Robin said, holding up his phone.
Apparently, Lex Luthor was in the middle of a press meeting. Robin had a live video feed. To be sure, Miss Martian read his mind, along with Red Hood and his comrades. Still, the Team was suspicious. So, they contacted their Justice League. Meanwhile, Red Hood noticed something important was missing.
"Wait, where's the disc?" Red Hood asked.
"What disc?" Kid Flash inquired.
"He is referring to the device that brought us here." Luthor said. "I believe it self-destructed."
"What?!" The Team from his dimension exclaimed.
"Fearing that the vampires would obtain it, I programmed it to destroy itself after being used once." Luthor replied. "So it would seem we will have to remain here until I can build another one."