Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Justice League characters or other DC character in any form or fashion. They are owned by their rightful creators and DC Comics. The character Max Colbern and Mendara Crystal are owned by me and will be appearing in a forthcoming sci-fi novel. Enjoy.

Chapter Three

Confusion

Standing there in front of Bizarro was the man that took down Grodd. What Wally saw next almost made him break into uncontrollable laughter. The man was not killed by the twisted backwards version of Wally's teammate Superman. Instead, what he saw was the man still standing there with a curious smile over his face. And sitting in front of him was the sight that almost broke Wally into a fit of laughter.

Sitting there, crying his eyes out and holding his right hand in his left, was Bizarro. Flash saw that the villain's hand was clearly broken in many places. Even his wrist could be at that.

"Bizarro really like strange man. Bizarro not seek revenge," Bizarro said in a fit of tears. He clumsily stood up and, forgetting about the vault, flew up into the sky and out of the city.

Wally walked towards the man as he watched Bizarro leave his city. The stranger stood there, still not moving.

"No offense, man, but that was way cool and way too stupid to take on Bizarro like that," Wally said as he walked up to the man.

"Excuse me," the man said as he closed his eyes, "but would you please point me to the nearest clothing store."

"Why," Wally asked. The man opened his eyes and lowered his head.

"To tell the honest truth, I was scared stiff when Bizarro began to charge at me, the man said with a glad tone. "All I could do was stand there and hope that I could take the hit. There was no way for me to move. Plus, I never seen him before, only saw him in the news." The man still just stood there, not able to move.

"Well, I haven't even seen Superman take a hit like that from Bizarro," Wally said patting the man on the back.

"Still, can you show me the nearest clothing store," the man said. To Wally, he almost sounded embarrassed. When he followed the man's gaze, he saw why he needed the nearest store.

The stranger had completely and embarrassingly wet himself.

"I understand, man," Wally said to him with assurance. "And don't worry, my treat for taking out Grodd."

"Thanks," The man said. "By the way, my name's Max, Max Colbern. Glad to meet you Flash," Max said as he held up his hand. Wally eagerly raised his and shook Max's hand.

Twenty minutes later, and a new set of boxers and pants, later, Wally and Max walked out of Dear's Clothing Store. Both of them were laughing at a joke Wally had just told Max about a Rabbi and a strange visit to a bar. Outside, police and firefighters were busy trying the clean up the mess. And standing amongst the group of officers and firemen was a tall figure wearing a red cape with his well known "S" shield on it.

"Flash, there you are," Superman called out as he noticed Wally and Max. The people of Coast City knew Wally West was the Flash, but Superman still called him by his hero name. "Why didn't you call me and tell me that Bizarro had resurfaced?" Though he usually held a polite smile on his face, Superman was annoyed and concerned for his friend.

"Superman," Wally called out with a smile. Within a split second, he was standing in front of Superman, clearing the two hundred feet in a blink. "Sorry, but things got weird mega fast."

"It wouldn't have taken that long for me to get here, you know," Superman scolded Wally. "Once I got word of Bizarro in your city, I rushed over here only to find Grodd lying face down on the street with both arms broken in several places, a mass of unconscious people, and the bank's vault just sitting in the middle of the street. I had just finished replacing the vault when I saw you walking out of that clothing store." Wally was feeling like a kid being scolded by his father now. By the time Superman finished with Wally, Max had walked up next to them. "And who might you be sir? An old friend of Wally's here?" Superman asked Max as he pointed to the Flash.

"No," Max said plainly to the Man of Steel. "We just met today."

"Really," Superman said as a matter-of-factly.

"Supes," Wally began with pride, "This is the man who was responsible for taking on Grodd and Bizarro single-handedly."

"Is that so," Superman said, a bit of confusion and surprise filled his voice. "Where were you during this," he asked Wally.

"I was busy taking care of the human shield Grodd had taken over. By the time I was finished with last person," Wally bragged about his new friend as he slung his right arm over Max's shoulders, "This guy here dodged every attack Grodd threw at him and then managed to catch each of his fists with his bare hands. And then, I don't know how he did it, but with a sudden short twist of his hands, Max broke both of Grodd's arms. That caused his to lose consciousness and the hold over anyone."

"Please, its nothing to brag about," Max said honestly. "I was scared stiff if you hadn't forgotten Flash," Max said with a bit of annoyance. "You see, that's why we were in the store. I kind of had an accident after I stopped and broke Bizarro's hand."

Superman understood quickly what Max meant by accident, but was stunned at the news of Bizarro's had breaking. "How was that possible," Superman thought to himself. This man was beginning to raise a lot of questions now, and too few answers to cover them all. With a quick adjustment to his sight, Superman began x-raying Max. What he saw as he scanned Max shocked him. When he reached Max's head, Superman actually took a step back, not believing what he was seeing.

"I take it you know Superman," Max said as he read Superman's expression. "You probably have about a million questions you want to ask me now, huh."

Superman did not answer Max. Raising a finger to his right ear, Superman spoke, "Superman to Watchtower."

"This is the Watchtower," J'onn answered with his calm Martian voice. "Go ahead Superman."

"I need you to beam the Flash and I up along with one civilian," Superman said, signifying Max as the civilian.

"Strange," J'onn said over the comm.

"What's wrong J'onn," Superman asked.

"I have a lock on you and Wally," J'onn said to Superman and Wally, "but there is something that is blocking the lock on the man you wish to teleport."

With that, Superman looked at Max. Even more questions began to surface. And for some reason, the man began to blush.

"Let me guess," Max began with a bit of a sheepish tone in his voice, "you can't get a lock on me right?" Superman nodded. More questions again. "Tell me, where is your Watchtower?"

"I thought everyone knew that," Wally asked with surprise. "Its common knowledge, the Justice League's Watchtower is on the moon." Wally pointed up to the sky with an outstretched arm. Up in the afternoon sky was the only thing in the sky, the pale white of a waning moon. Max looked up in astonishment. That was amazing. On his Earth, they had just started to send rockets of supplies for building labs on the moon. This new Earth had a full fledge watchtower build on the moon with medlabs, communications, and even teleportation systems. His mind began racing wiht ideas on what the station looked like. As if a nervous twitch, Max began to shift his weight from one foot to the other as he thought.

"How about this," Max said as he took his eyes off the moon and looked at Superman. "Have John,"

"That's J'onn," Wally corrected Max.

"Sorry, J'onn," Max said, correcting his error. "Have him teleport you up."

"Okay, we'll have a Javelin ship come down to pick you up," Superman said. "J'onn, get someone to pilot a Javelin down here to pick Max up. He'll be here at our present coordinates."

"Agreed, Superman," J'onn replied over the earpiece.

Max stood there with a smile as Superman and The Flash began to dematerialize in the teleport stream. Immediately, Max began concentrating on opening his own way to the Watchtower. Forming a sort of 'door to another plane of existance', Max stepped into the soft white light.

J'onn stood at the control panel to the teleporter.

"Agreed, Superman," he said over the comm. He quickly typed a few buttons on the control panel and began the teleport sequence. All ofa sudden, the red alarm and a computerized voice began signifying that there was an intruder invading the Watchtower. "Computer, what is the situation?"

"Spatial annomoly occurring on bridge to Watchtower," A soft female voice replied to the Martian.

"Can you pinpoint the location of this anomoly," J'onn asked. He turned to face the communication's panel to tell everyone to get to their stations and for reenforcemtns to the bridge. But before he even took two steps, a soft white tear began to form in mid-air. At first he thought the computer was confusing Dr. Fate again, but this did not look like the Onk that usually formed when he arrives. When the tear reached just a little taller than he, J'onn watched as a man stepped through.

"So this is-" before the man could finish, the sound of a grapling cord being fired sounded off behind him. The man looked down as a black cord began to wrap around his arms and mid section. With strength that amazed the man, he was suddenly pulled back and off his feet. J'onn stepped to the side to see Batman. He must have been hiding in the shadows again.

"Thank the Gods he was in the shadows," J'onn thought to himself. "But I told him he needed to stop. I will have to speak with him once this situation is handled.

"That took a little longer than before," Wally said to Superman when they were fully materialized on the teleportation pads below the main controls of the bridge.

"That's a bit impossible, Flash," Superman said as they began to walk off the platform. "Time does not pass. The trip is instantaneous. There's no-" Just then, Superman was cut off from what he was saying by the Watchtower's alarms. "Now who the hell is it this time," Superman said in annoyance. Wally looked at The Man of Steel. It was not often he heard Superman swear. Something must be really bothering him if he's swearing. With a push, Superman flew up to the controls where J'onn would be. Flash took off for the stairs. "What's the situ-" Superman began, but stopped. What he saw brought even more questions to mind. His head was beginning to hurt. When Superman reached the controls, he saw J'onn and Batman holding someone against the wall of the elevator shaft. Superman could not see who or what Batman and J'onn were restraining against the wall. "Who's that?" he asked out, not really asking anyone in general.

J'onn turned around to show who he and Batman were holding. Superman's eyes widened to see Max, bound up by Batman's grapling cord and forced up against the wall.

"What's going on," Wally asked as he stopped next to Superman. He saw the shocked expression on Superman's face and followed his gaze. What he saw shocked him as well. Being held up two feet off the floor was Max Colbern. "Now how the heck?"

"Sorry Wally," Max apologized to The Flash, "Sorry Superman. Thought I would meet you guys up here. I did not feel like taking a ship up through the atmosphere. Bad memories," Max said innocently and amazingly calm from the grip of Batman.

"Who is this man," Batman demanded with a slight growl.

"This is the man who helped me out down in Central City,' Wally informed Batman. "But how did you get here before us, Max?"

"Well," Max began to say, but was cut off by the release and landing back on his feet. Batman let Max down, but he still held him up against the wall, ready to fight incase Max were to struggle and put up a fight. Just then, as if a heard of animals were coming, many Leaguers began arriving, ready for a fight. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Shayera, The Atom, Supergirl, Captain Marvel, and another Green Lantern carrying the Huntress, Nightwing, Robin, and The Creeper, all who were ready for a fight. Down below, many more members of the Justice League were standing ready.

"What's going on J'onn," Wonder Woman demanded, her tall figure slowing to stop in front of Batman and Max. Wonder Woman turned and looked at the man Batman was holding. "Who is this?" she asked, walking towards Max. Though only a inch or two shorter than Max, Wonder Woman made him feel as if he were only those few inches in height. Her simple presense to him seemed regal at the least.

"May I answer the lady," Max asked Batman. He tried to ask politely, but Batman took it as if he were trying to smart off. With the slightest nod of his head, Batman agreed. But max knew he had to be careful what he was going to say. "Miss, my name is Max Colbern..." Max stopped for a second before he began to say what he wanted.

"Anything else," Batman said plainly, demanding in his own way.

With a slight bow, Max continued. "I am Max Colbern, a man who is not of this particular Earth."

"Interesting," Wonder Woman replied. "It seems you are polite and from what I gather, this might be a bit of a misunderstanding." Wonder Woman looked at Batman. "Can you take that off of him. If what I hear is correct, this man is a friend."

Batman stared at Wonder Woman with narrowed eyes. He was not particularly interested in letting a man who appears out of a spatial tear out of his sight or grasp. Batman untied the cord and let the rest fall to the floor. He was not liking this man. His mind immediately began thinking of ways to defend against Max.

"First," Max began as he stepped out of the coiled cord that use to be around his body, "I want to apologize to everyone about the way I 'appeared' here."

"And just how did you beat us up here," Superman asked, stepping towards Max. He wanted at least this question answered.

"You got here fast," Flash said, pointing out the obvious. "And coming from me, that is saying something."

Max looked around at all the new faces. He thought that he would at least be somewhat concerned or at least unnerved a little at the sight of all the people here on the moon. He looked around and took in everyone who was there. The only person he thought was strange at first was the man with yellowed skin wearing a red feathery thing over his shoulders. But it did not.

"Let me explain," Max began. "Yesturday morning, I was with my wife home. As about to surprise her with a gift, I suddenly find myself in the middle of the desert. I thought that I was originally on my Earth. But I began to sense that I was not. I started walking and, before I knew it, I came upon The Flash's hometown. the existance of that city proved to my disappointment that I was no longer anywhere near my home." When Max mentioned the desert, the eyes of Superman, Shayera, Hal, and Wonder Woman's widened at their realization. "And before I knew it, I needed to get something to eat."

"Wait," Hal said, walking up from the stairs. "Where exactly were you?"

"When I arrived, I was in the desert," Max said to him.

"Yes, and did you see anything out of the ordinary near you?" Hal asked him. Superman knew where this was heading. So did Wonder Woman and Shayera.

"Well," Max thought of the area around where he appeared. "There was a large crater about twenty feet away from where I was."

"I knew it," Hal said with understanding. "When that fusion power core exploded, the explosion itself stopped. Which, by all known means, can't happen. When it exploded, it cause a rip, or tear in our spatial reality."

"Say what?" Flash asked, completely lost.

"To say the least, when that explosion shrank in on itself, it acted as a needle, threading through our space and into Max's. He was so close to to the other end that the rebound, or when the tear seemed to seal up on our side, pulled him through."

"Kinda like one of those ol stage hooks from those cartoons," THe Creeper said in a forced sane tone. Streatching out onto the stage and pulling the bad act offstage."

"Exactly," Hal said. The Creeper gave out a creepy howl of a laugh and performed a joy filled flip.

"But that still does not answer how he was able to hold off Grodd and Bizarro by himself and then appear here," Superman said to everyone. This was news to just about everyone. Everyone began to talk amongst themselves at the feats Max had just accomplished. Wonder Woman looked at Max. There was not a scar on him. Questions began growing in her mind as well.

"The only way that I can explain thoroughly," Max said as he stepped towards Wonder Woman and Superman, "is to show you something first."

"And what is that," Batman said, breaking his long silence from behind Max.

"Superman found out when he x-rayed my body," Max said as he turned to Superman. Superman nodded, remembering what he saw.

"And what did he see, exactly," Batman demanded from Max.

"What I saw was something I can't even to begin to explain clearly," Superman said to everyone. He began rubbing his chin with his fingers, thinking. "The closest thing to describe what I saw what… he had some sort of shining crystalline circulating throughout his body." That brought forth even more murmuring amongst the League.

"This is most interesting," J'onn said as he walked up to Max. "It might explain why I am receiving nothing but garbled images and top layer thoughts from him." The Martian Manhunter studied Max and began thinking. "Such a curiosity. I would love to know more about you and this crystalline that is in your body, Max." Max was taken back a little by the closeness of the green man. Max looked into his eyes and saw that they shown red. They did not seem to be filled with anger or rage, but with wisdom and intellect. He had only heard about one person with red eyes. And those were filled with a rage that sent a shudder down Max's spine. The Martian saw this and tilted his head just slightly. "Are you cold?"

"No," Max reassured. "I just remembered a horrible memory." Max shook his head and gave out a sigh. "I know that you all have questions about me. And he," Max pointed back to Batman, "definitely wants to keep his eyes on me. I would not blame him. Even after things are explained, he'll still keep an eye on me."

"That is just Batman," Wally said from beside J'onn. By now, the alarm had been turned off and the League, besides a few that was still up standing around Max (mainly Wonder Woman, Hal, Wally, J'onn, Superman, and Batman.

Batman looked over at The Flash and gave him a cold stare, causing Wally to step back a step.

After walking through the station, and receiving stares as he was escorted by some of the most powerful of League members, the group finally reached a med-lab where they had the right instruments to quickly study Max.

"Is this thing safe," Max said from the top of a large fluid filled container. Max was standing only in a pair of skin tight shorts, his clothes neatly piled on a chair behind him. J'onn stood beside Max as he began to take some blood. "Ouch," Max said when the needle pierced his skin.

"And here I though that the needle would not penetrate your skin," J'onn said as he pondered about Max's reaction. "You are an interesting man, Max."

"I have been told that by many people," Max replied. J'onn nodded his head in acknowledgement and finished taking Max's blood. With the four vials of blood in hand, J'onn placed them on a tray sitting on a table next to him. Next to the tray was another tray covered in white circles.

"With these special electrodes," J'onn held one up for Max to see before placing it over his heart. "We will be able to help sink up with that detector over there." He pointed out a device that looked like a large laser weapon. "In combination with these, the detector, and the fluid in the tank," J'onn explained as he placed numerous electrodes over Max's body, "we will be able to scan into your body as if we were dissecting you layer by layer." This sounded terrible to Max. A look of worry covered his face.

"Don't worry, man," Wally said as he appeared at the base of the tank. He saw the worry on Max's face. "This thing is usually used to help heal badly injured League members. The thing's safe."

"Yes, it is," J'onn agreed with Wally. "And besides, seeing that this is your first time in the tank, there is no possible way that it will cause sterility," J'onn said with his back to Wally. He had a small smirk on his face.

"What," Wally yelled out in surprise. "I've been in that thing many times and this is the first time I've been heard of this thing possibly causing sterility!"

"Relax Flash," Batman said from the controls at the back of the med-lab. "J'onn was making a joke." Batman's voice was even and without emotion as he started up the systems to study Max.

Wally's mouth dropped open in shock. He looked up at the platform where Max and J'onn were and saw both of them smiling. Max was shaking his head and laughed. Just then, he had a bit of a good joke to pull.

J'onn finished placing the last electrode on Max's leg and picked up the vials of blood. With those in hand, he walked down the stairs and over to Batman's left to prepare two of the vials for analysis. Max was sitting at the edge of the tank when he had a smirk appear on his face.

"Wally, come up here, I got something to ask you," Max said as he stared down at his friend. Before he finished saying 'you', Wally was squatting next to Max.

"What's up,' Wally asked. Max jumped a little, still not use to how fast Wally could move.

"Has Batman ever been surprised or anything like that," Max asked, his feet moving around in the liquid inside the tank.

Wally thought for a moment. "Now that I think about it, nothing surprises Bats."

Max's smirk grew to a mischievous grin. "Just stay in here and watch," Max said before placing a breathing mask over his face. Max looked down at J'onn and Batman. "I'm ready," he called down to them.

"All right," Batman answered. "Go ahead and get in.

An hour passed by as the computer was busy taking in data from Max's body. So much information was piling up as Max simply floated inside the tank.

"You know you can talk, Max" J'onn said as he prepared two slides with samples of Max's blood. Max had been silent and seemed to relax for the first time in two days.

"I know," Max said over the speakers inside the lab. There was a small microphone inside the breathing mask. J'onn handed one of the samples to Batman, who slid the sample under a microscope to his right. J'onn sat down with his sample and began to study the blood. "Hey Wally," Max called out. Wally was busy going over some of the data that the detector had acquired. Wally turned in his chair and faced Max.

"What's up," Wally replied, standing up from his chair. He stretched his body and then relaxed.

Max pointed over to Batman and J'onn. Both were concentrating on the microscopes in front of them. Max gave a wink to Wally, telling him to watch them both.

A few seconds later, both Batman and J'onn nearly jumped out of their chairs. Batman was ready to throw a batarang at the microscope. J'onn seemed to be at ease, though his morphing green skin betrayed his shock as ripples moved over this body. Batman and J'onn looked at each other. At that moment, they heard laughter. Turning around, both of them noticed Wally was on the floor holding his gut and Max was inside the tank doing the same thing. Max's laughter sounded out over the speakers in the lab.

"What did you do,' J'onn asked Max plainly. Before Max could say anything, Wonder Woman and Superman walked in to check up on their visitor.

"What's going on," Wonder Woman asked, trying to keep her calm as she saw Wally on the floor laughing.

"I don't know," Wally barely said clearly. "But whatever Max did, caused Batman and J'onn to jump out of their seats." Wally continued to laugh. He saw the glare that Batman was giving him, but he did not care. It was a sight that was once in a life time.

"So our new friend managed to surprise the calm and collected Batman," Superman said, more asking than stating. All Batman did was stand up straight and let his dark cape fall over him. Superman took that as the classic annoyed answer from Batman.

"What did you do Max," Wonder Woman asked.

Calming down for a moment to speak, Max took in a deep breath and let it out before speaking. "J'onn, can you turn on the view to the monitor please. J'onn reach down and pushed a button next to his microscope. "As you can see, that is my blood on those samples. Watch," Max said. What Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash saw next caused them to jump back a step.