After my many month long hiatus I am finally back!
Sorry about it taking so long but things just got in the way and then they sort of got more messed up as it went on. Graduation is fun, just busy!.
Before we continue I have a few questions from reviews that I want to address here.
shawn desai: I hand't really thought of using his green suit but I might consider it for the future, just not right away. I'd have to find some way to give it a modern update after all.
Dion ComicWiz: Well to answer your questions quickly here, I might reference John and Flint looking for Shayera, but she won't be joining earlier than in canon. There will be several more original chapters as well, mostly involving Sandman and Zatanna (Because of the pairing) and the marvel characters. In fact, expect some more to show up soon. I will make a reference to the Titans at some point in the story, but they probably won't make an appearance, If they do, it will be based on the 2003 series. As for Galatea, it seems as though you've already figured out where I'll take her, although her ultimate change will be assisted by a certain Arachnid.
Anyways, with that out of the way, on to the next chapter!
It was a late night in Central City, and an uncommon sense of calm had descended over the city. Flint smiled at that as he entered in the front door of Wally West's apartment, holding a few grocery bags full of chips.
"Alright Wally, I got the food. Even managed to find a few boxes of Chocos, and you would not believe how hard it was to find those at this time of night" The newest member of the Justice League laughed as he entered into the kitchen where Wally was sitting alongside John, Clark and J'onn. John was now sporting a new look, opting to shave his head completely bald and grow out his beard.
"Hey, I might be the fastest man alive, but not even I would dare search the city for a few boxes of cookies" he jokes as J'onn happily took a box from Flint.
"Alright, well do we have everything at least?" Flint asks as Clark nods.
"Well you brought the food, Wally had the drinks, and I brought the cards. Now we can get down to business. John you're dealing" the man of steel says as Flint sits at the table with them.
"Alright, here's the rules. Texas hold 'em, two cards, five chip buy in" John explains before dealing out the cards to the others.
"So Flint, you ready for the big day tomorrow?" Clark asks as his newest friend nods.
"Eh, as ready as I'll ever be. I mean, big crowds aren't new to me, and neither is being introduced to a team of heroes" he muses before shrugging as he picks up his cards. "But I guess I'm still a little nervous about everything. I mean, other than Zatanna I haven't met any heroes outside of the League"
"Don't worry about that. We got a good group. You'll be meeting some great people for sure" Flash assures him.
"I'm just happy that with the Watchtower having been rebuilt, I can get a rent free place" Flint says with a smirk. "I mean, I know Bruce can afford it, but I don't want to be living off of his money forever"
"Careful there, you might wake up one morning and find out Bruce has given you a house in San Francisco or something" John jokes as the others chuckle.
"Alright, this conversation is fun and everything, but let's get serious. I'm all in" Clark says before putting all his chips in for the pot
"Ha, I fold" Wally says as he puts his hand down on the table.
"Same" Flint sighs as John nods in agreement, both following Wally's example.
"What about you J'onn?" Flash asks as the Martian looks at them all with a blank face. He finishes another cookie before shrugging.
"I have no idea how to play this game"
Flint stepped through the teleporter to the Watchtower early the next morning, Superman warping on alongside him as Flint took a cursory look around. "Nice set up" he remarked before stepping out into the hallway with the man of steel.
"Now, since we scheduled the meeting so early, expect there to be quite a few heroes already here" Superman said with a smile as Flint nodded.
"Hey, no worries there. I know how to act and what to say, just don't expect me to say much to people who I've never met before"
"True enough" Superman chuckles before approaching the door to the foyer.
"Oh yeah Clark, just one thing before we go in"
"Oh, what's that?"
"Next time we play poker, x-ray vision is off limits. If Flash can't run around to check our hands, you aren't allowed to either" he says seriously as Clark gives a guilty blush.
"Alright, fine" he relents before opening the door, revealing a whole multitude of colourful costumes and personalities all milling around the room and making introductions.
Flint looked around in awe at all the heroes assembled. Sure he had been a member of the Avengers, but the sheer number of assembled heroes was unreal.
"Impressed?" Superman smirks as Flint quickly regains his composure and nods confidently.
"You know it. If this is what the League is gonna look like, we might need a bigger tower" he quips eliciting a laugh from Clark before a red, white, and blue blur quickly slams into the man of steel.
"Hey cousin, how you been?" A feminine voice asks as Clark smiles broadly.
"Flint, I'd like to introduce my cousin. This is Kara Zor-El, or as she's also known, Supergirl" He says proudly as Flint shakes her hand. "Hey, nice to meet you" Flint says.
"Likewise. So, I heard you had save my cousin's sorry butt during the invasion" She asks with a smirk as Clark grumbles slightly.
"Yeah, and I heard you were under house arrest with your best friend the whole time" Flint remarks as she quickly blushes in embarrassment.
"No worries there, the invasion caught us all off guard" Flint assured her as Superman nodded. Aside from a select few heroes, Flint's real origins were kept on a need to know basis.
"Yeah, well it was nice meeting you" the blonde teenager says before flying back into the crowd as Flint looks back to Superman.
"I take it you're happy she's here. You were beaming quite a bit"
"She's a good kid, and I know she'll be a great hero one day. I think the League is what she needs in order to learn the responsibility and control she needs to become that hero." Superman says and Flint nods.
"Just let her in on those six words of mine. She might not get it the first time, but she will soon enough" Flint adds before looking around. "I think I'm gonna go mingle for a bit" He says as Superman nods.
"Alright, you enjoy yourself. I'm just gonna go talk to Bruce to make sure all of the preparations are complete" He says before flying off to where Batman was talking with John and Diana.
The next ten minutes were a blur of introductions and new faces, with Flint making more introductions in one day than he ever had in his whole life. Of all the people he met, there were some that stood out to him especially. One such person was the Question. The faceless Vigilante wore a trench coat and a wide brimmed fedora, but he was no joke. Before Flint could even introduce himself, the crazed detective had already relayed his knowledge of Flint's name, age, and current residence. Needless to say, he was more than a little unnerved, at least until the detective said Batman had recommended him. Anyone with the bat seal of approval had to be a damn good hero.
Next was an odd duo of Vigilante and Shining Knight. One dressed like a cowboy, complete with a bandana and hat, while riding into battle with a motorcycle and twin revolvers. The other was a time displaced knight from the days of King Arthur. Despite the incredibly odd duo they made, they functioned well as a unit and were near inseparable from each other. In their own kooky way, they were a force to be reckoned with.
Metamorpho was a hero that Flint instantly took a liking to. Having known what it was like to receive such powers as an accident of science, Flint could easily relate to the patchwork hero, and their similar powers only increased their newfound bond. After a few minutes of talking, they were already exchanging stories and jokes like old friends.
After all the introductions, Flint decided he needed a bit of a break and stepped over to the window where he stared in awe at the Earth. When he was a kid he used to dream about being an astronaut but this was unreal. To see the entirety of the planet he was protecting. It was humbling to say the least.
"Pretty amazing isn't it?" A familiarly sassy voice asked causing Flint to shake off his stupor, before turning to face the owner.
"Yeah it is" he replied simply as Zatanna gave a small laugh.
"So, how's it feel? To officially be a member of the new and improved Justice League"
"I could ask you the same thing" he replied with a smirk before leaning against the window. "But to be honest, it's kind of unreal"
She nodded in understanding before stepping closer to look out the window. "So, meet any new people?"
"Oh plenty. That Question guy though, he's kind of a kook" Flint said with a mock shudder as Zatanna smirked.
"Wound tighter than the screws on the Batmobile, but he means well"
"Still. Nice to see someone I actually recognize up here"
"Definitely. Haven't seen much of you since the glory days in the hotel" she joked.
"Yeah, I haven't been operating in Gotham as much, been trying to branch out to other cities, if only to give Bats a break every now and then. You know how protective he is of city"
"Yeah he certainly has a fixation on Gotham, but are you sure you aren't trying to avoid me?" She asked coyly as Flint gave a small chuckle.
"Nah, even if I was I couldn't hide forever. I have a feeling you could just pull me out of your hat if you wanted"
Before Zatanna could respond, Superman called for the meeting to start as the various heroes started to gather around in front of the podium.
"Well, looks like its show time" Zatanna said before Flint raised an eyebrow.
"I thought occupational puns were Flash's territory"
"Oh hush" She replied with a smirk and her trademark sass, as they joined the crowd of gathered heroes standing next to Atom Smasher, a man in a red and blue costume with the power to grow in size, and a Brazilian woman with green hair code-named Fire.
After a few moments of excess chatter, Superman raised a hand to quiet the other heroes. He was standing behind a podium on a raised platform, with Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash joining him on either side. After clearing his throat briefly Superman flashed a smile before speaking to the crowd.
"Each of you brings something different to the table. Strength, Speed, Stealth, whatever" he calls, garnering nods from the assembled heroes before continuing. "But we're all equal in at least one way. Each of us is willing to make the sacrifices a hero needs to make. Even the ultimate one"
Sandman nodded at that, before looking to the floor. It was that kind of sacrifice that sent him here in the first place.
"Since there are so many of us, we can do more than just put out fires, both literal and figurative. We can be proactive; we can do some real good in the world, but we're going to have to be organized" Superman said seriously before gesturing up. The crowd followed his gaze before seeing a smiling Martian Manhunter nodding to everyone down below from his control room. "J'onn will be up here, keeping an eye on everything; he'll be the one to decide who's going where and when. I know a lot of you are used to making those decisions by yourself, but from now on, we have to be more co-ordinated than that. We can't be cowboys anymore. Or cowgirls" Superman added as Flint and a few of the other heroes in the crowd let out a small chuckle.
Sandman nodded with a confident smile on his face before looking at Zatanna. "That what you expected"
"Pretty much. Big Blue always had a thing for grand speeches" She replies, before Sandman notices Batman talking to a green archer out of the corner of his eye.
"We sent the Lantern for you because you never gave us an answer" Batman said as the archer, known as green Arrow shrugged nonchalantly.
"Come on, I don't belong up here, fighting monsters and aliens and other super villains. I just help the little guy, and in a big club like this? You tend to forget all about him" he glowered as Batman's eyes narrowed, before he continued. "So gee whiz, I'm flattered to be asked and all, but no thanks"
"Suit yourself" Batman answered as he turned and started to walk away, before looking back at the archer. "Those monsters you don't fight? They tend to step on the little guys" He finished before leaving as Sandman raised his eyebrow in response.
"Bats has a sense of humour?"
"As impossible as it is to imagine, deep down he is a normal human being" Zatanna confirms as Sandman gives her an incredulous look. "Really deep down" She admits before J'onn suddenly turned his attention to one of the computer screens on the monitor system that was flashing an alert.
"It's some sort of nuclear accident. The sensors are showing a massive release of heat" He reads as Green Lantern nodded.
"I'll get down there and try to contain it" he responded, but before he could leave the Martian stopped him.
"That's the odd thing. It's not dissipating, rather it's moving in a straight line" he said before calling up a roster of active team members. "Take Captain Atom, he might be able to absorb some of the excess radiation"
"Right" John agreed before suddenly becoming thoughtful. "And I could use some muscle for crowd control"
"Take Supergirl" J'onn suggests, ignoring the Green Lantern's unease at his recommendation. "She's got to start sometime"
After a moment, Green Lantern relented with a heavy sigh. "Fine, but if I'm going in with two new members, I'm taking someone with more experience too. I'm thinking Flint. He's probably the most malleable of us in that regard" He says as the Martian nodded before typing at the keyboard. "Use a Javelin, the radiation is making it impossible for the transporter to get a fix on the location" He says before the Lantern takes off.
"Captain Atom! Kara, Sandman!" John barked as the three heroes in question quickly snapped to attention.
"About time" Supergirl said with a cocky grin before flying after him as Flint sighed and looked back to Zatanna.
"Just when I thought I might have the first day off"
"We're never that lucky. Have fun out there anyways" She retorts before Flint follows behind the two heroes, meeting up with a third hero who appeared to being wearing a silver bodysuit, with an atom on his chest, along with red gloves and boots.
"What's the situation John?" Flint asked as the heroes all walked into the Javelin bay.
"Not a good one. Any of you ever been to Chong Mai?" he replied before getting in one of the planes.
"It's on the State Department's 'no travel' list. It's a class three felony for American citizens to go there" Captain Atom replied sternly.
"And I thought Latveria was uptight" Sandman said with a small chuckle, ignoring the confused expression Captain Atom shot him.
"Is it anywhere near Daytona Beach?" Supergirl asked, causing the three men to groan in response.
As the four heroes boarded the Javelin, Green Arrow ran up to them from across the hangar, apparently taking the same elevator that they had.
"You're not gonna leave me on Mount Olympus?" the archer whined sarcastically as the heroes turned to look at him.
'Kinda reminds me of Webs' Flint thought to himself as Green Lantern folded his arms in response.
"You can go back the way that you came" the Lantern responded.
"Uh no. No one's playing pinball with my molecules again" Green Arrow said seriously as John rolled his eyes.
"All right, we'll drop you off after we're done" he relents before the Archer joined them all on the Javelin, where he hesitantly took a seat next to Sandman.
"So Green Arrow? You the new resident smartass?" Flint asks with a smirk as the archer raises an eyebrow before returning the smirk.
"Takes one to know one" he answered as Flint barked a short laugh.
As John got in the drivers' seat, Supergirl walked up behind him. "So, you're gonna let me drive right?" she asks with a hopeful expression as Captain Atom looked to John worriedly.
"Wait a minute, has she been certified in a Javelin?" he asks seriously before Supergirl sits and makes a face, sticking her tongue out at him childishly.
"Why don't you take the stick out Corporal?"
After a brief pause, Captain Atom looked to the side and huffed quietly. "It's Captain"
As the Javelin took off, it gave all the heroes an unblocked look at the Watchtower. The sheer size of the satellite was unlike anything that Sandman had seen before, marvelling at the sheer size of it before the Javelin began its approach to Earth. After a few minutes, Green Arrow leaned over to talk to Captain Atom.
"Is that a containment suit?" he asked as the Captain nodded.
"Uh-huh. I'm not flesh and blood anymore, just living energy" he confirmed as Green Arrow leaned back his seat.
"That wouldn't be nuclear energy, would it?" he asked with a frown.
"With a name like 'Captain Atom', what do you think?" he asked incredulously before Green Arrow folded his arms across his chest.
"I think you're what I marched against back in college"
The remainder of the trip was mercifully uneventful, and soon enough they arrived in Chong Mai, landing the Javelin in the middle of a forest clearing. Sandman, Supergirl, Green Lantern, and Captain Atom stepped out slowly before coming face to face with a straight path of scorched earth that went on for several miles ahead of them, forming a straight line almost like someone had just walked right through.
"Looks like we missed the party" Supergirl remarked as Sandman took notice of the heat still in the area.
"Good thing too, any more heat and Sandman would be Glassman" he shrugged as Green Lantern flew up a few feet.
"We'll do recon" Green Lantern interjected, calling their attention. "If you see anything, don't try to engage"
"Roger that" Captain Atom confirmed, standing at attention as Green Lantern dead panned.
"Uh, you can just say okay"
"… Okay" Captain Atom replied slowly before walking off, Supergirl and Sandman following behind him.
Green arrow watched them leave, taking a sip from the water bottle he'd brought with them. As he lowered the bottle, he noticed several armed men now levelling their weapons at the four leaguers outside, ready to fire their RPGs.
"Get down!" the archer called, quickly before taking cover.
The four turned in time to see the soldiers and Green Lantern brought up a shield around them just in time to shield them from the volley of rockets and bullets. Once they saw that the shield was holding strong the three other heroes relaxed slightly, still on alert as Flint instinctively formed his hands into mallets.
"State Department was right about them not liking foreigners" Captain Atom said simply as he surveyed the situation.
"It's crazy!" No reason for it!" Green Lantern snapped, concentrating on keeping the shield up.
"I'll give them a reason" Supergirl said dangerously, readying to take off before Flint held her back.
"Don't do it kid. If there's one thing Wild Pack taught me, it's not to make a bad situation worse" Sandman said seriously as Supergirl cocks her eyebrow.
"Wild Pack?"
Before Flint could answer Green Lantern nodded. "He's right. We came here to help them, not to fight"
"So you're just gonna stand there until they run out of RPGs?" Green Arrow asked as he took cover behind the shield with them. "If this radiation thing is as bad as it looks, there's a lot of people out there that are gonna get fried"
"Arrow's got a point, but what are we supposed to do to convince them that we're here to help?" Flint asks before the sound of a helicopter could be heard above the weapons. The heroes retook their fighting stances as it landed and the doors opened, but relaxed when an aging general stepped out and forced his soldiers to stand down and stop firing.
"My apologies for the fireworks" the general said in a sickeningly smooth voice as he walked up to the heroes. "Colonel Kim here was just a farmer before the revolution; he doesn't know who you are" he continued with a smile, but Sandman had seen enough of the underworld to know that it was gratuitously fake and forced. "I'm General Kwan, I am most flattered that the Justice League has honoured us with its presence, but I must ask why"
Green Lantern stepped forwards, finally disabling the shield he created. "You had some kind of nuclear accident"
General Kwan waved it off with a small smile. "A minor problem. It is fully under control"
Sandman looked back at the path of scorched earth skeptically. "Somehow I don't think that's likely"
"If it's all the same to you..." Lantern persisted before the general silenced him.
"It is fully under control" the General insisted, losing the smile in favour of his eyes taking on a cold and dangerous glint. "If it's all the same to you"
"Listen, we came a long way to help" Supergirl pressed.
"Your help is not needed here" Kwan said with a tone of finality. "Thank you for coming. Now goodbye" he finished before turning around briskly and storming off back to the helicopter as the troops dispersed.
"So what do you think? They hiding something?" Sandman asked rhetorically.
As the sun slowly set over the horizon, the heroes retired to the Javelin, each expressing their discontent differently. Green Arrow silently fumed, Supergirl cracked her knuckles eager to break something, Captain Atom sat quietly in his chair awaiting his orders, but it was clear that even he was displeased by the way he let his normally stoic face betray his feelings of frustration.
Flint meanwhile stood next to John as the latter contacted the Watchtower, the Lantern trying his best not to lose his cool.
"I'm telling you J'onn, it took all the restraint I had not to part that guy's hair with my ring" He said seriously.
"You did the right thing" The Martian responded, his face conveying the true weight of the situation. "But the problem is not under control. It's getting worse"
"Yeah, but what are we supposed to do in the meantime? It's not like they'll just let us back in to help" Flint asked before a sharp yell caused them to turn.
"Don't you get it?" Green Arrow barked as he walked up to John. "They don't want anyone to find out about the accident, and they don't care how many of their own people they have to lose to keep it quiet"
"This isn't your concern!" John replied, a cool glare levelled at the archer who returned it in earnest as Sandman stood between them to prevent the conflict from escalating. After a moment Green Arrow finally backed down as he turned and walked out of the room. John sighed before rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger tiredly as he resumed his call with J'onn. "He does have a point. Maybe the four of us should go back and…"
"No!" The Martian suddenly interjected before sighing. "We can't just do whatever we want. When we formed the League, we agreed with the world's governments that we'd have to respect each government's wishes. No matter what we think of their policies"
Before John could continue, Kara suddenly flew into the room looking panicked.
"Guys, Green Arrow is gone!" She exclaimed as Captain Atom followed behind her.
"So is the Geiger counter" He added as Flint groaned.
"Damn, better find him quickly before he does something rash" Flint sighed before the four of them charged out of the Javelin.
The search for Green Arrow, while long and tedious, was ultimately successful as Kara managed to track him down and locate him. However, upon arrival they found the emerald archer firing explosive arrows at a massive robot. The machine was several hundred feet tall and was clearly the source of the radiation, judging by the heat it was giving off. It also possessed a metallic skull for a head, wreathed in flames, in addition to multi-barrelled cannons on its arms which it was about to fire at Green Arrow until John saved him in the nick of time.
"There's civilians over by that cliff!" Green Arrow said before pointing to where several civilians had been trapped on the edge of a cliff, alongside a few soldiers, by the large robot. The large crevasse behind them was the only thing stopping them from escaping to the adjacent hills as the deadly robot continued its slow approach towards them.
"I'll try to drain it!" Captain Atom called before flying off as Supergirl gave him support.
"I'll try to keep those people safe, if you can make them a bridge!" Flint called as John nodded.
Sandman ran in front of the civilians before turning back to the robot, its ominous approach growing ever closer.
'Haven't done this in a while, but here it goes' Flint thought before focusing the grains of his body. After a minute of solid effort, the sand slowly morphed into a crystalline glass. Before the Robot could continue forwards, Captain Atom and Supergirl arrived to distract it as John made a bridge construct out of his ring.
"What's that supposed to do Flint?" Green Lantern asked as Flint pointed back at the distracted machine.
"I can use this form to deflect energy blasts. Just focus on getting them to safety, and I'll keep him off of you!" Flint called as Green Arrow led the people to the bridge John formed.
Captain Atom flew close in to the robot before draining a large amount of energy from its reactor. Despite its best efforts, the lack of energy was taking its toll on the robot and it suddenly lacked the energy to fight back. However, at that moment Captain Atom reached his limit as a small explosion emanated from his hands, knocking him to the ground. Kara didn't fare much better as despite its weakened state, the robot was still able to knock her back across the ravine and into the hillside. She quickly got up before flying back across to move the last of the civilians to safety as the robot fired a burst of energy at the heroes.
"Look out!" Arrow shouted as Flint held out his hands, attempting to deflect as much of the energy back into the robot as he could. The robot slowly started to be pushed back by the energy but then added more power into its blast.
"Aw crap" Flint deadpanned before the increase of energy proved to be too much for him after going so long without practice. The blast overpowered Flint and shattered his glass into dozens of tiny shards, much to the horror of his team mates.
With the last of the civilians safely across the ravine, Green Lantern put up a shield to hold back a second blast, but the energy proved to be too much and broke through his shield. He tried to dodge but was clipped on his side by the blast, knocking him to the ground quickly. John raised his head shakily before collapsing back as his vision went black.
After what seemed like an eternity later, the glass shards on the ground slowly started to assemble back together. After a few minutes of effort, they were all assembled before they started to crumble back into sand. Once that was accomplished, the sand reformed the body of Flint Marko, allowing the hero to survey the area.
"Great, they're gone. And so is the giant robot" he sighs before stretching his neck stiffly. "Well I'd better head back to the Javelin. The others are probably worried about me"
Walking back through the jungle where they came, aided by a few fallen trees that the robot left behind, Flint finally arrived back at the Javelin, walking in to find an argument between the other members of his team.
Captain Atom and Green Arrow stood nose to nose, their eyes narrowed dangerously as Kara struggled to separate the two of them.
"Hey! That giant robot is still out there destroying the countryside, and we don't even know if Flint made it, so enough of the alpha-male smack down, or I'll leave you both here and solve this entire damn problem myself!" she grunted in annoyance before Flint stepped in and slapped both heroes upside the head.
"Alright you bunch of muscle heads. What happened out there?" he asked, ignoring the looks of surprise that the other heroes gave him at his appearance.
"Holy… you're alive?!" Arrow asked in shock as Flint nodded.
"Yeah, I'm no stranger to exploding" he shrugged before folding his arms. "So is anyone gonna fill me in on how we're doing? Where's John?"
The shock on their faces wore off, only to be replaced with more muted expressions as Green Arrow stepped aside to reveal the infirmary beds where Green Lantern lay. The ex-marine was covered in bandages and anything not bandaged was peppered with radiation burns and bruises. Flint stepped over with wide eyes before sighing as Captain Atom cleared his throat to call over their attention.
"What do we do now?" he asked as Sandman turned back to face them.
"It's obvious that our head on assault didn't work. Maybe the same people who made that thing, also made a way to destroy it" Sandman suggested as Green Arrow nodded in agreement.
"I saw some men wearing Hazmat suits in a nearby village. They might know something about that" he recommends as Captain Atom glared.
"I thought you weren't on the team?" He said tersely before Sandman held him back.
"Easy. We're gonna need all the help we can get out here"
After a minute, Captain Atom finally turned away. "Fine. But I'm gonna be too busy working to cover your sorry…"
"Wouldn't ask you to" Green Arrow responded with a lazy salute.
A few kilometres away, the smoking ruins of what used to be a village laid in the path that the monster had carved as it made its monstrous trek across the countryside. Men in hazmat suits walked all through the village with Geiger counters while a few armed soldiers kept watch over them. However, despite the protection they were still caught by surprise as Supergirl, Captain Atom, Sandman, and Green Arrow all surrounded the scientists as Captain Atom stepped forwards.
"What are we up against?" He asked, the scientist looking around nervously and refusing to answer,
"He asked you a question!" Supergirl shouted as a soldier ran forwards.
"Don't answer them! That's classified informa-" he started before Supergirl cut him off as she picked his up by his collar roughly. She levelled a harsh glare towards his as her grip on his collar tightened.
"I've had just about enough of you guys! You've got to the count of five. One. Four" she said sternly as her eyes glowed red, and the soldier's uniform began to smoke under her charging heat vision.
"I'd speak up if I were you" Captain Atom said with a smirk
"Yeah, It might help you stay in one piece" Flint added before one of the scientist took off his helmet, revealing a face covered in radiation burns.
"It was supposed to be our protector" he admitted, looking down to the ground as Supergirl let the soldier go, who in turn ran off in fear. "It was supposed to protect us from the foreigners." The man continued before sitting down on a piece of rubble.
Green Arrow knelt in front of the man and nodded. "But then you lost control of it. Is that what happened?" he asked as the man nodded back, before gesturing to a box full of grey rods.
"We have carbon rod dampeners. But we couldn't get close enough to put them in".
Captain Atom picked up one of the rods before looking back at the scientist. "Where is its reactor located?"
"The front of its upper torso. But it's too hot; you won't make it"
"I'll worry about that" the Captain assured the man as Flint grabbed another rod. "Well, now at least we have something we can use against it. Any ideas as to how?" he asks as Captain Atom nods.
"I think I might have one"
A few miles away, the giant robot was continuing its destructive journey across the countryside as the four heroes arrived just out of sight of the monster.
"What's the plan Captain?" Flint asks as the others look at him expectantly.
"Well, if one of you can distract it for long enough I can fly in close and jam the carbon rod in its reactor" he suggests as the others thought on it.
"What kind of a distraction are you gonna need?" Supergirl asks as she looks back at the Captain.
"A damn big one"
Flint then looks back to the scorched Earth left in the monsters wake before smirking. "I think I can handle that."
"How? There's nothing out there but sand and rock" Supergirl asks as Flint nods.
"Exactly. Now, in order for Captain Atom to get close enough I'll need you to stay close and maybe punch that thing if he needs you to. Think you can handle that?" he asks as the girl nods with a grin.
"You know it" She says as she cracks her knuckles again.
Captain Atom then turned to look at Green Arrow. "Just in case I fail, I need you to hold some of the rods. If you have an open shot, take it"
The archer took a few of the rods before looking at the other three. "Are you sure about this? If you get too close, the heat could fry you"
"I know" the Captain said simply. Before the heroes moved too far away, Green Arrow called back to them.
"Captain!" he said before holding out a hand to the nuclear powered hero. He stared back at the archer for a brief moment before they shook hands, looks of respect on their faces.
"Alright, let's move out!" Flint says before disappearing into the sand that surround them. At that, Captain Atom and Supergirl took off, each carrying a few of the carbon rods with them. As they made their approach, the robot turned to look right at them, but before it could make any move to attack, a massive fist made of sand erupted from the ground before colliding with the monster's head, knocking it back a few feet before Flint followed behind, having taken in enough sand to stand at an equal height with the massive machine.
"Oh… wow" Supergirl said plainly as Captain Atom nodded, both heroes in total shock at what they were seeing. However, it quickly wore off as Captain Atom rocketed forwards while the monster was distracted.
All around the robot, the heat was so intense that the air around the Captain ignited, while Sandman was slowly forming into glass with every punch he landed. Careful to allow the Captain in safely, the atomic hero finally made it in front of the reactor and was about to jam the rod in before the monster shot him down to the ground with a blast from its' eyes.
"The hell?" Sandman asked before another blast shot him backwards before the monster turned the beam towards the downed Captain Atom.
Once the beam stopped firing, Captain Atom crawled out of the crater it left weakly, before gazing in horror at a tear in his containment suit. Knowing what that meant he quickly rocketed off, blue atomic energy crackling around him as he did.
"Captain?" Sandman asked weakly as the hero flew into the upper atmosphere before detonating in a massive blue explosion. The three other heroes watched in horror before Flint clenched his fist. "Kara! The Rods!" he called as the girl nodded before flying close to the ground and gabbing one of the rods while Sandman knocked the machine back.
When Supergirl flew in close the robot immediately back handed her away into a mountain several miles away before Sandman started pummeling it again. That was eased as the monster fired another beam, letting him down to the ground, forcing him to go on the defensive until he had another open chance to continue fighting.
"Ah damn it. Arrow?" He asked the archer who had already readied a rod on his bowstring.
"On it!" the archer called back before firing to rod, missing the reactor by a few feet. In retaliation, the monster fired another beam, forcing Green Arrow to duck for cover before firing another rod, this one missing by only inches.
As Green Arrow hid amongst the trees to prepare the last arrow, the monster fired a blast from both cannons, completely incinerating the forest before Flint turned to see the archer's hat amongst the flames. Flint grit his teeth in anger and frustration. It was only the first mission and they already lost two heroes in a matter of minutes. He quickly retaliated, attempting to smother the robot in a massive cloud of sand before reforming behind it and holding its arms in place.
Finally, the smoke in the ruins of the trees cleared, revealing a burned and beaten, yet still very much alive, Green Arrow; the final carbon rod at the ready.
"Say 'aah' dirt bag" The archer smirked before firing, the arrow flying true and planting itself deep in the reactor. The effect was instantaneous as the flames died and the monster lost all power. Suddenly, Supergirl flew back in before delivering a wicked uppercut and decapitating the husk that used to be a rampaging robot.
As the remains of the robot fell, Flint shrank back down to his normal size, leaving the rest of the sand behind as he regrouped with Supergirl and Green Arrow. "How you holding up?"
The archer said nothing as he fell to his knees and gave the other two a tired wave.
After contacting the Watchtower on the outcome of the mission, the three heroes returned, with Supergirl flying them back in the javelin much to the men's chagrin and nervousness.
An hour after arrival on the league tower, Sandman stood with Supergirl and a now conscious Green Lantern as they watched the Watchtower personnel put Captain Atom's salvaged energy into a new containment suit.
"J'onn had a team pick him up right after it happened, so he didn't lose much of his energy" John explains as Flint gave a sigh of relief.
"That's a relief, don't know what I would have done if we'd lost someone on the first day of the job" he admits tiredly as the half-filled suit gave them a weak thumbs up, which Supergirl returned.
"At least he got a new suit out of it" Kara says with a shrug as Flint nods.
"Yeah, well I'm gonna find bats. He said something about getting me set up with an identity back on Earth" Flint says before departing to find the dark knight as Supergirl looks as Green Lantern expectantly.
"So aren't you gonna give me the 'you did good' speech?" the teen asked as Green Lantern glared sternly at her.
"You're headstrong, unprofessional, and over confident. You could have potentially caused an international incident, and just imagine what could have happened if the others weren't there to pick up your slack. You could have gotten someone killed out there. If you ever act like that on a mission again, I will personally see to it that you are kicked out of the league. I don't care who your cousin is" He said plainly, before turning around and starting to leave a dejected Supergirl behind. After a moment, he stopped and looked back at her, noting her crestfallen face. "And incidentally, you did good" he added before departing, leaving a stunned Supergirl behind as her former smile slowly returned to her face.
After a few minutes of searching, Flint finally managed to locate Batman and approached him. "Hey bats, you wanted to see me?" He asked as the dark knight nodded.
"Yes, I have a new identity prepared for you all ready to go at the Batcave. I wanted you to look over it first, just to make sure everything was the way you liked it before I officially published it"
"Well, gee I don't know what to say bats. You didn't have to go to all this trouble" he said with a sheepish grin.
"I know, but if you're going to attempt a normal life in this world you need to have an identity"
"Fair enough" Flint relented before the door to the shower room opened and Green Arrow stepped out.
"Well, if it isn't the monster killer" Batman said with a small smile as Flint stifled a laugh.
The archer merely shrugged in response, "I was lucky. So was everyone else. Still don't think I belong up here"
"That's the point. Someone like you will keep us honest" Batman replied as Flint nodded.
"He's right. With all the powers running around here, we need someone to keep us mindful of the boundaries" he adds as the Archer rubs the back of his neck.
"Gee guys, I don't know; don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good radiation burn as much as the nest guy, but I don't think… that…" he trailed of as his eyes suddenly glazed over while he looked past the two of them. Confused, Flint followed his gaze before smirking as he saw a stunning blonde by the name of Black Canary pulling her boots on. Flint looked back at the still entranced archer as Batman folded his arms in triumph.
"So, see you around?" the caped crusader asked as Green Arrow gave a small smile.
"You just might"
"Alright Steve, we found the plans to the device that Wizard used. Any luck on your end with the interrogation?" Tony asked as he returned to his lab with Hank Pym and Reed Richards suddenly setting on the plans to build another one of the devices.
"Nothing good" Steve replied. "The Wizard in there was only a decoy. Logan knew it as soon as we entered the cell block. The real one is still out there somewhere"
"Damn it" Tony cursed before sighing. "Alright, just get back here quickly. We can find him later, right now we have to put our energy into replicating his device"
"Alright Tony. We'll be right over there."
The Wizard smiled deviously as one of his spying devices picked up their conversation from several buildings away. "So my device sent him to another dimension? Perhaps I should look into this myself…" he mused before flying away.
And there is chapter three! I promise that the next one won't have such a long wait. As always be sure to Read and Review!
~WafflesTheApprentice