A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. I kept rereading and changing everything 'till I got it just so. The result? A longer chapter! :3 Enjoy!
As Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman made their way to the hanger, Batman thought it would be a good time to clear a few things up. There were too many unanswered questions, especially for the ever paranoid Batman.
"We never got your name." Batman said.
"No, I already told you, I'm the Doctor!" The Doctor said.
"Doctor who?" Batman asked. He couldn't help but notice the giddy look that was now plastered all over the Doctor's face. Batman was not amused.
"Exactly." The Doctor said. That never got old.
"Is that some kind of secret identity?" Superman asked.
"Well, I guess so. Never really thought about it like that." The Doctor smiled again.
"What can you tell us about the Daleks?" Batman asked.
"Little alien creatures inside armor that looks like a robot. Metal, eyestalk, robot voice. Yell exterminate, a lot. Very deadly." The Doctor rambled off.
"How do you know them?" Batman asked. This was turning into an interrogation real fast. Superman and Wonder Woman picked up on this and glanced at eachother before glaring at Batman. He ignored them and focused on the Doctor. Superman shook his head.
"War. Time War. The whole of creation was at stake. The Daleks lost in the end, but at a great cost." The Doctor got somber again.
"Where you involved in this Time War?" Wonder Woman asked, intrigued.
"Yes." The Doctor replied. "Anyways, onto you. Do you know of anyone who might help the Daleks?" The Doctor said, changing the subject.
"The Injustice League. That portal that you wanted to investigate was built by them, unless the Daleks really built it, though there isn't much left of it. The police probably took care of it, so we're going to go to the station first." Superman explained.
"The Injustice League would be a bunch of super villains, right?" The Doctor asked.
"Correct. They've joined up in the hopes to defeat the Justice League." Wonder Woman said.
"Oh that's fantastic!" The Doctor said excitedly. This world, minus the Dalek threat, was one of the most exciting places he'd ever been to! And that's saying a lot, considering all the places he's been these past few centuries.
The heroes around him didn't exactly feel as excited as the Doctor. Batman saw this as another reason not to trust him and the others couldn't help but become a little wary. The Doctor didn't notice at first, but caught on eventually and decided to explain himself.
"Oh, right, sorry. I didn't mean that as a good thing. It's just exciting, or at least the idea, of having a world full of superheroes and super villains. Don't have them back in my world, you see." The Doctor said.
"Right." Batman said, studying him.
"Well, anyways, we're here at the hanger. Let's go." Superman said.
J'onn saw them walk in, and decided to stop guarding the TARDIS and go ask the Doctor about the being inside.
"Hello, Doctor. Do you mind if I ask you a question?" The Doctor broke away from the other three and went over to the Martian.
"I don't mind. Ask away!" The Doctor said.
"I can sense someone inside, would you mind telling me who it is?" J'onn asked.
"Oh, no one's inside. You're sensing my TARDIS. You see, my ship is alive. Aren't you Old Girl?" The Doctor said to the TARDIS.
"Really? You ship is alive?" J'onn asked.
"Yes, and to get a little off topic, you wouldn't happen to be a Martian, would you?"
"Yes. How did you know?" J'onn asked.
"Just a guess. I've met Martians back in my world." The Doctor said.
"Really?" J'onn said.
"Yes, though you don't look like them." The Doctor said. Just then, the others called the Doctor over to the jet and they took off. But not before the Doctor got to shout Allons-y again!
****Eleven Months Ago****Space****
A Dalek ship comes seemingly out of nowhere, if they had been in an atmosphere, you could have heard a loud thunderous boom and loud crackling as they ripped through the new dimension's timeline. A blue sun reflects it eerily. The silence of empty space engulfs the ship. The unsuspecting red and green planet below and its defenseless inhabitants don't realize their fate. With the Daleks here, there is no hope for the innocent life below, they are doomed.
The Daleks stabilize their ship and enter the planet's orbit. As of right now, they only want to fix their ship, as it took severe damage while trying to outrun the Doctor. The Daleks will worry about the planet later.
"Are the sen-sors op-er-a-tion-al?" The Dalek in command asked.
"Yes. They in-di-cate that we went back e-lev-en months. The pla-net be-low is prim-a-tive but has man-y re-sor-ces. The pla-net or-bits a blue sun and has no moon. Eight pla-nets de-tec-ted in this ga-lax-y. They are void of life but two are rich in min-er-als and one with a-bun-dant me-tal al-loys. Re-pairs can be made here with-out in-tru-sion." A Dalek reported.
"Tra-cing the or-ig-on-al sig-nal!" Another Dalek reported.
"Have you e-stab-lished its or-i-gion?" The commanding Dalek asked.
The coorinates then popped up on the screen. Then it showed the Watchtower orbiting the Earth. The Daleks had 11 months, 22 days, 7 hours, and 24 minutes before the Doctor arrived in this dimension. That'd be plenty of time.
**** Eleven Months Ago ****Somwhere Else****
Lex Luthor was surprised to say the least, when he got word that a robot was caught in his main laboratory. His labs were supposed to keep even Superman out! Once he found out that his security was squashed like ants he became enraged. He brought up live security feed and saw a single robot gliding slowly around the lab. It then went over to a computer and plugged itself in and brought up communications. He sat back in his chair as the robot's face appeared on the screen before him.
"You are Lex Lu-thor." The creature stated in a metallic, almost raspy voice.
"And who might you be?" Lex asked. He tried to contain his anger so he could get information. Whoever sent this thing would pay for the annihilate of his security detail.
"We are the Da-leks!" It said. We? Okay, so more than one, great.
"Why are you in my lab?" He demanded.
"Si-lence! We re-qui-re your tech-no-lo-gy. We must pre-pare for The On-com-ing Storm!" The Dalek said.
"What's the oncoming storm?" Lex asked.
"Si-lence! You will help us or you will be ex-ter-min-a-ted!" The Dalek replied.
"Well I hope you don't plan on getting out of there" As Lex said that, the whole building went into lockdown. Metal slid down all of the doors and windows in the building. Power was cut, roof access disabled, and protocols for closing off the ventilation system went into effect. For Luthor's office only, an oxygen filter, carbon monoxide detector, and radiation detector activated. There was also some kryptonite incased in the walls, should the Man of Steel ever try to get in. It was better to be safe than sorry. Still plugged in to the computer, the Dalek easily hacked in and overrode the lockdown, and everything was back to normal in seconds. The sunlight that once again streamed into his office seemed to taunt him.
But that's impossible! Lex thought. He did a quick search and found that the Dalek had complete and total control of his systems. And until now, he never noticed. No alarm was triggered, no virus detected, and this Dalek reversed his lockdown meant to even deter Batman! How did it hack his system undetected?!
"How are you doing this?" He shouted. Then it hit him. Nothing on Earth could've done this so easily, so this Dalek must be from another planet. It's not like invasions haven't happened before. But if it's from another planet, it would've come from space in a very detectable spaceship and…shouldn't the Justice League be tracking the Dalek? Or attacking? From what he could access, it appeared that said Dalek was completely blocking everything from the outside world.
Maybe, he thought, just maybe, I could find a way to use them to my advantage. But what is the oncoming storm? He brushed it off for now. He didn't want to pry anymore, as it might exterminate him. His brow creased in worry, though he'd never admit that he was scared of them.
"Well, you contacted me. Surely you have a reason as to why." He said quite calmly.
"You will help us build it." The Dalek said.
"Build what, exactly?" He asked.
"The Gate-way! You will build it or you will be ex-ter-min-a-ted!" It threatened.
Luthor zoomed out and looked behind it, at what remained of his security. None of them could have been alive. Broken machines, glass, doors, and papers were scattered around. He saw one body smoking behind a shattered glass door. He security was squashed like ants. The various experiments were unharmed despite the bloody scene before them, so this thing really did need him, or at least his tech.
"Alright." He said, deciding to go along with it for now. "What exactly do you need me to do?"
****Eleven Months Ago****Batcave****
Batman was investigating a problem with his spyware. This one in particular was supposed to monitor, what it could, of Lex's activities. Now it wasn't detecting anything. It seemed that Lex was complexly off the grid. He scowled. How could an entire company's network just vanish? That's what he wanted to find out. He continued typing and trying to figure out what Lex was up to. Then Alfred came up to his side.
"Master Wayne, the Justice League requires your services."
"Tell them I'll be a minute." Batman said.
"Would that be an actual minute, or a Batminute, Sir?" Alfred asked. Batman didn't respond. "A Batminute then. I'll tell them you'll be a while." He left to go inform the League.
Batman continued working as if Alfred was never there, and ignored the fact that he just said Batminute. When Batman thought he was getting somewhere, strange symbols and coding unlike anything he'd ever seen popped up and completely shut him down. Batman knew that this wouldn't end well if he didn't get his computer up and running soon. Secret identities could be at risk, along with any and everything from the Watchtower's or the Batcave's data bases.
He typed as fast as he could and used every trick he knew to get it up and running. Just when he thought they had him, his computer went back to normal, as if nothing ever happened. The glow of the giant screen illuminated the cave and created some rather scary shadows. The rest of the cave was shrouded in darkness, despite it only being 4:00 p.m. His attention fixed on the computer, he continually scanned his systems for any trace of what just happened, hoping to find something that could explain all of this, but there was nothing. He checked the Watchtower's databases, his company's databases, even a few (though not legally) government databases, and any other system he could get in to, but there was no trace of anything close to what he just saw. The only clue he had was Lex, but he was still unable to access anything from him, as he was seemingly nonexistent, as far as his computer was concerned. All he had to go on was his memory of the symbols and the connection to Luthor, but that didn't give him much to go on. He deduced they were most likely alien in origin. He'd have to check into that later. For now, he wasn't going to leave that screen until he got something from Luthor.
Alfred returned a long while later with more news from the Justice League. Apparently they were already stretched thin and needed him now. Once some of the other Leaguers were freed up, he could then get back to 'whatever stupid Batbusiness he had,' as Flash put it. Apparently Flash had been on his mission so long he was literally in a rut that gave the bad guys a nice advantage, prolonging their defeat. It was starting to wear down the speedster. Batman left a few minutes later.
As fate would have it, Luthor's systems went back to normal not long after Batman left. They once again left absolutely no trace (unless you knew Gallifreyan.) Anything that could connect Lex to these strange technological occurrences was also wiped away. Upon returning and finding this, Batman spent a long while searching every and any database he could several times over only to turn up empty-handed. Even when he could finally access Luthor's systems, he couldn't find anything. This earned the computer a nice fist sized hole as Batman took out his frustration on the poor computer. He considered telling Superman or the League, but with nothing but his memory to go on, he knew there wasn't much anyone could do. He then thought that this could have been an attack on Luthor, and thinking of all possibilities, it wasn't that farfetched. Perhaps if he couldn't find anything on the computer, maybe he could just talk to the man himself.
****Eleven Months Ago**** 6 Minutes After Lex First Talked to the Dalek****
"Are you out of you robot mind? How am I supposed to help you when you hardly give me anything to work with?" Lex Luthor shouted in frustration. "If you want be to build your Gateway, I'll need more to work with than this!" He shouted as he pointed to the blueprints before him. It was hard enough to decipher the weird symbols on it, as he was sure they were some form of instructions, but this was still far more advanced than anything on Earth! And it was merely the arch that would incase the portal they needed, but how he was going to build the rest of it AND make it compatible with Earth's technology was even beyond him. He needed help!
"Our re-serch has shown that you are one of the most cap-a-ble hu-mans. You should be a-ble to fig-ure it out!" The Dalek shouted.
"Well, maybe I could use the help of the other 'capable' people!" Lex argued. "You've scanned my databases, right? Then you should be able to find some to help me!"
"We have not just scanned your com-pu-ter sys-tems. We have scanned all of them! You will do this or you will be EX-TER-MIN-A-TED!" The Dalek threatened. Luthor decided it was best to stop yelling at it and tried a different approach, but not before he got some answers.
"Don't worry, I will. And if you said you have read every database than you would have hacked the Justice League, right?"
"Correct." The Dalek responded nonchalantly.
"And the Batcave's computers?"
"Correct." The Dalek replied again.
"Then perhaps you could tell me the Leaguers' secret identities, weaknesses, etc.?" He half asked half hoped.
"That in-for-ma-tion is ir-rel-ev-ant. You will on-ly be told what you need to know." The Dalek stated. Luthor cursed under his breath for even trying. "You must fo-cus on-ly on the Gate-way."
"Yes, well, as I was saying about needing some help, I'm sure you're more than capable of getting me the people I require." He said. He scanned the blueprints once again. If only he knew what those symbols meant!
"You may have six." The Dalek said.
"Six? Why six?" Lex asked.
"Name them!" The Dalek Commanded.
Well, at least it was cooperative.
****Eleven Months Ago****That Night 1:02 a.m.****
Batman was on a rooftop across from LexCorp, moonlight shinning down. Most of the people had left by this late hour, but Batman had made sure Lex was still there. And he would get answers.
He shot his grappling hook and easily made his way onto the roof. Able to access its database once again, he easily messed with the security cameras and made his way through the shadows. He eluted a security guard and slipped into Lex's office. Lex appeared to be on a break, with coffee in one hand as the other one rubbed his temple in frustration. He was mumbling something that the Dark Knight couldn't catch. Batman didn't waste time making his presence known.
"What are you doing here?" Lex asked calmly, albeit startled.
"You should know why." He said blatantly from the shadows, the moonlight illuminated his outline. It was a full moon tonight and it shined brightly through the large windows directly behind him. "I noticed a certain problem with LexCorp's systems' today." He needn't say more.
"Of course you know." Lex mumbled, now annoyed. He set his coffee down on the desk and folded his hands under his chin. He looked at the Dark Knight directly.
"What exactly was it? I assume its alien." Batman said.
"Yes, and I have no idea what it was." Lex closed his eyes for a moment. He could feel a migraine coming on and he really didn't want to be interrogated right now. Not after the day he was having. Lex still hadn't figured out how the Dalek got control of his system so easily. That lockdown was supposed to be deadlocked!
"Who did this? Alien or not, you must have some idea where it came from and what it is. You're too smart to not."
Lex was silent. He just wanted to get some peace and quiet, was that too much to ask?
"Of course I have an idea at what it could be, several actually, I'm sure you do too. But you know what Batman? You're not going to get anything from me. Why don't you just fly back to you cave and leave me alone!" He snapped at Batman. The Dark Knight's eyes narrowed even more, if that was possible.
"Something's got you on edge, Lex. You're usually more collected than this." Batman noticed, even in the dark room, that Lex seemed more fatigued. Suit messy, bags under his eyes, and he just looked downright old. Batman knew that feeling too well. Many a time he's worked seemingly endless hours under high stress, and the stress on Luthor's face couldn't be more evident. However, this was different. He knew more than he let on, and he certainly wasn't going to tell Batman everything, that much he knew. But it looked like Luthor was being crushed with that knowledge. He must have been threatened by someone or something powerful, to make Luthor worry like this, and the raw emotion in his body language was screaming out at him. If he didn't know better, he'd say Luthor was afraid. Now that worried the Dark Knight.
Though he could have tried for more, he knew Luthor wasn't going to give it up anytime soon, or at least anything useful. He'd have to try again later. For now, he decided to research those strange symbols and anything else that could connect them. Though it was certainly worth the trip, to see Luthor like this meant that this was no little problem.
Luthor went to take another sip of coffee, and when he looked back up, the Dark Knight was gone. As if sensing Batman's leave, a few of those cryptic alien symbols appeared on his computer and were then replaced by a message. It read:
JOKER AQUIRED
GORILLA GRODD AQUIRED
PARASITE AQUIRED
KILLER FROST AQUIRED
CHEETA AQUIRED
POISON IVY AQUIRED
ARRIVAL IMMENENT
Then as quickly as it came, the message was gone. And Lex was left worrying about how real a threat these Daleks could be.
A/N: Yes, that's right. The Daleks founded this Injustice League! Muahahahahahahaha! Anyways, the Daleks would do anything to keep my protagonists busy, so I thought, why not? Found the Injustice League, or at least a version of it! Don't forget to review!
