Justice League of America Issue 4

"War of the Worlds" Part 4

Written by Bodhi Ouellette


"To you humans, fear is a human emotion, and a tyranny to your struggling development. To us, however, fear is an obstacle, used to our advantage."

Metropolis; Up in the Sky:

He watches. He watches as Metropolis, rebuilt and refurbished, and its people, go on as if nothing had happened to it. Metropolis had gone through worse than any other city did in the world. Because Superman were there. Because he was it's defender. They mistake him for being a bird, or a plane. And how couldn't they? He flew high, in a way that anyone could make him out to be anything. But that was what Superman could be seen as. Anything. Is he an alien who came to Earth to defend the planet? Is he a god, descending down to heaven? Or is he one of us, who had a gift, and wanted to use it for the good of all mankind? Some think he is all three. Some think he is all. But Superman knew what he truly was. A Man of Steel. The Man of Tomorrow. But right now, Clark Kent wasn't feeling like the Man of Steel people proclaim him to be. He felt like he betrayed everything he was meant to be. He had done what no one could of ever wanted to do. He doesn't know how long this torment will last. He won't know, until he is ready to let it all go.

But now is not the time to let it go. He heard a call for help in Washington. Now this was a time for help.


Washington D.C. Base:

Martians/Ma'alefa'ak: "Fear will interfere with the plan. But that's what it wants you to feel. To feel that fear boil through the blood of you foolish creatures. Yet we are connected in more ways than we both think."

Adam Strange: What you say makes no sense. What are you speaking of?

Martians/Ma'alefa'ak: "So intelligent, yet so stupid. It is going to be your downfall..."

The Martians begin to move forward towards Waller and the three League members. They are then cornered into a wall, with nowhere to go.

Waller: Guards! I give you permission to fire!

All the soldiers began firing their guns at the Martians. Some of them are quickly shot down, while others are still up, despite some bullet wounds. The two giants also get back up from the table they were being laid on.

Blue Beetle: Uh oh.

Waller: Why the hell do you say that?

Adam: Cause there's some tech in here I don't want to be wrecked.

Beetle and Adam then run out the door of the garage, leading to the airfield. Waller follows behind. The two giants punch out the huge garage doors and begin chasing the two League members and Waller.

Adam: (cont.) Now that we're out here, I don't have to worry about them ruining my computer.

Blue Beetle: You should give it a name.

Adam: Later. Right now-

The second Giant throws a punch at Blue Beetle and Adam Strange. They dodge it, only barely.

Adam: We got a jolly green giant to pull down.


Themyscira:

The Atlantean and Amazon warriors quickly slay down the Martians. King Arthur and Princess Diana are pulling Hippolyta over to the balcony.

Hippolyta: We have been infiltrated! By green men!

King Arthur: If many of my men have also been these aliens all this time, then Atlantis has been infiltrated as well. I must go back to my people!

Princess Diana: Then go, Arthur. Once you are done there, we should head to Washington, where our human allies are.

King Arthur: Agreed. Farewell, Diana. Hippolyta. I'm sorry that the tournament has been cancelled.

Arthur sprints back to where the teleporter was. His men that were not Martian also followed.

Princess Diana: I fear this is a threat the humans are also facing, as well.

Hippolyta: Go to your allies on Earth. We will deal with the situation here.

Princess Diana: Mother, no. I must be here as well.

Hippolyta: We can take care of what is going on here, my daughter. You focus on helping your friends on Earth.

Princess Diana: If that's what you want me to do, then I will.

Diana opens the doors to a room that is only lit with the light of a flame, held up by a statue of Athena. Diana walks over to the statue. Below the flame, is a table, with her Wonder Woman armor on it. Diana picks up her tiara and stares at it for a moment.

Diana: Hera. Give me strength.

She proceeds to put the tiara on...


Washington D.C.:

Blue Beetle, Adam Strange and Amanda Waller all blast their respective weapons at the Giants. The second Giant kneels down and rips a part of the tar from the ground and throws it at the three. They all dodge yet again. Adam Strange then notices something he forgot.

Adam: Isn't Ray still inside one of those guys?!

Blue Beetle: (beat) You'd be correct about that!

Adam: Well, what's he doing now?

The second giant abruptly stops what he is doing, looks down at his chest, and begins to feel sharp pains inside. He quickly grabs his chest, trying to keep the pain inside. Bursting out of the giant's organs and intestines were the Atom. The giant's body fell over, dead.

Giant 1: No! Benny!

The giant looks back at the Atom and the other three, with a "I'm going to kill you" face, and charges straight at the Atom.

Giant 1: RRAAAAHHHHH!

He is suddenly stopped by the force of the Man of Steel himself, knocking him down, making a dent in the ground. Superman looks at the Atom, angry.

Superman: Why did you have to kill him?!

Atom: I couldn't find my way out, so I had to grow my way out.

Superman: You didn't have to do that!

Atom: And would you rather sacrifice the life of one person over the other? Face it, Sups. Either he had to die, or I was going to be lost, or digested. There's no win-win situation here.

Superman calms down a bit. Then he turns is attention to Amanda Waller.

Superman: What's the situation, Waller?

Amanda: We've got aliens on our planet. Martians, in fact.

Blue Beetle: Think of it like Secret Invasion, except real.

Amanda Waller: I'm calling in all Justice League members to the Pentagon. As far as I know, this is possibly a global wide scale threat.

Superman: Do it.

Amanda Waller: (coms) All Justice League of America members...

"We have a threat that needs to be dealt with. I don't care what you are doing at the moment. You are to come to the Pentagon, immediately."


Pentagon:

The meeting room was empty, with the exceptions of Superman, Blue Beetle, Adam Strange, Atom, and Amanda Waller, as they were the first to arrive. A puff of yellow and purple smoke appears in the room. As it clears out, Zatanna has arrived.

Zatanna: I hope I'm not "fashionably late", am I?

Waller: You're the first one to arrive, so far. Take a seat.

Zatanna takes a seat.

The doors open, and into the room, comes The Flash, speeding into the room, and stops.

Flash: You called?

Waller: Yes. Take a seat.

Flash takes a seat next to Zatanna.

Next to come into the room is a 30 year old, fairly sharpened suited man, named Maxwell Lord. He acts as the Justice League's "PR" person. As well to enter the room is Green Lantern and Carol Ferris. They both take a seat together as well. Then into the room, comes Aquaman and Wonder Woman. They both take seats around the room as well. Finally, the last person to come into the room, is Lex Luthor. He is the Justice League's tech person, and supplies them with anything they need.

Lex Luthor: I'm having to miss my meeting right now, so let's just get this over with.

Waller: We're still waiting for one more person. But I guess we can start without him. Well then, here's the deal. You were all called in because the Earth has been infiltrated. By aliens.

A picture of what the Martians look like appear on the screen.

Flash: Martians? You mean they're real?

Waller: They are real. And they are dangerous.

Green Lantern: Big shocker.

Waller: I'm allowing to let Adam Strange explain the situation a bit more.

Adam stands up, and faces the rest of the League.

Adam: Well, for those of you who are not aware. This morning, we were given two giant humans who were wreaking havok in Los Angeles. Zatanna and the Flash took them down, and Superman and Green Lantern brought them here. From there, Blue Beetle, Atom and I evaluated the giants. What we found, was that the giants had strands of both human DNA, and Martian DNA. What Ma'alefa'ak said to us, however, was curious. He said humans, and martians, are similar, yet very different-

Suddenly, the doors to the conference room barge open, and entering into the room is Batman, the Worlds Greatest Detective.

Amanda Waller: You're late.

Batman: I was busy ending a long crossfire between Penguin and Joker's gangs.

Adam: Oh… um. Well, should I just recap everything I've said-

Batman: You don't need to. I made sure to put in a microphone that I will know everything is going on, even if I'm late for briefings.

Superman: That is just unacceptable, and an invasion of privacy.

Batman: Superman, I'm not in the mood to argue right about now. You can pander my actions later on, but right now, we are all here for one specific reason. To save the world. Now, here's what you're going to do: Adam, your computer can track any type of DNA, correct?

Adam: Yeah?

Batman: Use that to trace any other human/martian DNA on Earth. Once we figure out who on Earth has it, we rescue them and keep them from Martian hands.

"Before we have another war."


To be continued in Justice League of America Issue 5!