Well, there comes the next chapter. Sorry it took so long. I had a bunch of work outside of my stories
All the reviews I've read have all told me that I should write more for the reactions and dialogue by the viewers, so I'll try to do that.
I also know that I said that my next update would be last month, but I decided to divert my writing back so I could get ready for my finals. Enjoy.
Chapter 4: Beginnings of the league, part 2
The group was currently waiting in the meeting room of the league for Batman to show up. They were curious to see what would happen with their origin being continued with the Spartan.
Moments later, Batman entered the room with the device in his hands. He sat down and prepared to speak.
"So what have you found?" Superman asked his friend, though batman would never admit it.
Batman sighed and said, "Well, I found a few things"
A hologram shot up, displaying various weapons and systems that looked like they could do a lot of damage.
"Isom did upload all the weapon files he had. However, there was a catch he didn't tell us about. There is a biometric scanner linked to his DNA. If anyone were to try and access these files without his DNA, fingerprints, and retinal scan, the files would self-destruct as well as administering a rather large blast of voltage to whoever tried to open it."
Manhunter nodded and said, "He was smart. He has faith in humanity, but he would not trust people he does not know so blindly."
Batman nodded as the box displayed a few more pictures. This one containing various formulas and other devices.
Batman continued, "The box also contains various medical systems, formulas for various medicines, and new treatment ideas that could cure almost every known disease on the planet. If he had been given enough time, he could have found the cure of cancer."
This brought surprised looks to the group. Whoever this Isom was, he truly was a genius.
Batman finished, "Finally, I did a little looking into the other worlds. To put things simply…just look for yourselves."
Batman activated the device. The holographic screen came to life and it showed various forms of the league, shocking the group of heroes.
Lantern was shocked to see a version of the league. There were alternate founding members, gender switched characters.
Batman showed the one alternate world that showed them as darker versions of themselves. A darker, more violent version of the league that consisted of, a Superman raised by Mexican immigrants, a Wonder Woman who became more violent after her husband was murdered, and a Batman who was actually a vampire!
Flash was too shocked to make a vampire joke.
Another world they saw, was actually similar to their own. Super heroes of mystical, superhuman, and mutants, aliens. The only difference was that their seemed to be much more aggressive than they were, and their group was called the Avengers. They were a little put off by the mutant haters, but it wasn't a surprise, as there were people who were against meta-humans. They were much less violent.
They saw worlds where kids piloted giant robots, anthromorphic animals, like in cartoons. There were horrifying destroyed worlds, worlds ruled by monsters. There were goofy and funny worlds. There were worlds where…absolutely nothing happens.
Diana said, "To think that this world is just one of many. So many similar, and others so different."
Batman nodded and said, "I also found out a bit more about this world. Apparently, there is a significant time difference in this world. The Flash we see here, isn't Barry Allen. It's Wally."
Flash and the others looked shocked when they heard this.
"That's Wally?" Flash asked, unable to believe his ears.
Batman nodded and said, "Yes. Apparently, the you in this universe retired early to raise his family. Wally took up your mantle."
Flash looked completely shocked when he heard this and felt some pride, knowing that Wally would eventually take his place as the protector of Central City.
Batman continued, "So we have the information, the question is, what do we do with it."
Superman was quiet for a moment and turned to Flash.
"Do you still have those friends in Star Labs?"
The scarlet speedster nodded.
The man of steel continued, "We can split the information up. Give it out between three companies. Wayne Enterprises, Star Labs, and Queens consolidated. That is if you don't mind bringing Green Arrow into this."
The group looked at each other and debated amongst themselves for a moment. After a few moments, they agreed that it would be a good idea to bring in the emerald colored archer, especially if he was going to partake in the technology.
A few minutes later, said emerald archer was sitting amongst them with a shocked looked on his face. Having been told about the box and the man who created it.
"Wow…just wow. I have seen some weird stuff since I joined the league, but this…this is new."
Flash nodded and said, "You want to see something cool?"
Before the others could stop him, Flash grabbed the box and hit play, showing the continued adventures of John-117 and the league.
"I shall go with the J'onn. I need to know more about what we face." The Spartan said to the group, the Martian nodding in agreement.
"Whoa," Arrow said, surprised by the sight of the show, "Who's the armored guy and what is this."
Batman sighed and said, "He's call the Spartan. What we are viewing is another dimension. In this one, the Sparta was pulled from his world by an accident. In this world, parallel to our own, he is apparently a founding member of the league."
Superman continued, "As for the splitting up, this is where we decided to strategize to take down the alien factories."
Green arrow remembered that day all too well. He wound up having face those walking piles of pale muck. They were incredibly hard to take down with their slime-like bodies and regenerative powers. Thankfully when the league started taking down the factories they fell quickly thanks to the sunlight.
"I shall join you, to know one's enemies is the key to victory." Wonder Woman said.
"I as well shall join you then." Batman said to the duo.
"Is that wise? You are the biggest group. You could be spotted easily." Stewart said though he was glad to be away from the Spartan and his A.I.
"They could be easily spotted," Lantern said, agreeing with his counterpart.
Arrow noticed the look on the alternate Lantern's face and asked, "Why does he look relieved?"
Flash quickly rewound the show and showed the confrontation with Cortana which got a good laugh from the emerald archer.
They others also couldn't help, but laugh at the situation.
Lantern just took it in good humor.
"We are two unknowns. You do not like neither of us, making working with you impossible. Superman is the most powerful one here so more than one person partnered to him is overkill. Batman and myself are more strategic oriented so we can outthink the invaders, while Jonzz holds knowledge I and Diana need to function against this foe."
Lantern said, "So he's a strategist, he can kick all kinds of ass, and he has some serious hardware…where was this guy back when I was in the army?"
"Aww and I wanted to show the Princess a good time." Flash whined.
Lantern reached over and smacked the speedster over the head Gibb's style, getting an annoyed look and a few chuckles from the group.
"You're coming with me." The lantern ordered much to the relief of the Amazon.
"Then I shall go with Superman." Hawkgirl said.
"Very well, now let's move people, the world is counting on us to win this fight, pick a target and be careful." Superman spoke to them all.
Green Lantern and Flash raced to the South, Superman and Hawkgirl flew to the Northeast.
This left the three remaining heroes and the Spartan to choose their destination.
John extended his hand and Cortana appeared once more.
"Cortana, check the satellites, see if they can show us which complex is less guarded, we may be able to obtain Intel on these invaders." He spoke to his friend.
"I'm on it Chief." She said as she closed her eyes and checked the satellites they had placed so as to avoid arousing suspicions, it would not due to hijack an NSA or CIA satellite on a vital mission.
"She can access our satellites from here?" Batman asked the man, though his tone even his mind was abuzz with activity at such a thing.
Flash said, "Uh, oh, I know that look. That's Batman's "the-wheels-in-my-head-are-turning-and-I'm-planning-something" face."
The joke earned some good -natured laughter from the group. However, it also earned another Gibbs style smack to the back of the head.
"Not even Hardac was that powerful, yet she can though from this range through this man's armor?" He thought as more was adding to the mystery that is the Spartan.
Confused, everyone glanced at the caped crusader of Gotham who sighed.
"Hardac was a super computer built by a man named Karl Rossum to create artificial intelligence and prove how effective it could be. However, it turned on him and attempted to replace several people with androids, including Gordon and myself."
Wonder Woman blinked in surprise and asked, "You have a supercomputer as an enemy?"
Batman answered, "No. Hardac, and all the androids that he created were all destroyed."
Cue sighs of relief.
"Why does she call you "Chief"? I thought you were called Spartan-117?" Diana asked.
"It is part of my official rank from where I am from, ma'am." He replied.
"What is your official rank then?" She continued.
He thought it over and saw no harm in telling, he would eventually when he explained his origin when this crisis was over.
"My full rank is Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, though I prefer to be referred to as Chief by those I work with in the field." He replied.
"Is that rank of note Lantern?" Wonder Woman asked the military man, noting a surprised look on his face.
Lantern answered, "Master Chief Petty Officer is the highest enlisted pay grayed of the U.S. navy and coast guard."
This brought some impressed looks by the group, especially Diana who knew the value of different ranks, having learned about different military ranks and the kind of responsibility they bore.
"May I call you that then?" She asked as he was her ally.
"Yes ma'am."
"Please call me Diana, there is no need for formalities among allies."
"Under the circumstances I rather not, do you have a codename by which you refer to yourself in the field?"
"I'm sorry; I am not familiar with that term."
"He means a name to which you refer to yourself when you are on mission like now for example, I refer to myself as Batman when I go fight crime, as does Superman or Hawkgirl." The Dark Knight answered.
"I see, is such a thing necessary in man's world?" She asked the Spartan.
"I believe it is for those who wish hide their true identities from their enemies to protect their families and friends, I simply follow it as standard procedure." He replied to the Amazon.
This brought nods from the group. Many of the heroes had very dangerous, and in some cases, psychotic enemies who would do unspeakable crimes. It scared them to think what would happen if one of them learned of their identities, and went after their loved ones.
Batman couldn't help but think about Bane and Strange, who knew his identity, but hadn't acted on it by telling anyone else in his rogue's gallery. He barely managed to suppress a shudder at the thought of what Joker would do if he ever learned his real identity.
Flash felt himself remember Professor Zoom, and some of his other enemies who wouldn't hesitate to use his family against him.
Arrow thought to those close to him falling at the hands of Black Arrow, Deathstroke, or Deadshot. The thought brought a small wave of fear to his mind.
"Hmm, I can think of nothing, the only other time I have ever been called something other than my name was by my mother, she called me her little wonder." She said, a little embarrassed that she had revealed such an intimate thing to this man.
"More like Wonder Woman if you ask me, Hey! We can call you that." Cortana said as she finished with the data.
"Hmm, Wonder Woman, I like it." The newly christened hero replied with a smile towards the A.I who returned it, while John agreed silently as he found the name suited her, he then turned his attention towards his partner.
"You know," Flash said, "I wondered how you got that name."
Diana sighed and said, "I was dubbed that by the media. Apparently, there was some controversy as because of my abilities people believed that I was Kryptonian, like Superman. Apparently, they thought Super Woman wasn't catchy enough."
This brought nods as, when they thought about it, Super Woman didn't seem to have the same ting to it that Wonder Woman did.
"What did you find out?" he said as he kept her at eye level with the others.
"Currently there is zero visibility thanks to the coverage these factories, if they can be called that, are producing, however I did check for earlier timeframes when the incursion began."
"What is the situation Cortana?"
"Bad Chief, their everywhere, France, Germany, China, Russia you name it, they have run over all opposition, however I did find that the African continent has very little enemy forces, the least one is in Egypt near the Sphinx, take a look." She said before a holographic display showed a factory with a single Walker.
"We can use the ruins next to it as cover and see if there is a way inside." Batman said.
"Agreed, it is our best shot at them." The Spartan replied.
"Am I the only one experiencing some serious Déjà vu?" Flash asked, jokingly.
"Well, I know you are," Green Arrow said, as he watched.
J'onn nodded as well as Wonder Woman.
"Very well, we should use my vehicle to get there faster, no offense intended to yours." He said to Batman.
"None taken." He replied in an even tone already planning to have his Jet follow from behind just in case.
Everyone agreed and John sent a message to the Longsword to come in low for pick up, they would meet it in the air as it had no VTOL capabilities like the Pelican or Albatross.
Once all were inside, John headed to the cockpit followed by the heroes; Batman sat in the copilot's seat while the Martian and the Amazon sat in the auxiliary stations.
John then transferred Cortana to the A.I station, her avatar appearing before them, he then let her pilot while he turned to face J'onn, who didn't need his telepathy to know what he wished to know but still let him ask.
"J'onn, what can you tell us about them, their strengths, weaknesses, technology, anything you can think of that can help us fight them." The others agree to those questions.
"It is always good to know your enemy," J'onn said, as he crossed his arms.
Batman agreed wholeheartedly as preparation is what has kept him alive all this time…despite the fact that the Joker has managed to dupe him on several occasions.
"They are as stronger than average humans, so I suggest Batman that you avoid a close confrontation with them." He said to the man in his usual even tone, Bruce nodded as he remembered the bruised ribs he got the last time while mentally going over his equipment for a confrontation similar to Clayface, as he used the mutated man as a basis for battling the aliens.
"Their bodies are quite malleable to a certain extent, capable of reshaping themselves to suit their needs, but if struck with enough force they can be killed, so in the case of both you and Batman, explosives are effective on them." He said to the men, John decided to bring some C-12 as they need to demolish this complex.
Everyone nodded in agreement. The aliens had been resistant, but they had managed to take them down with enough force. Arrow couldn't help, but wince as he remembered the fight himself. It took him and Speedy using some of their more powerful arrows to take down the aliens.
However, something that was mentioned got their attention.
"C-12?" Lantern asked, not familiar with that explosive brand.
Batman answered, "I found a formula for that in the system. It's a high-powered explosive that is an enhanced version of C-4. A 4X4X4 sized cube has enough explosive force to demolish a building."
This brought shocked looks to the group. No wonder he wanted to bring it. It also made them very glad that this guy was on their side and not siding with the aliens.
"What of you J'onn?" Diana asks.
"You and I have superhuman strength so we have a good chance of inflicting heavy damage." He replied.
"What about extreme heat? Are they vulnerable to that?" Cortana asked, making John wonder if she was referring to breaking out the Covenant weaponry they had on board.
"They certainly know what questions to ask," Batman said, remembering how Freeze reacted to heat in one of their fights.
"Their bodies would react as expected to such conditions." He told her.
"Time to bring them out then Chief." She said to her friend.
"Break out what?" Batman asked.
"We a have a cache of weapons of alien design that are suited for this situation, that is all I can say for now." He said just adding another mystery for the Bat to solve.
"Okay, so the technology he uses is his own and alien?" Lantern said, "I wonder what kind of heat he's packing."
Superman said, "We'll probably find out soon enough."
"What of their technology?" Batman asked.
"They rely on techno organic systems, we never had a chance to study much of it during the invasion of my people, but some connects directly to them so damage them you damage it." Was the reply.
They asked many others question until they believe to have covered all their bases, they hoped they did, too much hanged in the balance.
With Flash and Green Lantern…
The pair raced at high speed towards the South American region, in the case of the Flash it was literal as he ran at speeds that allowed him to run over the water parting it as he passed while Stewart flew next to him encompassed in a green glow.
Of course Flash was still miffed to being next to the Amazon and chose to voice his grievance.
"You are no fun!" he said to the man.
"Typical Wally," Flash said, as he looked at the elder version of his ward. Sure, he was a joker himself, but even he knew that now as a good time to be serious.
"This isn't supposed to be fun, we have a job to do and we will do it better without any distractions, understood?" He replied gruffly.
"Yeah, yeah I hear ya." He said before accelerating "Man, why couldn't I be partnered with someone who isn't a stick in the mud, heck that computer chick was better than this…Heh heh wait till I tell Jay about that, he'll get a kick for sure." He thought.
"I know we did," Flash said, "Hey bats, you think I can record that and show it later?"
Lantern glared at his speedy friend out of the corner of his eye.
Within hours they arrived to the jungles that surrounded the complex, three Walkers moving around the perimeter.
Stewart observed the situation and began to formulate a strategy.
"That´s our target, now listen up here´s the plan…"
"What plan? We kick their butts right? Let´s get this over with." The crimson clothed hero said before he ran down, leaving a disgruntled Lantern.
"Maybe I should have brought the Amazon." He thought.
Flash facepalmed with a groan as he saw the elder version of his ward rush into something headfirst. While it was sort of what he would do, he made a mental note to see if he could teach Wally how to observe things first. Not everyone can think as fast as he could.
Flash moved near the alien guardian and gave a high-pitched whistle to get its attention…it worked as it targeted and fired.
"Hah! Missed me!" he mocked as the blast hit 4 feet to his right thanks to his speed, not waiting for another shot, he ran beneath them as they tried to eliminate him.
However, he did not see the trap in front of him until…
"BANG!" "AH…Ugh." He soon found himself incased in viscous liquid that kept him in place, one of the Walkers came to capitalize.
"Yeah, I need to take five showers before I felt I got enough of that gunk off me when this whole thing was over," Flash said as he remembered that blunder.
"Fool" the Lantern spoke before he flew towards him "Hang on hotshot!" and blasted the offending machine.
"Heh…I'm sorta stuck here." Flash said weakly to his ally. "Wait a go Flash!"
"I hope the others are having better luck than we are." Stewart said.
"Ooh, shouldn't have said that," Lantern muttered to himself as he remembered how the others had been taken down or failed.
In Egypt…
True to plan John and his group landed a mile away from the complex, from there Both John and the Martian scouted ahead, the Spartan using his cloak and J'onn using his abilities, while Batman and Wonder Woman went on foot using the land as cover until they reached the nearby ruins.
Batman peered at the facility as a Walker passed.
"Hiding like cowards is not the Amazon way." She spoke as her warrior nature was affronted by this.
Wonder Woman agreed with her counterpart. She wasn't that big to hiding in the shadows at the time, and she had learned patience alongside her warrior spirit.
"They must have a particular weakness, when we find it we strike." He replied.
J'onn and the Spartan came back at that moment.
"I have scouted around the perimeter, there are no openings."
"Same, no patrols except for our "friend" over there." He said as he held in his arms a long rifle with crystals coming out of the top, this weapon being the Needle Rifle, based on the handheld version, this weapon delivered better range and punch while sacrificing the tracking ability, it wasn't the only weapon he brought as he carried as he had on his thigh plates a pair of DEP (Directed Energy Pistol) and on his back a pair of DER (Directed Energy Rifle), the designs of the weapons clearly showed they were not of human make.
"Okay, what are those?" John asked, surprised at the high-tech, and most likely alien, weaponry that they saw.
Trying something out, Batman pressed a button. On the screen the image froze and a menu appeared with an option that said, "Scan". Batman pressed a button. A green bar ran down the screen. The weapons were highlighted. Images of the weapons were separated.
3D models of the guns formed with information set next to them.
Type 31 Needle Rifle. Size: 49.9 inches, two handed. Magazine size: 21. Fully Automatic. Ammunition type: Crystalline explosive projectiles. Rate of Fire: 200 RPM. Range: Medium to Long.
Type 25 Directed Energy Pistol. Size: Length: 13.5 inch, Width: 2.5 inch, Height: 10.9 inch, Weight: 7.7. lbs. magazine: None. Battery Units: 100. Semi-automatic Ammunition type: Superheated Plasma, Rate of Fire: 360 RPM. Range: Short to Medium.
Type 25 Directed Energy Rifle. Size: Length:24.4 inch, Width: 6.1 inch, Height: 14.7 inch, Weight: 13 lbs. Magazine: none. Battery Units: 100. Automatic. Ammunition type: Superheated Plasma. Rate of Fire: 450 RPM. Range: Short to Medium.
After reading the stats for the weapons that the man had, they couldn't believe their eyes. These weapons were built for combat. To take your enemy and turn them into swiss cheese. There was also the fact that the Directed Energy weapons used plasma as an energy source. However, they were also shocked when it also scanned the hammer on the Spartans back.
Type 2 Energy Weapon. Gravity Hammer. Size: Length: 80.2 inch, Height: 24.3, Width: 13 inch, Weight: 85 lb. Melee weapon. Heavy damage, gravity manipulation possible.
They league was now incredibly glad that this guy was on their side. If he could use weapons like this and, most likely, had more, than he was not to be messed with.
It also brought the questions of what kind of weapons the ship he and his team came in was wielding.
Diana decided it was time for action.
"Then we shall just have to make one!" She said before flying after the Walker, J'onn made an attempt to stop her but Batman stepped in.
"Wait…let's see what she can do." He said.
She shot towards the Walker while pulling her golden lasso free, like a cowboy in the old west she swung it around and grabbed the leg, and then much to the shock of the men looped the rope around the legs, finally stopping on one of the legs.
"Hera give me strength!" she said before giving a mighty pull, the force so great the legs closed in, the result was the Walker losing its balance and landing on the wall, crushing it completely.
"There is your opening." She said as she stood over the remains.
Batman said, "She certainly know how to make an impression on someone."
J'onn said, "Indeed."
J'onn went in, while Batman voiced his approval.
"She definitely is a wonder isn't she John?" Cortana said.
"So it seems." He replied.
"It looks like someone has an admirer," Flash said jokingly with a teasing smirk towards Diana.
The woman in turn just rolled her eyes.
He soon followed the Martian and Batman and were assaulted by a group of aliens who made a hasty retreat, however one caught his eye, this seem to run then skip to the right as if to avoid something.
"They run like cowards! What are you waiting for!" Wonder Woman said as she gave chase followed by J'onn, he and Batman however hanged back.
Batman also saw that alien and then turns to look at opening.
"Are thinking you what I am?" the Spartan asked as he readied his weapons, Batman didn't say anything but gave a slight nod.
"How did I not notice that?" Wonder Woman asked, as she saw the aliens run from their fatal weakness after tearing open the factory.
In Metropolis…
Hawkgirl and Superman got into the thick of things as soon as they arrived as they took on the alien assault.
The Thanagarian woman quickly showed her warrior nature as she pummeled a Walker into the ground with her mace giving a war cry every time she struck, Superman then appeared on the downed machine and gave a swift chop to the leg, grabbed it and then used it to force entry into the complex.
"Hawkgirl! Follow me!" he yelled back at her as he went inside, she soon followed.
They entered into complex, the insides a mass of curves and tunnels.
"Keep a sharp eye out." He told her as he scanned the area.
"I always do."
"Can't deny that," the Kryptonian said, as he remembered their former teammate.
Soon however they encountered resistance from the invaders.
"Stay back I'll…." he never finished.
"Huaah!"
With a war cry she threw herself into battle swinging and smashing them for all her worth, one went into the direction of the last son who ducked, letting the alien hit the wall with a resounding splat.
"Whoa." He said as he looked in her direction.
Everyone stared in shock at Hawkgirl's brutality. Tehn again, remembering what Thanagar was like and how she was trained they didn't hold it against her, but still she was very brutal when she fought, especially when she lost her temper.
"To be honest that little display there, left me a little disturbed," Superman said.
Lantern said, "I can understand why…I mean damn."
It ended with the remains of the aliens decorating the walls.
"What? There's a time for words and a time for action." She said casually as she neared him surrounded by the unconscious creatures, he simply looked on.
With Green Lantern and Flash…
As green Lantern managed to both free and berate the Flash for rushing in, the found themselves in trouble as the rest of the Walkers fire at the targets.
"Blast!"
"Uh maybe you should the motivational speeches till later!" Flash quipped as he finally freed himself.
"Talk later, fight now," Flash said, as he watched the fight.
J'onn said, "That sounds very strange coming from you of all people."
Lantern flew upward and placed a shield around himself, it deflected several blasts, however the aliens then fired a strange pod that released a yellow gas that clearly did not agree with him.
"I'm still not sure what that stuff was exactly," Lantern said.
J'onn spoke up and said, "I do. It is a toxic gas that effected anyone who breathed it. Many of my people died because of it. Apparently, due to a difference in biology, the gas only acted as a knock out agent."
Lantern looked at the last Martian with a shocked expression and was suddenly thanking God that he was still alive.
Thankfully the speedster quickly spun his arms at such a speed he blew the gas away from the knocked-out hero.
"GL!" he spoke only to look up to the Walkers closing in.
"Uh oh, got to run." He quipped before picking him up and running for safety.
"Of all the things Wally could have picked up from working alongside you Flash, it had to be that," Batman said, looking at the speedster who looked a little sheepish.
Back with Superman and Hawkgirl…
Both flew through the factory, and strangely enough had not encountered any resistance.
"Oh this isn't going to end well," Flash said, "If you aren't finding any resistance in a foreign territory you know that there's a booby trap or something of that nature about to happen."
The others nodded having gotten pulled into traps in supposedly abandoned facilities.
"This isn´t right." Superman thought.
"Gee you think?" Superman asked his counterpart, sarcastically.
Eventually they landed Hawkgirl tense and ready to act.
"They´re close by, I can almost smell them." She said in a dangerous tone.
"Are you always so eager to fight?" He asked.
"My home Thanagar is a war like world; there one must strike first or die." She replied.
"I know that feeling," Lantern said, having been in some pretty bad situations in the past.
"Note to self never take a vacation there." He thought before a laser blast past his face.
Everyone chuckled at the man of steel's thought.
They turned to the right and saw three creatures run through a sealing door.
Superman looked back to find the door they use seal itself as well.
"It´s a trap!"
"Thank you captain obvious," Flash said jokingly, earning a good-natured chuckle from Lantern and Diana.
Soon Hawkgirl was hit by the same knock out gas GL suffered from.
"Hang on Hawkgirl I´ll…AAARRRG!" he screamed as thousands of volts of electricity hit him effectively subduing them.
"So that's how that happened," Batman said. He had wondered what had happened to the two on that first mission after learning that they had been taken down.
Back with John and the others in Egypt…
The sounds of laser fire and plasma discharge filled the air as the aliens once more cut off the group Wonder Woman shielded herself with her bracers, while John bought her some breathing room as he fired the Covenant pistols at the creatures, their bodies reacted even worse than humans did to the blast as the superheated substances practically fried them, this of course made him a priority target.
"No wonder he asked about the extreme heat," Superman said, "Bringing those new weapons was a good idea."
"Good thing, the weapons the tin man has hurt them," Flash said, crossing his arms.
"Bad thing, it makes him the highest target on their shit list," Lantern finished for his friend, also crossing his arms.
Batman, Diana, and J'onn didn't say anything. They simply watched as they hoped to see how their fight at the alien factory would play out with the Spartan amongst them.
His shield glowing with every blast, the lasers they fired were powerful enough to drop his shields, but their enhanced recharge system compensated for it, and even though they could have dropped them completely he still had the refractive coating to fall back on, he still made sure to teach them the error of making him a target.
"Uh bats, is it possible for this armor to be donated to American military?" Lantern asked, wondering if such a thing could be possible for the soldiers overseas.
The dark knight answered, "I'll consider it."
"They have cut us off again." John said.
"It's like they know where we are heading." Batman added before firing an explosive batarang that caused them to flee.
They all turned to J'onn for answers when they saw his eyes glowed then stopped.
"Superman and Hawkgirl are down, they have failed." He spoke his tone seems to drop a bit indicating his remorse at the situation.
"What! Are you certain?" Wonder Woman asked in disbelief.
He nodded, making her heart drop at that.
"Do they live?" the Spartan asked as he replaced the battery and fuel cells to his pistols.
"Yes, they have been taken prisoner, most likely for interrogation…or feeding." His voice clearly telling them his disgust at the idea.
Everyone shuddered in horror at the thought of that. The notion alone was enough to make even them feel nervous. Slowly, it dawned on them that J'onn's people may have gone through the same thing.
J'onn, sensing their emotions, said, "Yes. The invaders survived by feeding on the life forces of my people. That is how they managed to obtain my people's shapeshifting abilities. Thankfully, they were unable to incorporate our telepathic abilities."
"Then once we finish here we will go and rescue them, we cannot let these creature win." He spoke as he switched to the DER.
"No man left behind," Lantern muttered to himself.
The others felt their respect for the Spartan climb even more with the man's words. No matter what happened, they always stuck by their own.
(AN: unless it is in certain situations like in the comics and the occasional one in the show.)
"Up there it will take us closer to the core." He pointed to an opening high up, the flyers going up easily enough and Batman following via grapple hook.
Through the maze like complex they went until finally they had arrived at their destination.
The aliens were working diligently, unaware of them, John spotted what appeared to be some sort of crystal in cased in a force field.
"Obvious factory weak point is obvious," Flash said, in a joking tone, getting some chuckles from the group.
"I am going to take a wild guess and say that looks important." Cortana spoke.
"How do we shut them down?" Batman asked as gave the scene a look and clearly did not like it.
"The ion matrix crystal, remove that and the whole plant shuts down, I will need a diversion." He said to them.
"You got it." Batman spoke as he launched another batarang to sever a stem conduit, Diana doing the same, John began firing at the creatures to draw their attention away from the Martian as he phased through the floor towards the crystal, he succeeded in its capture but one guard who had not been drawn in by John fired upon him and hit his back.
J'onn winced slightly as he felt some phantom pain in his back from the fight.
Soon more fighters came to engage the three.
"Wonder Woman get J'onn out of there, we'll cover you!" the Spartan said as he switched the DER to automatic and let loose a barrage of plasma, the room filling with the smell of ozone and burnt flesh, the sounds of agony clearly broadcast, those who got to close met their ends when he clubbed them using enhanced strength, Batman took out an electrified silver knuckle and beat back the aliens with a good shock to their systems.
Wonder Woman quickly grabbed the Martian in the frenzy and went for the exit; John followed holstering his weapons, then Batman using his grapple to follow while picking up the crystal along the way.
Diana and J'onn quickly made through the exit, but it sealed before John and Batman could make it in.
Batman beat at the door causing the electricity to spark but nothing more, John took out his hammer and with the blade slashed at it; however, the cuts sealed faster than he could damage.
"This…does not bode well," Superman said he saw the two heroes trapped.
"CLICK!"
Both turned around to a horde of aliens pointing their weapons at them.
"Do you think if I surrender the crystal they'll let us live?" Batman asked as he considered all possible escape routes.
"All options huh bats?" Flash asked, in a joking manner.
This earned him yet another Gibb slap.
"I think the many guns pointed at us are answer enough." He replied as he tightens the grip he had on the hammer it giving off a low hum of power, while reaching towards his back.
"Batman! Chief!" Wonder Woman yelled as she prepared to rip the door off when the sounds of laser fire came, followed by small impressions on its shape.
"No!" she yells now even more determined to charge the door.
"Wait! There's nothing more that can be done for them." He said to her solemnly.
"You mean their…" she began "…gone" he finished,
"Hera help us." She prayed, before they left the place to regroup with Lantern and Flash and rescue Superman and Hawkgirl.
"You know I'm still trying to figure out how you managed to mentally shield him," Flash said, as he remembered how Batman supposedly died.
Batman answered, "Dodged the laser fire and threw out some smoke bombs blocking their vision. I managed to get away from them easily, but getting out the factory was another story.
J'onn continued, "After we left, I felt Batman's mind and reached out to him. He told me that he may have discovered a potential weakness amongst the invaders. I mentally shielded him once we reached the factor and learned of his presence. As the invaders were could read our minds, as you witnessed, I believed it best it be kept secret as they could have learned about it before hand, and prepared countermeasures."
Everyone nodded in understanding. They couldn't help, but wonder what would have happened if they had known that Batman had survived that day. The thought of losing that first battle and humanity extinguished made them shudder in horror.
On the other side of the door…
The aliens fired their weapons at the duo, creating a lot of dust and smoke from the discharge, many pointing their weapons away; however, what they found were not a pair of dead bodies but a small shield that protected the duo.
"What in the world?" Batman asked in wonder at the device.
"That had better go into your R&D department," Arrow said, as he saw how that shield could be useful.
Batman quickly paused the video and activated the scanner again.
Z-4190 Temporal Protective Enforcer/Stationary shield. Personal defense device. Lasts up to twenty seconds. Defends against all projectiles, but people and vehicles can pass right through...Still trying to figure that part out.
Everyone whistled at the use of the shield, but was surprised at the vehicle and people passing through.
"Well that seems like a pretty big design flaw," Arrow said, crossing his arms.
"No time, cover your ears!" He said as he launched some sonic grenades at them.
They activated soon enough and the creatures were disoriented enough that they dropped their weapons.
Batman thankfully had some protection in this case, still he covered his ears to block out some of the noise, John picked up the crystal he dropped when he shielded himself and both made a break for it.
They ran through the maze like halls avoiding patrols that searched for them.
"We will have to make our own exit if we want out of this mad house." The Spartan spoke.
"I don't carry anything stronger than C-4 on me." Batman said.
"I do I just need a good place to put it."
They both looked around and soon found and alcove high up.
"Wait here I'll fly up and set the charge, take this just in case..." He said as he handed him a bubble shield "Just slam it hard on the ground and it will activate." He explained before activating the cloak and flied towards the alcove to set the C-12 charge.
"John is it safe to use a full charge?" his partner asked.
"We have to risk it." He replied.
He carefully places the explosive, this kind of work required it.
He soon came back down and asked that they move some distance away.
Batman did not argue seeing how all his technology packed some punch.
"Good idea not arguing with the super soldier on steroids," Arrow said to the bat with a smile.
Once they reached a safe distance John activated the charge.
"BOOOOM!"
The plant trembled from the force of the explosion that parts of the ceiling came loose letting light come in, it was there they came to the realization of why the creatures blocked out the sunlight as several of them were caught in its light and began to smoke and blister.
"Holy Shit!"
That was basically the reaction that everyone had. They knew from earlier that C-12 had a ton of explosive force behind it, but seeing was different than reading.
"Of course! These creatures must exist in the darker regions of space; they have no natural protection against the sun's UV radiation." She said to both men.
"Hmm, then maybe we can use that against them, if I can somehow reverse the polarity of the crystal, then we can undo the cloud cover and let them have a full taste of it." Batman spoke.
"Do you have the resources to pull it off?" John asked willing to take him to the Dawn if he had too.
"Of course he does," Arrow said, jokingly, "He's the goddamn Batman!"
A wave of chuckles went through the group. Except Batman, who just raised a cowl covered eyebrow.
"Yes back at my lair, it will take some time though." The man replied.
"Do it, I will head towards Metropolis see if can aid our allies and get you the time you need." John said to the man who nodded, soon both ran through the newly made exit, since there were no guards Batman called his Jet while John flew towards the Longsword.
He got in the pilot seat and placed Cortana back into the A.I core.
"John we have an incoming message from the Dawn, it reads that they are in geosynchronous orbit over China right now." She said to him.
"Will meet up with them there, I need to change vehicles anyway." He said.
"Roger that, sending message now."
He gave her a nod and soon flew off, he gained enough thrust that he broke through the atmosphere and headed to the Dawn, she uncloaked upon his approach and the reactivate it as soon as he docked.
Arrow let out an impressed whistle at the sight of the Dawn. He had to admit that it was one impressive looking ship. A sentiment that was shared by many of the other league members who had experienced the joys of space travel.
He made his way towards the command center, will the Huragok and Constructors tended to the vehicle.
Once he arrived he saluted the Commander who promptly returned it.
"At ease Chief, what is the situation down there."
He soon relayed all pertinent information he had obtained from the cause of his dreams, his battles with the creatures with the other heroes as well as the objective they had.
"Damn! If they think we are going to let them walk all over this Earth they are in for a shock." Miranda says in anger to which John nods.
"I am really starting to like this woman," Lantern said.
Wonder Woman said, "Indeed. She is a very strong willed woman. She would have done well on Themyscara."
"Is it possible for an orbital bombardment?" She asked the A.I.s.
"Negative, coverage is global and targets are in high casualty zones, making it impossible to even get close to them and launch an air strike." Cortana replied.
"Looks like it's all on the Batman then."
"Commander, I request permission to enact a rescue operation for the captured." John spoke in military fashion.
"Granted, get them out of their Chief; no one deserves to be food for this scum." She said to him, he saluted before turning to the Forerunner construct.
They league was glad that they intended to set up a rescue mission for the captive humans. It was only by luck during the final battle that they found all the captured humans. It was after that, they made sure to check for hostages in the other factories.
"Have a Pelican ready with the standard armament."
"At once Reclaimer." He spoke before sending the order to the machines both living and artificial.
Meanwhile in Metropolis…
J'onn and Wonder Woman waited for Flash and Green Lantern while looking at the chaos cause by panic and the fear of people, the authorities hard pressed to maintain order.
"Perhaps mother was right about mankind. They're nothing but untamed savages." Said the princess looking the chaos with sad eyes.
"Batman and the Spartan sacrificed themselves for this rabble?" She thought.
"Do not judge too lightly, they act out of fear." Said the blue skinned alien in monotone tone as they watched on.
Superman said, "Fear can make someone do some very stupid things, both men and women"
Diana nodded and said, "I know. I may have been quick to judge, but after seeing a such a powerful fighter sacrifice himself for people who steal out of sheer desperation or fear is likely to give a bad impression."
"I pray my shielding hold on them; this planet survival depends on it." He thought.
Green Lantern and Flash soon joined them after making sure the civilians were safe from the looters and criminals.
"Sorry for the delay, we had to help some civilians." The former marine said.
"So what did you call us back for?" The Flash asked.
"Superman and Hawkgirl have been taken captive, they're somewhere inside that facility." He said as he pointed at it, darkness and lighting adding to its already macabre feel.
"Well…that's not ominous at all," Arrow said, seeing the mood the scene gave.
"Yeah," Flash said, "We should totally ignore the sinking feeling we have our guts and move towards the scary looking storm.
Flash resisted the urged to shiver at the sight.
"Where are Batman and the Spartan?" GL asked as he saw they were not with them.
"They fell as heroes in battle." J'onn spoke.
"Like true warriors." Diana added as she thought of them, notably the Spartan who lived up to the name.
"You mean Bats and the Spartan are gone?" Flash asked in disbelief, he like many others had heard of how the man with no powers faced off against fierce foes such as Clayface, Mr. Freeze and others, and the Spartan just radiated this aura of power that could not be contained.
"This not good, definitely not good." He said as he looked at the facility.
Soon they acted as the stormed the facility, there was little resistance encountered, and the ones they did fell too easily, this did not sit well with J'onn.
"This too easy, something is wrong."
"If something seems too good to be true, it almost always is," Batman stated, speaking from his many years of experience.
Flash said, "Yeah…especially if the place itself is giving you a serious sense of déjà vu."
Soon they found the holding cells that contained the heroes' arms and legs incased in a hard substances heads down as if they were asleep, that's when J'onn felt it.
"It's a trap!" He yelled, but it was too late as they suddenly awoke and morphed into their true forms, the chamber was sealed and the gas they used before knock them all out.
"Thank you captain obvious," Arrow said with an annoyed expression before asking, "How did that stuff work anyway?"
J'onn answered, "It was a special gas that they used during the invasion of Mars. It was specially made to nonlethal, one of the very few weapons. They used it in a special tactic, to capture the survivors of attacks and make them watch as they destroyed cities before them."
You could tell that this situation was especially hard for J'onn, despite his stoic look. No doubt that he might have been one of the Martians who had been forced to watch a city destroyed by the invaders.
The league felt their blood boil at the thought. To break their enemies in such a way was disgusting.
Superman placed a hand on the Martian's shoulder, who smiled at the comfort from the man who knew what it was like to be the last of his kind. Of course, neither of them were truly alone.
After the moment passed they resumed watching the show.
With the Spartan…
John flew the Pelican through the city looking for a good landing site when he received some distressing news.
"Chief! We have inbound heading towards your location, whatever it is, it is big!" Keyes said.
"No doubt it is the imperium's ship," J'onn said.
Flash shuddered at the thought of the giant mutant jellyfish that they saw that day, as did the others
"Can you intercept?"
"Negative by the time we reach it will already enter the Earth's atmosphere; Redeeming says it's heading your way."
"…I'll have to improvise then, put yourself in orbit over it, if we fail you have to blow it out of the sky, let's hope it doesn't come to that." He said to her.
"Kick ass Chief, will back you up if you need it, over and out."
John soon landed it in and abandoned lot leaving a copy of Cortana behind, he then took to the skies under cloak.
He soon found Batman observing the facility that held the rest of the captives.
"Did you succeed?" he said from behind him as he dropped the cloak.
Batman did not say anything but mentally he was spooked that he had not felt him appear.
"Wow, when someone is capable of sneaking up the Bat, you know he is a master of stealth," Arrow said, remembering the times he thought he had the drop on the hero of Gotham, only for him to turn at the last second.
Batman narrowed his eyes at this and made a mental not to see if he could improve his detection skills a bit. He heard something about sense deprivation once, but that was something for a later day.
"Yes, however the others have been captured and are held inside, the…"
"Look up there!" Cortana suddenly spoke as a massive vessel pierced the heavens.
"This must be the leader of the aliens." John said while Batman nodded.
"We are running out of time, I have to get this emitter inside to reverse the ion flow." The Dark Knight said to the Spartan.
"Go, I will help the others; once the fighting starts things will get intense." He said in return and the Batman nodded as they both went ahead into the complex.
As they made their way into the core a vessel had detached itself and landed in fronted of the captured heroes.
John and Batman watched as a hideous creature emerge from it, John and Cortana feeling the memories of their battle with Gravemind come, she felt fear at that, and he felt anger, they vowed he would not live to plague this world.
"What the hell is that?!" Arrow yelled.
Wonder Woman answered, "That is the Imperium. The leader of the alien horde who attacked us years ago."
Arrow blinked and said, "Dang. No wonder these guys live in deep space. If I was that freaky, I'd be hiding in the dark all I could too."
This resulted in a couple laughs, but their voices died down after a few moments.
Soon enough Senator Carter appeared and showed what John had alluded too, he did show surprise that they figured he was a spy, but still he mocked along the Imperium, leader of the aliens.
"Wait…that's how that happened?" Arrow asked, turning towards Superman, "The guy was right next to you a lot, how did you not notice?"
Superman sighed in frustration and said, "I had some issues and I was busy trying to rebuild my own reputation. I'm still kicking myself for that."
Soon screams were heard and both saw how the leader mocked and tortured J'onn, burying its tentacles into his body, both having to resist the urge to help him as they made their way to the main chamber where the crystal was held.
J'onn felt some phantom pains go through his body as he saw his old torture. The rest of the group looked freaked out at the sight of J'onn's torture. Arrow, who had not been there at the time, was freaked out and felt a large amount of sympathy for the alien.
Once there, Batman tried to cut through with a miniature laser but it proved too time consuming.
"Time to go low tech." John said as he took his hammer, J'onn sensed this and made it known that now was the time.
"NOW!"
"Quick someone star the heroic music," Flash said, smiling as he got excited. Suddenly, music started playing alongside the show, timing perfectly with the events going on the show. The music was heroic sounding and fit the mood completely.
"I didn't do it!" Flash said holding up his hands as he got looks at them.
"Apparently, he set up a record track with the show," Batman said.
"What's a good movie without some music playing along?" Arrow said as he looked towards the screen.
The Spartan placed all the strength he had in the blow and shattered the protective layer, Batman got to work by inserting the emitter and activating it, the red veins suddenly turning blue.
"Guys!" Flash yelled in shock and awe.
"It can't be!" Wonder Woman said in shock.
"I mentally shielded them from detection." The Martian spoke as regained his chosen form and strength.
"What have you done!" the Carter doppelganger yelled.
"Reversed the ion flow." Batman said casually.
"DESTROY THE CRYSTAL, KILL THEM!" The Imperium commanded as aliens poured out to do just that.
"Not happening." John said as he jumps down to the platform where there was a circle of six creatures there, his hammer hummed with power before he slammed it onto the floor launching them away with enough force they splattered their remains.
"Dang that had to hurt," Flash said, getting nods from everyone else.
Another group began firing at him but his shields held, and then threw the hammer at the group who were sliced in half until imbedded itself in the wall near Superman's manacle, making cracks to appear.
The ones who were not engaged with the Spartan attacked the crystal, but a force field prevented its destruction.
John decided it was time for a closer encounter as he activated the wrist energy blades, his mind then went into Spartan time as all slowed down to mere moments and that's when the carnage began as he rushed them.
Blasts rained down on him from all sides, lasers mere inches of him were evaded, not once did a shot hit his shields.
He hacked one down the middle, its flesh seared shut.
He dodged left then decapitated another on the right,
Rolled forward and rammed them into a creature's torso, then used it as a shield as it screamed.
Another tried to attack from behind with his hand morphed into a blade, but a back spin heel kick took its head off.
The momentum continued he kicked another in the chest and the sound of wet paper torn was heard.
Everyone's jaw was on the floor at the sight of the Spartan's fighting ability. This was the first time that they had seen the Spartan go all out, especially against the alien horde with such skill and ferocity. He was in full control of the battlefield anticipating his opponents move sand acting accordingly, using what weapons he had with no hesitation whatsoever.
Arrow slowly turned towards Lantern and asked, "You tried to pick a fight with this guy?!"
Lantern gulped. He now saw that if he were to go against this man, even with his ring, he would be hard pressed to win. This was a man who survived horrible wars. There was no mistaking that. Lantern knew he would have made a powerful member of his own corps. Not only that, but if he fought like this with other soldiers, he could probably join the blue lantern corps as well.
Wonder Woman was impressed with the man's skill and strength. He truly did live up to the name Spartan.
Batman eyed the man's movement. The sheer military might this hero showed was incredible. He nearly shuddered at the thought of more than one of them on the battlefield.
The others just watched with rapt attention, watching how things played out.
Batman had come down to free the others and would occasionally look to see the Spartan's progress, and every time he looked he saw something that no normal man in such armor should be capable of, he wasn't alone as the others were shocked into silence by the man's dance of death.
Batman was agreeing with the thoughts of his counterpart. Was that armor lightweight, or was there some kind of gravity control.
"How is he moving that fast?!" Flash thought, surprised.
Flash also thought alongside his sidekick's counterpart, impressed by how fast a man without access to the speed force could move.
"He doesn't seem to be struggling at all." Hawkgirl thought, thoroughly impressed.
"I tried to pick a fight with this guy?" Stewart thought as he the Spartan literally ripped a head off and threw it at another alien.
Lantern subconsciously rubbed his neck at the sight of that.
Superman was silent at the battle.
"He truly is a Spartan." She thought in awe of this warrior she was looking at, a rare thing given her upbringing.
Wonder Woman agreed completely with her counterpart.
Soon the tables turned even more for the heroes as the sun broke through the clouds and bathe all in its light, the aliens melting and scurrying like rats in a doomed vessel.
The Imperium flesh was bursting as he tried to hide in the shadows, but J'onn had something to say about that.
"You live underground and shun the light! Why! Does it burn your pale putrid flesh!" He yelled at the creature he held in place, taking some measure of joy at hearing the cries of the destroyer of his people.
"Dang and I thought normal sunburns were bad," Arrow mumbled, slightly disturbed at the sight of the alien leader's wounds, before turning to j'onn and saying, "Good line by the way."
The Martian nodded in return.
"They cannot survive in the sunlight." Batman explained as he freed Diana.
"So you did find a weakness." She spoke as she was finally freed.
"KILL THEM ALL!" It screamed those still capable of fighting complied.
Once freed Superman shielded the others by ripping off a piece of the platform and bent it to cover them.
The others soon joined the Spartan in battle, Hawkgirl bashing aliens left and right with her mace, Flash using his speed punched all in his path, Stewart with the help of his ring blasted them from up high, Superman decided to make some more windows and punched holes in the ceiling, one of this hit Carter full blast and melted him.
"Take that slime ball," Arrow said with a smirk on his face, glad to see the alien spy getting his.
The Imperium freed itself from the Martian and entered his shuttle, it began to ascend when Wonder Woman used her lasso to rope the tail and keep it in place that is until a laser was fired from it forcing her to shield herself, it seemed the leader would escape until a field of energy held it in place.
Diana flinched slightly as she felt a familiar phantom pain run through her stomach as she remembered the blast that hit her.
John-117 was trained to never let the enemy live to regroup, and used his hammers abilities to keep it place, he activated the magnetic soles to keep himself in place but it was a struggle as the ship increased its speed to escape.
"Hawkgirl now!"
"HUAAHH!" she screamed as she bashes her fully powered mace into the hull, she did this until finally it was too damaged to move and crashed into the facility killing the leader of the invaders.
"And checkmate," Flash said with a smirk.
The others cheered at their counterpart's victory.
The crash weakened the structure and now the heroes needed to get all the prisoners out, once the complex fell, and al turned to the sky to see the creatures make an escape.
"The cowards flee!" The Amazon said in anger as they live to hurt others.
Diana agreed with her counterpart. Then she realized something.
"The invaders did escape after their leader's destruction," she said, "Why haven't they tried attacking Earth again."
Superman answered, "We still have some of the tech that we used on their factories before. They know it and they don't want to risk it."
Lantern said, "Not the first time. I've heard of Lanterns being restricted from going to certain planets because they were dubbed too dangerous. I heard of one planet that was filled with a special ore that has the same effect of a sinestro corps ring."
Flash looked at his friend and said, "Wow…that's a scary thought."
"Not on my watch." The Spartan said.
Before anyone could ask what he meant, the sound of powerful engines filled the air and above them a ship uncloaked itself, its cargo bay wide open.
"What the devil!" Stewart yelled over the roar.
John flew to meet it there, and then turned to face the heroes.
"You coming?" he asked then in an emotionless tone.
"Looks like we're going on up to meet the big wig," Flash said, idly wondering what this meant for this alternate dimension.
The others were also wondering what this would change.
Wonder Woman gave no thought and flew up there, he took her hand to steady her and she smiled at the gesture.
Hawkgirl gave a shrugged and followed, J'onn said nothing he just went feeling he needed to see this through.
J'onn agreed with his counterpart's sentiments. He had seen that his new home had been safe that was enough for him. However, he knew that his J'onn had the chance to stop the invaders for good, and he was going to see it through to the bitter end.
The other four went thanks to the Lantern, and when all boarded the cargo bay closed, and John headed to the cockpit.
They gave chase to the vessel and soon broke the atmosphere.
"Um, is there a plan? Or are we just winging it?" Flash asked.
Before he could get an answer a barrage of missiles impacted the invaders mothership.
"What the hell! Where did that come from?" Hawkgirl asked.
"Look!" Superman spoke as through the windows a massive vessel suddenly appeared, and from the looks of it, it was not made with the intent for exploration.
"Gee you think?" Arrow asked, "What tipped you off the large barrage of weaponry or the large bay filled with military hardware?"
This time it was Arrow's turn to get Gibb slapped as Lantern reached over with this ring and did it.
John steered the Pelican to the Dawn's vehicle bay, and landed it, never speaking along the way.
Soon they landed, and all got out, they saw this strange floating creatures floating about as well as machines doing the same.
The ship trembled for a moment then stabilized.
"Quickly follow me." He said as he led them through the corridors.
"Where is everybody?" Superman asked as he used his X-ray vision and found no one on board.
He didn't get a reply, but that soon change as they reached the bridge, and there he saw a command chair facing away from them and a floating machine next to it, the windows showed the alien vessel as it fired again.
"Commander." John stood straight and saluted.
The chair turned and revealed a woman in uniform no one recognized.
"At ease Chief, I need Cortana at tactical control." She spoke only giving the heroes a once over.
He nodded and approached the terminal, placed his hand there and transferred her into the ship.
"I'm in Commander, what do you need?" she said as her avatar appeared.
"Looks like she's more than just an aid for the Spartan," Batman said.
The dark knight was now interested into the use of Cortana, to apparently, control he weapons and machine aboard the ship. It made him wonder if he could do the same thing with the tower or his other devices. He quickly squashed this thought as he didn't want to rely too much on it…plus he was still unnerved by the whole hardac incident.
"Prepare MAC cannons to fire; find me the places for maximum damage." She ordered as she sat once more in the chair and faced the enemy.
"What's a MAC cannon?" Wonder Woman asked.
"It's short for Magnetic Acceleration Cannon; basically, it fires a 600-ton bullet at incredible speeds to tear apart enemy vessels." John said in answer to her question.
"600 tons!" Stewart yelled in shock.
"Holy shit!"
The shout was thought by pretty much everyone in the room. Batman was already running the numbers through his head. If that thing fired and it was aimed at the ground, it could cause a devastated landscape several miles wide!
"Commander they have released fighters; they are causing some interference." Cortana spoke.
"Power up point defense guns and rail guns, fire a compliment of archer and pulse missiles now." Keyes ordered.
Space was soon filled with explosion as missiles flew and struck the small ships, those who got to close were soon destroyed by the defensives guns, any shots they manage to give off were absorb by the shield.
Soon however they witted down the number to only a handful.
"Commander main vessel is attempting to flee." Redeeming spoke for the first time, causing the heroes to give start.
"We have a targeting solution." Cortana spoke.
"Fire!"
They soon all felt as the main weapons powered up, the walls shielded them from feeling it physically, they could tell though that it was going to be impressive, and soon the ship gave a lurch as six objects flew at high speed, had they been on Earth a scream would be heard as they tore the very barriers of sound and speed.
"Going…going…" Flash and Arrow were both chanting at the same time as everyone stood on the edge of their seats.
The invaders only had seconds before the massive rounds tore into them, metal bent and explode outward and inward, air escaped along with a few screaming bodies, fires roared and finally the ship exploded into the void.
"Gone!"
The group cheered at the sight of their victory over the alien invaders. J'onn felt a small wave of peace come over him as he saw the destruction of his enemies. While he did not know the true fate of them, he was glad to know that the alternate Earth was rid of them forever.
"Target has been neutralized." Cortana spoke.
Everyone was silent at that news, many shocked at the display of power.
"Let's get you people home, there still work to do there." Keyes said to the group.
It was true. They remembered having to do cleanup of the world after the invaders were beaten. There was still plenty of them left on the planet, especially the Walkers.
"Wait a minute! We have questions that need answers lady, who are you people? Where did this ship come from? And…" The lantern once again walking into a situation without thinking.
Lantern groaned in dismay as his counterpart started mouthing off again.
"You seem to make a really bad habit of doing that," Flash joked good naturedly at his friend.
"Mr. Stewart! Do not think you can demand answers onboard my ship!" Keyes spoke as if he was a rowdy subordinate.
"And once again, I get stomped," he said, "It's like military school all over again."
This brought a few laughs from the group.
"Please we mean no offense; we are simply looking for an explanation to all we have witnessed." Superman spoke as he tried to deflate the situation.
"And as usual, I end up having to play mediator," Superman said, having remembered he had to play peacekeeper during certain missions.
"Be that as it may, Superman, the Earth has just gone through a trying ordeal and there are still facilities and invaders there, and people to save, do you want to stay up here and play twenty questions or do you want to help?" She asked the man knowing his answer.
He looked at the others and knew answers could wait.
"We would appreciate a ride back." He said.
She nodded.
"You have your heading." She told the A.I.'s
"Do any of you wish to rest or eat before returning?" She asked.
"No thank you, as you say the sooner we go back, the sooner we can help." He replied.
"Very well, Chief please aid them as well." She asked the Spartan.
"As you wish Commander." He replied.
"May we know your name?" Wonder Woman asked her.
"I am Commander Miranda Keyes, and this is my ship the UNSC Frigate Forward Unto Dawn." She said to the group.
"This is a Frigate?" Hawkgirl asked completely perplexed.
"That thing is a frigate?" Lantern asked with a shocked expression, which was mirrored by everyone else.
"Okay, I'm not big on boats unless they're cruise ships so what are they talking about?" Arrow asked, a little confused, a she wasn't big into military stuff.
Lantern answered, "Frigates were made as an inexpensive way to convoy merchants and supplies. And that thing is armed to the teeth," then he mentally added, 'If that is a frigate I don't want to see a destroyer.'
Arrow blinked in shock. It made him very glad that the Spartan and his allies seemed to be on the league's side.
"It's complicated but we will explain everything once were ready, please believe that if nothing else." She said.
They accepted that answer for now as they headed home.
Once there, clean up began, facilities were demolished, the remaining invaders were either destroyed or fled to the depths of space, and through it all the heroes did so together, the media caught wind of it and documented their efforts, John regardless of his efforts was caught on camera so the world was now aware of HIS existence at least, much to his chagrin as he was constantly asked for interviews, finally when all was said and done the world breathed a sigh of relief and was what now?
It was Batman who gave an answer.
"Of course he does. He's the freaking Batman," Superman said with a chuckle.
This in turn brought few chuckles to the group. Except for said hero of course.
Two Months later…
High above the Earth stood massive structure that stood guard of the planet, the Watchtower.
Superman gazed at his adopted planet with warmth and awe, Batman came up behind him.
"Incredible, do your stockholders know about this Bruce?" He asked the man.
"A line item hidden in the aerospace R&D Budget, this watchtower will act as an early warning system for detecting other threats of invasion from space." He replied.
"Okay, how do you seriously have enough money for all of this?" Flash asked the dark knight, "I know you have billions but seriously, how!?"
Batman simply turned towards the man and answered, "Smart investments."
Flash and Diana appeared with two glasses in their hands, Flash decided to speak up.
"It has fully stoked kitchen, Ice mocha?" He offered Superman.
"No thanks" politely rejected the man of steel.
Diana taking a sip of the drink in her hand.
"Hmm, they don't have these of Themyscira." She said as she enjoyed her drink.
"Stick around princess, I'll show you the ropes." Offered the Flash with a smile.
"Perhaps I will." She replied.
Wonder Woman rolled her eyes at the speedsters attempts at flirting with her.
"An impressive installation." This time it was Green Lantern that ascended from above with Hawkgirl with him.
"Most impressive, but what's it got to do with us?" He wondered.
Superman turned from their gazes and looked again at the Earth responding while walking towards the glass gathering his thoughts for what he wanted to say.
"I once thought I could protect the world by myself, but I was wrong, working together we saved the planet and I believe that if we stay together as a team we could become a force that fights for the ideals of peace and justice." He said seriously to them.
"What like a bunch of super friends?" asked the Flash getting the idea he was talking about.
"Looking back that was a terrible name," Flash said.
Thinking back, they were glad that the name was rejected. It wounded more like a kid's club name than a team of super heroes.
"More like a justice league." he said with a smile and placed his hand out.
"Do you have any idea how corny that sounds?" voiced the Flash again in humor.
"It did sound kind of cheesy," Flash commented earning an eyeroll from the man of steel.
"But maybe the big man got a point. With all of us behind it, it might just work, count me in." he reassured putting his hand on Superman's.
"Me too" said Green Lantern approaching them and putting his hand over Flash's.
Hawkgirl followed his example "and me" placing her hand on his.
"My mother may not approve, but I find man's world to be intriguing, I'll gladly join." She said with confidence placing her hand on Hawkgirl's.
Then all turned towards the Dark Knight.
"What about you Batman?" The man of steel asked his counterpart
"I'm not really a people person, but when you need help, andyou will,call me."
"Typical batman," Arrow said with a smirk.
"Understood" answered the man of steel.
Diana looked around "Wait J'onn is not here."
"Yeah, where is he?" asked the Flash.
They found J'onn sitting in front of the console staring at Mars.
"J'onn, are you all right?" asked superman.
"My family and loved ones are long gone; I am the last of my kind." He said with an aching heart.
"Well that killed the mood," Arrow muttered earning another Gibb slap, this time, surprisingly, from Flash.
Superman placed a hand on his shoulder, completely understanding where he was coming from.
"I know the feeling."
"Mars is dead, and I am alone in the Universe."
"J'onn, we can never replace your family you lost, but we'd be honored if you learn to call Earth home." Clark said in a warm tone.
J'onn thought it over then smiled and extended his hand towards him, and he replied in kind, they came down just in time for Flash to ask something of great relevance.
"Hey! What about the Spartan? Doesn't he have a stake in this too?"
"Yeah, where is big, mean and green?" Flash asked.
It was at this point the gathered members realized that the super soldier was not amongst the group.
"Yes he did help us during the battle and the clean-up." Wonder Woman added.
"He did but he disappeared afterwards." Hawkgirl spoke.
"Him and that ship, I have tried to locate it but it is either well-hidden or not here." Green Lantern spoke.
"There is still a great mystery to the man and his companions." Batman spoke.
"If that is coming from you, then that is saying something," Lantern said, his words earning a few chuckles from the group.
The bat just stayed silent.
"But how do we find them?" Superman asked the question everyone had on their minds.
"I do not believe that will be a problem, look behind you." The last Martian spoke.
They all turned and saw the Dawn become visible, and then a ship they all recognized came out towards the installation.
Superman flew up to the controls and opened the hanger bay.
And as one they all went to meet the man.
Once sealed and filtered air came inside they saw him just as they met the first time, weapon in hand and with an aura of power, precision and control he exuded.
"Chief, we were just talking about you." Diana said with a smile at the man.
"Yeah man where have you been anyway?" Flash added.
"I apologize but we had to make sure there were no stragglers left behind."
"Yeah, last thing we need is for one of them to start some trouble that ignites world war three, hey Diana, how are you?" Cortana spoke as she and the Amazon became friends during the clean-up, she understood she was not a real live person but she acted like one though.
"Hello Cortana, I am fine."
"We had a proposition we were talking about and wished to ask you about it." Superman said to the man.
"Can it wait? The Commander wishes to talk to you all on some important matters." He said in a tone that rival J'onn's.
"Is it the explanation of who you people are?" Batman asked in his usual emotionless tone.
"Yes, if you could board the Pelican, I will take you to the Dawn, it is a long story and we have proof to back it up there." He said to the group who agreed and followed him to the ship.
Soon they came on board and the Dawn engaged the cloak once more, moving to the halfway point between Earth and the Moon.
John led them towards the conference room used for strategic meetings and such, there they found Commander Keyes and the monitor A.I sitting at the head of the table or floating there.
"Hello everyone, I hope the ride here wasn't too uncomfortable, we don't really get that many civilian personnel here, please have seat." She said.
"Greetings to you all." Redeeming Bias spoke.
They all sat around the table Superman, Batman, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern on the left in that order with Superman closest to the Commander; J'onn, Flash, Wonder Woman and John on the right in that order with the Martian next to Miranda.
"First thing first, you already know who I am as well as Cortana, so allow the others to introduce themselves." She said as the Monitor floated forward.
"Hello I am Redeeming Bias, Monitor A.I, manufactured on Onasis Prime, home world of my masters the Forerunners by way of my predecessor Offensive Bias." It said making the Lantern make a mental note to look up these beings.
John stood up and his hands went to his helmet, surprising them, with a hiss and pop it was released, he removed it and revealed a man in his prime possibly his mid twenty's, with brown hair in a military cut and brown eyes that told a story of pain and triumph, his pale skin giving him an exotic look.
Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman found themselves staring at him whether because of his pale skin or something only they knew.
"I am Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, Spartan II commando of United Nations Space Command Defense Force." He said in an even tone.
"That's impossible! The UN has no such organization." Batman said.
"Well, I can see one difference in their world and our own already," Wonder Woman said, "The UN seems to be on a larger scale."
This brought nods of agreement from the others.
"That would be true on this Earth." He said as he looked at the man with no hint of emotion that could be seen.
"What? You don't mean…?" Superman began as he had dealt with something similar.
"How much do you know of alternate realities?" He asked.
"Looks like we are about to finally get some answers," Batman said, getting nods.
"Wait what do you mean?" Arrow asked, with a raised eyebrow.
Lantern answered, "We don't really know that much about them. We only know he's military, and that they got into a huge fight with a bunch of alien nut jobs back in their own world. Other than that, we don't know much about their background.
Flash pressed play on the device as everyone sat back and waited for it to start up again.
Cut! Okay thank you fall for reading. Now, I tried to get more reactions in this time. The new feature of the weapon scanner seemed like a good idea. This is also playing in to why I didn't have much reactions in the first chapter as I wanted to wait a bit before getting their reactions to the Spartans world.
Anyway, see you later.