I do not own Batman Beyond, Justice League, or X-Men Evolution

Chapter 09: The Call

Superman stayed where he was for a long while, leaning with both hands resting on the main console of Metro Tower and silently crying. His tears splashed down onto the largest button there, the one used most frequently to call what was left of the league back together. What was left? Wally was retired, John and Kyle where dead, Shayera next to her husband, Barbara had given up the cape, Diana had given up on humanity, and most of the rest gone in that final battle or over the last two world wars. Superman himself wasn't exactly immortal but he was suddenly quite aware of the effects of entropy.

"Why, Bruce?" Superman asked of the world. "What were you thinking? You should have known better. You weren't Batm…"

With a sigh and a drying of his eyes, Superman straightened, becoming once again his imposing self. He narrowed his eyes, settling his resolve and touching the button that would call the league. On his main display, a list of all the active members of the Justice League appeared, a green check mark next to each of their names. He touched another few keys and the League's reserve members and retired members names showed up next to the active JLU. Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Wally West, Bart Allen, J'onn Jon'zz, Wonder Woman, Roy Harper, Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Oliver Queen, Dinah Lance-Queen, Dick Grayson, and Virgil Hawkins. Raven, Barbara, and Tim Drake were on that list as well but he was sure not to select them, each for their own different reasons and Raven was likely already captured or dead.

Superman pushed the button and on his suit's belt, the JLU beacon, normally colored amber, winked on and off in blue. He knew that the same would be going off on all the other's suits in one fashion or another. Slowly on the screen, a green box encircled each of the league members picture, indicating a response to the call. Two of the calls remained unanswered, though. Dick Grayson and Diana.

There was a loud beep and the roster screen slid out of sight and a video call came in. Superman answered it, guessing that the caller was not Diana. Not yet, anyway.

"Superman," Dick Grayson's said, his voice even without showing any hint of emotion. His hair was gray and his face showing the normal signs of age. In fact, he was struck by how similar Dick looked now to the way Bruce looked when he gave up being Batman. "I hope there is a really good reason for this. I am not as young as I use to be."

"We have a situation that we cannot handle on our own," Superman said.

"A problem that the league can't handle," Dick repeated, one eyebrow cocking slightly. "I was hoping for something a bit more specific. It's not another alien invasion, is it?"

"No, nothing like that," Superman said and sighed. "Dick, it's about Bruce."

Dick's eyebrow cocked a little higher. "What about the old man?"

Superman paused, not really sure how to say this. He took a deep breath, reverting back to his old farm boy straight out honesty. "He's dead, Dick."

This time it was Dick who took a long pause. "Who?" Superman raised his eyebrows in some surprise. "Come on, Sups. I may be old now but that doesn't mean I have lost my edge. I wouldn't be finding out about his death by you after an all hands call unless it was murder. Spill it."

Superman grimaced then nodded. "Ra's Al Ghul. We brought Ra's in under suspicion of being connected to the Gotham bombing and several of robberies and attacks. Bruce wanted a face to face, he said he didn't believe that Ra's was involved. The next thing we know, the team that brought Ra's in and Bruce went missing. Six hours later, the Batman and I got a call from Ra's… we saw his body…"

Dick bowed his head. "And Ra's is still at large?"

"Yes."

"Hence the all hands. Got it." Dick looked back up, a hint of the old fire hovering just below the carefully controlled surface. "And Terry?"

"Who?" Superman asked with a lame attempt to cover his guilty expression.

"Please," Dick said. "It's not that hard to figure out. He headed out to find Ra's, right?"

"Yes," Superman said, giving in. "To him, it was like losing his father all over again."

"We need to get him some help before he actually finds Ra's and gets himself killed."

"Right." Superman sighed. "I'll organize the League from here but I need you to do me a favor."

"Send me what you have," Dick said. "I'll brief everyone."

Superman let out the barest hint of a smile that fell moments later. "You're just like how he use to be. Thank you. I have one more call to make."

Dick nodded, although Superman couldn't tell if the nod was in response to the thank you or the compliment about Bruce. "Good luck."

Derek Powers smoothed out one last wrinkle in his suit as he walked in through the front door to Wayne-Powers. Skin now covered his nuclear glow that wouldn't have been hard to spot even if the moon wasn't full, leaving long dark shadows stretching across Gotham. He was pleased, or at least as pleased as Blight was capable of being, that Paxton had failed to locate and destroy his offsite treatment center. The workers were gone, of course, but how many times had he put the skin on before. Near the end of his days before he brought Paxton in as acting chairman and CEO of Wayne-Powers, he was getting new skin nearly twice a day. It hadn't been hard to do it himself.

A slightly rotund man sat in the main security desk at the front, reading a news paper off of a data pad and sipping on some form of coffee. Derek was nearly to the desk itself before the security guard looked up from his reading.

"Sorry, sir. The office is closed for the day." The guard finally got a good look at Derek's face and recognized him. "Derek Powers? But you're supposed to be-"

"Dead?" Derek cut him off. "No, but you will be." With a flash of green light, Derek walked past the desk, leaving the guard slowly dying as his skin melted from his bones, liquefying itself before the man's own eyes.

Without any further interruptions, Derek Powers walked up the forty flights of stairs and burst in through the elaborate doors of what was once his own office. On the far end of the office, Paxton Powers started at the sudden noise, looking up, then falling backwards out of his chair as he recognized his father. At the sight of his back stabbing son right before him, Derek's temper began to rise along with his own internal temperature. Cracks in his false skin started to spread from his eyes on down, large chunks literally falling off as if he were shedding.

"Hello, son," Derek said, stepping into the room and allowing the large doors to swing shut behind him. "Long time, no see. Late night at the office?"

"Dad," Paxton said, his eyes already darting around for an escape. "I thought you were dead."

"I nearly was, thanks to you," Derek said, walking closer. "Your little betrayal in the nuclear sub and your radiation sapping net. Teaming up with Batman to capture me and calling in the police after the sub sank with me still on board it. Oh yes, I should have been dead several times over but my hatred and thirst for revenge against you, my son, would not allow me to die."

"You need help," Paxton said. "This condition of yours, it's messing with your mind. You temper is out of control."

"OUT OF CONTROL?" Derek roared, his skin all but fallen off now, leaving a thick trail from the doors. "I will tell you what's out of control."

"Dad," Paxton pleaded and then leaped toward the phone and the emergency call button. A blast of green radioactive plasma cut the desk in half before he got there, melting the phone to ash. "You have to listen to me. You need help. Now that I have earned the respect I need here with the other shareholders, I can get you the kind of specialized help you need; all under the radar. No one needs to know beyond them."

"Oh, Paxton," Derek said, smoke literally roiling off of him as his cloths slowly started to catch fire. We are well beyond words now. Retribution is at hand."

From behind Derek, the doors exploded inward, one blowing clear through the room and out one of the large windows that showed the Gotham skyline and to the ground forty stories below. The second flew right at Derek and hit him square on but Blight merely stood there and melted through it without a tug. His eyes were set on the young man now standing before him. Roughly average height, he was clearly at the peak of human condition. His arms were tightly muscled and his chest was broad giving him the look of an Olympic athlete. He had slightly long hair that looked wild as though he had been raised in the wild. Despite the green glow that Derek was emitting and bathing his features, cloths and single ring that he wore on his left hand that this man was not part of the Justice League. No emblem adorned his black sleeveless shirt and pants that all of those heroes seemed to find necessary.

"So you're Derek Powers," the young man said, stepping forward and folding his arms across his chest. "And Paxton Powers. A little reunion after all these years?"

"Who are you?" Paxton asked, still half hiding behind his desk. "Have you come to help me?"

"Who I am is unimportant," the man said. "Besides, you wouldn't know who I was, anyway."

"You are right about one thing," Derek said. "You are unimportant." Derek hurled a blast of radioactive plasma at the figure, scorching the empty doorway and the wall beyond it.

"A pity you never learned to control that temper of yours," the young man said from behind Derek. He whirled around, the air roiling with the heat of his anger. "Focus is the key to any real power."

"Is that right?" Derek snarled, starting to walk over to the mysterious youth. "I will keep that in mind after I roast your carcass." The young man smiled mockingly at him, completely unfazed. Blight fired another blast at him, this one blowing out another window but once again, he missed his mark.

"Where are you, you little punk?" Derek muttered, looking around.

"Right behind you." Before he could turn around, a dark red glow that was visible even over Blight's own green blasted him clear off his feet and hurled him through the window and over downtown Gotham. Blight's screams echoed off the buildings as he fell before he cut them off and simply watched the solid cement streets draw closer and closer.

Paxton shrieked and ran past the man who had just murdered his father, trying to escape. He made it to the doorway before the red lance of energy blasted him from behind and blew him apart. Satisfied, the young man walked casually from the room.

Swords clashed as two Amazon's sparred, their blades whistling as they cut through the air as they each ducked, dodged, and crossed blades again. Diana Prince, Queen of Themyscira, watched from the sidelines, her arms crossed as she watched with a critical eye. She frowned as Elysia tried to take advantage of a false opening that Artemis provided and got laid flat by a brutal strike from the back of Artemis' shield. Elysia opened her eyes to the sharp tip of Artemis' blade mere centimeters from her forehead.

"Match," Diana said, lifting her hand to signal the close. "Elysia, you still have to learn how to read your opponents and when an opening is a trap."

"Yes, my queen," Elysia said. "I will try harder."

"You will have only one chance in real combat," Artemis said severely. "Learn fast or die. That is the way of the warrior."

Elysia stood again and bowed to the two women. "I understand."

"Good," Diana said and allowed her small cape to drop to the ground and pulled her own sword free. "Now pay close attention. Artemis?"

"Are you sure you want to do this, my queen?" Artemis asked, smiling slightly at her oldest sparring partner.

Diana smiled back. "Of course I am. And you better not lose just because I am your queen."

"You may wish to take Elysia's shield then."

Diana raised her left arm, revealing her silver bracelets. "I will be fine with these."

The two women squared off, slowly beginning to circle each other. They matched footsteps and lightly crossed their blades. The rest of the Amazonian women halted their own practices and came over to watch.

"Are you sure you still remember how?" Artemis asked. "I cannot remember the last time I saw you fight."

"Trying to get into my head, Artemis?" Diana shot back. "You forget, I have seen you fighting this whole time. I know every one of your moves. As if I needed to anyway."

"We shall see, my queen." Artemis struck, a vicious swing that came with such speed that it would have spilled Diana's guts all over the ring. Diana dodged the blow and blocked the follow up swing with her own blade, then another with her bracelet. She countered with a swing of her own that Artemis was able to avoid with a quick back step then stepped back in. Diana blocked then dodged below another swing before punching Artemis hard in the face with her left hand. Artemis stumbled back and wiped a trickle of blood from her lip.

"Well, it would seem that I can't take it easy on you after all, Diana."

Diana smiled and raised her sword one handed into a ready position. "That would be Queen Diana," she said with a wry smile that told Artemis she was teasing. "Whenever you're ready."

Artemis leaped forward again just as the bracelets on Diana's forearms flashed blue and vibrated urgently. She immediately lifted a hand to halt Artemis' attack, a look of deep annoyance creasing her beautiful face. Artemis skidded to a halt, lowering her raised sword.

"Excuse me," Diana said, her tone tart. She walked out of the ring, replacing her sword at her side and picking up her royal cape as she headed toward the steps that would eventually take her to her private quarters. "Elysia, pick up your training with Artemis. When I return I will expect to see improvement."

To Diana, it wasn't that time was unimportant here on Paradise Island, it just had far less value than it did in Man's world. Here, things went at a more natural pace which meant that by the time she made it back to her quarters and closed the makeshift door, she was pretty sure that whoever had called would be upset with her late response. Not that she cared. Unless there was a problem that directly affected Themyscira, she would not get involved. And the League knew that.

In one corner of her large room, a stone chest sat. Dust covered the top in a thick carpet, a testimony of how long it had been since it was last opened. She paused as she stood before it, thinking hard about whether or not to even bother responding but the strobing coming for her bracelets was beginning to wear on her patience. With one hand, she lifted the heavy stone lid and pulled out her old Justice League comm.

"What do you want?" Diana asked as soon as she heard the link connect.

"Diana, it has been a long time," Superman's voice said. There was something wrong with it. "I have been trying to reach you."

"I repeat the question," Diana said sharply. "You know better than to call me. I thought I made that clear to Barda and Micron when they were here."

"You know that I would not call you unless it was something important."

"Alright then. What is it?"

"The League of Shadows is back and starting trouble all over the world-"

"I already know that," Diana cut him off. "That information already came with Barda. Stop dancing around the problem, Kal-El."

There was a long pause. "Bruce is dead, Diana. Killed by Ra's Al Ghul."

Diana rocked back slightly on her heels, a sudden and almost overwhelming urge to stagger over to the bed and sit down. She took a deep breath. "So, he's not invincible after all," she heard herself say. "That's a shocker."

"Diana-" Superman said, his voice shocked.

"If that is all you called to tell me about you shouldn't have wasted your time. It has nothing to do with Themyscira." Diana hung up and slammed down her communicator onto the top of the stone lid. It broke in her hand but she hardly noticed. Her free hand covered her mouth and she squeezed her eyes shut. She would not cry, not over a mortal man. Especially not that mortal man. Her eyes burned, not over thought of Bruce being dead. That she could deal with. But the last things she had said to him all those years ago. Things that could never be corrected.

She stood up and with a roar of anguish, hurled the stone chest. It hit the side wall and went straight through it, the open top spilling its contents across her room and out into the wilderness beyond. A single piece of paper floated down to the ground in front of her. It was a photograph, one of the original seven in the earliest days of the League. Superman stood center most in the picture with Diana and Batman close by. John Stewart still had hair atop his head and Shayera still wore her mask. J'onn stood a little off in the background as if not quite sure where he belonged in the group.

She starred at the picture for a long while until there was pounding on her door and the struggling sounds of three or four of her guard trying to open her door. She set down the picture on her bed and sighed deeply, letting her self recrimination and hatred pass and bring calm back to her. The last things she had said to Bruce she may not ever be able to recall now, but she could still correct many other mistakes she had made. She had shut the door to humanity because of personal reasons, not because she did not still love them. They were still vile and a generally evil lot but there was also so much good there too. The time had come. With one final look at the photo she turned and slid the boulder aside.

"My queen, are you alright?" Sofronia asked urgently.

"I am quite alright," Diana assured her. "But time is short. I must leave Themyscira."

The Royal Guards all exchanged a worried look. "My Queen," one of them spoke as they followed behind her fast pace. "You had once said that the only way you would leave Themyscira was if there was a danger to our home."

"That is correct," Diana said. "I must leave to prevent any possible threat making it this far." They all came to a halt in front of an ornate gold and crystal case. Diana reached forward and opened it to reveal the star earrings, tiara, boots, and uniform of Wonder Woman. "This is for the good of Themyscira."

"I want to thank you all for coming on such short notice," Superman said as he looked around at all those standing before him, many old friends. "For some of you, it has been a very long time since you threw on the hero uniform and stepped back into the public eye. Believe me when I tell you that I would not have called you back into this life unless it was of grave importance and I am grateful for your sacrifice.

"As I am sure know from the briefing Nightwing has given you all, each of you understands the significance of the threat we face with Ra's Al Ghul. I will be splitting us up into several different teams in an attempt to locate Ra's and find our missing teammates. Big Barda and Micron are already on the hunt as we speak. I have no doubt that we will find them shortly and bring this to a close."

"For JUSTICE!" someone in the crowd shouted and the rest sent up a cheer. "For BATMAN!"

"Alright," Superman said. "Team assignments are on the monitor. Let's get this done."

Superman turned and made his way to the command bridge that over looked the main gathering and sat down hard on the single chair. He buried his face in his hands, fatigued and emotionally drained. But he knew that he had to keep it together.

"I don't see my name on the roster, Kal-El." Superman looked up with a jerk to see Wonder Woman standing before him, dressed in her familiar uniform with her lasso on her right hip and a sword on her left. "You have space for one more?"

Without a word, Superman stood up and embraced his old friend. "I didn't think you would come."

"I almost made the mistake not to," Diana said, allowing the embrace for another few seconds before gently pushing him away. "Where do we stand?"

"About the same since we last spoke," Superman said. "We are still trying to track Batman down so we can get a team to help support him but we can't raise him."

"He's grieving," Diana said. "Like the rest of us. He will show up soon. Give him some time." Diana turned and gave the Martian Manhunter a sad smile as he landed on the tower with them. "J'onn, I have missed you."

"And I you, Diana," J'onn said. "I am glad you could make it."

"What do you say to joining myself and J'onn?" Superman asked. "Be like old times."

"Sounds good," Diana said, glancing over the guard rail at the teams splitting up and heading to the Javelin bay. "Let's get going."

To be continued…

Who would have thought that the League would start to really reform after all these years? Nightwing is back, Diana, and J'onn Jon'zz as well. This could be huge and all brought back together because of Bruce Wayne.

I hope you guys are as excited to what happens next!

Please leave your comments and reviews! I love to hear your thoughts.

The Dark Prince

P.S. My computer screen cracked... sooooo... it may be a (hopefully) short time before I am able to write and continue posting... Sorry for the inconvenience! :'(