Chapter 25
It was about a week after Maria had returned to the Justice League before the Reploid heard of any Cybertronian-based activity going on anywhere on Earth.
"Maria! Some sort of signal's come up!"
The Reploid looked up from her chosen workstation at Gear, who was waving her over frantically.
"What kind of signal?" The blue-eyed teen put down the tools she had been using and closed up a panel on her left arm, then walked over to the Dakota teen.
"It's definitely Cybertronian," Gear stated, motioning to the screen on his laptop. When Maria and the Autobots had been keeping their eyes and ears peeled during the time Optimus had been missing, Gear had been working on upgrading his tech - like buying the laptop and upgrading it to supercomputer standards. "And it's pretty close to where Superman, Superboy, and Supergirl are going on patrol right now."
"Really?" Maria looked over Gear's shoulder in order to have a look at the computer screen, which had a blip in the center of the screen that was constantly pulsing outward. Three similar S-shield symbols were positioned nearby, but not at all close to the Cybertronian signal that Gear had detected.
As soon as Maria took note of the coordinates that were also listed there in the bottom right corner of the computer's screen, her blue eyes widened.
"Do you think it would be all right if I went down there?" Maria asked, glancing at Gear curiously. "I'm starting to get bored just sitting around up here tweaking my communication system."
Gear gave her a shocked look. "Are you insane?! Batman hasn't even cleared you to leave the Watchtower yet!"
"Well, he'll just have to deal with it," Maria replied stubbornly. The red, orange, and gray-armored Reploid turned and started towards a device that looked like a glass cylinder that could hold two or three people of Maria's size. On the floor inside the cylinder, it looked like there was energy constantly pulsing through it.
"Besides," Maria added, stopping in front of the cylinder, "I'm not technically a part of this world, remember?"
"That may be, but I don't think it's a-"
"What are you two doing?" Batman strode over to the two seemingly from out of nowhere. His eyes were narrow, and he sounded accusing, like he always did.
"I need to get down there," Maria stated in a rather serious reply. The Reploid didn't even bother to turn around and look back at the Dark Knight. "Some sort of Cybertronian signal has come up, and I want to get down there in order to see what's going on. The Kryptonian Trio are already down there, but they may not know what they might be so close to."
Batman's eyes narrowed even further, and Maria turned slightly to glance back at the Gotham vigilante. The two of them locked eyes for a moment, while Gear looked back and forth between them, looking a little nervous.
Maria knew that the Dakota teen was probably worried about what Batman was going to do, but she wasn't too particularly concerned. Yes, she may have been considerably younger than the Dark Knight, but she hadn't just been experimenting with system upgrades for herself these past few days.
"All right. Fine."
Gear gave Batman a look of surprise while the Reploid simply cocked her head to one side.
"But I'm going to expect a report from you in case something comes up." Batman turned and walked out of the room and down another corridor without another word.
"Did he just...put you off the Team?" Gear asked, turning to look at Maria with some nervousness still present.
Maria shook her brown-haired head. "I think he just made me the Team's rep on the Autobot end." Seeing the look of surprise she was getting from the Dakota teen, the Reploid stated, "Well, what are you waiting for? Send me down there!" She turned and stepped into the glass cylinder, then turned around and gave Gear an impatient look.
Gear jumped. "Right!" He started to tap on his laptop furiously, the teleporter whirring to life. "If you ever need any help, you know who to call."
"I most certainly do," Maria replied with a grin.
There was a bright blue flash, and Maria found herself standing in a rocky area. It wasn't long before three familiar figures landed in front of her - one of them being on a black hover board with the familiar "S" insignia stamped on the bottom.
"Bruce told me you were coming down," Superman noted. "What's the trouble?"
"Gear found a Cybertronian signal near here," Maria explained, motioning to the rocky area. "It's probably going to get attention from either the Bots or the Cons, and I want to make sure that it gets to the Bots."
"Do you have any idea what it is?" Supergirl asked.
Maria shook her head, then paused. "Well...You heard about what happened last week, right? When Optimus had amnesia?"
The Kryptonian Trio nodded as one.
"The coordinates of this location match one of the coordinates that Optimus unearthed when he was on the Nemesis. It could be an ancient artifact from Cybertron...or a powerful weapon. I came down here to make sure that the Decepticons weren't trying to get their claws on it."
"And if there are Cons, then we have to go and kick some can, right?" Connor asked, cracking his knuckles and grinning.
"Yeah," Maria confirmed, grinning. She activated her own hover board by going into a backflip, landing on the piece of tech. "We're going to have to find the source of that signal quickly."
"I think we might have already found it," Supergirl replied, jabbing with her thumb in a direction behind her. "We passed over some sort of crater a while back, filled with those purple and silver robot things. Kal was going to swing back when he heard you were coming."
Maria nodded. "All right." She rose up into the air and took off in the direction Supergirl had pointed, the three Kryptonians following.
"Bruce said you're going to be staying with the Autobots," Superman stated as the flew. "He sounded pretty annoyed."
"I did try to leave without his permission," Maria admitted. "But I really felt like doing something, and being on Earth with the Autobots is better than sitting around in the Watchtower taking my left arm apart so I can give myself a communications upgrade." She held up mention arm, and a panel slid back, revealing a black screen. The panel slid back into place as the Reploid continued, "I'm glad that I managed to get it done, sure, but my feet were itching to get moving."
"I know the feeling!" Supergirl responded.
"We're here," Connor stated. He directed his hover board to head down to the ground below, Maria and the Kryptonian cousins following. "Something's happening down there, all right. Who's the silver guy with the spikes on his shoulders?"
"Megatron." Maria's eyes narrowed. "Go after the Vehicons first. That'll get his attention."
"Vehicons?" Superman repeated.
"The purple guys. They're the Decepticon cannon fodder, and are programmed to listen to Megatron and the others under his command - nobody else." A fiery aura tried to appear around Maria for a moment, her power levels rising, but the Reploid forced it to dissipate with a shake of her head, directing the energy elsewhere. She cracked her knuckles - even though, as a Reploid, she didn't have anything that might have caused the need to anymore - and sped up her rate of descent, shooting ahead. "Cause as much damage as you can - without hitting the source of that signal or any Autobots that may end up showing up!"
"Got it!" Connor called back, grinning.
The group came upon the crater Supergirl had mentioned pretty quickly. As had been said before, there were plenty of Vehicons - with Megatron among them - but there were also two unexpected figures with red and white - or red and cobalt - armor. Maria was able to identify them almost instantly, but the others...
"Who're those two?" Supergirl asked, looking down.
Connor pointed to a pair of figures coming over the lip of the crater. "Those two? They're Autobots - the good guys."
"Wow. I never thought that Cybertronians could be so big..."
::Oi! Introductions later! Take down Decepticons NOW!::
The three Kryptonians flinched upon hearing Maria's mental yell over the comm-link. Below, there was an explosion from one of the giant, drill-like objects.
Connor's grin quickly returned. "This is going to be fun." He jumped off his hover board - the tech converting into a backpack that strapped to his back. The Kryptonian clone free fell the rest of the way down, landing on a Vehicon and bashing its head in as though it was made of paper.
"Nice one!" Maria exclaimed, catching the attention of more Vehicons. "All right, you. Let's see if this works!" She created a stream of fire, turning it into a whip as she flung it at a pair of the purple Cybertronians. It left a scorch mark across their chest plates, which were promptly broken after Connor bashed them in.
"New trick?" Connor asked, glancing over at the Reploid.
"Oh, yeah." Maria activated her jets - deactivating her hover board in the process - and zoomed over at a Vehicon, using her momentum to send it flying back into another Vehicon and a drill, setting off another explosion. "Hah! Take that!"
"Flare-Up, this isn't a game," Superman scolded as he floated down with Supergirl.
Maria's eyes widened, but they weren't focused on the Kryptonians. "Move, move, MOVE!"
She put up a Fire Shield behind them just as Megatron tried to send an energy blast in their direction.
"Never turn your back on your enemy," Maria warned Superman in a serious manner. She then lowered her shield, turning her glare in Megatron's direction. "He and I have unfinished business."
"I'll go take care of him," Superman said. "The rest of you, make sure those Vehicons don't try anything."
Maria gave a nod, but then a flash of metal caught the corner of her eye. She turned her gaze from Superman back to Megatron, then caught sight of something that he happened to be holding in his claws.
*That is not a good thing for a Decepticon to have* Inferno suddenly growled. She had been strangely silent ever since the whole "Orion Pax" escapade, but Maria was starting to get used to the sudden appearances by the strange voice, so she paid her no mind.
"Be careful," Maria warned. "It looks like Megatron may have found the artifact, and we have no idea what it's going to do to either the Cybertronians or us."
Superman nodded. "Kara, you're with me."
The Kryptonian turned and zoomed toward Megatron, slamming into the Con's legs, causing the mech to stumble slightly, a dent left in the armor from the impact.
Megatron glared down at the Kryptonian, optics narrow. "Puny human." He was about to fire his arm cannon at Superman, but Supergirl zoomed in and managed to get the arm cannon almost all the way off the Con's arm.
Maria was surprised. She knew Kryptonian strength was strong when in yellow sunlight, but she didn't think that it was possible for one of them to nearly take a Con's cannon off.
"That's Kryptonian!" Supergirl snapped at Megatron. She started trying to bend the cannon back so that the business end was facing away from Superman - and maybe towards Megatron. "And keep this thing away from my cousin!"
"Kara!" Superman exclaimed in alarm. He slammed into Megatron again, putting a few more dents there in order to keep the Con's attention away from his cousin.
Maria glared at the Vehicon she was fighting, the Fire Whip ready to wrap around its neck, only for Connor to suddenly come up behind it and rip some of its wires out, causing the Con to collapse.
"No fair!" Maria complained, allowing the Fire Whip to dissipate. "I just about had him."
There was the sudden sound of metal hitting metal, and Megatron stumbled back, Optimus in a pose that made it look like he had just punched the Decepticon with a left hook - which was most likely what had occurred.
Ratchet snatched a metal object from where it had fallen on the ground - the artifact that Megatron had been holding onto. "I've got it, Optimus!"
The Autobot leader nodded in approval as Supergirl and Superman took to the air, retreating a short distance from Megatron.
The Decepticon let out a hiss. "This isn't over, Optimus." He got up and made his way over to a Ground Bridge that had suddenly opened up, seeming to limp slightly in his gait. "I will have the other artifacts."
"You really did a number on him, Supes," Maria noted, watching as the Decepticon disappeared, the Bridge disappearing not long after.
"His armor's tough," Superman replied. "I could feel the recoil go through my arm every time I hit him."
"A Cybertronian's armor is built to last," Optimus stated. "To see a life form of your size deal so much damage...it is nearly unheard of."
"Welcome to Earth," Connor replied dryly. Gaining a more serious expression, he stated, "Optimus, these are Supergirl and Superman, or Kara Zor-El and Kal-El. They're...I guess you could say they're my cousins."
Optimus' optics widened slightly. "Kryptonian names," he noted.
"You've heard of us?" Supergirl asked, surprised.
"You did yell out your species' name at Megatron," Ratchet grumbled. "Optimus, do you want us to Ground Bridge back to base? Including them?"
The Prime considered this for a moment before nodding. "I believe that Smokescreen will be delighted to see living Kryptonians. I am also...curious as to your present status among the worlds."
Maria blinked in slight confusion. Smokescreen? Who's that?
The medic let out a sigh before muttering something under his breath. A moment later, a green vortex identical to the one Megatron had disappeared into appeared beside him. "May as well get this over with..." He turned and walked into the Ground Bridge, Connor following behind him.
"Come on," Maria stated to Superman and Supergirl. "It's just like a Zeta Tube. Just...a little bigger."
Line Break
Supergirl let out a whistle as she walked into the base, her cousin beside her and Optimus, Ratchet and Maria coming in behind them. "Wow. This place is big."
The blue-eyed Reploid chuckled lightly. "What would you expect? Cybertronians are kinda big." She looked up at Optimus and Ratchet, a curious expression coming over her face. "So, who's Smokescreen?"
Ratchet huffed. "He is a youngling with no experience in war. He came to us not too long after you went up to the Justice League's so-called 'Watchtower'."
"Ah. Well, that explains why I haven't heard of him." Maria looked around the base. "Hey, Optimus - where is everybody else?"
"Nurse Darby insisted on getting Matthew something to wear other than what he came to this world in," the Autobot leader replied. "The other three still have school."
"Ah. The latter I was expecting, but not the former." Maria scratched the back of her head, neglecting to add that she had never even thought of that when she had been off-world in the Disney Kingdom, having spent days in her own clothes until returning home. However, her mom had said that her clothes weren't actually as worn as they should have been.
"I had better get his in storage," Ratchet muttered, glaring at the Extractor like it was a piece of scrap. He turned and walked away, carefully carrying the artifact.
"How easy is it to set that thing off?" Supergirl asked, motioning to Ratchet's back as he disappeared down an adjoining corridor.
"Very," Optimus replied gravely.
Right then, there came the sound of giant metal footsteps from the corridor that Ratchet had disappeared down. Maria turned her head just as a new figure stepped into the room.
The Cybertronian was about Bee's size, but silver instead of yellow. Red and blue stripes ran up his form and the doorwings on his back, which stiffened as soon as the mech's silver optics locked on the human figures standing on the floor of the base.
Maria was able to guess pretty easily as to who the mech was, considering that Optimus had mentioned the name before.
"Smokescreen, right?" Maria asked, taking a few steps forward, one hand held out in greeting.
The silver mech jolted, then looked down with some confusion. "Y-yeah. Who are you?"
"Name's Maria White," Maria replied lightly. "Matt's my older brother."
Recognition flashed in Smokescreen's optics, followed quickly by excitement. "Oh! So you're that World Jumper I've been hearing so much about?"
Maria cocked her head to one side in interest. "So Matt told you my title, did he?"
"Yeah. The other humans mentioned something about a video game series, too, but I'm not exactly sure what they meant by that."
"They haven't shown you? Well, that's surprising. We can do something about that later, though." Maria looked around the base. "Like when the others get back."
"I guess so..." Smokescreen's blue optics moved over to the other members of the little group Maria had come in with, and his optics widened. "No. Way. You three...are you real live Kryptonians?"
"Yes," Superman replied with a slight nod. "I take it you're the 'Smokescreen' Optimus mentioned before we got here?"
"That's me," Smokescreen confirmed. "Wow. Hey - either of you guys know about a guy named Jor-El?"
Superman stiffened. "He...was my father. Why do you ask?"
"On my way here, I heard a lot about his work, and I heard that there were a couple Kryptonians who had survived its destruction. Did he-"
"I'm afraid to say that he did not." Superman let out a sigh. "He sent me off-world just as the planet exploded...in a prototype rocket that could only hold an infant. I only learned later that my uncle had done similar research and had saved my cousin." He motioned to Supergirl, who smiled and waved up at the Autobot.
"So, you guys don't have memories of your home?" Smokescreen's optics were wide by this newfound news.
"Mine are faint," Supergirl admitted.
"I was created by a bunch of humans in a lab here on Earth, so I don't know anything about Krypton," Connor remarked, shrugging. Maria could tell that he was a bit stiff about the memory, but he was doing his best to not think back on it too much.
"Mine were fabricated by a plant," Superman muttered, causing the blue-eyed Reploid to look at him in surprise, blinking for a moment before frowning.
"Black Mercy, right?" Maria guessed, relying on her memories from home to bring up the name.
The Kryptonian looked at her in surprise. "How did you-"
"TV show, remember? Justice League Unlimited?" Maria tapped the side of her head. "I got to see Batman turn Wonder Woman back to normal when she got turned into a pig by an evil sorceress! I got to see you guys get turned into kids by Morgann Le Fay to take on Mordred!"
Smokescreen looked at Maria in surprise. "Wait - what?"
"I don't think we were on this world during these events," Optimus noted.
"I didn't think you would be - especially when time got in flux at one point..." Maria shook her head. "A lot of things probably happened before you guys got here."
"Does this include any information about that computer virus?" Supergirl asked, eyes narrowing slightly.
"I saw him get destroyed, same as you," Maria replied calmly. "And again, and again. Need I recount what happened in Dakota? Or with Darkseid?"
Superman flinched. "No, you don't."
"Darkseid?" Smokescreen repeated. "Who's he?" He looked to Maria, only for the Reploid to back up and hold her hands up in a defensive manner.
"That is Superman's backstory, not mine," Maria stated quickly. At the back of her head, she was going through the last few scenes of the Superman: the Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited. "Although, I can't help but wonder how Luthor came back from that..."
"I don't think anyone is going to figure that out," Superman responded in a low growl. "Darkseid is the ruler of a planet called Apokolips. He thought I would have made a good adoptive son and managed to brainwash me." The Kryptonian spat out the word "son" like it was Kryptonite. "It ruined my reputation with the civilians, and it's taken me years to build it up again. He came after me a few years back, but Luthor took him out of the picture, thanks to the Life Equation."
"Life Equation?" Ratchet reappeared from the corridor he had disappeared down. "But that equation is unsolvable!"
"Luthor solved it, took Darkseid away with it, and somehow came back." Superman's eyes were narrow. "I confronted him the night he 'mysteriously reappeared' and he claimed to have no recollection of it. That's when the whole problem with the Light started."
"The Light?" Smokescreen repeated, frowning slightly. "What's that?"
"A group of bad guys who claim they want humanity to 'see the light'," Supergirl explained. "Last time we saw them, they had been partnered up with the Reach."
"Doesn't particularly help that one of their number is Vandal Savage, a human who is also immortal," Maria muttered. "Who knows what goes on in that ancient head of his..."
"Immortal?" Ratchet scoffed. "No living being can be immortal."
"Then we'll have to ask Savage how he's managed to live so long, next time he tries to bash in somebody's head through that cat-wielding magic boy." Maria crossed her arms over her chest. "Really hate that kid."
"You and Batman both," Superman agreed. "Magic has always been a bit of an annoyance to him."
The red, orange, and gray-armored Reploid snorted. "A bit? Ya think?"
There was a sudden crackling noise in Maria's left ear, and she reached for the Justice League-patented comm-link. Superman, Supergirl, and Connor did the same.
::This is the Flash! Flare-Up, Supes Clan, do you read?::
"Flash, I thought we told you to drop the 'clan' thing," Connor complained.
::Sorry. It's just so much easier to say than all your names at once!::
"What's the trouble?" Superman asked.
::The Cons decided to pop up again-looks like one of those beacon thingies is near Bruce Wayne's mansion. Bats already went to check it out, but I don't think he'll be able to do too much against those Vehicon-bots::
"Think you could send us the coordinates?" Maria asked. She sent a glance up at the Cybertronians, who were looking down at the exchange with mildly confused expressions.
::Coordinates? Sure, Flare, but Bats made it a point to say that you couldn't exactly show up. Did you do something to make him mad?::
"I...might have." Maria rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
::...that would be a pretty nasty habit to have if you keep messing with him like this. I really wish I had your guts!:: Flash laughed. ::You guys are hanging around the Bots, right? Just give 'em these coordinates and blast off through that portal-thingy of theirs!::
"What is it that you four are talking about?" Ratchet asked, frowning.
"Batman may have found another Cybertronian artifact on his home turf in Gotham," Maria explained, turning her attention to the red and white medic. "Flash told us where it's at, so you could Ground Bridge Superman and the others to Bats' location."
"What about you?" Smokescreen asked, looking down at the Reploid. "Aren't you supposed to be a part of the superhero group, too?"
"Well, yes, but I'm not exactly a native of this world, first of all, and secondly, Bats may or may not see me as an actual member, considering my World Jumper status. Besides, I may have tried to sneak out of the Watchtower, so he may not want to see me..." Maria shrugged helplessly.
Ratchet shook his helm. "Younglings," he muttered in an annoyed tone. He turned and faced the Ground Bridge controls. "All right. What are those coordinates?"
The blue-eyed Reploid quickly relayed the location that Flash and given her, and seconds later, the green, swirling portal was up and running.
"I'll see you guys later, then," Maria stated, turning to look at Superman, Supergirl, and Connor.
Connor nodded and gave a smirk. "If anything big comes up, let us know."
"You know I will." Maria smirked back at the half-Kryptonian. "Make sure those Cons get a good pummeling from me."
"No problem."
Connor and his two full Kryptonian relatives took to the air, then blasted off through the Ground Bridge, which closed down behind them.
Maria, Ratchet, Optimus, and Smokescreen stood around for a moment before the silver rookie turned his helm to look fully at Maria with a confused and curious expression.
"Could you tell me what a World Jumper does?"
Spacial Break
Megatron was downright furious. Not only had Optimus managed to locate the exact same artifacts he had, but the librarian also managed to get his servos on two of them! He had nearly had the Spark Extractor and the Phase Shifter in his servos, but then three flying humans and that Reploid-creature had shown up! Now all the Decepticon leader could do was sit on his servos and wait for Soundwave to crack the Iacon codes before Optimus could...which the former gladiator figured would be nearly impossible. Especially with the Reploid-creature assisting him.
"Damn that Justice League to the Pit," Megatron snarled under his breath as he paced in his quarters. Normally, he didn't use human words in his curses, but as of late, it was starting to become more of a habit. "If it wasn't for their infernal meddling, then I might have won this war when Optimus did not know who he was!"
::It was not just the Justice League who did this, my friend::
The silver mech stiffened upon hearing the voice. He looked around quickly, then discovered that the monitor he used to watch the bridge of the Nemesis had been tampered with. Now, a strange figure was there, servos clasped in front of him in what looked like a relaxed position.
Megatron scowled. "I thought I told you to stay out of my affairs, human. You had no business offering me help last orbital-cycle."
::Come come now, Megatron:: the human figure purred. ::I was simply offering you a taste of what we humans can do for you and your soldiers. The upgrades should have been useful for the Vehicons and yourself::
"The Vehicons have certainly increased in strength, no thanks to you," Megatron growled in reply, "but I do not recall giving you permission to upgrade me, Alexander Luthor."
The King of the Cons had never felt like this man could be an ally. Ever since he had poked his fleshy nose in Cybertronian affairs, the "Justice League" that seemed intent on protecting the world had started to meddle, as well.
Now, Megatron was starting to cook up ways to exterminate the human race in such a painful way that the would-be meddlers would be begging him for death by he time he was done with them.
::Ah, I see they haven't kicked in yet:: The bald human on the monitor gave an evil smile of sorts, then unclasped his hands and snapped his fingers.
Instantly, Megatron felt something invade his processor. That set off so many traps and firewalls that the gladiator was certain that the human-made virus wouldn't be able to breach his processor and cause major damage.
Lex Luthor shook his head and made a tsk noise through his teeth. ::Incredible defenses, but not strong enough::
Megatron let out a yell of pain as his firewalls were suddenly breached at once, the intruder spreading out through his databanks of memory. His vision started to flicker. He attempted to punch the monitor in front of him, but his arm wouldn't respond. Something...no, someone was taking away his control.
Lex Luthor smiled, his brown eyes flashing an entirely different color for an instant. "The Autobots are not going to fall by your hand alone, like the Justice League won't fall by mine alone. Since they have shown proof of working together...we should work together, as well."
Megatron shook his helm. Control over his limbs was returning...why had he even lost control in the first place? His processor was blank where the last few moments of memory should have been.
Except...
"Perhaps you are right," Megatron stated, looking coolly at Lex. There was a knowing smirk on the human's face, but the Decepticon paid it no heed. "We may be able to destroy our enemies by combing our resources."
The knowing smirk widened slightly, but not enough for it to turn into a grin. "Indeed. Let us see about destroying everything that our enemies know..."
Uh-oh. What are Megatron and Luthor up to?
Maria: Nothing good, that's for sure.
Any reason why you're invading the author's notes?
Maria: Just watching what you're doing, that's all. At least you're getting something done with my stories. I'm looking forward to seeing you get this thing finally done and get through this thing. See ya. *poof*
Okay...that hasn't happened to me before.
Well, I'll see you guys later!