Disclaimer: Aberrant, owned by White Wolf. Incredibles, owned by Pixar/Disney (though Violet is the only character in this chapter). Justice League, owned by DC and WB.

Author's Note: Hey, I'm back. Been working a lot so I haven't had time to write. As usual, this work is unbeta'd which means there will probably be some errors and I will correct them as I re-read the chapter (hell, still finding errors in other chapters that I've corrected more than once). Anyway, this chapter ties loosely to what happened at the end of chapter 30 of "Defiance and Insurrection". If you're reading that story, you know what's going to happen. If you haven't read that story...don't worry...you won't be completely in the dark. This chapter was kind of hard to write because I was being bounced around three different shifts and my sleep schedule was messed up. So I feel like I was sleep-typing half of this. And, just to warn you, you'll be seeing some more "Dark!Davis" in this chapter.

Oh, and for the record, I don't hate Superman or Captain Atom, but I do find both of them to be a little naive about some things...at least that's how I saw it while watching JLU (particularly Captain Atom). And for the record, just saw a couple episodes of Justice League Action...and um….sorry...but let's just say I'm not a fan of that show.


CADMUS HEADQUARTERS

Santa Fe, New Mexico

For a few seconds, neither man said anything, each studying the other for possible weaknesses and trying to figure out how best to take out their opponent. While Captain Atom was certain he had the advantage, he knew he couldn't dismiss this David Flynn as a threat. After all, he had seen the video feed of him taking down Guardian and then using the facilities own automated systems to gun down various security personnel. Yes, this young man was actually more of a threat than he physically appeared to be and the quantum powered hero wasn't sure if he shouldn't just burn the boy down and be done with it.

It also didn't help that the young man simply stood there with an amused expression his face.

"Captain Nathaniel Adam, United States Air Force." David's eyes seemed a little unfocused as if he were reading something that Nathaniel couldn't see. "Also known as Captain Atom, abilities include quantum energy manipulation and all the goodies that come with it." Then he chuckled as he focused on the man still floating in the air in front of him. "Gotta' admit, I really wasn't expecting to run into you."

There was something in the young man's eyes that made Captain Atom feel uneasy. He decided it would be better to force the issue and end it quickly before the young man had a chance to act. "I'll say this one last time," he stated, "stand down or I will take you down."

"Please," David snorted, shaking his head. "Do you even know why they sent you after me?"

"All I know is that you are an escaped criminal from another Earth and you killed a lot of people here."

David couldn't help laughing at that. "An escaped criminal from another Earth, am I? Damn...they really are getting creative when it comes to feeding bullshit to their soldiers. However, I will admit, I did kill some people here."

"I saw the video footage, boy," Captain Atom scowled. "You killed several soldiers just doing their jobs and you brutally murdered the Wildcards team...they were just kids!"

"Really, you want to go there?" David's sharp tone caught the older man by surprise. "With maybe two or three exceptions, most of the soldiers here have no problem gunning down civilians and would have faced court-martial for some of the crimes they've committed while in uniform if they were still regular military; but that's why Waller chose them, she likes having disposable killers. As for the Wildcards, they were a pack of sociopaths and one of them was a fucking child molester, so forgive me if I don't feel guilty for flushing shit down a toilet." He took a step forwards but stopped when a glowing fist was pointed in his direction. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped to a dangerous growl. "So get out of my way, this is not something you want to die for."

"You can't win against me," Captain Atom warned. "You may have enhanced reflexes, strength, and a mental link to electronic networks, but that won't stop me from burning you down."

David nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right. You got flight, super-strength, energy blasts...QUANTUM energy blasts." He raised his hands in surrender. "Damn, you got me."

Then all the lighting in the room activated all at once, going off at its highest setting, momentarily blinding Captain Atom before blinking off, along with the lighting from the containment chamber that housed CADMUS' armored suit project.

"Not." David's voice echoed slightly in the room as the doors to the lab closed. "Yeah, I know you will adapt in a few seconds to get some low light function to your containment suit working. But I don't think it will work for something like this."

The lights suddenly flickered on and off at full intensity, creating a massive strobe effect that made it hard for Captain Atom to see and impossible to stop an office chair that hit him from behind. Though it didn't actually do any damage, it did cause him to involuntarily turn and instinctively fire a quantum bolt in the direction the chair had come from.

"Impressive, I think you just toasted one of the main research terminals," David taunted. "Nowhere near actually hitting me though."

The Captain unleashed another blast of energy in the direction the voice came from.

"Nope."

Another quantum bolt of energy went after the voice's new location.

"And there went someone's experiment about advanced geo-magnetic manipulation."

And yet another bolt in yet another direction."

"Arrgh! You got me..."

Then a metallic object hit the floor, bouncing once before stopping a few feet in front of Captain Atom whose eyes widened in horror when he recognized it even with the violent strobe effect going on in the room. The force from the concussion grenade knocked him back a few feet and sent him staggering several more until he came in contact with a wall that he used to steady himself.

"Okay, punk," he seethed as his eyes started to glow bluish-white and his armored body began to glow. "Let's see how you like being blinded!"

The entire lab was illuminated with an even more intense blue white light that flooded the entire area, overpowering the strobe effect to the point that any normal human in the area would have been blinded permanently.

He waited for about thirty seconds before he lowered the intensity, bringing the light level to a normal level. "Say something now, you little shit," he said, looking around the room for his target who he guessed was now blinded and huddling in a corner.

"Okay," replied a voice behind him accompanied by the sound of powered servo-motors. The next moment, Captain Atom felt something solid connect with the side of his head and found himself sailing across the lab before hitting a wall and leaving a human sized dent in it before he dropped to the ground.

Damn, he thought to himself, I actually felt that.

He shook his head and pulled himself back to his feet. That was when he saw the eight foot tall powered armor now standing in the room, its eye slits glowing a neon blue and the armored gauntlets glowing a similar color while random arcs of quantum energy seemed to dance around a pair of clenched fists.

"Mobile Nanotech Armored Combat Hardsuit," David's voice had a slight echo as it came through the suit's external speakers. "Or Monarch for short. Did you know they initially planned on using you as a test subject for it? Hamilton and the others theorized that it might have been possible for it to be powered by whatever excess quantum you bled off because they couldn't find another power source strong enough to run it...until they took my gauntlets."

Captain Atom's response was firing full charged quantum blasts that caused the power armor to stagger back. He then took to the air and charged right at David, tackling him and smashing through the wall of the lab and four other walls after that. "You talk too much," he snarled as he landed a few punches on the faceplate of the armor's helmet.

A high pitched whine was the only warning Captain Atom received before he was suddenly blasted backward by a blast of energy, not unlike his own. Though it didn't hurt him, it did throw him back at least a dozen yards as his adversary got back up on his feet.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," David said as he started walking the armor towards Captain Atom. "But maybe if you actually listened, I wouldn't talk so much." He brought his right arm up and absorbed a blast that the Captain fired at him. "Case in point, you are a living being comprised of quantum energy and I am a man who knows A LOT about quantum energy and is in possession of technology that allows me to MANIPULATE quantum energy. Here, let me demonstrate."

Captain Atom stood there as David fired at him, figuring he could simply absorb the blast. Instead, he found himself experiencing a searing pain in his chest as he took a blast that was a few times more powerful than what he had fired at his opponent and forced him to drop to his knees.

"Ouch, that looked like it hurt," David quipped. "These gauntlets of mine, they can literally tap into the ambient quantum energy floating around in the universe. Basically, it's unlimited power. Your suit, however, is merely a containment vessel for your body and allows you to absorb and discharge energy...but even it has limits." David brought up both arms, each fist glowing an intense blue-white color. "I wonder how much you can take before you blow."

"No," Captaim Atom rasped as he jumped back up to his feet and lunged at David, only to be caught in an energy field being projected by David's gauntlets.

"On second thought, let's test the durability of that suit of yours is and see what it takes to make a breach, shall we?" With a gesture of his right arm, David slammed Captain Atom up into the ceiling, then fired several quantum force bolts with his left arm the man that sent him blasting through the ceiling and through two levels above them.

Captain Atom groaned as he attempted to get up off the ground.

"Here, let me help you back up." An armored hand grabbed the hero by the ankle and he once again found himself hurtling through the air down a corridor before crashing through another wall.

"You know what the sad part is, Captain?" David asked as he slowly approached Captain Atom who was pushing chunks of debris off himself. "I really don't want to do this. I know you're a hero and you see yourself as an honorable man, a soldier just following orders. Unfortunately, many German soldiers back in World War Two probably thought of themselves the same way as they rounded up a shitload of their fellow citizens, threw them into trains, and shipped them off to some camp to be slaughtered and baked."

With a snarl, the silver armored hero blasted the last of the debris away and scrambled to his feet. "You dare to go there!" He unleashed several energy bolts at the approaching Monarch armor that actually caused David to stumble backwards a few steps.

"Well, well...did I hit a nerve, Captain? Let me guess how they got you, they probably picked a superior officer." He brought up an arm and had one his gauntlets bring up an energy shield that deflected a new wave of energy bolts. "Probably that asshole Eiling...oh yeah, I know about him, his file reads more like a demon's resume. Tell me, did he pull the whole 'patriotic duty' bullshit card that he probably stopped believing in about….oh….thirty years ago? Oh, you must have looked like the perfect sucker to him. Just wave the Stars and Stripes, pay a little lip service using buzzwords like 'loyalty'. 'duty', 'honor', and 'country' and that's all it takes for you to switch sides, right?"

"Shut up!" Captain Atom shot forward, both fists glowing as he threw several punches at David, forcing the Monarch back.

Inside the Monarch armor, David studied the data flashing in front of his eyes.

Interesting, he thought. The bastard's modulating the quantum energy from his physical attacks. He keeps this up, he might be able to breach the protective field and actually punch some holes in the suit...time to put a stop to that.

He suddenly reached out with this right arm, catching the oncoming punch. He then had his right gauntlet channel the equal amount of energy his opponent was channeling.

Captain Atom's eyes widened in horror when David tightened the armor's grip. "What are you doing?"

"Seeing how much of a build-up we generate before we blow," David replied.

"Are you crazy? You'll blow up the entire facility and the area around it!"

David cocked the armor's head to one side. "Hmmm, sounds like a fair trade. I kill everyone here and it prevents you people from coming to my world ever again. Sure, innocents will die here, but I figure I'll have as much sympathy as Waller and the rest of you CADMUS people did for the people on my world. My only regret is that Galatea isn't here to go with us."

"NO!" Captain Atom screamed. He immediately powered down, taking the full blast David was channeling. Though he absorbed some of the energy, there was more than enough to blast him through a few more walls. Pain shot through his body as the excess quantum energy burned through his system. He tried to get back up, but only managed to get to his knees.

The Monarch armor landed a few feet in front of him. "I'd tell you to stand down, Captain," David said. "I really don't want to kill you, but I know you are just too damn stubborn to give up. But I want to ask you a question: do you really think your allegiance to God and Country extends to shadowy organizations like this that experiment on people all in the false claim of 'peace and security' when all they really care about is power?"

"And what gives you the right to judge me like that?" Captain Atom snapped.

"Nothing really," David answered with a shrug. "I'm not judging, I'm merely retaliating." Then he brought one of the armor's gauntlets level with the Captain's head. "But, if it makes you feel better, consider this a battlefield execution."

"And I think you've made your point, David." David turned to see Ace stepping out into the corridor through one of the holes he had blasted Captain Atom through. "You've beaten him, he's hurting, you don't need to kill him."

"I'm wouldn't be sure about that, Aly, he was willing to turn on the League and side with CADMUS." Errant arcs of quantum sparks danced around the now charging gauntlet. "I'll make it quick."

"You're not a monster, David," Ace said as she held up a rectangular object. "There's no need to become one, not when you can go home. Please...you're NOT your father."

For a moment, David didn't move and Captain Atom was wondering if the kid was actually going to kill him. Then the gauntlet powered down as the Monarch armor took a step back. "Congratulations, Captain, you get to live and learn from your mistake." Then he looked over at Ace. "Is that the device?"

Ace nodded as she handed it to him. "Powered up and I convinced the lab tech to program the coordinates before he and the rest of his team fell asleep."

David chuckled as he took the device and mentally linked to it. Within a couple seconds, he had figured out how to program it. "You are a nicer human being than I ever will be, Allison," he said. He tapped a couple keys on the portal device and smiled as a shimmering blue-white hole opened in front of them. "Go on ahead, I'll be right behind you."

"That's far enough," barked a voice that had Ace suddenly shaking in fear.

However, unlike Ace, David felt anger and disgust as he turned to face the direction of the voice. "Director Waller," he sneered at the CADMUS director who was flanked by Flagg and Lawron, "how did you get out that little cage of yours?"

Waller smirked at the young man and snapped her fingers and five figures stepped out of the shadows. "Did you really think I didn't have a contingency plan?"

"Hmmm...wasn't expecting you to bring out the Ulitmen drone clones," David mused. "I also notice that you Flagg and Lawton are wearing those funky headsets to block Allison's abilities."

"And you'll find the drones are also shielded against her influence...and yours." Waller gave him a predatory grin as she pulled out a pistol. "So, stand down, boy, or it gets ugly."

Flynn laughed, taking on an almost sinister effect when it came through the Monarch's speakers. "Really, Waller? You think your clones, a soldier, a washed up assassin, and your pathetic little pistol will stop me?"

"Not really," Waller replied. "But I guess I'll hit you where I can do the most damage." Before David could react Waller's wrist twitched slightly before she fired two shots, the first one hitting Ace in the shoulder, and the next one in her chest.

"No!" David screamed as he scrambled over to where Ace had fallen. He knelt down and propped her up. A momentary flashback tore through his mind as he remembered a similar situation not too long ago when another young lady with dark hair was bleeding out in his arms. "Aly, I'm sorry, stay with me..."

The young metahuman looked up at David, giving him a sad smile as blood started to trickle out of side of her mouth. "David...don't leave me."

"No," David said, the Monarch's helmet retracting back into the armor. "I promised to get you out of here. You're not dying here."

"Surrender, Flynn, and we might be able to save her," Waller taunted as she took a couple steps back and the Ulitmen clones started to slowly approach. "She has maybe a few minutes left. Just remember, it's your fault it had to be like this. Then again, you should have expected this. After all...you hurt my family, I hurt yours."

David's grief and anguish vanished from his face, his expression suddenly becoming a cold mask, his eyes momentarily flashing a bright green. When he spoke, his voice was barely more than a whisper as he took the portal unit and put it on Ace's lap. "Allison, just focus on staying alive for the next few minutes...you'll be safe."

"David...no...don't do it, don't become HIM."

David bowed his head slightly. "It's too late for that, Aly, but I want you to live." Before Ace could react, he mentally triggered a sequence and the portal suddenly expanded around Ace before closing up and vanishing.

David continued to kneel there, looking down at the space Ace had occupied and ignoring the Ultimen clones that slowly approached him. Then a cruel smile formed on his lips as the armor's helmet reformed around his head. "Congratulations, Waller, you just convinced me to kill you."

As he spun around, a tendril of quantum energy whipped out from one of David's gauntlets, ripping the Windmaster clone in half while a concentrated blast of quantum energy from the other gauntlet incinerated Downpour. The electrical powered clone of Juice unleashed a continuous stream of electrical bolts that briefly danced around the ZP field surrounding David's armor.

A moment later, David redirected the electrical attack at the oncoming Shifter who had assumed the form of a giant elephant. Despite being a near mindless clone of the original Shifter, it didn't stop the creature from screaming in agony before leaving nothing but a half-morphed burnt out shell of what it once been.

"Pathetic," David growled as he caught Juice in a quantum field. The clone attempted to escape by assuming a form of pure electricity which David had his field absorb completely before discharging the absorbed energy into the approaching Longshadow that had grown to nearly thirty feet in height. The blast cored the giant clone, vaporizing its chest, lungs, and heart. David kicked in the Monarch suit's thrusters, dodging the falling body of the dead clone and bringing one of his gauntlets up to target Waller.

"Time to die, bi-"

Something violently collided with him from the side and the Monarch's HUD showed minor damage as he rolled with the impact to come back up in a crouch. When he got a look at his attacker, he couldn't help shaking his head in amusement. "Oh, you gotta' be fucking kidding me."

Battered, beaten, multiple fractures all over his containment suit glowing slightly as they leaked out quantum energy, Caprain Atom floated a few feet off the ground, raising a glowing fist that matched the intensity of the glow coming from his eyes. "You will have to get past me, monster!"

David let out a cold chuckle. "A monster? Me? Not yet, but your masters are pushing me to that point." He then had his gauntlets' safety thresholds disengaged, causing them and the field surrounding the Monarch to glow an ominous blue-white. "Time for your final mission, soldier!"

The Monarch's thrusters flared to life, propelling David at Captain Atom as Captain Atom flew at him in a suicidal charge.


The Watchtower

Somewhere in Earth Orbit

Though he had spent the last couple hours watching the comatose form of Lex Luthor, Question refused to leave the room. Lex's vital signs were barely above that of a vegetable, but he didn't trust Luthor, not even in this alleged weakened state. And yet...he couldn't help feeling that he was missing something vital.

Whoever did this to Lex left us with nothing. With the exception of eyewitnesses saying they saw something fly away from Lex's building when it blew, we got nothing. No security cameras got a good shot and those that were nearby on other buildings were either looking the other direction or on stand-by. Almost as if something had hacked them….but who or what would have done that? Brainiac would be the logical suspect, but this was too showy, even for him. Though I suppose he could have done this to throw us off his trail, but he knows we would suspect that. No...this is someone new...this Case Black, as Luthor called them, is a complete unknown.

An alert went off on the bio-scanner as the monitor displaying Luthor's vitals started to spike. Before Question could react, Luthor's eyes suddenly opened and he started to scream. "No!"

"Whoa, Lex," Question said, reaching over to calm the man as he struggled against his restraints. "Easy...you're on the Watchtower."

Lex's eyes widened even more in horror. "No...not there." He started to struggle harder against the restraints even as medical personnel came in to assist in stabilizing him. "Please..Question," he managed to choke out as someone shot him with a sedative. "Binary...Binary Fusion...it's going...going..." Lex's eyes started to close and his body started to go limp.

"Wait, what did you say?" Question pushed one of the medtechs aside. "Luthor, are you talking about the Binary Fusion Reactor?"

"Discharge...cannon...Cadmus...headquar-" Luthor's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he lapsed back into unconsciousness.

"Dammit!" Question snarled as he turned and ran out of the medical bay while tapping his earpiece. "J'onn, we have a situation."

"We are already aware of the crisis in Arkham, but there is little we can do-"

"FUCK ARKHAM!" Question yelled as he continued running down the corridor and made his way to a lift. "The Binary Fusion Reactor is about to fire off a salvo at CADMUS headquarters! I don't give a shit what you and your elite little founders club are talking about. I think this is a higher priority." He jumped into an available lift and hit the button for the engineering deck. "I'm heading to Engineering now, Question out." He ignored whatever Martian Manhunter was trying to say and turned off his earpiece. Then he hit the com button the elevator panel.

"This is Question, Aztek, Mr. Terrific, and Steel report to Engineering immediately, we have a level five security breach. I repeat, this a level five security breach."


Fifteen minutes later, Superman, Batman, and J'onn were talking to Steel while Mr. Terrific and Aztek were reprogramming several data algorithms all at once.

"I was able to rig up a manual failsafe in case they don't fix it in time," Steel explained. "If Question hadn't called us in, this would have been a very different story in another twenty minutes."

"I hate to ask, but how bad could it have been?" Superman asked.

"The entire CADMUS facility would have been taken down to its sub-levels and left a crater about a mile wide and then there would be the damage from the shock wave to the surrounding area." Steel shook his head. "Luthor could have turned the world against us over this, but I don't understand why he gave up this information at the last second."

"Could have been a guilty conscience," Question said with a shrug. "But I'm not entirely certain he was in control of himself when he put this plan into action."

"Even without Brainiac, Luthor probably would have done it anyway," Superman said, giving Question an irritated look.

"Maybe, but CADMUS was too useful of a tool to get rid of this soon," Question countered. "Think about it, Superman. CADMUS, as far as Brainiac was concerned, had outlived their usefulness. Whatever Brainiac had planned, he was about to accomplish it."

"But this 'Case Black' had other plans," Batman said, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he thought of something. "Taking out Luthor would leave an impression on the world, but I'm not sure if that was their goal."

"What do you mean?" Superman asked.

"You're talking about the deteriorating remains of Brainiac, aren't you, Batman?" Question nodded as the pieces all fell into place for him. "This Case Black wasn't targeting Luthor, they went after Brainiac. But that would mean that they knew about Brainiac, which would be impossible. We didn't even know he was hiding inside Luthor."

"But this Case Black did," Batman said. "And the fact they have access to technology that could destroy Brainiac means that they are more than likely not from this world."

"But most of the alien races we encountered are not capable of defeating Brainiac," J'onn said. "Even Darkseid was not able to defeat Brainiac without assistance."

"I don't think Batman was thinking of an alien invasion, J'onn." Question then looked over at the dark knight. "Your guests here on the station and those two idiots currently running amok at Arkham, they're from another Earth, are they not? What if this Case Black comes from their world?"

"It's possible," Batman admitted. "But we need more proof before we can-"

He was cut off by Flash who suddenly appeared in front of them. "Guys, we got a problem," he said. "Something's going on at CADMUS headquarters, we're getting crazy energy readings going off the charts."

J'onn walked over to a nearby terminal and brought up the live satellite surveillance feed on CADMUS headquarters. "Flash is correct," he said as he studied data flowing on bottom of the screen. "There appears to be a build up of quantum energy similar to that generated by-"

He stopped in mid-sentence when the ground in front of the main CADMUS building exploded. A couple seconds later, a familiar figure crashed back to the ground, burning, his containment suit cracked in several places. A few seconds after that, they all saw an armored figure fly up out of the hole in the ground and land several feet away from the fallen hero. The armored figure then started to approach Captain Atom, practically ignoring the gunfire coming from CADMUS ground troops and the circling helicopters.

"Dammit, we need to get down there," Superman said as he started to fly towards the exit.

"We can't do that, Superman," J'onn said. "CADMUS has authority down there. We go down there, we risk a confrontation and that's what they want."

Superman pointed at the screen. "And if the Captain's suit gets breached, the whole area is going to have a meltdown."

"Point taken," J'onn said as he and the others followed Superman to the command center.


Elsewhere...

Ace didn't know where she was. All she was aware of was the pain in her chest where she was shot and the look on David's face before he sent her away. She saw pain, grief, and rage in that expression as he told her to live. She didn't even have to concentrate to read his thoughts since he was practically shouting his intentions. He was going to kill everyone at CADMUS headquarters and then proceed to take out every installation they had around the world. If anyone got in his way, he would kill them as well.

"No!" she called out.

But now...she was no longer in that world. She was falling...or was she flying….she wasn't sure. The pain she was feeling was starting to fade as was her consciousness. She was dying...she knew she had maybe a few more minutes before.

Then the world suddenly snapped into focus and she felt her herself hitting the ground. Had she not been wounded, she probably could have landed on her feet. Instead, she ended up curled up in ball, sobbing softly as she felt her life drain out of her body. "No, David," she whimpered, "don't do this..."

She could barely make out voices. She opened her eyes and saw several people surrounding her. On instinct, she let out a psionic pulse, one that would allow her to scan the surface thoughts of multiple targets. Unfortunately, she put out too much power and she saw them all stagger in pain.

Oops.

Then she saw a young woman with long black hair that she recognizes immediately from David's memories. She knew this woman was a friend and would help. With great effort (and quite a bit of pain), Ace managed to get to her feet. "I'm sorry," she weakly rasped as she stumbled forward. "But I had to be sure."

"Who are you?" the woman asked cautiously, though she didn't back away when Ace approached her.

"A friend of David's...you...you're Violet." It was taking all of her effort to focus on talking.

"Yes," the now identified woman replied. "And you are..."

"I'm called Ace...we need...we...need to...go...back...help…." Then her strength gave away completely, her consciousness fading as she dropped to the floor. But before oblivion claimed her, she felt someone holding her.

"Whoa, hold on, we'll do that. But what are you...oh god! Someone get Nigel, we got a girl with multiple gunshot wounds!"

And then the blackness claimed her.