4th of July: Washington, D.C. Cadmus Labs
Elementals. Beings of such control over their respective elements, that they could become them. Making them some of the most dangerous beings to have ever walked the earth.
Something that Mark Desmond, chief scientist of Cadmus had been excited about since he was a child himself. Beings of such power had to have existed at one point in the Earths history, and today was the day that he had succeeded in creating his own Elemental.
A little side project of his that he had been working on in secret alongside both projects Blockbuster and KR. Project Element. The ultimate weapon. Desmond knew that he needed a template to start with, so, using the same resources that given to him by Cadmus, he managed to get his hands on the DNA of both Hawkwoman and Wonder Woman. He wanted his weapon to have the same warrior instincts that the fierce hawk woman posses and the strength the Amazon had. Plus, the wings would give his weapon the look of an Angel of Death.
He realized the ramifications of the board of directors were to find out about his using the company's resources to create his own weapon that would obey only him once the Genomorph Gnomes started to implant behavior modifications into the weapon so that he could control it more easily. That's why he had hidden his little project away from prying eyes, and in plain sight as well. A secret door in the walls surrounding one of his other Projects room.
At the moment, Desmond was currently working on project Blockbuster. He had just finished another serum before Guardian, Cadmus chief of security came in. "Dr Desmond."
"Tell me Guardian, what part of 'no interruptions' did you not understand?" Desmond Spoke condescendingly as he placed a vial of glowing blue substance into a cryogenic tube that was labeled 'Blockbuster'.
"A G-Gnome on sub level 26 reported that they saw 3 intruders." Guardian Spoke up as he looked at the Doctor, as he sat in his chair.
Sighing, Desmond then asks the chief of security a question. "Did I miss a perimeter breach alert?"
"No." Guardian Answers in a slightly bored tone.
"Then the G-Gnome is confused. Whatever might occur in our faux lab above ground, the real Cadmus is the most secured facility here in D.C.".
"My job to try and keep it that way." Guardian said, as a reminder as to why he was head of security.
Sighing, Desmond simply replied; "Fine, take a squad of G-troll and elves to investigate".
Dubblex, the head Genomorph then spoke up from his place from behind Guardian then spoke up,"Perhaps Guardian should leave his G-gnome behind. If violence were to occur-".
"The little guy could get in the way." Finished Guardian.
Desmond then hastily replied. "No. The potential for instant telepathic communication far outweighs any risk". He then began to rub his own G-gnomes head before sending a telepathic message to Guardians gnome.
Once receiving the message, the little creature then began to relay the message to its human host, who gained a vacant look in his eyes before replying in a sort of drone like voice, "I need my G-gnome with me at all times".
Awhile later, the three intruders that were later revealed as the sidekicks known as Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin, had just finished breaking into project KR's pod room, and through a secrecy door, Project Element.
"Ah guys, you might want to see this". Answers Kid Flash as he was looking at just what exactly was project Kr. It looked as though it was a younger version of Superman in a white suit.
Robin, seeing the young Kryptonian in the pod simply said, "Ok, officially whelmed".
Kid Flash walks up to the pod and see's two letters on the teens chest that anyone could instantly recognize, a giant S: The symbol of Superman. "Big K, little R. The atomic symbol for Krypton. Clone?" He Questioned his friends.
Aqualad had the same question on his mind, and seeing the console that laid just in front of the pod before them, he then ordered his friend to find out just what they were seeing before them. "Robin, hack."
Robin, the Boy Wonder, was already near the console when he was given the order. "On it. Here we go. Project KR, Designation: Superboy. Forcibly grown in SIXTEEN WEEKS?! From DNA acquired from Superman."
Aqualad made a correction that he knew would be true. "Stolen from Superman."
Kid Flash decided to put his two cents in. "No way that the big guy knows about this."
"The solar suit that he's wearing allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7". Robin continued.
Aqualad nodded his head to this, before taking notice of the small creatures that were sitting atop of the pod on what looked like little platforms as their little horns were glowing a bright red. "And these creatures?"
Robin hacked further into the console before he came upon the information that he needed. "Genomorph Gnomes. Telepathic. Their force feeding him an education."
"And we can guess what else. This is so wrong. Their making a slave out of, well, Superman's son." Kid Flash Said, with a hunt of pity in his voice.
Aqualad then spoke up with grim determination in his voice, and on his face, "Now, we call in the League."
After that was said, all three of them pressed their coms so that they could get in touch with their respective mentors, only to get static.
"We're In to deep. Literally." Kid Flash Said in an ominous tone.
Outside of the sealed door.
G-elves, Guardian, Dubblex and the female scientist who was in the middle of leaving Project Kr's room when the intruders locked themselves in. She was in the middle of trying to short circuit the doors, so as to bypass the emergency lock.
Dr. Desmond slightly jogged to meet the group. "They're still in their? With the weapon?" He questions indignantly, while also hoping that the three sidekicks didn't find his personal project.
"We can't get the door open." Guardian Answers as the female Doctor continue to try th short out the door.
Desmond then turns his attention to the head towards the head Genomorph known as Dubblex. "Use your telekinesis!"
"I have already tried. To no avail." Spoke the Genomorph with his apathetic tone.
"Useless. This is a debacle. Get some G-trolls down here to try and muscle the door open, now." Orders Desmond.
"They are already on their way." Guardian said, showing to the doctor that he wasn't a complete idiot.
"You realize that once we manage to get in their, we can't ever let them leave." Desmond replies while looking seriously at Guardian.
"Doc, these aren't your typical group of meddling kids. You don't want to get on the wrong side of the Justice League." Guardian was an The man in front of him.
"Better then getting on the wrong side of the Cadmus board of directors, believe me." Said Desmond as he began to contemplate about what to do before he looked at Guardians G-Gnome. He then gave it an order, "Contact the G-Gnomes inside of Kr."
The G-Gnomes horns then began to glow, showing that it was carrying out its orders.
Back inside of Project Kr's room.
Kid Flash looks up at the clone in the pod, not taking notice of the G-Gnomes horns glowing, before he turned his attention back towards his commrades and said, "This is wrong."
Robin agreed with his frien before stating to Aqualad, "We can't just leave him like this."
Aqualad looked as though he was about to agree before he saw something that seemed suspicious. It was a slight discoloring that one of the walls seemed to have. Barely discernible unless you were really looking for it. He then made his way over to the wall,drawing the attention of his friends who were confused by what he was doing.
As soon as Aqualad was within touching distance of the wall, he began to make a feel of it, and discovered that it was camouflage that was made to look like the rest of the room. As he teared away at the camo, all three were shocked to find out that there was a hidden door in the room.
"Allow me." Said Robin as he began to hack away at the door. So far as to what he could tell, this door was even more encrypted than the files for Superboy.
Whatever was in the room, must have been really important. As soon as the door was open, they were treated to the sight of another pod. And in that pod was what looked to be a 17 year old boy that seemed to be standing at 6'3. He had Caucasian skin and raven black hair with a lock of red in it that looked to be held in a ponytail. A somewhat muscular build that could be defined by the skin tight black suit, similar to Project Kr's that revealed a solid six pack.
"Another clone?" Questioned Kid Flash as he sped over to inspect the new discovery.
Robin then began to hack into the console, which seemed to take him five minutes due to how encrypted the files were. "Got it! Let's see here... Project Element. Subject has the power to control water, earth, fire, air, not to mention light and darkness! Whoa! It says that he can even become them."
Aqualad, hearing this was now even more convinced that Cadmus was was making weapons. But what was said next would shock him.
"It says that the DNA that was used as his template was from Hawkwoman and Wonder Woman. And he's been force grown in 12 weeks." Robin Exclaimed while both Kid Flash and Aqualad looked shocked, but also confused as to one thing.
"If he is Hawkwomans clone, why doesn't he have wings?" Kid Flash Said as they could clearly see that he didn't have any wings.
"It says that he can actually retract his wings into his back." Robin explains as he began to look through the logs. "And that's not all. It says that he's been given an force fed education like Superboy, but it's not complete. Basically he's a newly hatched teenager."
Aqualad couldn't stand by and let these poor beings remain in captivity. "We must free them."
"Yeah, no kidding. Let's get Superboy first. We might need the muscle,just in case." Suggests Kid Flash as the other two nodded their heads, and retreated back out of the door to free the captive Kryptonian.
Once they were out of the door, and were back in Superboy's pod room, they were met with an enraged Kryptonian, who sped to the group before slamming Aqualad onto the floor and began to slam his fists onto Aqualads face before both Kid Flash and robin tried to restrain him all the while saying, " Whoa, hang on there Supey!"
"We're on your side!" Robin desperately added as the two tried to keep the clone from pummeling their friend.
Superboy, however had different plans. He slipped his right arm out of Kid Flash's hood and gave him a fierce uppercut that sent him crashing through a glass tube and into unconsciousness as soon as he hit the floor.
"I don't want to have to do this." Robin warms the clone before he took one of his gadgets in his utility belt and threw it into the Kryptonians mouth, revealing the gadget to be a smoke bomb, which caused Said alien teen to begin coughing from the sudden change in inhalation of air and smoke.
Aqualad then took the initiative and kicked the clone away from him and ito the console that had been used to control his pod. Destroying it and causing him to flip over it until he was at the feet of his pod.
Robin then pulled out a modified taser at the same moment that Superboy staggered to his feet, coughing from the residue of the smoke. Robin then fired the taser cables that attached to Superboy's chest, and began to electrocute him, not that it worked thanks to the invulnerability that his species had.
Superboy then took ahold of the cables and used them to pull the Boy Wonder to him, surprising said hero before the Kryptonian grabbed the front of his costume and slammed him onto the ground, causing him to groan in pain from both being slammed into the metal ground, and the fact that the clone had begun to stand on his chest with his right leg.
Superboy then grabbed ahold of and tossed the still electrifying cables away from him, unknowingly in the direction of Project Elements tube in the other room. And when the cables made contact with the console that controlled his pod and electrocuted the controls and short circuiting the systems, unknowingly sending a small pulse into the clone and causing a small amount of movement from him and slowly awakening his brain, that wouldn't until much later lead to the birth of a new legend in the making.
Back to the fight when Superboy tosses the cables away, Aqualad saw how his teammate was being used as a footstool and was angered by this. So, taking his waterbearers of of his back and manipulating the water that was I reserved containers in his uniform, molded said water in a giant war hammer before leaping at the Kryptonian and swung said hammer while yelling, "Enough!"
When the hammer made contact, Superboy was flung backwards onto the metal bed that was used for his pod, damaging it and leaving an imprint on it.
Aqualad then put his waterbearers back in their respective sheathes and then began to try and help his teammate, who was groaning sit up and tried to help him, only for said Boy Wonder to groan a little more before falling to the floor, unconscious.
Aqualad then heard footsteps and saw the clone making his way towards the sole person who was still conscious. Aqualad then stood up and held his right hand forward in a sort of placating gesture before saying, "We are trying to help you."
Superboy simply kept the stoic look on his face before frowning angrily and super sped his way over to the Atlantean and tried to punch him into the ground, only for Aqualad to jump out of the way, causing Superboy to miss.
The two then began to throw punches and kicks at each other before Aqualad managed to latch himself onto Superboys back and began to try and electrocute him.
Superboy then used his super strength in his legs and launched himself and his passenger up to the ceiling, slamming themselves into it, with Aqualad taking the full briny of the impact. When the two fell to the ground and Superboy saw how his passenger was still conscious, leapt up once more before they impacted the ceiling again, causing Aqualad to let go to to the pain and both fell to the floor. Superboy on his feet and Aqualad in his face.
Once Superboy stood up and saw his opponent was out for the count he made his way over to the door to his room and forced it to slide to the side, surprising the occupants on the other side.
Desmond seeing this, smirked before he strode forward and saw how the three intruders were handled before turning his attention to the clone and said, "Attaboy."
He then surveyed the damage before noticing that, to his horror, his personal experiments door had been found and opened. He then ran towards it and when he looked inside and saw how there were electric cables that were still short circuiting the console, began to fear for the worst. So, using a wooden pole that was nearby, Desmond then swatted the taser cables away and began to try and assess any damage that his perfect creation might have suffered.
Seeing none, he breathed a sigh of relief before noticing that Guardian as well as Dubblex and the female scientist from earlier were now inside of the room as well, sent a telepathic command to his G-Gnome that would surprise the memory of his personal Project from Guardian and the female scientists minds. Turning his attention to Dubblex, he simply said and ordered him, "Speak of this to no one."
Dubblex simply stared at Desmond and the being in the pod before stating while nodding his head, "Of course, Dr Desmond."
Then all four of them left the room and closing the door behind them, never noticing how the Clones hands and eyes twitched.
Later on.
It had been a couple of hours since the incident with the fire and the releasing of Superboy, and now Dr Desmond was about to have a conversation with his bosses. The Light.
As he stepped forward into the center of his office, the lighting began to dim and seven screens were being lowered until all of them turned on and revealed seven white silhouettes. These were the members of The Light.
One of the screens then spoke up and addressed the man before them. "Dr Desmond, you require an audience with The Light?"
"Yes. Very sorry to have disturbed you at this late hour." Desmond Said in a slightly nervous tone.
"Just make your report." The screen next to the first one that had spoken from before replied.
"Of course. Well, we had a small fire over here at Project Cadmus. The origin of the incident still remains unclear. But it seems to have attracted some... unwanted attention." Desmond says, with a hint of hesitation in his voice.
He then continued to make his report. "3 sidekicks, Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad somehow managed to breach security. They managed to find and released the Weapon. The Superboy. Of course, the clone is under our telepathic control and, as ordered, turned against his would-be liberators. All three of the heroes are contained and we don't believe that the League knows that they are here. Uh, what shall I do with them?" Desmond Questioned as he looked from one screen to the next at the need of his report, hoping to have somewhat placated his bosses.
"Clone them." The screen on the left ordered.
The screen on the right spoke up after this was said. "The substitutes will serve The Light, and only The Light."
"And the originals?" Desmond drawled out, wanting to know if he was to either get rid of them or keep them on ice.
The screen from before took a second before answering to make its reply. "Dispose of them. Leave no trace behind."
At hearing this, Desmond gave a slight smirk.
Later that night. JULY/5. 00:00
A few hours had passed since the three heroes had entered the secret building and discovered what lay beneath it. And now they were still unconscious, hanging from shackles inside of pods like the one they had found Superboy in. But now was a time of action and not rest.
A mysterious voice then began to ring out within all three of the heroes minds. "Time grows short. You must awaken. You must awaken now!"
Kid Flash gasped when he heard this and awoke, along with his friends to see that they were in pods and that the clone of Superman was simply standing and watching over them.
Kid Flash, not liking the fact that they were being stared at said exasperatedly, "What? What do you want? Quit staring like that. You're freaking me out!"
"Uh KF, how about you not tick off the guy that can fry us all with just a look." Robin Spoke up with a sarcastic, utter serious tone in his voice, causing Kid Flash to look his way.
While the three heroes and one clone began to talk about being their own persons, Desmond was on his way to Kr's former room while giving orders to the female scientist from before. "Prepare the cloning procedures fro the new Project Sidekick, now."
The scientist simply nodded before going a different direction as Desmond was coming up on Guardian, who was surveying the repairing of the door to Project Kr's room, which was being done by the use of a few Genomorphs.
"Almost done here, Doc." Guardian replies seeing his boss.
Desmond also came down here to check up once more on his project. As soon as he was within the opening of the door, he saw that his Projects door was still closed, which relieved him, but what shocked him was the fact that the Kryptonian clone was not back in his pod.
Desmond's annoyance made itself present on his face when he rhetoricaly asked, "Where's the Weapon?"
Guardian was confused by the doctors annoyance and simply responded, "Superboy? He carried the intruders to the cloning chamber."
Desmond then became angered by the simple mindedness that the chief of security possessed and angrily stated, "We have Genomorphs for that. Get the Weapin back in it's pod. Now!"
Guardian then began to get defensive for the clone and said in a sarcastic yet placating tone, "I don't see the harm in the kids stretch his legs."
"Don't you now?" Desmond Said in a questioning manner before the G-Gnome on his shoulder relayed a telepathic command to the one on Guardian's shoulder before said man held his head as he was feeling the mental intrusion before he lifted his head with an angered look on his face and said, "That clone belongs in a cage!"
Desmond watched as Guardian stalked his way angrily towards the cloning chambers, before he made his way over to Element's door and opened it with his password and saw how his creation was still in stasis and was not awakened by what had happened earlier.
Sighing with relief, Desmond then locked the door and began to make his way down to where the cloning chambers were, not knowing that Dubblex had been watching the doctor from the shadows. Dubblex input the same password that he had seen Desmond put in before making his own way into the room and gazed up at the being before him. He then spoke out loud, since he could tell that the clone was faking being asleep, "It is safe for you to open your eyes. Your creator is not here at the moment."
After that was said, Element then opened his eyes to reveal them to be heterochromia eyes. The eye on his left side was a light blue, like that of the sky. The one on the right however was completely different entirely. Like his DNA implies, he had the genetics of Hawkwoman, so it was a little shocking to Dubblex that the right eye resembled that of a hawk, with the iris of the eye being a deep yellow and the scelera in the middle being slitted.
Dubblex saw how the eyes were gazing down at him with an almost questioning look in them, as though asking him who at what he was. Dubblex decided to introduce himself, "My name is Dubblex. I am a Genomorph, the same as you, created to help in the running of Project Cadmus. A genetics lab in Washington D.C."
Element simply stared down at Dubblex with a neutral look on his face. Dubblex knew that the clone before him could understand him, so he continued speaking. "I was unaware of your existence until recently. Do you know why you were created?"
Element simply stated in a soft, yet regal voice. Imagine Hawkeye's voice from One Piece, though imagine it being a little more smooth due to his youth. Love that guy. Also it's his eyes that is Elements right eye. The same with his face. Will even have his name. Ps- I do not own Hawkeye of One Piece, wish that I did though.
"Simple, my brother. I was created to be a weapon, like the one in the room that you came from to enter mine. The exception was that I was supposed to only obey Doctor Desmond, who wanted a weapon that only he could control. Fortunately, when one of the intruders taser fried the system that kept me in stasis and unconsciousness, it also sent a single jolt of electricity into my mind and awakened me. I did not know if I was going to be put back into stasis, so I pretended to still be unconscious when my creator was nearby."
Dubblex, hearing that Desmond created the being before him was further disappointed in the doctor then he was before. He then asked the being before him something that suddenly came to him, "If you have been awake all this time, then why are you still here? You could've easily left given your abilities, yet you stay behind. Why?"
Element looked down from Dubblex's gaze as he pondered this himself. He then looked back up and said, " in truth, I do not know why I stayed. But I believe that it may have something to do with the strange visions that have been going through my head."
Dubblex gave a confused look at the revelation and decided to question the clone before him further. "Visions?"
"Yes." Element replied as he continued. "It starts as though I am falling through an endless abyss of darkness. And there are these strange creatures that dwell in the darkness. And a voice that tells me about how my help is needed on a parallel Earth. But if not that, then what else is there for me to do here?"
Dubblex thought through this and came up with an answer. "You could try and find your predecessor's, the ones Dr. Desmond cloned you from. This way you know of your origins and to experience things that you could never experience through the G-Gnomes. You could listen to the voices and, if it's true, go to this parallel earth. The choice is up to you, my brother."
After saying this Dubblex left through the door while leaving Eement to think over what he had said.
After taking twenty minutes to think over what he was told, Element came to the conclusion that Dubblex was right. He could choose his own path, and not just be ordered around like the weapon that he was made to be into.
The alarms chose that time to go off, giving Element the notion that the intruders might have eluded capture once more, and likely with Superboy in tow. That seemed like the perfect opportunity to escape. So using his power of air, Element literally became it and travel through the vents of his pod until he was outside of it. He then solidified himself before he was back in his original body. Element then began to casually walk to the door that would lead to Project Kr's room and saw how it was locked.
Not wanting to alert his creator as to his escape, Element placed his hand on the door before concentrating on it and found the composition of it to still be that of the earth. So with that in mind, Elements body began to turn into that of the steel that made up the door, proving that as long as it was made up of the element of the world, he could become it.
Element then had another theory that he decided to test. He placed his metallic hand on the door and imagined that he was merging with it. As soon as he thought of this, his hand sank into the door and proved that his new theory was correct as well. So, without a second thought, Element pushed his body through the door and came out of the other side.
Making sure that he was still in one piece, Element then looked around the room before looking up and finding an air duct that was probably connected to the entire building. So without a moments hesitation, Element became tge air itself once more and began to slide through the vents and began to look for the correct path to the world outside.
After five minutes of fruitless searching, Element came upon the sound of what seemed to be fighting. And so, following wheee the noise was coming from.
Element, still in his air form, was greeted to the sight of what looked like the three Sidekicks and Superboy, battling a blue skinned creature that stood at 7'0 tall and had bulking muscles that suggested it to have super strength. It was also bald, with red eyes that had slits in them, like that or a snakes.
But the one thing that caught Elements eye was a name tag that seemed to be attached to the creatures pants, while the shirt was ripped beyond repair. It showed the name and face of his creator, Dr Desmond.
"So this is what became of my creator." Element silently said to himself, seeing what had become of his creator.
The creature made its way over to Kid Flash and looked as though it was about to stomp on him, while Robin seemed to be giving orders to both Aqualad and Superboy, with his enhanced strength, but Element would not have this.
And so, when the other heroes noticed what was about to happen to their comrade, they yelled out his name, "Kid, look out!"
Kid Flash looked up at Blockbuster and for a brief moment, saw his entire life flash before his eyes. But then suddenly, the air vent that was in the top corner of the lobby room blew off its hinges and a solid blast of what seemed like air, slammed into Blockbuster, sending him through one of the columns that made up the room.
"What just happened?" Questioned Superboy, curious as to what had just happened.
At that moment, the air swirled in front of the downed Kid Flash, who was still on the ground face up, until it took shape into the other clone that the heroes came across in the room next to Superboy's.
Everyone, even the mutated Desmond was shocked by who was in front of them. Element then spoke up against his creator, "Not today, monster."
After that was said, Desmond; the newly christened Blockbuster simply roared in anger before leaping to his creation, who simply ignited his right hand into flames before he threw it up into the creature that was above him and yelled, "Fire Fist!"
What was unleashed was a wild pillar of flames that engulfed Blockbuster and punched through the ceiling of Cadmus and into the night sky, acting as a beacon more people to see for a mile or so. It also created a slight shockwave that damaged the pillars that were still standing in the room, but not for long.
For after a few seconds of Element not putting anymore fire upon Blockbuster, said creature came flying down from the sky and through the same hole that he was blasted through, and due to how high he was blasted and the speed at which he came down with, that in turn created another shockwave that completely destroyed the pillars and the entire building began to fall down on top of everyone.
Superboy was about to shield his newfound friends before a dome of pure earth surrounded the four heroes. Confused by what just happened once again, the four teens looked towards Element, who was simply sitting on the floor with a calm look on his face while the rubble from the building fell over the dome.
Robin decided to break the silence by saying in a slightly sarcastic and yet serious tone,while gesturing to the dome that surrounded everyone. "I didn't know you could do that."
"Neither did I. This is actually the very first time I've used any powers over the earth." Element stated as he felt how there wasn't anymore shacking, thus confirming that the collapsed building was done falling over the dome.
Aqualad, though shocked that this was the first time that Element used such a power, he shouldn't have been surprised. He is just 12 weeks old. "How are you here? Last time that we saw, you were still inside of your pod and in stasis?"
After this was asked of him, Element simply gave the four heroes the same explanation that he gave the head Genomorph from earlier. Needless to say they were shocked that he was able to think of this on his own.
After this was said, Element then wave his hand, and made the dome of earth push upwards, getting rid of the gravel that had fallen on top of the dome from the falling of the building. As soon as the dome was opened, the four heroes were greeted to the sight of a demolished building and just a few feet away, the defeated form of Blockbuster, who was still steaming from the intense flames that once covered his entire body.
Aqualad then took that moment to say, "We-we did it."
Robin then sarcastically asked Aqualad, "Was there ever any doubt?"
He and Kid Flash then gave each other a high five, though withdrew when their wrists cracked, due to the strain that they went through.
Superboy simply stood in front of the downed Blockbuster, and gazed down at him with a look of neutrality. He then heard footsteps on his left side and saw Kid Flash, who after standing next to the clone simply gestured upwards for everyone to see the full moon, and said, "See, the moon."
Superboy simply gazed at the moon with slight wonderment at seeing it in person and not just from implanted images.
Element gazed up at the moon as well, but also saw how something vaguely humanoid was flying its way towards their little group. Upon it getting closer, it revealed itself to be the Man of Steel himself, Superman.
Kid Flash upon seeing the Kryptonian simply said in a sarcastic yet serious way, while looking a bit nervous, "Oh, and Superman. Do we keep our promises or what?"
Astonished that he was seeing Superman in real life, Superboy and the rest of the group were astonished to see the entire Justice League as well as they all slowly made a circle around them. As soon as the entire League was assembled, a small group of them made their way towards the young group of teens. It was Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman( She looks like she does in Justice League:War), Hawkman, Flash, Aquaman and Hawkwoman( Justice League animates series, looks hotter than young Justice version.)
As soon as they were in front of the teens, there seemed to be a little standoff that was broken when Superboy stepped to the front of the group, with Element right behind him.
As soon as the two stepped up, Superboy raised the torn portion of his suit from his fight with Blockbuster and revealed the Symbol of The House of El to his originator. Superman, upon seeing this was surprised, and it showed on his face with his widened eyes as he gavzed down at the teen before him, who had a hopeful look on his face. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite what Superboy had in mind, for he saw how Superman's face turned from shock into a stern frown. Superboy had a confused look on his face when he saw this.
"Is that what I think it is?" Batman questioned as he gazed down at the young Kryptonian.
Kid Flash stepped forward and with his hand cocked over his mouth so where it wouldn't show to Superboy, said in a faked whispered voice, "He doesn't like to be called an it?"
"I'm Superman's clone!" Superboy said angrily. This statement shocked many of those in the League, while some just looked at each other.
Wonder Woman than took a step forward until she was next to Superman, and then took a close look at Element, who had a somewhat guarded look on his own face as he gazed back into the eyes of one of his Donors.
Wonder Woman was a little unnerved by the slitted yellow eye that the boy before her possessed. She then spoke, "And who are you?" She asked questioningly.
Everyone turned their attention towards the second new addition to the little group before them. Element simply stared at Wonder Woman for a few seconds before answering, "I am Element, a clone of both yourself, and Hawkwoman."
After that was said, Element then hunched forward for a slight second as though he was in pain before he leaned back and a pair of what looked like angel-like wings suddenly sprouted from his back, surprising many of the heroes. Not just because of their sudden unveiling, but also due to the slight differences that each wing had. The wing on the right side of his back was pure white, but the wing on the left was pitch black.
Batman, hiding his slight surprise, simply said, "Start talking."
For almost half an hour, Robin and Aqualad were telling Batman and the rest of the members of the League what they had gone through and just what they had discovered while they were inside of Project Cadmus.
As they were telling their tale, Element noticed how Hawkwoman and Wonder Woman we're stealing glances at him. He simply glanced at them before he nodded in their direction. As soon as they were done telling their story the League decided to convened with each other while a few of them prepared to transport Blockbuster to prison.
Hawkwoman made her way over to Element and soon enough stood right in front of him, with each sizing the other up. Their seemed to be a tense moment between the two and it could be felt. Hawkwoman then spoke the first thing that was on her mind, "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to be a mother to a teenager this early in my life."
Element simply raised an eyebrow and replied, "And I didn't expect to have two mother's. So life is full of surprises."
After hearing this, Captain Marvel and Flash had a quick laugh, along with Kid Flash. All of whom were silenced by the glare the mother/son duo gave them, proving that they really were related by blood.
"Well, I would like the chance to get to know you when I get the chance." Hawkwoman said as she put her hand on her hip.
Element said nothing at first before a small smirk made it's way onto his face and he replied with, "I'd like that."
Hawkwoman then gave him a somewhat awkward hug, which he didn't return at first, having not expecting it, but was soon reciprocated.
She then made her way over to her husband and along with the two Green Lanterns and Captain Atom began to transport Blockbuster to Belle Reve.
Superboy, who was next to the ones who had liberated him from captivity, looked off to the side to see Superman talking with Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter. Manhunter then placed his hand on the Man of Steels shoulder before he motioned with his head that he needed to Superboy, and he looked over, Said clone looked away.
As Superman made his way over to his new family member, Superboy looked up at him and said in a neutral tone, which caused Superman to slightly flinch, since he didn't really make a good first impression. "What happens now?"
"We'll uh... we'll figure something out for you. The League will, I mean. In the meantime, I uh... better make sure they get that Blockbuster creature squared away."
With that, he flew off, leaving the disappointed clone behind. Superboy just looked down at the ground before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see that it was Element who was comforting him. "Don't worry, he just needs some time. I'm sure he'll acknowledge you soon enough."
After hearing these words of encouragement, Superboy gave a small smile at that.
Batman then chose that time to step forward with the rest of the League behind him while saying, "Cadmus will be investigated, all 52 levels. But let's make one thing clear-"
"You should've called." Flash says while interrupting Batman.
"End results aside, we are not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again." Batman told the group that stood before them.
"I am sorry, but we will." Aqualad Said as Kid Flash and Robin stood on either side of him, Superboy was behind Robin and Element simply sat on a piece of rubble near the group.
"Aqualad, stand down." Aquaman said to his young apprentice.
"Apologies, my king. But no. We did good work here tonight, the work that you have trained us to do. Together, on our own, we forged something powerful, important." Aqualad related to his king, who was surprised since Aqualad never disobeyed his king before.
"If this is about your treatment at the Hall, the three of you-" Flash began to say before he was interrupted by his own apprentice, "The Five of us and it's not."
Robin then stepped forward and began to relay what he felt had to be said, "Batman, We're ready to use what you taught us. Or why even teach us at all?"
Superboy then spoke up, and with a look that everyone recognized as that of Superman's when he has his mind made up, "Why let them tell us what to do? It's simple. Either get on board or get out of the way."
After a few seconds of silence, Element decided to speak up. "I'm afraid that you will have to make that journey by yourselves, my new friends. For my journey is elsewhere."
Everyone was surprised at this revelation and were even more shocked that he wasn't staying. Batman though, was suspicious of the clones words.
Hawkwoman, surprised that the son, clone or not in her eyes at least, was saying that he wasn't going to be staying, asked him; "What do you mean that your journey is elsewhere?"
"I'm going to take a trip to another world. And not just be stuck here, while a man dressed like a bat looks at me with suspicion." Element said as he took note of the Dark Knight looking at him with suspicion in his eyes, which Hawkwoman saw, and was a little pissed that Batman was glaring at Element, as though he had done something wrong.
Hawkwoman simply turned back to the boy in front of her, before remembering something that he had said that was a little confusing to her. "What do you mean by a trip to another world?"
Element simply said, "There are multiple worlds, some that are similar to ours and yet different in the slightest of ways. And I'm going to one of them."
After that was said, Element turned away from his biological mother and held his right hand out and focused his power over darkness before he open up what looked like a swirling tear of swirling shadows that radiated an ominous feeling.
After that was done, Element slowly made his way towards the tear before he was stopped by Hawkwoman, who asked him a question, "Will you ever come back?"
Element simply stood in front of his Door of Darkness before turning his head so that he was facing all of the heroes that he had met and focused his attention on his biological mothers and said with pride in his voice, "Of course, we still have to get acquainted later on, don't we?"
At that, Wonder Woman and Hawkwoman gave him happy smiles, which he returned before turning back to the door that he made.
Before he passed through the portal, Element looked once more at the newly made team of heroes and his mothers. And with a smile etched on his face, Element fully passed through the portal of pure darkness, and embarked on his new journey to a new Earth that was unaware of the new hero that was about to walk its surface.
Corridor of Darkness
As he was passing through the vast darkness that he entered, Dusk began to notice strange creatures that were scurrying about. They had small bodies that seemed to be made of darkness. Deep yellow eyes and antenna on their round heads.
Suddenly, one of the creatures tried to jump at him, but was instantly repelled by a wave of wind that Dusk summoned from his hand.
Once he had done that, the creature righted itself from its downed position and began to slowly back away from Dusk, in a sort of submissive manner, which confused him as soon enough, the rest of the creatures started to back away from him as well until they gave him a wide berth.
"Rather peculiar creatures, aren't you?" Dusk rhetorically asked out loud.
Dusk, figuring that it was better that he leave so that the creatures wouldn't be afraid of him, soon saw a light a little ways away from his position ever since he had started to roam in this world of Darkness. As he made his way to the light, he saw how the creatures stayed even further away from it.
As soon as he was in front of the light, Dusk noticed that the light was actually a door that had designs on it of a strange city that had what looked like a strange orb of light floating above it, with strange stone tablets with what looked like faces carve
"Perhaps this is a door to another world. One way to find out." Dusk said to himself before he pushed on the door and was greeted to the bright light before he was able to adjust to it and was greeted to the sight of what looked like a cavern of some sorts.
Figuring that there was more than what he saw, Dusk fully stepped through the door, unknowingly allowing one strange creature that was different from the ones before to pass through before the door was shut.
Unknown Cavern
Dusk was pleasantly surprised to see that he was now inside the cavern that he had glimpsed before when he had opened the door.
Feeling slight movement from behind him, Dusk turned around, and was greeted to the sight of another one of those strange creatures, but this one seemed different than before. It looked like the creature that he had hit from before, but it seemed like it was slightly different. It looked as though it had grown a couple of inches, and was slightly leaner than before as well. (Neoshadow Heartless).
At first, Dusk thought that he was going to have to defeat this creature like he did the last one that had tried to strike him in the dark dimension that he had just exited. But he was surprised at how the creature only seemed to be standing still, as though it was waiting to be given an order.
Having a theory, Dusk tried to give the creature an order. "Come stand next to me."
After that was said, the creature did as it was told and made its way over to Dusk until it was standing on his right hand side and looking up at him.
Dusk, now knowing that the creature could follow orders tried to see what else it could do. So he decided to give the creature another order, "Show me what you are capable of."
After that was said, the lean shadow creature then began to move at slightly fast speeds. Not as fast as Kid Flash had moved at, but close enough. It then showed an ability that caught Dusk's attention: it was able to sink into the shadows around it, and with a great deal of speed, strike out from a random position that gave no tell as to that it would be there.
"I believe that this is the start of a good partnership my friend. Now if only I could tell what you and your friends are." Dusk proudly comments to himself before asking himself the question that had been on his mind ever since he first encountered the strange creatures.
Heartless
That single word came to his mind as soon as it had gone.
All of a sudden, Dusk was suddenly hit by a wave of information that he knew at once that he hadn't had before. In that trove of information was a couple of names and visions of creatures that the names belonged to. Heartless, Nobodies and Keyblade Weilders. As well as how they came to be.
But back to the present, Element simply looked down at the Neoshadow Heartless that was standing before him and realized that he must have a strong heart if that Heartless listened to him. Or it was possible that his untapped power of umbrakinesis was so great that it also helped to keep the Heartless in line.
Before he could think more on that though, he began to hear voices coming from a tunnel that had a slight beam of light from up above his head.
Figuring that there was no harm in checking out the source of the light, Dusk unfurled his wings and was about to take off when he remembered the little Neoshadow that was still in front of him, which was still looking as though it was ready to be ordered.
Figuring that he could use some company while on his little trip across this new world, even if his companion was a Heartless, simply ordered the creature, "Meld into my shadow, and stay there until I need you."
With that order carried out, Element flapped his pure white and black wings and flew to where the light was and was greeted to the sight of a sight that he never thought that he would get to see, even in his third hour of actually being alive.
He saw the remains of an old city, with a beautiful blonde haired woman in an old Greek triton tied up to a broken support, and a peculiar man in why looked like a magicians blue robes taking what seemed to be some sort of old fashioned key to the front of a big locked door. Element figured it would be best to watch and simply observe for now, and only intervene if his presence was needed. So, withdrawing his wings so as to better conceal his presence, Element observed the events that were about to unfold before him.
——————————————————————————-
Meanwhile everything had been going according to Faust's plan. Although, he never expected for the Amazonian Princess to call her fellow heroes to her aid.
But nevertheless, he had what he wanted.
Faust neared the gates, moving closer and closer towards the key slot, all the while Hippolyta was trying to convince him to stop.
"Please, you have no idea what kind of terror you are about to unleash upon this world."
"I know exactly what I am doing, when I free lord Hades' armies he will reward me with ultimate knowledge."
"Whatever he has told you or promised you is a lie. He will kill you the second you are no longer useful to him."
"SILENCE!" He yelled as he chained Hippolyta to a stone column and placed the key in the slot. He then said said rhetorically, "Now, lets not keep our new master waiting." The gears began to turn and the gates opened, revealing raging fires on the other side. The League bounded down the stairs just in time to see a figure emerge from the fires of the gates firey inferno, walking slowly towards the wall of fire that could be seen through the opening gates.
The figure walked through the door, revealing black and gray armor and a horned helmet.
Hades stood in the land of the Living, awaiting the arrival of his long entombed armies and ready to rule the world with an iron fist. He then spoke in a jovial and ominous tone, "Free at last!"
Faust bowed deeply to him and spoke, "Welcome Lord Hades, your humble servant has returned. To honor you, I've brought an offering."
Hades looked down impassively towards the groveling man and then towards where he was gesturing, and was greeted to the pleasant sight of the chained up Queen of the Amazons.
"Do my eyes deceived me?" Hades asked as he walked closer to Hippolyta. "Can it be my dearest Hippolyta, here to greet her lord and master on his triumphant return?"
He removed his helmet, revealing a handsome man with wavy black hair and beard, and cruel, cold eyes.
"Ahh, But you know what I mean," he said as he leaned closer to Hippolyta.
Hippolyta looks down at the ground from her bound position in disgust and rememberance before stating, "Not a day has passed that I haven't been reminded of your treachery."
Unknown to them, the heroes were sneaking towards them, hiding behind the pillars, boulders and stalagmites.
"That's Hades?" Flash whispered with a belwildered expression. "I was expecting someone with blue skin, fiery hair and a fork tongue."
Hades began to run his right hand almost lovingly along the Amazon Queens face as he was slightly entranced by her beauty. He then spoke almost revering you, "Not a day has passed that I haven't longed to feel the sweet touch of living flesh again."
Suddenly, Hades grabbed Hippolyta's face and leaned forward to kiss her. Before he could touch her lips, Faust got in their way.
"My lord," he said. "I've upheld me end of the bargain; I delivered you your freedom and the Amazon queen. Now where's my reward?"
While they were talking, Wonder Woman silently crept towards her mother, grabbing a sword from a skeleton's hand.
"Of course," Hades said as he lifted his hand, firing it up. "Ultimate knowledge."
Faust eyes shined brightly, looking like a kid receiving a large candy bar. Hades then touched Faust's forehead, but something went wrong. Faust suddenly started withering away, aging very fast.
"Ultimately, pain and suffering are all men will ever know," Hades said with a cruel smirk as Faust became an old man.
"Good Lord," Superman said as he saw what happened.
Suddenly, Wonder Woman jumped up from behind the pillar and swung her sword towards the shackle, breaking them.
Hades was too surprised to do anything as mother and daughter ran away from him.
"Hurry, mother!" Wonder Woman exclaimed, pulling her mother with her.
"Hippolyta, you didn't tell me you had a daughter," Hades said as he watched the two of them run before he took a deep breath and fired at them. They quickly jumped behind a boulder, blocking the fireball.
"I wonder if she's as loving as her mother," Hades commented as he appeared behind them with a smirk.
Suddenly, Superman charged at punched Hades on the face, causing him to stumble a bit. Superman charged again, but Hades swatted him aside. The Man of Steel was sent flying towards the pillar.
As Superman fell, Hades suddenly caught a beeping batarang. He looked at it curiously before it exploded. Batman threw another batarang towards Hades, who didn't have a scratch on him. The god just swatted the batarang away, exploding behind him.
Flash appeared in front of Hades, punching at him with lighting fast fists, running around him. Annoyed, Hades breathed fire, causing Flash to run away from him.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed as he dodged the fire. "Someone get this guy a breath mint!"
While he was aiming at Flash, J'onn kicked him from above, sending him crashing through the ground. Suddenly, there was a burst of fire and J'onn was blasted away. Hades stood up from the crater, dusting his shoulders.
Wonder Woman watched as most of her friends got beaten. She pulled her mother up from her feet.
"Are you alright?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Yes," Hippolyta said as she snatched her arm back. "But Hades must be stopped!"
She grabbed a discarded shield and sword before charging at Hades, with Wonder Woman next to her. Hades was starting to lose his patience.
"You fools dare to challenge a god!" he exclaimed as fire burned in his eyes. He stomped his feet on the ground, creating a small shake as the ground below him rose into a small platform. Everyone started looking around the place as the entire room shook.
"Uh oh," Flash commented as dust and rocks rained from the ceiling. Suddenly, hands appeared on the ground and grabbed his legs.
Everyone looked around and saw dead soldiers rising from the ground and grabbing them with their withering hands.
"Behold the fate of all heroes!" Hades exclaimed as an army of dead soldiers appeared in front of the heroes.
"Get them off!" Flash exclaimed as dead hands started grabbing him.
"Hang on!" Superman exclaimed, as he fired his heat vision at the undead.
He flew towards Flash and blasted the zombies off him. He then grabbed the speedster's arm and carried him up. Flash was removing an arm that was clutching at his throat.
"Ugh…gross!" Flash exclaimed as he threw the arm away. He was soon dropped to the ground and soon began to speed his way across the battlefield and punching his way through the army of undead soldiers.
Hades then fired at Superman, who was too busy fighting zombies. Before Superman could react, he got blasted towards the pillar, causing it to break. Flash, who was near the pillar, tried to dodge it, but he tripped and got hit by the pillar. Batman and J'onn got taken out by the explosion as well.
"Bow to me, mortals!" Hades exclaimed, seeing how most of them were already down. He soon began to laugh at the pitiful efforts that the heroes were putting up.
Unknown to the god, Faust still had some strength left in him to stand up and unleash one last spell on the one who had deceived him. He then chanted a spell and hurled it at the unassuming God. "Luminous Daktor."
Hades suddenly screamed in pain from the spell that had struck him. Soon enough, Hades' appearance started changing; his skin became gray, his teeth became rat-like, his eyes turned orange, horns grew from his head, his ears became longer and he had three tongues.
"Now you see his true face," Hippolyta said as the spell stopped.
Hades turned around and growled before firing at the weakened Faust. The sorcerer got blasted away, just at the edge of the gate.
Wonder Woman and Hippolyta leaped at Hades while he was distracted, but the god quickly turned around, swatted Wonder Woman away and grabbed Hippolyta by the arm.
"Don't be shy, my love," Hades said as he lifted Hippolyta closer.
Before he could make another move, Flash, who had gained consciousness, sped towards the God and began to punch all over his body. This only serves to annoy Hades, who simply smacks Flash to the ground while still holding the Amazonian Queen aloft. He then placed a boot on Flash, causing him to grunt while holding him in place. Hades sees a discarded sword and grabs it before raising it above his head, and then says in a victorious tone, "Now die, and join my army!!"
The rest of the League,and the hidden observer, noticing this exclaimed, "Flash!!"
Time seemed to slow down as Hades brought the sword down. Suddenly, and without warning, the hidden Element decided that he had seen enough and that now was the time to step in. And so, without warning a black blur passed through the army of undead soldiers and towards the God and trapped speedster at impressive speeds. The figure then spun in place before launching a kick at the Gods chest, launching him off of the now Surprisied Flash.
Soon enough, everyone, even the undead soldiers stood in shock at the revalation of this new individual. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a young man in a skin tight suit that was completely black. (You all know how what he is wearing.)
The new individual looked down at the shocked speedster, and proceeded to hold out his hand so as to pull him up.
Flash, surprised at being saved by a kid, simply took the offered hand and was pulled to his feet. He then said in a relived voice, "Thanks for the save there, kid. Who knows why would have happened if you didn't show up."
Before anymore gratitude could be said, Hades stood up from his place on the ground that he was thrown into and looked at the one who had dared to attack him. Him, A GOD!!! Soon enough, he stood up and breathed another torrent of intense flames at Flash and the mysterious teen, who upon seeing the attack, threw flash out of the way, while being simultaneously engulfed in the intense inferno.
"NOOOO!!" Diana cries out after catching Flash from his unintended flight, who was also shocked by the seemingly death of the one who had saved his life.
Hades then began to laugh in the thought of killing the one who had struck him but was suddenly stopped by what looked like the fire that had engulfed the mysterious young man suddenly began to swirl around in place before it began to surprisingly swirl above a single point, revealing an unharmed young man, who seemed to effortlessly bend the fire to his will before dispersing it.
Element then spoke up, "Interesting."
Everyone present was surprised that the young man was still alive, and that he was capable of controlling fire. Hades though was cautious of this new individual. He then raised his hand and summoned more undead soldiers to his side.
"Awww man, and I thought we were getting somewhere!" Flash annoyingly exclaimed at the sight of more undead soldiers.
The League, the Amazon Queen and Element stood on one side while Hades and his undead army stood on the other.
"Hahaha! Don't you see? My army is never ending. And you mortals should get used to the fires for I am bringing my kingdom to Earth." Hades cried out boisterously.
Element however simply gave a roar and leapt at the God with great speed, surprising him and everyone, and punched him into one of the massive caverns walls. After slamming into the wall, Hades slid to the ground. He then looked up to the sound of another roar and saw the mysterious teen coming down on his Fallen form and began to rain down punches that actually began to affect the god.
Element had noticed at the beginning how the key could open the doors and allowed the God of Death to be free. So, it was just as likely that removing it should send him back. So as he continued to rain down punches on the struggling god, and while everyone else was fighting the army of the dead, he exclaimed for anyone who could hear him. "Quickly, destroy the key. It can send him back.!"
Hippolyta, hearing this looked to her daughter who was fighting alongside her and said, "Diana, the boy is right. The key may be our only hope!"
Right," Wonder Woman said as she flew towards the key.
Hades noticed her and was about to stop her when Element struck his face once more.
"Enough!" Hades roared as he quickly swatted Element away, taking the elemental being by surprise. As soon as he got to his feet, he saw as Hippolyta charged forward, swinging her sword, only to have Hades broke it with a single swipe of his hand. He then grabbed Hippolyta by the arms and pushed her to the ground.
"You are mine, and mine alone, Hippolyta!" Hades exclaimed, looking at her with the cruel eyes.
"Diana! Destroy the key!" Hippolyta shouted.
Hades turned around and saw Wonder Woman struggling to remove the key from the lock. Hades slapped Hippolyta on the face, knocking her out. He then ran towards Wonder Woman, who finally removed the key.
"No!" Hades exclaimed fearfully at this sight.
"Back to the pit, you monster!" Wonder Woman shouted as she threw the key to the ground, shattering it.
There was a bright light and the portal suddenly started sucking everything in. Hades dug his claws on the ground as Wonder Woman suddenly tumbled in the air. She quickly gabbed on to the lock, clutching on it for dear life.
Batman, who was flying through the air, quickly shot a grappled on a steady pillar to keep himself from getting sucked. Flash ran and ran as fast as he can, jumping over debris that were flying towards him. Superman and J'onn were holding onto a rock, digging their heel on the ground. Element simply fused himself to the ground below the auction force of the gate, so as not to get sucked in.
The zombie soldiers were getting sucked towards the portal, as well as Faust, who turned into dust. Hippolyta, who was still out cold, was flying towards the portal. Hades noticed and caught her in the air. He put her on her shoulders and started clawing his way back. A stray pillar suddenly hit him, causing him to lose his grip. Hades and Hippolyta were flying towards the portal. Wonder Woman looked up and saw her mother going towards the portal.
"Mother!" she exclaimed as she jumped up and grabbed her mother by the arm. She then dug her nails to the ground as they were almost an edge away from the portal. "I got you, mother!"
Suddenly, Hades grabbed on to Hippolyta and started climbing from the portal. Wonder Woman clenched her teeth, feeling as if her arms will be ripped off.
Just as Hades was about to grab Wonder Woman's arm, a great torrent of flames hit him in the face, causing him to let go.
"HIPPOLYTA!" Hades screamed as he fell back to his prison.
Wonder Woman looked up and saw Element, who had his legs fused into the ground, looking at his unassuming mother.
"Some people just can't accept rejection," Element plainly said as he grabbed Wonder Woman's arm. "Now hold on!"
Wonder Woman nodded as she slung her mother's arm across her neck. She then grabbed the young teens other arm. The elemental figure started walking away from the portal, using every bit of strength he has.
"Almost there…" Element said through gritted teeth as the gates started closing. Just as the gates were almost upon them, Element shot out from the ground like a bullet with pure fire pushing out from his feet like a rocket did to achieve liftoff, pulling the two Amazonians with him.
He landed on the ground face first, his arms throbbing painfully. Behind him, Wonder Woman was making sure her mother was alright. The others ran towards them, Flash appearing next to the young man who had saved his life.
"You okay there, kid?" Flash asked as he lifted Element up by the shoulder.
"I'm fine," Element said, groaning.
"Ugh…" Hippolyta said as she opened her eyes, looking at her daughter's worried face. "Is he gone?
"What did you ever see in him?" Wonder Woman asked, looking at her mother.
"Ancient history," Hippolyta said as slowly sat up, holding her head. "Thank Athena it's finally over."
"Is it? What about our Amazon sisters?" Wonder Woman asked.
Everyone quickly returned on top of the island, looking at the petrified Amazons. The night was orange, a sign that the day is near. Hippolyta stared at the statues with grief as Wonder Woman tried to comfort her. Element simply stayed behind the group, not really sure if he should speak.
"Is there nothing we can do for them?" J'onn asked sadly.
Flash's eyes suddenly widened as he grabbed something in his pocket.
"How about we use this?" Flash asked, pulling out the medallion with Medusa's face on it.
"But only Faust knew the spell," J'onn said.
Suddenly the talisman began to glow in the speedsters hand, and seemed to generate enough heat that it actually briefly burned him. "Yeowww!" Flash exclaimed before dropping the relic.
Everyone watched as the medallion glowed as bright as the sun, temporarily blinding them. Once the light died, everyone was surprised to see the petrified Amazonians turning back to normal.
"Okay, what just happened?" Flash asked as he looked around the moving women.
"Faust's enchantment could only last as long as he wield it," Batman deduced.
"So now that he's gone, the spell is broken," Wonder Woman said as she and Hippolyta hugged. "It's a miracle."
"Athena be praised," Hippolyta said as tears of joy leaked from her eyes. She then looked all around at the damage that had been done and sighed sadly. "It's going to take some time before we can rebuild everything though."
Element realized that she was right. A lot of damage had been done to the once great city. But he believed he had a solution. And so, Element closed his eyes in concentration and sudden began to glow with golden light, catching the attention of everyone present. He then began to float into the sky slightly above the heroes and warriors present.
Diana was amazed by what she saw next. All of the rubble that had been cast around had begun to simultaneously collect all around them and the homes and works that her people had worked years on slowly began to repair themselves. Braziers that had been dented were morphed back into their pristine condition and were once more lit with flames. Houses of ruin were repaired as though they were never broken, same with all of the broken statues of the Gods, as well as the broken weapons.
Everyone had looks of astonishment and wonder as this one boy rebuilt their own home for them and gave them hope once more. When everything was repaired, Element floated back down to the ground and lost his golden glow. He then opened his eyes and looked to the astonished looks that he was given and simply said, "Now you won't have to rebuild. Everything is as it was."
Hippolyta and Diana stepped forward and stopped a foot away from the mysterious teen who had not only helped in the resealing of Hades, but also repairing their ancestral home, Diana simply grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. Element was surprised but soon grew a slight smile and returned it. When they separated, Hippolyta and the rest of the other Amazons simply bowed their heads in respect.
"Thank you young man. You have restored our home." Hippolyta said with gratitude.
Element simply nodded his head in return.
Later…
Batman, Superman, Element, J'onn and Flash stood in front of Hippolyta and Wonder Woman. On their sides were Amazons, forming ranks. They were on the sandy shores of Themyscira, having an award ceremony.
"…And for your brave assistance against the sorcerer Faust, and the mad god, Hades, you have earned our eternal gratitude," Hippolyta said, finishing her speech.
"You hear that?" Flash said, smirking at the guard right next to him. "Eternal gratitude. After she hands out the medals, what say you and me take a private tour of paradise?"
The guard just narrowed her eyes at him.
"She wants me," Flash said to J'onn and Element.
"Indeed," J'onn said.
"It would not be wise to encourage him," Element said plainly. "He might live longer if you didn't."
"Before you leave," Hippolyta continued. "Please accept these royal offerings."
Wonder Woman walked down from her mother's side, holding a golden wreath. Next to her, four guard were also holding the wreaths, handing them towards the heroes. Wonder Woman handed the wreath to Element who accepted it with a smile.
"You are all truly heroes," Hippolyta said.
"Thank you, your Majesty." Superman said with a bow.
"Cool," Flash said as he put it on the wrong way.
Hippolyta looked towards the mysterious young man who had revealed himself simply by the name of Element and said, "And we can never repay you for the great act of repairing our home. Thank you, Element."
Element simply placed the laurel wreath on his head with pride and simply nodded his head in respect to the queen.
Wonder Woman smiled at her friends, feeling happy for them.
"Diana, Princess of Themyscira," Hippolyta said, gaining Wonder Woman's attention. Everyone became silent as they waited for what the queen will say. "Stand forward."
Wonder Woman stood up straight, facing her mother and bowed at her.
"As your mother, I am overjoyed that you have finally returned home," Hippolyta said, causing Wonder Woman to perk up a bit. "But, as your queen, I'm obliged to uphold the laws of Themyscira. And in bringing these outsiders on our island, you have broken our most sacred law. This cannot be overlooked."
Wonder Woman and everyone's expression suddenly changed.
"But mother," Wonder Woman said.
Hippolyta raised her hand, silencing Wonder Woman.
"Diana, I have no choice," Hippolyta said as she stood from her chair. "It is with a heavy heart that I must exile you from Themyscira."
"What!?" Superman exclaimed as Wonder Woman's eyes widened with horror.
"You can't do that! She risked her butt to save all of you-hey!" Flash agreed as he stepped forward.
They stopped talking when a dozen spears were pointed dangerously close at them.
"Please, she did all this to rescue you," Superman said, stepping forward. "You can't punish her for that."
"No, mother's right," Wonder Woman said, surprising everyone. "I did break the law, and I humbly accept your judgement."
Wonder Woman and Hippolyta sadly stared at each other's eyes.
"The Fates are against us, mother," Wonder Woman said as tears appeared on her eyes. "Goodbye."
With that, she turned away from her mother and walked away.
"Present arms!" one of the guards shouted. They all lifted their spears, making a passage to Wonder Woman.
Everyone started walking away, except Flash.
"That's it?" he exclaimed, looking at his friends. "You're just gonna walk away? This is so bogus-!"
Batman suddenly grabbed his arm and leaned next to his ear.
"Don't make this harder than it already is," he whispered to the speedster before letting go.
Flash then reluctantly followed the others back to the Javelin. On the hangar doors, Wonder Woman stood in front of the steps, reluctant to take another step. J'onn put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Wonder Woman, with a determined expression on her face, entered the Javelin.
Once everyone was there, the Javelin took off towards the horizon. Wonder Woman looked at her home one last time.
"Goodbye…"
Element looked at his unassuming mother before he placed a hand on her hand. She looked up and saw Element staring down at her with sadness and care in his eyes.
"You still have us, Mother." he said, causing everyone to look at him in shock, but Diana was more shocked at the revalation more than anyone.
Flash then jokingly said, "And I thought things couldn't get weirder."
To be Continued.