"It's true! I saw the grave!"
Hal shook his head in disbelief, glancing back into the house, where the Green Guardsman was speaking to the Streak. "But that doesn't make any sense?!"
"I know, but I saw it! The real Green Guardsman is dead!"
"Maybe it's just a case of him being the chosen successor?" Hal queried, "That's how I became the Green Lantern after all."
"And the other graves, the ones with all the other's names on them?" Hawkgirl frowned, "They can't ALL work like the Lantern Corps!"
Hal wanted to deny it, but even he couldn't argue with the facts.
Something was very wrong here.
"Let's wait until Barry and Diana come back." He sighed, "And then we'll figure out what to do."
Speaking of which, where were they?
Barry was never late.
…..
Diana had never felt so humiliated, her head sticking out of a block of ice, unable to even twitch a finger. On one side, she could see Barry's head and on the other, Black Siren's.
She really hated this universe.
"Steve is never to hear of this." She hissed to Barry, who nodded in agreement.
"Just so long as you don't tell Iris."
"Agreed."
They were slid into an obvious villain lair, the villain they'd faced jumping off their block of ice and beaming at his colleagues.
"I believe this entitles me to victory in our nefarious contest. Agreed?"
The other villains all nodded in agreement, beaming, and clapping their hands.
"It was nothing, it was nothing!"
Barry was unable to take it anymore, "So what now Doc? You going to turn us into snow cones or something?!"
"Oh no… I have far grander plans than that. Much grander plans."
….
Everyone was pacing back and forth nervously.
There had been no word from Barry, Diana or Black Siren, and it was way past the time that they should have returned.
J'onn entered the room, sympathetic to how the Justice Guild all jumped to attention at his arrival, worried for their team-mate.
"Any news?!"
"I'm afraid not."
As if on cue, the phone started to ring, with Catman rushing to answer it.
Out of all of them, he was probably the most worried, probably due his closeness with Black Siren.
Unsurprisingly, Streak got there first. "Maybe this is it." He muttered, answering the phone, only for his face to drop at the news.
The Injustice Guild had just robbed the Seaboard City Mint and were escaping by blimp.
"Only they would commit such a heinous act, and on a Sunday! Thanks for the tip Sergeant, we're on the case." He hung up the phone and turned to the others, "The Injustice Guild is on the move!"
"And we should be too!"
The Justice Guild placed their hands in the middle of the circle, before throwing them up into the air.
"LET JUSTICE PREVAIL!"
Instead of following the others, Hal found himself flying to the graveyard Hawkgirl had told him about.
And there they were… a line of graves in a row, all the Justice Guild member's names on them.
Hawkgirl was right.
They were gone.
Which meant that those people who called themselves the Justice Guild were either robots or clones.
He needed to know more.
Ice Cream men had all the gossip, right?
It was easy to locate the truck, landing down in front of it and bringing it to a complete halt, as the driver plastered a fake smile on his face.
"What can I do you for young man?"
"What can you tell me about those graves on the hill?"
The man was silent for a moment for a moment, before forcing a smile onto his face, "Sorry, I've got to finish my route. Can't keep my loyal customers waiting!"
Hal grabbed the wheel.
"I saw you before." He hissed, "You never stopped, not once!"
"… Business has been kind of dead."
Hal grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer, "When was the last time you sold any ice cream?!"
"P-Please! No more questions! He might hear you!"
"Who?!"
"I-I can't say anymore!" The driver wrenched himself free and sped off, waving out of the window at them, his forced smile back on his face, "Have a nice day!"
This was all very odd.
…..
The blimp was easy to find, but with Black Siren, Flash and an unconscious Diana tied to it, they couldn't just shoot it down.
"Why is your friend unconscious?" Tom Turbo queried.
"She can be a bit of a handful." Superman replied absently, eyes narrowing in concern as he prepared to go out and get his team-mates.
Diana had always made vague references to what might happen if she were tied up by a man, and he knew it would only complicate matters.
He had the feeling that even if she were conscious, she would be just as stuck as the other two.
"Holy Hostages!"
As he shot up into the sky, he was followed by J'onn, Tom Turbo, Hawkgirl and Green Guardsman. When they were less than a few feet away from the blimp, the bay doors opened, and the villains launched their defence.
In the end, against accordion blasts and explosive golf balls, it was only Superman who was left, with Catman and Batman on the bike on the ground…and now in a hotel…and now on a hotel roof.
The pair jumped onto the blimp in unison, attached abseiling equipment and scaled down to the doors of the blimp.
"Get Flash and the others!" Batman yelled to him, "Now!"
And then they were crashing through the doors. Judging from the sounds inside, they were dealing with the problem.
…..
Hal headed to the library, knowing that the answers would probably be in there.
Maybe it would just be a case of the title being handed down to the best candidate, a tradition that's passed down through centuries?
He hoped and hoped that was the case.
Entering the library, he frowned when he saw that the lights were all off and there appeared to be no-one around. Heading further inside, he grabbed a random book, opening it up to reveal nothing but blank pages.
"What the- "
He threw it to the ground and opened up another book, to find exactly the same thing. It was the same thing again and again and again.
Blank pages.
"Useless!" He hissed, heading down to the basement to check the newspaper archives. He was unsurprised when the light to the stars didn't work, using his ring to light up the pathway to the archive's door. However, when he opened the door, it was to the sight of nothing but bricks.
Walled off.
He officially had had enough of all this.
Conjuring a giant green fist, he smashed through the wall, switching on the emergency power, only to see an abandoned, derelict subway station. With trains broken and smashed on the track and rocks crumbling all around him, it looked like there'd been an earthquake of some sorts.
It was only when he got closer and saw the bullet holes, that he realised that these were actually battle scars.
Looking down, he saw a newspaper on the floor.
'Peace Talks Break Down. War Near.'
Picking up the newspaper, his eyes latched into the date.
40 years ago.
The date of the last Justice Guild comic.
….
"Hey Supes!" Barry greeted Superman wearily, "Remind me to do a costume update. This lightning bolts need to be pretty AND functional."
"Sharp enough to pop a Blimp?"
"You got it!" Barry then nodded over at Diana and Black Siren, "Ladies first."
Superman nodded, using his laser vision to pop a hole in the blimp (now that he was close enough not to hit either of his friends), and then freeing Diana and Black Siren, carrying them quickly to the ground as the blimp started to head towards the ground at a slightly alarming speed, before going up to get Barry.
J'onn saved the Magician when he fell out of the steadily decreasing blimp, with Catman and Batman getting help from Tom and the Green Guardsman to save the other villains just before it.
The villains were locked in handcuffs and taken away as Ray whooped in glee.
"That was amazing!" The kid went through one long, convoluted explanation, before finishing with a "That was the best battle yet!"
"Indeed!" The Sergeant beamed at them, "The city is in your debt once again Justice Guild."
"You're welcome Sergeant, now take them away!"
As the cops drove the prisoners away, Barry turned to the other members of his team with a frown, "Is it just me, or are those the only two cops in town?"