15.
San Francisco
September 22
19:37 UTC
Flying in a wide arc, Cassie, now going by the moniker Wonder Woman, took hold of her golden lasso and threw the end out to snag a passing block of broken concrete. A car with its alarm blaring flew at her, but instead of dodging it, she held out a fist and threaded her body through it, sending the doors flying as she emerged from the other side.
Debris kicked up as the blonde heroine banked to one side as a massive foot came crashing down. High above her, the foot's owner, a brunette woman going by the name Giganta, let out a roar as she took a swipe at the current Superman, Conner Kent, as he ran distraction along with his wife, Mrs. Martian.
Working as one, the trio had successfully cleared most of the civilians away from the area while the others took cover. It was rare a villain, even one that was a hundred yards tall, to attack a city like this. Most of the criminals with Meta powers had gone into keeping their profiles low, crimes at a more covert level. For someone to cause this much destruction was suspicious, or at least it would be had it not have been for the giantess shouting about her reason of causing such a ruckus.
"Larry!" Shouting loud enough to brake windows, and make the three heroes cover their ears, Giganta shook a bus she had just picked up. "Larry! Get your cheating behind out here, you little coward!"
"All this over an unfaithful boyfriend?" Superman asked as he shoulder rammed into her jaw. "You should just move on."
"Not that easy," Mrs. Martian said as she levitated each of the nine passengers of the bus falling out. She carefully sat them on a building's roof far enough away before rejoining the fight.
"Just saying, there are better ways to go about this than trashing a city." Superman told her.
Holding her arm up with a clinched fist and her forearm facing a car, Mrs. Martian blocked it from hitting her and threw it back at Giganta. "But you have to admit," she then phased through a backhand as the giant woman attempted to return the hit, "she's a woman scorned, nothing rivals that."
"Scorned? "Scorned?!" Giganta yelled. "He cheated on me!"
"I'll take your word for it." Superman yelled back. Blasting Giganta's incoming hand with his simulated heat vision, Superman was ready to deliver a hit to her temple to knock her off balance when he heard a whistle.
"Superman, now!" Flying past the Kryptonian, Wonder Woman passed a length of her lasso to him.
"No questions!" Superman shouted at his wife. He still hated the lasso's effect on whoever holds it as it forces them to tell the truth. Every time he came into contact with it, it never failed that someone had to ask him a question and confess something he would rather keep secret.
Pulling hard on the unbreakable rope, both powerhouses brought the plan to its conclusion. Growing taught, the lasso snapped through parking meters, sliced through cars, coming from all directions and snared Giganta's legs. It had to be hidden as the large woman had a history fighting the previous Wonder Woman and knew her tricks, but with Cassie as the current champion of the Amazons, she now had to contend with new strategies she had not encountered before, a little new with something old.
"What? Uh, naaagh!" Falling forward, Giganta flailed her arms as she was tripped up, her legs being snared by the mystical rope both Conner and Cassie used.
Swooping down, Mrs. Martian used her telekinesis to slow the giantess' fall. Bound in the mystical rope, Giganta shrank back to her normal height with the glowing binds doing the same until she sat on her knees in the middle of the street. With the three heroes joining her to take her in, they were surprised to find she was actually crying.
"Get up," Superman told her as he grabbed a power nullifying bracelet. The device was a step up from the collars used to cancel Metahuman powers and were much easier to carry.
"He cheated on me," Doris, Giganta, said through sobs. "He cheated on me. With a woman. That used to be a man."
Maybe it was the absurdity of the situation, but Conner actually cracked a smile but fought to keep it hidden. He was then elbowed in the ribs by Wonder Woman as his wife gave him a sympathetic look.
"Men," the blonde Wonder Woman said then knelt beside the crying woman.
"I just wanted someone," Doris confessed, still in the rope's mystical hold. "I'm tired of being alone. I thought he was the one."
As both women lent a sympathetic ear and tried to console the once rampaging villainess, a balding middle aged man came out of hiding from a porta-potty near a partially constructed building. Straightening out his suit jacket, he saw the three League members and his former date in the middle of the street.
"Hey, Hey!" he yelled as he made his way to the group. "Arrest her. Arrest her!"
Turning, the super powered heroes wondered who this man was when Doris yelled him to stay away.
"She tried to kill me," Larry, Doris' date declared. "She threatened to kill my girlfriend."
"You mean boyfriend?" Superman asked flatly.
"My sexual preference is my own, Mr. Man. And I thank you for not-"
"You could have told me you were gay!" Doris shouted. "I told you about me!"
"Listen," Mrs. Martian said, "this is really not the right place for-"
"And I accepted you," Larry told her.
"You still cheated," Doris shot at him.
"Look," Wonder Woman said, "yes, Doris did wrong, but from the way I see things, you are just as responsible. Now move awa-"
"Oh no," Larry told her. "Don't pin any of this on me. Just because I like women who used to be men doesn't make me the bad guy. At least he knew how to treat a man and didn't nag him like you did. He's the real woman in all of thi-"
Larry's words came to an abrupt end as Superman backhanded the man, knocking him out. The three women saw the man crumple to the ground and lay unconscious then stared at the young looking Kryptonian who simply shrugged.
"Thanks," Doris told him. "At least not all men are dogs. Bet your wife never has to worry about you cheating on her."
"I never would," Superman told her. "I love her more than anyone and would never betray her like that. I take my vows seriously and swore to always be there for her no matter what, and to me, no other woman compares to how beautiful she is inside and out. She's the mother of my child and has only become more precious and amazing to me everyday since and forever will. No woman can or will ever have my heart and because of that, I...I...GRRAGH, I hate this rope!"
Remembering he still held a piece of Wonder Woman's Lasso, Superman threw it down and stormed off.
"Aww, that was beautiful, Supey," Wonder Woman gushed.
"Shut up," Superman mumbled.
"Aww, Conner. I love you too." Mrs. Martian telepathically told her husband.
Just then, the three got a call to report back to Watchtower.
Happy Harbor
September 22
19: 47 UTC
"Stupid, red hillbilly multiplier!" Moving fast enough to create a dust trail, the young, female Kid Flash tried her best to land a hit on the numerous duplicates of the red costumed individual referring to himself as Billy. "Hold still!"
"Try as you might, darlin," Billy taunted as another of his duplicates vanished, "ain't no one gonna put the hands to ol' Billy."
"Eventually you will run out of clones, or twins, or, RAGH, JUST WAIT TILL I FIND THE REAL YOU!" By this time, she had gone through nine more.
Flipping over a large frilled snake reminiscent of a cobra crossed with a rattlesnake, Robin avoided becoming a meal for the creature. Jaws snapped shut as the reptile narrowly missed the girl's ankle, causing it to change shape into a gorilla to grab the Girl Wonder's staff to bring her down. Her tactic failed as it slipped through her hands from being retracted.
"You're mine!" Robin shouted as she threw a pair of bird-a-rangs, which burst to become a net and clamped around the beast. "Lemon peezy."
Shrinking, the gorilla morphed into a rat and skittered out.
"Crap." Robin then grabbed her bo staff and went back to work. This time, it was against an elephant with six additional tusks protruding from its head.
"This is insane." With her water bearers in the form of swords, Aquagirl cut through one of the hands of the ice giant she faced. While the others were busy with their own enemies, she was trying to come up with a plan of action, something to bring the others together as one to take this team of villains down.
Not noticing the sliced pieces of ice behind her melting almost instantaneously, Aquagirl moved in to take the ice creature down when she felt something wrap around her ankle. The momentary distraction a liquid rope provided was enough time for the creature to land a front kick to her, sending her several yards back into the side of the metal stage. Shaking her head, the Atlantan teen got to a knee and took glances of those around her. It only took a second, but she had an idea.
(-)
Above the fight, Raven and Changeling watched as the youths fought a losing battle. Raven shook her head as her green skinned boyfriend rested on her shoulder as a parrot.
"This fight continues like this," she said, "we just may have to intervene before they get themselves killed.
"RRAGH! Not our orders. RRAGH!" Changeling said in his bird form. "Only watch. Vee hoo!"
"Then would you like to explain how one of them is dead, then?"
"RRAGH! Point taken, momma. Vee hoo."
Raven then looked at the green bird. "Poop on my shoulder and you're dead."
"VEET. Sweet talk won't get you nowhere. Vee hoo."
(-)
Back on the beach, Aquagirl signaled to the others while avoiding being double teamed by the ice creature and the walking purple blob. Once somewhat clear, she pressed a finger to an ear com and began explaining her idea.
"Everyone to me," she ordered. "We need to go about this differently."
"And who put you in charge?" Kid Flash asked as she broke off her attack from Billy.
"Shut it, Kid."
"Make it quick!" Back flipping out of range, Robin avoided being hit by a spiked tail from the beast she fought and fired a grapple line, swinging away to the dark skinned girl.
"Man, this is nasty!" Forming an invisible barrier around himself, Zachary watched as the purple slime oozed around him.
"I am for you!" Swooping in low, Supermartian grabbed his friend by the arm and gave him a lift to Aquagirl with Mar'i close behind.
It took barely five seconds for the group to form a plan, minus the newer teenage girl of course, and sprinting into action. Seen as the biggest threat, the ooze monster was attacked first. Kid Flash created a barrier to keep the others at bay, effectively causing a wall of sand to form as Zachary turned it into glass from an intense burst of heat. With the others cut off, Robin threw down several smoke bombs to disorientate the purple creature as Aquagirl formed a large water shield to protect herself and her friends, as well as the new girl, from what was to come.
Flying high overhead, Supermartian breathed in deep with his eyes closed. Having done this only one time prior, he readied himself to unleash a massive amount of heat like his Kryptonian side was known for. With his eyelids glowing red, he powered himself up then opened them, firing a wide beam of heat from each eye, the light from each making his skin semi translucent with a reddish orange tint. The temperature was incredible as Aquagirl's water shield began to evaporate despite her being a good distance away and using a continuous stream from the ocean.
Giving a loud 'ROAR', the purple creature began to harden. Its glowing, green blisters exploded as the teen bombarded it with massive amounts of heat. Unlike last time in the sewer, Supermartian was able to not hold back as much since his friends were not in immediate danger from him. And then, it was over.
As Supermartian ended his heat barrage, he grew lightheaded and began to fall. Moving fast, the new girl flew up to him and caught him by the arms after he dropped a few yards. Those on the ground turned back, expecting to see the other Metahumans but instead saw noting as they had all disappeared.
Aside from Raven and Changeling flying above them, the teenage heroes were the only ones on the beach with a defeated ooze monster, the body of a man lay sleeping in the middle of the puss as the teenagers celebrated their victory.
None noticed the drone flying away at high speed.