Chapter 2- Failed Containment (3rd Person POV)
Shayera was elected to stay behind to monitor the situation. The rest of the League ran to the Reactor Room to figure out what was going on.
When the Reactor Room door opened, smoke net the Leaguers' noses. Coughing, they filed into the room. Red lights were the only source of light. Superman quickly inhaled the dangerous smoke with his powers and left to dispose of the gas. Now free of the smoke, the remaining Leaguers ran to the Reactor's control panel to try and find out what was wrong with the reactor.
Batman reached the control panel first. As he pushed various buttons anxiously, the rest of the League watched worried over his broad shoulders. Several moments later, Batman's furious typing died down and silence filled the room. His shoulder's hunched in defeat.
"There's nothing we can do…" Batman said quietly.
Silence. Tension so thick you can cut through it with a knife. It was John that broke the silence.
"What do you mean there's nothing we can do?!" he exclaimed.
"We can't do anything to stop the explosion. The reactor's going to blow and there's nothing we can do about it!" Batman growled, obviously irritated.
John opened his mouth to argue but a shudder ran throughout the Watchtower, throwing the League to the floor.
As the downed League crawled to their feet, Shayera flew through the open door, Superman right behind her.
"What happened? The panel short-circuited! I couldn't tell what was going on!" Shayera yelled as she flew to help Wonder Woman up.
J'onn answered her, "The Watchtower will explode in about…" he paused, looking to Batman for assistance.
"…in about 5 minutes." Batman finished the Martian Manhunter's sentence.
Everybody froze, scared for not only themselves, but their teammates' lives. Batman brought up his hologlove to his face and typed in a command. He put his hand down and brought his other hand to his ear, turning on his comm.
"All personnel, report to the Watchtower's Reactor Room immediately! This is a Code Red alert!" Batman spoke calmly and coolly, but firmly as he relayed the message to the entire Watchtower.
Almost immediately, the Team filed into the room, all of them out of breath except for Kid Flash and Robin, of course.
"What's the emergency?" Robin asked, always to the point.
Batman, the only person that was more to the point than Robin, immediately answered.
"The Watchtower's going to explode." He explained.
The Team immediately went into shock, freezing in place. Robin was the first to recover, walking over to the control panel where his mentor had been only moments before. He knelt down next to the control panel, pulling a wire out of his hologlove and connecting it to the sparking panel. He typed furiously for a few minutes before he saw what Batman must've saw, a few atoms of what must've been the core element used in the Watchtower's reactor core.
The atoms were working fine but then they started breaking down in front of Robin's eyes, as well as the whole Team. A red exclamation point in a blinking red triangle covered their view of the atoms as they broke down. The hologram projecting from Robin's glove dissolved into static, leaving the Team to stare after where the hologram had been.
Robin, who must still believe that something could still be done about the dissolving stability of the Watchtower's reactor core, typed even more furiously on his keyboard until Batman put a hand on his shoulder, silencing the continuous typing. Robin hung his head and his shoulders slumped with defeat, much like his mentor had done a few moments before. The Team recognized their youngest members' sign of defeat.
The girls gasped. The men stumbled back a few steps, eyes wide. Kid Flash started vibrating. Aqualad's tattoos started glowing. Random pieces of debris started floating, responding to Miss Martian's emotions. The known couples of the Team embraced.
Connor hugged M'gann close to his chest as she sobbed. Kid Flash and Artemis hugged each other, seemingly afraid to let go. Aqualad pulled Rocket into a tight hug, consoling her. Robin did the same with Zatanna, whispering comforting words in her ear.
The Justice League couples did the same. John snaked his arms around Shayera's waist, holding her close. Wonder Woman looked at Batman a bit guiltily before lunging at him, pushing back his cowl and kissing him. Everything froze.
Batman, or rather Bruce Wayne, stumbled back a few steps before responding to the Princess of the Amazons, wrapping his arms around her waist, adopting a similar position to John and Shayera's, who were now gaping at the Princess of the Amazons and the feared Dark Knight as if they had grown a second head.
Wonder Woman pulled away first, looking at Bruce sheepishly. Bruce gaped at Diana in awe. They must've heard the eerie silence and turned to their fellow Leaguers and heroes, still embracing each other.
"What?" they asked in usion, innocently.
Robin then whooped loudly, bringing the attention back to him.
"Finally! I always knew you would come around, Bruce!" Everyone then looked back to the Dark Knight, as if confirming the feared Caped Crusader was actually Gotham's White Knight, Billionaire Playboy Bruce Wayne. Robin and Batman seemed to come to this conclusion at the same time. Batman gave Robin a half-hearted glare. Robin sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
"Um… sorry?" he said.
His apology was interrupted when the reactor core started smoking. Everyone knew it was the end. The couples embraced, clearly reveling in their last moments with their loved ones. They stayed that way until the Watchtower exploded, engulfed in a strange blue orb.
To the rest of the world, it looked like everyone aboard was killed.
