Chapter 22

A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome back! Thanks for the reviews! And I'm glad to see y'all're still here and are enjoying the story. And I hope this and other future chapters still continue to meet y'all's expectations. Remember, I don't own FNAF or YJ, just the story.

/comms/

Telepathy/flashbacks/whatever

Mt. Justice, October 16, 16:00EDT

Things were tense at the Cave as the team stood on standby, watching the various news feeds flashing across the screens, the emergency alerts flashing brightly as various Leaguers fought the onslaught of enemy invaders.

The alien ship had come out of nowhere, almost instantly beginning its assault. Already they had lost several of the League's powerhouses in the first wave.

And now, their secondary defenses didn't seem to be doing much better either.

On the feeds, they could see it. One by one, each member of the Justice League vanishing in a flash of light.

"Ladies and Gentlemen we have lost Black Canary, Green Arrow, and the Hawks," the news anchor spoke solemnly. "Other heroes reported dead or missing include: Batman, Icon, Superman, Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter, the Green Lanterns, Aquaman—"

An incoming transmission muted the report. /Red Tornado to Cave. I fear I am all that remains of the League/

"RT—" Robin started, only for the line to go dead.

Shocked silence fell over the group of teenagers. That was it. The Justice League had fallen. Leaving them to pick up where they left off. The fate of the world was on their shoulders. The fate of humanity was now the responsibility of a small rag-tag team of sidekicks.

The literal last resort was now in charge of saving the planet.

"We are Earth's heroes now," Kaldur finally spoke up, his voice tense.

Mike couldn't help but gulp slightly at that. Unlike the others, he didn't share their confidence in their ability to win this. These things took out the entire Justice League with terrifying ease. They killed the world's strongest heroes with barely a fight. How the fuck were they—a group of literal teenagers half the size and with half the power and training as the League—going to defeat something that their mentors couldn't stop?

There was no way this wasn't going to end horribly.

"So, what are we waiting for? A theme song?" Superboy growled, turning to Aqualad.

"A strategy," their leader answered. "Earth's weapons are ineffective. And it has been made tragically clear a direct attack will not succeed."

"Gee, I couldn't tell," Mike muttered, instantly regretting the words as soon as they left his mouth. This was not the time to be a smartass.

"Checking satellite imagery," Robin said, typing quickly. Pulling up a hologram of the globe, they all watched as vast swaths of their planet flashed red. "Here's where the aliens are now."

Frowning, Conner stepped forwards, pointing up, "This one get lost?"

All eyes followed his gaze, landing on a single red dot in the artic circle.

"Maybe it's hunting Santa?" Mike offered uselessly.

Robin, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what they were looking at, "It's Superman's Fortress of Solitude!"

"Superman has a Fortress of Solitude?"

The Boy Wonder ignored his teammate's comment as he explained, "Its power source must've attracted the aliens' attention. At least enough to send a scout ship to investigate."

"Must be some fortress," Superboy huffed.

"It does house a lot of alien tech," Robin remarked.

This did not seem to help their teammate as he turned away from the hologram as if he was going to walk away. "Conner—"

"No, it's ok," the clone interrupted M'gann's attempt to comfort him, "I guess there's a lot about Superman I'll never know…you know, now that is."

"We will target this lone ship," Aqualad stated.

Kid Flash was quick to agree, "Yeah. We need to capture it, study it, break it down to build weapons so we can fight back. Hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo!"

Artemis punched the speedster in the arm, causing him to yelp in pain. "Martian and Kryptonian in the house, remember?"

KF's eyes widened as he glanced towards the pair. "Uh…not that all aliens are automatically ugly."

"Good save Wally."

-.-

Superman's Fortress of Solitude, 17:53EDT

The hum of the alien ship's engines filled the air, and occasional gust of freezing wind blowing snow across the frozen landscape. It drowned out the soft crunches of snow as the team moved to encircle the ship, all staying out of sight until M'gann made the first move.

Without warning, the metal of the ship screeched as one of its wings bent under an unseen force. Sparks flying from the metal as it was torn off and tossed to the side. "Communications disabled." The ship fell to the ground, its impact shaking the ice. "Propulsion disabled."

Nearby, Artemis emerged from her hiding spot. One of her arrows hitting the ship's entrance, covering it in a hard layer of solidifying foam. "And ETs are sealed inside."

Clearly alarmed, their enemy began firing shots randomly. Some of their shots coming dangerously close. However, they were so focused on shooting, they didn't notice the ice cracking under them.

The scout ship jerked violently as the ice partially collapsed. Aqualad leapt out of the water, landing on the torn wing. Noticing his presence, the cannon turned to fire, but was blocked as Wolf rammed into its side throwing off its shot. Before it could readjust, Superboy leapt up, sliding under the cannon and grabbing it, holding the barrel still.

Seeing the main threat neutralized, the others raced out onto the icy plain, standing guard as Robin flipped onto the ship's hull. "Identifying weapon's structural stress points and links to the ship," opening his holo-screen, the Boy Wonder pointed, "Here, here, and here."

Following his directive, Miss Martian used her telekinesis to sever the links as Superboy pulled, exposing the underlying circuitry.

A high pitch hum filled the air as several of the firing components fell out behind the Kryptonian, one of them beginning to power up. Before they could react, Wolf lunged, knocked Conner out of the way as it fired. A bright flash of light blinded them for a moment, but, when it faded, the component had lost power and the canine was gone.

"Wolf."

Robin jerked out of his shock, looking to his screen with wide eyes, "T-there was no indication of feedback. I'm sorry."

"…Can't do anything for him now," Conner sighed, climbing back onto the hull and grabbing the cannon again. "Let's go."

This time, the alien weapon disconnected without incidence. Hefting the massive weapon over his shoulder, Superboy leapt to the Bioship as M'gann called it over. "Rerouting systems to integrate cannon into ship's biomatrix," the Martian informed, setting her palms against the side of her ship, "We'll need to decamouflage for a few minutes."

"We may not have a few minutes!" Robin said, as two more alien ships flew overhead.

"Shit. They must've been alerted when we cut the signal."

"Miss Martian open fire!" Aqualad ordered, a hint of panic creeping into his voice.

"Can't," she replied, "weapons systems are offline to incorporate the new cannon. And that's not fully integrated yet either."

"Is there any way to speed it up?" Mike asked, pulling out a few explosives from his belt.

"No."

"Fuck."

"Got you covered!" Artemis called, notching a pair of arrows. Firing the projectiles, two explosions rocked the air as they hit their targets. "Get inside. I'm almost there!"

One of the ships exploded into pieces, fragments raining down onto the ice. The other ship had been grazed, the explosion hitting it knocking it out of the sky. The ground shaking as it crashed, skidding across the ice.

However, it didn't appear that the crash had affected whomever was inside as a moment later, the cannon turned, the barrel glowing with energy as it prepared to fire. "Artemis. Behind you!"

The archer turned, raising her bow in an attempt to defend herself. It proved to be useless as the cannon fired and hit their friend.

"ARTEMIS!"

"NO!"

Sliding off the captured ship, Kaldur grabbed his water-bearers. "Get inside, all of you," he ordered. No waiting for a response, their leader charged forwards, his tattoos glowing brightly as he slammed his fists into the ice. The water underneath surged violently, erupting from the ice in a torrent surging towards the ship that had killed their friend.

In a useless attempt to defend itself, the ship fired its cannon several more times. But the unaffected surge of water merely continued towards it, ripping the ship from the ground before it swirled around it before the current changed and dove straight into the side of the nearby fortress. The force of it destroying the ship instantly upon contact with the impenetrable metal walls.

Despite orders, no one had moved from their spots. Still somewhat in shock at what had just happened. "They're dead," Wally snarled, venom dripping from his words as he glared at where the ship had once been, "every single alien, it it's the last thing I do."

No one argued against him.

-.-

Almost everyone was subdued on the flight back. Silence filling the air, only broken by M'gann's quiet sobs. Occasionally, Wally would exclaim something indistinct in fury, causing the others to flinch as the speedster slammed his fists into the panel before him.

However, unlike them, Mike felt…strangely detached. He wanted to be sad, to mourn the death of his friend. But for some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Maybe it was because he was just used to those around him dying violently, maybe he was just broken in a way that couldn't be fixed, but Mike just couldn't bring himself to feel…anything. It happened. People died. It was just a fact of life. They knew that dying on the job was a risk when they had signed up for this.

Or at least he thought the others had understood that.

"Enough," Kaldur spoke up. "There will be time to mourn later. Right now we have a job to do: defend the Earth and make sure Artemis's sacrifice was not in vain."

Mike found himself nodding in agreement. "He's right, right now we need to focus on the mission."

"Back to the Cave?" M'gann asked, her voice thick with barely contained sorrow.

"No, the Hall of Justice. The people of Earth must know that there are still heroes defending them. There is still hope."

-.-

Washington D.C., 18:45EDT

Explosions rocked the capitol as the team made their final approach. Already they could see several alien ships weaving between the offensive measures the military made, raining fire upon the woefully underprepared army below and forcing the soldiers fighting for their homes and lives to take cover until the assault stopped.

Staying camouflaged, the Bioship pulled up over three of the alien ships currently attacking the army in front of the Hall of Justice. Opening the bottom, the bottom opened, allowing Superboy to jump out, knocking one of the ships to the as the Bioship used its integrated cannon to destroy the other two ships.

Already they could hear the cheers as the ship landed.

"See, it is Superman," one soldier grinned. "Told ya he wouldn't leave us out here alone."

"I dunno, he looks kinda young."

"I'm not Superman," Superboy corrected, tossing the debating pair an annoyed glance.

"I don't know who you are son," a man with stars on his uniform said, stepping to the front. "And right now, I don't care. You wear the S and you got the job done."

"I'm not Superman," he muttered.

"Tell that to the enemy," the General chuckled. Seeing movement, the man turned giving a salute, "General Wade Eiling, U.S Air Force."

"Aqualad, Justice League," their leader replied. "We'll help you salvage as many of the aliens' cannons as possible. And then we'll start taking back what is ours. Remnant, Kid Flash, Robin," Kaldur turned, "do you think you can integrate the cannons into the military weapons systems?"

Mike paused in thought. Without a word, he leapt up onto a fallen ship's hull, kneeling beside the glowing discs that powered the cannons. Pulling out his knife, he severed one of the cords, looking at the components inside. Alien tech wasn't his expertise, and it had been a pain in the ass to work on studying it besides his normal schoolwork, but, from the looks of it the cords seemed basic enough. They'd just need an ample power source. "I think so," he called, looking down at them. Already he could see hopeful faces in the crowd. It wasn't that he didn't want to get their hopes up, but they needed to be realistic about the situation. "But it's gonna take time. We might be able to move faster if we scrap the entire cannon, use the firing components to make individual weapons. The yield won't be as powerful though."

"But it is possible?" General Eiling said.

Mike nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. What do you need to get started, son?"

"…Do you have paper? Cause it's a lot."

-.-

21:03EDT

Sweat dripped off Mike's brow as he stood on a tank, feeding cables down the barrel of its cannon as they began attaching one of the firing components to the end of the barrel. If the military still wanted to use its surface-to-air missiles, they'd have to use them from shoulder-mounted rocket launchers—assuming Mike didn't determine that those were the next best weapons to modify once he was done with the tanks. Still, even though it was far from perfect, the tanks themselves were almost perfect for connecting the alien hardware to. The barrel of the gun could be moved to change both the angle and direction of the shot and it had enough power to charge the disintegration beams—and if they were low on power, it stored enough batteries to do the work instead.

Though, this process would probably be going faster if the others were helping. Where the fuck were they? He swore if they were inside the Hall bawling, there was a good chance he was going to bitch-slap someone. This wasn't the time. They could grieve after this fiasco was over.

At least the soldiers were being useful.

"How's it going in there?" he called, sitting up, holding the deadly alien weapon in his hands.

"So far so good sir!"

"Ok, I'm about to attach the ring."

"Rodger that!"

"M'gann check his mind. Make sure he is whom he appears to be," Kaldur ordered over the link.

"It's him. He's real. He's alive!"

Mike groaned, whatever they were talking about, it was so not helping him focus. "Guys, little less chatter please. I don't want to blow up what's left of D.C." Moving to the side, he turned the firing module away from the tank, making sure it was aligned with the barrel before he began welding them together. "Toss me the blowtorch."

For all their praise about being excellent shots, these men were terrible at tossing tools to him. As proven by yet another of his requests landing, not in his hand, but a few feet away from him.

It wasn't like he could move right now either.

"Sorry about that," someone said, climbing up to hand him the torch.

"Thanks. Hold that." Turning the flame onto its lowest setting, he began welding the alien weapon to the barrel, praying to God it wouldn't damage the firing mechanism inside. Sparks bounced off his skin as he worked, and before long he was done with the second tank. "Ok," he sighed, hanging the tools back in his belt, "hopefully that should work."

"I'm sure it will, son," the General spoke. "I've had a few of the men watching you as you worked, hopefully that should help speed things along."

"It should," he nodded, running a hand through his hair tiredly. He needed a break, just for two minutes, something. Something just short enough to let him breathe for a moment while not slowing down progress. "Where are the others?"

"Right here!" Kid Flash called as he and Robin ran over, climbing onto one of the trucks close to the Bioship.

"What's going on?" Mike said, jogging over to them. Peering over the Boy Wonder's shoulder, his brows furrowed. Why were they scanning the cannon? What had they figured out while he'd been busy?

"I knew it! Look!" KF pointed to the reading on the screen. "It's giving off Zeta Beam radiation. The same stuff that powers our Zeta Tubes. This thing doesn't disintegrate, i-it teleports! Artemis is alive!"

"Maybe, but—"

"No maybes. They're all alive!"

Mike was pretty sure he was about to have an aneurism, "I would've liked to know that before I just spent the past few hours dismantling this shit to modify the tanks!"

Of course, as usual, the others seemed to ignore his point as M'gann chimed in, "That must've been what you wanted to tell us!"

"What who wanted to tell us? Who are you talking about?! What the fuck is going on?!"

He didn't receive an answer before they all heard the engines of incoming hostiles. A lot of incoming hostiles. Because of course the aliens couldn't come any other time. Just when he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Honestly, at this point, he wouldn't be surprised to learn the universe was just actively fucking with him in particular for shits and giggles.

"Hold on! We're on our way!" Kaldur said.

"Negative," Robin replied. "We can't win this."

Mike didn't disagree. Even with the two modified tanks, it wouldn't be long until they were overwhelmed.

"Miss Martian, camo the Bioship."

As if they heard the telepathic order, one of the ships fired. Even from where he was crouched, Mike could hear M'gann's scream over the shouts of the men around him.

"Fall back!" General Eiling shouted. "Get inside!"

Mike cursed, ducking behind one of the remaining trucks as a blast barely missed his head. Yes, inside would provide cover, but the question was for how long? They didn't have League clearance. There was no way they could get all the men though, not without hacking into the system. And that was going to take time. Time they didn't have, unless…

Unless something or someone bought them time.

He glanced back towards the Hall.

No one had noticed he was missing yet.

Good.

He didn't need someone trying to talk him out of this.

It was for the best. He hadn't been much help to the others right now anyways. A chain was only as strong as its weakest link, and right now, he was that weak link. He wasn't as strong as Superboy, he couldn't run faster than sound, he couldn't control water or throw things with his mind, and Robin and KF were both more than competent in tech that his absence wouldn't be felt.

Besides, they all had things to live for anyways.

The least he could do was buy them time to escape.

Leaping from his hiding spot, Mike hurled several explosives at the ships passing overhead. The resulting explosions rocked the air as he slid into one of the buildings, barely avoiding a blast that destroyed a chunk of wall behind him. His bootsteps echoed in the abandoned building, heart pounding in his chest as he discarded his less valuable weapons. As fun as it was to hit henchmen with a wrench, it wasn't going to be much help fighting alien warships and he needed to make himself as light and fast as possible.

Bursting onto the roof, he sprinted towards the edge, all but hurling himself off the building towards one of the ships. To his relief, his dagger managed to dig into hull, arresting his fall. Pulling himself onto the top, he came face-to-face with a cannon snapping in his direction, powering up. Without thinking his plan through, Mike slammed his fist into the hull. Flames erupted from his fist at the impact, melting the metal under it.

However, he didn't have time to process what just happened when the resulting explosion blasted him through a nearby building. Pain shot through as he came to a sudden stop, a pipe from the rubble stabbing through his stomach and a rather large piece of rubble landed on his leg. Even if that didn't happen, he didn't doubt there were numerous broken bones.

Hopefully the others had managed to bypass the systems by now. Because time was up.

One of the cannons began powering up. Glaring down the barrel, he spat blood onto the ground beside him. "Fuck you."

At least this time he actually had the chance to fight back.

-.-

Unknown

He should be dead.

He was supposed to be dead.

He had to be dead.

There was no way he could have survived.

And yet he felt cold water lapping at his boots.

Curling his fingers, he felt sand shift between them as a cool breeze blew by.

He…he was alive?

How?

Opening his eyes, he blinked as an unfamiliar teal sky marred with black clouds gazed back down at him. Obsidian sand scraped against him as he sat up, his gaze immediately landing on the scarlet waters he'd been lying on the edge of. Around the lake, he could see the glowing forms of dead trees.

Where was he?

"Back so soon, Little Soul?"

Startled, Mike whirled around, turning to face the imposing voice. He found himself staring at…a red alligator?

At least it looked like a gator.

It was sitting in a lawn chair on the lake's shoreline just a few feet away from him. A cooler was sitting in the sand beside it and there was a fishing pole standing in a holster, its line disappearing into the red waters.

White pinpricks in the center of its pitch-black eyes flickered over to meet his gaze, causing the hair on the back of the teen's neck to rise in alarm. Mike had no idea what this was, but there was no doubt in his mind that it was powerful and it was dangerous.

"Who—who are you?"

The massive being sighed, sounding annoyed, "I suppose it should not be surprising you do not remember. I have many names, Little Soul. But…" the gator appeared in front of the teen suddenly, causing him to scramble back in shock, "you can call me: Old Man Consequences."

If this were any other situation, Mike might've found the name ridiculous. However, he decided against making a wry remark while this thing's teeth were just inches from his face. There was no way that wouldn't end badly.

"Wait…Old Man?" he paused. "Like the one Mr. Nelson and Kaldur mentioned?"

Consequences huffed, "I see Nabu has been as helpful as ever. Clearly you did not get my message, or you would not be here."

"I got it!" Pushing himself to his feet, Mike found himself standing at only the gator's chest. But it didn't stop him from glaring up at his mysterious tormentor. "It's not my fault there was an alien invasion! Speaking of which, where am I?! Last thing I remember I was getting shot by an alien cannon. Am I dead?"

The Old Man tilted his head. "An invasion? There is no invasion on your planet at this time."

Mike frowned. "I would beg to differ."

Consequences crouched down, his black eyes boring into Mike's own almost seeming to stare into his very soul. "…Ah. I see," he swore the gator grinned, "The human mind is an inherently fragile thing. It is no wonder you ended up back here." The Old Man rose back to his full height, engulfing the teen's shoulder in one massive claw, "Rest assured, Little Soul, the things you just experienced are merely figments of your mind. Your friends, are unharmed."

"Then why am I here?"

The being sat down in his chair. Motioning to Mike, the teen turned to find one his size now behind him. "As I said. The mind is a fragile thing. You are back because you believe you have died."

"Back? I haven't been here before. Where is here?"

"Some would call this a way-station. A place where souls pass through on the way to the afterlife. However, every now and then, a soul will be reluctant to move on or will get lost. It is my duty to guide them to where they are meant to spend eternity."

"So…I am dead?"

The Old Man chuckled, "No. A coma. As for why you are here, you are a…special case."

"Does it have to do with how I've been here before?"

"Partially," he answered grabbing his fishing pole and casting the line, "Every now and then, I encounter souls who seek to sever their ties to the mortal plane. Their reasons vary. You were perhaps the most stubborn soul I have ever dealt with."

"Hey!"

Consequences chuckled, "It is not an insult. Very rarely do I encounter souls as exceptionally strong as yours." The alligator went quiet, reeling in his line, "It took some convincing to get you to go back."

Mike pulled his knees up, wrapping his arms around them, "So…why didn't you let me die then? Doesn't letting me live violate some law of nature or something?"

The Old Man cast his line again, "As I said: you are a special case, Little Soul. And, even if you are not convinced your life is worth saving, you will find there are many others around you who will disagree." He tilted his head up, looking to the swirling skies overhead. "I see your friends are beginning to wake."

Brows rising, Mike followed the being's gaze, trying to see what he was in the strange skies. "How do you—"

"Time is different here, Little Soul," Consequences said from behind him, holding the back of his chair. "And young one, do not make us meet in these circumstances again."

Before Mike could reply, he was suddenly picked up and thrown into the icy red water.

-.-

Mt. Justice, October 16, 16:21EDT

Mike gasped for air, almost headbutting his mentor as he shot up. Goosebumps crawled up his arms as he still felt the chill of the cold water. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the hand resting on his back. Around him, he could hear quiet voices. Looking up, he could see the others slowly getting up, their respective mentors hovering beside them looking worried.

"It's alright Michael, breathe," Canary said. Her voice had wavered slightly, as if she had been shaken by what just happened.

"You're all alive!" M'gann exclaimed, a familiar smile crossing the Martian's face as she got up.

Batman set a hand on his protégé's shoulder as he looked to Manhunter as Captain Marvel helped the elder Martian up, "What happened in there?"

J'ohn groaned, pressing his palm against his forehead. "The exercise…it all went wrong."

"Exercise?" Robin panted, sweat dripping down his brow.

"Try to remember," the Dark Knight spoke. Mike couldn't help but notice that the man's tone was much gentler than it normally was. "What you experienced was a training exercise. Manhunter psychically linked you all in an artificial reality. You all knew this going in. What you didn't know was that it was a train for failure exercise. No matter what the team accomplished, the scenario was designed to get worse. Still you were aware, nothing was real. Including the deaths of the entire Justice League."

Mike's eyes widened. The Old Man was right. It hadn't been real.

"That is why you hardly grieved," Manhunter continued, slowly pulling himself from Captain Marvel to support his own weight, "even when Wolf was disintegrated before your eyes." Everyone glanced to the canine as Conner hugged the creature close to his chest. "But all that changed when Artemis died. Though consciously Miss Martian was aware that it wasn't real, her subconscious could not make that distinction. She forgot it was only a simulation, and her subconscious took over, making all of you forget as well."

M'gann took a step back, her green skin turning a shade of grey as she leaned against the cot she'd previously been lying on. "I…I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Conner, still holding onto Wolf like a lifeline, was quick to jump to her defense, "This isn't her fault! Why didn't you stop the exercise?!"

"We tried," Manhunter answered, his voice sounding pained, "But, M'gann had…a death grip on the scenario. Even Artemis, who should've awakened upon her death, was so convinced she had died, she slipped into a coma. I realized that I would have to take control from within, but upon my arrival, I was overwhelmed by your collective emotion. There was too much noise to think clearly…to remember why I was there. The deaths of Aqualad and Superboy helped. But it was only once the mothership was destroyed, and Kid Flash and Robin were silenced, did my mind clear enough to remember why I was there: to shock M'gann out of the exercise. Before your comas became permanent. My apologizes, I had no idea a training exercise could be so dangerous…so damaging…"

There was a soft squeeze to Mike's shoulder, prompting him to look back at Canary. Her brows were furrowed as she glanced between him and a now weeping M'gann. The question was clear: would he be ok if she went to comfort M'gann?

He nodded. M'gann needed more help right now than he did.

Upon his consent, his mentor got up, walking over to the sobbing girl.

Mike rested his elbows against his knees, his gaze landing on what appeared to be burn marks on his cot. So…he guessed that hadn't just been part of his imagination either. Sighing, he turned to watch the others. Everyone else seemed…subdued. How bad had it gotten after he died? He had been the second person to die in the simulation, and he felt fine.

Though…maybe he was able to handle this better than the others. Maybe he was just used to death lurking over his shoulder. Almost everyone he'd ever loved had died a violent, agonizing death. Hell, even he had suffered a violent—albeit temporary—death. What was a few more people in his life dying?

It probably wouldn't be the last time something like this happened anyways.