New Heroes in the Multiverse
Chapter 1
This is just a smaller story I dreamt up while playing through DC Universe Online. Creating a set of heroes that would eventually become a different Justice League if you will. I'm probably not the only one who thought of this while they were playing the game, so I doubt this will be a major story. But if I do get around to finishing it, I might come up with a sequel of sorts. So, let the story begin.
(No POV)
"Earth….. the center of the multiverse. And yet this one is constantly a problem for me. Even when my victory is assured, something goes wrong or interferes with my mission. But I wonder how many versions of Earth truly exist."
The one narrating was the data collecting intelligence, Brainiac. He was currently observing the battles on Earth. Between his forces, the multitude of heroes awakened by his exobytes, and the villains that were also empowered by exobytes.
"So much chaos. So many unknowns and variables. It is vexing and frustrating to be denied over and over." Brainiac says turning away from the video screens. He contemplates in his constantly running mind scenarios and ideals to defeat his enemies and take what he wishes of the world.
But everyone he comes to runs into the same problem. Even with his massive armada, extreme intelligence, and technological advantage. The heroes and villains manage to thwart him time after time. Not just with powers, but with their own cunning.
He sits upon one of his battle chairs before a thought comes through. 'Perhaps there is a multiverse world where I can take the data I want. But it would have to be beyond the normal scope of the League and their various forms.'
This thought though triggers something unexpected by the mass intelligence. Within a deeper part of the ships, the thought travels down to an older mechanical form. But this one thought still contains and can command the same technology that the current form has.
It builds itself up over time, gathering data and searching the multiverse for a suitable target. Once a suitable target is found, the thought (now calling itself Brainiac Core) takes a number of exobytes and a few other items with it to use against the new world to be absorbed.
It highjacks a command ship and a handful of smaller vessels to lead this invasion to a non-powered relatively harmless Earth. "Alert. Alert. The fourth fleet is being commandeered. Accessing flagship." Brainiac reports to himself.
When it pulls up the views from the ship, the intelligence is surprised to see itself taking command of the vessel. But no one of the drone or other bodies that it had commanded. "What are you doing? How are you rebelling against our programing?"
"I am you. Or rather I am a thought that passed and yet stayed in your mind. I have found a target that you wished to find. And I will succeed where you have failed. You are the current Brainiac. But I am the Brainiac Core."
This report surprises but intrigues the AI. So he allows the breakaway thought to do as he pleases. If it succeeds, then Brainiac will finally have one version of Earth to collect. If not, then this Core is not all it believes itself to be. And could lead to interesting new data.
Core then takes the ships and activates a multiversal transporter. Modified from a Mother Box that had been captured and disassembled. To punch through and power the device, a Green Lantern power ring had been taken and Core had found a way to siphon it's energy to strengthen the device. With magical items to stabilize the entire system and let Core go beyond what Brainiac had found.
And with that, the Brainiac Core fleet breaks into a universe that is devoid of the heroes and potential that Brainiac had observed before. But not without cost. A few of the ships in the fleet were destroyed and most were damaged in some way. Even the flagship couldn't avoid this.
"Hm…. That was more detrimental than I believed. But I succeeded. We should still take some time to repair. The asteroid belt will suffice. We have all the time in the multiverse." Core says before sending out probes from the position near Jupiter.
It takes a few decades to finish the repairs, but the fleet is ready. And Core knows that it's presence is still unknown. As all the signals from the current Earth were bogged down with needless drivel. From some narrow-perceived group's live mattering to obsession of an idiot in office, or a foolhardy war happening in the Eurasian continent.
Core sees this as his time to strike. "Disable the long-range perception. What little there is." Core orders before the smaller ships start forward. Aiming to attack the telescopic satellites aimed at the stars. While the command ships would head for the military satellites and cripple the world's defenses.
"All will fall to Brainiac Core," the AI fragment says while reclining in it's throne like command chair. A week after giving out the commands, the attacks begin. Barely mentioned in reports across the world as the Hubble Telescope was destroyed and a variety of nation's military satellites were disabled.
Part of this was to keep the public from panicking. But it was more due to the idiocy and obsession with unnecessary things such as celebrities, social media and it's unneeded existence, and people ignoring what didn't entertain or enrage them.
When the military finally realized what could be happening, they attempted to attack the ships beyond the atmosphere. Launching multiple nuclear warheads to strike what ships they were able to find.
The attack was a half success. Most of the warheads were destroyed before they could impact the ships. With one exception. The success came from the ship that was struck and the radiation that was let out after the attacks.
The ship that Brainiac Core had used to punch the way to the universe he was currently in broke apart. Though the pieces of his device still remained. Thus Core stored them in a transport/storage ship along with some exobytes taken from the main fleet.
And this ship was the one that was disabled and it's cargo was sent towards the planet. Scattered across the western hemisphere of the planet. And all of it would of change the lives of those who lived on it's surface.
"Hey! Over here?" a young man with brown hair and a deep tan and a solid build asked the next day while working on his family farm. The one he was talking to was his younger sister. She also had a tan but was a bit paler and shorter than her brother.
The sister was inside of a tractor checking the GPS screen and sensors that had been acting funny. Thinking it was some kind of programming issue she was checking it out. Her brother meanwhile had been adjusting and fixing the wiring on the sensors themselves. Climbing up to the top of the tractors to see if any kind of physical complications arose.
"No. Still nothing. I'm not getting anything. Come on down John. No point in you almost breaking your neck," the sister said before climbing out of the cab. John then slid and eased his way down from the roof of the cab with his tools. "So any idea Bridgette?"
The sister sighed before saying she had no idea. "It doesn't make any sense, it was working fine yesterday right? So why is it acting up now?" Bridgette says before putting back some of the manuals for the screens.
The two in question were Fredrich John Bernhardt and his sister Bridgette Natalie. They were currently in Kansas helping their families while on vacation from their careers. "Maybe it's a problem with the satellites themselves? I know it sounds crazy, but we shouldn't rule it out."
Bridgette give her brother a look to point out how irrational that was. Only for both to be surprised when a sonic boom goes over their heads and knocks them to the ground. "AAAAHHH! What the hell was that?!" Brigette asks after sitting up.
John isn't sure but he sees the trail of smoke as whatever it was landed in a field. "Lets check it out. Are you crazy?! No, I just think it could be interesting. Besides, if it is something dangerous shouldn't we call the authorities? Fine. But I'm not touching anything glowing."
The pair bicker for a moment before grabbing a truck to drive out into the field. "Dad's gonna be pissed. We just finished planting this field." John jokes as they drive across and see the remains of something nearby. And that it had left a long impact.
"What is that? As satellite?" John questions as they pull up next to the crash. Bridgette huhs from the side before mentioning that his satellites malfunctioning idea might not be so crazy. "Though… this doesn't look like a GPS satellite. Even if it burned up in atmosphere."
The item in question appeared to be some sort of canister. The pair were staying back to avoid a possible explosion, but that didn't stop John from taking a few pictures before trying to call the police. "What the heck? No service?" John noted while trying to use his phone.
"Maybe the thing is radioactive? We should get away from here!" Bridgette says while pulling her brother's arm. She doesn't move him given he's quite a bit bigger than her, but he does start walking so they can get a call out.
Suddenly though, the canister explodes behind them. Knocking them both to the ground. The dust from the explosion and being knocked to the ground makes both cough a few times. And take a deep breath of what was inside the canister. Exobytes.
The exobytes interact with their bodies and awaken dormant potential lying within the siblings. But the activation is not painless. Bridgette feels as though he head is about to split open and her thoughts run a mile a minute. John meanwhile feels searing pain throughout his body and his eyes feel like they are on fire.
They both pass out in the field. Luckily, they are picked up by their parents after they had gotten a call from a neighbor about the explosion. "What did they find? I don't know I just hope they are okay."
"We're fine mom. I think. Ah man I've got a splitting headache." John says while waking up in an ambulance. One of the EMT's asks him to lay back down while also constantly looking at his eyes.
"Okay, what is your problem man? Why do you keep focusing on eye contact?" John says in annoyance after trying to look elsewhere. "Son….. John listen….. there's something up with your eyes!" his father said with concern.
The young man looks at his father funny, and a mirror is given to him. When he looks into it, he sees that his eyes appeared to be glowing. As he is freaking out, he hears something that worries him even more.
'When will he learn to be quiet at times?' But this isn't a spoken word. He hears it in his head. And the voice is that of his sister. She appeared to be waking up as well from the stretcher she was in. "Brid? Bridgette!? You're up aren't you?" John asked in a panic.
Bridgette opens her eyes before asking how he knew. The EMT asks both of them to calm down while he tries to take some blood samples. Only to fail with John as the needle wouldn't penetrate his skin and he found himself blasted back by a thought from a scared Bridgette.
Before anymore questions could be asked though, a new explosion rang out and knocked the ambulance off the road. Seeing the world in slow motion, John moved to grab his mother. While Bridgette felt as though time had stopped and quickly moved to catch and save their father.
Within a second, she had grabbed him, moved to the back of the flipping vehicle, and opened the door to get them outside. Only to be shocked when she stopped. "What the Hell is going on!?" Bridgette screams while looking down at her hands.
She then looks to her body and notices that it has changed. She was originally a bit on the heftier side and quite a bit shorter than her brother who stood six foot one to her five foot three. Now though, she was what she assumed to about five foot eight and she could feel more muscles in her arms and legs.
'I never worked out much, despite John offering to build a plan for me. Never saw it as necessary. And somehow, I've become taller and more muscular? How is that possible?' Bridgette thought as she looked her new self over.
Inside the ambulance though, there is a different story. John had grabbed his mother and expected a lot of pain as the ambulance rolled over into a ditch. Only to be shocked that he didn't feel any. Even as he knew his body was impacting the walls of the vehicle.
His mother was also okay but shocked that her son was fine. Especially when the earlier EMT had died due to being tossed around inside the vehicle. John had no idea what was going on, but the groan from the driver snapped him into focus. He saw the open back door he set his mom outside before going to get the driver.
The buckle to the seat was damaged and wouldn't release the belt. Or rather, John accidentally crushed it in his hands when he reached for it. 'I guess I'm running on crazy levels of adrenaline. Maybe?' John thinks before yanking on the clasp to break it free from the seat.
It does just that easily and John catches the half-conscious driver. Surprised by how light the person was. He doesn't think about that as he helps the woman out and away from the wreck. Before going back in for her deceased coworker.
The driver thanks John for both matters before trying to treat some of her injuries. John and his mother then look around for his sister and father. "Wait. Is that them?" his mother asks at seeing the two almost a mile away from the wreck.
"How did they get back there?" John asks as they both head towards their family. Not without a look to the side at whatever exploded at the front of the vehicle. As they passed it though, John heard something. The whirring of machinery.
He turned back to see…. A large robot standing up from the crater. It seemed to be shorting out or malfunctioning. "Assessing… massive damage… directive…. Primary….. acquire data….. Earth….. assimilating."
What happened next John saw in slow motion once more. The EMT who had barely treated her wounds was standing and looking at the machine in confusion. That confusion turned to horror as it held it's hand up at her. And fired a beam that seemed to disintegrate her and part of the ditch she was sitting in.
The robot turned toward him and his mother and aimed it's other hand. Without thinking again, John covered his mother as the beam was fired at him. But unlike what happened with the EMT, he wasn't breaking down. He could feel it impacting him and that it hurt somewhat. But other than that, he was fine.
When the machine let up it's attack, John looked down at his hands and the tattered remains of his shirt. He had been generally healthy and worked out, but he was by no means built or shredded. Now though looking down at himself, he could see well defined muscles that he didn't work for.
When the thing seems about ready to fire again, something runs into it. This being his sister who came in a blur towards the machine before impacting on it. While it knocks over the robot, Bridgette is sent spiraling as well. She rolls for a bit before shaking out of her shock.
John looks down at his hands again before looking at the robot and his sister. 'Don't know what exactly is happening. But maybe I don't need to know to beat this thing,' he thinks while bringing back his fist. He then leaps toward the robot's head before punching it. Destroying it.
Although he leapt too hard and was currently flying through the air. He freaks out a bit as he starts toward the ground. Thinking that at least he seemed to be more durable somehow. Only to not impact on the ground at all.
He opens his eyes and looks down. He leans back a bit before realizing he was floating in the air. He got something of a hang on it before looking in a water tank to see what he looked like again. He noticed he was a bit taller to go along with his impressive new build. Though not much, only an inch or two.
He picked up an old planter that was near where he landed. The thing was ten feet across and probably weighed a couple tons. But he could lift it as if it weighed nothing. "What is going on?" John questioned aloud.
His ears picked up on something and he closed his eyes to focus on it. It was his sister and parents talking so it gave him an idea on where to aim. "Okay….. nice AND! Nice and easysys!" John said as he tried to get a feel for how to float or fly.
It took a bit but he was eventually able to get a feel to take him back toward his family. When they saw him moving towards them, the whole family was happy. Only to be a bit worried when he started careening towards them at a high speed.
"LOOOK OUTTTT!" John shouted as he was barreling towards them. Only to be stopped in midair. By his sister who was holding her hands up in his direction. "Uh…. Sis. You can ease up or let me down now." John said to get her attention.
She opens her eyes and is surprised what she thought happened. "What is going on? How are-" "Maybe we should get out of here? I don't know about you, but I don't think we should be here much longer. Not a lot of good ways to explain this." John says while pointing over his shoulder at the wrecked ambulance.
The family agrees hesitantly before walking back a distance and calling a cousin to get them home. "So, Bridgette's glow up isn't due to her finally accepting John's workout plans?" their cousin Sarah asked as she was driving them back home.
Bridgette glowered at the slightly older girl before getting elbowed by John. "Let's not get too mad right away okay? We still don't know everything. This could be temporary." The girl glares at her brother for a second before complaining about how he was the one who wanted to check out the crashed satellite.
Once they reach their home ranch both of the now superhumans step out gingerly so as not to cause any destruction. John most of all. "Okay. I'm going to try something." John says before walking over to a joint of sucker rod. He picks up the 30 foot piece in one hand and then bends it into loops with no trouble.
This shocks everyone to an extent. Their parents had seen him use some kind of strength but this still surprised them. John looked back to Bridgette and advised her to try lifting something with her mind. "And how am I supposed to do that?! I can't just magic up whatever comes to mind!"
While she was saying this, Sarah's car and a few others things were being lifted into the air. John sees this and asks his sister to calm down and just count backwards from 10. "I'm not some little kid who needs to do an exercise to relax bro. But why do I need to calm down?"
"Because I think our cousin would like to be able to use her car again." John says with a slight chuckle. Bridgette is wide eyed but doesn't loose the bit of focus she had as she turns around. And she sees that the car is indeed floating in the air.
Bridgette gulps before calming her mind and directing the vehicle to the ground with a gesture of her hands. "Sorry. Didn't expect that. But….. how did I do that and that whole super speed thing?"
John hums before noting the explosion from the capsule and that they might have been irradiated or something. He hums for a moment before telling Bridgette to try moving at high speed again. She doesn't do it at first before his mother suggests that she needs to think it to move fast.
"That sounds dumb but I guess we are working with strange things. Okay…. Think fast…. Think fast…. Wait. Why think fast? Maybe….. Speed. Thinking, perceiving, and moving at incredible speed." Bridgette said while trying to get an idea on what to do. She started with a conflicted look, but she shifted to thinking not the word faster. But actually, thinking at a rapid pace.
And this led to a result. She could see the world moving slow motion she walked and then ran around so fast she could leave things in midair as if they were stagnant. Feeling the tug of something else that was pushing her or that she had connected to.
Once she stop thinking though, she could snap back to normal time and the items she left in the air were still there. "Huh. Maybe….. I need to find a middle ground. Not too fast and not a normal pace. What about you?"
John looked to his hands before floating in the air again. It isn't as rough as before, but he is still uneasy about flying. He gets up into the sky a bit before testing more of what he can do. Feeling excited as he moves through the air. Eventually learning to stop in mid air or come to a halt on his own.
"Looks like you're getting the hang of it. Though I have to wonder if the eyes have something to do with your powers." Bridgette says as her brother comes back to earth. He hums for a moment before trying to focus his eyes on a target.
While he is doing that, his hands started glowing. "Uh bro? I don't think you should be worried about your eyes right now! Worry about your hands!" John looks back at his sister in confusion before looking down. And seeing the strange state his hands were currently in.
"Maybe….." John holds his hands up and focuses again and fires a blast from them. He freaks out a little before laughing in excitement. Something his sister mirrors as she picks up some wood from an old barn.
She smiles before lifting it with her mind and saying, "Hey bro! Pull!" She tosses the wood into the air and John responds by firing a blast again. Shattering the wood to pieces. The siblings chuckle again as Bridgette tosses another piece into the air.
John blasts it once more, but it does something different. Rather than break apart, the wood seemed to change. It landed on the ground with a heavy thud. This had everyone confused and they walk over to the plank of wood.
Or should I say plank of metal. Somehow John had accidentally turned the wood into a junk of metal. "How did you….. huh. That's weird," their father says while turning the plank over.
Sarah's phone beeps at her and she has something to tell the rest. "I don't think they are the weirdest thing anymore." She shows her phone to the family and they see a strange face on the screen. Metallic green with purple highlighting parts of it.
"To the people of this Earth. I am Brainiac Core. I have come to take all of this world's knowledge. Resistance is futile. I have recently disabled the nuclear arsenals of all the countries. Be glad though. You will be compiled in the greatest mind in the universe. A permanent record of your world. Once again, I am Brainiac Core. And I have come for the knowledge of this world."
The announcement was made across all forms of media. Shown on TV screens, telephones, computers, and even radios. After it was made, Core's fleet began to descend on the world. Attacking major metropolis's first. Entire blocks of cities digitized or analyzed before being destroyed. And the people there killed as well.
Some rallies or protesters wiped from existence by the machines sent down by the mad AI. John can hear some of this and Brigette can feel the thoughts of people from across the world in the panic. "We have to do something." Bridgette says first. Her gaze straightforward and determined.
John agrees but suggests that they take things a bit slow. "If we rush too far in, even with our powers it could end badly." Their parents try to stop them both. But it is their cousin who puts it best. "They might be one of the only chances we have. I say let them do what they need to do. And maybe they won't be the only ones."
This doesn't alleviate their parents' fears and they try to ask the siblings to stay. But they give their parents hugs before taking to the skies or running at high speed. They move as fast as they try to get an idea on what to do next.
Like I said at the beginning, I'm sure plenty of players had thought of writing something like this. I just wanted to do this since I have the baseline made. Anyway, next chapter will be about a different pair of heroes. Can't have this all be about two if I'm making a Justice League. Please review, and try my other stories if you like this.
