Ahhh!!! I'm so sorry.... Haven't updated in months... I haven't really been up to writing as of late and so yeah....no writing, no chapter....so for those of you who have been waiting for this chapter and are reading now.....free cookies for you!!
Drunk on Tang: Yeah... I liked that too. Here's more, finally.
AntimatterManticore: oh....I hope you're not insane by now.... lol...glad you liked the whole Hawk girl in pink idea... lol...too bad I had to ditch the idea in this chapter...ah well...it was funny while it lasted.
Zeheria: lol. it does sound like they're getting ready for the apocolypse...doesn't it? lol...maybe I was a bit too dramatic about it...lol.. ah well. I like it and seem you do too so I guess it doesn't matter. Thanks so much for reading.
Disclaimer: Wow....I'm writing a fan fiction on the Justice League (among other things) and I don't own it..... It's unheard of!
Flash and Hawk girl trudged through the woods, getting nearer and nearer to Xavier's school. Hawk girl had conned her way out of the pink clothes after it was discovered they hadn't fit her. Instead, she wore a long dark cloak to hide the fact that she wasn't Nichole.
"I don't think this is gonna work." Hawk girl complained.
"It always takes them a little while. Just give them a few more minutes." Flash responded. "And don't talk. You don't sound like Nichole."
"I doubt they'd actually recognize her voice." She murmured under her breath.
"What was that?" Flash glared back at her.
"What is this anyway?" Hawk girl fingered the barely visible black dot on her cloak.
"Some sort of tracker or something, I guess. Wonder woman found it on Nichole's clothes."
She shrugged in response. "I still don't think this is gonna-"
"Shhh!" Flash cut her off. "Did you hear that?"
Before Hawk girl could respond, a rustling in the bushes behind them caused them both to stand to attention.
Suddenly a loud screeching noise came up from behind them.
Without thinking, Flash quickly grabbed Hawk girl up in his arms and ran for the school. He kept his pace as slow as he could without them catching up.
"Have you got the communicator?" He frantically asked Hawk girl.
"Yes." She responded, grabbing onto it. She pressed one of its buttons and spoke into it. "Phase one accomplished. We're on our way to the school."
In the meantime, the Javelin-7 had already made its way to the school and had received the message along with the other heroes there.
"You ready, Doctor?" Reed Richards asked after affirming to Hawk girl the message had been received.
Doctor Strange nodded. "When will they be here?"
"Any minute now."
"Scratch that." Iceman said, looking out the window. "They're here now and it looks like our Esothen are right behind them."
Without a minute to spare, all of the heroes rushed out to the front yard where Flash and Hawk girl soon met them.
Before any of them could say a word, or Flash could catch his breath, the Esothen had arrived. At first the two groups paused, staring at each other. One of the Esothen stepped forward.
"Give her up!"
"Why do you want her?" Reed Richards asked.
"That is none of your business. She is ours. She doesn't belong to you."
"She's not one of you. She's a human, like us."
"You have much to learn of our race, Mr. Fantastic." The creature smiled mischievously.
Suddenly, the creature jumped at Mr. Fantastic. However, he was able to dodge this blow by an inch. The fight had begun.
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Meanwhile, Dr. Strange, Flash, Iceman, Cyclops, Iron man, Green Lantern and J'onn had made their way over to the Javelin-7.
Getting into the ship, Dr. Strange took his place at the front while Green Lantern took the driver's seat.
"Which way?" Green Lantern looked up at the doctor expectantly.
Doctor Strange pointed to his left. "That way. I'll tell you when it changes."
Green Lantern steered the ship to the left and up. They were on their way and things were looking good. Every once in a while Doctor Strange would direct the ship a little more to the left or a little more to the right. Soon they found themselves out in space making their way towards the moon.
"It's not far from here, maybe a couple of miles behind the moon."
"Alright. Here we go." Green Lantern sped up the ship making their way behind the moon.
Flash was the first to see it. "Wow. Um, I think that's it."
Not too far from where they were was another ship. It had to be the Esothen's. It was hard to see because it was completely black, blending in with its background. Despite its huge size, it appeared very sleek and mysterious, very much like the Esothen themselves.
"They must have used some sort of cloaking device." Dr. Strange commented in wonder.
"Yeah." Cyclops nodded. "You guys ready to do this?"
As if in response, Green Lantern sped his way over with a quick suggestion from Doctor Strange. Soon the ship was landed inconspicuously nearby, making use of its new hovering feature.
"I think we should contact earth before we board." Cyclops said.
"I don't think that would be wise." Iron Man disagreed. "I'm sure they're having enough trouble with the Esothen. Not to mention it might give away our position."
"Yeah. I'd have to agree with Iron Man." Flash added, even though no one had really asked him. "We came here to do this. There's no backing out now. Might as well just get it over with. No sense in stalling."
Ice man nodded. "Let's go then!"
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Hawk girl stood by impatiently as she watched the fighting going on around her. On occasion she would punch an Esothen that got too close, but that wasn't enough to quench her desire to fight.
She was told that she had to play the role of Nichole, and Nichole certainly wasn't a fighter. Hawk girl smirked. She probably couldn't even manage to lift up her mace, much less hold it the right way.
She was getting tired of standing here, watching the others around her "protect" her. She just couldn't stand here and do nothing any longer. Slowly, she reached for her mace. She held it in her hand underneath her cloak. Waiting time was over.
With a sense of ease and familiarity, Hawk girl flung herself into the midst of the action. Spinning her mace around her, she let herself become engulfed in the heat of battle. With each dark creature that approached her she countered almost gracefully with her mace. Oh, how she loved it.
An Esothen jumped at her, trying to claw its way through her cloak. With a cry, Hawk girl whacked him on top of the head. She smiled as she watched the creature fall to the ground. Yes, this was much better then waiting.
Getting lost in the battle was much too easy. A sense of urgency filled her as she slowly noticed she was being surrounded. Hawk girl glanced beyond them to see Wolverine desperately trying to stick his claws in one and Reed Richards wrapping his arms around three of them. They were much too busy to help her. Everyone else was too far away. She'd have to settle this on her own.
Without even a warning, the Esothen jumped in unison on top of her. No! Her mind screamed as she fought for air. They had turned themselves into a mist and were slowly suffocating her. Wide open spaces. Must have wide open spaces.
Letting go of all that she had left of caution, she let her wings go free. With barely any effort, the wings promptly tore her cloak as she flew up into the air. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Something was wrong. She could feel it. Looking down, she could see that everyone had stopped fighting. What was happening? Why had they- oh no! Her identity had been revealed. The Esothen now knew that she was not Nichole. They knew Nichole wasn't there nor would she be showing up. Uh- oh.
For a long moment everyone just stared; the Esothen in surprise and anger; the superheroes in horror. Their plan had failed.
The silence was too much for Hawk girl to bear. With the cry of a warrior, she swooped down from the sky and connected her mace with several Esothen bodies. The others soon followed her lead.
This, however, didn't last for long. What might have been considered as shrieks of pain had been signals. Using the stealth the Esothen had become so well known for, they disappeared.
The superheroes looked at each other in horror. Silence ruled across the field. Reed Richards stepped forward. "We've got to warn them."
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The inside of the ship was as dark and mysterious as it appeared to be. Flash wandered its halls alone. They had decided to split up into groups. Since they all had communicators it would be easy to keep tabs on each other.
Flash had lost his partner J'onn somewhere in the ship's dark corridors. He had tried contacting him but it seemed J'onn's communicator wasn't working. Flash tried his hardest to hope that his Martian friend had not been captured by the enemy.
A sharp screech pierced through the silence. He ran towards the sound; quickly hiding in the shadows if danger seemed to appear. It was from the shadows that Flash now looked on.
They were all there. The entire sabotage team had been captured and being led by the vile creatures. Flash looked on in horror. His friends looked weak and worn, as if they were....oh no! The Esothen must have used some of their mind-controlling poison on them. He needed help and fast.
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Nichole sat impatiently in the main control room. They would come home safe, she thought to herself for the fifth time since they had left. She tried her hardest to get her heart to believe it but it was to no avail. There was still a quiet assurance within her that if she wasn't there, no one would be coming home. She just couldn't shake it.
Beep! Nichole immediately rushed over to the controls. Remembering what J'onn had taught her, she opened the message.
"Hey." It was Wally. Even through his superhero mask Nichole could see he was distraught. Something had gone wrong.
"What happened?"
"Where's Superman?"
"I don't know." Nichole lied. "Tell me what's wrong."
Flash looked back and forth nervously. "Okay, Nicky. I want you to pay really close attention okay?"
Nichole nodded.
"I want you to go find Superman and tell him to send back-up. The others have been captured. I'm the only one left. I don't think they know I'm here so we might still have a chance. You see, I found this room and-"
Static cut out his voice. Nichole could see Flash look behind him in fear. Static filled the screen. She could see him no more.
"No!!" She screamed at the screen. "Wally, come back!"
Tears filled her eyes. This couldn't be happening. I could have done something to stop this. I know there was something. There had to be. The pain overwhelmed her as she let herself drop to the floor.
She felt a little hand grip her shoulder and help her up.
"Hello." A little girl with curly black hair stood before her. "I thought you'd never show up."
"Who are you?" Nichole asked in wonder.
The little girl giggled. "Why I'm you of course. But, there's no time for introducing. Come with me."
Nichole allowed herself to be led into the middle of a wasteland. It looked so dry, as if it had never rained there.
The little girl let go of her wrist and opened her palm to the sky. A bolt of lightning came down from the sky and formed itself into a ball of light in the child's hand. Looking up from her palm, the little girl smiled sweetly at Nichole.
"Look into the light. Regain what was lost. Awaken."
Nichole suddenly found herself in the alleyway again. Carmichael was holding his head and rocking back and forth. He was screaming. "The weakness is.... The weakness is..."
Suddenly, as if a sense of calm had washed over him, he let go of his head and stared straight into her eyes. "You. You can stop them. I know you can. Please, remember your promise. Remember your true name. Remember my father."
Nichole nodded in response. In the blink of an eye, she was back in the wasteland again. A sleepy woman in a blue-green dress stood before her.
"Who are you?" Nichole asked, almost afraid of the answer.
At first the woman just stared at her, reddish hazel eyes filled with pity and regret. With one swift motion, she knocked Nichole out. "You will know soon enough."
Yup...that's it....so...what'd you think? Want more cookies? Review, please! (of course...the cookies might be a little moldy by the time they get to you...so...sorry in advance for that...heh.. )
The next chapter... Ambrose's Bane... he he!