ZOOM: So what now, boss?
NEOMAGE: Now, we wait.
FLASH: For what?
NEOMAGE: For my special task force to arrive. Normally I don't call them up except on extreme cases.
DARKSEID: This is extreme enough if you ask me.
NEOMAGE: Oh, here they are now!
(Coming toward them are Yusuke Urameshi, Gene Starwind, Millia Rage and Mirai Trunks)
ZOOM: Hey, cool! Yu-Yu Hakusho, Outlaw Star, Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball Z – Boss, are you planning to write fanfics for all of these?!
NEOMAGE: Well, maybe for Yu-Yu Hakusho and Guilty Gear – I just happen to like these guys, that's all.
YUSUKE: Where's the demon I'm supposed to fight?
NEOMAGE: You're not fighting a demon – you're hunting Wonder Woman.
GENE: The same one who dissed Hawkgirl in "Starcrossed"?
NEOMAGE: The same one.
MILLIA: That's even worse than fighting demons!
MIRAI TRUNKS: Yeah, you said it! I loved Hawkgirl – and then that BI-ATCH had to give her such a cold attitude! I'll kill her for it!
NEOMAGE: So then, let's go! But first, Mr. Narrator, the disclaimer please...
NARRATOR: Sure! "neomage does not own Justice League."
NEOMAGE: Short and sweet. Okay, shall we go, everyone?
CHAPTER 06
TIME: 9:00 a.m.
PLACE: Metropolis
Superman was flying in the skies over the city. "So far, so good," he announced. "How're things looking from your point of view, Flash?"
Below, the Flash was racing through the streets. "I've been running through these streets five times now, and up to now I haven't seen any sign of trouble down here," he reported. "What about the rest of you?"
Elsewhere in the city, J'onn, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman were patrolling the city, searching for any sign of the super-villains. "Nothing at all," Wonder Woman reported.
"Same here," Lantern echoed. "This is very strange. It's as if they're purposely hiding from us for some reason..."
Meanwhile, J'onn was searching the city from the rooftops. "I have nothing to report, either," he informed the others. "Perhaps they're not in Metropolis...?"
"All right. Rendezvous at the meeting point," Superman instructed the others.
In a few moments the five heroes were together on top of a hill overlooking the city. "So, any suggestions?" asked Superman.
"Maybe we should split up. We could cover more ground that way," Flash suggested.
"Nothing doing," Lantern countered. "That just might be what they want us to do. 'Divide and conquer' – it's one of the oldest combat strategies, and it's still very effective."
"But who says we have time to go to one point after another, one by one, to find these guys?" Flash argued. "Let's say they're in Central City, for argument's sake. By the time we all got there as a group, they'd be moving on elsewhere, and we wouldn't know where to look."
"You both have a point," Wonder Woman noted. "So, then, what should we do?"
"We really don't have time to search out potential spots one by one, but if we do split up, they might pounce on that," Superman agreed. "But there's something else, too – the longer we stand around arguing about it, the more time they'll have to come up with a strategy."
All this time J'onn hadn't uttered a word. Now, as the others argued, suddenly his comm.-link went off, and he cautioned them into silence. "Yes, J'onn here," he said.
A strange voice answered, "Listen, and listen well. The ones you're looking for – they're in Keystone City. They're being led by Vandal Savage, so be doubly on your guard when you go to confront them."
"What?!" J'onn looked alarmed. "Wait – who are you? How do you know this?"
"That's not important now," the voice replied. "Just think of me as an unseen friend. Oh, one other thing – Savage has a dangerous new weapon that's made of Thanagarian metal, and it can pack a real punch."
J'onn was suspicious. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"You don't. You just have to trust me." And the line went dead.
The others looked at J'onn with concern. "Who was that, J'onn?" asked Wonder Woman.
J'onn relayed the message to the others. "I couldn't make out if it was a man or woman talking," he admitted, "but whoever it was, they seemed to know exactly what they were talking about."
"Should we even go to Keystone City, wherever that is?" Lantern asked. "For all we know, it could be a trap."
"No – I know Keystone," Flash spoke up. "It's the sister city to Central City, just across the river on the north end. I can lead the way."
"Yes, I say let's go," said Superman. "If the person was lying, we'll know pretty quickly. And besides, if Vandal Savage really is in on this, then it's no laughing matter. Come on, now – let's go!"
The other heroes had no objections, so very soon they were making their way to Keystone City.
TIME: 9:25 a.m.
PLACE: Keystone City
Keystone City was not a very large city like Metropolis, but it was bustling with life and activity. At this hour of the morning, many people were running various errands and trying in vain to get to where they were going on time. In the town square, commuters were shopping, heading to work or school, or just loitering and hanging out, having a good time. As the vehicles strained to find some driving space, the drivers hurled abuse at each other, but hardly anyone paid attention to it – that was how life often got on a weekday every morning.
But the peace that was otherwise in existence was about to come to a crashing halt.
Suddenly, as from nowhere, a blast of fire shot down from one of the rooftops and hit a car, blowing it into pieces. As the now-terrified civilians started screaming and running for cover, several of them pointed upward with astonishment. Then, one by one, all eyes turned in the direction of the pointing fingers, and everyone was amazed.
The Secret Society was floating above the street, standing on an energy platform created by Sinestro's ring. Vandal Savage surveyed the looks of terror on the faces of the people and smiled in satisfaction. "Okay, my friends," he announced to his comrades, "let's make enough noise here so that the Justice League will be able to hear it, wherever they are right now."
"The only ones who'll be making noise will be YOU!" a severe voice shouted. Looking to his right in amazement, Savage was even more surprised to see the Justice League standing there, looking very stern.
"What a pleasant surprise," he chuckled. "Although, let's see...only five of you? That's going to be a little too easy..."
"Make it six, you piece of crap!" a voice yelled from above. Looking up, both the League and the Society were amazed to see Batman coming down out of the sky from the Batplane, apparently floating on a blue parachute. When he landed near the League, however, that parachute turned out to actually be his cape. He was wearing his new costume and a serious look on his face.
"Whoa...cool costume, Bats," Flash said in an awed voice. "You intend to keep it?"
"Maybe." Batman shrugged, then turned his attention to the Secret Society. "So...it seems the information I got was correct, after all," he remarked.
"Then you got a message from the mystery person who called us, too?" Superman asked.
"It seems that way," Batman answered. "But we can discuss that later. Right now, we have trash to clean up."
Savage smirked. "So, one of you decided to get a makeover...but it doesn't make any difference. Comrades, go ahead...have fun."
With a combined battle yell, the other six Society members rushed toward the Justice League as the other team rushed toward them, as well. "Crush them all!" Sinestro yelled as he tackled the Green Lantern.
Letting out a howl, Killer Croc headed right for Batman, lunging forward. Batman ducked and closed in however, lifting the surprised mutant over his head and tossing him away into a nearby tree. "I haven't forgotten what you did to me back in Gotham," said the Dark Knight. "I'm now going to pay you back a hundredfold for that."
Croc grinned. "Come on, bat!" he challenged.
Not very far away, Flash and Zoom raced parallel to each other along a wall and across the street, punching at each other all the way. As they raced toward the wall of the building on the other side, Zoom picked up the pace and ran up the wall, bouncing off it and coming down behind a surprised Flash. He kicked out into Flash's back, sending the other speedster running face-first into the wall. As Flash turned around, Zoom met him with a punch that fairly spun him around. But as Zoom came in for a second hit, Flash blocked him and countered with two blows to the jaw, knocking him away.
Wonder Woman blocked Killer Frost's ice blasts with her bracelets as best she could, but already she was starting to feel chilly. "I have to put a stop to this frigid bitch right away!" she realized. Flying around, she rammed head-first into Frost, knocking her down; however, Frost was not to be pushed around. Bringing both legs upward at a 90-degree angle, she flung the Amazon princess over her and onto the pavement. Wonder Woman quickly flipped herself right-side up again, however, and turned to face her opponent once again.
"Don't you ever give up?" Frost demanded.
"Giving up goes against everything I believe in," Wonder Woman declared acidly.
Lantern and Sinestro were blasting at each other and dodging each other's blasts in turn. "You are going to die, Lantern – I'll personally make sure of that!" Sinestro shouted.
"Not in this lifetime, Sinestro – and certainly not by the hand of a coward like you!" Lantern shot back. With that, he fired an extra-large energy beam at his mortal enemy; however, Sinestro countered with an equally large blast of his own, and soon the two were struggling against each other's respective energies.
Taking a punch to the face from the Ultra-Humanite, Superman went sailing for a few feet, but corrected himself in midair and came straight back. "I never thought I'd be seeing you again – and certainly not with someone like Savage!" he remarked.
Humanite shrugged a little. "I got bored, that's all," he said. "Anyway, I'm here to put you and your comrades in your place, and that's what I aim to do!" With that, he grabbed a nearby car and, lifting it up with all his gorilla strength, hurled it at the Man of Steel. Superman easily dodged that, and the car landed heavily on the street, bursting into flame – but he was completely unprepared for when Humanite jumped up suddenly and grabbed him in a tight arm-lock around his throat. Superman flung him to the ground, however, then picked him up and tossed him away.
Nearby, Volcana was blasting fire at J'onn, who kept shifting into a semi-liquid form and evading her attack. "C'mon, you green freak, stand and fight!" she screamed.
"You throw fire from your hands, and you call ME a freak?" J'onn quipped.
Livid, Volcana channeled as much fiery energy as she could muster and sent it off into one giant stream at J'onn. This time he went intangible and the flame passed right through him, much to Volcana's surprise. Surprising her even further, he swiftly came forward and grabbed her arms, pinioning them behind her back. "Surrender now...or I'll punish you like the spoiled little brat you really are!" J'onn growled.
Volcana smiled impudently. "Really."
Suddenly, before J'onn could react, Volcana's entire body shot up into flame, turning her into a walking human torch. As he was intensely weak to fire, J'onn let out a groan of agony as he released his grip on Volcana and staggered back. Seeing her advantage, Volcana spun around and delivered yet another blast of fire from her hands. This one connected, sending J'onn flying right into a truck, denting the side.
Zoom and Flash were running rings around each other, firing missed hits at each other. Then, glancing to one side, Flash caught sight of J'onn slumped against the truck, Volcana closing in on him. "J'onn!" he cried out, dashing away from Zoom and heading straight for Volcana. Caught by surprise, the fiery villainess was knocked down as Flash barreled into her with full force.
Zoom saw this and was furious. "Hey, coward, don't run away!" he yelled, running toward Flash – and next thing he knew, he felt himself being hoisted into the air by the scruff of his neck. "What the—!"
Looking up, he caught sight of Superman. "I think you need a time-out," the Man of Steel declared as, with lazy ease, he tossed Zoom behind. However, Superman didn't seem to know his full strength or didn't care, as Zoom flew into the side of a bus at something close to the speed of sound. Slamming into the bus with a sickening crunch of metal, Zoom was knocked senseless.
Back on the ground, Flash helped J'onn into a sitting position. "The...the heat...the fire..." J'onn whispered weakly. "Volcana's...too powerful for me..."
"Take it easy, J'onn," Flash consoled him. "You just rest. I'll take care of matters." And with that, he turned and raced back into the fray, this time tackling Humanite.
Meanwhile, back up in the sky, Sinestro and Lantern were still battling it out with their respective energies, but both of them were starting to give out. "You can't keep this up much longer, John Stewart!" Sinestro growled.
"Neither can you," Lantern replied.
Grunting with exertion, Sinestro started to fly forward slowly, pushing Lantern's energy back a little as he did. Lantern pushed forward, too, and very soon the two were getting dangerously close to each other. Then, suddenly, Lantern screamed as something gave him a powerful electrical shock from behind. Looking down, Sinestro saw Savage firing upward with his power gauntlets, at the same time giving him a knowing look. Getting the message immediately, Sinestro turned back to Lantern and fired an even bigger ring blast than before, hitting his foe square in the chest. After a moment, the energy let up, and Lantern plummeted to the ground, hitting with a heavy THUD.
All this time Batman and Croc had been going at each other in hand-in-hand combat. Occasionally Batman would jump over Croc's head, firing shuriken from his gauntlets and piercing the other's leather-tough skin, or otherwise hitting him in the head or shoulders. Croc screamed in frustration, but Batman wasn't about to let up. Then suddenly, he caught sight of Lantern falling to the ground. "Lantern!" he cried. Jumping over Croc and kicking him in the back of the head, he rushed over to the spot where his unconscious comrade lay.
"Lantern...are you all right? C'mon, talk to me!" Batman said urgently, bending down to reach his friend – and suddenly he felt himself being lifted up and held in a crushing bear-hug being delivered by an enraged Croc. Trying to twist his way out of it, Batman couldn't help uttering a gasp as Croc squeezed him even tighter, forcing the breath out of him. Finally, the Dark Knight passed out, and Croc let him fall to the ground.
"I should've killed you outright back in Gotham – I won't make the same mistake twice!" Croc declared, raising his fists to smash Batman's head...and the next thing he knew, a flying punch to the back of the head knocked him several feet back, skidding face-first along the pavement.
"Don't mess with my friends," Superman declared venomously. Then suddenly he yelled in pain as a blast of energy from Savage's gauntlets hit him in the back, and he collapsed.
Flash, battling Humanite, saw what happened and attempted to run over so he could help – but then Volcana, getting up from the pavement close by, flung a fire blast at him, hitting him in the leg and knocking him down. "Owww!" he screamed as he clutched his leg. Next thing he knew, Humanite was lifting him over his head and slamming him into the pavement. Flash saw swirling lights, then everything went dark.
Meanwhile, Frost was still battling with Wonder Woman. She was throwing spiky icicles at the Amazon, but Wonder Woman was flying too fast for her to get a definite hit. Then, quite suddenly, from one side a blast of energy barreled into her, slamming her into a tree trunk. Frost saw her advantage and formed an ice dagger in her hand, throwing it at Wonder Woman's chest. The other woman managed to swerve to one side to avoid being impaled, but she was in too much pain now to do anything else, and she went unconscious.
Seeing everything that was happening, J'onn tried to get up – but a similar blast of energy hit him in the chest, knocking him back down...and this time he didn't get back up. "No...my friends..." he whispered as the world went black.
Pulling himself out of the side of the bus, Zoom joined the other Society members as they stood close to their fallen adversaries. "C'mon, let's finish them now!" Croc urged.
"Yes," Savage declared. "Indeed, let us finish this now." With this the energy charged up in his hands once again.
Suddenly something flashed past Savage, hitting him in the face and knocking him down as he howled in pain. As the others registered this, the something flew past Sinestro and Zoom in turn, this time firing arrows at them and forcing them to jump for cover. Then it flew up to a rooftop and didn't emerge again.
"We're under attack!" Sinestro shouted. "There's still one more!"
"We have to get out of here!" Humanite declared. "We need to regroup and prepare ourselves for the next encounter – besides, Mr. Savage is injured!"
"Monkey-boy's right," said Zoom. "For now, we'd better split."
The other villains assented. As Croc picked up a wounded Savage, Sinestro formed an energy bubble around the seven villains, and then all of them flew off, leaving the Justice League unconscious in the street.
ZOOM: Wow. What an incredible fight scene!
YUSUKE: Man, neomage, you really know how to up the violence level, don't you?
NEOMAGE: (shrug) I guess.
MILLIA: We've found Wonder Woman! She's hiding in a cave on Duelist Kingdom Island!
NEOMAGE: That far? Oh, well, at least it won't be much longer...forward, march, my people! Let's give her the ass-whuppin' she deserves!
ALL: YEAH!!!
NARRATOR: With the power of extra troops and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon at their disposal, plus my super-narrator powers, will our heroes truly be able to put an end to Wonder Woman's tyrannical anti-Hawkgirl attitude? And as for neomage's fanfic – who is the mysterious person who just saved the Justice League? Stay tuned to find out more!