"This place is huge!" Kara laughed. "I'd forgotten how big it was."
"You've been here before?" Diana asked.
"Oh yes, Adam brought me here. That's where I got the T-shirt." She pointed to the shirt she was wearing. Diana rolled her eyes.
"Figures he'd corrupt you." She grunted.
"Oh, but it's so much fun being corrupted." Kara laughed again. Shayera stepped out of the ship. She was carrying a small black box. Ory appeared on the deck with them.
"These," She waved at the box that Shayera opened. "Are account bracelets. Once you slip them on, I'm the only way to remove them. Even if they cut your arm off. The blood is kind of a tell tale sign it's been stolen." She grinned. "Each one has a seventy five hundred ounce limit. The counter on top keeps track of the remainder."
"Ounce?" Shayera asked, as she slipped her bracelet on, and handed over the other two.
"Ounces of pure Platinum." Ory responded. "It's a more secure method of transfer. Liquid platinum is simpler to transport in deep space. Have fun." The hologram vanished.
"Let's follow instructions." Diana grinned. The three walked away. Shopping, in an alien mall, was interestingly enough not that much different from malls on earth, except the odd crowd was more so than usual. Several squid like aliens seemed to want to pick a fight with everyone, so there was a delay, as the three taught them some manners, to numerous cheers. After taking a bow, they turned, and continued on, finding a store Kara was looking for. The languages on the front were numerous, and none of the three recognized all of them. It was also written in english, and most of the predominant earth languages. Which did sort of add to the size of the sign. Upon entry, a Notok greeted them. Humanoid, it had four arms, and reverse jointed legs. The purple-pinkish cast to it's skin, while healthy for it's species, would normally have inspired instant medical treatment for most other races. She smiled, not a usual expression, but more of one adapted to dealing with humans.
"Can I help you?" She asked. Only the shape of the eyes, wider and flat, while the males eyes were more vertical, and the fact that the hands had seven fingers, instead of six, defined her as female.
"No, thank you, we're just browsing, if we need help, we'll call you." Diana replied politely, with a return smile, careful not to bare her teeth. Some races took offense to it, so she'd made a point not to, unless she was only in company of friends, or full humans. The Notok nodded, and turned away, to do other things. The selection of clothing was truly impressive, ranging from a massive rack of shirts like Kara's, in multiple languages, to clothing similar to what Shayera wore. They even had costumes similar to what Katma Tui was wearing when Ivo's android showed up. Diana suggested it to Shayera. This was received with a snort of laughter.
"Sorry, I haven't got the figure for it." She grinned. "Might fit you." She replied, grinning wider. Kara laughed. "Or you." Kara grinned nastily.
"I already have one." She winked, and walked away. When she walked, it wasn't just human eyes she drew, but several other races, and not all of the male either. Diana stared incredibly, while Shayera laughed. A voice stopped her cold.
"Shayera Hol, well, isn't this a surprise." The voice was very clearly female, even if the Thangarian attached to it wasn't. With her hair shorn fairly short, she was what most people would at first glance call a tomboy. A second glance, would change the opinions of most earth men, to blonde bombshell, with legs up to her neck. Diana shook her head to clear that particular image from her mind.
"Hello, sister dear." Shayera replied, gripping her mace a bit tighter.
"You can put that away Shay." She lifted her arms, and opened her hands. "I'm not armed, and I'm not in the military anymore."
"Really?" Shayera sighed. "And don't call me Shay." She muttered. "So, tell me, when did you die?"
"Die?" Her sister asked. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said Nyran." Shayera replied. "They don't let you out of the military unless you die."
"I actually got out on a technicality. Meet my technicality." She turned towards a clothes rack. "Yiall, come here a moment."
From behind the rack, issued a silver haired Thangarian youth. He walked with a confidence, that rivaled Shayera's, and was armed accordingly. Where his mother was wearing a light steel armor, that covered only her torso, he was in what a mounted to full armor, covering him from neck, to ankle, though it was very light, it looked dangerous.
"Yes mother?" He asked.
"This is your Aunt Shayera." She introduced him. The reaction was about what Shayera had expected, and was therefore prepared for it. His mace came up, and then down. At the same instant, he mace came up, sparking with power, as she smashed straight through his. The head of his mace lodged in the ceiling. Kara reappeared a moment later, looking ready for a fight.
"Foolish boy." Shayera chided him. "You aren't that strong yet. You need to teach him better manners sister dear.
---
"Are you sure this is the right way?" I asked calmly. Batman spun round.
"Yes, for the absolute last time, I am sure this is the right way. If you ask again, you can wait in the ship." He snarled, and whipped back around. I turned to Lantern.
"Did I say something wrong?" I asked as innocently as possible. Hard to do on the verge of breaking down in tears laughing. He just sighed.
"There." Batman pointed. The tavern he pointed out was very run down, with the sign falling off. I didn't think so, but he was the detective. We stepped inside. There, I saw, just before the fight started the banner on the wall. It read thus:
The first annual meeting of the I hate Green Lanterns club. Sinestro, President, and co-founder.
"This isn't good." I muttered, as they bore down on us.
"What was your first clue?" Lantern asked, unleashing a blast of energy at the closest alien. Sinestro lifted into the air behind them. I turned to bolt out the door, and found it guarded by what looked to be a cross between a Rhino, and an armored beetle. He just grinned.
"Shut up, and help." Batman snarled. I spun round, and picked the shortest alien I could find. He was about a foot tall, so I picked a larger one, and charged him. The force behind my leap was amplified by my fear of being pounded into a bloody pulp, that didn't resemble me at all, and I crashed into him, sending the solidly built alien bowling backwards into a dozen others.
Lantern lifted one with his ring and tossed him into another one that was advancing, rolling them both to the floor. Sinestro lanced out with a twin blast, and then the energy slammed upwards. The instant before it hit, Lantern was surprised from the left by a flying head butt. The alien was standing where the two massive energy hammers slammed together. Blood and goo covered most of the combatants, but my sixth sense warned me of it, and I put the biggest opponent I could find, which was fairly large, between me and it, leaving me clean.
Batman was having less trouble, since these were the alien equivalent of street brawlers, a universal menace, but one he was intimately familiar with. A punch from behind, turned into an over the shoulder throw, that took out a large section of the bar. A moment later, a yellow, and green wave of energy cut the building in half, as a blast of power from the two rings collided. Batman ducked a thrown punch, twisting so it hit another alien and dropped him in a single blow. The responding kick, knocked the one that threw the punch backwards into a group of bystanders, sitting at a table, staying out of the fight. Since he not only crushed their table, but also their drinks, they charged in to throw down. For a moment, I thought the cavalry had arrived as they charged and hit the ones trying to kill us. Unfortunately, it was like being rescued by three year olds. They took out one guy, and only by sheer numbers. Batman leapt and rolled to avoid a yellow lance of energy. A batarang lunged out, and slammed into Sinestro's shield. There was a spark of electricity, and the shield fell. Lantern took the opportunity, and fired a blast. Sinestro deflected it. Straight at me, of course. Since I was on top of the alien I was pounding, I didn't see it coming. The blast tore through several vitally important parts of my anatomy, not the least of which being a kidney and my right lung. Internal defenses flashed to life, and I exploded.
---
It was just a few hours after Flash's injury. He was still in surgery, while the doctors attempted to save him. Alexia sat in the waiting room, crying. Beside her J'onn sat, a hand on her leg. Clark and Lois paced the room, muttering to themselves. When the doors slid open, every head in the room rose sharply. The doctor took a deep breath.
"It appears, that his accelerated metabolism, is working in his favor, as is the speed with which he was brought here. He's alive, and should make a full recovery." The doctor gripped the door frame, in the face of the explosive force of the sigh of relief. Superman looked sheepish.
"Sorry." He apologized.
"So, what happened?" Lois asked, reporters instinct taking over.
"We went out to eat, Chinese food, and as we were leaving, three armed women burst in. Naturally, we tried to stop them. We got two, and when we went after the third, she tripped me. He jumped the gun, literally, and she pulled it up, and shot at him. I lunged, and knocked her out, then grabbed him, and came here." She gave a straight forward account of the proceedings.
"Thank you." Lois replied. The door opened again, this time to admit a police officer.
"Hello, chief." Superman greeted him.
"Hello, Superman. How is he?" He asked.
"He'll live." Superman replied. "What can we do for you?"
"Just that, and I wanted to inform you we picked up all three of the offenders. They said there was someone else with him. Is that true?" He asked.
"Yes." Came the Batman style response.
"Are you going to tell me who it was?" The chief asked.
"No." Superman responded. The chief shrugged.
"Alright." He turned to the door, and looked back over his shoulder. "A word of advice? Don't spend so much time talking to Batman, it's rubbing off." He laughed, and walked out the door. They could hear him, even with only human hearing, for quite sometime.
"Why did you not tell him about me?" Alexia asked.
"I didn't know if you wanted me to, and there was no way to ask without giving away your identity if you didn't want to." He shrugged. "Did you want me too?" He asked. She sighed.
"I don't know." She responded. "I'm kind of worried about him at the moment."
"We all are." J'onn, who had remained quiet nodded.