By Ironraven
--- Metropolis
The solitary figure approached the statue. It wasn't an odd sight to see, not at the empty graves of two of Earth's heroes. But the time of the night was strange, as was the familiar, almost casual way the visitor moved. Most were reverent, shy, even a little nervous. That members of the Justice League could die was like a slap in the face with a dead fish, a brutal reminder of thier own mortality. This one knew but didn't care about this. He knew things, people.
"Good evening, Diana, I hope I'm not interrupting. Hi, Bruce. I thought since I was in Metropolis, I would give you an update." Dick Greyson knelt next to the empty crypt of Batman. "Alfred has the suit ready, so I guess Nightwing will be going into retirement. Tim's not sure when he'll take that name, but I think he had planned on it happening someday. Clark goes back to Smallville tomorrow, I drove him down so he could get some things from his apartment. I was surprised, he asked Lois to meet us there. I guess he's letting her in on his secret. He's getting better. He is going to have a daily session with Leslie over the phone.
"Bruce, Clark asked if he could leave his suit at the Cave. I guess Superman is retiring to. I don't know if the League still be here in a year. Wally's working on his own again; he's been everywhere. I never figured he'd be a leader, but he is. If what we are building becomes as organized as the League, he'll be a core member. His reputation have pulled a lot of nervous people into the fold. He's had to grow up a lot the past few weeks, to, and it looks good on him. He and Kara work well together; Smallville really isn't that far from Central. They've already backed each other up several times.
"I'm not sure how much more there is to tell. Tim's got the West Coast sewn up. He and Starfire went up to Alaska yesterday, they took down Icepick with the help of some local named Lupine. That is the last of Doctor Freeze's goon squad. We are growing quickly, Bruce; every day, there is another name on our list of good guys. We are going to need a name some day, but it can wait. Right now, we just getting to know each other. There is a conference in Kasnia tomorrow, seems like everyone from England to the Urals will be attending. Queen Audrey sends her thanks for everyone's contact methods."
Dick shook his head, unsure of what the future held. "Tommorrow night, you will rise from the dead. If you scared criminals before, they will know terror."
--- Elsewhen
"So what you are telling me is that you started building a time machine, and... what? You got bored?"
"It isn't that easy, Diana." Savage looked resigned as he sat down, perching on the edge of the console. "The power requirements are beyond what my solar steam generator can handle."
Bruce brushed his hand over the surface of a panel, looking at the schematic etched on the surface. "What were you planning on using?"
"A zero point generator. I used to have one, but... I lost it." The self-effacing, embarrassed smile returned to the immortal's mind.
A raised eyebrow showed Bruce's disbelief. "How do you misplace an artificial sun?"
"It was stolen by a group of roach creatures during a food raid. They made an utter shambles of my test area." Savage rested his chin on his fist, tapping his finger against his cheek. "Without someone to watch my back, I wasn't able to safely go after it. They use it to heat their nest. And I never really felt the need to make another."
"How long would that take?"
Savage thought back, looking up at the ceiling. "About 60 years"
Diana scowled deeply. "Then I guess we just need to raid them; do you know where it is?"
"I'm not sure, actually." Savage turned, looking at a wall, presumably in the direction of the bugs' colony. "The might have lost it in a raid. It could be in Africa by now. But that isn't very far, these days."
"What do you mean? I've been to Africa and-"
"Diana, you came through the Neo-Pangeic Mountains. You arrived in Africa."
"So you reversed continental drift as well?" Bruce's voice was a growl though clenched teeth.
Would it help if I said I was sorry?
--- Watchtower
As the Watchtower circled the Earth silently John and Shayera sat on the bench in the observation lounging, watching the world go round. The halls of the station were loud with emptiness. With the bizarre, and often broken, internal clocks of it's occupants, the Tower usually had somekind of background noise. Now it was just them and J'onn, who was meditating.
"Maybe the dream really was too good to be true. It's been what, three years?" John looked down at the ring on his hand. "Maybe Flash is right. Maybe it is time to pull the plug."
Tracing the outline of the Nordic coast with her eyes, Shayera's lips were tight. "Or maybe we could work it out. We are stronger together. You and I are the ones with the most offworld experience, we've both seen things that would punch through the League like a piece of paper. It's only a matter of time before one comes to Earth, they need us."
"It is only a matter of time before some else dies." John slipped the ring off his finger, his eyes returning to the chocolate shade of his birth as he rolled it in his fingers. So small, yet so destructive. The power was almost too much for him at times like these. "Look at us, Shay. Flash has quit, and J'onn is talking about going to Mars to meditate. That leaves us to start rebuilding. If we can- did you see the news out of Midway last night?"
"No, what happened?"
"Mace called in Flash for a chemical leak. Along the way, the kid must have paused to call for backup. Supergirl showed up, and it looks like if the situation had gone on longer, she wouldn't have been the only one. Those two have been working together a lot. All the independents, they are talking. They've got it covered. They don't need us."
She breathed out, gently, slowly, before speaking in a soft voice. "John, if we aren't needed here any more, there is always the stars. Lots of places we could go."
"Have we been talking about the League, or us?" John turned to face her, thinking back to what he had almost said last time they sat here like this.
Her hands reached out, closing over his, the ring still between them. "Lets talk about us."
"You want me to run away with you? I can't do that? Earth needs us."
"Earth has it's heroes. More today than yesterday." She lifted one hand to his face, gently gripping his chin between her thumb and forefinger, letting his jaw rest on her half-closed fist. "Your duty is to dozens of worlds, John, not just the world of your birth. Earth is like home to me now, to. Even if we leave, I want to come back to visit."
He felt trapped by her eyes, not only seeing them, but feeling their pressure on his pupils. "So, you want to roam the stars looking for trouble? As partners."
She smiled gently. "'Partners' has a lot of meanings." She lifted one of his hands in hers, letting her fingers slide between his with her calloused palm on the back of his. She leaned her head back, using both their hands to push her helmet up, letting it fall on the thick carpeting behind them. "I want you to see me for a change. I want you to see Shayera, not 'Hawkgirl'."
He felt his pulse quicken, seeing her face for the first time. The auburn strands were flat, pressed down by the near steady pressure of the helm. An errant lock of them slid down across her face, softening her appearance even more. He realized that he had forgotten to breath, and drew in a hasty breath before speaking again."I thought there would be a broken nose under that mask. I'm glad there isn't.
"So you've been thinking about me?" Shey pressed her cheek gently into against his palm as she smiled. John had never been hard to read, but she could read his throughts even more clearly now. They were what she had hoped they would be, they matched hers.
"Hmm-hmmm..." Tilting their head together, they kissed, softly, slowly, gently. They were stronger together than alone. Together, they could do anything.
--- Elsewhen
Diana dropped the reigns on her mount. She and Bruce had ridden out, scouting for the telltale signs on the generator. They had had to wonder far afield to find it, but they had. Hopefully, during the trip to get Savage, the thing hadn't been stolen again. Setting foot on the dusty ground, she frowned. This place felt familiar.
Bruce tied his mount to an outcropping of granite next to her's. He ran though the check of his weapons. He had spent several days in Savage's workshop, crafting new batarangs and his other tools, working from memory. His voice was soft as he surveyed the sides of the mound. "That feeling again?"
"Yeah, it is." She lifted the shield and sword she had hung from her saddle. "Savage, where are we?"
Vandel looked around, then closed his eyes, thinking. A laser pistol was holstered on his hip, a second in a shoulder holster, with a number of power packs on his belt. After a moment, he spoke softly. "I think we are some where in the old Mediterranean, possibly in the Adriatic. Why?"
"I don't know, it feels familiar." She pointed up at an outcropping. "The side entrance we spotted is there."
With that last word, they moved towards the entrance. Bruce had suggested he go first, but she squashed the idea instantly. With sword and shield, she was better suited for finding a surprised bug. She wasn't as comfortable with having Savage in the back, but his weapons could shoot past her and Bruce, or burn the legs off massed attackers from the rear.
Slowly they slipped deeper into the mound, illuminated by glowing fungi. Unlike the arid land outside, the hive was humid, sticky. They had seen several bugs, they had not been seen. Savage had warned them that most of the roachbeetles they found would be simple workers. It was only the warriors they really had to worry about. As they started to cross a bridge, they heard a clicking hoot from an alcove above.
A steel blade sank into the chitin around the junction of the bug's thorax and head, silencing it quickly. Bruce grunted softly- the balance had been off. Diana picked up the pace, not wanting to stuck on the bridge when more bugs showed up, Bruce right on her heals. Savage paused for a moment, still surprised at the skill of the throw, before he realized he was about to be left behind. Just a few feet into the passage on the other side of the bridge, they came to a split in the tunnel.
"OK, Mr. Wizard, which way do we go?" Bruce listened to the scuttling and scurrying in both sides. Either one sounded like a bad idea.
"Left." The answer came not from Savage, but from Diana. Bruce turned his head to look at her, the question of how she knew dieing on his lips when he saw her face. She looked as positive of that as he had ever seen her. "We go left." Without any further preamble, she headed off down the left passage. Bruce looked back at Savage, who could only shrug.
The deeper they went, the more bugs they found. In twos and threes the giant insects came, and in threes and fours they were cut down. "We must be getting close," shouted Bruce as he threw an explosive batarang in to an overhead alcove, just before he flung up his arm to cover his face from the spray of flesh and ooze.
Diana grunted as she thrust the steel of her blade into the gullet of the roach in front of her. "What makes you say that?" She slashed backhanded cleaving the compound eye of a bug. The feeling of familiarity was growing. These tunnels reminded her of the tunnels under her home island.
The laser pistol in Savage's right hand popped and hissed as it tried cool down, as he fired the one in his left rapidly, mechanically sweeping his arm side to side. Every burst of energy lanced through a bug, the pressures created by the waters of their tissue flashing into steam cracking and shattering their exoskeletons, blowing chunks from their bodies. He shouted back over his shoulder as he holstered the pistol in his right hand, the lens assembly finely cool enough to do so, as he swapped in a new powerpack. "I think they are getting more stubborn."
--- Wayne Manor
The old room had remained unused for years, but Alfred always made sure it was ready for use. Dusted, the plant watered as needed, clean sheets every week. Spare clothes, purchased by the old butler for the eventuality of a return, were in the dresser and closet, with a toothbrush and razor in the adjoining bathroom.
The bedstand had been polished until it gleamed. The dark wood reflected the glow of the flashing LED screen in time with the insistent chirping of the cell phone. A muscular, but nearly vampire pale, arm snaked out from under the covers, seeking the offending device. Finding it, the arm retreated under the covers dragging its prey back into it's lair.
"Nngello?... Hi, Tim... Get used to it- time zones. What's up?... One of your locals was trying to broker a deal out here?.. Ah, yeah, dark matter is a little hard to find. Did he have a name?.. Thanks- oh, and next time, send email, would you? I was in the middle of a good dream... You did? Great... Yeah, I'll tell them..."
The heavy velour blanket rolled back, long black hair spread across a pillow underneath. Dick tossed the cell phone back on the nightstand, lettign it bounce against the other one there. The angularly handsome face rolled to the side, looking to the other pillow. "Tim says hi, and that we might have a new problem in town. I guess the Titans payed a visit to one of the local mad scientists."
Barbara rolled her eyes. "Did I hear you say dark matter? What was he going to do with that?"
"I got no idea. But he was supposedly going to be coming into town a few days, try to grab it before it goes to Boston by armoured car. He emailed me the details."
With a groan, the redhead kicked the covers off and rolled out of bed. The alarm clock said it was nearly seven. They had gotten four hours of sleep- more than enough after a quite patrol. "Come on, Batman, out of bed. If that stuff is any where near Gotham, and the containment field goes, how much do you want to bet it will be felt in Metropolis."
--- Elsewhen
Kicking the latest roach to try to stop her out of her way, Diana stepped into a blindingly lit chamber. And froze.
The floor of the chamber that all the twists and turns led to was almost perfectly smooth, the walls perfectly formed in the eyes of humanity. A remainder of a column still stood, a scorch mark from centuries of fire still staining the floor. Past that lay a great pit, the light flooding up from it. Themescara. The temple.
"Savage, down," barked Bruce, as he drew a handful of explosive batarangs, and threw them over the head of the now prone immortal. The treble blast shredded their perusers, and created an barrier over which others would have to climb. "Diana, what is it? Why are you stopping?"
Her face lost in wonderment, disconnected, she turned, her hands spread. "Bruce, look."
As she spoke, he saw movement overhead. Shouting a warning over her words, he lunged forward to grab her. But the bug was faster. It leapt at her, slamming it's bulk into her side, throwing her over the edge. With a howl, Bruce swung his leg up, into the underside of the jaw of the beast, snapping it's head back terminally. Then he was surrounded by the swarm, as he lay about with hands and feet. Everywhere they touched, things broke, but not before the bugs could get their serrated legs claws on him, ripping his armour and the flesh below is painful, messy, but shallow wounds. He was much more concerned about the crushing jaws.
Savage's pistols were constantly hissing and popping with heat as he fired over and over, dropping them still glowing into the holsters to reload one handed. He thrust one, muzzle first, into the eye of a bug, the scream of water flashing into steam, seeking any way out, including the passage of the optic nerve to the brain, mixing with his own bellow as the beast bit at his leg. He ignored the pain of the injuries, his flesh would heal soon enough. Besides, he wasn't sure if it mattered. He doubted even he would survive being digested.
--- Gotham, Jim Gordon's office
Commissioner Gordon's coffee cup dropped onto his desk with a harsh thunk, the sole mouthful of cold brew sloshing against the porcelain. With an unsteady hand he stabbed at the button on the speakerphone, calling out to his assistant in a raspy voice. "Hold my calls."
Batman, a new Batman, stepped through the open window, the wind billowing the curtains around him. This one was slimmer, built for speed, with the grace of a dancer, all arms and legs. The exposed jaw was more angular, more youthful. He wasn't as massive, or as physically powerful. But the eyes, the eyes behind the mask were the same. Scarred, hard, cold. Eyes that could make a hardened killer sob like a child with just a few whispered words, or lead men on a two way trip on the River Styx.
Behind him, Batgirl slid into the room, grinning softly. "How does he look, Dad?"
Gordon blinked, shaking his head. "Like a ghost. You just about scared the life of me. We found your package this morning; they've plead to everything."
"Good. The more people think I'm dead, the better." The new Batman's lips smiled coldly. The voice was the same, but different. The same inflection, the same precise tone dragged from the neitherworld. But it wasn't the same powerful bass- this one was richer, from the upper edge of the tenor range. "They will get even more scared, make mistakes."
"You even sound like him." Gordon gripped his coffee mug tightly. "You aren't here for a social call, are you." It was a statement, not a question.
Batgirl slipped a mini-CD from her belt, dropping it on her father's desk. "Someone is planning on bringing dark matter into town, and we think someone else is planning on stealing it."
"What is 'dark matter'?" When the Commissioner tapped the button on his CD drive, his computer obediently stuck out out it's lounge.
"A collapsed star. A cubic inch of it weighs several tons. Nothing escapes from it, not even light."
As the pdf opened on Gordon's screen, he closed his eyes. The new voice of Batman was going to take some getting used to. It wouldn't be hard- doom and gloom had come from the old one to. "Is that anything like a black hole?"
--- Elsewhen
It had been 30 seconds since Savage stopped making noise, 73 since Diana had fallen. Of all his instincts, Bruce had never really noticed the accuracy of his internal clock. Right now, he really wished it wasn't ticking so loud. He had lashed out, again and again. It was impossible to keep his footing, his boots sliding in the ichor that ran in a flood over the floor. He had studied floor fighting with the best.
He jabbed the point of his last batatarang up in the shoulder joint of the bug over him, before pushing it into the one next to him, when he felt a set of jaws on his left foot. This was not how he had planned on dieing, not like this, not as insect chow. He kicked out desperately, adrenalin pounding through his veins, feeling things crack in one foot and under the other. Despite that, he couldn't see the ceiling any more, they had him. Thus it ends.
He resigned himself to the inevitable when he saw a light, blinding to his gloom adjusted eyes, like a star seen close up. thorough the eyewatering brilliance, he saw something gleaming, thrusting, swinging, and a voice calling to him. As the bugs cleared, and his adapted to the light, he could see her standing over him. Her bracers and tiara glittered in the light of an artificial sun, as she pushed a sword into his hands. "Are you just going to sit there, or do you want to live forever?"
Then she was gone. The shadows told him where she was as they sprinted and jumped, as he forced himself to his feet, biting down on the pain. He slashed with the sword at anything that had more than two legs and got close enough, thrusting when they got too close. Within seconds, not a bug remained alive in the chamber. He found her where she was digging into a pile of spare insect parts, the generator at her side. "What happened?"
"This is the temple of Hera, on Themscara." Without even grunting, she tossed aside a the thorax of a bug, a piece about half the size of a small car. "There he is. Savage, can you move?"
The shattered body of Vandal Savage twitched in a way that would have sickened a trauma surgeon. His body had been battered and torn, most of his major bones broken. But his eyes moved in a way that said he was fully aware of what was happening, and where he was. He used them to motion to the ceiling. Above them, the statue of Hera that had graced her temple for mellenia had be embedded into the cavern walls. She was the worse for wear, but not quite as bad as Savage was. Her smile, fair, but harsh, was still clear through the years. Bruce and Diana both looked, until the snap of a laser pistol got their attention.
Savage didn't look a lot better, but he could use one arm, and his voice. A fresh bug lay near him, steaming gently at each end. "A little help would be nice."
Bruce pulled the hide cape from his shoulders; Diana still wore his normal one. He stuffed the body and limbs of Savage into the sling created be tyeing the corners together. "Diana, can you get us out of here?"
"I think so. These things can't fly, can they?"
Savage's voice bubbled out of the bag that Bruce hung onto, but was unable to carry with his foot the way it was. "Not that I know of." Without further ado, Diana told Bruce to hang onto Savage, and lifted them both in one hand, the zero point generator under the other. She put that arm up to sheild her face as best as she could with it as she zipped over the tops of, or simply through, the bugs and thier walls. After several minutes, she had reached the opening they had used to enter the mound.
Diana set them down, with Savage becoming much more insistent that he really needed more room. She looked to the slope, to the remains of their dragonfly-like mounts. It was obvious that the roachbeetles had been here first, but there was no signs of them. When she looked back, she saw Bruce assembling something from the pouches on his belt. She grabbed his arm when she realized what it was. "You can't!"
"Diana, it is the only way. We need to stop for a minute, and there are more of bugs on the way."
"But-"
"I'm sorry, Diana, this is the only way." With his Batman face and voice on, Bruce was unreadable. He softened when he saw the dismay in her eyes. He tossed the small charge as deep as he could into the hive, silently counting as he stepped out of the direction of the tunnel mouth. The blast smothered his words, but his lips were clear. "Hera, forgive us."
When the dust settled, they returned to where they had left Savage. He was scarred, but those would pass in a few hours. He had wrapped the fur around himself like a kilt, holding it closed with the gunbelt he had started with. All other remains of his black suit had been destroyed. "Diana, it is good to see you back to normal. Can I get a lift?"
--- Kent Farm, Smallville
Shuffling his feet nervously, Wally knocked at the door to the farmhouse. It was odd- he'd run past here several times, no more than twenty miles away, and he'd never known this was Clark's childhood home. It really was a small world.
An older woman stepped up to the screen door, squinting against the sunlight behind him. "Hello, may I help you?"
"I hope so, Ma'am. My name is Wally; I'm a friend of Clark's." Wally wiped his forehead from the heat. "I was hoping he was around."
"Come in, please." Martha pushed the screen door open, inviting him in. "Clark hasn't said much about what happened, he's been through a lot."
"I know Mrs. Kent. I was there for a lot of it." Wally shrugged inside. She can be trusted, she's kept his secret all these years. Just as he was about to speak, a set of soft foot fall from the stairway ended with a rush towards him and arms thrown around his torso.
"Wally, I was hoping you'd come." Kara released him before things started to break, truly glad that he was here. "Clark has a phone session with Doctor Thomspon this morning. It might be better if he rested for a few hours after before you talked to him."
"Uhm, yeah. I probably want him in a good mood when I apologize." Martha snorted, before going back to whatever she had been doing. A friend who knew the truth had to be from the League, and she wanted nothing to do with them, even if Kara did.
Wally scratched at the back of his head nervously, watching the farm woman walk away. "So... Is it ok if I just hang here with you until he is ready?"
"Sure. You can give me a hand. We need to get the last cutting of hay in before it starts to rain again." She guided him outside, grinning. "Don't' worry, it's already bailed."
--- Watchtower
"Good skies, J'onn. We'll be around when we can." Hawkgirl spoke into the communications headset.
"And you, Sheyera. I will think of you both." J'onn's voice came from the speakers. The Javelin slide effortlessly though space, turning gracefully away from the planet below. "It has been a privilege and an honor, John."
"You're sure you won't change your mind? The three of us make a pretty good team." John Stewart had said good bye to friends and comrades before. Too many of them, he never saw again. He took strength from the warmth and weight of Shayera's arm pressing against his, their hands together. John had to ask the question, even if he knew the answer already.
"No, John, I must go home." In their minds' eyes, they could see the heavy brow creased with sorrow. It was a good face, but always sad, always alone. "I must remember who I am again. Until we are together again, my friends, be well."
---
Author's notes:
One upon a time, Africa and North America were touching. If Savage's gravity weapon could trigger a radical tectonic slide, they could do so again.
About Savage's holstered reloads, it works with autoloading pistols. Fire yourself dry, pop the empty. Drop the pistol into the holster, slide still back. Get a fresh mag in. Draw, bang the baseplate on your thigh (or chest if from a shoulder rig), hit the slide release. You are up and hot with one hand about twice as fast as normal, but if you have only one hand free... It should work with an energy weapon, if it is designed right. Problem is, most energy weapons would theoretically get HOT! As in branding iron hot.
When he is dug out, I see Savage being in about the same shape Bishop was after the queen was kicked off the Sulaco.
Most farms use large, round bales of hay these day, about the size of a small car. But if the Kents are still doing small bales, then enhanced speed will get a lousy job over and done with quicker. Besides, after you get it on the wagon, you have to get it into the barn. Wally, Kara, hay... Yeah, right, in his dreams.
Thanks to Redneckgoddess for catching two noticable oops in two chapters.