M'gann, link us up with every hero present! Jason ordered. Then everyone, split! You know who your targets are! That final word said, he ran towards the direction of his sister, who, being the only Bat besides Robin present, was the subject of the attentions of most of the Gotham Rogues. Despite her general inexperience, she was holding herself well, even if the more powerful ones were stopping her from taking the weaker ones out.
Wallace sped towards the Central/Keystone City Rogues, who were currently having a hit-and-run war with Wally, while Kon and Donna flew towards the hulking form of Giganta. Kaldur used the water from his previous attack to create a tidal wave that he rode towards where his King and Queen were dueling Ocean Master. That left M'gann by her lonesome, as she tried to coordinate the sudden mass link between dozens of minds, creating a number of subnets between certain individuals and instructing them on how to switch between them and the main nets.
Arrogant of you to believe that you could create a bond between so many people and keep it secure, Martian.
She clicked her teeth. Psimon. And I guess that's Dr. Psycho and Mad Hatter with you? Oh, and Gorilla Grodd. Haven't had the joy of dealing with you lot in years. Tell me, is this every villainous telepath present?
Well, besides Despero—
A fission of anger coursed through M'gann. It was only because of her years of experience and control that she managed to limit the fierce emotion to the connections she had to the villains, causing a backlash that had them reeling.
What the hell! Psycho yelped, and she could just feel him clutching his head.
M'gann ignored him. Thank you for the information. I'm going to take you all out now.
She didn't wait for a response. Miss Martian dived into the near endless well of telepathic power that she kept locked up in her mind, careful to mind the depth. She pulled out just enough to knock out all the other telepaths for the next day or so, and then unleashed it in a powerful wave. Four mental screams echoed in her mind, before suddenly falling silent. M'gann absentmindedly used the opportunity to finally secure the mass link, before reaching out for the familiar touch of Despero's mind. Upon finding it near her uncle, she snarled.
Not this time, Despero.
"Yo!"
"Gah!" Leonard Snart whirled around, ceasing his attempts to freeze the Flash to death in favor of facing this new Flash that was watching him with a smirk on his face. "New Flash, I presume."
"The fifth, one to be exact," Wallace confirmed. "It's been a while, Snart. Back in my time, you're long retired."
Snart smirked. "I guess it's because I finally offed your cousin?"
"Nah," Wallace said, before speeding forward and grabbing Snart's cold gun. "This is why."
Captain Cold watched in horror as the speedster disassembled his weapon right before his very eyes. Before he could do anything about it, a powerful fist slammed directly under his jaw, knocking him out. Wallace dropped the pieces of the Cold Gun onto the ground, before glancing up at the other Rogues, who were suddenly looking a lot more apprehensive.
Wallace cracked his knuckles. I love this job.
My King! My Queen! Kaldur called out as he washed away some approaching trenchers and landed next to the two monarchs. Allow me to assist you!
Kaldur'ahm! Mera paused in her attack to glance nervously at Black Manta, Don't! We'll be fine! Go help someone else!
Kaldur saw his king beset by several villains led by his villainous brother Orm, and soundly disagreed. He directed the wave to sweep the villains away, and electrified the water. The criminals gagged and seized as electricity coursed through them, before finally dropping to the ground in heaps.
The next moment, he found a saber trying to cut him down. He soundly dodged it and glared at his aggressor. "Black Manta," Kaldur muttered, hatred lining his tone.
"Hello, Kaldur'ahm," Manta greeted him genially. "I've been waiting a long time to meet you."
"Liar!" Kaldur snarled.
"Believe what you wish. It is the truth."
The third Aquaman refused to listen anymore. He summoned the water from the tidal wave and directed it towards the other man. The optics of Manta's helmets glowed, before the eye lasers fired and turned the attack into steam.
Kon's ear twitched, and he frowned as he saw several black blurs flying towards the ongoing duel between Clark and Zod. Donna, looks like we have some interlopers. Could you handle Giganta on your own?
Sure. Try not to destroy the island?
Look at who's talking. Kon shot back amusedly, before changing direction of his flight towards the duel between his fellow Kryptonians. Already, the two combatants had stopped as Clark spun around, staring apprehensively at the other Kryptonians that had surrounded him. Let's see…Ursa, Faora, Jax-Ur, Non — the usual suspects for Zod lackeys. Shouldn't be too hard to deal with.
Out loud, he shouted, "Hey assholes! Stay away from my cousin!"
The Phantom Zone criminals turned their attentions away from Clark to him, and Kon immediately put up a barrier, allowing their heat vision to reflect against it and sputter away. Eventually, the lasers ceased, and with a flick of his wrist Kon telekinetically bound their bodies and grabbed their legs, before slamming them to the ground with prejudice.
Normally, he would keep beating them down until they were knocked out, but they were currently on a time crunch and there were a bunch of friends that were in need of a Superman's aid. So, he decided to go the easy route. M'gann?
Already on it.
Kryptonian minds were sturdier than human mind (at least when under a yellow sun) but M'gann was by far and away the most powerful and skilled telepath in the world right now. It was child's play for her to knock the criminals out for a serviceable amount of time. Kon did a quick scan of them to make sure, before releasing the bonds on them and giving his cousin a nod and flying off.
Okay, are we good? Tim asked, watching as Bart sped around the distracted Giganta's feet, tying Diana's (currently Cassie's) magical lasso around the lower half of the giant woman's legs. It was a bit difficult, considering the sheer size disparity, but the lasso was long and unbreakable and probably had some magical extension feature, so they managed.
We're good! Bart confirmed, smirking. And by the way? This telepathy? So crash!
I gotta agree, Arrowette admitted. Maybe we should think about recruiting our own telepath to the team.
But would they manage to link me? Secret asked. Even I don't know how Miss Martian managed to link me.
She's just super strong like that. You should've seen her when we went up against Donna — she could put up these barriers and stuff while talking to everyone like we were having a simple chat at breakfast. Cassie gushed. I hope we'll get her as a teacher when this is all over.
You will, after we run you down through a billion drills for pulling this stunt.
Young Justice froze as Donna's familiar voice, irate and unamused, cut through their link. The woman herself landed next to Robin, and glared at him, causing him to flinch. Don't think we don't know about what all of you, Batgirl, and Stargirl did to get on this mission. You are not getting off with a simple grounding.
But Donna! If we hadn't come on the mission you would have—, Cassie cut herself off before she said more, filled with guilt.
Donna stared hard at her for a moment, before sighing. I know. We all know. And we're proud of you for that. Truly. But there is a reason the adults didn't want you to come on this mission — you're not ready for the level this battle will be going into soon. Her eyes flickered upwards. Speaking of which…!
The young teen heroes ran out of dodge as Donna blocked a massive fist that slammed down at her, looking to squash her. Giganta had a sick grin on her face as she tried to press down, forcing Donna to dig her heels in. Then, with a mighty roar, she pushed back on the fist, before blasting it away completely. Giganta stumbled, causing the ground around her to shake as she tried to right herself. She glanced down at her feet and flared her nostrils as she tried to remove the lasso.
While she was distracted, Donna glanced around at the children, before sending out a message to all the heroes in the surrounding area. Everyone! This is Troia! Please flee the area around myself and Giganta immediately! And when I give the word, anyone that can fly should take to the air, and bring with them anyone that can't!
And if you can't handle that much, Kon added, I'll lift you up myself.
With that said, Donna waited patiently as the heroes began to flee. Once she felt the touch of M'gann's telepathy again, signaling that it was time, she inhaled a deep breath before diving into the depths of her soul, accessing the one life that had caused her more strife than any other. She rarely ever used the abilities of this life, but it was certainly useful for this instance. And a real knock on Giganta.
Never let it be said that Donna couldn't be petty. She wasn't Diana, after all.
The entire battlefield stilled again as everyone watched Donna begin to glow — and then grow in size, gradually matching the still struggling Giganta. Eventually, even the usual giantess noticed what was happening and stopped trying to remove the lasso in favor of watching Donna equal her in stature with a slack jaw. Then, she regained her wits about herself and unleashed a roar as she tried to punch the other woman.
Unfortunately, Donna's skills had not degraded even at that size. She easily blocked the punch, before retaliating with one of her own. The island quaked as Donna landed the blow, and then another, and another, sending Giganta further and further back. Finally, as the other woman stood, completely in a punch drunk stupor, Donna finished her off by moving back to stand behind the other woman, looping her arms around her waist, and delivering a patented German suplex.
Now! Donna's voice screamed into the heads of her allies just as Giganta's head and neck met the ground. Almost immediately, every flight-capable hero ascended to the sky with whoever they could grab while Kon lifted the rest up with his telekinesis. The earth practically convulsed as the force of the attack rippled throughout the entire island, sending numerous villains who hadn't managed to get airborne like the heroes tripping, flying and, more often than not, screaming.
All the fighting had ceased. Instead, everyone stared as Donna let go of Giganta and rolled out from under the other woman. She then got to her feet and kicked her dazed opponent onto her back, before mounting her and slamming hammerfists into her face. Once she was certain Giganta had been sufficiently punched out (as indicated by the villainess' bloody nose and shrinking body), she returned to her original size, double-stomping her rival into the ground as she landed as a final middle finger.
The entire area around her was silent. Donna turned around, stepping off Giganta's prone body, and swept her eyes across the surrounding villains. One in particular, Cheetah (and boy, wasn't that pleasing?) flinched when they made eye contact.
Donna smirked, drew her sword, and got to work.
God, I love that woman. Jason thought to himself as he gazed longingly at the charging Donna while he punched out Puzzler, who was currently locked under his arm and now bordering on unconsciousness. He blinked when he felt someone's judgmental gaze on him, and looked to his side to his sister staring at him. What?
You and your friends are crazy. Cass bluntly told him, before swiftly starting her chase after a fleeing Maxie Zeus, who had clearly decided that this entire job was no longer worth it. Jason watched her go before shrugging, releasing the now unconscious Puzzler and dropping him to the ground.
"You."
He blinked and sighed when he saw who it was addressing him: Bane.
"The second Robin. The bird that died," the man spoke tauntingly. "We were all surprised to hear that you had somehow come back from the dead and had become the next Bat. I wonder — how badly will you break compared to your father?"
Jason stared at him for the moment. Then he kicked Bane in the face.
"ARGH!" The ruler of Santa Prisca screamed. "Why you—"
Suddenly, he felt a weight on his back. He looked up to see that Jason had drawn one of his sticks and had configured it into a sword with a glowing blue edge. He slashed across Bane's back, cutting the glowing red tube that had been feeding him Venom, before transforming the sword back into an escrima stick with a simple twirl. Jason then jabbed the stick into the small of Bane's back, activating the weapon's electrical generation ability.
Bane let out a scream of pain as the electricity coursed through him. The moment Jason removed the stick, his body collapsed face-first, completely unconscious. The third Batman nonchalantly stepped off it, before tossing back an energy bola as an afterthought, not even bothering to glance back as the energized ropes wrapped around the unconscious supervillain.
Jason then glanced around the rogues that had been attempting to close in on him while he had been distracted by Bane. The same villains he had spent years of his early life combating. It had been so long since he had seen many of them, alive and well.
He cracked his neck. They all took a step back, eying him nervously.
He couldn't help it — he smiled.
I forgot how much fun this job could be.
"What the hell is wrong with you people!?" The normally composed, if hateful Black Manta screeched at his son as the two continued to duel in the midst of the chaos. Kaldur didn't respond beyond a vicious glare and a fierce kick to the chest. Manta skidded back, but before he could retaliate Kaldur had formed an axe with one of his water-bearers and slashed at him. The older man just barely managed to lean back to avoid a lethal, potentially fatal blow — but his suit was not so lucky. Nor his helmet.
Manta felt panic bubbling in his chest as his iconic manta helmet shattered, bisected in two and revealing his face to the world. The circuitry within it deactivated instantly, preventing him from accessing his optic lasers. He used his swords to continue parrying his adversary, but his sudden demoralization combined with Kaldur's naturally superior strength due to his Xebelian physiology ultimately proved to be his undoing. Eventually, in the face of Kaldur's fury, his limbs fatigued and he was subsequently disarmed.
Once again, Kaldur took the opportunity to kick him in the chest, before sheathing one water-bearer in favor of punching Manta in the face. That final blow finally drove the other man to his back, groaning. When Kaldur approached him with a water sword in hand, Manta held his hand out in panic, hoping to stave off that final blow. "Wait, Kaldur'ahm! Stop! I'm your father!"
Kaldur did not blink upon hearing that, though he did stop and stare at Manta. He ignored how Arthur, Mera, and Garth had all ceased their own attacks in favor of watching the confrontation in apprehension.
"I'm your father, Kaldur'ahm," Manta repeated, holding both his hands out in a placating gesture. "Your biological father. Your true father. Please, son — you're on the wrong side. The king you serve…he murdered my father, your grandfather. And now, he's using you against me in this war of ours."
The third Aquaman didn't say anything.
"I know I haven't been a part of your life thus far, but that was not my fault — your mother hid you from me. And now that we've finally met, I'd like to get to know you, my son. To let you inherit your true legacy," Manta gestured to himself, "the legacy of Black Manta."
Kaldur remained silent.
"Kaldur'ahm…I love you."
Garth cursed beneath his breath. Mera inhaled deeply. Arthur gripped his trident.
And Kaldur…
Kaldur laughed.
It was not a kind laugh, nor a mirthful one. No, it was a cold, bitter one, like there was a joke at play that wasn't really funny but hurtful and yet he was still laughing anyway. The very sound of it was unnerving, and it chilled everyone to the core.
"You fool," Kaldur said with a trailing chuckle, shaking his head. "You stupid, stupid fool."
Manta was frozen still, looking up with wide eyes.
"I'm from the future, Black Manta. I died in my sixties. Did you honestly I think I went all those decades without knowing you were my father?" He hissed, the amusement suddenly evaporating entirely.
The supervillain trembled.
"I found out when I was sixteen. And it didn't stop me from siding with my King, with Atlantis. Just like it didn't stop you from trying to gut me like a fish just to hurt him, or from trying to destroy Atlantis and killing my parents, my real parents in the process." The third Aquaman jabbed his sword forward, pointing directly at Manta's chest. "Just like how it didn't stop me from killing you."
Silence.
The Atlanteans were pale, as was Black Manta. Even many of the surrounding villains and heroes, who had been watching the scene out of curiosity, looked on in dawning horror. Kaldur smirked bitterly.
"Savage didn't mention that, did he?" Kaldur asked in a casual tone. "Makes sense; it would be the only reason why you would try to feed me such lies. 'I love you' — what tripe. You don't love, Manta. You hate. You hate with every fiber of your being, until it consumes you until you have nothing left but revenge, not caring who or what gets in your way."
He reared the sword back, ready to deliver that final killing blow. "It's for that reason that I have no issues doing this again, and wiping you off the face of the map!" He swung true.
Only for a pale hand to grab his wrist before the blade could connect. Manta, who had his arm out and had prepared himself for the pain, blinked, jaw dropping slightly when he realized who had saved him.
"My King!" Kaldur breathed out, eyes wide. "What are you doing!?"
"Stopping you from making a mistake, Kaldur'ahm," Arthur answered solemnly, if severely. "Enough. He's beaten."
"He's not beaten until he's dead!" Kaldur shrieked, forcefully pulling himself away. "Have you forgotten what he's already done? He killed Prince Arthur!"
Arthur closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Behind them, Mera flinched.
"Yes, he did."
Kaldur flared his nostrils. "He'll kill my parents! He nearly destroyed Atlantis! He almost killed Queen Atlanna, your daughter!"
The King remained unswayed, though there was a sheen to his eyes.
"He'll kill you," Kaldur revealed, and there was a tremble to his voice, and his own tears beginning to build. "He'll kill you. My job is to protect you. Your family. I swore my life to it. Please, just let me protect you."
"You already have, Kaldur'ahm," Arthur told him, and he didn't know this man, not truly, but he did know that he couldn't bear the thought of him having to kill his own father for Arthur's sake. "You don't need to spill your own blood to keep protecting me."
"But I did!" And now, there was a sob to Kaldur's voice. "For Queen Atlanna, I did. I can do it for you, too."
"I have no doubt that you can. But you shouldn't have to." Arthur placed his hands on the other man's shoulders, a reassuring gesture. "Enough, Kaldur'ahm."
Kaldur heaved back and forth, the tears there, though not falling. "Is that an order, My King?"
"Does it need to be?"
There was a beat, as everyone waited for Kaldur's answer. Finally, after a long moment, he sighed and sheathed his water-bearer. Almost unconsciously, everyone let out a breath of relief.
And then the man's right hand shot out, generating an electric current which shocked Manta to the core. The man's eyes fluttered close, and he collapsed onto his stomach.
"Don't worry, he's not dead," Kaldur told the gaping audience, voice cold. "Just unconscious. I don't need to kill him to make sure he won't be a problem for the rest of this battle."
He gave a single nod to Arthur, before facing the remaining villains, who all shivered. Kaldur narrowed his eyes, and let his hands spark.
"Well that's done!" Wallace said cheerfully to his his now-wincing cousin. Wally grimaced at the carnage before him — the Central City/Keystone City Rogues, who had been summarily beaten and laid out by his baby cousin. Many of the non-metas had their signatures weapons taken and disassembled and then destroyed to near unsalvageable levels. Metas, meanwhile, either had the oxygen painfully (if temporarily) removed from their bodies via wind funnels or were just repeatedly punched in the face until they were knocked out.
Wallace was not (heh) flashy like his Uncle Barry and his science tricks. Nor did he like using Speed Force abilities like Wally. He had them, he just didn't like using them. Even Bart's absentminded cleverness wasn't his style.
When it came down to the wire, Wallace was a violent pragmatist, just like everyone else in Era 2. He was not afraid to dish out pain.
A slow clap started from behind them, and the two Flashes whirled around to see a smirking Eobard Thawne. Almost immediately, Wallace froze up, while Wally glared, determined. "Nice, nice," Thawne complimented the younger(?) Flash. "You know, Wallace, I—"
He didn't get to finish. Wallace suddenly burst forward at a speed even Wally had issues following, and tackled Thawne to the ground, hard. Before the other man could react, he quickly gripped Professor Zoom's leg in his hands, lifting it, and then twisted by flipping right over it while still holding it. At super speed.
The scream Thawne unleashed was inhuman.
Wally could only watch, horrified, as his baby cousin proceeded to break the rest of Thawne's limbs, spinning them and bending them at unnatural angles. By the time he was done, the usually slimy, sadistic, insane Reverse-Flash was a sobbing wreck of untold pain. "What is wrong with you?" He demanded Wallace through his tears.
Wallace hummed. "You," he admitted, before mounting Thawne and giving him repeated punches to the face. "You know what's the one thing I hate most in the world?" he asked in noncommittal tone, delivering a punch with every other word.
Thawne gargled in pain.
"Reverse-Flashes," Wallace answered his own question. "And you? You're the one I hate most of all. So forgive me if I enjoy this a little more than I should." He finished his statement with one last punch to the face, before giving a final, spiteful kick to the side of the unconscious speedster. He dusted himself off, before returning to Wally, giving him an affectionate pat on the shoulder.
Wally swallowed.
"So you really are the second Robin!" Riddler yelled as he pointed his staff at Jason, some mix of frustrated and triumphant.
Jason glanced at him and then shrugged nonchalantly.
"How—?"
"Do you really want to know?" Jason cut him off, raising an eyebrow behind his helmet.
Riddler paused as he thought that over, then shook his head reluctantly.
"Yeah, I thought so."
The supervillain frown by smirking sadistically. "Well, whatever! What has—"
Yeah, no. Jason didn't let him finish. He kicked Riddler in the gut, then grabbed his staff and hit the villain in the back with it a few times. The Riddler collapsed in a groan, which was when Jason dropped a bola pellet (a normal one, not an energy one) on him to restrain him and then walked away.
He scanned the area for a new target, noting how villains seemed to run in the opposite direction the moment he saw them. Considering what his fellow Era 2 Leaguers had been doing to their own rogues, he couldn't honestly say he blamed them. The current Batman had a reputation even outside of Gotham. Nobody wanted to test what an Era 2 Batman was capable of.
Except, paradoxically, Batman's own rogues.
Jason couldn't say he was surprised. It might have been a couple of decades, but he practically grew up with these people. He knew how they operated very well. Their conflict with the Batman was about ego almost as much as it was about their own desires and wishes.
Plus, he had been in this time/universe for like eight months and had plenty of opportunities to read up on them again (which was one of the first things he had done the moment he got home). It really wasn't all that hard, figuring them out and figuring out ways to beat them.
"You—" Jason barely blinked before he had Two-Face disarmed, stripping his gun and removing the bullets in several smooth motions before slamming the butt of the weapon onto Dent's head. He went down with a crash, and Jason threw another bola pellet at him for good measure.
He then turned around to give a look at the villain sneaking up at him — Penguin, who was shaking even as he had his umbrella aloft and ready to strike the third Batman down. He froze when Jason spotted him, then dropped the umbrella and ran away screaming in the opposite direction, his hands in the air. Jason watched him go with a bemused look. Smart man, he decided.
Suddenly, his HUD lit up like a Christmas tree, and he banked to the right to avoid a powerful slash from an infuriated Deathstroke. Jason quickly drew both his sticks and blended them together into their single-sword configuration, falling into a stance as Slade and him faced off.
"My daughter left me because of you," the mercenary growled.
"Really?" Jason asked sarcastically. "Good for her," he added flatly. Regardless of his opinion of Rose, even a blind man could see she was better off without her father.
"Fuck you and fuck your father — I'm going to enjoy disemboweling you!"
Jason sighed as Deathstroke charged at him, sword glinting in the light, and flicked a switch on his own sword, causing it to glow an eerie red. He then swung it to meet Deathstroke's blade, and to the shock of the man himself plus several onlookers, the blade cut through the metal like hot butter, leaving Slade with a hilt that had some melted metal attached to it.
Slade stared down at his destroyed weapon in gaping shock. "Wha—"
Jason didn't hesitate — he kicked Slade in the balls, causing the man to wheeze in pain as his knees locked together, his sole visible eye wide in agony. The former Robin then followed up with an energy bola pellet that quickly restrained the man. The mercenary convulsed as the restraints shocked him into unconsciousness.
His opponent looked down at him for a moment, before glancing up at Mr. Freeze, who had watched the entire exchange. The two men stared at each other, before Jason lifted his still-glowing red sword, and flicked another switch on it.
The blade promptly caught fire.
Freeze looked ready to cry.
It was in the midst of using Cheetah's tail to spin her around that Donna felt the tingle of familiar red magic. It ruffled her hair, causing her to frown. She quickly slammed Cheetah into ground, creating spider cracks. She gave Barbara a quick kick to the head to knock her out, then looked up at the sky, waiting until—yup, there she was.
Circe.
"Hello, Donna," the sorceress greeted her. "You know, normally I—"
M'gann.
On it.
Circe suddenly screeched as M'gann pierced through her mental defenses and started bombarding her mind with numerous mental attacks. As that was happening, Donna took out her lasso and looped it around her enemy, before swinging it around a few times, building up momentum before slamming Circe onto the ground much like she had Cheetah. Circe let out a moan of pain, having not had the time nor concentration to boost up her defenses to mitigate the damage.
A second later, Wallace sped over with Jason in tow. Jason took one look at the downed sorceress, sighed, and drew out an All-Blade, and stabbed it into her shoulder.
The witch shrieked in pain.
"Look, I don't like hurting women, but I will if I have to, and quite frankly I really don't have any issues when it's someone like you," Jason told her flatly, roughly dislodging the blade. "So I suggest you just leave now."
Circe, heaving, glanced up at him pleadingly. Then her eyes widened. "You…you have…"
Jason raised an eyebrow in mild interest. "Oh, you can sense that?"
The woman didn't answer. Instead, she quickly teleported herself out in a cloud of crimson smoke. Jason blinked, before sighing and dispersing the All-Blade back into his soul. That was done.
He stood up and lazily looked around. Most of the fighting had ceased. Instead, most of the villains were fleeing in different directions, evidently having enough of Era 2. He could see some few pockets of resistance (most notably, Sinestro, which probably wasn't going to end well whenever Kyle showed up), but for the most part, the battle had ended.
Of greater concern were the fearful looks people were shooting his teammates. Not just from villains, but other heroes as well. Which, Jason could admit, was not unwarranted. Era 2 had been a different time, a darker time, and the seven of them had to change with the times. Some had changed for the better, like Jason, while others…well, he hazarded to call it 'the worse', but it was certainly changes that not everyone, especially in this time, would like.
It was just another thing they would have to deal with when this was over.
"You!"
Jason turned around.
The Joker.
I thought he wasn't a thing for this? Jason sent over the mind link as he drew a batarang from under his gauntlet.
He could sense Kon shrugging. I didn't see him at the time. Didn't mean he wasn't there.
I think I sensed him once, but I didn't linger too long on it. M'gann added. You know how his mind is. Even I have my limits.
Jason had to concede that to her. He could only imagine what the Joker's mind was like, but he was certain that whatever was in there, it wasn't pretty.
"You…why are you alive!" The Joker screamed at him. "You were supposed to be the punchline! My greatest joke on the Bat! This isn't funny! This isn't funny at all!"
He glared angrily at Jason, scowling when he saw that the man didn't react to anything he said. "Well?"
Jason answered by throwing the batarang at his shoulder and then an energy bola pellet. The former stunned the clown, and the later restrained him before he could retaliate, quickly shocking him and rendering him a twitching mess. Jason gave his enemy a quick kick to the head, knocking him out, before turning back to the others.
Okay, that should be everyone. Kyle should be showing up soon. Are we all good to go?
Yeah. I'm good. Wallace answered.
I am collecting more water for that right now. Hopefully it will be enough that we all won't die when he arrives.
Give me a moment… M'gann told them. And… done! That's Despero out, so yeah, I'm good.
Circe was it for me, it seems, so I'm good too.
Kon hummed. Hey, quick question for the class: does Metallo need his Kryptonite heart to live or just to move?
To move. Jason replied, dipping into his encyclopedic knowledge of all supervillains as per Bat protocol. As long as his head is intact, Luthor can always rebuild him.
Oh, great! There was a screeching sound of metal, and then silence. Okay, yeah, I'm ready too.
Jason suddenly looked up, frowning. There was still one villain that was an issue: Sinestro, who was in the midst of his duel with Alan Scott. We should probably deal with that first. Brainwashed or not, Kyle will definitely try to murder him in the most brutal way possible the moment he sees him.
And then, a blast of green energy knocked Sinestro out of the sky, sending him careening into the ground. Jason, on reaction, threw an energy bola pellet at him to restrain him while Wallace confiscated his yellow ring and threw it at Jason for safe-keeping.
Or not.
Collectively, the heroes turned towards the direction of where the blast originated from. Several cursed when they saw who it was: Hal Jordan, in his Parallax armor.
"First things first: you lot are terrifying," told the heroes bluntly, gesturing to the various members of Era 2. Several of them shrugged, as if to say 'That's fair'. "Secondly, I suggest you all surrender. You cannot hope to beat me."
Donna held up her hands, which glowed with white energy. "You wanna bet?"
Hal opened his mouth to answer, only to still when a powerful flare of magical energy sprung up behind him. He turned around, moving out of the line of sight to reveal who it was. Several heroes went rigid when they saw the new arrivals. Vandal Savage…and Kyle Rayner.
Kyle looked a bit older than he usually did, his jaw stronger, his hair a bit longer, but he still had on his Green Lantern uniform. But that blank, emotionless look on his face was familiar to anyone that had face the Era 2 Justice League in recent combat. The Lantern was under Savage's control, and that boded ill for everyone present. The heroes that had been present during Kyle's duel with Parallax looked particularly apprehensive and intimidated.
"Savage!" Jordan snarled. "What are you doing here? I was about to finish the job!"
"And you would've failed," Savage replied, bored. "So I brought someone who could do it better than you ever could."
"We had a deal!"
"Considering it broken. Now run along, Jordan. I have no more use nor time for you."
The former Green Lantern roared, energy crackling around him. Before he could attack, however, Savage suddenly burst forward and pierced his chest. The heroes gasped at the attack, but to their surprise, there was no blood.
Instead, Savage pulled out something yellow and glowing. He yanked it out, revealing it to be some giant bug construct, which he subsequently threw into the sky. It floated there, glancing around and sputtering in a feral manner.
What the hell is that? Alan Scott suddenly demanded over the mental link.
Parallax. Kaldur answered for him, drawing one of his water-bearers.
Shock permeated through the link, from several people. That's Parallax? They all demanded at once.
Before anyone could reply, Hal suddenly began to drop, his Parallax armor disappearing in favor of his old Air Force jacket and jeans. Kon caught him with his telekinesis before he could hit the ground, and set him gently down. A second later, Wally West sped over, grasping at Hal's shoulders in comfort. "Uncle Hal? Are you alright?"
Hal blinked, and then looked at Wally in confusion. "Wally? What—?" Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he began to tremble. "Oh my God… what did I do?"
Wally swallowed. "Uncle Hal?" What's going on?
He's free from Parallax's influence, Jason told him. Without it, his normal morality has reasserted itself. He's remembering all the crimes he committed under its thrall and can't cope with it.
But it wasn't his fault.
I know that. You know that. We all know that. But does he?
The speedster grit his teeth. "Uncle Hal, it wasn't your fault. We know about the possession, the time travelers told us about it. It wasn't your fault."
But Hal didn't hear him. He just buried his face into his hands.
Elsewhere, Kaldur glared up at the supervillain that currently had his friend enthralled. "Savage! Is that your plan? Have Parallax possess Lantern instead?"
Savage snorted. "Don't be ridiculous, Aquaman. You and I, and all your comrades, know very well that this man has more power in himself than Parallax could ever hope to give him. I just wanted to make sure that Jordan didn't turn Parallax against him." To punctuate that, he waved his hand, forming an energy cage around the entity before snapping it away. And then, he took out a ring.
One with a very specific color.
Below, Jason's eyes went wide in shock and panic. Kon! M'gann! Donna!
On it! The three answered as one, quickly ascending to the sky and trying to stop the hand-off. But before they could even get close, Kyle lifted his hand and blasted all three of them with green energy, stunning them and sending them back.
Then, he slipped off the ring, tossing it away, and took the one Savage handed to him to replace it.
Wallace didn't bother waiting for an order, instead speeding forward to grab the discarded Green Lantern ring. They would need it, he was certain. He caught it just in time for Kyle to begin glowing as he transformed. All everyone could do was watch in growing horror.
What's going on, Knight? And there was his father's voice. Jason wasn't surprised — he was certain that Bruce, Dick, Diana and Jay had all been watching the battle from some far-off place. M'gann would've sensed them, and added them to the link to keep them apprised of the proceedings, just in case.
M'gann, link Jordan in. He's going to need to hear this. Jason quickly ordered, before answering his father. And to answer, Batman, as you can probably guess, Kyle is becoming a new Lantern. One of a different color.
He could feel the shock over the link. There are other colored Lanterns? Alan asked, shock. I mean, I know about Sinestro and Star Sapphire, but—
They're a part of that. One of the discoveries in recent years was the existence of an entire Emotional Spectrum, where there were different colors connected to different emotions. Seven in total — Red, for Rage; Orange, for Avarice or Greed; Yellow, for Fear; Green, for Will; Blue, for Hope; Indigo, for Compassion; and Violet, for Love. Sinestro mastered the Yellow Light of Fear, while Star Sapphire had access to the Violet Light of Love.
And Kyle mastered another of these colors and became another kind of Lantern? Which one? Alan pressed
Jason hesitated for a moment.
Knight. Bruce demanded.
The son sighed. He didn't master one color. He mastered all seven.
And just like that, the mental link went disturbingly silent. Now there was horror was coming from everyone, barring the members of Era 2, who were merely grimly determined. Jason pushed on. He mastered all seven, and as a result of that, he…evolved, for lack of a better word. He gained access to a new color: white…the color of life.
Kyle glowed brighter. Every conscious living being watched, entranced, as he continued to glow a blinding white, the energy surrounding him causing the world around to shimmer and rend to him. Eventually, the light dimmed enough to reveal the new Kyle.
His hair hung loosely, hanging about an inch above his shoulders. He had a white, rounded visor on, and his suit has changed to different shades of white to match it. On his left pectoral was a new symbol — a circle, with an upside down triangle on the bottom, beneath a semi-circle, with seven lines jutting out from the top, resembling rays of light.
Jason's voice seemed to echo as he spoke over the link, to every hero currently on Infinity Island. Everyone, the man you're facing right now is the most powerful member of the Era 2 Justice League. The Greatest of All Lanterns, the Legendary Torchbearer: Kyle Rayner…the White Lantern.
And as Hal Jordan gazed up at the shining form of his successor, holy and vengeful, for that one brief moment…he believed that he was staring up at God.
Finally! You have no idea how much this chapter kicked my ass! But it was so worth it to finally end up here! That's right everyone, we've got White Lantern Kyle Rayner in the house, and trust me — he is terrifying.
The next chapter is probably end up longer than usual, so it might be a couple of days. In the mean time, I suggest you update the TV Tropes page! The link is on the first chapter of this story, and on the one day at a time page. And the character page could definitely use some entires.
Next chapter: The White Lantern.
