Justice

by Black' Victor Cachat

Dealing with villains is all part of being a superhero, the Justice League knows this. So how do they handle the new supervillain gang that can't decide whether they're good or evil? And said gang, the Straw Hat Pirates, are just desperate to get home to fulfil their dreams, whatever it takes. And they have no problems with fighting more believers in 'Justice' along the way

15. Injustice for All, Part 5

I do not own either One Piece or Justice League Unlimited.

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Beta read by the wonderful rose7anne101 and MasterQwertster. Make sure to check out their own stories! Also thanks to other readers who have given incredible help, like Kolomte'49, lincoln time, mellra, scl04, King of Fans, Anycents, TheWhiteTitan, coalface, Creation Teller, Blackwizard71, and Bkaa19. I know several of you will see your contributions here, even if they will be a surprise ;-)

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Guest Review answers :-D

Evil Reviewer

Yes I can appreciate kicking somebody in the groin is fighting dirty . . . but as Luffy agrees, anything goes between pirates. . . . Also, I know want Luffy to beat either Akainu or Blackbeard that way! X-D

Alright, different approach: how would Cassandra Cain joining the Straw Hats help her? There are several arguments against it in this chapter, and frankly Bruce should have gotten her to a therapist from the start.

I really do need to make a scene with Luffy call a certain megalomaniac by the name "Rex Losor!" X-P

Supergirl will be have a scene in a bit, and faster than canon too.

Whoops! Thanks for catching that error. Corrected now.

Honestly, would make my life easier if I was NOT labelling the dates for every chapter. Have to cram stuff in more, and pace out arcs to a certain number of days, etc. My reasoning though is because the canon Justice League took place over years, and frankly the Straw Hats growth rate is such that even a few months can allow them to grow at such an exponential rate, that the Justice League would fall too far behind. Although there ARE some benefits from doing it this way, as you will find at the end of the chapter.

Having a lower-case 'c' for Crocodile's name was intentional. This is from Parasite's POV, so he does not realise Luffy is talking about an incredibly dangerous man, and not the animal.

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Joseph

Ooooooh that is indeed an idea for a prank!

LOL yes, poor Batman, going to be hard to shake being called a pervert!

Want to keep with canon One Piece abilities, although readily admit it is weird we have not seen those again.

Been a lot of requests for Carrot, but as it is unconfirmed, and my own sixth sense says she will not join, she is not here. I do have some plans in case Oda proves me wrong though.

What episode was that in the DCAU with the three ladies fighting Grundy?

LOL amusing for Usopp, but keeping their missions on Earth and away from alien worlds. Too easily to escalate and complicate matters.

Not doing giant chimpanzees probably.

LOL if I do have more people from the One Piece-verse come over, yes I will indeed need the bounty posters!

. . . That is a pretty cool way for Sanji to beat an army of women, and totally in character! X-D Also enjoyed reading the consequences of it! X-D

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Cyricist001

That would have been a perfectly reasonable alternative as well. Arguably a far better solution, and one politicians would have supported as well. Unfortunately the Justice League thinks more in terms of 'fighting evil,' so it did not occur to them in time. Also, given Luffy's attitude here, seems unlikely now he would accept that as well. I definitely need to keep this in mind though, thanks!

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Guest (please choose a name/nickname next time ^^)

LOL I certainly agree with your work on Grand Line rules! All three applicable, and hope you do more!

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Ravens

The Straw Hats would react badly I feel to learning about Annie, especially if they heard Tim Drake's side of things. Hopefully Clayface has developed enough so he too would feel at least remorse by now. She may not have been his daughter really, but still a person he snuffed out.

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That Guy That Requests Skull Jokes

Nice to hear this is your favourite story, and I appreciate the concern for my health.

Yes, more skull jokes to come. Brook will be getting more screen time in a bit, so can do skull jokes then.

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Fennec

Wait and see for what happens with the tracker ;-)

False flag operations have been referenced in the past. It is a dirty trick, but Luffy himself admits there is no 'unfair' tactics in the world of pirates.

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eft

Good point on following up on the realization the Justice League has inadvertently made crime more preferential for the Straw Hats.

I prefer these responses at the top as they can relate to the start of the story, and they actually distract from the Author Notes.

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Arios

Thanks, regarding the TvTropes page!

I have re-written a bunch of chapter 14, so hopefully more natural with Luffy.

Keeping out any other characters from One Piece for the time being, because otherwise their universe would dominate the story. But yes fair point that the government here should have more of a response. But yes, your examples do indeed sound fun :-)

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HUNTER202002

Glad to hear I used Luffy and Maureen well :-)

Hrm, going to have to think on that one of Maureen regarding Luffy as a big brother . . . Reasonable, but also escalate their relationship.

Ahahahaha! Poor Parasite! X-D

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Will23

Sorry for the long wait, lot going on. Glad to hear you are loving this one so much though! :-D

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Zorosavage21

Ace from the Royal Flush Gang is a common request, and I do indeed have plans for her.

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Jonas

Yeah, almost have to feel sorry for Parasite!

Wait see regarding the tracker! ;-)

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Guest (please choose a name/nickname next time ^^)

Yep, Superman may now be a true hero to Luffy for sharing meat, but will still fight a hero.

Wait and see for Joker's plans ;-) But yes Chopper is an incredible doctor indeed, and LOL I love how a certain megalomaniac is being increasingly referred to as 'Rex Losor'! X-D

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Flameaceso

You have raised several important points about the Amazons, and first one too. Those issues will be addressed in this chapter, but yes Diana is going to be utterly livid one way or another.

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Justice

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Chapter 15: Injustice for All, Part 5

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Previously:

Superman intercepted Luffy, Volcana, and Maureen during a shopping trip, hoping to try and work things out between the Justice League and Straw Hats. During this discussion, Superman managed to confirm the heroes' suspicions that the Straw Hats are from another planet. Ultimately though, his offer to join the Justice League was turned down.

Before anything else could happen, Parasite ambushed and knocked out Superman. He subsequently battled Luffy, only to decisively lose, while Volcana drove off Killer Frost and Shade. In the aftermath, both groups of criminals escaped, while Superman woke up in a Javelin with Batman, who assured him that he had managed to plant a tracker on one of the two parties.

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This chapter is an AU of a DCAU episode by the same name.

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November 8

Mountain Base

"I can't believe you were so stupid," sneered Star Sapphire.

"Shut it," grunted Shade, his usual gentlemanly attitude feeling rather strained after Joker's near-lethal dressing down. Suffice to say, he was not in the mood for anyone else's attitude.

They were in the Injustice League's secret base within a hollowed-out mountain, with the other supervillains and some henchmen wandering around amongst the small buildings they lived and worked in. They were lying low while Aresia, the rogue Amazon, finished crafting her newest bio-weapon, which meant none of them had anything to do really. Which meant that while fear of Joker kept them cooperating, all of their abrasive and violent personalities were increasingly rubbing up against each other, testing each other's limits. For Shade, his recent failure was like blood in the water while surrounded by hungry sharks.

"I mean, seriously, you thought you guys could take Superman all on your own?" the pink-clad woman continued to mock. "Not to mention that Monkey fellow. You should know how strong he is."

"Why, because his bimbos beat you and Aresia before!?" he snapped back, fists tightening. He had not forgotten how Star Sapphire and Tsukuri had been willing accomplices to Aresia's attempt to kill off all the men in the world. He had been sick as a dog himself, and the paramedics barely found him in time with the cure.

Her form glowed pink with anger before she composed herself. "You know how powerful I am, and if Monkey's lackies could beat me that should tell you how dangerous he is!"

"Probably more than that to 'im," leered Copperhead, ambling over.

"Tch," grunted Star Sapphire with a glare.

Now recognizing the growing tension, Shade began to feel nervous. If a fight broke out and Joker thought he was a responsible, straight on the heels of his last warning a few hours or so ago, then he was a dead man. Fortunately Joker had left the common area for one of the buildings, but he could return at any moment. The maniac's fury so visibly straining to break free, everyone had been afraid of even breathing too loudly in his presence, lest it set him off!

Maybe it was better after all for them to be focusing on him? "It seemed like a good idea at the time," he defended. "When we saw that Javelin fly overhead, we didn't have time to wait for you lot. Originally we were hoping for Parasite to simply cause a distraction while we nabbed Vol—"

With a gasp he found himself slammed into one of the buildings beside him. Furious words died on his tongue as he saw Joker glaring at him more heatedly than even his usual insanity. Eyes seeming to nearly burn red through the bandages still wrapped around his face.

"What did you say!?" spat the Mad Clown.

"Uh I—"

"Before you said you saw Superman fly overhead, but now you're saying it was a Javelin!?"

"Well yeah," Shade managed, even as a foreboding sensation curled up in his belly. "I mean, he must've been in . . . oh—"

"A MAN WHO FLIES DOESN'T NEED A PLANE YOU FOOL!" roared Joker. Painfully he turned Shade around, pressing him against wall, nimble fingers searching his body before stopping.

Numbly, Shade turned his head to see Joker holding something small in one hand. It was black, about the same shade as his own outfit. Then the man's fingers shifted a little, to show it was in the shape of a bat, with a flickering red light that screamed 'Tracker.'

Now it was obvious. Superman would only take a Javelin –which was a spaceship actually— if he was with somebody who could not fly like him. Like Batman. Who had been hiding in the shadows during the mayhem of the fight against Monkey and Volcana, and at some point planted the tracker unseen upon Shade. Likely with the brightly glowing light turned onto the inside.

Yanking out a radio, Joker made a quick adjustment, and barked into it, "Attention everyone, Batman followed the three morons here to the lair. Regroup and—"

Automatic gunfire cut him off.

!JUSTICE!

Grimacing slightly, Batman pressed one hand against the cut in his arm. Too close.

"I've got him pinned down," he heard Deadshot yell, the master marksman's automatic wrist-mounted guns firing to keep Batman stuck behind a large rock.

As initially planned, the Justice League had covertly followed the three members of Joker's little gang to their hideout. Unfortunately for the crooks, this base was not lead lined, allowing Superman to get a look with his x-ray vision.

The enemy base was hardly ideal territory to invade, as there were lots of places for the defenders to take cover behind, or plan ambushes. Rocky outcroppings, a bunch of temporary buildings for people to hide within (including workshops and labs), and finally a large, solid metal complex in the center.

Nonetheless, the Justice League existed for one reason, and one reason alone. They were not going to back down and let such evil dig itself in even deeper, nor go out to ruin more lives.

Not to mention that while Batman had not been able to overhear much of the fight between Monkey and Parasite, someone else had. The Question, a street-level vigilante, was the one who had recognized Volcana through her disguise, and tipped off the League about her. During the ensuing fighting, he had remained to observe and heard enough to report Parasite apparently had Amazons held captive, draining them for their power.

The look of stunned horror on Wonder Woman's face when she heard that, had been replaced by naked fury that honestly unnerved the Dark Knight.

It only got worse with Superman's chilling report that in addition to five women dressed as Amazons, and sixth unknown woman, Aresia was there as well. Apparently a prisoner within a lab of some sort at the very heart of the whole lair. The sheer wrath the princess had exhibited at that news was such neither he nor Hawkgirl dared make any pointed questions as to why she was not currently imprisoned on Themyscira as promised. Bringing it up would have been counterproductive to say the least, and clearly Wonder Woman was going to be demanding some answers of her own. With extreme prejudice.

With all this in mind, a more comprehensive plan of action was thrown together, and Batman snuck inside.

He would free the prisoners, and thus deny Parasite their abilities. If the heroes were luckier than they deserved, the power absorber might even be running dry right now. Afterwards, Batman would secure Aresia and make sure she remained locked up. That part he was more optimistic about, as he was counting on Joker's irritating and almost contradictorily meticulous attention for detail to ensure the prison could hold the traitorous Amazon. He merely had to make sure it was nonlethal, followed by locking her in securely enough to ensure nobody could break in or out during the battle.

Superman had noted one of several emergency exits, probably a secret to everyone besides Joker, and Batman had snuck in through one after disabling the alarms. As irritating as it was, he could not deny having Superman's vision as support was making the mission go much more efficiently. He had snuck into the complex, sneaking around buildings as he got closer to his target. While infiltrating, he had seen Deadshot, whose lethal quality with guns were a definite concern even if Batman had studied his history, methods, how he moved and fought, etcetera, except the man had been looking the other way and reading a magazine. Everything had been going perfect, until the Clown in question must have discovered the tracker on Shade, and warned everyone.

Alerted, the Deadshot had spun around to scan the area at the worst possible moment and spotted Batman. Without hesitating the veteran assassin had started shooting.

Against a marksman as talented at that, Batman had barely made it to cover, and even then he had taken a nasty graze to his left bicep.

In all likelihood, Superman's x-ray vision was keeping him abreast of how the situation was deteriorating. Of course, it was best to call them via radio to be sure. "They know I'm here," Batman gritted out. "Take 'em down."

With that out of the way, grimly he got to work bandaging up his wound. The others could handle themselves for the length of time necessary to stop his blood loss.

!JUSTICE!

Straw Hat Base

"Oh, cheer up, Red!"

Leaning against the doorway, Poison Ivy just tightened her arms across her chest, ignoring Harley. In the main common area of the underground base, she watched the rest of the pirates and super-villains milling about while waiting for Volcana, Maureen, and Luffy to finally return home.

Undaunted, the chirpy blonde wrapped an arm around Poison Ivy's shoulders in an abbreviated hug, yet she refused to loosen herself like usual. "It's not so bad, y'know."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she coldly stated.

"Findin' more friends!"

At that, she finally paid attention to her best friend, turning the full weight of her imperious glare upon her. Harley only blinked her soulful blue eyes, beaming away.

"Harles," she hissed. "They're not my—"

"Oh come off it!" was the dramatic groan. "You like 'em! Definitely the ladies, and you even gets along with the guys! I mean, what're you and Usopp workin' on earlier again?"

Glancing away, Ivy managed, "Making our plants more resistant to herbicides. Particularly the type we think Batman uses."

"See!"

"It doesn't—"

"And look at what you're wearin'!"

Blinking in confusion, Poison Ivy looked down at herself for a moment, before realizing what her friend was getting at. The blonde wearing tiny red shorts, and a tight, small black shirt was unsurprising, despite it being November. No, what was so uncharacteristic was how she herself was not wearing her customary skintight, dark green outfit, and instead comfortable black slacks, and a purple crop-top which went nicely with her chalk-white skin. For the life of her, she could not remember the last time she had been relaxed enough to wear something like this around other people besides Harles.

Taking advantage of how her bestie had loosened up in surprise, Harley grabbed Red's hand and dragged her to wait with the others. They arrived just as the trio came back inside.

"Let me guess," sighed Cheetah with a sympathetic expression, noting the empty hands despite returning from a mall. "Your shopping got trashed?"

"Roasted or frozen solid," moaned Volcana.

"Don't feel bad," said Luffy, patting her on the back. "We can go again later—"

Further commentary was cut off as his head was planted into the ground.

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" raged Nami, hefting her throbbing fist. "AND YOU—!" She turned her glare onto Volcana, only to find her holding Maureen up in front of her as a Human shield. "Oh, that's low," she sighed, letting her anger drain out.

"Villain," grinned Volcana wickedly, lowering her surrogate sister.

Unfortunately for the pyrokinetic, this left her open for Nami's hand to flash out and grab her shoulder and draw her in close. "What. Part. Of low. Profile. Was. So. Hard!?"

"Be reasonable, Nami," sighed Usopp. "It was Luffy."

Groaning and relaxing for real this time, the navigator gave a mournful nod. "True."

Volcana resolved there and then the others must never know it was her disguise the heroes had seen through; not Luffy's. Now it was just a matter of properly bribing him and Maureen . . .

Meat and chocolate should do it.

Lots of it.

She hoped.

With that out of the way, everyone else gathered around their friends, happy to see they were home safe and sound. Quirky comments were thrown out, and dry predictions of how long it would be until the trio would be allowed to go shopping next, and under what conditions. Nami could be heard above the rest, lecturing Volcana on how there were rules about being with Luffy, and how he must never go unsupervised. Volcana protested she had indeed been keeping an eye out for him, and Luffy tried to claim he did not need a babysitter—everyone ignored him on that one.

Through it all, Poison Ivy stood at the back of the crowd, arms crossed and a mask of indifference in play.

"You know," deadpanned Cheetah, "after the way you guys reacted to Ivy saying 'what's the worst that could happen,' I thought you were just overreacting. But Superman, Parasite, and two other villains? All at once? You're lucky you guys got out of there at all!"

"Nah," beamed Luffy. "I handled Purply, and Volcana's pretty strong!"

While the woman in question practically glowed at the praise, she had to add, "Well, you're even stronger."

He cocked his head in confusion. "Uh huh." Like it was too obvious to even bother mentioning.

The bluntness put her off-balance, leaving it to Grundy to slowly say, "You fight Superman?" Given how Grundy was one of the very few capable of going toe-to-toe with the caped hero, the zombie was very curious as to how his boss compared.

"Nah," waved off Luffy. "He was just there to talk mostly. Oh right," he blinked, expression growing more serious.

Reflexively something clicked into place for rest of the pirates. Some of them straightened up, or leaned forward in anticipation, but universally the attention towards their Captain became much more focused. The calm before the storm. A storm which could take any number of shapes and forms.

"Superman and the Justice League know," Luffy revealed with uncharacteristic somberness.

"Know? Knows what!?" barked Nami.

"They know we're from another world."

"WHAT!?"

"How'd they know!?" gasped Chopper.

"Luuuuuffy," growled Nami, her expression a thunderhead. "Did you tell him!?"

"Noooo~!" Luffy tried to lie as he looked away. Glancing back at her livid rage, he panicked and held up his hands to try and ward her off. "They already knew before I said anything! Which I didn't! I definitely didn't say anything to make 'em know they're right!"

Fortunately for him, Nami's shock overruled her need to pummel her Captain for breaking the rule he had decreed. So she raised an eyebrow, encouraging him to elaborate and quickly.

"Batman's a pervert, and not the good kind."

"OW! That's not cool!" boomed Franky. "Not surprised since he shows his underwear like Superman, but him being all shadowy means he's not proud enough to outright admit it! Probably sneaks around spying on people for it!"

Harley cackled like a hyena at that, and both Ivy and Clayface smiled.

Massaging her now pounding forehead, Nami groaned, "This'll complicate things."

"Indeed," Robin serenely agreed. "The Justice League will be able to anticipate us more in any further raids for materials."

"Most unfortunate," rumbled Jinbe, stroking his beard in thought. Brook quietly sipped his tea while observing how the others were adjusting to this new concern.

"So we'll just beat 'em up," Sanji flatly said. "And quit grinning about that, Mosshead!"

Still smirking in anticipation, Zoro shot back, "Tch, you can just stay safe here then. You'll be worse than useless —as usual— against the lady heroes. Not that you're of any use any other time."

"What was that!?" Sanji got right into Zoro's face, while Zoro unsheathed one of his swords.

The supervillains were all rather stunned by what they had heard. Not Sanji and Zoro's confidence at taking on the Justice League, as they had come to expect that as much, even from just watching their training sessions. No, it was how the pirates were indirectly confirming what Luffy had blurted out about the Straw Hat's origins.

Luffy . . . alien? it dawned upon Grundy.

So they aren't from hell after all? wondered Clayface. Or maybe their own world's hell? Are there multiple hells? Luffy seemed so serious about it before.

I see, pondered Poison Ivy. If they're aliens, it would explain a lot. Including how they're so resistant to my pheromones. Not to mention all their other weird abilities. She frowned in thought. Probably also why they don't think we can learn haki; it's simply the fact we're Human, and they're not, so they can't teach it.

Actually, she continued to contemplate, what kind of world would require them to develop such powerful abilities in the first place? Are they the equivalent of metahumans, or are they just so strong here because of the environment like Superman?

Meanwhile Cheetah was making her own conclusion. So that's why they're so desperate to find certain technologies and materials, she realized. While bio-sciences were her purview, the whole reason they had recruited her in the first place was for her contacts and familiarity with the legitimate and illegitimate scientific communities. This also meant she was more familiar than anyone else with what they were stealing and keeping, and what they were selling off instead. I knew it was to help disguise what they were really after, but now I know they're trying to get home to another planet, it's obvious Franky's building some sort of intergalactic teleporter!

Cheetah stopped to think about that a bit more, and realized it was strange they were not building a spaceship. Surely that would be easier. Especially since in hindsight Franky was also having to learn the science behind such a more radical means of transport than literal rocket science, and all from scratch. Although . . . Hawkgirl said on the news she got sent here by a mishap with a teleporter, with no idea where her planet is. Is it something similar here? So they're making a teleporter while trying to lock on to something similar from home, like an energy signature? Or maybe their world's too far away?

The more she thought about it though, the technology and general scientific knowledge the Straw Hats possessed seemed rather strange. Like how Franky was the most advanced cyborg she had ever seen, while Zoro relied upon simple swords. Chopper's highly advanced medicinal knowledge, contrasted with his total ignorance of DNA and genetic coding in general when they first met. Originally she had assumed they were from sort of isolated community on Earth, yet now she wondered if this sort of haphazard development was common where they came from.

Privately Volcana was a little amused as she saw the expressions of the others, knowing they were going through the same lines of thought she had been earlier. Trust Luffy to turn everybody's preconceptions upside down once again.

"THAT," the Straw Hats turned toward the high-pitched voice, with Zoro and Sanji even pausing their fight (which everyone was ignoring), "IS SO COOL!" gushed Harley. Pouncing forward, she started manhandling Luffy's rubbery face into different shapes in her excitement. "Why didn't you ever tell us!? How'd you get here!? Are you tryin' to get home, or to someplace else!? What're you gonna do when you get home!?"

"Raftel," Luffy simply said.

"Is that the planet you want to go to? Where is it? What's there?"

"It's a place on his home planet," cried out Maureen, who had been asking more questions on the ride home. "When he finds it, he'll be the King of the Pirates! The freest man of all!"

Cheetah, Clayface, and Grundy all exchanged shocked glances, before smiles broke out. Except while they were happy for Luffy, a part of them also felt weirdly uncomfortable. For the three of them, it felt like a lifetime since they had been comfortable being around other people. Intellectually, they had known this team-up could not last forever, it was the super-villain way, yet only now were they truly coming to understand how it was only temporary. How one day Luffy and the others would just . . . leave. An epiphany which was now starting to feel almost painful; they wanted to stay with these whacky, frustratingly mysterious, lunatic, and utterly lovable pirates!

"Why didn't you tell us?" Poison Ivy's chilly voice cut in. "Were you just going to leave us all behind?"

Now Harley looked like somebody had kicked a puppy. Not her puppy of course, because then she would be murderous, except it was definitely clear that something fragile inside of her was in danger of cracking. "You weren't gonna to do that to us, were you?"

"No and yes," Luffy said with a straight face.

"That's not an answer!"

"What's he trying to say," Brook softly spoke up, "is that when we first started looking for help, we never expected to make such close friends." While his words mollified the locals a little, tears were still threatening to break loose from Harley.

"You're friends that we care enough about," rumbled Jinbe not unkindly, "and that it is the very reason why we are hesitant to bring you along with us. It is a very dangerous place, even at the best of times, which it is decidedly not right now.

"The Throne of the Pirate King will only be claimed by blood and war, and our foes are monsters beyond what you can imagine. And there is nothing like the Justice League either; the champions of 'Justice' there would kill you all on principle. To say nothing of how you will be in a vastly different place, with new rules of nature and survival. The simple fact is that even the environment could kill us at a moment's notice."

Hoarsely, "Worse than today?" Everyone turned to look at a now very nervous Maureen.

"Oh, we'll beat 'em," assured Luffy, yet with a strange seriousness to him. "It's just we don't want to lose anybody. They're very strong. Nothing like Purply and the rest."

Seeing the tension within Maureen's frame, Volcana knelt down to give her a hug. Obviously the girl had been hiding how shaken she was by the recent fight, as well as the threats against her by Killer Frost. Or maybe it was now only coming home to the younger teen, with the knowledge that Luffy's real enemies were ones he could not guarantee he could protect Maureen from. Or how he and the others could leave and never return, as if they had never even been here. To Volcana's shock, her little sister pulled away from the embrace to walk towards Luffy.

Slowly, hesitantly, Maureen reached out a trembling hand to the scar on Luffy's chest, and the Straw Hat's froze. Gently she stroked her fingertips across the large X-shaped burn scar that covered most of his chest, while he looked down and let her. "Did one of your enemies do this to you?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Luffy murmured, but everyone heard it. His words dead of all emotion. "He punched straight through Jinbe to get to me. Right after killing my brother."

Flinching back, Maureen fell down on her rear, starring at horror at the too-old-pain-loss-wisdom's-price in his eyes. Hiccupping, she let Volcana help her up, and this time accepted the hug; never turning away from Luffy.

Silence fell, with the rest of the Straw Hats refusing to look at the others in obvious shame. Because they had failed to protect their Captain.

Harley looked like she was going to cry for sure now, and Cheetah and Clayface were also stunned speechless.

Grimacing, Poison Ivy took a few steps towards Luffy. "I'm sorry your loss, and for sounding accusing," she managed.

"You didn't know," was all Luffy said, except there was a weight to those words which sent a shiver down her spine. An aura of command and greatness. She knew him as an idiot most of the times, somehow even more immature than Harley, yet now, with the context provided by Jinbe's word "war," she felt she now understood what he was truly destined for.

Even how he said it, "war," felt different from what war meant here on Earth. Poison Ivy was not sure her imagination could truly picture what the term meant when it was describing a conflict between people with equal —or even greater!— strength to the Straw Hats. Less of a clash of armies, and more like monsters striving for dominance, to the point "war" seemed almost too mundane a word to describe it.

Envisioning Luffy as a Conqueror. Striding across the world in the lead of vast armies, crushing all before him. Even worse, she understood deep down the mighty forces following him would do so not out of fear, but reverence and love.

The ultimate twist? She could see it. She knew it. Luffy would have disdain for people pledging themselves to him like that, as people pledging themselves to him were simply another type of chain. Really, it would only for it to goad those people on to even greater heights of worship, because they would be aware of his reasons why. Because for him, the greatest achievement was to be Free.

Even Poison Ivy could not deny the attraction of his unspoken cause, despite everything she knew about the ways of the world and men. When had this grown beyond being simply a job for the pay-cheque? After all, as she had told Sanji a while ago, for all the support and comfort these people brought, it was equalled only by the inherent danger. Should she take Harles and run?

You'd always regret it, a voice whispered in her ear. Not knowing what could've happened next.

Gulping, her mind raced to change the subject. "Uhm, so what else did Superman say to you?"

Coughing, Clayface butted in, "Sorry, but I'd really like to know if we should know why you were keeping quiet about where you're from. Just in case it's important."

"To keep it a secret," Cheetah answered for their employers and friends. Even with his lumpy face, Clayface's confusion was telling, so she elaborated. "If no one knows they're from another world, then nobody can follow them back. Plus they can control the flow of stuff between them. Like technology we have that they don't."

"Or you could have an army of monsters on your doorsteps!" snapped Nami. "Or we could have Superman butting in, and tricked into working for our enemies! Do you still not understand what we're trying to warn you about!?"

"So you're really, truly goin' to leave us behind?" whimpered Harley.

Nami groaned into her hands, only for Zoro to speak up. "You'll get to choose if you want to come or not, but not right now, when this has just been thrown at you. The thing is, we also get to decide if we're going to let you come along. We can't be responsible for looking after those too weak to fend for themselves.

"But never fear, my dears," proclaimed Sanji with a flourishing bow. "For those who remain here, we can assure certain gifts from our world which will be available solely to our friends who remain here."

"That sounds perfectly fair," admitted Volcana, tightening a protective arm around Maureen's shoulders. "And you'll be better judges if we could survive there or not, once you get closer to figuring out how to get back."

Privately though, the redhead wanted to later discuss what exactly those 'gifts' might entail. Who knows, she might choose to carve out a comfortable life for herself and Maureen, along with whomever of the rest chose to stay behind. After all, if Luffy and the others possessed the ability to send goods back and forth, obviously they could also drop by to visit as well.

"For now though," cautioned Robin, "we wish to keep this as secret as much as possible, for as long as we can."

"If need be secret, then keep secret," grunted Grundy. "Grundy and others no ask questions until pirate friends close to getting home."

The other supervillains looked mutinous for a moment, hungry for answers, until as one they all glanced at Luffy once more.

Stiff. Expression flat. No joy lighting up everyone else.

"Sounds good," muttered Volcana, with Cheetah, Harley, and Maureen reluctantly nodding.

Poison Ivy looked as if she were going to say something more, before thinking better of it. "Is there anything we need to know about Superman?" she asked instead.

Snorting, Volcana shook her head. "He wanted us, all of us, to join the Justice League."

Cheetah gave out a rasping purr, while it was a bellyful laugh for Grundy and Clayface. Poison Ivy's smirk only grew as she saw Harley rolling along the ground in hysterics, pounding her fists. Then it dawned on them how Luffy remained deadly serious. More sensitive to their Captain's moods, his crew were also impassive as they waited for whatever came next. "Wait, you're not joking?"

"Well," Volcana put both hands on her hips, "we'd be junior partners doing what they and the government said. The reason they're considering it, is apparently they think Luffy and the others are rehabilitating us."

The supervillains repeated their mirth, and this time the rest of the Straw Hats joined in. It was balm to everybody's souls to hear Luffy's "Shishishishishi!" return. "Yeah," he went on, "why'd we do that? You're all perfect the way you are!"

"Oh Luffy," smiled Harley, pulled out of her latest laughing fit, sitting up on the floor. "You can be so sweet. We're not perfect though."

"Well," he said mulishly, "you can think that if you want, but I like you guys just the way you are!"

"Even though I haven't killed Mistah J?" she asked knowingly.

He waved a dismissive hand. "Words, words. Be who you are."

Harley cocked her head with a calculating expression at him, before giving a smile and nod. "You've got a nice face," she said. "No lies or deceptions in it. You're a pirate and a crook, and scarier than Bats without even tryin', while he works so hard at it, but you're a good man."

"If you say so," he said, turning around to trot away. "Now, Sanji! Meat! I had a big fight and a long drive! I'm starving!"

"Don't you walk away from a lady like that!" snapped the chef, despite following after him. The rest of the group silently watched them go, unsure of what to do next.

It took a moment for Harley to realize Zoro was standing beside her, arms crossed across his chest. "Oh hey! What's up? We don't talk much do we, huh?"

Eyes narrowed, he studied her for a long moment, before giving a bored shrug. "Y'know it's your choice what to do with the Joker, right?" Wincing, she looked away as he continued. "Granted, if he gets in our way we'll cut him down," which made her flinch again.

Sighing, Zoro scratched his head. "Look, when Ivy first brought you in, Luffy and the rest of us thought you were a weak crybaby." Harley stiffened, but he went on. "Except we've also seen what you've been doing since you got here, and we know you're not weak."

Once more she squinted at his face to see if he was lying, before softly smiling, "You're a real charmer with the ladies, aren't you? Thanks Zoro."

"That's Sanji's job" he murmured under his breath, before giving a quick nod and turning around to follow the others, only to find Maureen blocking his path. While she was still a little shaky, her feet were firmly planted, with one hand holding onto Volcana's on her shoulder. "Volcana already said I'm taking self-defense classes now, but I really do want to get stronger."

Face like stone, the swordsman only said, "Why?"

"To protect those I care about. To be strong enough you don't have to protect me while taking care of the bad guys."

A small grin broke free. "Sounds good," praised Zoro. Reaching over, he said, "Just don't forget you've got to also be strong here," tapping her forehead."

". . . You mean more schooling like math?"

"Nah, but education's another form of strength. I mean that what's most important is having the will to keep going on. No matter what's in your way."

With that, he walked around her and strode out of the room. After a moment of hesitation, the rest of the Straw Hats followed too.

"Wow!" cheered Chopper. "That was so cool of Zoro!"

"Eh, probably his quota of wisdom for the month," grinned Usopp teasingly. "But yeah, that was cool. Right then he was almost as smart as I!"

"Is he for real?" managed Poison Ivy, remaining behind with the rest of the super-villains.

"Which one? Zoro or Usopp? No, scary thing is, I'm afraid so for both of 'em," nodded Cheetah.

Shrugging both shoulders, Volcana said, "Before I forget to mention, obviously Luffy said no to joining the League, and I refused too. Thing is, apparently the offer's open to you guys though."

Grundy answered for them all by spitting on the floor.

"What he said," grunted Clayface.

Harley had been pensively stroking her chin in thought, before smacking her fist into her palm, and started skipping towards the door. "C'mon Red! Trainin' awaits! I'll get my new hammer!"

"You're already training almost every day," argued Poison Ivy, even if she let Harles drag her off by the hand.

"Yeah, and that's not good enough! Gotta keep you and the rest shipshape if I'ma gonna be a pirate! Yaaar! Ooooh! Should I gets a parrot? Or a peg leg? Two peg legs sound fun! What about you, Maureen?"

Giggling, the teen chased after the ladies. "Ooh, maybe I can get a penguin?"

"You have to take care of it yourself," warned Volcana, following behind to make sure things did not get out of hand.

"Not sure it matters, since pirates from their world seem so different from what we know here," deadpanned Poison Ivy.

"Who cares!?" cried Harley.

"Don't train too hard or you'll strain something," Cheetah called after them. "Maybe come back in half an hour for food?"

"Food!" smiled Grundy, going off to the kitchen to start eating now.

Clayface followed the zombie, and was relieved to hear the familiar, comforting sound of the Straw Hats laughing and squabbling in the distance. Whatever heavy cloud had fallen over Luffy's head, it had passed.

All was well in the world.

!JUSTICE!

Mountain Base

Like both thunder and an avalanche in one, a hole was torn open in the side of the Injustice League's base.

Framed by the full moon behind them, hovering in the air were Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern.

"Well, well," grunted Joker, before regaining his customary swagger. "Knock, knock?"

A red blur and pain as he found himself slammed up against a wall three meters away.

"Who's there?" Flash firmly said, fists raised. Lenses of his cowl narrowed with a distinct lack of his customary levity.

Coughing as he tried to regain his breath, Joker took stock. The witless other villains remained stunned and off-balance, and he was still recovering from his beating at the feet of that accursed cook. It was only thanks to treatments developed by Cherry Blossom Medical –Oh the irony!— that he was even standing. Stall until the others get their heads out of their—

He blinked and thus never saw Flash's next punch.

Unconsciousness claimed him.

!JUSTICE!

"Surrender," ordered Superman, hoping to take advantage while the supervillains were off-guard.

In answer, Luthor drew a laser pistol and opened fire on the hated alien, galvanizing the rest to do the same.

Beams of ice, pink shots from Star Sapphire, and heavy weaponry as the mooks opened fire, while Parasite leapt up at Superman.

In answer the Justice League soared right into the fray.

Being the focus of most of the laser fire, Superman was partially blinded for a quarter-second, allowing Parasite to get in a solid punch. Not off-guard this time though, the hero shrugged it off, only for Parasite's jump to allow him to keep going past and grab Superman's red cape and yank it hard to throw him down to the ground in a cloud of dust and debris.

Barely phased, Superman quickly stood up, only to be covered in darkness. "What—! Shade," he grimly realized. With the growing fighting, even his super-hearing would be strained trying to keep track of what was happening.

Which was when a concentrated blizzard hit, coating him in ice.

"Now!" yelled Shade to Parasite, even as Killer Frost and Mister Freeze poured on their power against Superman. It might not be able to hold him, yet it would slow him down. Moreover, if the do-gooder put too much strength into snapping free, chunks of ice would go flying indiscriminately at those around him, which the fool would never accept.

"One sec!" snapped Parasite, still falling back to the ground.

Only for somebody to slam into him, sending them both flying deeper into the mountain and away from the brewing battle.

!JUSTICE!

J'onn J'onzz's mission was more discrete than the rest.

From the beginning, Batman had theorized Joker was using Scarecrow to intimidate some of the more powerful members into staying in line. However he was also clear that the fear gas was dangerous to the League as well. That it could be used to infect them, especially within the relatively confined space of this base.

After the heroes' experience with Aresia's own concoction afflicting even Superman, none of them were willing to overlook the chance of it succeeding here as well. If it looked like the villains were losing, Scarecrow might even use it indiscriminatly.

So Scarecrow was J'onn's target. The target of Martian Manhunter.

Even if he were better suited for securing the prisoners and Aresia. He could turn invisible and go through walls after all. Moreover, he was unfamiliar with the Gotham criminal and his ways.

Except Batman insisted.

Superman and Flash were too willing to follow the Dark Knight's lead, Hawkgirl too impatient and uncaring about covert operations, and Green Lantern preferred having Martian Manhunter closer at hand to deal with the rest of the supervillains after Scarecrow, rather than sneaking into the prison. Manhunter honestly did not know what Wonder Woman would have said, if not for how distracted she was over the fate of her Amazonian sisters, and Aresia not being on Themyscira.

For Queen Hippolyta, Diana's mother, had sworn Aresia would remain imprisoned for the rest of her immortal life.

One did not need to be a telepath to know the hotheaded princess was itching to run home, exile or no, and demand answers.

Unfortunately, this meant only J'onn had thought to raise any objection over Batman's mission. Even worse, he knew it would only do more harm than good to actually raise it in front of the others.

He's the only one of us without special powers. So he feels he needs to prove himself to us; prove that he belongs in the League. Or maybe prove it to himself. Despite how he is a valued member we all rely on.

With a mental sigh he phased through the walls to enter Scarecrow's lab, where he was staying put, despite, or because of, the sounds of battle happening outside in the main lair. De-cloaking, Martian Manhunter reached out and grabbed the madman's shoulder and twisted him around to punch—

Gas!

Coughing, he stumbled back, clutching his throat, while Scarecrow sniggered. "You're good, but once I knew Batman was here, well, I was on guard. Still, best be sure." With a flick of a tabletop switch, more green gas poured out of canisters hidden around the room.

The world fell away, and J'onn found himself back on Mars.

!JUSTICE!

"Keep it up!" screamed Shade, as Killer Frost and Mister Freeze continued to shoot beams of ice into his bubble of darkness. His own shadow manipulation would disorient Superman, while adding its own pressure to help. If they could keep the Kryptonian out of the fray until the other 'heroes' were dealt with, they could win. Especially since Luthor had disappeared, and from what he had hinted beforehand, the multi-billionaire had something special prepared for his nemesis.

A flash of green, and Mister Freeze grunted and stumbled back. However only out of surprise, as his armour was barely dented. "That would've worked against my old armours," he tonelessly informed Green Lantern.

"Oh really," the ex-marine rejoined, firing another blast, only to be blocked by a wall of ice.

"I'll handle this," declared Mister Freeze to Killer Frost. "Keep Superman down until I'm done."

"Oh, it'll be my pleasure," she hissed.

"Wait, maybe you should switch," argued Shade.

"This is my strongest suit ever," said Mister Freeze, implacable in his blue exo-suit with black trimmings. "Something I've kept in cold storage, and more than capable for this."

With surprising speed for his bulk, he fired down a beam of ice from his hands, and skated across the frozen ground just as his wall shattered. Readjusting his power, he started to rise up on a growing glacier with one hand, while the other fired bursts of ice at Green Lantern. Missed shots coated the walls, with the growing amount of ice beginning to hem in the hero.

"Tch, he's not all that," hissed Killer Frost.

Privately Shade conceded her abilities were more versatile. However, Mister Freeze seemed to best her in raw might, and as he shrugged off another shot of concentrated willpower, he certainly had the durability. "Never mind that!" he snapped. "We just need to keep Superman contained."

He could hear an ominous cracking sound from the bubble of ice and darkness, and wished Luthor would hurry it up already.

!JUSTICE!

"YAAAAAAAH!" Shayera roared out, throwing herself into the fray once more. Embracing the thrill of battle, and the freedom that came from her cover.

Back home as Lieutenant Shayera Hol, military veteran and instructor of espionage back at the military academy, she had to be firm and disciplined. Whatever her passions, duty required she keep them on a leash. If this were a Thanagarian operation, and she were in charge, she would have stealthily infiltrated like Batman, with fire teams right behind her, getting into position and setting up ambushes. Laid out and executed with cold, ruthless efficiency. Because that was how she had been trained and what she excelled at, despite her personal preferences.

However, that was not who the hero Hawkgirl was. She was not a soldier, but an 'alien police officer somehow teleported to Earth.' A woman who embraced her passions and took care of her problems head-on! Preferably with violence.

All of which she had ample opportunity for here and now.

Joker and the rest had gathered at least twenty foot soldiers for this operations, and for all their lack of powers, they carried nasty looking guns. Military grade she knew at a glance, and the wielders carried them with a definite familiarity with violence as they charged towards the escalating conflict between supers. Either they were that confident in their abilities, or simply that terrified of Joker's retaliation if he caught them running away. Probably a mixture of both.

With deft ease she swerved through the air as she swept down on the soldiers faster than they could properly track, and began laying into them with her mace. She had to keep moving though, or they would overwhelm her. No matter. She had faced far worse odds against the Gordanians.

In a red blur, Flash was alongside her, knocking goons down faster than they could react.

She was glad to see that ever since his 'fight' with Luffy, he had learnt to take his job much more seriously. Usually he would be laughing and goofing off right about now, leaving twice as many guys still standing. No, what they were seeing here was Flash when he got serious.

Serious as a gang of supervillains led by a man even 'old Dark and Scowly Bats' (as their lovable Speedster would refer to the Dark Knight) was concerned about, no matter how much the Justice League knew he would deny it. Which meant Flash was decimating the rank and file with a dedicated focus.

Good. It means he'll live longer, Hawkgirl happily knew, speaking from long, bitter experience in a war without end. Against enemies for whom atrocities came as easily as breathing.

So why did such a large part of her mourn the loss of Flash's carefree happiness?

At least he remained as irascible as ever when not fighting or training.

She was not sure how she would handle losing that too.

Having cleared things up a little, she turned to help Superman, only to see the cloud of darkness and ice shatter as he finally broke through. Albeit in a controlled manner, keeping everyone safe from ice shrapnel.

Smirking, Hawkgirl got back to her own job. No need to guess how things were now going to go for Killer Frost and Shade now.

!JUSTICE!

Well away from Superman and all the fighting going on there, Parasite hit the ground with a slight grunt. Him and the hero who had knocked them both all the way over here, were in another, wide open area of the underground base, although near one of the cave walls.

Shaking his head for a moment, Parasite lazily stood up to leer at the hero who had come to challenge him.

Wonder Woman.

"Oh Princess," he sneered. "Here to avenge your people?"

"What did you do to Themyscira!?" she hissed, fists raised.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" he gloated. "We had so much fun with your people after all. And it's all thanks to you."

"What!?"

"If you hadn't sent blondie back home like that, Joker wouldn't've been able to track you taking her there."

The grinding of her teeth was audible even several meters away.

Grinning wider, he gestured with one hand 'come-at-me.'

She obliged.

He casually leaned away from her first obvious punch and reached to grab her, only to be thrown over her shoulder as he somehow fell for the feint. Moving on reflex, he rolled aside before her foot came down on his shoulder to dislocate it. Jumping up he took two fists to the jaw and a snap kick which sent him skidding back.

Alright, maybe not a cakewalk like he thought. No problem though.

Quickly Parasite tapped into his new memories, seeing how the Amazons in his possession had fought Wonder Woman before. They had helped train her after all, sparred with her, and would know every one of her moves. Maybe even some suggestions to beat her nice and quick so he could get after Superman sooner. Oh, that was going to be delicious! Once he had those powers too . . . well, Scarecrow's Fear Gas or no, Parasite would have to start rethinking his relationship with the Injustice League.

Alkyone was one of the latest to test the young princess. She had heard whispers of her other spars, and now she would see it for herself.

Appearing in her late teens, Princess Diana only came up to about Alkyone's chin, even if she clearly had more growing to do. Calm, yet confidence burned in her eyes.

Time to do something about that youthful arrogance.

Starting with a right hook—

Blocked by Diana's left forearm. Not unexpected, and leaving her vulnerable to—

A sweeping kick from the teen! Alkyone jumped up, only to be knocked by a series of punches. Quick, ruthless, and with perfect form.

Refusing to be taken down by even a royal so easily, Alkyone ducked, dodged, and blocked, but a few punches were starting to get through.

Alkyone knew she was older, stronger, more experienced—

And it was not making a lick of difference.

A warrior's fire burned within the Princess, and she wielded the skills to harness it.

When the final punch lifted her off the air to fall heavily and motionless to the ground, Alkyone felt no shame.

Later that night she learnt that only the best of the best of her other sisters could match Princess Diana.

For now.

Surprise made Parasite stall just long enough for a punch to get through and deck him into the air. Exactly like from his memories of Alkyone and the other four.

Unlike them, he was tough enough to recover and flip in the air to land on his feet, rubbing his jaw before taking up a classic Amazonian stance.

Nevertheless, only now did he understand:

He possessed the abilities and skills of five Amazonian warriors . . .

. . . And was facing off against their greatest champion. The Princess of a warrior nation who had fought her way to the top of the pile by her own merit and fists.

"Oh my," Parasite shuddered with naked greed. "I'm going to enjoy making you into my very own battery."

With a roar, Wonder Woman thundered forward once more.

This time he met her and bulldozed straight through her moves to send her flying back. Faster than she could recover, he was upon her, keeping up the momentum to slam her straight into the side of the mountain.

"Oh ho ho ho," he chuckled, pinning her there. He glowed purple as energy crackled away from her. "I'm gonna suck you dry."

"Hera," she gasped out, and the name rang warning bells in his head, "give me strength!"

With a roar she shoved him back, and went on the offensive now, throwing out a rain of fists that he struggled to block. Each punch was far stronger than before. Even worse, he was suffering from the same problem against Monkey Luffy, as he lacked indestructible bracelets while using his forearms as his primary defense. Honestly, if not for his stolen enhanced healing factor, and Cherry Blossom Medical products, he would still be recovering from that fight.

"You may think you have the power of the Amazons," declared Wonder Woman, "but we are the children of the gods, and Hera our patron!"

"Well your goddess," Parasite spat back, "wasn't generous enough to make you match me!" He leapt forward to unleash a new combination of kicks and punches, which she met with a scowl. She got in a jab to his gut and right shoulder, which he returned with a punishing knee to her own stomach. Seizing his chance, he grabbed her wrists, only to realize his mistake as he grabbed her magical wristbands, which protected her from his powers. In response, she wrenched her arms up with him holding on, only for her to keep going up as she levitated up and planted both pointed heels right in his chin, sending him stumbling back.

"No flight either," she reminded him. Born from clay with the blessing of the gods, her own gifts surpassed that of her sisters'.

Her lasso flicked from her hand, and snagged his ankle. With a wrench, he found himself being spun in a circle until she brought him back to Earth with a resounding crash.

Gasping despite his enhanced durability, he forced himself up, and reflexes took over as with a mighty heave he wrenched the lasso out of her hand. With equal skill he snapped it off his ankle and swung it at her. Fists outstretched, she dodged under the magical rope, yet he still managed to sidestep her and get a punch in which made her roll midair. "Not over yet!" he rasped.

She recovered her flight, and came straight at him while he dropped the lasso—not his style anyways. This? This he was finishing with his bare hands.

Once more they exchanged a flurry of blows, moving with a fluidity and assurance from years and years of studying the elegant and graceful art of turning a person into a bloody hunk of meat.

Their limbs were like lightning, with the boom of thunder whenever they clashed together, while the very air shuddered around them. A growing fury fueled them both, as they put everything they were on the line.

Smoothly dropping under another punch, he made a sweeping kick to take out a knee which she merely hovered over, while she did her own right at his head, sending him reeling back once more.

Wonder Woman moved in for the finishing blow, only for him to duck and shoot an elbow right into her face, snapping her head back. A one-two punch sent her flying back.

"Let's finish this!" Parasite bellowed, charging after her as ground rumbled beneath his feet.

!JUSTICE!

Deadshot kept up a steady stream of suppressive fire to pin down the Dark Knight. Yeah, he could not do it forever, but he had a lot of bullets. Moreover, the longer he did this, the better chance the others had of finishing their fights to come help break the stalemate. He was an assassin after all, and knew it was best to play dirty if he wanted kill someone as dangerous as Batman.

Sure, maybe when this was all over Deadshot would claim he beat the 'urban legend' in a fair fight. Or maybe it would be better for his rep to say he successfully sniped the man from the shadows?

Blurs flew out from either side of the rock the hero was crouched behind, spinning through the air. Deadshot's arms did not shift, even as he reflexively assessed the projectiles. Batarangs, except bigger than usual. Well, with those trajectories they were no—

One end of each of them exploded, rocketing them straight at him! Too fast! Have too—!

Bringing both forearm guns up, he shot both Batarangs in the nick of time, shattering them. Desperately he swung the barrels down to aim at the man he already knew was charging at him, only for a ball to burst into smoke in front of him.

"Like I'm an amateur," he growled at the insult. His mask's visor automatically switched to infrared to see—nothing. The faint smell hit him next. Rust. Iron! Somehow there was iron in the smoke, blocking his sensors! His mask would filter it out, as Batman probably knew it would, but the main thing was that he was blind.

In a snap decision he set up a firing pattern, trying anticipate his target as best as possible.

Batman hit him from behind, taking him down with two punches and a choke hold.

"A few tricks I stole from a pirate," Batman dryly said to the unconscious man, before heading off to complete his original mission.

!JUSTICE!

Now the rest of the Injustice League had reached where the fighting was heaviest within the base.

Copperhead leapt down from the roof of one of the buildings to ambush Flash, yet that loud hiss was all the warning he needed to dodge out of the way. Ducking around, he came about to take the guy down, only for an explosion to send him flying.

Shaking his head, he looked up to see Ultra-Humanite approaching, sporting a very large gun that would have fit in nicely for a sci-fi movie.

"I must say," confessed the urbane super-villain, "when Luthor approached me to make a deal, I never imagined how things would go from there."

"What can we say," grinned Flash, "life's full of surprises."

"Indeed," and Ultra-Humanite took careful aim at the prone figure, and fired.

At bare ground.

Turning around he barely saw Flash coming around at him before the fists began to fly, knocking the ape down. His fingers clicking uselessly against the trigger of his gun.

Groaning, Ultra-Humanite looked up to see Flash standing over him, holding the power-pack to his laser rifle. "Stay down," advised the hero.

For extra emphasis, an unconscious Copperhead was chucked down beside Ultra-Humanite, with Hawkgirl strolling up, hefting her mace menacingly.

Holding up two empty hands, Ultra-Humanite calmly said, "I surrender. In fact, I would like to note that I was taken from my cell against my consent. If I had resisted, Joker would have killed me."

"Save it for your lawyer," scoffed Hawkgirl.

"Be what it may, I will cooperate," he assured them.

"Where are the others?" she demanded.

"I have no idea," he truthfully said. Although he could make an educated guess.

Openly looking around, Ultra-Humanite confirmed that all of the regular criminals appeared senseless. About a third of the cavern, and growing, was now covered in thick ice as Mister Freeze did his work, yet honestly he would not wager good odds on the rest. Taking on the Justice League was a difficult proposition when you were prepared; taken off-guard as the Injustice League were, and given how strained relations were between members of their criminal fraternity, he doubted victory would be theirs. Thus his priority was safeguarding his record as a model prisoner, and thus maintaining the comforts he enjoyed.

Moreover, all this violence was getting rather dreary really.
Pity I did not have a chance to cut a deal with the Justice League beforehand. Although an extra level of subterfuge may have been necessary with Joker's involvement.

!JUSTICE!

A drill of solid green Will tore through another beam of ice, only for spikes of it to stab up from the ground at the weaving space cop.

Having studied the League's extensive files on known super-villains, Green Lantern knew Freeze's newest suit was on greater scale than ever before.

How was it that a man originally specializing in cryogenics had also created one of the most dangerous exo-suits the ex-marine had ever faced?

A direct hit from another ice beam slammed Green Lantern backwards, impacting against a forest of sharp icicles sticking out of the side of the cave wall. "Grah!" he grunted in pain, barely keeping up his protective aura. Unreal, that blow alone would have shredded through solid steel!

With a thought, he expanded his shield into a bubble to break out of the ice enveloping him, fired off three quick bursts, before taking evasive maneuvers once more.

In all honesty, he was probably the best suited for this fight besides J'onn or Superman. For someone who regularly flew through space, the chill of this battlefield meant nothing to him. Even Batman would have been struggling to move against the cold, even if he had the necessary firepower. Indeed, when his teammate had fought the madman last, that cruder exo-suit had easily overpowered him. Batman had barely stopped Freeze from, well, freezing over the entirety of Gotham City; apparently as some sort of twisted revenge to make the grim hero know what it meant to lose what he valued most.

Cutting through several more blasts with a massive emerald sword, Green Lantern simultaneously formed a hand to snap off several icicles and chuck them at the cold man. Something was niggling at the back of his mind about that last battle between Batman and his personal villain. At the end . . .

Of course!

Right then Mister Freeze went all out. Leveling both arms, each with a greater torrent of cryogenic power than ever. Enough force to punch through a volcano and freeze it over!

With a grunt of determination, Green Lantern met the challenge head-on. Pouring all his indomitable Will into it, he unleashed a massive force of green right back.

The powers clashed and strained against each other—only this time the space cop was no longer holding back with the greatest weapon of the Guardians of the Universe.

After a few more seconds, and another burst of focus, his beam cut straight through the ice and tore right through Mister Freeze's chest.

Ending it.

Taking deep breaths, he wiped away beads of sweat from the strain, before smirking ruefully at the irony of needing to do so in such a frigid environment.

Flying down, he saw how the exo-suit's torso had been shredded, and the limbs were basically useless. However Freeze's head, the sole remaining part of his body, was just fine. All according to plan. Even better, the smaller, spiderlike limbs he used to move around his head and platform, were also mangled.

"You could've killed me," was the toneless observation. A part of him even sounded . . . disappointed to be alive.

"Not hardly," scoffed Green Lantern, still shaken by the effort winning had taken. "A suit that tough? No, you'd survive much worse."

He made a buzz-saw construct to ensure the suit was not getting up again, and flew off back to the sounds of fighting.

Lamentably, once he was out of sight, a second, smaller pair of metal legs popped out of Mister Freeze's mobile platform.

Without a word, the head began scurrying off. He had been careful to ensure his ice did not cover up one of the base's several escape routes, which was good. If he was to get out of here, he had a ways to go as it was, and could hardly travel fast either.

No matter. While it appeared the Injustice League was going to lose, he had already caught on enough to Joker's true scheme to know Batman may still know true despair tonight. Him and his new friends. Their loss in particular, for all that he might pretend only Justice mattered in his life, would hurt Batman all the worse.

!JUSTICE!

Peering around a corner, Batman saw up ahead the room which looked reinforced enough to hold the prisoners. After examining the door, he disabled the alarms and cautiously looked in. The women all appeared weak, and he figured from the familiar twitching they were dosed with Scarecrow's fear gas. Fortunately he came prepared with enough of the antidote for them all.

Not wasting time, he injected the six ladies to cure them, and checked their vitals. Seeing them starting to settle down, he began to unlock their restraints before leaping aside.

The sword blade swished through where his head had been, as he found himself face-to-face with Star Sapphire and Tsukuri.

Eye-slits narrowing, he dodged a pink shot from Star Sapphire, and knew he was outmatched. He had beaten them both individually before, but the circumstances were different. Especially since he would be fighting them both at once.

He had miscalculated in doing this alone.

In the span of a heartbeat he assessed their histories and psychological profiles, and made a snap decision.

A smoke bomb blanketed the room.

"I'll guard the door," said Tsukuri, falling back to stand in front of the entrance.

"There's nowhere to run," hissed Star Sapphire as she fearlessly floated through the smoke. Her protective aura meant she did not even need to worry about breathing; although she could tell it was simply an ordinary smoke bomb.

For some reason though, Batman was not taking the bait. Plus the smokescreen was already dissipating?

"Over there," noted Tsukuri, pointing to a hole cut into a wall. Batman had escaped.

"Gaaah!" snarled Star Sapphire, before turning to one prisoner at a time, shoot open the manacles holding them in place. Tsukuri grabbed each woman, and gently lowered them to the ground. They were still out cold, so without a word, the two women left them to race down the hallway.

They had a leader to set free.

!JUSTICE!

An unconscious Shade collapsed down beside Killer Frost, and Superman looked to see where he could be of help next.

Only to be sent flying backwards in a burst of green and pain.

"I'm going to enjoy every moment of this," Lex Luthor darkly grinned as he advanced forward. He was wearing a thick set of advanced green armour with a purple trim, leaving only his face and chrome dome visible.

A single shot brought Superman to the ground, with the familiar weakness of Kryptonite washing over him.

"Why so surprised, Superman? It's a basic rule of business. Turn every weakness into a strength." Even in his dazed state, Superman understood what his nemesis was referring to: Luthor had been mortally poisoned by Kryptonite exposure, yet somehow harnessed the very radiation his body had absorbed to power Krytponite based weaponry. "Of course," continued the lecture as beams of green energy brutally hammered home, "that's a lesson you might not live to appreciate."

The Man of Steel could only weakly scream in agony.

Cold steel flashed, and Luthor's right gauntlet blazed. "GRAAAH!"

Through sheer will he fought through the pain and glanced at the palm he was holding in front of him, seeing the emitter had been cut. Activating the jets on his feet, he leapt back and hovered in the air to glare down at Shining Knight. "How dare you!" he raged.

"I dare," was the stoic reply, hefting the sword for his next strike. "I apologize, Superman, for my tardiness."

"No worries," Superman managed, glancing back to see they seriously could have made their entrance more accessible for their newest member. Especially since his flying horse, Winged Victory, was slower than the Javelin they took to get here, and could not fit aboard either. Although truthfully, they had been a little concerned about bringing him in the first place. Not because of his skills, but the fact that he had been hospitalized only about a week ago; Sir Justin was only on his feet thanks to more —Oh the irony!— products from Cherry Blossom Medical. "Shouldn't have made it so difficult for you."

Almost growling, Luthor fired another blast at Superman with his left arm, except this time the alien was ready, taking it on a forearm and not backing down. His heat vision flared red, and the jets were fried, bringing Luthor down painfully on one knee.

Shining Knight charged forward, slashing with the tip of Gearradh on Luthor's raised weapon, ruining it right as it fired. The ensuing explosion sent the sword flying, and Luthor reeling back, yet the knight recovered first. His magical golden armour gave strength to his blows which sent his craven foe staggering back more and more. Alas, he would not fall.

Thus Shining Knight grabbed one arm, and forced it behind Luthor to lock it and him in place. Unable to pass up on the invitation, Superman delivered one final punch to bring Luthor down.

"Well," grinned the knight, "that was far easier than my fight with Roronoa Zoro."

"I bet," agreed Superman, although he did not smile. Truthfully he knew they had gotten a bit lucky. Doubtless given more time, Luthor would have made the exo-suit far more dangerous.

"We must aid the others."

"One moment. Luthor's slippery, and I want to be sure he doesn't get away while we're gone."

!JUSTICE!

"How is this possible!?" snarled Parasite, panting a little and ignoring aches and pains all over. "I've still got five Amazons to your one! Even if you were better than them individually, I've still got all their skills, power, and experience amplified!"

Hair disheveled, bruised, swelling keeping one eye half-shut, a fire still burned in Wonder Woman's gaze he remembered from so many years and years of memories.

Scoffing, she maintained her combat stance, loose yet stable, fists raised and ready to go the next round. "You really don't get it, do you? My sisters did indeed spend century after century perfecting their skills, but only against each other."

". . . What?"

"Aside from the best of us, if you keep fighting the same people again and again, no matter how hard you try and prevent it, you fall into a pattern against each other. A rut."

As much as it hurt to admit it, she had become forced to admit her sisters were the greatest warriors in history . . . from a time lost to history. Against modern warfare, without extensive retraining, only the Amazons divine gifts and discipline would give them an edge.

"While I on the other hand," she smiled grimly, "have been fighting against aliens, monsters, and madmen here in Man's World. Some of them have been even stronger than I, and yet here I stand before you. So in other words, for all that I love my sisters, they have nothing on my experience!"

Seeing him flinch as he recognized the truth, she roared once more as she soared right at him.

He tanked her first series punches before knocking her arms aside and head-butting her. Even with her tiara on her head, she whipped back in pain. Unfortunately he remained more durable, and in such a short fight, his amped up stamina was starting to tell as he recovered faster. Four punishing blows took her to her knees, and he yanked her up by the hair to dangle in front of him. "Experience don't mean squat against overwhelming strength, darling."

Parasite's purple aura manifested as he fed off of her strength to make it his.

Face screwed in pain as she fought not cry out, Wonder Woman spat in his eye, making him flinch for the second needed for her to tuck in her knees and plant a double-kick to dislocate the shoulder supporting her weight.

"GRRAAAAH!" he screamed, nerveless fingers loosening on her hair as she shot out of his grip before even a single strand was ripped free.

Flipping around, she flew right back at him, only for him to push aside the pain with Amazonian mental techniques, and snap-kick her right in the shoulder. Spinning in the air again, she came down on her face groaning.

"GaaaaaAAAGH!" Parasite howled as he forcefully fixed his shoulder. Battlefield medical knowledge in his head knew he would need it to be properly looked over by a professional afterwards –surely one of the eggheads was 'doctor' enough for that?— but it would suffice temporarily.

Lifting one foot up, he was going to plant her head down into the stone until he knew she was not getting back up.

One way or another.

"AHH!" he cried out at a sudden stinging sensation, and he looked down to see a bunch of black things sticking out of his body. Huh, they looked almost like . . . bats. With rapidly beeping red lights. Oh dear.

The ringing explosions overhead nearly pushed Wonder Woman fully unconscious, yet she managed to force herself up to her elbows.

While a singed Parasite was stumbling back, she knew he was so tough that he was mainly off-balance only because he was surprised.

"Experience," she grimly said as she stiffly stood, "also taught me to not fight alone if possible. Especially not against someone such as you. So I had to stall you."

"HIIYAAAH!"

Turning his head at the war-cry, Parasite had only a moment of comprehension before Hawkgirl's crackling mace took him right in the face.

A green hand of light grabbed the mace as it spun through the air, and tossed it back to the owner from where she had thrown it. "Thanks," huffed the winged hero.

"It's over Parasite," declared Batman, handing back his teammate's lasso.

"Yes it is," agreed Wonder Woman, adrenaline pumping as she prepared to finally finish this.

"Hold back," ordered the Dark Knight.

"I'm fine!" she snapped back.

"You're our back-up," Green Lantern diplomatically said. "He's still powerful."

"You're darn right I am!" snarled Parasite.

"I doubt it," taunted Hawkgirl. "Not after princess here's been softening you up. Not to mention the beating Monkey just gave you. By the way, from the way I hear it, you might not even qualify as a man anymore after what he did to you."

Something buzzed in Parasite's mind at the reminder of that humiliation. The Pain. The realization of how people saw him as a laughing stock now. All on top of his failure to score an easy victory over Little Miss Perfect. He cocked his head at her, and said very, very calmly, "Y'know, I don't actually need your wings. Just your strength. So I'm gonna rip 'em off first. Then your head."

"Come and try," smirked Hawkgirl.

Parasite knew she was trying to make him too angry to think, yet he was well past that level of utter fury and had passed right into deathly calm. He knew if he was going to win this after the change in the odds, he needed to strategize. Even with his latest dose from Wonder Woman, who despite bravado had been nearing pure exhaustion herself, he was starting to feel a bit winded. He needed to nab one of them to restore himself. Ordinarily he would target Batman as the most vulnerable, maybe take him hostage, except his enhanced sense of tactics told him it was too obvious.

Silently he rushed Green Lantern, who threw up a green wall he slammed into, cracking it badly. Gambling, Parasite used his powers on the construct, and was delighted to discover he could siphon energy off of it. He did not understand how to use it, but he was recharging!

Bullets of sweat breaking out on his brow, Green Lantern reformed the wall and growled as he thrust with all his Will, slamming Parasite down into the ground. Knowing the risk, he then reformed the construct so it was now like a vice, pinning the criminals arms to his sides, with his hands just out of reach of the glowing green.

"You think this can hold me!?" snarled Parasite as he strained to stand and break through his bonds, already beginning to push it open with his incredible strength.

"Just long enough!" a familiar and hated voice rang out.

A golden lasso fell around his arms, and pulled tight while a relieved Green Lantern dropped his creation. No longer being pushed down, Parasite accidentally sent himself leaping into the air, only to quickly yanked to the side by the magical rope as Wonder Woman began spinning him one-handed around in a circle. Faster and faster.

Obviously Parasite knew how this was going to end, and had to trust he could weather the impact well enough to get right back up again before they started throwing stuff at him. Unfortunately, unlike before, the darling princess was holding on as she kept twirling him about, building up for maximum impact, and he was starting to feel sick. So sick he failed to register the change to the plan.

Hawkgirl had flown away from her teammates, however it was only to make some distance before soaring back as fast as she could, building up as much momentum as possible. She timed the swing of her mace perfectly as it hit Parasite head on with all the strength she could muster. Her precious weapon was nearly torn from her hands, yet it did its job as with a massive BOOM his eyes bugged out and fell to the ground below.

Except not even that was enough as the super-villain painfully, stiffly, shrugged out of the now slack lasso, and half-stood. "You. Tink. Is. Over!?" Parasite rattled off at the shocked super-heroes. Half-drunkenly he stood up, but with fists raised and murder in his eyes. He only needed to grab one of them, and then he'd—

A sharp prick to his neck, and a shadow whispered from behind. "Pretty much."

Whirling around he saw Batman stepping back, only for that sharp movement to send him off-balance as he fell and the world slipped away into darkness.

"What was that?" Wonder Woman asked, limping over to retrieve her lasso which had been torn out of her hand by the impact, and began tying the criminal up with it.

"A powerful tranquilizer," he answered, holding up the oversized syringe. With a flick, it was gone from sight, and he helped her finish wrapping up Parasite. "Enough to put out several elephants. Or whales."

She eyed him for a moment, before comprehension dawned. "My medical tests when we first came to the Watchtower. I was surprised the needles were actually able to draw blood from me. That any metal from Man's World could."

"Something impossible in ancient Greece," he nodded. "Or Themyscira for that matter."

"Well, good to know," she smirked. "Now, what about your mission?"

The lenses of his cowl narrowed. "Less ideal."

!JUSTICE!

Mars. Beautiful Mars.

Until J'onn J'onzz realized the true horror of it all.

The silence. The devastated cities as he turned around, and the sight of the Imperium ships flying away.

Leaving him.

Alone.

The last Martian left alive upon a dead world.

AloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAlone . . .

Wait! Earth! Yet when he looked up he could –Impossibly!— see the blue and green world he now lived in being consumed by fire as the alien conquerors reached there too. He failed! He never reached there to warn the Justice League –Except he had!— and they never stopped the Imperium!

(The Imperium burned!)

Alone with only him alive under this pitiless sun!

AloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAloneAlone . . .

Why was he left alive! Why only him!? The last of his people . . .

What was he supposed to do!?

(Be a Manhunter like his precious My'ria'h would want him to be.)

Where was there hope for someone as forsaken as him!?

(There was always hope!)

"ENOUGH!" roared Martian Manhunter as he broke himself free of the hallucination, so that Mars faded away and he found himself back on Earth in the underground base, and a certain madman's lab.

"No! Not you too!" gasped Scarecrow in horror as he saw the delicious terror in the alien's eyes fall to righteous fury. "How! How do you do it!?"

Glaring, Martian Manhunter's only response was a devastating right hook to knock the super-villain out in a single blow. He had to remind himself at the last moment to check his strength though—he was no longer a soldier in a genocidal war his people were losing.

He was a hero. Pledged to inspire others to be better.

Panting, he collected his thoughts after being exposed to the Fear Gas. Impressive really, how Scarecrow, like Aresia, had indeed made it work on aliens.

Reaching out to his surroundings with his telepathy, he realized that more time had passed than expected. Obviously a side effect of the hallucinogen. Which begged the question why he was unharmed.

Glancing down though, he saw a scythe lying beside Scarecrow. Possibly the man had been trying to kill him while incapacitated, except he had been unable too. Possible the Fear Toxin had made him instinctively phase-shift, making the weapon pass right through him. No matter.

"J'onn!"

Turning around, he saw Superman and Flash speed up to him, with Hawkgirl and Shining Knight right behind. "Are you alright?" asked the speedster.

". . . Now I am," was all he said. It could wait for later. "Unfortunately we have another problem."

!JUSTICE!

A few minutes earlier

Freed from her shackles and shock collar, Aresia stood before Star Sapphire and Tsukuri, stretching out her arms before her as she stared at the six freed women. Five of them were her fellow Amazons, while the sixth with red hair was a stranger. With their help, she, Sapphire, and Tsukuri could succeed in their earlier plan to wipe out the Men of the world. "Sisters! We are free! Come, we must take our leave of this place."

The Amazons only rubbed their wrists, still shaky from prolonged exposure to the drugs and their overall captivity. None of them would meet her eyes, until Alkyone, the Head Jailer was the one to straighten up and spear Aresia with look of pure contempt which chilled her spine.

"While we are grateful for our freedom, we are going nowhere with you!"

"But why!?" gasped Aresia. "Can't you see now how the evils of Man's World have grown!? Even Themyscira has been invaded twice this year! If women are to prosper, and this beloved planet is to be saved and thrive, we must take the fight to men while we still can!"

"No."

"Why not!?" cried out Aresia, knowing she was sounding like a petulant child, yet even after her captivity she could not help but see these five women as part of her family. As her older sisters. For the Amazons had raised her after the murder of her mother and the rest of her family. They had even proven their love for her by making her an Amazon in body and spirit.

"You closed your ears to our reasons when you received your sentencing," Alkyone viciously said, "because you did not wish to hear the truth of what you had done. Those very same crimes you committed are why we did not listen when you tried to whisper honeyed words from within your jail cell, trying to convince us to release you. Because you betrayed us all!"

"You taught me the evils of Man! I merely did what you wouldn't!" she spat back. "What is wrong with killing them!?"

"And do you still have no comprehension of how many women and girls you killed at the same time!?" bit out her jailer. "Killed in tragic circumstances by a plague upon the land. That we did not teach you. That way is of Man's World. Nor does your behaviour excuse taking our Queen Hippolyta hostage! The very woman who took you in when you washed up upon our shores!" she screamed the last bit, naked loathing in the Amazonian's eyes.

Recoiling as if slapped, Aresia rallied herself. "I wouldn't have harmed her! Not really!" she shouted, trying to make them see. "I've been telling you this whole time, she would have understood in the end when the Men were dead and the gods remade all our sisters into Amazons!"

"How can you be so ignorant of the gods!?" snarled Alkyone. "If nothing else, you never try to force their hands!"

Star Sapphire and Tsukuri exchanged glances at that, understanding now that eternal youth was not in the cards after all. Not that the truth made them back away from their leader. Well, not right now while freedom beckoned, and they retained some trump cards to play.

Ignoring that point, Aresia tried a different track, trying one last time. She knew seconds were precious if they were to escape either Diana or the Joker. She and the other liberated prisoners were in no shape for a fight, and no matter which side won, the women were outnumbered.

"Don't you see how history is repeating itself!? Amazonians imprisoned by men jealous of their gifts and abused!? It will only get worse!" Raising her arms once more, she implored, "We need to fight back! Together!"

"No, Aresia," Myrto softly said, finally meeting her gaze with a sad expression. "You're talking of revenge, and hatred is not the Amazon way."

Stunned in silence, Aresia could only gape for precious heartbeats, until she finally screamed, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE TEACHING ME THIS WHOLE TIME!? MEN ARE EXACTLY DESERVING OF OUR HATE!"

Now it was the Amazons shocked into speechlessness, and Aresia furiously turned away from them to the stranger who had yet to speak up. "My name is Aresia," she gently said. "What's your name?"

"Uhm, Giganta," the redhead managed. "I, Grodd, he, and then," tears began to build up, "Joker killed him, and—"

"Hush," Aresia stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. "Don't you worry, it's over now." Stepping back, but keep her hands on the Giganta's upper arms, "Do you want to come with us?"

The woman risked a look at the Amazons, then with hardening determination, nodded to Aresia. Her saviour. "I do."

Without another word or concern for the Amazons, the four women —survivors of the modern age of Man's World— hurried through the hole Batman had left in the wall.

"I'm guessing Joker had a bunch of secret exits," said Aresia as they ran.

"You got it," grinned Star Sapphire. "Once we're out, I'll fly us elsewhere!"

"Perfect," purred the rogue Amazon.

"What about Joker?" asked Tsukuri.

"What about him?"

"He and Luthor have been studying your notes for a new allergen," pointed out the swordswoman. "What if they make something like that themselves?"

"No worries there," Aresia smugly assured them. "I concealed the magical component of it with a lot of bogus chemistry. What? What else do you think I needed those gems for before? Every jewel contains a trace of magic."

!JUSTICE!

Moaning, Shade rolled over and painfully pushed himself up to his elbows. He had to get up and out of—

Someone slipped his sunglasses off.

Blinking, he turned around to find himself face-to-face with the scowling and bruised Joker, eyes wild with insanity.

Before Shade could speak, Joker's knife slit across his jugular.

Leaving the dying man behind, the Clown Prince picked up the now ownerless Nightstick—the source of Shade's powers.

Giving it a little spin, he skipped along at a surprisingly fast pace to where Luthor was awake and glaring. The bulk of his suit had been torn off, leaving him with only the containment unit he and Ultra-Humanite had devised to keep him healthy despite Kryptonite poisoning. "Just a sec," Joker said, banishing the bloody knife.

Luthor had time to process what was happening and squeeze his eyes shut.

Only for nothing to happen.

Wait.

Flexing, he discovered the ropes which had tied him up were now slack, and he stood up to face his rescuer.

"Why?"

"I daresay we should run first," pointed out Joker, jerking a thumb in the direction of where their jet was stored.

Without another word, Luthor complied. As they boarded however, he noted Joker pulling out a remote and punching in a key-code. Realizing the implications, fear added haste to Luthor as he punched in the emergency activation sequence he had installed earlier, and the jet took off like a rocket.

"Dare I ask?" he dryly remarked.

"Oh, just a little Open House Party gift."

!JUSTICE!

The Justice League re-assembled where the Amazonian prisoners were still standing, seemingly lost—and not just because they were still recovering.

"Aresia?" demanded a glaring Wonder Woman.

"Gone, Your Highness," grimaced Alkyone in shame. "Her companions freed us. It was not right for us to stop them."

"Well, which way did they go!?"

Superman was already out the hole in the wall, looking around the immediate area with his x-ray vision, and saw nothing. Being experienced with people trying to escape him, he also looked down in case of tunnels. Which there were a few of, even if nobody was in them. Although—

The rumbling boom of a jet taking off coincided with him focusing on something in particular.

Blanching in horror, he zoomed back down to the others. "Bombs!" he barked.

"I can—" began Batman.

"No time!"

Flash had already disappeared the moment he heard the b-word, and Green Lantern made a green bubble to scoop up everyone but Superman and J'onn, who both tore down the prison wall to make it easier for him to do the evacuation. Speeding as fast as they could, the heroes met up with Flash who had already gathered all the criminals together in a convenient pile for Green Lantern to grab at once.

"More bombs by all the escape routes!" yelled Superman, racing at top speed at a blank wall away from the other bombs, fists raised in front of him to smash right through, his Martian friend right beside him.

None of them stopped running until they heard the massive explosion behind them as the whole mountain detonated. More ominous was the thick clouds of smoke roiling out of it.

"Joker Venom," Batman darkly identified as Green Lantern lowered them all to the ground.

"Sorry," the space cop apologized to Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl. "I wasn't sure if you could keep up after all your fights earlier, and there was no time to ask."

"Apology accepted," Wonder Woman politely said, except her attention was on her Amazonian sisters. Once they had a minute, she was intending to have a serious discussion with them.

"I could've handled it," blustered Hawkgirl. Before he could angrily snap back, she added, "But thanks."

A little thrown off, he merely nodded.

"Where's Luthor, Joker, and Mister Freeze!?" demanded Batman of Flash.

"Gone," he helplessly shrugged back.

"I heard a jet taking off," offered Superman. "I'll go look, but I think they're too far gone now." He waited for Batman's response, only for the Dark Knight to scowl in thought.

Finally, he concluded to the surprise of the rest, "We were played."

!JUSTICE!

"Something wrong, Zoro?" asked Robin.

Grimacing, the man shook his head. "I felt a great disturbance. Like there was an awesome fight I could've been a part of, but it's already over."

Composing himself, he leaned back against his chair in the kitchen. "Eh, probably nothing. I'm just getting bored sitting around doing nothing. Aside from beating up that Shining Knight guy, I haven't really been doing anything except rob and train. At this rate I'm going to get rusty."

Sipping her coffee, Robin nodded in commiseration. "Well, I might have brought you something that'll make you feel a little better."

Organic and cybernetic eyes flicking over to her, he patiently waited for her to continue.

She passed over a folder for him to look at. "Something that Harley said the Joker was trying to find. Working with her and Karrde, I'm pretty sure we found it first. It's a US government facility for abducted metas to be turned into loyal super-soldiers."

"Hmph," grunted the swordsman as he looked over the few pieces of paper inside. Besides the location of the base, there was not much available. Although it was clear they were using teenagers or even kids for this, and busting them out seemed like a nice way to beat the boredom. Who knows, maybe he would even get to do some fighting!

"Sure, sounds good. Franky's getting restless again, working all the time on the portal, so I'll drag him along. Maybe Jinbe too."

"He's a Fishman, and it's a desert," chided Robin.

"Exactly. He needs to see the beauty of the place. Especially a desert not full of vicious and cunning creatures. Random sand storms. Oh, and I can trust him to not keep eating hallucinogenic cacti."

". . . Alabasta?" she hazarded.

"Ugh. Vivi kept forgetting to warn us about what kind of horrors were in her homeland."

Anyone else may have missed the barest flicker of darkness in her eyes, yet he was a Straw Hat. "I'm sure when we see her again, she'll be happy to meet you for the first time," Zoro said, doing his best to project his sincerity.

Surprise blossomed, before a warm smile returned. "Thank you," she softly said.

Feeling it was getting too mushy, Zoro looked back at the file. "So why bring this to me first, instead of the group? And aren't we supposed to be lying low?" With mixed success.

"Well~," she hummed and grinned wider, and a foreboding tingle went up his spine, "I figured that the chance for violence and saving children would be something you'd appreciate. You know, as an early birthday present~?"

"Huh?" Then he remembered what was happening in three days. "Oh yeah, that," he muttered, acting unconcerned, while she giggled back. They both knew Luffy would be throwing a huge bash for him.

"Hopefully there'll be booze too at this secret base or whatever."

!JUSTICE!

Author Notes:

For those of you who commented on Superman slipping a tracking beacon into the food he gave Luffy, obviously that did not happen. Superman is not the kind of guy to do that sort of thing during what was a genuine attempt at peace talks; especially given how they should have tried that from the start with Cherry Blossom Medical.

As some of you also noted, it would not be practical given how Luffy has digested plates in the past. Heck, based off of chapter 455 where he chewed his way through steel bars, it is possible he even swallowed and digested that!

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Part of my hiatus involved going back over old chapters. Lots of edits and improvements to chapters 5 and 6. For chapter 9, and I rewrote the conversation between Luffy and Maureen, and especially the one between Batman and Wonder Woman on being heroes near the end. Removed the religion bit in chapter 10. Last half of the conversation between Luffy and Superman got changed up as well.

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For those of you who caught it, yes Mister Freeze was using his suit from Batman Beyond.

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For Wonder Woman versus Parasite, thanks to BlantonM for all their help brainstorming and proofreading that battle. Also thanks to Ultimatrix for pointing out that weakness of Amazons from the season 4 episode, "To Another Shore."

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Alkyone is another Amazonian from the comics, who was the leader of Hippolyta's royal guard. Nothing more expected to come of us.

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Next Chapter: 'Injustice for All, Part 6.' Just cleaning up a few final details.

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Please Review, and I will get back to you!