What is good everyone?! Welcome back to another installment of Young Justice: Legends Are Made! What can I say? I feel like I do this every time, so all I'll say is that I'm sorry that it took so long. I'll drop a longer note at the bottom, as I don't wanna waste any time. Lets Go!


CHONG MAI – SECRET MILITARY FACILITY

June 6th, 2008. 1300 (1:00 PM) KST

Richard Tyler's POV:


He ran.

As he had been, for what felt like forever now.

The volume of the facilities alarms blared in his ears as his feet beat a constant cadence against the ground as he bolted down the dimly lit dark rock faced hallways, through four or five different sets of the same kind of armor reinforced doors.

He passed through a sixth set, having to use his enhanced strength to try and pry them open at the last moment as he'd caught the set a little more than halfway through their closing. The effort that he'd had to exert just another horrible reminder of his current circumstances.

He made it five feet down the hallway, winding up at a four-way intersection.

Taking a quick instinctual right wound up being a minor mistake, as it led to him coming almost face to barrel with one of the facilities guards AK's.

'How did I not hear them coming?! The caliber is more than I can handle even with the enhancement, fading or not.'

The guard's own brief moment of hesitation was his only advantage, and he used it. His right hand snapped up using what fading but enhanced strength he still had to bend the barrel up, blocking the guns firing mechanism.

He quickly jerked at the slung weapon, dragging its owner into the line of fire that came from the secondary sentry that had been on patrol with him as he brought his sidearm to bare.

'Can't count on the super durability right now.'

The falling body of the now deceased guard provided an excellent meat shield as half a dozen small caliber rounds cut into it, and that gave him the precious seconds he needed to draw the combat knife off of the back of his belt.

He launched said blade with a quick flick of his left wrist, and the blade found purchase in the secondary guards left eye; leaving the second guards' body to fall to the floor like an abandoned marionette.

The sound of the alarm continued to blare against his ears as he took in the scene, and the extra sensory overload was pushing his mind to the breaking point.

He quickly bent down at the waist and pulled the first guard's sidearm, before quickly bringing it up so that he could take out the three visible cameras he'd spotted while coming into this corridor.

He shook his head while trying to focus, knowing that he only had mere moments before someone would be upon him; and he knew it wasn't a confrontation he would win.

'Especially with the numbers that the enemy has available.'

He took a brief moment to analyze just what it was he knew and followed up with what he thought was the best course of action.

He took aim with the stolen side arm and shot a few of the exposed pipes along the ceiling above him, emptying the magazine in the process.

A steady stream of water quickly began to cascade down from one of the pipes up above, while one of the shots seemingly clipped a nozzle that had been wedged amongst said pipes, letting loose what could only be a batch of Halon gas for emergencies.

He thought to grab himself all the armaments he could carry off of the guard's bodies, but between the environmental developments, his deteriorating state, and the now encroaching sound of a multitude of approaching enemies; an expeditious retreat felt like the best option.

He quickly bolted to his left down another expanse of hallway, and only had to go slightly down the new stone and steel pathway before he came upon a single metal door on his left.

He quickly tried the handle and when it opened easily, he ducked into what he came to realize was a small supply closet.

He thought to barricade the door but in his exhausted and sickly state he simply moved himself over to a spot between a stocked metal Vidmar and the solid rock wall face of the back of the closet before he pushed himself up; flush against the man-made solid concrete wall of the room he'd snuck into as a fresh sense of vertigo hit him.

Sweat was rapidly starting to cake his brow, and all of his body throbbed in time with his heartbeat as he leaned his full weight against the wall, sucking in deep but slow breaths as to try and not only still said rapidly beating heart; but stave off the mounting effects of the comedown from his Miraclo.

At 52 years' old Richard stood at six foot even, weighing in at 190 pounds while bearing the appearance of someone who may have actually been in their early forties.

His dark brown hair had been cropped short on the top and was shaved down to right above skin on the sides and back of his head. His glass bottle green eyes squinted hard, trying to adjust to the fact that the perfect night vision granted by his pills was flickering in and out, said effect causing him to be plunged into randomized darkness at every other moment.

Richard's toned and muscular body ached like hell under the jet-black military fatigues he had commandeered, the comedown racking against not only his body but his very mind with a vengeance as he fought against what he knew was far worse than any kind of simple lactic acid build up.

'Christ…it hurts worse than last time.' Richard thought as his core and lower back muscles both contracted sharply in unison, causing him to fold slightly in on himself.

He'd been in this accursed country for over six weeks, and the majority of the assignment had been far from being considered a picnic.

The people of Chong Mai were automatically distrustful of him due to him being American, and he'd been subjected to a thorough pat down and property search upon his entry to the country. He'd only even been able to successfully hold onto his Miraclo pills by posing them as necessary heart medication, and even That had been a close thing.

Even now, the bottle that contained the rest of his small supply of Miraclo felt heavy in the cargo pocket he'd stashed it in.

The only reason he even still had the damned things on his person was the fear that if someone got a hold of them and discovered what they were actually for…

'Heaven forbid these fall into enemy hands.' Richard thought as he once again considered ditching said pills.

The pain he felt, combined with the perceived need for the pills though…and that stayed his hand, even with his current unfavorable position.

Richard had prepared extensively for this deployment by going over all the relevant information three times, and he had been able to pass himself off as the ornithologist he was posing as. He'd spent the first week in country doing his best to live up to the reason for his visit by staying engaged in photography; doing his best to capture shots of birds like the Chinese Crested Tern, the Black Footed Albatross, and the Black-headed Parrotbill.

Halfway through his second week, he'd started to work on tailing what members of the local military he could find while in his seeming down time, which wasn't hard.

Chong Mai boasted a sizeable force for a country of its small size; as mandated by law, all citizens had to obligate three years of military service after attending school. It didn't take much to find someone to tail, but it took another two weeks to find someone that Richard believed to be worth tailing.

At the beginning of week five, he had had what he felt was a massive breakthrough…

But it had been a trap.

The country's special forces group had already caught onto his activities a week prior without his knowledge, and they had simply bided their time in confronting him.

He had in fact found what he was sent looking for by the higher ups in the Agency, but it was in That moment that his watchers had sprung their trap.

The massive compound and its neighboring facility were unbelievable in their scope, so he'd done the best he could to use the sheer size of the facility against his pursuers; and that was the only reason that he could say he was still currently a free man.

'As free as a man can be while still being trapped like a rat in a maze in a foreign country anyway.' Agent Tyler thought to himself sardonically as he tried to focus his thoughts towards a plan of action.

He took a moment to glance down to his right wrist while pushing the side button on his watch, the screen giving off its light green glow as it informed him of the time.

'1310. That means it's a little after 12 AM back in the states.'

Said glow was now fluxing out at rapid intervals; going from being almost blinding to him to basically nonexistent, due to the withdrawal symptoms from having maxed out his hour of power twice in a row now.

When he had first been attempting to break into the facility and found himself pursued, he had believed it would be an easy task to not only throw off his pursuers; but gain the intel he needed.

He had been fortunate that he'd come across the intel that he was assigned to get…

'But God do I wish it hadn't been accurate.' Tyler thought as he reflected upon the monstrosity that Chong Mai's military Commanders had commissioned.

The Liúhuáng project, Project Brimstone; was not only meant to give Chong Mai the ability to defend itself… but was clearly meant to eventually enable them to make war with their neighboring countries.

The Brimstone Assault-Mech stood at 67 feet tall and was almost half that size across the shoulders.

The thing was supported by super titanium alloys and was listed as being powered by a regenerating nuclear core. The mech's two primary weapons being its only armaments…a vicious pair of nuclear radiation blaster cannons that would draw from the very core of the machine itself.

Tyler had seen the blasters themselves go through their test runs…

He'd watched the canons be tested against eight-foot-thick concrete walls, against the very ground itself…and then against living cattle.

'Heaven forbid they get the damned thing fully operational. Those blasts left nothing but charred husks behind of the cattle, and I doubt even someone like Superman could take a sustained hit from those twin blasts without at least taking some kind of damage.'

The project was currently considered inoperable as the technicians had thus far been unsuccessful in getting the rudimentary AI system that had been designed for it up and running, so the mechanical monstrosity sat housed in a large flight hanger of the facility. Unused.

He'd been able to gather some further intelligence, and it seemed that Chong Mai's best and brightest just weren't up to the task of making the necessary AI system that would leave the Mech as an unmanned asset like the government wanted. That would have left him with the simple job of making sure that catastrophic machinery failure befell the project, ensuring that they'd need literal years to try and get it up and running again.

Talks had been held earlier in the day so that they could redo the majority of the upper framework of the bot so that they could make it viable for a team of living pilots.

One man however, one General Bai Kwan…was thoroughly against that idea.

'And that's the whole reason I'm even in this predicament.'

Richard had gotten the chance to overhear the meeting between the General and a group of the amassed scientists that were in charge of getting Project Brimstone fully up and running.

The 'good' General, had executed two of the scientists that were in charge of the projects AI system development right then and there for their supposed failures; and had made it abundantly clear that they would be testing the Mech with the operating system that they had available. Today.

Upon hearing that, Richard knew he would need to make a move and a far more aggressive one than what he had wanted to take at that.

That was when the special forces had made their move.

As he had been traversing the facility to set demolition charges, they had been setting about quietly locking the facility down.

Doing their best to set it up so that they could take him alive.

That was where the Miraclo had come into play.

The super strength, the speed, the endurance, all of it. Everything that the pill had granted had given him the ability to get around even the best of Chong Mai's soldiers with relative ease.

At least, in general performance.

But Richard had run into the only kind of fight he didn't want or need to be having while on the Miraclo, and it was one he'd only had to fight twice before in his entire career.

'A Protracted battle is the absolute worst kind of battle. Especially for me.'

He'd wound up finding himself locked in a numbers game kind of battle, as he not only had to face down the clock, but the literal standing army that was at the beck and call of the people he'd been sent here to stop.

He'd gone through over three and half dozen soldiers since the time of being discovered, but that didn't mean anything to the whole of Chong Mai's army.

Word had most assuredly reached the higher ups like General Kwan by now, that there was a spy in their facility. He wouldn't be getting away from here unscathed.

'If at all.'

His storied history with the Agency had acquainted Richard with the finer aspects of Counterintelligence Operations…and what it was like when they went bad.

That also unfortunately let him know how this entire cluster fuck was going to go for him.

They wouldn't kill him. Not right away anyway.

Had the last set of grunts not been surprised by his appearance, and had he been in a worse spot with the fading effects of the Miraclo?

He'd most probably already have been in the enemy's custody, already having been subject to some of their nastier 'Advanced Interrogation Techniques.'

The shakes abruptly started to set in for Richard as he felt a horrible knotting sensation set into his stomach, a vile sour taste beginning to grow in the deeper confines of his mouth.

Gravity combined with the pain and growing sickness and put Richard on his knees, before he felt the burn run throughout the back of his throat.

"HUUGHHH"

His palms hit the cold concrete floor as he doubled over and wretched bile out onto the ground, the vile warm mess somewhat splattering back onto him as he kneeled and let the sick loose.

He found himself retching thrice more before he was able to try and get away from his own sick in the almost oppressive darkness of the closet; his once perfect night vision now completely gone.

He set his sweating and aching back against the cool Vidmar, doing his best to now combat the lightheadedness and spinning that had started to assault him along with the smell.

'The Agency won't be able to help me. Hell. I know the score. They'll throw me to the wolves. Plausible deniability and all that.'

Richard knew he only had once chance to get any semblance of peace out of his spectacular failure here, and that was to enact his contingency for his family.

His wife Samantha was a good woman, always had been. She'd been a godsend, been far better than he'd ever thought himself deserving of. She not only knew the things he did, but she also knew what he was; what he could only admit to being while in this state.

'Just an up jumped junkie. Nothing more. Just like you…right pops?' Richard thought with a deep gut punch of self-loathing.

He'd saved countless lives, just like his father once had.

But he'd also done things…unspeakable things, in his time since joining the Agency. Things that he couldn't tell anyone about. Things that he knew, that if 'He' were still alive; they would have gotten him disowned by his hypocritical father.

'And especially Samantha.'

Richard reached down to his left cargo pocket and slid out his agency sat phone, a thankfully smaller and less bulky design then the things had once been.

Making this call would make it child's play for the enemy to find him, even if it was a brief one, even in the maze that this facility was.

'But it doesn't matter. Just so long as Sam and the kids can get the stuff and get gone. That…and that I'll at the very least get to say goodbye to someone.'

He brought the device to his ear after punching in the needed number and did the only thing he could rationalize to do.

He hit send.


GOTHAM CITY – GRANT'S GYM

June 6th, 2008. 1225 (0025 AM) EST

Wesley Dodd's POV:


"NO STINKIN WAY! You're telling me that that song is based off of You?!"

Wesley chuckled lightly along with Ted while they listened to the young girls' volume of her outburst as they all sat clustered around the coffee table in the apartment, having gathered after Jack and Helena had returned from dealing with a small shootout down in the Narrows.

The two of them had come back about an hour prior and had dressed down to relaxed civvies, leaving their uniforms in Jack's room. Since then, Ted and Wes both had been regaling the two youngsters with tales of their own vigilante careers; as well as some of their time as a part of the JSA.

"Hehehe. Yes, dear girl. Believe it or not that song was in fact inspired by yours truly. Pat Ballard was the man who wrote that song, and apparently, he took our crossing of paths as the inspiration for the name. As I'm to understand it he was visiting New York city to present another song he'd been working on and had been at the First National Bank while it was being robbed by a group of fools that were calling themselves the 'Wrecking Crew'. They were a band of misfits that had been fired from a local construction company in the city, and in turn showed up dressed in only their overalls and hardhats as their "supervillain" outfits if you can believe that. Mr. Ballard was taken with my costume and overall manner it seems, and the result of it…was that song coming out not too long afterwards." Wesley said as he took in the look of astonishment on Helena's face, while Jack sat with a small smile on his.

Wesley could hardly believe he was still here, in this city. But he certainly wasn't upset to be.

As the two young ones began speaking directly to Ted, Wesley could only reflect upon the fact that he'd stayed here far longer than he had anticipated he would; each time the prospect of his leaving being dashed to the wind as he considered how it could impact his young students.

'Or myself honestly.'

When he had first taken Jack under his wing for studies, it had been out of idle curiosity more than anything.

There was no mistake to be made about it, Wesley loved teaching; and Jack was a ready student. He was more than happy to help mold an up-and-coming young hero's mind.

'Even if he's not always the quickest.' Wesley thought with a private chuckle to himself as he contemplated his first student in years fondly.

The young hero made up for any slowness he had on his part in the picking up of the material that they studied, with his staunch determination; and unwillingness to quit. The young man refused to give up on learning anything, pushing himself far harder and longer most nights than Wesley felt was truly necessary.

The young Bertinelli girl was a fierce student in her own right too, and after taking them both to task class after class, Wes would be remiss if he said he hadn't felt a sense of vitality flood his tired mind and soul while dealing with his new and favorite students.

'Oh, there's no point in denying it. I needed this because I've been alone for far too long now.'

Wes watched as the young heroes both made their way into the kitchen to get themselves some drinks while Ted stepped away from the table to answer his cell phone, and the separation gave him even more time to peruse his own thoughts.

'How long had it really been since I'd bothered to spend any serious time around another person?' Wesley pondered as he picked up his glass of water that he'd had from earlier when the group had first gathered together.

It had been years, decades even since Wes had donned his uniform as 'The Sandman'; and at the very least two years since he'd had a truly prolonged conversation with another civilized human being.

Now he typically spent most days cooped up in his lab, tinkering away on what idle curiosities he had or could find that would actually hold his fancy.

Wesley had become a creature of isolation by choice.

As loathe as he was to admit it; much like their friend Kent Nelson, Wesley had gone deep into depression after the death of his wife Dian Dodd's Nee' Belmont.

Living in and through the 60's had been a challenge for most, even when one was of Wesley's standing. Even now he could still say that he boasted a small fortune to his name that would leave most people green with envy, though now a days he put a great deal of it to trying to help the less fortunate in his home city. It had started thanks to the leavings of his father, and his inventions over the years had only carried him further.

Racism had always been and probably always would be a problem, even with the changing times. That was Wesley's honest opinion about the matter.

And it was that very problem that had led to the death of his dear wife.

Her passing…the reason for it, and his own actions afterwards had been what had pushed him out of the cape life, for good.

He could remember that day…clearer now then even some of the ones that he'd lived far more recently.

'The science of how trauma effects one's memory I suppose…' Wesley thought bitterly as he considered it all.

His wife had been privy to his double life, hell…had even aided him most nights after finding out.

At one time he had shouldered the entirety of the blame for her death…the thought that 'if she hadn't of met me' that the events would have been different and that she would still be alive today. Time, and a rigorous amount of therapy had changed his outlook on it, reminding him that no matter what the circumstances his wife had been a good person at heart.

'The kind that never would have stood to see injustice happen in front of her. Whether she was with me or not.'

A man had attempted to accost a young African American couple at Dian's favorite café down the road from their town home…

He had been a newer Lieutenant among the KKK and had been Very vocal about not only his identity; but his ties to the organization and said organizations plans to move into the city at large.

His wife had stood up in the face of the fool's bigotry…

And he'd murdered her in cold blood for it on a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon.

He had spoken to the café owner himself when all was said and done, gotten all the details. When the time had come for the police to try and take the man…not a single soul would come forward to help expedite the process for fear of the reprisal they could face.

Victor Anders had walked a free man, free of the consequences for the murder of his Wife.

But the streets of New York… had always had a protector, even if he had been out of costume for a few years prior to that.

He'd suited up and set to work.

Using surveillance technology and his own detective skills he had sought out a secret rally that was being conducted, one that was meant to be an attempt to gain a true foothold in his city. His fallen wife's city.

He set upon them on the night of the rally like an avenging angel sent down from heaven above…

Over three dozen would be members tasted hard pavement, broken bones, and broken foolish aspirations before being sent to the land of dreams via his Gas Gun…

But Victor Anders suffered a far different fate, one that even months later he'd admit his wife would have been ashamed of him for.

Dian had always believed his cause to be a righteous one… because he'd always used what she felt was appropriate force. Never more than necessary.

In not only his anger over her death, but the anger at the pure unadulterated injustice and gall being perpetrated by the sad shell of a man; he resorted to an invention he had once sworn he'd never use.

Of all the chemical mixtures Wesley had invented for his crime fighting career, 'The Long Goodnight' was the most powerful…because it was a guaranteed death sentence.

The chemical mixture had the potential to place a person into a coma that simply couldn't be reversed, and at that time medicine as a whole had been far different. Facilities hadn't existed to give coma patients the chance to have any kind of long-term care so that they could have the 'chance' to wake up.

'As if it would have come.'

Victor Anders had died after two months of being locked in his own body…and that had been the thing that had pushed Wesley into full blown retirement.

He hadn't meant too…but he'd taken a life.

He was relatively sure that it had happened when the JSA had served during WW2, even if it had happened inadvertently.

But this…this had been different.

So…he'd hung it up. That night when he took off his uniform he had vowed, "Never Again." These days, it sat behind its case in his manor Laboratory, a simple reminder of who he had once been.

'And I'm relatively certain that Dian will at the very least have some words for me about that whole affair when we finally see each other again...' Wes thought sadly to himself as he was once again joined by not only Ted but the two younger heroes.

He locked eyes with Jack and saw his puzzled look and went to reassure his student that he was fine but was cut off from that by his phone vibrating in his pocket.

Upon pulling it out he excused himself from the table to answer it, as he hadn't been expecting to hear from Richard for a while longer now.

"Richard my boy! How are you?"

The brief silence that dragged on was already concerning, but when Richard finally began speaking Wesley's anxiety spiked even higher noticing that his godson sounded like he was in pain.

"Uncle Wes…I don't…have a lot of… time. Pant. I need…sigh…I need you to carry out that favor, the one that I made you promise for me when I joined the Agency. Do you…do you understand?"

Wes could swear that he felt his heart stop as he processed what his godson had said to him.

Richard had already been married to his wife when he'd gotten his new position but had outright told Wesley that the particulars of the job could and most probably would put him in unfavorable situations. Richard had walked him through his plans to not only keep his family safe, but also well provided for; if the worst should ever come to befall him while he was on the job.

"Richard talk to me, where are you?!"

Wes heard minor words in the background in the apartment, but his heartbeat was kicking up and it was becoming difficult to listen for Richard's voice.

"I'm in Chong Mai. Uncle Wes…it's bad. Get my family to safety please…but the second your done making that call; call the Agency. Call them and ask to speak to an Agent Bennet. You need to tell him that Project Brimstone is going forward on schedule. Do you hear me?!" Richard's voice sounded out loudly and frantic the longer it went on.

Wes had his chance to answer taken away from him as the sound of rending metal sounded out over the opposite end of the line before his ears were then assaulted by foreign shouting, loud sets of boots, and then loud grunts mixed with the sound of flesh hitting flesh.

"RICHARD?!"

The next thing Wesley knew, a loud and garbled sound assaulted his ears before the other end of the line suddenly went dead.

A bustle of footsteps gathered behind him, and the next thing he knew Wesley was looking into three sets of concerned eyes.

"Wes what happened?" Ted asked him as they locked eyes.

Wesley shook his head before setting his phone back into his front right pocket, his building stress causing him to pace around the couch in the living room.

He was pulled from that activity by Jack, as the young man walked around and met him halfway around the opposite end of the couch and grabbed him lightly by both of his arms so that he could hold him in place.

"Wes. Talk to us. What's happening?"

The sincerity in Jack's tone broke Wesley out of his spiraling train of thought, allowing him to become laser focused. He quickly explained the call to the group which got three very different reactions; ranging from Ted's muffled curse as he brought up a hand to massage the right side of his face, to Helena's slightly worried look as she put her arms around herself, ending with Jack maintaining his hold on Wes so that he could hold eye contact.

The group began to move along again, though not at his que. But at Jack's.

"Alright. Rescue OP. Gear up." Jack said as he backpedaled towards his room to start making moves.

The entire room was shocked into motion at Jack's words, Ted first and foremost being the one to speak.

"Woah Woah! Time Out Jack! We can't just- "

Jack wasn't having any of it as he came back into the living room already on his phone.

"Eva? You busy?... No? Good. Get yourself and whoever's available between the four of you over here to the apartment ASAP. Come ready for a fight."

Wesley felt the need to steady himself due to his elation at Jack's willingness to help, while also noticing that Ted looked absolutely flabbergasted.

Helena was simply grinning like a loon.

"Hell Yeah! I'll suit up!"

Within seconds Helena was already back in Jack's room with the door slamming shut so that she could get changed.

Wesley saw that Ted was about to speak but was once again summarily blocked by Jack.

"Ted, we have to do something. If this was any one of us here in this apartment, we'd already be gone. Richard is Wes's godson, and I'm Not gonna sit by and do nothing while he's in enemy hands. That's Not happening. So, you can either suit up, or sit it out. You're call."

Wes was struck not only by the immense warmth of Jack's decision but actually almost started laughing at the myriad of looks that seemed to sweep over Ted's face as he fought to dredge up some kind of argument, though the why of it escaped him completely.

He didn't get the chance to get lost in those thoughts, because the man seemingly pressed on ahead.

"Jack this is a big deal! Like Huge! We need to talk about this some more. This is a completely different country for god's sake! There's a couple of reasons why we can't do this, and the last I mentioned is only one of em'! It's a Friday, how are we supposed to excuse Helena's absence? And That's the smallest of the issues we have to deal with with this! What if we get outed? If you thought that Bat's and the League were in your business before, just you wait because that behavior is gonna amp to eleven once they find out you're trekking across the globe! Jack…I…Sigh. I'm not saying that you're wrong Jack…but this is a hell of a situation."

Wesley watched as his young student simply held his old friends gaze while waiting for him to be done…and then went on the counter offensive.

"Ted, I know that this is a big deal, but it doesn't change the fact that this is the right thing to do. Your right, Helena going to school is literally the smallest problem we have over this; and let's be honest it was already late. She was probably gonna skip, so that's one case firmly closed. Second. Being outed being over there. If Wes is right about the nature of Richards mission, then we probably have a better chance of the people of Chong Mai trying to see us dead then report any kind of involvement on our part; unless they're government is looking to incriminate themselves and doesn't give a damn about any kind of reprisals. Bats and The League? Hang em'. If it was one of theirs, they'd do the exact same thing we're about too. And if all of that didn't have some kind of weight let's look at what you haven't mentioned. I Know that things didn't end well between you and Richards Dad…but I know that you're not the type of man, grudge or not; that would leave someone to die. Especially when they don't deserve it. I dare you to try and tell me I'm wrong."

Wesley watched as Jacks words crashed over Ted like water breaking upon rocks, the deeper into the speech the words got, the deeper the seeming impact they had on Ted.

Jack's door swung open quickly and admitted Huntress back into their ranks, and the second she was on Jack's right he backed up and pulled an about face to turn and go back into his room; the door closing without a sound.

Wesley watched a war of emotions begin to play out on Ted's face again, before a bright white light burst from the bathroom door drawing everyone's attention.

The light quickly faded showing that the door had changed pallets, before the replacement opened and admitted Eva Kramer and Solomon Grundy into their midst; The large zombie having to shuffle and duck a bit so that he could fit through the doorway.

Wes still marveled at magic, even to this day after having known Kent for so many years…even for something as simple as this spell that had just passed showing that Ted's bathroom door was now back to its original configuration.

Wes watched as Eva Kramer stepped forward with her zombified companion, the same look of mild amusement that she typically wore still plastered on her face.

"Right! Who's arse're we kickin' in? Also, sorry I couldn't bring John or Occult with me, but they're up to their necks in somethin'. Dinnae ken whit though."

Jack's room door opening drew everyone's attention and prevented anyone from answering Eva's question, as Grundy quickly walked forward and began to aggressively pat the young hero on the shoulder; saying how happy he was to see him again.

"Grundy… we Just ended movie night like three hours ago. Remember?"

Conversation picked up between the other occupants before Wes made his way to stand before Eva, hoping that she'd be willing to help him.

"Ms. Kramer. I'm wondering if I could ask a favor of you?"

The girl was in the midst of pulling her flask out of her jacket pocket when she looked up at him, taking a quick swig before speaking.

"Aye sure. Whit d'you need old man?"

"I'm wondering if you could door me into my Laboratory. I need some things if I'm going to be coming along on this mission."

Wes's gaze was pulled back to Ted as the man spoke out again, only this time to him and in a shout.

"Woah Wait! Wes C'mon now! The kids wanting to go through with this is nuts enough! But You too?! You haven't been active in years!"

Ted had always been one of the more physically intimidating members of the JSA; and that was on top of his mentality that was geared towards brawling in his younger days. Ted had Always been one of the more quarrelsome members of the JSA…

In that moment though…it didn't matter.

Wes was in the man's personal space in a second, showing that he too had been affected by the JSA's misadventure that had led to the majority of its members gaining enhanced vitality.

"Richard is my Godson Ted. I'm Going. Unless You think you can stop me."

Wes forced himself to hold eye contact with the man after he finished his words, knowing full well that in a different time and place Ted would have immediately taken the challenge for what it was…

And would have probably taken a swing at him.

Now though the aged champion simply looked at him with wide eyes, half wreathed in pride while warring with his disbelief.

After a moment the man threw both of his arms up as he pushed through the gathering, making his way towards his own bedroom.

"Jesus, Mary, And Joseph! Has everybody lost their collective god damned minds?!...Fine! You jackasses wanna play it that way I'm on board… but don't anyone go and get mad when I say 'I told you so' when the shit inevitably hits the fan. Christ on the cross-" Ted said with his back to them before slamming his own door shut so that he could dawn the new suit that just recently finished being assembled.

Wesley stepped up next to Eva as she waved her hands at the bathroom door again, waiting for her to get him into his Laboratory so that he too could suit up.

He caught the tail end of a small conversation before stepping through into his home domain.

"Jack? Is Ted… maybe he's right? I mean after that big explosion late yesterday what if Batman's hurt or something? If we leave, who's gonna protect the city if he's down?" he heard Helena say.

"Don't worry about it. He's fine, I'm sure of it. If he's out of it at all it won't be for long. If anything, we'll just need to keep our eyes open and stay a little more vigilant when we patrol from now on so- "

The convo cut out as Wes stepped through the door with Eva and into his home proper, the thought of such travel still completely astounding him even with his own knowledge on Zeta tubes and items of that kind of nature.

'There and yet back again. All in the span of a few moments. Will wonders never cease?' Wes thought to himself with a light shake of his head as he stepped into his Laboratory proper.

His Lab had what he felt was the perfect mix of Victorian feeling, combined with the expected stainless-steel functionality of a surgeon's lab that allowed him to keep things clean and meticulous. The multiple jutting columns were beautifully crafted and bore the intrinsic markings that he'd first seen when he'd seen their likeness when he started having his prophetic dreams that drove him to even become a hero. They looked like the ones that he still hadn't deciphered the origin of, even with the amount of time he'd had and devoted to do so.

'Perhaps one day I'll have the answers I've been looking for. Right now, though, I have to stay on task.' Wes thought as he walked his way around one of the many stainless-steel tables brimming with layers of equipment and gadgets, finding himself in front of his display case that held the majority of his hero costume.

It was then that he was pulled back into the present as his company reminded him that she was still ever present with him in the first place…

"Aw hell yeah! This place is bloody awesome! Hell of a lot prettier tae look at compared to All Might's base; all function, he is. At least you've got some nice lookin'...stuff down here..." Eva trailed off as she began to inspect one of the pillars Wesley had carved via memory.

Wesley left the young woman to her inspection as he opened the case and withdrew the last made variant of his Sandman uniform.

The light beige two-piece suit had been outfitted with the best ballistic weave he had had available at the time of creation, and even by the current date's standards it could be considered cutting edge. The jet-black leather raincoat, and the black fedora all were in just as a pristine condition as the suit itself.

Slipping into his stainless-steel changing booth next to the storage case, Wesley quickly divested himself of his civilian attire. The process took nary a minute, and Wesley actually let out a deep sigh of relief as he knotted the long flame-retardant tensile scarf around his neck; before tucking it into his suit jacket.

His fitted dark brown leather gloves were one of the last things to go on, the armored knuckles settling perfectly into place. After ensuring that everything else was secure after setting the long coat on his shoulders he looked down and took in the sight of the most important part of his motif…

'The face of the Sandman.'

The mask came up and slotted over his head easily, the thing honestly closer to being considered a full helm at this point as the only thing it didn't cover was his hair; the mask now being the fifth iteration. It had been molded and put together using hardened Kevlar and titanium plating, bullet proof glass lenses, and his own personally crafted version of a rebreather; one that if activated would give him up to twenty minutes of clean oxygen even if breathed at an erratic pace.

The piece was already designed to filter out toxins and such, and along with his primary weapon was the secondary staple for his entire mystery man persona and career.

His fedora went into place after he took a few experimental breaths to ensure that his mask was functioning properly, and then he stepped back into the illuminated open of his Laboratory.

As he closed the door behind him, he noticed the silence that had settled over his workshop and turned his lensed eyes upon the young magician that was with him.

Her face may as well have been cast out of starlight for the brightness of the enthusiasm and glee on her face.

"Now tha's a Look! You clean up good old timer! Who says ye cannae take doon the bad boys wi' style eh?!" She said with a light teasing waggle of her eyebrows.

Wesley could only shake his head a slight bit while letting out a few minor chuckles before he settled himself back into being serious, his thoughts taking him back to exactly why he was suiting up for the first time in a very long time.

With his belts and harnesses already connected underneath his suit and long coat, he walked back over to his display case and pulled out his munitions for this operation.

His Gas Gun and five extra cartridges for it were stashed on his right side, the gun sitting comfortably in its custom dark leather holster. The same matching holster on his left was filled with his custom Wirepoon Gun, and two double edged three-inch-long daggers graced the small sheathes that he had aligned on the small of his back beneath his long coat.

He grabbed a few other minor party favors from his stores; extras of the typical capture foam capsules, gas capsules, and even a few of the exploding ones.

'Can't let Jack being the only one that comes fully kitted out to this.'

After ensuring that he was fully packed he made his way back over towards the door that Eva had ported them in through, calling out to her to get her attention as she had once again turned back to face one of the pillars.

"I'm ready. Let's be off." Wes's now slightly muffled and synthesized voice sounded out.

Wes could swear that he saw the girl shudder a bit; though whether it had been from him disturbing her, the pillar, or just her coming out of the seemingly minor trance she had been in he couldn't say.

When she finally came to stand beside him again, she gave him another up and down glance before letting out a wolf whistle.

"As Ah said, lookin' good old man. I'll tell ya this though, you've got tae let me come back here again. Could swear Ah've seen the markings on this here pillar before, but Ah cannae remember where. Where'd you see 'em?"

Eva stepped forward while keeping Wes in her peripheral left as she looked over her shoulder while setting their transfer door, and Wes decided to be honest with the young girl; even though he was now arguing with himself internally for Never considering that the marks he'd dreamt of and carved could have any kind of Mystical connotations.

"A dream. I saw them in a Dream." Wesley said, as the door shifted and turned into a tunnel of bright light before it would settle again to allow them to be back in Gotham.


CHONG MAI – SECRET MILITARY FACILITY

June 6th, 2008. 1430 (2:30 PM) KST

General Bai Kwan's POV:


He stood in the operations alcove above the flight hanger that housed Project Liúhuáng, the thin glass of the room's observation window doing nothing to block his sight of the entirety of the hanger.

He took a deep breath, his tight chest and abdomen muscles pushing out and slightly straining the fit of his uniform. His army green dress carrying all the medals and ribbons he'd earned over his illustrious thirty-two years of service, the gold and red accents not detracting from the rest of his looks or presentation.

Bai knew that there were many; not just in the government that they all served, but in the very army that did said serving that believed he should have retired by now. Tradition would have many believe that him being in his late forties while clinging to his rank was a shameful act no matter how high up it was… the act of a man that was unwilling to move forward.

But everything Bai did was for his country and more than that his family. He would serve until his body failed, much like his own father had before him.

At forty-nine years old, his age was starting to reflect heavily through his looks, the added stress from his long and storied career having been of no help to him in that particular regard. His face was lined with developing wrinkles, and he had always had a few birthmarks scattered about his face: his advancing age now simply drawing more notice to them. His hair had started to thin because of the stress, and it lacked most of the dark lustrous color it had sported in the prime of his youth; all of it now bearing the deep silver color he'd become familiar with.

Bai took another breath and brought his black leather gloved hands up to adjust his officer's hat, the reflection of the golden eagle under the blazing red sun giving Jing the spiritual push he needed to move forward.

He turned while settling his visage into one of stern authority, putting his back to the glass as he took in the operation center around him.

It bustled with activity as computer feeds showed displays, as men moved back and forth working at computer terminals, and as his son; Lieutenant Gang Kwan made sure that his orders were followed to the letter.

They had already detained the Gweilo interloper earlier, and he was currently under the care of one of their shadow operatives and his apprentice. Thus far, the man had been completely uncooperative though Bai was unconcerned as they had only resorted to waterboarding the man thus far.

'The more creative techniques that Endo and that young spitfire Jing are known for will break him. Patience is what's needed here. Nothing more.'

Bai had to wrestle with his own mounting temper again at how the day had gone thus far, using his many years of experience to fight down the urge to lash out at something.

'Or Someone.'

Failure to do so had already seen him lose a pair of very valuable assets that day…

'But…examples, must be made. Our country Needs this machine, and I will see it activated. No matter the cost.' Bai thought as he locked eyes with his son, who smiled minutely at him.

He Kept his stern visage but nodded gently before turning around and directing his gaze back to the station in the flight hanger that contained his country's greatest technological marvel to date.

The station that the Brimstone mech sat anchored in was massive, and even it was dwarfed slightly by the machine it was meant to house.

Bai did his best to keep his nerves calm, the words of one of his now dead scientists still echoing in the back of his mind since just before he'd executed him.

"General please! We Cannot activate Project Liúhuáng with this program! It's a Barely functioning AI! The protection protocols and override subroutines that are meant to be safeguards against it being used against us haven't blended well with the rest of the AI's core coding. We risk the lives of All of our people if we activate this machine!"

Bai briefly shook his head, doing his best to banish the man's words. His governments leaders had been adamant…the project needed to be online; not tomorrow, not a week from then, Now.

Chong Mai was one of the countries that had declined to sign onto the UN's charter, as many in their government believed that the Justice League should outright be destroyed. They're involvement in world affairs was an affront to the way that countries were meant to be run.

'Freaks. Freaks and abominations. That's what they All are. That is the threat we face. But it is no matter. Project Brimstone will give us the ability to defend ourselves, even against the likes of the so called 'Superman'.

Even over all of the other activity going on, Bai noticed the light green metal office door on the right side of the room opening, admitting Endo into their midst.

'It must be serious if he's breaking away to speak to me like this. An artist doesn't just stop in the midst of working on a canvas after all.' Bai thought as he approached the man.

"Report." Bai said sternly as the flurry of activity continued all around them.

Endo leaned in close, and while it was breaking protocol as he had not asked for permission to approach that way; Bai allowed it knowing that the man must have something sensitive to pass.

"The Gweilo divulged very little. But what he did divulge is exactly what gave him his abilities. He had pills on him. We need to get them to the scientists at once. There's only eight of them in the bottle he had, but if we can find a way to re-engineer them?!"

Endo's voice had been frantic at the end, but thankfully he had kept it all to a whisper.

Bai felt his right hand curl into a fist on reflex as a small smile actually broke out on his face…

'Not only will I have successfully gotten the Brimstone mech online…but now I may even have the chance to bring my country super-soldiers?! Praise be to the ancestors for this glorious day.' Bai thought before schooling his features again and placing his right hand on Endo's left shoulder.

"Excellent. Get the pills to Dr. Liu, quickly. Tell her I want her analysis of at least one of them by the end of the day."

Endo bowed quickly and departed, and Bai would have continued with his train of thought, but his son's voice sounded out while being tinged with excitement; and it pulled his attention to him.

"Systems are finishing their final upload. The Brimstone Mech will be fully operation in sixty seconds!"

Bai once again turned and faced the glass out into the hangar, thankful for his mounting victories.

'Today…is a day of days.' Bai thought, as he set himself at parade rest.

His assembled crew began to count down out loud with the timer at the last twenty seconds much was their excitement, and he wasn't ashamed to admit that at the final five he too did the same; though under his breath.

'3…2…1'

A few moments passed, and the joyous celebration that had been happening petered out and stopped dead. A strange silence settled upon the Operations room before a few of the technicians began to look at scans on screens, looking for an answer as to why the mech was not moving or communicating with their home system.

Mere seconds later they got their answer…

The metal housing that served as a docking port for the mech had already been moved aside, but suddenly… and far swifter than anything that size had any right to…

The Brimstone Mech raised both arms and unleashed the full force of its radiation canons, outright vaporizing half of the docking port.

Alarms blared.

People screamed.

And the last thing Bai knew before darkness took him for a time was that the hanger was falling to pieces around them as the Brimstone Mech unleashed radiated terror upon everyone.

'By the Ancestors…what have I done?'


Well, that's a wrap everyone! I hope you enjoyed this latest installment! I've had a ton going on, but to get this out of the way I wanna wish you all a Happy Belated Thanksgiving! (To those who celebrate that kind of thing.) Looking to pay off something I was setting up a while ago here with this, and I really hope that Ya'll enjoy where this one goes. It's looking like this will be this story's second official ark. This one too will probably be a three-chapter ark, as there's gonna be a lot of moving parts here but I don't wanna say too much as I don't wanna spoil anything. I will be getting started on the next chapter as soon as I can in earnest, and already have some notes so hopefully it won't take nearly as long to update again. With that no promises. I hope you've all been doing well. Until next time stay safe, happy, and healthy! This is Sojiro signing off! Laters Gators!