Avenging Justice 2:
Caught Between an Ultron and a Doomsday
Part XXXI
Earth Orbit, Justice League Watchtower
Martian Manhunter sat at the console, looking over the events of Earth. The newness of the station still filled his senses. The oxygen still had the tang of metal, that would go away within a few months. Thanks to the botany level a couple of decks down, the air wouldn't get the stale, recycled feel that Humanities previous attempts did. The one that was most enjoyable though, were the cool leather seats.
He found himself moving around, shifting to get the comforting, but still supportive. Even in his normal Martian form, it still felt exquisite. He'd have to send a thank you note to Wayne Enterprises. Watching the feeds, coming from every form of transmissible media, he looked for things that might need the Justice League. He leaned back, again marveling at how the chair felt.
If only they had been operating yesterday, when the Avengers had that fun down in South Korea. It had been decided to push up the activation of the Watchtower, after that big Hulk fight in South Africa. Luckily Superman had been on hand to lend a hand to Ironman, but it could have been far worse. Batman had wanted it immediately activated, and Wonder Woman had agreed.
Her reasoning was that of a warrior, wanting to get to threats as quickly as possible. Right now, Diana was on her way to New York, the Avengers were gearing up for something. Superman was in upper New York, while the Flash was breaking up another caper by Gorilla Grodd. New recruits Green Arrow and Black Canary were dealing with some wannabe Yakuza gangsters. They had another prospect in Black Lightning, but he hadn't accepted yet.
J'onn turned his attention to another link, this one on renovation going on in California. A combination of S.T.A.R.S., possibly S.H.I.E.L.D., Wayne Enterprises and Stark Industries, it was no surprise each worker was highly vetted and cleared. It would be comfortable, for a new generation of heroes. They were the Teen Titans now, but he could see them becoming a young Justice League, if they continued to recruit more members. He seemed to remember a young potential, Terra, recently coming up on the radar.
Something caught his attention though, so he keyed up the computer to pull up the feed directly. Tremors were reported in the middle of Kansas again. They had started back when New York had been attacked by the Chitauri, but had stopped. However, the region had reported more tremors, and they were increasing in frequency.
According to the geologic records, and the Watchtowers scanners, there was no reason for this. The area was seismically stable, maybe it was industrial. Lexcorp had been working in the area, so he'd have to double check with other sources. Yet, something nagged at him, what the Humans would call a gut feeling. Something was up, so he'd keep watch.
Pulling back, he put that feed on a dedicated screen, then went back to his other scans. Another little bit of information piqued his interest. A small, insignificant, no interest to anyone town had a recent uptick in brutal murders. Each one seemed to be brutally broken apart, and they weren't easy prey. Each one had scars that showed a brutal life, with no criminal records. People like that tended to be enforcers or jailers, and since each one was paid by the government, not likely to be cartel enforcers.
A couple of pictures caught J'onn's eye. One was a victim, folded in half. His spine had been broken in two, and pulled apart, to allow the body to be bent in such a fashion. The next was a sprawled body, with limbs haphazard splayed. Reports had it that the man was thrown from a rooftop, in front of his soon to be grieving family. Only one of the reports mentioned a man in a luchador mask, and that was the same one that made mention of the man's occupation. Warden of a super maximum-security prison, and one that the local government didn't advertise.
It might be a good idea to look into this. Another "gut feeling," but one that Batman might appreciate. Especially as J'onn kept reviewing and crimes similar to those, started to pop up more and more heading to North America. After a little bit, it got to convoluted to follow, as the killings became infrequent, stopped all together, or were misidentified as the work of another villain. Considering those the Avengers and the Justice League faced, it would be understandable if such a confusion were to happen.
"Watchtower, this is Green Lantern," came a voice from the computer, pulling J'onn's attention back.
He pushed the talk button, "This is Manhunter, what can I do for your Lantern Stewart?"
"I know with all this high-tech encryption it should be secure, but please don't use my name," John said. "Reporting in. The terrorist turned out to be a Metahuman with sonic abilities, called himself an Inhuman. He's on his way to the Raft."
"Apologies, Lantern," J'onn said. "I'll put the report in. Do you require teleport to the Watchtower?"
"Negative, going to head home," Green Lantern said. "Good luck up there."
Martian Manhunter closed out the channel, and went back to scanning. It was lonely, but it gave him time. This world, the sister to his own, full of life and vibrancy. His world had been like this once, so long ago. Then the wars came, Martian against Martian, and it died. Little by little, till all that remained was a ruined world. One that oddly called out to the Humans of Earth, something that was at once uplifting and so very depressing. Could the Humans learn from his people's mistake, or repeat it?
Earth, Under the Atlantic Ocean, Near Africa
Arthur and Mera had found what they were looking for, and were currently trying to contain it. On their heels was a very angry, and odd looking Atlantean. Unlike the others Arthur was the ruler of, this one had elf like years and tiny wings on his feet. That, and he could fly, which Aquaman was finding out the hard way.
Namor and Arthur burst from the water, Namor smashing his fist into Arthur's face. That really didn't do much, except make Aquaman reply with a forehead to a very soft nose. Hitting the water again, both exploding apart, and then heading back at each other. Aquaman's trident caught another two blows, and he used it to send Namor back, before he rushed back. The two Atlanteans continued, with Aquaman sending Namor bursting from the ocean surface.
Namor righted himself as an ocean swell ejected Aquaman, trident aimed perfectly at Namor's heart. However, Aquaman was limited to the trajectory he leapt out of the water with. Namor, wasn't, and he moved to the side, using his flight powers. However, it was unexpected when a blast of water came up, and allowed Aquaman to change direction. His ally must have stuck around.
Looking for the other Atlantean's ally though would have to wait, as a forcefield surrounded him, and a gruff voice called for him to surrender. Aquaman found himself dodging a fireball, one that was obviously a warning shot. He landed in the water, ready to dive back down and come after the fire thrower.
"Stand down, both of you!" bellowed the rocky Thing.
Aquaman readied, but recognized who had stopped the fight, "While your appearance is nice and all, this is an internal matter, Dr. Richards."
"One that is spilling out of your kingdom," Mr. Fantastic explained. "Numerous ships have gone missing after coming near these waters."
From his force field cocoon, Namor growled, "They polluted these waters, dumping their trash and filth onto our heads. They got what they deserved."
Namor struggled even more, using all his strength to fight against the invisible field holding him. He heard, but didn't recognize a female grunt, as he fought back. The field tightened, and he squirmed more. Then he saw who was holding him, and the fight left him.
She was beautiful, and he felt a longing for her. Smitten by her, Namor found himself drawn to her. He couldn't be delivered to her as a prisoner though, so he instantly changed to fighting again. Luckily for him, two of his soldiers caught up and leapt out at the Fantastic Four. Causing the Invisible Woman to lose concentration, just long enough for Namor to break free. However, he stopped the next soldier to come up behind her, ready to attack.
This resulted in the Invisible Woman being knocked out of the Fantasticar, and into the frothing ocean below. Namor dived in, retrieved her and put her back into the hovering vehicle. Much to the surprise of everyone, he went back to the water and disappeared. Even Aquaman found no way to track him. The soldier was caught by Mera, but was spouting some language Arthur hadn't ever heard.
"Well, that's just great," Aquaman grumbled. "Mera, let's take this guy back to Atlantis."
They disappeared, leaving the Fantastic Four above. The Human Torch tried to follow, but soon found that Aquaman and Mera were beyond his ability to see. Even the Fantasticar's onboard sensors lost the two Atlanteans as they dived deeper than even the sturdiest submersibles.
"You okay, Susie?" the Thing asked.
Quickly pulling the water out with a forefield, she smiled, "Yes, Ben. Thank you for your concern."
"Just had to be water," the Human Torch complained. "I mean, if Ben goes over, we'd never get him back. Then who's going to be the resident pigeon perch."
Ben Grimm, resisted to urge to try to throttle the flying man on fire, "Johnny, one of these days I'm going to clobber you good, one of these days."
"Enough, you two," Reed stopped their fraternal arguing. "We have bigger issues. That Atlantean was putting off Mutant energy readings, and he just went toe to toe with their king. This isn't over yet."
Looking back at the water, Susan agreed, "No, I think this is just getting started. We need to prepare."