Hunters of Justice (RWBY/DC)
Chapter 40: What's the Magic Word?
December 6th, 8:00 PM (Afghanistan Time)
Bagram Airfield, Parwan Province, Afghanistan
When Violet's medevac arrived, the young girl was immediately ushered in and flown back to Bagram Airfield. It didn't matter that she somehow managed to heal herself of her injuries. The Army still wanted to take a look at her, both to make sure that everything was okay with her as well as try to figure out just what the Hell happened. Both with her apparent superpowers, as well as how she got into the mass grave in the first place. Luke Fox and the rest of his squad remained at the site for a few more hours, checking everywhere they could for any scrap of evidence.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much. All they could determine about their origin was that these people were led up the mountain by someone without much resistance, only to be killed once they reached the summit. The more grievous wounds inflicted onto the bodies, from what Luke could tell, were caused by 7.62 rounds fired from AK-47s, which was a popular weapon in the region. But those looked fresher, almost like they were done after the fact when the victims were already dead. There were plenty of stabs and cuts along their bodies as well, along with what appeared to be wounds caused by arrows. It was possible that these people were cut down and butchered, literally, then shot to cover their tracks. But he couldn't imagine who would do such a thing, at least to this scale.
In any case, whoever committed this atrocity knew what they were doing. Any bullets, shell casings, or arrows were removed well before Luke and his men arrived, meaning they couldn't run a trace back at the base. They were left with little to no leads, which frustrated the lieutenant to no end. Except for Violet, which was the one thing the murderers overlooked. Not that he could blame them. After all, who would expect a girl to literally come back from the dead?
With that in mind, he and his squad drove back to Bagram Airfield, the entire base on high alert. The rest of Luke's squad returned to their barracks in order to recover from a long, long day as well as prepare for the inevitable debriefing coming their way. Luke, meanwhile, headed straight towards the command center in order to speak to Colonel Morshower. A man in his mid-forties, with short, almost buzzed blond hair and clad in his camouflaged dress uniform, Colonel Morshower was stern and focused as he stared out through the glass. His back was turned to Luke as he entered the room, yet he somehow knew when Luke stopped, stood at attention, and drew a snap salute.
"Colonel," Luke announced, and Morshower turned around and gave a crisp nod as he folded his arms behind his back.
"At ease, Lieutenant," Morshower ordered, and Luke immediately complied. All around them were technicians and data analysts, looking over everything they could to try and ascertain what, exactly, happened. So far, much like Luke, it was clear they weren't running into much success.
"Were you able to find anything at the site?" Morshower asked, and when Luke shook his head, he frowned. He then admitted, "I was afraid of that. Aerial recon hasn't revealed much, either. Was hoping you'd be able to provide more insight."
"I'm afraid not, sir," Luke replied. "All I was able to see was how they got there and how they got killed."
"Any insights?"
"There weren't any signs of resistance on the way up," Luke answered. "Broken rocks, kicked up dirt, upturned roots, things like that just weren't there. Looked like they were moving quickly, yes, but not at gunpoint."
"Perhaps they were told to keep calm or else?" Morshower suggested, but Luke shook his head.
"I think we would have seen more signs if they were coerced in any way. Bloodstains, for example, if they had to make an example or two. No, it looked like they went up the mountain of their own free will, which is when they were gathered up and killed."
"I see," Morshower said with a frown. "How, exactly, where they killed?"
"That's the thing," Luke admitted, looking away slightly in confusion before refocusing on the colonel. "At first glance, it looked like they were shot by AKs, but when I took a closer look, most of those bullet wounds were made after they were dead. I think they were killed by swords, knives, and arrows before their bodies were shot."
"Hmm," Morshower hummed and gripped his chin slightly. He then raised a finger and said, "I'm no forensics expert, but either these people were double-tapping on a massive scale, or they were trying to cover their tracks and make it look like someone else."
"I'm inclined to believe the latter, sir," Luke confirmed, and Morshower nodded.
"You're certain that you have no idea where these people came from?" he asked, and Luke shook his head.
"No. Anything that could have told us was destroyed or taken away," Luke replied. Morshower's frown deepened and he shook his head.
"Damn," the colonel muttered under his breath. "We need to find out who caused this. Whoever they are, they're clearly a threat to regional stability. Most likely a new player, or perhaps an old one who moved in. Can't say which at the moment."
Luke nodded, then looked towards the hospital tent where they were most likely checking over Violet. An idea came to mind, and he asked, "Sir, may I ask how Violet is doing?"
"The girl?" Morshower asked, and when Luke nodded he clarified, "She's doing just fine. Physically, at least, she's completely healthy. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was never harmed at all."
"I saw it myself, sir. Violet was shot and stabbed numerous times, including in the head."
"I'm not doubting you, Lieutenant. I've known you long enough to trust your judgement on these things, hence why I called you up here," Colonel Morshower confirmed. "She's definitely a metahuman, but we don't have the equipment on hand to do proper testing. I've already called in a request for experts, and they should arrive in the morning."
"That's great to hear, sir," Luke replied, letting out a relieved smile. The confirmation that Violet was perfectly healthy was the best news he heard all day, but he had to remain focused. He then asked, "Has she remembered anything?"
"Not anything specific. Her memory's sporadic at best," Morshower confirmed. "I don't care what kind of magical healing powers you got. Getting shot in the head is going to mess you up."
"Couldn't agree more, sir. If I may, could I perhaps speak with her? I have some experience in questioning, and I might be able to coax something out."
"By all means, go ahead," Morshower replied, then turned around to face the window while saying, "Don't expect anything, though. Poor girl appears to have suffered 'complete retrograde amnesia.' She doesn't remember anything before getting killed."
"Of course, sir. I'll let you know if I find anything," Luke confirmed.
Morshower nodded, then dismissed the lieutenant so that he could get to work. Luke flashed another salute, then marched out of the command center towards the hospital tent after taking a few things to help him in his questioning. When he arrived, he saw lines of beds arranged in neat rows. Most were thankfully empty, but a few had wounded soldiers laying in them. Their conditions were varied, with most conscious and sitting upright while medics and nurses looked them over, their injuries wrapped tightly in bandages. Others were in far more serious condition, with IV tubes and blood bags hanging over their bodies as they were prepped for transport to a more equipped hospital to better treat their injuries. Luckily, those were few, and Luke moved past to where Violet was being treated instead.
She was sitting upright on her bed, now cleaned and no longer wearing the clothes she had been found in. Instead, she was wearing a light blue hospital gown and a matching hijab donated by a Muslim nurse. She was still clearly confused, yet as she conversed with the medics and nurses tending to her, there was a comfortable smile on her face. When she saw him, approach however, she openly beamed and turned towards him.
"Lieutenant Fox, you're back!" she greeted, and Luke smiled and nodded towards her as he neared her bed. Figuring why he was here, and knowing that Violet was perfectly fine, the medics and nurses moved away, giving them some privacy.
"Hey, Violet. How's everything going?" he gently asked as he sat on an empty bed across from her.
"Going…well, I suppose. Everything is still hazy, which I suppose is why you're here," she admitted while glancing at the items held in Luke's hands.
"Well, that and I genuinely wanted to check up on you," Luke clarified. "You gave us quite a scare, waking up like that."
"Coming back from the dead, you mean?" Violet stated as her gaze softened. Luke didn't answer, but she knew that's what this was all about regardless. It was written all over his face, and a few of the nurses and medics whispered about it when they thought she couldn't hear or understand them. For some reason, it didn't seem to matter which language they spoke. English, Spanish, she understood all of it.
"In case you're wondering, I don't remember anything," Violet declared while hugging her knees close. "Just…blackness, then light. A lot of light, actually. Almost like it was reaching out for me, then we…combined, somehow. After that, I felt pain then saw you."
"Right," Luke replied, then went silent as the heaviness of the situation took hold.
Admittedly, he hadn't thought about it much, but clearly coming back from the dead must have been a harrowing experience. Even if you couldn't remember it. All Violet had were vague feelings that could have meant anything, but even that left a deep impression. Still, he had a job to do, and if there was any hope of catching these bastards, it required Violet to remember something, anything, about the events leading up to it.
"I'm going to show you a few things, Violet. See if we can't jog your memory," Luke announced as he pulled over a nearby table and laid the items on it, which were a rolled up map of Afghanistan along with aerial photographs taken by UAVs.
"Why?" Violet innocently asked, and Luke leaned closer while resting his clasped hands on his knees.
"Because we're trying to catch some very bad people. The people who hurt you. That way they can't hurt anyone else," Luke clarified. "Is that alright with you? If this makes you feel uncomfortable, I'll walk away, no questions asked."
Violet looked at him for a moment, pursing her lips in thought as she considered her options. After a moment, her gaze hardened and she nodded affirmatively. Luke nodded back and smiled warmly, then moved around the map and photos so that Violet could see them clearly.
At first, much as he expected, nothing he showed her brought any memories up. Everything was just so vague and hazy for her. For the first hour, the most reaction he and Violet got was the poor girl getting a headache while looking at some of the images. Each time they sprang up, Luke tried to stop the entire process and call it a day out of concern for her wellbeing, but Violet insisted they continue. She was clearly just as devoted towards stopping those people as he was, and he felt his respect for her rise considerably. Not even three hours after coming back from the dead and she was already working hard at bringing these people to justice.
After nearly ninety minutes of questioning, though, they finally reached a breakthrough.
"Wait, what are those?" Violet asked, pointing at a picture of a field of lavender flowers with green stems.
"Those are poppy flowers," Luke answered. "People grow them to eat their seeds and make medicine."
People also grew them to make opium, but Luke figured he'd only explain that to the innocent girl if it became necessary.
"They look…familiar," she admitted. There was a slight pause as Luke absorbed her words, then immediately began pulling through each and every image he gathered that contained the opium poppy.
"Good, good," he breathlessly declared, gathering over a dozen photographs from his stack and arranging them all in a line. "Do any of these seem familiar, too?"
Each of the photos were aerial images of poppy fields, each in a different geographic area nearby the base. Some were in open fields, others nestled alongside mountains and rivers. None of them had any signs of human habitation, but Luke wasn't focusing on jumping there just yet. Baby steps were required if they were to have any hope of solving this mystery.
"Hmm," Violet hummed as she ran her finger across the images. Eventually, she settled on one which depicted a field of poppies next to a running river and bordered by a large mountain. "That one. It looks…aagh…"
Violet groaned and held her head as yet another headache hit her. Luke immediately moved the images away and gently held her shoulder in order to provide a semblance of comfort.
"It's okay, it's okay," Luke said in a soothing tone of voice. After a few moments, Violet's headache subsided and she looked back up at him. He then quietly asked, "Do you…remember anything?"
Violet was silent at first, then quietly replied, "I remember…playing in a field of flowers, swimming in a river, all while a mountain stood watch overhead. But…I don't know where that was."
"That's alright," Luke stated, then gathered up everything he brought with him. "Besides, I think you just gave us everything we need."
"What do you mean?" Violet asked, clearly confused as Luke stood up.
He looked down at her and smiled, then declared, "Well, now we know that you came from a village near a poppy field, a river, and a mountain. And if you came from there, that means the bad guys were there, too. That narrows things down considerably, don't you think?"
Violet looked at him through narrowed eyes at first, then they began to gleam as she smiled and nodded vigorously. Luke nodded and smiled back, then turned around and hustled back to the command center. Behind him, the nurses and medics returned to tending after Violet, but he ignored them. Right now, his focus was purely on reporting his findings to Colonel Morshower. After that, they'd cross-reference their geographical information and possibly send UAVs to scour the region for any villages that matched Violet's description, gather as much intel as possible, then direct their findings to General Eiling. Then they could bring the thunder down on those murderous bastards.
As he neared the command center, however, he saw a convoy of supply trucks enter the base. Crates of ammunition, weapons, and fuel barrels were offloaded, ready to be stored for later use. He paid it no heed, as the convoy was expected to arrive at this time, and entered the building, marched up to Colonel Morshower, and flashed a salute.
"Sir, Violet remembered something," he announced. At once the colonel and everyone else in the room turned to face him, and almost as soon as he finished explaining what he had learned, a flight of UAVs flew off into the night.
December 7th, 11:30 AM (Eastern Standard Time)
Fawcett City, Pennsylvania, United States of America
"Honestly, I can't get enough of these videos," Yang admitted as they walked through the mall watching yet another of HeroManager's test videos. Slung over her left shoulder was a shopping bag carrying a few clothes she bought that caught her eye, while her scroll was held in front of her.
"You've been watching them for the past few hours," Blake lightly chastised.
"I'm merely conducting thorough research on our target," Yang joked and cheekily grinned towards her partner.
"I think you've done enough 'research' as it is," Weiss pointed out, her eyes narrowed. "Instead of watching YouTube videos, how about you help us find this guy?"
Yang rolled her eyes and groaned, but complied regardless. She had a point. According to the intel that the Justice League had managed to gather for them ahead of time, Fawcett City's newest superhero was frequently seen here. In fact, some of the first videos of his existence came from the mall's security feeds where they saw the guy use his lightning powers to charge passerby's phones. It was going well, until one poor bastard had his phone short circuit, after which he stopped doing that. They even ran away from the guy. An appropriate reaction, in Yang's opinion. If someone randomly destroyed her scroll, she'd be pissed too.
On a more serious note, what was probably his first fight against a supervillain took place in the mall. Or at least it shifted over to there. Security cameras and handheld phones managed to catch most of it. A bald man with a scarred right eye, later determined to be one Doctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana, had attacked this new superhero after a mishap involving the latter's lightning powers caused a bus to careen off an overpass. He saved the bus, thankfully, but after that the kid whom Yang assumed to be HeroManager had an argument with him over the responsible use of his powers. After that, Dr. Sivana attacked the superhero, their fight going all over the city, into the subways, before finally reemerging in the mall. Specifically a Mall Santa display, a clothing store, and finally a toy store.
Calling it a fight was rather generous in Yang's opinion. Rather than actually fighting, the superhero was merely running away the entire time, and only managed to get away after a large lightning bolt appeared out of nowhere, came through the glass roof, and hit the superhero while causing the security cameras to short out. When slowed down, the hero seemed to have said something but they weren't able to determine what. Regardless, the clearly magical lightning distracted Sivana long enough for the hero to somehow escape in the crowd. After that, they wouldn't reemerge again until Doctor Sivana was beaten at a local Christmas carnival, but the man was certifiably insane and wouldn't talk to anyone, so the League already told them that they wouldn't be able to get any useful info out of him.
"What's this guy's superhero name, anyway?" Ruby asked as she scanned the crowd for bright red spandex while thumbing through message boards discussing the superhero. "It seems kind of all over the place, like they can't decide on anything. We've got Thundercrack, Mr. Philadelphia, the Big Red Cheese, Power Boy, Sir Zaps-A-Lot…"
"I like that one," Yang quickly added. Ruby nodded, liking that name as well, then barely bit back a laugh once she read the next one.
"Captain Sparklefingers," she got out through a fit of chuckles, and Yang snorted.
"Hah! I like that one even more!"
"Honestly, these all sound completely childish and unprofessional," Weiss retorted, looking over a list of her own on her scroll.
"Whatever you say, Miss Ivory Mage," Blake quipped, a small smirk on her face. Weiss blushed slightly from embarrassment and puffed up her cheeks before looking away.
"I told you, my color was stolen—"
"Oh my God, you're still not over that," Yang muttered, but Weiss ignored her and continued.
"—and more importantly, at least it's consistent. With this superhero, though, it's like they can't make up their mind," Weiss commented as she shook her head, collapsed her scroll, and placed it back into her pocket. "Alright, I can't just keep calling them 'that superhero.' Is there anything we can refer to him as that doesn't sound like a five year old came up with it?"
"Um, let me see…" Ruby scrolled down a few more pages, then shook her head and declared, "Not really, no."
"I wouldn't put too much stock into it," Blake said. "He's only been on the scene for a few weeks, after all."
Weiss groaned, then admitted, "I know, I just wish he actually had a name we could call him that doesn't make me want to pull my hair out."
"There, there, Weiss. There, there," Ruby soothed her partner while patting her on the back.
Team RWBY continued their patrol through the Fawcett City mall, keeping a close eye on everyone that walked through. Only they were actually in the mall. JNPR was currently staking out the abandoned factory where the power testing videos were filmed. Already they reported back evidence of their experiments that was a few days old, but there was no recent sign of them anywhere. Though it was approaching lunch hour on a Saturday, so Sir Zaps-A-Lot and his companion might show up any time now. Ruby was also feeling a bit hungry, so the team decided to move towards the food court and grab a bite to eat.
More and more people were filling up the mall by now, as they expected. Thanks to their training as Huntresses and superheroes, they were able to keep their senses honed as they scanned the crowd, trying to find their target. Unfortunately, the result was still the same. They couldn't find him anywhere. RWBY supposed that if they could tap into the security cameras they might have a better chance of tracking him down, but they didn't have the right equipment to do that, aside from the simple fact that doing so in this scenario was ethically questionable at best.
"Well, this is looking like a bust," Yang declared as she finished her fries. "We've been here for hours and haven't found squat."
"Give it time. He might show up," Blake pointed out while dapping at her lips with a napkin. "Besides, did you honestly think we'd just run into him on the first try?"
"No, but I was hoping we would," Yang admitted, and Ruby nodded in agreement as she loudly sucked up the last of her soda with the straw in her mouth. It certainly would have made things easier on all of them.
"We'll hang around here for another hour," Ruby said, crumpling up the paper wrapping her cheeseburger came in. "If we don't see him by then, we'll leave and go somewhere else he was spotted, like that carnival nearby."
"Should we split up to cover more ground?" Weiss asked, and after a moment of thought, Ruby nodded.
"I don't see a problem with that," Ruby replied. "We're never going to find him just by looking at one place at a time."
The four teammates nodded towards each other then finished their food. Once they were done, they got up and threw away their trash before going their separate ways. Were this a normal mission they wouldn't consider splitting up. They were teammates for a reason, but simply tracking down and introducing themselves to a newly fledged superhero was pretty low on the danger scale. Besides, they were all in the same building and had their scrolls on them. Help was only a short scroll call away.
Another hour passed of Ruby walking the crowded halls of the Fawcett City Mall, and still there were no signs of their target anywhere. While she was somewhat disappointed, it wasn't entirely unexpected. They weren't in any real rush, and if it took a few days to find this guy, so be it. Still, she would have loved to have found at least something. But alas, it didn't seem to be.
Distracted by her thoughts, Ruby stopped looking where she was going for just a few seconds. Just as she passed the entrance to a GameStop, two boys around her age walked out while animatedly discussing something about a tie-in deal, and she accidentally bowled one right over.
"Gagh!" both of them yelled as they fell to the ground, their bags flying out over the tile floor. Luckily Ruby hadn't fallen on top of him, instead tripping over his body and falling face first into the ground. Groaning, she rolled around for a bit before she managed to push herself up before rubbing a sore spot where her forehead hit the tile.
"Freddy! Are you okay?!" the other boy called out, prompting Ruby to realize what had happened. She shot around and saw that the boy she had ran over on accident was still on the ground, his crutch a few feet away from him. His friend was crouching over him, trying to help him up and make sure she was okay.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Ruby exclaimed as she scrambled over to pick up the fallen crutch and return it to the boy. "I was distracted, and I wasn't looking where I was going, then you walked in front of me, and I-!"
"It's fine, I'm fine, don't worry about it," the fallen boy interrupted her. Gratefully taking the offered crutch from Ruby, he pushed himself up to his feet. Ruby and the other boy attempted to lend aid, but he waved them off.
"Seriously, I'm fine. Just because I'm disabled doesn't mean I can't help myself," he pointed out as he rested his weight on his crutch.
"I am so, so sorry!" Ruby reiterated, clasping her hands together.
"It's alright, it was just an accident," the boy told her. "You can stop apologizing, you know."
"I know, but—" Ruby stopped as the boy wearing a thick blue winter coat gave her a flat look, then sighed and hung her head before muttering one final, "Sorry…"
The two boys looked at each other for a moment, the taller one shrugging awkwardly with a shift of his brown jacket showing its bright red inner lining. Whereas the one she knocked over rolled his eyes and adjusted his beanie before looking back at Ruby. Glancing upward, Ruby could only sigh in relief that the two boys weren't really angry with her, then straightened herself. At the same time, the taller boy saw Ruby's discarded bag, then quickly grabbed it and handed it back to her.
"Here, I think this is yours," he declared, and Ruby gratefully nodded before taking it back.
"Thank you," she said, then patted away some dust on her skirt before saying, "Again, I'm sorry about that. Wasn't looking where I was going. My name's Ruby!"
Resolving to salvage this surprise introduction better than how she handled her first meeting with Weiss, Ruby flashed them a winsome grin that shined as brightly as her eyes, and held out her hand for a shake. He didn't react as well as she hoped for some reason, just kind of standing there and staring at her for a few seconds until his friend elbowed him in the side, causing him to sputter.
"Oh! Yeah, uh, I'm Billy, and this guy you ran over is my brother, Freddy," Billy introduced them. Once again, Ruby was thrown off a bit when he lightly took hold of her fingers slightly then moved them up and down instead of the firm handshake she expected, but she shrugged off the awkwardness.
"Hey," Freddy added, smiling a bit and waving. Ruby smiled back, and they all stood there for a few more seconds before Freddy shuffled his feet.
"Sooo…" he clicked his tongue, then jerked his head in the direction he and his brother had originally been heading. "Guess we'll be on our way. Take care of yourself."
Then the boy turned around and began to walk away, the other belatedly following him a beat later.
"It was nice meeting you!" Ruby called out. Billy and Freddy waved back as well but only Billy looked back slightly before Freddy said something to him and they continued on, quickly falling back into obvious banter.
Ruby was about to turn away as well, then paused to look back at Freddy. She narrowed her eyes, focusing on his hat and crutches. Keeping her eyes on him, she pulled out her scroll and opened it to one of the videos on HeroManager's channel that showed the manager in question. When he stepped into frame, she paused the video and compared the image to the boy she ran over. To her surprise, the resemblance was uncanny.
She walked away to a nearby corner, then called her entire team. They immediately answered the call within seconds of each other, before she held the scroll up to her ear and declared, "I think I found HeroManager."
"Really? How?" Weiss asked, sounding perplexed.
"I ran him over," Ruby succinctly replied, causing her older sister to bark out a laugh.
The two teenagers left the mall fairly soon after their encounter with Ruby, so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even notice the four members of Team RWBY tailing them. Batman's training in this area paid off as they watched the two boys walk through the town as inconspicuously as possible. Ruby was watching them from atop faraway rooftops through a specialized pair of glasses that had a built-in magnification, while the rest of her team was on the streets, either idly 'chatting' among themselves, walking in the opposite direction of where the two boys were going while on the opposite side of the street, and more. Not once did either of the teenage boys suspect what was going on, which meant their plan was working.
"Ruby, do you see where they're going yet?" Weiss asked over their scroll call, but although Ruby knew her partner couldn't see her, she shook her head.
"Not yet," she admitted, then tilted her head a bit as she watched Billy and Freddy turn a corner, breaking her line of sight. "Hold on, can't see them anymore. Gonna rebase really quick."
"Hurry, please. We lose track of them now, we'll be hard pressed to find them again," Blake pointed out. "You only did the first time because of dumb luck."
"Emphasis on the dumb," Weiss added, and Ruby rolled her eyes before she began to sprint towards the edge of the rooftop she was on. She jumped off then turned into a cloud of petals that zoomed across the open gap between the buildings, where she reformed on the other side. Ruby continued to traverse the rooftops, rising higher and higher until she was able to get a clearer look at where Freddy and Billy had gone.
Using her glasses, Ruby looked around before spotting the boys walking towards a subway station. Realizing where they were going next, she quickly spoke into her headset, "They're going into the subway. Won't be able to see them after that."
"Blake and I will get on and follow them," Yang reported. "Weiss, can you pull up the subway routes from here? Any points of interest?"
"Let me see…" Weiss hummed as she began looking through the publicly available information, then revealed, "Not directly, but I do see that the abandoned factory those videos were taken at is a short bus ride away from one of the stops."
"How much you wanna bet that's where they're going?" Yang asked.
"There's no need to bet when we already know the answer."
"Right. I'll call Jaune, tell him to keep a lookout," Ruby said as she nodded to herself, then prepared to climb down the fire escape. "Weiss, stay where you are. I'll come pick you up and we'll head them off."
"Alright, I'll—No, sir, my soul does not need to be saved. No, I do not want a pamphlet. Good day, sir," Weiss replied before being cut off by someone next to her.
It wasn't hard for Ruby to put together the pieces of what was going on, and with an amused chuckle she called Jaune, told him what to expect, then climbed down the metal fire escape and dropped to the alleyway below. Walking out into the crowd of people, Ruby flipped up her red hoodie and started walking towards Weiss' location. It wasn't hard to find her, leaning against a building in an alleyway. A cross, irritated look was on her face, and Ruby chuckled again as she drew close.
"Ugh, I swear that's the fifth time that's happened," Weiss complained as she straightened up and automatically dusted off the back of her white and black-trimmed winter skirt, and Ruby smiled and shook her head before patting her back.
"There, there, Weiss," Ruby comforted her friend, then grabbed hold of Weiss' hand before moving off in a burst of white and red petals.
Moving behind buildings to avoid any watchful eyes, the two Huntresses wove their way across rooftops and through back alleys before arriving at the subway station they believed Billy and Freddy would be getting out from. Rather than staking out on a rooftop, both girls merely sat on a metal bench and pulled out their phones to pretend that they were reading through the Daily Planet.
"Grimm activity's on the rise in the Middle East," Ruby grimly noted, a small frown on her face as she read Lois' article. "Isolated incidents, so far, but…that's only going to last for so long."
"I see that," Weiss added through a scowl. "Luthor…for such a smart man, he's perfectly capable of making some boneheaded decisions. No matter what he thinks, he can't control the Grimm. It's impossible, and all he's going to do is get people killed."
"Yeah," Ruby said, then sighed and hung her head. "You know, despite how we got here, I honestly thought the best thing about coming to Earth was that there wasn't any Grimm. That, at the very least, they died with Remnant. But I guess that wasn't meant to be."
"I know what you mean," Weiss admitted. "The worst part is, in a way, the Grimm are only here because of us."
"Don't think like that," Ruby declared, looking at her partner with a firm gaze. "It's not our fault the Grimm are running amok on Earth. The Justice League destroyed the Grimm that came with us, and Luthor is the one who brought them back. Every person the Grimm kill on Earth is on Luthor's head, not ours."
Weiss looked back up at Ruby, and the two girls locked eyes for a few moments. Then the Ivory Mage sighed and nodded, prompting Ruby to grin in satisfaction before sitting back upright and returning to her vigil. Half an hour passed as the two girls simply waited, and if Ruby was being honest with herself, it was quite boring. This was the first time she'd had a proper stake out, and she wondered if Batman and other heroes felt this way whenever they did it. Probably not Batman, but the others had her curious.
Eventually, she noticed a quartet of people walking together, before coming to a stop in front of the subway. The oldest, who looked to be the same age as all of the Remnantians other than Ruby, was a tall girl with long brown hair and white skin. She was wearing a red coat over a white undershirt, blue skirt, and black leggings. Two younger boys, looking to be a little younger than Ruby, were with her. One was an overweight Hispanic boy wearing a thick, dark green winter coat and matching hat with floppy ear protectors. Beside him was an Asian boy wearing a pair of glasses, a grey sweater, and tan pants. The youngest and clearly most excitable, judging by how she was restlessly bouncing up and down, was a young girl with dark skin, black hair stylized like Minnie Mouse ears, and wearing a bright purple winter coat.
Keeping them in the corner of her eyes, Ruby idly watched as the group waited for someone at the subway station. Soon they saw Freddy and Billy walk up the stairs, and the two boys joined them and began walking to the nearest bus stop. Shortly behind them were Yang and Blake, who watched as the teenagers and children waited for their ride. Now that they were out of the subway and its interference with their communicators, Blake called them back up.
"We sat down just close enough for me to eavesdrop on them," Blake said, and they imagined the Faunus' feline ears flicking under her bow. "While they didn't say anything concrete about superheroes, they did mention going to the factory."
"Alright, I'll take that as confirmation," Weiss declared, and Ruby nodded.
"Let's head over to the factory and change into our gear," Ruby said. "Whoever they are, they're clearly connected to Captain Sparklefingers."
"…You're seriously going to call him that?" Weiss asked, narrowing her eyes, and Ruby nodded.
"Until he comes up with a new name," Ruby answered, and Weiss sighed before they headed off.
By the time team RWBY made it to the abandoned factory, JNPR was already changed into their costumes. Four color-coded duffel bags holding their outfits were waiting for them, and it didn't take long for them to change as well. The only parts of their costumes they didn't have on them were their weapons, although they were close by just in case they needed them. All they would be doing is asking a group of children and teenagers some questions regarding the superhero they clearly had a connection to, and there was no need to do so at gunpoint.
Besides, that was just mean.
"I see them," Ruby announced, looking through her hooded mask's magnified HUD. She was hiding behind broken windowpanes on the inside of the factory, resting her weight on a metal catwalk along the roof. The rest of her team was scattered around the factory, all within sight of each other but hidden from their targets.
From what she could see, the six children were animatedly talking and laughing to themselves, although the Red Reaper couldn't tell what they were talking about. But that wasn't what most interested her, though. Instead, she couldn't help but notice that rather than the oldest girl taking the lead it was Freddy and Billy. Specifically Billy.
As they drew closer, her earpieces began to pick up bits of what they were saying.
"—happy that Caltech accepted you, Mary," Freddy declared as they continued to walk closer. The oldest girl, whom Ruby assumed was named Mary, smiled and nodded before adopting a somewhat unsure expression on her face.
"I know, but…" Mary sighed and hung her head, and Billy frowned before looking at her.
"Hey, you worked hard for this," Billy declared, "and you've earned it. If you're worried about us, we'll be fine."
"That was before all of…this happened," Mary pointed out, gesturing to all six of them then holding her arms close. "Besides, I…don't like the idea of leaving my family behind."
Mary stopped for a second, and the rest of the kids stopped and turned around to look at her. After a moment, the younger girl walked up and gave Mary a tight hug, and Mary smiled while hugging her back.
"Thanks, Darla," Mary gently said, and Darla smiled before breaking away.
"Aw, that's so sweet," Nora cooed, and Ruby couldn't help but agree.
It was obvious to her now what was going on. These children were all part of the same family, much like RWBY and JNPR were to her, and Mary was about to head off to college. Since Caltech was on the other side of the country, that meant leaving them behind, which was never easy.
"Hold on, what did she mean by 'this happened?'" Weiss asked, and Ruby perked an eyebrow.
Now that she thought about it, that was a strange thing to say. Focusing her attention more on the children from her perch, Ruby watched as the six youths entered the factory, and she quietly turned around to look over the railing down on them.
"So, how do we do this? This is the first time I've been here," the young Asian boy remarked, and Billy stepped in front of him as Freddy pulled off his backpack, set it on the ground, then pulled out a camera and tripod.
"Just do whatever Freddy tells you to do, Eugene," Billy admitted with an exasperated sigh. "He knows more about this than I do."
"I can believe that, but weren't you the first one to start doing this?" the overweight Hispanic boy asked, and Billy nodded.
"This entire place is completely unsanitary," Mary pointed out as she looked around the factory floor. As her gaze shifted upwards, Ruby hid herself further in the shadows and behind some metal barrels she had pulled up previously for cover, preventing her from being spotted just yet.
"Red Reaper, we're coming in," Jaune declared. On her HUD's mini-map, she saw the colored dots depicting her teammates leave their positions and traverse towards the factory, surrounding all exit points. Ruby nodded to herself but didn't say anything. In her current position, she couldn't trust that her voice wouldn't echo along the metal walls and cause the children below to hear her.
"Alright guys, we're all set," Freddy announced as he finished setting up the camera. "Billy, you wanna go first?"
"Sure, why not?" Billy replied with a nonchalant shrug, then began to throw his arms back and forth and side to side. He began taking a few deep breaths as though he was psyching himself up, and to Ruby's surprise the rest of his family began stepping back. After a few moments, Billy stopped and looked around to see if everyone was clear. Once he was certain, he took another deep breath and sharply leaned backward while throwing his arms behind him.
Then, at the top of his lungs, he shouted, "SHAZAM!"
All of a sudden, a bolt of lightning shot down from a cloudless sky, through the roof of the factory, and struck Billy squarely in the chest. Ruby couldn't help but yelp and throw herself back, and her mask's electronics went haywire. Her screen became fuzzy and her earpieces let out a high-pitched whine that drowned out nearly everything else. It didn't last very long, however, and she looked back over the railing, fully prepared to leap down and assist the poor boy.
But she stopped herself, and with wide eyes she felt her jaw slacken. Instead of seeing an injured boy sprawled across the ground, she saw a full-grown, muscular man wearing a tight red costume with gold trim, a white cape, and a yellow lightning bolt emblazoned across his chest. At once it clicked for her, and she couldn't help but laugh.
"You know," she finally spoke up just as the now fully-grown Billy prepared to walk in front of the camera, "this explains a lot."
Billy, Freddy, and the rest of his family stopped and froze like statues. Slowly, they looked up towards the catwalk Ruby was leaning over, and their eyes widened as they finally saw her.
"What…you're…" Freddy began and shakily pointed at her. Ruby smiled and jumped down, spreading her cape wide to slow her descent. She landed gracefully on the concrete floor, then stood tall and rested her hands on her hips.
"Hello there," Ruby said, giving the family of six a wide, toothy smile. "I'm—"
"Oh my God, it's the Red Reaper!" Freddy joyfully announced, practically squealing in excitement as he pulled his arms close. "You're the leader of the superheroes from Remnant, capable of matter dissipation into controllable rose petals that can move at super speed!"
Taken slightly aback, Ruby stumbled a bit before recollecting herself and saying, "Uh, yes. It is I, the Red Reaper."
"I am a huge fan!" Freddy admitted as he began throwing everything out of his backpack, desperately searching for something. "Come on, where is—hah, found it!"
He pulled out a scrapbook, the cover of which was filled with pictures of various superheroes. Freddy shuffled through the pages, then stopped and held it towards Ruby, where she saw that it had a picture of her along with her alias and publicly known information about her.
"Can I have your autograph?!" Freddy begged, holding the book and a pen towards her. Ruby silently stared at the page in question, wondering if this was what Professor Goodwitch felt when they first met, then shrugged and took it.
"Sure, never given one of these before," she admitted, then quickly wrote her signature onto the page. Ruby made sure to spell her alter ego, not her actual name, although she did have to stop herself a few times. As she handed the book back to the excited boy, she heard her sister laugh and clap loudly as she and the rest of her team entered the factory.
"Congratulations, Red, you have a fan!" Yang announced, continuing to smile and clap, causing the rest of the family to turn around and face her.
"Ah, the Golden Dragon!" Freddy squealed. Then, as he noticed the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR, he added, "Nightshade, Ivory Mage, White Knight, Crimson Guardian, Pink Lightning, and the Verdant Lotus!? You're all here?! Oh my God, this is amazing!"
His squeals rose in pitch until it was almost inaudible, although Blake flinched as her feline ears picked it up regardless. Sighing to himself and pinching his brow, Billy turned back towards Ruby and remarked, "Yeah, he's gonna be like this for a while. Freddy's a total superhero nerd, and you guys showing up is pretty much a dream come true for him."
"That's putting it lightly," Mary dryly added, looking at the eight superheroes around them in suspicion. "What are you doing here and what do you want?"
"Well, we were looking for him," Yang admitted as she pointed towards Billy. Taken slightly aback, he pointed to himself.
"Me? You were looking for me?" he asked, and Weiss nodded before crossing her arms.
"Yes, or rather the Justice League was," Weiss clarified, only to stop as she noticed Darla looking up at her with open awe.
"Hello," Darla greeted once she noticed Weiss was looking at her. "I've seen your video, like, a million times. You have a really pretty singing voice."
"…Thank you," Weiss gratefully replied, giving the young girl a smile before turning back towards Billy. "Anyway, after watching your brother's videos, we knew you two were somehow connected to him. I never would have imagined you actually being the superhero, though."
The two groups stared at each other for a few moments, silent except for Freddy's continued squealing. Finally, he managed to compose himself, then rushed to the nearest person next to him and held out his scrapbook.
"Can I have your autographs?!" he asked, and Yang immediately took it and began to sign her name with a smile and a flourish.
"So, why'd the Justice League wanna meet me?" Billy Batson asked, still in his superhero form as they sat around on some metal barrels they gathered. Freddy Freeman had now calmed down, allowing them to get focused on the matter at hand.
"About a week ago, Fawcett City had a massive uptick in magical energy and negative emotions," Ruby revealed, resting her arms on her thighs and leaning forward. "That attracted the Grimm, and we were sent to investigate both them and you."
"You mean those shadowy monster things?" Darla Dudley nervously asked, and Yang nodded.
"Yep, those monsters are the Grimm," Yang confirmed.
"I fought a few of those the other day," Billy remarked, a small frown on his face as he leaned forward and rested on his thighs. "They went down easy, but…they were just creepy."
"Yeah, they are," Nora confirmed with a nod. "What we don't know is why they're here. Grimm are attracted to negative emotions, and from what I can see, Fawcett City's a pretty calm place to live."
"I can actually answer that," Billy replied, his frown deepening. "Since you guys seem to know everything, I take it you know who Doctor Sivana is?"
"Creepy bald guy with the messed up eye?" Jaune asked, and Billy nodded. "Yeah, we know him. Or, rather, of him. We haven't actually met."
"Well, I have, unfortunately. And let me tell you, the guy's nuts," Billy declared, frowning deeply. "Apparently, the Wizard almost chose him to be his champion when he was a kid, but he was found to be impure and rejected. Sivana didn't take it well, grew more than a bit obsessed, and eventually found his way back to the Rock of Eternity, the source of all magic on Earth, where he unleashed the Seven Deadly Sins to try and take the powers the Wizard passed on to me."
"'The Seven Deadly Sins?'" Ren repeated, and Billy nodded.
"Powerful demons that nearly destroyed the world thousands of years ago when the Wizard's previous champion went all supervillain and released them," Billy clarified. "They bonded with Sivana and gave him his powers, and tried to take the Wizard's as well. We were able to stop him and seal them away again, but if the Grimm are attracted to negative emotions…"
"Then demons embodying the worst traits of humanity might as well be a beacon for them," Weiss finished with a sigh, and Billy nodded. "Well, that's just perfect."
"You had your powers for less than a week and you already managed to save the world?" Yang asked, raising an eyebrow. When Billy slowly nodded, Yang smiled and said, "Props, my man. You took care of it before the League even knew what was going on. That's impressive."
"Thank you, but uh, it wasn't just me," Billy admitted, then gestured towards the rest of his foster siblings. "It was a family thing, you know?"
Yang and the others raised an eyebrow and looked at the rest of Billy's adoptive family, who smiled and sat upright. After a few moments, she remembered how there had been one shaky cellphone video posted by a bystander which depicted other superheroes wearing outfits which were akin to Billy's, only in different colors. Colors that generally matched what they were wearing right now.
"Oh, that is awesome!" Nora exclaimed, figuring it out. "A super-family!"
"We are, yeah!" Darla exclaimed, and Yang looked down on her.
"Aren't you, like, eight?" she asked, and Darla nodded.
"Yep, and I've already kicked bad guy butt!"
"…Well aren't you just the most awesome eight-year-old I've ever met? Gimme five," Yang remarked and held out her hand to Darla, who smiled and slapped her palm against Yang's.
"If the Seven Deadly Sins are sealed away in the Rock of Eternity now," Pyrrha remarked, idly noting how she was no longer confused by its mere existence but merely accepting it as fact, "then I guess these Grimm are just stragglers. Probably why the casualties are so low."
"Regardless, we need take them out before they hurt anyone else," Ruby pointed out, then turned towards Billy. "Have you seen anything during your patrols?"
"Patrols?" Billy asked, then sheepishly smiled. "Sorry, but uh…I don't do patrols. I have school…"
"I've been monitoring police scanners," Eugene Choi remarked as he raised his hand, "but other than that…we kind of do things as they pop up."
"…Oh yeah, right," Ruby mumbled, rubbing the back of her head, then perked herself back up. "Well, I'm certain that all of us working together can find them."
"What, like a superhero team-up?" Freddy excitedly asked, and Ruby nodded.
"Yeah, that," Ruby confirmed, and Freddy's eyes sparkled as a wide smile broke out across his face.
"…This is the best day of my life," he declared, and Eugene couldn't help but snort.
"Not today," Mary cut in, causing everyone to look at her. "Mom and Dad are expecting us back home by six for dinner."
"Oh, come on, Mary!" Freddy begged, only for his older foster sister to give him a stern look. He relented and sighed before hanging his head, and Yang couldn't help but smile and laugh. She understood exactly what Mary was doing as only an older sister would, and couldn't help but approve.
"Well, there's always tomorrow, and we'll get a head start on investigating in the meantime" Jaune suggested. "We'll be in town for a few days and we'd appreciate the help. Besides, the Justice League wanted us to monitor you guys anyway, so might as well get two Nevermores with one bullet."
"If that's alright with you," Blake added. Mary pursed her lips in thought, then looked at the rest of her family. It seemed as though she was about to say no, but after seeing a pleading look from Darla, she relented.
"Fine, tomorrow works," she relented, then held up a finger. "But nothing dangerous! Especially for you and Eugene, Darla. I don't care if we have powers or not. If Grimm show up, you let the Huntsmen and Huntresses take the lead."
"We were going to do that anyway, don't worry," Ruby declared. Satisfied with their assurance, Mary nodded then folded her hands across her lap.
"So…" Billy awkwardly began, then asked, "now what do we do?"
"Well…" Ruby started, scratching the side of her face, "you guys were about to test your powers here, right?"
"Yeah," Freddy confirmed. "When we first started using them, we really only used one power except for Billy. I got flight, Pedro got super strength, Darla hyper speed, Eugene electrokinesis, and Mary…I didn't really see what you got, actually."
"Neither did I," Mary remarked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"Sorry…" Billy muttered under his breath, causing Ruby to chuckle slightly.
"Anyway, we wanted to see if that was actually the case or if we have all of them just with different focuses. Know what I mean?"
"I do, actually," Pyrrha admitted, then looked at her teammates. After a moment, she looked back at the family of superheroes and asked, "Want any help with that? Before we came to Earth, we went to a school for Huntsmen and Huntresses, which are basically just like superheroes. Might be able to give you some pointers."
Billy, Freddy, and the others looked at each other. Freddy looked absolutely ecstatic, as did Darla and Eugene who were bouncing in place. Billy and Mary looked a little unsure, while Pedro Peña merely shrugged.
"Sure, why not?" he remarked, and Nora clapped and smiled.
"Great, let's do it!" she declared, then leaned forward and adopted an evil grin. "First thing to do: you guys have to say Shazam and bring down the thunder to turn into superheroes, right?"
"Yeah," Billy confirmed, and Nora's grin grew wider.
"What happens if someone else gets hit by the lightning?"
Billy hummed in thought, then remarked, "Well, I did use it on Envy, and it blew him up. For a bit, anyway. They had this whole shadowy mist deal going on, so we couldn't really keep them down. Don't think it'd be a good thing to use against anyone who isn't an immortal demon though. Why?"
While Nora continued to smile, Ren turned to look at his girlfriend and firmly stated, "No."
"But it's for science!" Nora pointed out, but Ren stood firm and shook his head.
"You are not letting yourself get blasted by magic lightning."
"This is completely unsafe!" Jaune, Pyrrha, and Mary shouted as they and everyone else stood back while Billy held Nora overhead.
"I'll be fine, don't worry," Nora countered while waving her hand. "My Semblance absorbs electricity! I even unlocked it in the first place by getting struck by a real lightning bolt! What's the worst that could happen?"
"A lot could happen!" Mary pointed out, then turned towards the others. "Tell them, please!"
"Do it!" Yang, Ruby, Freddy and Darla cheered, while Ren, Pyrrha, and Jaune could only look on in horror.
Long used to his girlfriend's antics, Ren turned towards Weiss and Blake then asked, "Why are you two going along with this?"
He had expected Weiss, of all people, to object to this line of testing. Instead, she and Blake both voiced their support, and since they were outvoted, Nora was allowed to continue. Admittedly, Ren was curious too, but that didn't mean he wanted to risk Nora getting hurt.
"I'm curious as to what would happen if he did it to an actual person and not a demon," Weiss admitted. "Nora is the best person to test it on, after all, so it's the safest option. Although I personally advocated for Billy to simply zap her with his hands…"
"Then Nora called him a coward for considering it, and here we are," Blake pointed out, and Weiss nodded.
"Also, I can't help but wonder what would happen if Nora were to absorb magic lightning," Weiss added. "At worst, she gets knocked out for a few hours. At best(?)…she becomes God. Either way, better to figure out now in a…moderately controlled environment."
Ren sighed and shook his head, then looked on as the test was about to begin. Holding a piece of cardboard with the words 'Lightning Test #1' on it, Freddy started the recording then held the cardboard in front of the camera for a few seconds. When he removed it from the frame, Billy nodded then looked back up at the Pink Lightning.
"You still up for this?" Billy asked, just to make sure, and Nora vigorously nodded.
"Yes, let's do this thing!" she declared and brought her fists close to her chest. Billy nodded back, then held her high above his head.
"SHAZAM!" he shouted, and as before a massive bolt of lightning came down from the sky towards him. This time, however, Nora's body intercepted the lightning, and she reflexively flinched and spasmed slightly as the electricity coursed through her. Billy remained unaffected, but he looked on in surprise at her reaction, which was more visceral than he'd been led to expect.
"Pink Lightning!" Ren shouted as he prepared to rush towards her, only for Nora to stop spasming and hold out her hand towards him.
"I'm…fine," Nora insisted, although it was clear that her body was filled with far more electricity than she had ever taken on before. Her orange hair was standing up on end, and pink arcs of electricity danced across her skin. "In fact…I feel good."
"Oh, that's…good," Billy said as he gently placed her down.
"Yep. More than good, actually," Nora clarified as she turned towards Billy with a manic smile. "I feel great!"
Now that she was standing up, everyone noticed some more apparent differences from the ginger electrovore's usual Semblance charge. She had somehow grown a foot in height, going from the shortest member of the Remnant group to now being as tall as Jaune. A little buffer, too, her muscles visibly swelling with power as she held up and clenched a fist.
Then she held her hand to the side, silently prompting her teammates to toss her Magnhild. Before Jaune or Ren could stop them, Yang did as requested, and Nora held the hammer back and crouched low.
"Now, onto the second test! Shazam-ed Pink Lightning Magnhild Test #1!" Nora declared as she wound back, and despite Billy earlier boasting that he was completely impervious to injury, he couldn't help but suddenly feel nervous.
"Uh, hold on, I wanna—" he tried to protest, but Nora was already moving.
"Too late!" Nora proclaimed, then swung Magnhild as hard as she could. Boosted by the power of the Wizard Shazam's magic, the hammer tore through the air and struck Billy in the chest. He felt the air leave his lungs and his feet leave the ground as he was thrown back. Everything became a blur as he was hurled through several concrete columns and a steel wall. He crashed out into the open on the other side several hundred feet away from where he started before finally coming to a stop by slamming into a thick concrete wall, becoming embedded into it.
"Oh my God, Billy! Are you okay?!" Mary shouted as she and the others rushed towards him. Billy Batson groaned as he pried himself free, then fell to his knees and took several deep breaths.
"I'm…I'm okay!" he announced, flashing a thumbs up into the air above his head while he continued to catch his breath. "Let's…never do that again…"
"Sorry…" Nora sheepishly apologized as she came close, while Ren, Jaune, and Pyrrha gave her harsh glares that she literally started shrinking under, as her temporary power boost seeped out of the contrite girl like air out of a balloon.
"Let's take five for now," Ruby announced as they helped Billy up to his feet. After a few moments, he recovered enough strength to walk on his own, and together they returned to the factory. As they sat back down, Ruby had a thought then turned towards him.
"Hey, I just realized something," Ruby revealed. "You still don't have a superhero name, right?"
Billy winced then reluctantly nodded. He admitted, "Haven't been able to come up with a good one, and all of Freddy's suck."
"Hey, what's wrong with Power Boy?" Freddy asked, and Billy gave his foster brother a harsh glare.
"Because that makes me sound like a kid!"
"You're fifteen," Blake pointed out, then Billy gestured towards himself.
"Not when I'm like this!"
Ruby nodded, understanding the reasoning, then leaned forward and said, "While I personally like Power Boy, I think I have a better name in mind."
"Oh? What's that, Red?" Billy asked, and Ruby smiled.
"You have to say Shazam to transform, right? Why not make that your superhero name?" Ruby suggested. Billy hummed and thought it over, and slowly a smile broke out across his face.
"Yeah. Yeah, it's like I'm taking on the Wizard's mantle or something. I like that. Shazam," Billy repeated. Suddenly, another bolt of lightning came down, struck Billy in the head, and turned him back into a powerless teenager. The others stared at him with wide eyes, and with a blank look on his face, Billy continued, "—is not going to work."
Everyone was silent for a moment, then Jaune coughed and admitted, "Yeah, having your superhero name be the same name that turns your powers on and off can be a bit of a problem."
"No kidding," Billy flatly replied, and Ruby hung her head.
"Well, drat."
[~][~]
Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Hunters of Justice! Special thanks to NaanContributor and Jesse K for their help in bringing this chapter to life.
The Captain Marvel mini-arc is underway while the situation in Afghanistan continues to develop. What will come of this? You guys will have to wait and see.
Now onto the Q&A:
SulliMike23: Thank you, glad you liked it.
Vein Bloodborne: Yeah, I was proud of that joke. Was kind of the inception of the entire thing, actually.
Luffy L Deathwalker: I save that kind of meta awareness for more appropriate characters like Mr. Mxyzptlk or the Queen of Fables.
mellra: They both just mesh so well together, you know? Also, as you can see, this is set after the movie (but before the last scene, obviously.)
Ultrasonic215: Every crazy encounter in the DC universe just erodes away at their sense of disbelief, and they're trying to desperately hold on to whatever is left.
The Viking Stranger: That is pretty much what happened, yeah.
Crossovernaru: Yep, the Christmas Special seemed appropriate for December's chapter. Do keep in mind, I probably won't do a Valentine's Day special for this year as it's been so long since I've done a proper update for the story. There will be one for 2022, though. As for the 2020 Christmas Special, I really wanted to make sure that it was enjoyable yet contained a heartwarming message behind it. A message that was then immediately undermined for maximum comedic effect. As for canon Christmas, that will obviously occur.
gordhanx: I'm proud of how this special came out. Glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much.
Jebest4781: Thank you, pure comedy was the goal there.
6tailedninja: No, no he was not.
hirshja: Yes, but given how this is a Chibi chapter, I'm allowed to have him make mistakes. Assuming, of course, this wasn't part of his plan...
Jackalope89: I'm saving Lobo for the actual story, for the Main Man deserves nothing less.
Notros: I'm full of surprises.
sjsisusj56: Maybe, you'll have to wait and see.
EvaShinobiKaiserKnight: I will not be using Red X in this story, especially since I prescribe to the belief that Red X was simply Jason Todd in a more family-friendly setting.
jb4280218: I have plans for Cinder, don't worry.
BrenRome: Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much. As for what Billy's name is going to be, that'll be a subplot of this arc.
Jinero: Umbrella would face the wrath of God as every single member of the Justice League devotes their attention on taking them down.
: They're coming, but I'm waiting for a chapter that centers around them as it'll be thematically appropriate. For Jaune, when he finally unlocks his Semblance.
That's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoy, and let us know what you think!