The alarm went off, the Watchtower's radar system detecting an incoming object. Superman had been resting his eyes, but the moment he heard the alarm, his eyelids snapped open.

Looking at the screen he saw a computerized image of the Watchtower, joined by one of the Earth on the opposite side. Between them was a red dot, one that was moving from Earth and to the space station.

It seemed a curious choice to him, but then, it was also unexpected. Just like the man that was surely onboard the space-faring vessel.

"John, Hawkgirl, to the hanger. We have guests," he announced over their comm link. Standing up from the chair he sat in, the Kryptonian left the Monitor Room. He didn't hurry, instead taking his time until he reached the hanger. Opening the door, he strode in, finding his comrades standing there as well, their profiles to him, their heads turned to regard him.

They didn't greet him; they didn't have to. They knew what was going on. Superman came to stand between them, facing the hanger doors. To his left was John, his arms crossed over his chest; to his right was Hawkgirl, one hand on her hip, the other lightly gripping the shaft of her mace as it hung from her belt.

It was several minutes before an alarm went off and the hanger doors opened. A black ship passed through them, the doors closing right behind it. The Batwing closed in on the three Leaguers, slowing to a stop as wheels descended from their hatches. The aircraft landed softly, the engine dying out soon after.

The roof of the cockpit slid open then and Batman leaped out of it, landing on the floor next to the flying wing. His cape slowly fell over him, hiding his body from sight. He took a few steps away from his jet, closing the distance between him and the three Leaguers, stopping soon after.

His face was as chiseled as stone. "Where's Diana?" he demanded, staring at them from behind the white lenses of his cowl.

"You have no place here, Bruce," Superman declared. "You are a wanted felon."

"Is that right? If that was the case, then how did my League access work?"

Hawkgirl shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "Because we didn't think you'd be stupid enough to come back here." She then glanced behind Superman's back, looking at John. "Looks like I owe you twenty bucks."

John just dropped his hands to his sides striding away from them as he began to circle around the vigilante. Hawkgirl copied him, sauntering a few steps, then coming to a stop. To make things equal, Superman followed in John's footsteps, but stopped so that Bruce was forced to turn his head to regard both him and Hawkgirl.

"What you're doing is wrong," Batman stated, doing exactly what they wanted him to. His head kept shifting back and forth as he glanced between the Kryptonian and Thanagarian. "You attacked one of your own."

"And how would you know that?" Hawkgirl spat back.

This time he fully regarded the winged woman. "Security cameras. The Watchtower has them throughout."

That wasn't something Superman liked to hear. Already he was eyeing the hanger in search of them. "Is that another one of your spying schemes?" he challenged. "You couldn't trust us enough to not watch us all of the time?"

He got the impression Bruce was raising an eyebrow from beneath his cowl at him. "It's basic security; most of them were here from when the tower was initially constructed and I added more when I refurbished it for the League's use. You would already know this if you had actually used the Watchtower's mainframe."

The bluntness and simplicity of the explanation annoyed the dark-haired man. Bruce knew just how to get under his skin and he was purposefully goading them now. No doubt he wanted to capture one of them attacking him on the security cameras. No wonder he had been so brazen in showing up here.

Yet...it would have been more advantageous if he hadn't told them about the cameras. So why did he reveal them? What was he up to?

"Why do you want Diana?" he asked instead. "So you can fill her with more of your lies?"

"So you can't fill her with yours." Bruce's eyes narrowed at him. "She doesn't deserve to be manipulated that way; the same way you manipulated them all in the future."

"We did no such thing," Hawkgirl shot back. "Everyone that joined us did so under their own volition."

"What choice did they have? Join you, or get lobotomized? Killed? How many people did you give those choices to? How many said no? How many did you retaliate against?"

"Just one," Superman replied.

Suddenly, a green blade erupted through Bruce's chest. The Dark Knight spasmed as he gasped, spit and blood flying from between his lips. Slowly he tilted his head down to stare at the sword, watching as his own blood dripped from its glowing edge. Then, he turned his head to look behind him.

Behind him was John, a green sword constructed emerging from his ring. The entire time, they had distracted the most paranoid man in the world, allowing the Green Lantern to get behind him and run him through.

"Thanks for telling us about the cameras," John told the dying man. "We'll be sure to take care of those once we dispose of you."

Bruce continued to gape at him. "You...you…"

And then, much to Superman's surprise, white beams fired from the vigilante's eyes, John taking them to the face. John cried out as he was blasted backward, his back colliding with the wing of the Batwing. The collision sent him flipping head over feet through the air until he fell to the floor, landing hard on his stomach.

Shock was on the Kryptonian's face, the same for Hawkgirl. What...what was going on here?

Bruce turned his head to regard the two, but as he did so, he began to grow taller, more muscular. His black came turned blue as red straps grew over his chest, crossing over each other midway. His dark costume turned green as the horns of his cowl shrank into his head.

J'onn J'onzz stood in Bruce's place then, the wound Lantern had caused was no longer there. His normally passive expression, however, was just as stony as Bruce's.

They...they had been played.

"Batman warned me," J'onn spoke then. "He warned me that you would try to kill him on sight. I hadn't believed him until now."

Superman clinched his hands into fists. Damn you, Bruce! Damn you! He had been expecting them to try and kill him, so he had sent J'onn instead. If J'onn had been on the fence before, he was now firmly convinced that the others meant the Dark Knight harm. What was worse was that they had played right into the Gothamite's plan with little to explain their true intentions.

"I will give you one chance to turn yourselves over," J'onn announced. "If you do not, I will apprehend you myself."

"You've got it all wrong," Superman protested. "Can't you see what is going on? You're being manipulated by Bruce! All of us are! He purposefully set you up!"

"And what action did I take that justified a killing blow?" the Martian countered. "The three of you came to this room fully intent on killing Bruce. It was only good fortune that it was me that received it." He then took a step forward. "I believe you have disregarded my warning. From this point forward, I will be using all of my power to bring you down.

"And you will learn that those powers are quite formidable."


The teleporter hummed to life. A bright light glowed from the plates on the floor before filling all of the empty space above it. Two figures appeared, each one standing on one of the round plates.

Batman immediately strode off of the teleporter, heading for one of the computer terminals. "We don't have a lot of time," he stated. "J'onn should keep the others busy, but we can't count on that lasting forever."

"Then I'll do a quick search of the Watchtower," Flash replied, stepping off the teleporter as well. Gone was his whimsical nature, instead a rarely seen serious side was on his face. In a red blur, he took off out of the room. As the wind from Flash's speed tugged on his cape, Batman reached the terminal he wanted and began typing on it.

First thing was first, he needed to locate the security footage of the ambush on Diana. He needed to see what had happened following the attack, where Lantern and Hawkgirl had taken her so that he could direct Flash there, and then they could get her off the satellite. This was a rescue mission and the faster they completed it, the better.

By the time he had brought up the footage, Flash was back. "I've checked everywhere," he reported. "I couldn't find her anywhere."

The vigilante turned his head to look at the red-clad man. "She's not here?" he repeated.

"That's right. The only place I didn't check was the hanger and—"

The room shook suddenly, causing the two men to stiffen. Together, they looked in the direction of the hanger, staring towards it through the wall, even though neither one of them had X-ray Vision. "Sounds like J'onn has his hands full," Flash remarked.

Batman returned his attention to the computer screen. He had a window open, revealing the image of Diana lying on the floor unconscious, Lantern and Hawkgirl standing over her. While this was something he wished he had done prior to coming here, the destruction of the Cave removed his supercomputer and his links to the Watchtower as a resource, so he couldn't view the footage anywhere else. With magic as inexact as it could possibly be, they had to make this trip. Hitting a key, he began playing the video.

For a few moments, they watched as Lantern and Hawkgirl stared at Diana, looked to each other, said a few things, and then stared down at her. Pressing down and holding the key, Batman sped up the footage, watching as Lantern used his ring to levitate the Amazon and then transported her down the hall.

His fingers began hitting the keyboard, opening up a grid of security footage, each square a different camera throughout the Watchtower. With all of the different views, it took some effort to begin locating where the three Leaguers would appear. He and Flash watched until they arrived in the very room they were standing in, Lantern loading himself and Diana onto the transporter, and then vanishing in light.

"Where the heck did they go?" Flash asked as he raised a hand to scratch the back of his head.

Already, Batman was bringing up the teleporter logs. Thanks to the security footage, they had a time to work off of and the dark-clad man began skimming through the logs until he reached the specified time.

Except there was no log of the teleporter being used then. Damn it, it must have been deleted, both the trip down and the trip back. It was as if it had never been used in the first place. "This couldn't be that easy," Flash muttered. "Now what?"

That was a good question. It was almost a shame they didn't have trackers on each of them, so they could—

"We check the GPS in her comm link," Batman said as he began typing once more. There was another tremor, this one coupled with a muffled roar.

"Better hurry, Bats," Flash urged. "I don't think they're in the hanger anymore."

A new window appeared on screen, a map of the Earth appearing. Immediately, it began closing in on the North American continent, then the United States. The Eastern Seaboard. The New England area.

Another tremor, this one stronger. "Do we have it yet?" Flash pressed.

"Almost," Batman murmured as he saw the image close in. "Get the transporter ready." The speedster darted to another terminal, preparing the machine for their departure. He could see Gotham now. But it wasn't quite there. It was on the outskirts…

Batman immediately closed the window, followed by all of the other ones. "Put in the coordinates G7607-S9131." He then headed over to the teleporter, standing on one of the plates. "J'onn," he mentally called out. Whether J'onn heard him was another matter. "We are leaving."

"And done," Flash announced as he hit a key. He then dashed over to the teleporter, coming to stand on a plate as it began glowing. "Where are we heading?"

The white light consumed them before he could answer, not that he needed to. Their location appeared before their eyes, a cesspool of stagnant water, foul odor, and green overgrowth.


Superman's eyes went red, immediately followed by red beams firing from them.

J'onn immediately darted to one side to avoid the Heat Vision. Out of every power present in the hanger, that one was his greatest threat. Turning so that he could see the beams pass him by, he saw them hit the doors to the hanger, leaving a singe mark where they had hit.

The hanger doors were designed to take stronger impacts than that, so there was no worry of a breach. Returning his attention back to Superman, he spotted Hawkgirl had taken to the air, flying right towards him as she held her mace at the ready. With his profile to her, he knew she was trying to hit him on his side.

The moment she swung her weapon, J'onn leaned back, stretching his torso as well. His head, shoulders, and upper body rose high into the air because of this, while his lower back and abdomen curved and arched, allowing him to dodge Hawkgirl's swing. Because of her momentum, the Thanagarian flew right by him.

But not too far. Shooting a hand out, he grabbed onto the ankle of one of her legs. While restoring his body back to its normal state, he began spinning around, pulling on his foe's leg and yanking her through the air. Angling his arm, he then swung the winged woman up before swinging her down onto the floor, a loud BANG! echoing throughout the room. Then he swung his arm up, hefting Hawkgirl off of the floor. Letting go of her leg, he sent her flying up into the ceiling, where she hit almost as hard as she had the floor. He heard a gasp of pain the moment she collided with it, gravity setting in as she began to fall back to the floor.

Taking to flight himself, J'onn crossed an arm over his chest, waiting until the perfect time. The moment it arrived, he whipped it across his body, nailing the dazed Thanagarian and sending her careening towards Superman.

Normally, the Kryptonian would have stayed in place to catch his comrade. This time, he jumped to one side before taking off into the air, racing towards the Martian. This left Hawkgirl to hit the floor once more, bouncing off of it as she skipped like a rock across it and towards the wall.

J'onn paid her little mind after that, his focus on the charging Kryptonian. He led with both of his fists out in front of him, cape billowing behind him. J'onn bided his time, taking into account Superman was certainly using his superspeed to close the distance between them rapidly. He then opened a hole within his body, making it wide enough that Superman flew right through him. Immediately, J'onn went transparent, and then invisible, filling the hole in his body back.

Turning around, he watched as Superman slowed down enough so that he could fly in an arc through the hanger, turning back to face him. He stopped the moment he realized he couldn't see the Martian.

"I know you're hiding," the Man of Steel declared as he began to squint his eyes, his natural blue irises becoming a fainter blue. He must have been using his X-Ray vision to try and locate him. It was a good idea as J'onn's body might have been invisible, his internal organs and bones were not.

So he charged. Using his own speed, one he calculated was on par with Superman's, he closed in on the dark-haired man just as his eyes looked in his direction. J'onn rammed into the Man of Steel, knocking him out of the air. Arms wrapping around him, J'onn forced his opponent across the hanger until they hit the wall, causing it to form a large dent right where the Kryptonian had hit it. He could feel a tremor shake throughout the satellite from the impact.

Pushing himself off of Superman, J'onn pulled back a fist and then slammed it down on the man's face. He then drew his other and did the same. Back and forth, he sent punch after punch into the Kryptonian, pounding him deeper into the crumpling metal wall.

And Superman was helpless to stop him. Though the Kryptonian's superstrength was second to none, J'onn's came a very close second. It was believed that Diana's strength was second in the Justice League's, but J'onn was certain he could overpower her if the occasion arose. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

"Got him." The thought came suddenly. Immediately searching for it, J'onn detected that John Stewert was back on his feet and had a good angle on his back.

Delivering one last punch, J'onn then shot high into the air. A moment later and a green energy beam slammed right into Superman, the man crying out from the attack.

Keeping his flight, J'onn began to circle the hanger, turning his attention to the Green Lantern. John Stewert was not deterred from his first miss and incidental friendly fire. Over and over, he fired shorter green beams, each one hitting the hanger wall behind J'onn.

His eyes glowed orange then. Mentally he sent the equivalent of a hand slap, one strong enough to cause the Green Lantern to flinch. "Gyah!" he yelped as he winced.

And then the Martian used his superspeed, rapidly closing the distance between him and the Lantern. Leaning with his shoulder, he rammed into the man, the force of the blow sending him sailing backwards through the air, crying out as he did so. John Stewart only came to a stop when his back hit the wall opposite the one Superman was in, bouncing off of it, and dropping to the floor.

J'onn slowly lowered himself to the floor, landing on his feet. He eyed John Stewart as he laid on the floor. He could sense the man was stunned, which hopefully would last long enough for him to—

"Haaaaaaa!"

Jerking his head to one side, all J'onn saw was the spiked head of a mace just before it slammed right into his face. His head immediately blew apart into, sending liquidity pieces flying in all directions.

And then he stopped them, drawing back his splattered head and reforming it until it was whole. He focused his attention right on Hawkgirl as she stood a short distance away, a murderous look on her face as she held her mace in front of her, keeping it low.

She was panting, as if she had exerted herself far more than she should have. "How the hell are you this strong?" she demanded.

"I have always been," J'onn told her simply. "Unlike the rest of you, I restrained myself. It is an attribute I find you and the others have foregone as of late."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you knew what we had lost," she growled.

"You are referring to the death of Flash," he said, which startled the winged woman. "I am quite aware of what set you on this dark path, but it was the wrong decision then as it is the wrong one now."

Electricity began to dance over the head of the Nth metal mace. "Try telling me that once I've scrambled your insides!" she roared.

And then she took off flying towards him. However, it wasn't his front that was attacked as a fist suddenly slammed into his check. Caught off guard, it was J'onn's turn to go flying through the air. He would have continued until he hit a wall had he not felt a tug on his cape.

Looking down, he saw a fist coming, one he was unable to stop as it nailed him in the face. Head jerking back, he refused to close his eyes so that he could see his new attacker. He spotted Superman drawing his back, reading to punch him again.

Somehow, the Kryptonian had managed to pull himself out of the hanger wall and attacked him without his knowledge. He must have used his superspeed to outrun his own thoughts so that the Martian couldn't detect him.

That was of little concern now. As Superman threw his fist again, J'onn shot an arm up, blocking the blow. Immediately, he called upon his Martian Vision and fired white beams right into Superman's eyes.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" the dark-haired man cried out as he jerked both of his arms to his face. Drawing his raised arm back, J'onn enlarged it, his skin changing into a metallic surface. He then swung his large, metal fist forward, nailing the Kryptonian and sending him flying right into the floor below. A loud clanging sound echoed throughout the room from the blow, causing a ringing sound to fill J'onn's ears.

And then Hawkgirl was in front of him, swinging her mace as she shouted her war cry. Instinctively, J'onn moved his metal hand in front of him, catching the mace with his palm.

A moment later and the mace's electricity ignited. The surge shot down his hand and arm, searing into the Martian's body. J'onn let out a cry of pain from the voltage. It only stopped when he changed the composition of his hand back to normal. And then he changed it again.

This didn't stop Hawkgirl as she drew her mace back. "Have another!" she cried as she swung it again, this time aiming for his chest. The mace hit and sank into his body, embedding itself there. Electricity crackled over the weapon's head.

But unlike last time, J'onn didn't cry out. He just stared at the Thanagarian, who seemed stunned by this turn of events. "How?" she couldn't help but ask.

"It isn't difficult to change the composition of my body into something that inhibits electrical current," J'onn answered. "Like rubber."

He then leaned his head back and then threw it forward. Stretching his neck as well, he slammed his head onto Hawkgirl's, stunning her. Drawing a leg back, he then swung it forward, landing a kick that sent her sailing backwards through the air. She ended up hitting the wing of the Batwing, clipping it as she ricocheted off of it.

The next attack came from his back. He heard the sound of it, causing J'onn to spin around. He was just in time to see a green construct rushing towards him, one that formed a battering ram. He took the construct head up, but the force it had hit him with picked him off of the floor, forcing him through the air.

J'onn grunted, but it wasn't anything too much for him. Tilting his head to one side to see where he was going, he saw he was heading right for the dented crater he had hit Superman into. Feeling himself picking up speed as he closed in on, he knew he wasn't going to be able to avoid what came next.

He felt his back hit the wall; he felt the wall cave in; and then he was no longer in the hanger.


It was a tried-and-true Gordanian tactic to use celestial bodies to hide themselves. The most preferred and reliable were moons. They had used asteroids before and in one dubious case a comet. It was a tactic that worked since all detection systems could not find their ways around these spherical rocks. The Citadel had incorporated it into its military strategy, making it standard operating procedure for ambushes or planetary invasions.

Reflecting on this tactic was all the Psion could do. He had a name, but none of the Tamaraneans were keen to learn it. These lesser lifeforms with their emphasis on strength and brutality were so underwhelming and banal. Yet, he was at their mercy and until circumstances changed, he would have to follow whatever orders he was given and accept any succor offered.

It was humiliating. Snatched from his lab and dragged into one of the most isolated storage facilities the Citadel possessed, and all the while being dragged, shoved, and abused. It was an insult that he had to endure this. Being dependent on others to be fed, or even allowed to engage in biological elimination processes, was galling in and of itself.

However, to see this marvel of technological ability provided a salve for his injuries. He hadn't believed he would ever see it again. Not after that prince locked it away because he had no further use for it then completely forgot about it. Another example of brutishness and intellectual shallowness. In hindsight, he shouldn't have been surprised since it was the Citadelian Royal Family involved

That didn't matter, he told himself. What mattered was that now he was at the controls of this machine, guiding it to whatever destination the Tamaranean Grand Ruler desired. After so long, someone had a use for it. Someone wanted its power. It was coincidence, or serendipity if you were a member of the myriad of lesser races in the galaxy, that he was kidnapped for the purpose of finding and reactivating it.

He could recall the day the orders came in, a demand for him and his fellow Psions that were allied with the Citadel to build a device capable of recreating whole environments and changing whole ecosystems to reflect a new ecological order. It was a challenge worthy of only a Psion's mind and it was a challenge he had embraced. It was a matter, of course, that they would succeed, though he was denied being able to witness the fruits of their scientific labor, that honor awarded to another.

There would be other times, he had assured himself at the time. Once that prince saw what this marvel was capable of doing, obviously it would be used again and again. Except it wasn't and the denial still stuck.

Now, the very prospect of using it once more was too tempting to offer even paltry resistance. He would take the abuse thrown his way, but he would show these inferior creatures just how powerful the mind of a Psion was. Their intellect, their drive for understanding, and their ability to make the impossible possible was never to be underestimated.

A sharp beep alerted him to a message. With meaningless facial expressions betraying his thoughts, he responded to the message.

"Scouts have reported a vessel has arrived at the Earth satellite. We've also detected multiple energy signatures. Commence entry into Earth's atmosphere."

So short, yet so informative. Blackfire had told him, along with the rest of her fleet, to wait for her orders to move. Now, it was time to act. The defenders of this planet were distracted and thus would not be paying enough attention to notice their infiltration.

Not bad for a lesser lifeform. Also, typical for lesser lifeforms.

Not bothering to give a verbal response, the Psion activated the engines. With as massive a machine as this, you needed a way to maneuver it, even in the recesses of the galaxy.

The dark sight of the planet's moon began to move, and soon the blue visage of their destination edged into sight. So many whites, browns, and greens off-setted the blues, and it looked so ugly to him. Why such a mishmash of colors? How it was able to support any life was a question worthy of scientific inquiry.

The Psion was not in any position to investigate it. So he continued with piloting this masterpiece of technology to the planet before him.

Soon, it would know the power of the World Engine.

Soon, all of them would know.


Smoke filled the hole J'onn had formed while bursting through the wall. It gave way as a bright green aura flared menacingly. John floated through the smoke, one arm dangling at his side, his ring hand held out in front of him.

The Martian was slumped against a wall in the hallway they found themselves in. His legs were splayed out in front of him, his broad shoulders slumped. J'onn raised his head wearily to look at him.

John didn't hesitate. Stretching his arm out, multiple beams fired simultaneously from his ring, closing quickly on their target. The beams pierced through green flesh, J'onn crying out as he was speared all over his body. His left shoulder, a couple in his abdomen, one in each thigh and calf. One arm was jerked back, pinned to the wall behind it. Blood began to leak around the green constructs.

"You're finished, J'onn," John announced. "Give up, or die."

Orange eyes flared as the Martian glared at him. "I refuse!"

"Die it is."

The green beam constructs currently emerging out of his ring like a flower in bloom before they sharply changed course and stabbed into J'onn. This left a small space at the center, which clearly revealed the Green Lantern Corp symbol. That vanished as green energy began to glow.

John then fired it, a beam shooting forward before forming a trident. Its forked prongs descended onto J'onn impaling him in the chest as he cried out.

A smirk formed on John's face. A thought occurred to him and it seemed rather apropos. Another beam of energy flowed from his ring, snaking out around the other constructs, forming an S. Its head stared towards J'onn before it enlarged, its base widening as its nose stretched out. Soon, a drill bit appeared, one that immediately began spinning.

Batman and J'onn had issue with his use of this construct on Girder. Let's see how they felt when it was used on them.


J'onn stared up at John Stewart, who hovered within the hole he had created when he had been forced out of the hanger. Orange eyes were locked on the Lantern, glowing brightly before they dimmed.

The moment John Stewart had emerged from the smoke, the Martian had launched his telepathic attack. At the moment, his former ally was consumed by a world in which he held the advantage, one he had certainly taken advantage of. He could feel the maliciousness through the mental link, something he didn't like.

Pushing himself up, J'onn continued to stare at the glazed over eyes of the Green Lantern. Conceivably, he could keep this up forever, so long as their link wasn't disrupted. Of course, he wasn't in an ideal environment for that.

Case in point, Superman suddenly appeared behind John Stewart, resting a hand on his shoulder. "John, what's—" he began before he cut himself off. Immediately, the Kryptonian scowled at the sight of J'onn.

"You've done something to him," the dark-haired man growled as he—surprisingly—gently pushed John Stewart to one side so that he could move around him, placing himself between his ally and the Martian. "Undo it, now."

In response, J'onn's eyes glowed orange, but he did not do as ordered. No, he drew Superman into his own world, one in which J'onn complied and both he and the Green Lantern pummeled him. That was two of them dealt with. That just left…

A new hole suddenly ripped open, though this one was closer to the floor than the one J'onn had passed through. The hole was small, but not for long as its edges were forced open with several hits of a mace. Hawkgirl emerged through the hole, a look of fury on her face the moment she spotted him.

Unfortunately, trapping Hawkgirl within her own mind would not be quite as easy as Superman and John Stewart had been. Thanagarians, it seemed, had evolved to resist telepathic intrusion. That lesson had been learned during the Kalanorian Invasion. However, his strength and various powers should more than enough allow him to defeat the winged woman.

"Haaaaa!" Hawkgirl roared as she launched herself at him, her mace drawn back to her side. She swung her weapon the moment she was within striking distance, a blow J'onn easily avoided as he twisted to one side. Hawkgirl flew right past him, flaring her wings out so that she slowed her flight.

However, the moment she spun around, she didn't charge at him again. Instead, she held a hand up, a small device in it, a smirk on her face. J'onn frowned at the sight before he realized the Thanagarian was looking at him, only her gaze was not on his face, but lower.

Looking down, he spotted another device attached to his belt, one end of the cylindrical object flashing red over and over. Hawkgirl must have placed that there when he avoided her mace attack.

That was when Hawkgirl pressed a button on the device she held—a detonator, he quickly realized—and the bomb on his belt exploded into flames.

J'onn screamed as he was flung backwards through the hallway, flames eating away at his green skin, turning it black. He hit the floor, skidding across it, his large hands smacking at his abdomen over and over to put out the flames. He had to put it out! He had to put it out! Please, let him put it out!

Pain seared through him with every slap he made, but thankfully he put out the flames. He could smell the charred skin from where he had been burned. It was then he realized how loud he was breathing, panting actually.

He also realized that he no longer felt the minds of Superman and Green Lantern in his head.

Glancing up, he saw the two League members shake themselves out of their respective stupors. Each one looked to their left and right before spotting the Martian. "Mind games," Superman spat out. "How dare you, J'onn?!"

The moment the Krptonian's eyes went red, J'onn acted. His whole body went translucent and he sank into the floor. Passing into the corridor below, he actually fell through the air, barely catching himself as he clumsily landed on his feet. Taking a breath, he tried to calm his panicked mind. The flames from Hawkgirl's bomb had incited his primal Martian fear of fire, which had led to him losing control of the mental worlds he had trapped his other opponents in. That had been a stroke of genius on Hawkgirl's part.

A whirring sound suddenly filled his ears and J'onn found himself jerking his head to look up at the ceiling. A red-and-blue blur drilled its way through the ceiling, descending into the hallway. About midway down, the blur slowed down, revealing Superman, who instantly charged him. The Kryptonian had acted so quickly, J'onn didn't have a chance to defend himself as he took the brunt of the man ramming into him.

The two men went flying down the hallway, picking up speed all the while. J'onn felt his back collide with a wall, one that gave away immediately, and he was once more careening through open air. He recognized the open area of the central pillar that allowed the Watchtower to spin, creating gravity. There were several areas visible, such as the observatory at the top, the room the entire League had been first teleported to when the satellite was revealed to them, and—

His back hit the central pillar, though this time he didn't burst through it. Instead, the entire satellite violently shook from the collision.

Then came Superman's fist. Blow after blow rained down on the Martian, beating him down. Had he been of weaker substance, J'onn had no doubt he would have been rendered into a thick paste.

"I won't!" Superman shouted as he slammed another fist into him. "Let you!" Another punch. "Betray us!" Another blow. "Again!"

J'onn gritted his teeth as he finally prepared to fend off the raining blows, but discovered that Superman stopped himself. The reason became apparent when he saw his opponent's eyes glowing bright red.

Immediately, J'onn shot both of his hands up, one grabbing onto the underside of Superman's chin, the other onto the back of his head, fingers buried into dark hair. He forced Superman's head up just as he unleashed his Heat Vision, the beams firing up towards the ceiling of the Watchtower.

However, the Kryptonian refused to be denied so easily. Already, J'onn could feel incredible strength pushing back against him, the dark-haired man's hands grabbing onto him as his head stubbornly forced itself down, bringing the Heat Vision beams with it. The beams were drawing down the central pillar, leaving black singe marks in their wake.

NO! J'onn did whatever he could to prevent being burned once again. He pushed back against Superman's head, slowing the man's progress, but not enough. Something had to give and it ended up being Superman as his head suddenly jerked to his left, taking the Heat Vision with it.

The red beams cut through walls, fires erupting from the gashes left in their wake. The edges glowed red and yellow from the heat they gave off. The beams were jerked back and forth, J'onn pushing Superman's head back up and then to the right as the man still fought to incinerate him.

He couldn't keep this up, not forever. J'onn could feel his strength weakening as he strained. Something was going to give and he feared it would be him. He had to do something. Something! Even now, he could just make out Superman's pupils through the Heat Vision and they were looking right at him, his face twisted from exertion.

J'onn's eyes glowed white and he didn't hesitate as he fired his Martian Vision point blank at his foe's head. Superman cried out as he was blasted backwards, gratefully ending his Heat Vision.

Unfortunately, the Kryptonian didn't go too far, the man beginning to hover in midair a short distance away. John Stewart and Hawkgirl joined him on either side, the three staring the Martian down. "You can't keep this up forever, J'onn," Superman proclaimed, rubbing the back of his face against the corner of his mouth. If there had been blood there instead of scorched marks, he would have wiped it off.

Yet, he was right, J'onn could not deny this. He was beginning to weaken and his mind was still panicked from being burned. The fear he still felt had only increased during Superman's Heat Vision attack, robbing J'onn of his strength. It wouldn't be long now. History was repeating itself.

That was until a bright light erupted behind the three League members, causing them to immediately spin around. "Now what?" Hawkgirl gripped.

The light, however, began to take shape, one of a large ankh. A figure emerged from it, one J'onn gratefully recognized as Dr. Fate.

The mage held his hands out at his sides, palms up, his cape billowing behind him. It was hard to tell where he was looking due to the helm he wore.

Suddenly, one his hands shot out, pointing right at Hawkgirl. A faded blue light flowed from his hand, washing over the Thanagarian as she instinctively raised her mace. However, the light claimed her and she flinched backwards, frozen in midair unable to move.

That was when the symbol of the ankh on Dr. Fate's chest glowed brightly. Suddenly, a beam of yellow magic fired out, blasting Hawkgirl, and sending her streaking through the air. A pain scream came from the woman until she hit a wall out of sight of J'onn due to the position of the central pillar as he leaned against it.

"Shayera!" John cried out as he watched his comrade fly away. Dr. Fate took advantage of this as he teleported himself, suddenly appearing right next to the Lantern, albeit his waist was at the dark-skinned man's eye level.

Dr. Fate stuck a hand out, the movement causing John Stewart to jerk his head back, finding himself staring into the mage's palm. "Begone!" he proclaimed before unleashing an all-consuming magical blast.

Green Lantern's body went stiff as he was enveloped by yellow light, his eyes rolled back into his skull, his face frozen in a silent scream. Finally, the force of the attack slammed into him and John Stewart was sent careening towards the bottom of the Watchtower, slamming down into it was a loud BANG!

Superman launched himself at Dr. Fate then, throwing a punch at him. His blow didn't land, not the way he intended, however. A sparking blue shield erupted in front of Superman's fist, stopping it before it came close to hitting the mage.

"Who are you?" the Kryptonian demanded as he stared at his new foe.

Dr, Fate turned his body to fully face the dark-haired man. He held up both of his hands, an ankh forming between them. "The Harbinger of Fate," the mage intoned in answer.

Suddenly, the small ankh symbol enlarged until it was the size of a man. Dr. Fate thrust his hands forward and the ankh launched forward, slamming right into Superman. He cried out as the magical symbol carried him away through the air.

Dr. Fate did not wait to see what happened with the Kryptonian as he winked out of thin air, reappearing next to J'onn. "You have done your part," the mage told him, taking one of J'onn's arms and placing it over his shoulders, moving his arm around the Martian's back. "It is time to withdraw."

"Very well," J'onn agreed. Behind the two, the symbol of a large ankh appeared, its soft glow washing over them. They both drifted backwards into it and the Watchtower vanished from view.


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