Bruce pulled up the car at the rendezvous point at a nearby airport. Diana was already waiting for us outside of her car. I opened the passenger door as Bruce and Barry also filed out.
"Where's the cyborg?" Bruce asked.
"Oh, my goodness." I heard Barry mutter under his breath. The four of us formed a small circle.
"His name is Victor. We met, spoke. Give him time." Diana reassured us.
"So he's a maybe." I stated. Diana nodded and then turned to Barry.
"You must be Barry. I'm Diana." She greeted and held her hand out.
"Hi, Barry. I'm Diana. That's not right. Great." I chuckled at Barry's nerves. Yeah, he's essentially like Spiderman.
Diana gave a smile before sighing, "So this is us." She stated as she looked at each one of us.
"Yeah, this is us." Bruce answered back with a sigh.
"Four out of six isn't bad. I'd prefer all six but we'll take what we can get." I stated as I crossed my arms.
"Oh! Awesome!" Barry pointed up at the sky. I looked up at the night sky to see the bat signal.
I let out a whistle, "Haven't seen that in ages." I said as I craned my neck up.
"It's the bat signal! That's your…oh sorry," Barry lowered his voice, "That's your signal. That means we have to go now." Barry looked like a kid on Christmas day right now.
"Yeah, that's what that means." Bruce mused. His and my eyes met and he raised his brows in mock surprise.
"It's so cool." Barry stated with a chuckle.
"It also means time to suit up." I informed him. I tapped my bracelet and the vibranium grew up my arm and surrounded the rest of my body. Barry's jaw dropped.
"Your bracelet just became your suit. How did you do that?!" He asked as he looked at me in astoundment.
"Long story." I activated the flight thrusters and the nano board grew under my feet. Bruce and Diana looked taken aback.
"That's new." Diana stated.
"You upgraded your suit." Bruce added as he stared at the new Voltess suit.
"Yup. Nanotechnology, pretty cool right? This was supposed to be my thirtieth birthday present from Tony. I got it five years late but it's the thought that counts." I said with a smirk on my face.
Barry's eyebrows went up in surprise, "Nanotechnology? That is extremely high tech. How does it even work and what is that on your belt?" He asked suddenly and pointed to the Arc reactor.
"This? It's called an Arc reactor. It powers the entire suit including the nanotech. Shorting out during a fight is a thing of the past for me now." I increased the thrusters slightly to gain more air, "You guys get suited up. I'll meet you there."
"You know who's going to be there right?" Bruce stated a rhetorical question.
I smirked under my mask, "Why do you think I want to get there first?" I knew Bruce was referring to Liam. I sent full power to the flight thrusters and took off towards Gotham PD.
Thunder crashed over head as lightning sparked across the sky. The wind had picked up and some sprinkling of rain joined it. The storm was beginning to roll into the city. I flew across the night sky towards the building ahead. I could see the spotlight light up the roof along with two men waiting. I could already make out both Gordon and Liam standing there.
The two men noticed me and both of them had the look of complete surprise on their faces.
"Long time no see, guys." I greeted as I hovered down to the roof.
"How? What? Mel?!" Liam exclaimed He looked completely taken back.
"It's a long story that I'll explain later." I assured him.
"Where is he?" Gordon asked me suddenly.
"On his way." I already knew he was referring to Batman, "How have you guys been?" I asked. I retracted the nanotech and my feet landed on the roof.
"Same old, same old." Gordon curtly replied.
Liam grinned and pulled out his phone, "Gordon's boring as usual." Gordon rolled his eyes. Liam pulled up pictures and showed me as my mask dropped down.
"Viv and I had our second kid last year." I took his phone from him and looked at the photo. The photo consisted of Liam holding a baby boy at a birthday day party. There was a '1' in the shot which made me assume the boy was only a year old.
"A boy this time?" Liam nodded, "Please tell me the kid's not a junior." I pleaded with him. I handed Liam back his phone.
Liam smirked, "Oh he is. Meet Liam Henry Martin Jr." He placed his phone back in his pocket. I let out a groan hearing the name.
"I am not calling the kid junior. I absolutely refuse." Liam let out a laugh.
"We've been calling him by his middle name mostly. Just to make it easier to know who's talking to who." Liam stated.
I shook my head, "Then what's the point of naming him after yourself?" Liam rolled his eyes at me.
"To try and start a tradition." Now it was my turn to roll my eyes at him.
"I told you she'd hate it." I looked up hearing Batman's deep synthesized voice. He stood on top of a statue as lightning sparked across the sky and thunder rumbled. Nice to know he still wore the high tech suit I made him.
Batman dropped down from the statue and landed next to me. Diana landed just behind me from a jump. Barry suddenly appeared beside us in a flash of lightning. Liam and Gordon stared at the other two in surprise.
"How many of you are there?" Gordon asked.
"Not enough." Batman responded curtly. Gordon held up a file to Batman to take. Batman took the file and I looked over his arm to see it. There was a sketch drawing in the middle that I could see how someone could see it looking like Batman.
"Dozens of witnesses all over Gotham." Gordon stated.
"The description matches the suspect in the Metropolis abductions." Liam added.
"From the sketch I'm seeing, I'm assuming people think it's Batman?" I asked. Both Gordon and Liam nodded.
"They've only been spotted at night and all eye witness reports say it's either a vampire or a bat." Liam stated.
I let out a huff, "That's not a good image." I muttered under my breath.
"They're called Parademons." Diana stated.
"Okay…" Barry said with a confused tone to his voice.
"The demons must have caught the scent of a Mother Box." Diana said as she faced us.
"At the lab." Barry followed up.
"They carried people away to find out what they know." Diana guessed.
"People that might have been around it." I stated to which Diana nodded.
"So the eight may still be alive." Batman assumed.
"Nine." Barry put a hand over his chest at the sudden new voice. We all turned around to see the cyborg teenager known as Victor stood behind us.
"Oh…" Barry said out of breath.
"The head of STARLABS was taken tonight." Victor informed us.
Him and Diana maintained eye contact as he approached us. A smile formed on Diana's face. So he decided to join up after all.
"Wow, okay. So, another scientist." Gordon managed to say after getting over his slight disbelief on seeing Victor.
"The question is where are they taking these guys?" I asked as I folded my arms.
"There must be a nest nearby." Diana concluded.
"Of course there is." I muttered.
"I plotted all the sightings in Metropolis, Gotham." Liam showed me the map of the two cities, "No discernable pattern I can see." He stated.
"On land." I turned my head to Victor, "These lead back to Stryker's Island, between the two cities." I turned back to the map and furrowed my brows.
Victor's right. On land the pattern didn't make sense, but underground…
"These are air vents," I spoke up "Athena, pull up the same coordinates on the map but show them underground." A map of the subway system between the two cities popped up from my control panel. The red markers on the map now showed a clear path.
"That is cool." Barry said as he pointed to the hologram map.
"All the markers lead down to this tunnel." I stated and blew up the image.
"That was a Metropolis project that was abandoned in '29." Batman informed us. He stared at the map before glancing at the rest of us.
"The nest could be there." Diana stated as the map disappeared. Liam and Gordon turned around and looked at Stryker Island from afar.
Barry leaned closer to Batman, "Uh, is he coming with us now, because we're not all gonna fit in your car." He whispered in reference to Victor.
"I have something bigger." Batman stated. I raised an eyebrow at that. What new toy from Fox did he get now?
"Do you really think that…" I turned my head hearing Gordon speak.
Liam paused before letting out an aggravated sigh, "I hate it when they do that."
An amused smirk formed on my face seeing that everyone except for Barry and I had vanished. Barry looked around startled.
"Oh, wow, they just…they really just vanish huh?" Barry asked and looked at me.
I nodded, "Yeah, you get use to it after a while." That was something I never really bothered to pick up on.
"Oh. That's rude." In a flash, Barry ran off. Only leaving a spark of lightning behind. He moved faster than the human eye could see. He reminded me of Pietro.
"You have so much explaining to do after this." Liam stated and pointed his finger at me.
I smirked as my mask formed back over my head, "Drinks on me then." The flight thrusters activated below me and I shot off in the sky as the nano board formed.
I jumped down from the platform of the Knightcrawler onto the floor of the abandoned subway tunnel. The tunnel was dark except for the light coming from the headlights of the Knightcrawler and the soft orange lights that led down the tunnel.
The Knightcrawler was incredibly massive. Fox had made it back in the day and was designed to be a highly mobile tank for the military. Like most of the vehicles that he designed for the military, they didn't want it because of how expensive it was. Fox got one back up and working again and of course, he made sure to repaint it black.
I walked forward slightly as I heard the others jump down behind me. Rats scurried across the floor and squeaked as they did so. My mask dropped down to my chin as I stared around the tunnel.
"They couldn't have picked a less creepier place to be their nest?" I stated. My voice slightly echoing down the tunnel.
"Well I mean, they are aliens. This seems right to me." Barry commented.
"We're close." I turned to face the others. Batman noticed an ID badge on the floor and picked it up.
"The scent of the enemy. Of absence. Darkness. Death." Diana continued.
I gave a wide eyed unblinking stare towards Diana, "Again…creepy." I stated.
"Where are we, Alfred?" Batman asked.
"Stryker's Island. You should be directly under the venting tower for the tunnel. Now look to your left," All of us turned at his instructions, "you'll see a staircase to the machine room. Athena's thermal scans show a cluster of people there."
"That's it. Let's go." Batman stated as he looked up.
I stared up at the tower as the others began to walk to the staircase that led upwards. I lowered my head and raised a brow seeing everyone calmly walk up the stairs. This is the exact opposite of how the Avengers would be dealing with this right now.
I looked back up at the tower and frowned. Wait a minute…can't Victor fly? Why is he taking the stairs? Well I for one am not taking the stairs.
The nano board appeared under my feet. I increased the thrusters slightly to allow me to gently fly up to the top of the tower. I hovered over the gap of the destroyed platform. I crossed my arms as I waited for the rest of the team.
I was beginning to question us as a team in general. Sure, I've been working side by side with Bruce for years now and I've teamed up with Diana once before. Out of all of us on the team Bruce, myself, and Diana had the most fighting experience. Barry and Victor were completely new to this. I'd have to find out how I could work alongside those two.
Barry would be difficult considering I couldn't see him move to begin with. Then Victor is a complete mystery in what he can do. I'm not sure if he even knows all that he can do.
The sound of footsteps clanging against the metal snapped me from my thoughts. I watched as Batman, Diana, Barry, and Victor stopped at the broken end of the platform.
"You guys took your time." I commented as I hovered in front of them.
"Not all of us can fly, Mel." Diana replied back. I pointed to Victor.
"He can." I said without missing a beat. Victor didn't reply. He remained stoic and just stared at me. Not much of a talker…alright.
"Right. Is there…is there a plan? Either of you?" Barry asked out loud.
My bad feeling about the team was getting worse. There was no clear leader of the team. Captain America was and still is, with Sam, as the leader of the Avengers. Here, I'm not too sure who it is.
"Don't engage alone." Diana finally spoke up taking charge, "We do this together."
Barry flashed past me and appeared behind me with lightning sparking behind him. I hovered over to the other side and my feet landed on the platform. I stood tall next to Barry and watched as Diana jumped over next.
"I heard about you." Victor finally spoke as he looked at Batman. "Didn't think you were real."
"I'm real when it's useful." I raised a brow. Even after twelve years some citizens of Gotham still believe Batman is made up.
Batman took out his grappling hook and shot it above him. He pressed the button and the grapple pulled him to the other side. His cape flared out as he landed on the platform. Victor then joined us by easily flying over. He stopped and stared at me.
"You I knew were real." He commented. I frowned and blinked slowly with confusion on my face.
"Glad to know?" I said with unsureness in my voice. I didn't know how to respond to that.
My eyes glanced over to Batman and he had an amused smirk on his face. Well he apparently found Victor's comment funny. We walked closer to the doorframe and Diana held her hand up as we neared.
"I grow tired of your silence. Now tell me, where is the Mother Box?" I ducked down with the others hearing a deep voice. My mask covered up my face once more knowing the fight was coming.
I inched closer until I could make out some type of alien holding up a man. The alien had something on the human that was broadcasting an image from it. I could hear chittering from the weird insect-like creatures surrounding the alien. I'm guessing those are the Parademons Diana mentioned earlier. How did people mistake them for Batman? They clearly resembled some mutated insects in my eyes.
"Please. We have families." The man begged.
"Then you have weakness." The alien stated.
"Steppenwolf." Diana muttered out loud. So that's this alien's name.
"Okay, I'm guessing that's the bad guy." Barry said and pointed to Steppenwolf.
"Good guess." Batman said sarcastically.
"I'm really, really missing Superman right now." Barry muttered.
I glanced back at Barry, "I've fought an alien ten times worse than this guy and there's no Superman where I'm from. We still won. We'll be fine." I assured him. Barry slowly nodded but had a lack of confidence on his face. This is what I was afraid of. His lack of experience is going to show through.
"Didn't you guys lose the first time to him?" I deadpanned under my mask as I slowly turned my head to Batman.
"Not helping." I sneered at him quietly.
"Circle to the other side. We'll surround them and surprise him." Diana instructed. Batman and I nodded our heads in agreement.
I looked back at Steppenwolf. The image broadcasting from the thing on the man's head began to show a box.
"You have been near a Mother Box. The scent is on you." Steppenwolf announced. This isn't good. He's getting more hostile. We needed to move but nobody had made an attempt yet.
"I don't know what you're talking about." The man pleaded.
"Where is it?!" Steppenwolf growled out.
I went to move forward but I was stopped when Diana placed a hand on my upper arm. I froze and looked at her. She shook her head at me, telling me it wasn't time yet. I gritted my teeth behind my mask. I was missing the Avengers right about now. We'd already be in there rescuing the hostages and taking on Steppenwolf.
"Leave him alone!" I turned my attention back down below. A man I recognized in the footage from Victor's meta-human file. That's Dr. Silas Stone. Victor's dad.
"He…he doesn't know!" Dr. Stone said out loud.
Steppenwolf threw the man he had his hand to the side and grabbed Dr. Stone. My eyes glanced at Victor as he walked by us.
"You carry the scent, too. But stronger." Steppenwolf stated.
"I will die before I tell you." Dr. Stone refused. Victor walked closer and I got into a ready position to jump in.
"You'll die if you don't." Steppenwolf threatened.
"No!" Victor yelled and flew down to save Dr. Stone. He pulled his dad free from Steppenwolf's grasp and destroyed the thing that was on his head.
"Victor." I heard Dr. Stone say in shock.
"Kill them both." Diana and I both sprinted forward. Her sword impaled one Parademon and I electrocuted the other one.
I hovered next to Diana as both of us tensed having the enemy surrounding us. This was not what was supposed to happen. This team needs a leader, desperately.
"Ah, Amazon." Steppenwolf said, looking at Diana. He then turned to me. "Hm. What are you supposed to be? An old god?" He questioned.
"Close. I got these powers from one." I stated. My eyes flickered to his axe that was embedded into the ground just next to him. Diana noticed it as well.
Steppenwolf narrowed his eyes on us, "This Amazon is not like her sisters. Stronger. And a demigod of Zeus." I scoffed.
"Try Thor." I corrected him.
Steppenwolf grabbed for his axe. Diana let out a cry as she immediately charged with her shield. I took off on my board to follow her.
I zapped a group of the Parademons as Diana threw Steppenwolf out into the tower. She used her lasso on the platform and pulled herself up onto the platform. I hovered just above her as more Parademons filtered in. Diana cut a couple Parademons as they flew at her. I electrocuted several as I dodged and weaved in the air.
"Amazon!" Steppenwolf growled out. He jumped over and Diana dodged the charge.
"Hold!" Steppenwolf announced. I kept an eye on the Parademons that began to back off.
"This one will be mine. Parademons, attack the demigod." Steppenwolf demanded. I looked behind me to see the Parademons that were in the room now headed towards me.
"Oh boy." I muttered. The nano board quickly moved to the soles of my feet. The thrusters went off as I dodged the dog pile of Parademons that tried to hit me.
"Guys, get the hostages out of here while they're focused on us!" I ordered Barry, Victor, and Batman below.
"Just for the record, this is not together!" I heard Barry yell. He has no idea how right he is. This is a mess.
I dropped down the tower and sent two bolts of electricity up at the swarm that followed. I twisted my body and activated the thrusters to shoot back up in the air.
I flew past the platform and I saw Batman standing on it now. He sent one Parademon down to the ground below. I canceled the thrusters as I landed next to him.
"Why aren't you evacuating the hostages?" I asked as I sent another bolt to a Parademon in the air.
"Barry and Victor are on it. I'm not leaving you alone to fight these things!" Batman held up his arm guards as they absorbed a blast from the Parademons blaster.
"Uhhh…are those the guards I was working on?" I questioned. I was stunned to see something that I had started to make years ago but never finished.
"They are, madam. Fox and I worked on finishing your creation. The energy is dissipating. They're working!" Alfred cheered from the comms.
Batman began to back up to get under cover. I hurled several more bolts of electricity at the Parademons that fired at me. The vibranium suit easily takes the blows from the blasters and transfers it into energy.
I gathered my palms together for a collection of electricity. I then sent the collective bolt of electricity and hit several of the Parademons before ducking for cover next to Batman. I held my left arm up as the Wakandian barrier shield popped up and blocked the several blasts from the Parademons.
"Celebrate later, Alfred. I need the Knightcrawler!" Batman exclaimed into the comms.
"Thought you'd never ask. Crawler's on the way. Initiating remote mode." I heard Alfred state.
The barrier shield took more hits from the Parademons blasters. The shield was holding up with no issue.
"That's new." Batman stated. He knelt down next to me as the shield blocked attacks for both of us.
"Yeah, I needed some defense. I spent some months in Wakanda upgrading my suit." I stated and kept my eye on Diana fighting Steppenwolf ahead.
"You never cease to amaze me, Mel." He commented and glanced at me from the corner of his cowl.
I heard the sound of something climbing up the wall. Perfect timing, Alfred. "Looks like your ride is here." I stated.
"Cover me." Batman stated as I stood up with him.
"Go!" I yelled and dropped the shield. I fired several bolts as Batman ran and jumped off the platform. His cape stiffened behind him and allowed him to glide down onto the Knightcrawler.
I activated my thrusters again and flew around the air knocking several Parademons out of the sky. Diana took a hit from Steppenwolf that made her drop her shield. Steppenwolf launched himself towards her but I quickly sent a stream of electricity on him.
"I don't think so!" I yelled and moved my hand to make him slam against the opposite end of the tower.
Steppenwolf glared and growled at me. He lunged towards me and I couldn't dodge in time. I tucked my body in and activated the shield just as he hit me.
I let out a grunt as my body slammed onto the platform below. Steppenwolf jumped up to the wall of the tower. He threw Diana down from the tower to land next to me. The Parademons opened fire at us but soon got blasted away by the Knightcrawler's weapons.
I felt the platform begin to move down as one of the Knightcrawler's legs squashed a Parademon on it.
"My turn." I heard Batman say from inside the Knightcrawler. The bullets fired on the Parademons and Steppenwolf.
Steppenwolf then charged from his spot on the wall down to the Knightcrawler. His axe went straight through one of the legs. I felt the platform completely give below me. The flight thrusters immediately turned on to keep me up in the air.
My eyes widened behind my mask seeing Diana and Batman still in the Knightcrawler. Steppenwolf was pounding on the glass of the Knightcrawler trying to get to Batman.
"Athena, send all reserve power to the thrusters!" I ordered.
"Got it." I felt myself take off in an instant. I shot my left hand forward and a stream of electricity surrounded Steppenwolf. I clenched my hand as I threw my arm to the side. Steppenwolf was launched to the other side of the tower.
I landed on top of the glass of the Knightcrawler and reeled back my right hand. Electricity crackled around my fist as I sent one strong punch through the glass of the windshield.
"Bruce, we gotta go!" I exclaimed and held my hand out for him to take. The Knightcrawler was falling to the ground and fast.
His gloved hand grabbed onto my armored one. I quickly activated the nano board and thrusters and kept a tight grip on his hand. The nano board extended outwards. Giving enough surface area for Batman to have his feet stand on.
The Knightcrawler fell below us as the thrusters on the board kept us in the air. My mask dropped below my chin as I watched with heavy breaths as the Knightcrawler crashed to the ground below. I heard heavy breaths come from Batman next to me. His arms were currently around my waist to keep himself balanced on the board.
I looked up at him, "You okay?" I asked breathlessly. His eyes stared at me through his cowl.
He gave a nod, "Yeah. I'm okay." He said gently.
"Master Wayne, madam are you both alright?" I heard Alfred's frantic voice over the comms.
"We're fine, Alfred." We didn't break eye contact as he spoke into the comms. I could hear a sigh of relief come from the butler.
"It's nice having a partner again." He stated to which I smiled at him.
"I always have your back, Bruce." I said back softly. He smiled under his cowl and I felt his arms hold onto me tighter.
The sudden and familiar sound of Diana's bracers being slammed together sounded below. That snapped both Batman and I out of our moment. She was still fighting Steppenwolf.
I directed the nano board down and hovered over the ground. Batman hopped off and fired his grapple gun onto a Parademon that headed for Diana.
The Parademon got launched backwards from the grapple gun. Electricity crackled on my fist as I flew forward and slammed my fist into its head. I heard the sound of rockets come from above us. I looked up as Victor went through the underside of the Knightwalker.
The vehicle suddenly sprung back to life as Victor took over it. "Relax, Alfred. I'll take it from here." I heard Victor say from the Knightwalker.
"Uh, do I know you?" I heard Alfred's voice speak into the comms.
Victor began to fire all ammunition over our heads and at Steppenwolf. Two missiles were launched at Steppenwolf. He deflected one with his axe and grabbed the other.
"Uh oh." I muttered seeing Steppenwolf look to the wall of the tunnel beside him. This was an underwater tunnel…
He released the missile into the wall before some kind of tracking beam shot down and took Steppenwolf with it.
"What are we under, right now?" Barry asked.
"Gotham Harbor." Batman whispered.
Water then burst through the cracks formed by the missile. Batman placed Barry's arm over his shoulder and started to help him get over to the Knightcrawler. I didn't even realize Barry got hit by a Parademon.
"We need to go before this tunnel gets flooded!" I yelled.
My mask formed over my head once more. I would need my oxygen mask underneath in case I went under. I was about to turn around but I stopped seeing what looked like a man in the water. I slowly started to back up as Diana did.
"Is that a person?" I asked as I kept my eyes on the figure. My question was soon answered when a man wearing armor and wielding a trident flew out from the water.
He rolled on the ground before turning around and slamming his trident into the ground. I watched in amazement as the water bent to his will.
"Who is that?" I heard Barry question.
This must have been the other guy Bruce had tried to recruit earlier but said no. Why did he change his mind?
"Mel! Get up here!" I heard Batman's voice yell from behind me.
"Diana get on!" Victor yelled for Diana.
The water came rushing in and Diana and I quickly ran for the Knightcrawler. I jumped up and Batman grabbed me by my forearm to pull me up. I held on tightly to the Knightcrawler as Victor began to control and started climbing up the wall as the water rushed in.
I felt a drain on my body as my lower half was submerged into the dark water below. Damnit, I was trying to prevent a short out. I felt my grip loosen on the Knightcrawler from the sudden drain of charge in my body. I about slipped off but I felt Batman's arm quickly got a vice like grip around my waist and his other hand gripping a metal bar on the Knightwalker.
The rushing water below us began to settle down. A sigh of relief could be heard from all of us. The hatch to the Knightwalker opened up and Victor took off into the air in some direction.
"Hey Mel, could you fly us out of this?" Barry asked.
I shook my head, "The water submerged my lower half. I'm shorted out now. I'm too weak to get all of us out of here."
"Alfred, are you able to remote in?" Batman asked.
"Systems are back online. I should be able to. Hold on tight." The Knightwalker began to climb up once more.
Well, I think we can consider this a loss. Not such a great job on our first team up. It could have gone a lot better if there was an established leader.
"You okay?" I heard Batman whisper in my ear. His vice grip on me kept my armored back against his armored chest.
I nodded, "Just tired. I'll be fine." I whispered back. Once I dried off, the Arc reactor should be able to fully recharge me. Until then, I felt exhausted. It's been a while since I've felt shorted out. It's a feeling that I do not miss.