I walked into the laboratory with Batman next to me. I was finally able to put the suit back once we got away from other people.
"It wasn't a bad idea. We needed Superman. We still do." I heard Diana say as we approached.
"Well, whatever returned, it isn't Superman. His body and powers, maybe. But it ain't him." Arthur argued.
"It's him. He recognized Lois Lane." Batman spoke up. Diana and Arthur turned to us.
"Who?" Arthur asked, confused.
"The woman he loves. He remembers her." Diana answered.
Arthur shook his head, "Nah. He went to her 'cause she wasn't afraid of him. It's called instinct, Diana." I frowned at that.
"That was not instinct. He remembered her. Getting Lois was the right call. That could have gone a lot worse if she wasn't there." I argued. Arthur turned to me and his pale eyes glared at me.
"So that's where you disappeared to? To get some woman in the hopes she'd stop Superman? Didn't you criticize Victor for doing the same lone wolf stunt yesterday? That's a bit hypocritical, Mel." My mask dropped as I glared back at Arthur.
"It was the right call, Arthur, and it worked! You're just sore because Superman wiped the floor with you and humiliated you. Yeah, I saw what happened back there." Arthur took two steps towards me. His hand gripped his trident tightly.
"At least I'm actually trying to help the team. I have yet to actually see you do anything. I've heard you talk some hot air but I've yet to see you back it up in actual fight. I've only ever seen you have to get your ass saved by him." Arthur gestured to Batman with his trident.
"You wanna find out exactly what I can do?" I asked dangerously and took steps towards Arthur.
"Guys…" Barry spoke up. His head moved back and forth between me and Arthur.
"Yeah, I do. Everyone else here has proven why they're on the team. You've yet to show why you should even be here." Arthur challenged. We both took another step towards each other.
"Enough, both of you." Diana tried to reason. The tension between Arthur and I was thicker than air. Barry, Diana, and Batman watched on tensely. All three of them were ready to jump in to stop us if something were to happen.
Blue electricity crackled around my hands, "Like you're one to talk. You stopped some water from flooding into a tunnel. Big whoop. What good are you in a fight when water isn't readily available to you? Not much considering how you got your ass handed to you. You're a fish out of water here." I taunted him back.
Arthur and I were now in each other's faces. His pale eyes and my icy blue ones gave each other piercing glares. Neither of us were backing down from the challenge from the other. A black gloved hand pressed on my chest and Arthur's and pushed us away from each other.
"That is enough!" Batman said firmly and looked between us, "We're on the same team. We should be focusing on finding Steppenwolf, not fighting each other. We only have hours until the boxes synchronize, Unity forms, we don't get there in time to stop it, the planet dies." Batman scolded us.
Arthur and I glanced at Batman before back at each other. Our piercing glares still held at the other.
"Fine." I finally uttered. Batman slowly dropped his arms but kept an eye on us.
Arthur grew a triumphant smirk, "That's right. Listen to your man. Back off." That's it.
In a blink of an eye, my electricity covered fist smack into Arthur's jaw. The impact sent him flying back against the ground.
"Oh my god…she just punched him." Barry muttered staring wide eyed at us.
Arthur glowered at me and he slammed his trident on the ground as he got up. The two of us were about to charge when I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist. Batman kept me back while Diana intercepted Arthur and held him back.
"Diana, keep him back." Batman instructed. I felt myself get pulled away by the strong grip of Batman.
He stopped at the end of the room and pushed me in front of him with his back to the others.
"You need to calm down." Batman stated. A stern look held in his hazel eyes.
"I don't need my abilities getting questioned by someone like him. He was asking to get punched." I sneered quietly at Batman. I knew the anger was still clear in my eyes.
A tiny smirk grew on Batman's face and a glint in his eyes, "I know. As much as I enjoyed watching that. I need you to try and play nice for me. We're facing down the possibility of the end of the world. I need you to focus." I took a deep breath and nodded.
"He knew," Batman and I turned, hearing Victor's voice, "He knew, knew, knew." He muttered as he walked around the empty glass chamber.
"Vic? What are you getting at?" I asked as I stepped out from behind Batman.
Victor turned to us, "He wasn't trying to destroy the box…he was trying to superheat it. He made the core the hottest thing on Earth outside of a nuclear reactor. Now, anything that hot would have to-"
"-blink off the charts on a thermal imaging system. Your father sacrificed himself to mark that box. We have to get back to my lab. Athena will be able to use the satellite to scan the Earth for thermal anomalies." Batman interrupted and finished Victor's sentence.
Barry looked taken back, "I'm sorry…you have a satellite?" He asked and gave an incredulous look to Batman.
"He has six, actually." I corrected with a smirk.
Barry stared at me and blinked, "Right…of course he does." He muttered.
"Let's go find the son of a bitch." Victor stated. Steppenwolf hasn't won yet.
"Wow! This is awesome!" Barry said in awe.
The elevator lowered down to the Batcave. I grinned hearing Barry's excitement. His eyes were completely lit up seeing the tech in the Batcave. Alfred turned around and looked taken aback at seeing the entire team.
"Brought some friends." Bruce informed the butler. He had his cowl tucked under his arm as he walked off the elevator.
"Welcome to the Batcave everyone." I greeted as I walked backwards. A smirk plastered on my face and my arms spread open.
"Oh, gosh, yes! Yes!" Barry cheered under his breath. I turned back around as we walked to Alfred.
"Everyone, this is Alfred. I work for him." Bruce teased Alfred and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Alfred." Diana greeted with a smile.
"Good day, ma'am." Alfred greeted her. He seemed taken back when Victor walked by him. He gave a polite smile and wave as Barry waved enthusiastically back at him.
"It's badass, Alfred." Arthur commented as he walked by us.
Alfred looked at me and Bruce with weary eyes, "Well, I'll put on the tea." He commented.
"Great." Bruce said with an amused smirk on his face. He was loving how flustered Alfred was right now.
"I don't know where we're gonna find the cups." Alfred muttered under his breath. He turned around and headed for the elevator.
"Hey, why's there a kid here?" Arthur called out and pointed his thumb over his shoulder.
Bruce and I immediately glanced at each other with a frown. Dick should be at school. Bruce had an annoyed expression on his face and began to walk. I followed right behind him. As we got closer, sure enough there was Dick sitting in an office chair by the monitors.
"What happened to school?" I asked and crossed my arms. I held a stern look on my face.
"School let out early today." Dick said but he looked off to the side.
"Don't lie to us." Bruce warned with a stern tone. Dick crossed his arms across his chest and sunk further into the chair in a pout.
I let out a sigh and turned around to the others, "We'll be right back." I informed them.
I gestured to Dick to get up. He huffed but complied. We walked to the other side of the room. I opened the glass door to the small office space of the cave. Dick walked in followed by Bruce then me.
"Sit down." Bruce told him firmly. Dick begrudgingly sat down on the chair. His arms still crossed and a frown apparent on his face.
Bruce set down his cowl on the desk and sat on the top. One leg still made contact with the floor while the other leaned on the edge of the desk. Bruce gave a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Dick, you can't keep cutting school. I know you find it boring, but this is non-negotiable. You're going to continue to go to school." Bruce said with a slightly defeated tone.
Dick's eyes glanced to the floor, "I know." He said quietly.
"If you know, then why did you do it?" I asked as I tilted my head.
"I didn't cut school…I got sent home." He muttered under his breath. I immediately frowned and Bruce and I shared a look.
"Why did they send you home?" Bruce asked, now concerned. Dick remained quiet and sunk further into the chair.
I walked over to Dick and kneeled down, "Dick, what happened?" I asked in a softer tone.
Dick's brown eyes met my blue ones, "I got into a fight." I raised my brows in surprise.
"A fight? How did you get into a fight?" I followed up with another question.
"It was during recess. We have a new kid in class. He gets picked on a lot. Today was worse. The school bully, Nathan, pushed him to the ground and started hitting him. I couldn't just stand by and watch. So, I did something about it." Bruce got off the desk and walked over to Dick.
Bruce kneeled down next to me. He raised one gloved hand and gently took Dick's face in his hand. His eyes carefully inspected Dick's face then his arms and hands.
"I don't see a scratch on you." Bruce commented and retracted back his hand.
Dick shook his head, "Nathan couldn't even touch me. I did what you taught me, dad." A proud smile grew on Bruce's face.
Bruce raised his gloved hand and ruffled the boy's hair, "I'm proud of you, son." He said softly. Dick looked at us puzzled.
"You guys aren't mad?" He asked.
I shook my head, "No, of course not. You stood up for someone that nobody else would. You saw something wrong being done and you did something about it." My eyes glanced over at Bruce.
"Your father and I do that all the time as Batman and Voltess. Has the school suspended you in any way?" I asked.
"No, but the principal told Alfred to schedule a meeting with himself and my parents tomorrow." I nodded. I began to lift my hand but stopped myself and lowered it back down. That didn't go unnoticed by Bruce. He gave me the same look he did last night.
I sighed, "We'll handle the school tomorrow then. You did nothing wrong as far as we're concerned, Dick." I stood back up at the same time as Bruce.
"Your m-Mel and I need to talk to our friends out there." I noticed Bruce catching himself, "Stay in here until we're done. You can use the computer here." Bruce instructed Dick. Bruce reached over and grabbed his cowl back.
"Okay." He answered. Bruce ruffled his hair one last time before both of us walked out of the office.
"Find anything?" I called out to the others as we approached them.
"The Mother Box is in Pozharnov. Ghost city not far from Moscow. It's been abandoned since the nuclear accident thirty years ago." Diana answered.
Diana gestured to Dick with her head, "Everything okay?" She asked in a quieter tone.
I let out a sigh, "He got into a fight at school." Arthur and Barry turned to us hearing that.
"Kid doesn't look like he got into one." Arthur commented. He leaned over to glance at Dick through the glass wall.
Bruce gave a proud smirk, "School bully was beating up a new kid. Dick couldn't just stand by and watch so he did something about it."
Arthur smirked and nodded his head in approval, "Standing up for the little guy. Nice. I respect that. If he hits as hard as his mother then I feel bad for the bully." Arthur glanced at me with the smirk still on his face. I smirked back at him. Looks like that punch knocked some respect into him now.
Barry pointed in Dick's direction, "Are you training him?" He asked Bruce.
Bruce gave a brief nod, "I am." Barry grimaced.
"So, the bully just got beaten up by the son of Batman. Cool." Barry muttered.
I let out a chuckle, "Let's get back on track." I said and gestured to the screens.
"Right, this place is going to be so radioactive that you grow an extra foot outta your neck." Barry stated.
"Not anymore. He's harvested the radiation to build his base." Victor argued.
"Zoom in on that building." Diana said and pointed to a building on the screen. Athena responded and zoomed onto the building.
"What the hell is he building?" Arthur asked, crossing his arms.
"The Unity's in there." Victor stated.
"Okay, so do we attack from above?" I asked with furrowed brows.
"Explosives won't separate the boxes, only strengthen their bond." Diana shook her head. Okay, then how do we go about this?
"What? So we can't blow it up?" Barry asked Diana.
"Not from the outside. I want to plug into The Unity, one-on-one. Fuse with it. Weaken its bond from the inside so we can break it back into three." All of us stared at Victor in shock. He was wanting to connect to these things to destroy them?
"No, you don't know what you'd be up against. You'd have to stream into The Unity by yourself. These boxes together are world destroyers. A billion years old. They'll get inside you and find your weaknesses and your fears, and use them to destroy you." Diana argued. Her body faced Victor as she spoke.
"Just get me in and get me time." He argued.
"You could die, Victor." Diana said sternly.
"If I don't, we all die. Period." Victor paused as the seriousness of the situation hit, "I got nothing left. You wanted me to use these gifts, right? That's what I'm gonna do." Victor's determined to play the martyr role…Vision did the same thing against Thanos.
"Okay. So…" We turned to Barry, "if Victor wants to try to save the world by fusing with the doom boxes, I say we put him in the doom boxes. But getting him in means attacking that base." My eyes turned to the computer screens.
"Fighting the devil and his army in hell." Arthur said and eyed Bruce.
"I mean, this guy's probably fought hundreds of thousands of other superbeings on other planets he's destroyed, right? And we have to assume he's won." Barry stated.
"I've seen an alien army like this before." I started off and kept my eyes on the monitor, "An army that had wiped out dozens of planets before targeting Earth. Led by a demigod that wanted so desperately to rule over the humans that he saw beneath him." I glanced at the team before me. Their eyes were on me.
"Earth's response was to gather up a team. Composed of some of the most extraordinary beings seen yet. A super soldier, a demigod, a man in an iron suit, two world class assassins, an enhanced human, and a really big angry green guy. Separately, we didn't stand a chance in defending Earth. But once we stood united against the enemy, we held off and beat the army into submission. The Avengers became a symbol to any other possible enemies outside of Earth. Someone could try and destroy our home but the Avengers would be there ready to defend it. If we couldn't protect the Earth, then you'd be damn sure we'd avenge it." I quoted Tony at the end.
I continued, "If my world was able to beat something like this thirteen years ago…then so can this one. We can do this." Bruce's lips formed a firm line. He looked at the team next to him with a serious gaze.
"Mel's right. I don't care how many demons he's fought in how many hells…he's never fought us. Not us united." All of us shared glances. Silently agreeing that this was something we had to do together as a team.