Disclaimer: The Justice League and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics Inc., a subsidiary of the Warner Bros. Global Brands and Experiences division of Warner Bros. I own nothing except the plot of this story.
Also, please know that there will be numerous callbacks to Star Wars and that this will likely be the longest fanfiction story I will write. Hope you all enjoy the action, the adventure, and the true heroism that comes with it!
Chapter 1: A Bad Start to Summer
2014 A.D.
It had been four years since the Justice League had succeeded in bringing Lex Luthor to justice and crippled the Injustice League, resulting in more than half of its members in maximum security prison and their allies on the run. Of course, the Justice League had received another round of commendations and were cutting crime rates lower on a daily basis. Even their protégés were getting more involved in the League's work, eventually forming teams of their own on the side. Little did any of them know that their work was about to bring them the fight of their lives and the world would stand on the brink of disaster.
...
METROPOLIS
JUNE 12, 8:30 EDT
It all began in Metropolis as summer vacation was just around the corner. As usual, the city began its day with nothing to worry about for the time being. Clark Kent was on his way to the Daily Planet, having seen Kara off to Metropolis High School. He hoped that today would go uneventfully and he wouldn't need to worry about his cousin ending up in danger, and for while, it seemed that he would get his wish. Clark checked into work and immediately typed up the morning news about several new grants made to the Metropolis Welfare Center. After a brief meeting with Perry White over coffee, he met up with Lois and they headed downtown to get the scoop on Mayor Fleming's reelection campaign.
While Mayor Fleming gave her next speech of the week, Clark was getting down notes about everything the mayor was saying and also adding the evidence of what he had seen over the past few weeks concerning her efforts to benefit Metropolis. After a while, the mayor was ready for questions from the Press, and Lois took the opportunity to ask first.
"Madam Mayor, do you suppose that with Superman bringing crime rates in Metropolis to the lowest they've been in years, the police force and the SCU will eventually have little funds from the city?" Lois asked.
"Heavens, no, Ms. Lane," replied Mayor Fleming. "The state government has promised to provide funds to our city's hired police force to continue handling the protection of our fair city. Nevertheless, we in Metropolis are all grateful for the aid of any citizen in preserving the peace, so how could we possibly forget the multitude of services that our beloved town hero Superman has done?"
Lois smiled and said, "It certainly seems you've still got it where it counts concerning our citizens."
She and Mayor Fleming shared a bit of a laugh, and then the mayor finished her speech with a promise of dedication to Metropolis while Lois rejoined Clark in the crowd. While they were taking notes on Mayor Fleming's speech, Clark said, "Mayor Fleming is certainly on a roll in this campaign, eh, Lois?"
"I'll say," his colleague and significant other replied. "She's certainly not taking anything lightly and giving everything a once-over before requiring an approach." Then Lois asked, "So, are we on for a dinner date this week?"
"Of course. Does Friday sound good?"
"Yes, Clark. Absolutely."
The two reporters continued to write up until Mayor Fleming finished her speech, and then everyone gave her a standing ovation. But while the rest of the crowd applauded, Clark began to get the unpleasant feeling in his gut that something was wrong. He used his super-hearing to detect any indications of trouble and was met with screams of fear mingled with explosions. Without wasting a moment, he kissed Lois on the cheek and said, "I have to leave, Lois. My other job calls."
"Good luck, Clark. I'll cover for you while you're gone," replied Lois.
With that, Clark dashed away and hid himself in an alley for a moment. A few seconds later, he reappeared as his true self: Superman, protector of Metropolis. He took to the sky and began searching for the cause of the disturbance with his telescopic vision, and that's when he saw it: a giant levitating machine the size of a suburban house was making its way through the streets, blasting everything in its sights with beams that seemed to flicker like flames. Luckily, no lives were lost- at least not yet, but Superman had to move fast before it came to that as several buildings had been severely damaged and the Special Crimes Unit was fighting back but to no avail.
The Man of Steel flew toward the mechanical monstrosity and struck it hard. The machine was knocked one hundred meters into the sky, then began to hover back toward him. As it did, Superman managed to get a good look at it. The machine's hull was composed of dark metal that was almost pitch-black, and it was accented with glowing red power couplings. The body of the device was circular and bore three large cannons arranged in a triangular formation.
Superman had no idea what this machine was designed for, but it didn't matter at the moment. He hit it again and again, then tried blasting it with his heat vision and freezing the cannons with his freeze-breath. The machine staggered from each blow it took, but when Superman moved to attack it from behind, it simply turned and fired its lasers at him, knocking him into a skyscraper.
Superman's invulnerability saved him, but he was taken completely by surprise at the force those beams packed. He could even feel the beams' sting lingering on his chest, and this told him that he could do with some help. Superman pressed the comlink unit he had placed in his ear and said, "Superman to Kara. Time to get into your suit. We have a major emergency in Metropolis' downtown area."
Superman resumed his pummeling attack on the enormous machine and managed to avoid its returning fire. He was hit occasionally, but fought back to prevent those deadly lasers from causing any further damage. Just when he felt his work was cut out for him, he heard a girl's voice shout from above, "Hey, rustbucket! Try and pick on me for a change!"
Sure enough, Superman's bold and beautiful cousin- Supergirl- had arrived on the scene to help out. Unfortunately for her, the machine moved away from Superman and headed towards her. Supergirl bravely flew in for the attack when she received a laser blast full in the face. Superman flew after his cousin and caught her before she could hit the ground. The machine advanced on the two Kryptonians when it suddenly turned and moved away from them. Superman and Supergirl were totally confused when they saw the cause for the machine's change in attention. Superboy; Superman's teenage clone, had arrived to help out as well, and somehow his presence alone had drawn the attention of the mechanical horror.
Supergirl was confused and asked her older cousin, "Why did it go for Superboy, Kal?"
To her surprise, Superman understood the machine's behavior. "It's not after anyone else in the city, Kara. It's designed to seek out Kryptonians."
"We have to stop this thing and fast."
"And we'll do just that."
With that, Superman and Supergirl flew at the machine while Superboy kept its attention. He threw abandoned vehicles at the machine to slow it down and then began pounding its metallic form with as much strength as he could put into his blows. In moments, the three Kryptonian heroes were knocking it around like a soccer ball, blasting it with heat vision, freezing it with super-cold breath, and throwing objects at it to damage it as best they could. Superman and his allies fought valiantly, but somehow the machine just refused to give up. Then Superboy had an idea.
"I've got it. If we can combine our power, we may be able to stop this thing," he said.
"Right," agreed Superman. "We'll try our heat vision again. But this time, you two focus your energy where I aim."
Once again, Superman blasted the machine with his heat vision. Supergirl and Superboy did the same and focused on the point where Superman was staring: the center of its body. The tactic worked brilliantly, for the hull of the destructive machine began to glow with warmth for a minute or two, and then the center of its form began to turn white-hot from the searing heat. Finally, the metal gave way and began to melt under the stress. The insulation of its internal wiring overloaded, causing the wires to short-circuit from the heat. A second later, the main engine caught fire and the machine exploded in a raging fireball before it crashed to the ground in a smoking heap.
The citizens of Metropolis cheered for Superman, Supergirl, and Superboy as the fire department arrived to put out the flames from the wreckage. Members of the press immediately got to the scene, Lois being among them. The first question the three were asked was if they considered Lex Luthor possibly doing this as revenge on Superman for putting him and the majority of the Injustice League in prison. Superman said, "I don't believe so. This machine was clearly not powered by Kryptonite, nor did it use it against us. I think we're dealing with something equally dangerous, if not more so, than Luthor."
Then Superman contacted his colleagues on the Watchtower to notify them of the situation. "Superman to Justice League. Supergirl, Superboy, and I just took down a dangerous machine of some sort that was causing havoc in Metropolis. It was clearly designed to go after Kryptonians, not necessarily general targets. We need some members who know much about technology down here to find out what this thing is and who built it."
Batman's voice replied over the comlink, "Will do, Superman. Batman out."
...
A short time later, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Atom were in Metropolis observing the wreck of the device that attacked that morning. After a number of analysis scans and energy observations, Atom said, "I'm not familiar with this tech, but it appears to be a weapon programmed explicitly to destroy Kryptonians using the highest degree of pain possible."
"Okay. But where did it come from?" asked Supergirl.
"From what my ring gathers, the circuitry is clearly not from LexCorp," Green Lantern observed. "In fact, no company or lab in any country can make tech this advanced. It has to be from outer space."
Superman and his younger compatriots exchanged worried looks. If the device was alien in origin, then an invasion was very likely around the corner. Superboy asked, "So we've established that it's not from Earth. But what I'd like to know is: why build a device that targets Kryptonians instead of showing off the usual destruction package?"
"Think of it logically, Superboy," Batman said deeply. "Who would hold a grudge like this against Superman?"
Superman and the others thought for a moment. Then Superman put two and two together: the black-and-red color scheme, the intense pain from the lasers, and the fact that it went for Superboy when he and Supergirl were down.
"Darkseid."
APOKOLIPS
JUNE 12, 13:15 UTC
On the border of the physical universe, the desolate planet Apokolips orbited around the unknown star of its system, burning like a dark star in the peaceful expanse of outer space. Beneath its sulphurous clouds, in the ominous palace at the center of the planet's single encompassing city, the despotic Darkseid was awaiting a report on the initial step of his invasion from the one man on Earth who had turned his back on his own world in favor of achieving power.
Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim had been growing more nervous by the day ever since Darkseid announced his latest plan to conquer Earth and add our civilization to the many that had been broken into enslaved peoples, stripped of their will, and worked almost to death for his pleasure. He had lately seen more of his lackeys in Intergang end up punished for failing to carry out Darkseid's orders: they were either flung into the planet's natural fire pits or set upon by Darkseid's Furies or even obliterated with an Omega Beam from the ruler of Apokolips himself. It was horrible even for Mannheim's love of causing harm, and since the device meant to kill off Superman and his fellow Kryptonians had been his idea, Mannheim had been hoping to avoid having his name added to Darkseid's "late employee" list.
Mannheim entered the throne room of the palace and approached the tyrant of Apokolips, trembling as he looked into Darkseid's stony face. Mannheim had good reason to be afraid, for at eight feet and nine inches tall, with skin like rock and fiery red eyes, and his whole form rippling with muscle, Darkseid was truly terrifying to look at. He rose to his full height, making the light in the room reflect off the blue armor around his head, shoulders, and chest. Then Darkseid spoke in a deep, rumbling voice, "You bring news of the first phase of my operation, Mr. Mannheim?"
At first, Mannheim was afraid to say anything, but then he openly admitted, "Darkseid, sir, I'm sorry to say that the Persecutor the boys and I built wasn't enough to give Superman a dirt nap."
"What do you mean by this?" Darkseid rumbled.
"Superman wasn't alone, like you warned us," Mannheim went on. "That hot cousin of his and that blasted kid clone showed up and helped him. They melted the Persecutor's insides and it went up in smoke."
Darkseid let out a disgusted growl at this. He knew that Superman could not be defeated with a single blow, but it aggravated him no end to learn that even the weapon that Bruno Mannheim and Intergang had built was not enough to bring the defender of Metropolis down. Seeing the disapproval on his master's face, Mannheim said, "I know you don't tolerate failure, Darkseid. But I promise you it won't happen twice in this plan."
"I can be sure of that," replied Darkseid, his face now forming a mirthless grin.
Mannheim was still like a cat ready to pounce, then turned and bolted for the palace gates. Sadly, that was exactly what Darkseid expected. He stared hard, and his Omega Beams shot from his eyes like red lightning. In a flash of frightening red light and a spontaneous combustion of flesh and bone, Bruno Mannheim vanished with a scream.
"Mortals," the Apokoliptan tyrant grumbled. "So incompetent, so weak-minded. They are only fit to grovel at my feet."
"Certainly so, great Darkseid," came the voice of Desaad, the Minister of Science and chief torturer of Apokolips. "But if I may make a suggestion, perhaps a more discreet method of preparing our invasion of Earth would more than make up for the human's failures."
"I'm listening," Darkseid said coldly.
"We can allow our forces to pour into Earth by having our Father Boxes planted in secret locations on each continent of their planet," Desaad explained. "If we plant them underground in places where neither the common humans or their so-called heroes can find them, we will overwhelm both of them altogether, and any and all resistance will crumble."
Darkseid smiled coldly at this cunning suggestion and said, "Summon Granny Goodness and the Furies to me. They will go to Earth themselves to carry out the second phase. This time, the Earth will belong to Darkseid, whether the humans know of it or otherwise."
THE WATCHTOWER
JUNE 12, 14:00 UTC
The Justice League gathered for an emergency meeting on the Watchtower concerning the machine that Superman and his two allies had taken down that morning. Once all Leaguers were in the conference room, Superman spoke first.
"Everyone, it's time to break the news to you all," he said. "The League has confirmed that the machine that laid waste to Metropolis was Apokoliptan in origin. Darkseid is doubtlessly planning another invasion of Earth, and I will not risk him harming innocents on our world again. We must face him and his forces if Earth is to be kept free."
Everyone nodded and murmured assent, but then Batman said, "It will not be an equal battle if we do."
The others in the room looked at Batman like he had just laughed, and Green Lantern inquired, "What are you talking about, Bats? There's more of us now than the last time we faced Darkseid as a team. We beat him before, and we can do it again."
"That was different, Hal," answered Batman, using Green Lantern's real name to get the point across. "In that battle, Darkseid brought only a handful of his army to fight us, and even then, their numbers were only enough to get us out of his way. If I know Darkseid, he knows that the League's membership has expanded and he will try to overwhelm us to break the spirits of the people of Earth."
The members of the Justice League all considered the poignancy of Batman's statement and soon realized that he was right. If the weapon that tried to stop Superman was only the beginning, then the danger would only worsen. Vixen spoke next and asked, "If a worldwide invasion is going to be such a problem, why don't we just cut them off at the source?"
"Going to Apokolips to prevent Darkseid's army from coming altogether would be disastrous," Batman replied severely.
To everyone's surprise, the person who supported Batman's explanation was Captain Marvel. He said, "He's right. Apokolips is the Underworld in outer space, crawling all over with death traps and guarded by soldiers and machines designed only to kill. Darkseid is strong enough to go one-on-one with Superman and he's got an army so big it could cover the world in just a few hours. The thirty of us wouldn't stand a chance."
"Even the armies of Themyscira and Atlantis combined wouldn't be enough to counter Darkseid's armies at full force," said Wonder Woman. "But we have to fight Darkseid. There's no chance of reasoning with him."
For the first time ever, the Justice League was stuck between a rock and a hard place. With an army as big as Darkseid's, they couldn't risk defending Earth without likely dying in the attempt. And if they stood by, then Darkseid would take the world on a whim. However, while everyone was mentally debating what could be done, Superman had an idea.
"If we can't fight this threat alone, then we're going to need an army to defeat an army," he said. "And we can start by bringing our protégés up here to prepare them for what's coming."
The others thought this was a good idea, but some like Flash, Martian Manhunter, Zatara, and Black Lightning were concerned about bringing their apprentices into a battle for Earth this big. After all, their protégés were also their relations. When Flash asked Superman if he was sure about it, Batman spoke up for him and said, "They're ready."
And so the vote to bring their protégés in on this matter was unanimous. Batman patched a message through to the Teen Titans, who were the closest allied team to the Justice League, and then to the Outsiders. When the younger heroes responded, the League briefed them about the threat Darkseid posed and instructed them to meet with the Justice League at the Hall of Justice. However, the Justice League knew that simply adding numbers to their ranks wouldn't be enough. The League was also planning to contact the government, and while matters were being taken care of to ensure the safety of the world's citizens, plans were being made to upgrade Earth's defenses to go one-on-one with Darkseid's armada with the help of a former rival.
A/N: I hope you all liked the beginning of this new Justice League story. For those of you who are curious about who else is in the Justice League and which of their protégés are going to help them, don't worry. They'll be revealed in later chapters. Chapter 2 will be up pretty soon.
