Disclaimer: My oc's are mine. Justice League belongs to DC.


Chapter Eight: Legends never die.


"I reject your reality and substitute it for my own." -Adam Savage


A giant metallic green robot with four eyes was attacking Metropolis. Green Lantern had been knocked out, Hawkgirl was bashing the robot with her mace, with little effect, and Flash was dismantling parts of it at super-speed. Harpy's fireballs just bounced of the robots thick armor, so she was flying around it, trying to find a weak point, unfortunately, she got knocked out of the air before she could. Hawkgirl and J'onn hit the ground moments later.

Superman ripped a hole in the robots back, giving Batman an opening to throw a bat-a-rang, which hit the robot's power reactor. The reactor overloaded, causing large bolts of electricity to shoot out. The robot fell backwards, threatening to crush the downed heroes. Flash used his super-speed to create a whirlwind that kept the robot from crushing his friends. He went faster and faster, until there was a bright light and suddenly Hawkgirl, Flash, J'onn, Green Lantern, Harpy, and the robot, all vanished.


Harpy groaned as she woke up. She was next to the remains of the robot. Around her Hawkgirl, J'onn, Flash, and Green Lantern were coming around as well.

"Did we win?" Flash asked.

"I'm not sure." G.L responded.

"Superman! Batman!" he called.

"Where did they go?" Hawkgirl asked.

"Perhaps I can contact them with…" J'onn was obviously going to use his telepathy, but as soon as he activated his powers he cried out and collapsed. Hawkgirl and Flash caught him.

"Easy big guy. Are you alright?" Flash asked in concern.

"I'm fine. Forgive me." J'onn said as he stood up.

"The others can't have gone far. Let's fan out and find them." Lantern suggested.

After splitting up with the group, it only took about a minute of flying for Harpy to realize that Superman and Batman hadn't gone anywhere. They had.

"I'm in hell." Harpy mumbled after landing on the roof of a building and staring at the street below. "No it's worse. I'm in the 60's." she said in despair. She turned in head toward the sky.

"What did I do to deserve this!" she cried. "Is this about the bridge? Come on, no one got hurt… well no one put a few pigeons and a Politian. But come on, do Politians really count as people?" she waited a few moments, staring straight up at the sky, before finally turning away.

"Screw it. I'm going back to the robot." she muttered as she took off.

Now Harpy fully intended to go back to the robot, but the sound of fighting drew her attention. She arrived at the town square to find her teammates fighting a guy with Green Lantern's powers, a guy wearing a football helmet who had Flash's powers, a girl dressed kind of like Black Canary, a guy dressed like Batman, but without the cape and with a cat on his chest, and a guy in a yellow shirt with a blue "T" on it who's powers seemed to come from his belt, and they were spouting off cheesy one liners that wouldn't have been out of place in a 60's comic book.

Harpy stared at the scene for a moment.

"Oh, I get it. The Joker got me with the chemicals again." she said.

The fight ended when Flash saved a kid from some falling rubble. Apparently, "No one who would risk his own life to save another could be evil." Harpy could argue with that, but decided not to as it would be counterproductive and Hawkgirl and Green Lantern would probably get mad at her, and the two of them angry together is almost as scary as an angry Batman.


The other team, the "Justice Guild of America" took the Justice League to their headquarters.

"Please, make yourselves at home." the guy in the football helmet said. Flash immediately made himself comfy in a nearby armchair while the Justice Guild sat down at a table with there emblem on it.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves. Justice Guild: Roll Call." the football helmet guy ordered.

"Catman"

"Black Siren."

"Green Guardsman."

"Tom Turbine."

"The Streak."

"Uh, yeah." Green Lantern began, "I'm Green Lantern, that's Flash, Hawkgirl, J'onn J'onz, and Harpy."

"And this is our Justice Guild, Junior Justice Guildsman, Ray Thomas." The Streak introduced a blond boy in a red sweater vest.

"When I grow up, I'm going to be a crime fighter." Ray said enthusiastically.

"So long as you remember to eat right and stay in school." The Streak said.

"J'onn, if you're listening, I want you to kill me… … …damn it." Harpy thought.

J'onn suddenly collapsed. Hawkgirl caught him.

"J'onn what's wrong?" she questioned.

"A sudden dizziness. So strange." J'onn answered.

"Nothing a tall, cold glass of milk won't cure." The Streak stated.

"I think I have some freshly baked cookies too." Black Siren put in.

"Let's let the men talk." she said to Harpy and Hawkgirl.

"They can talk all they like." Hawkgirl responded. Harpy just sighed.

"Would you excuse us for a sec?" Green Lantern said as he pulled Hawkgirl away from the others so he could talk to her. When she came back Hawkgirl asked Black Siren "So you fight crime and bake cookies, how do you do it?" with a forced smile. Harpy followed them into the kitchen.

She helped put cookies and glasses of milk onto serving plates, but avoided conversing with Black Siren. It wasn't that Harpy didn't like her, it was just the overwhelming sense of wrongness that she got from the entire Guild that made her want as little to do with them as possible.

After the cookies had been served, Tom Turbine took the League down to his basement-lab.

"I have a theory on how you came to be here. As an expert on nuclear, I have long hypothesized that there are an infinite number of parallel dimensions, each containing it's own planet earth. Each earth occupies the same location in space, but vibrates at a different speed. Flash, the energy blast you absorbed caused you to match the vibration rate of our earth." he explained.

"Close. But not quite." Harpy thought.

"So he created a tear in the dimensional barriers that brought us here." J'onn stated.

"Well that's accurate at least." Harpy thought.

"Hey it was an accident, okay!" Flash protested when he saw everyone staring at him.

"But this still doesn't explain the Justice Guild comics I read when I was a kid." Green Lantern said.

"Perhaps the creators of that comic had a subconscious link, what they thought was merely imagination was a psychic memory of the Justice Guilds real exploits." J'onn said.

"I couldn't have put it better myself." Tom agreed.

"Fascinating. But how do we get back to our world." Hawkgirl inquired.

Tom walked past her and pulled a sheet off of a large red ring that appeared to have giant light bulbs screwed into it.

"I've been tinkering with a trans-dimensional gateway." he explained.

"Cool. How does it work?" The Flash questioned.

"Unfortunately, I have been unable to harness a suitable energy source to power it." Tom informed the League.

"Harpy. From what you've told us, your people use Tran dimensional technology all the time. Is there anything you know that could help us?" J'onn asked. Everyone looked at her expectantly.

Harpy sighed. "I'm not supposed to talk about it with outsiders." she mumbled.

"Surely your people would make an exception if it meant getting you back safely." Tom implored.

Harpy thought for a minute, then sighed. "Alright. Here's what I know. First off, your theory was good, but not accurate. As far as we know, there are no universes that occupy the same space as another universe. They occupy the space next to other universes. You see, universes are like soap bubbles. There's a thin barrier separating the universe bubbles from one another. Sometimes the bubbles will try to occupy the same space at the same time which cause stuff to leak through the barrier, but that's very rare as universes don't move around much. In this instance, all that happened was a tiny hole was created between two universes, allowing some stuff, er us, to get through, before closing back up." she explained.

"Now as for power…" she continued, "I don't think the system that's used to power the Gate will work for this."

"Why not?" Tom asked.

"Well… all we need this to do is open a hole to next to the next universe over. The Gate, makes holes in dimensional barriers and pathways so you can get to universes beyond just what happens to be next to the universe you're currently in." Harpy stated. At her teammates disappointed looks she said "It's for the best anyway. The fuel takes about a hundred years to stabilize before it can be used safely."


Shortly after the League and Tom Turbine emerged from the basement, the doorbell rang. The Streak answered it.

"Sergeant O'Shaughnessy. To what do we owe this honor?" the Streak said upon finding two police officers at the door.

"Sorry to drop by unannounced, but we received this letter down at the precinct. I rushed it over here as fast as I could. Not as fast as yourself of course." The Sergeant said, handing the Streak a letter.

"Well for someone without superhuman speed, you did just fine Sergeant, thanks." the Steak stated. The police officers left and the Streak turned back toward the League and the Guild.

"Jeepers, what does it say?" Ray asked.

The Streak read the letter. "To the Justice Guild. Prepare for our most fiendish plot of all. A crime spree based on the for elements of the ancient world. Fire, air, water and earth. Catch us if you can. Dastardly yours, the Injustice Guild."

"That's supposed to be fiendish?" Harpy thought incredulously.

"What kind of criminals tip off the authorities?" Hawkgirl asked.

"The worst kind. I doubt there's enough good between the four of them to care for a wounded puppy." Green Guardsman

"Justice League. We need your help." the Streak declared.

"You can count on us." Green Lantern stated.

"Ray. The decoder rings." the Streak instructed.

Ray went and retrieved a box an alcove behind a bookcase.

"We don't have time to induct you with a proper ceremony, but consider yourself honorary members of the Justice Guild." the Steak said as he presented the League with rings that had the JGA insignia on them.

"I don't believe it. You could order rings just like these off of the back of the old comic books." G.L said as he took his.

"We should spilt into teams if we're to have any hope of defeating the Injustice Guild." the Streak suggested.

Flash zipped over to stand next to Black Siren.

"Let's just go with the person on our left." he said. He turned to Black Siren. "So I guess it's you and me, huh?"

"Can I come? Can I? Can I?" Ray asked excitedly.

"I would hesitate to put the boy in harms way." J'onn stated. He was ignored.

"Sure thing little buddy." Catman said.

"Oh boy." Ray exclaimed.

"I'll remain here a work on the trans-dimensional gateway. Getting you home is of equal importance." Tom Turbine stated.

"Thanks." G.L said.

Green Guardsman held open the door for Hawkgirl and Harpy. "Ladies first." he said.

"Right." Hawkgirl said tensely.

Harpy followed her without saying anything, she still didn't like the Justice Guild. But couldn't figure out why. Green Guardsman followed them out. The three took off a headed for the Museum of Flying.

When they got there the glass roof shattered and an old plane flew out.

"Yes. My hunch about the air crime was dead on. Music Master was after that priceless antique flyer." Green Guardsman stated.

"I'll stop him!" Hawkgirl exclaimed as she flew forward, brandishing her mace.

Green Guardsman used his ring to stop her.

"What are you doing!" she shouted.

"We can't destroy that plane. It's an irreplaceable piece of our nations aviation heritage." Green Guardsman explained.

"Then how do you suggest we stop him?" Hawkgirl asked him.

"By using our wits." he answered.

"You two go left. I'll cut him off." Hawkgirl instructed.

"Remember about the plane." Green Guardsman said.

"I'll be gentle." Hawkgirl replied as she flew off.

Harpy and Green Guardsman managed to get in front of the plane.

"Halt. In the name of justice!" Green Guardsman as he made a giant hand with his ring and attempted to snatch the plane out of the air. He missed. Hawkgirl's appearance caused the plane to do a loop, before diving so that it was flying between buildings. The wing snapped a rope on a scaffold that was holding two window washers.

"Steady the scaffold, we'll go after the plane." Hawkgirl said to Green Guardsman.

"I can't. My ring has no power over aluminum." he answered.

"I'll get them." Harpy called as she dove down to catch them. After she had saved one the second rope broke, causing the scaffold to plummet. Green Guardsman caught the other window washer, and the scaffold hit the sidewalk.

"Stay here." Harpy muttered as she took to the air in pursuit of Music Master.

That didn't work out so well. She got hit by a blast from his accordion. She hit the ground hard, and managed to roll over onto her back before she passed out. Her last thought before she slipped into unconsciousness was "This is humiliating. Who wants to say they got knocked out by an accordion?"


When Harpy woke up, she was aware that she was laying in dirt. She opened her eyes. She was laying in grass. The feeling of cold particles of dirt had been replaced by the feeling of grass tickling her skin. She closed her eyes again. Old advice from her training now in the forefront of her mind.

"Your eyes can play tricks on you, making you see what's not there. You have power over heat, and therefore can sense what actually is."

The exercise in itself was harder then it sounded. The point was to ignore your other senses, and only feel the heat in your surroundings. Everything in the world has heat, even if it doesn't seem like it. This is because heat is created by the motion of atoms and molecules. The only time atoms and molecules aren't moving is at absolute zero. So sensing heat was a problem. Ignoring the other sense was. Harpy's brain was wired to receive visual information in order to interpret her surroundings. She wasn't a snake. Thermal imaging was hard to interpret if the only equipment you had to do so was your own brain. She could still do it. Hours of training had assured that, it just took awhile, and the fact that she hadn't practiced in a while didn't help matters.

She managed to pull it off after a few minutes, but it took a few more minutes for the shapeless globs of energy to make sense. Once she was able to interpret the information she began to analyze her surroundings.

She was defiantly laying in dirt. The only grass present were in sporadic dead clumps. Hawkgirl was nearby, looking at a grave, and she could feel the warm bodies of the townspeople not to far off… Warm bodies. That's when it clicked. The reason Harpy didn't like the guild is because they had no heat, like they weren't even there. And the buildings, they were harder to sense because they weren't alive, but harpy could tell that they weren't shaped right and… her concentration was broken by Hawkgirl attempting to wake her.

"What is it?" Harpy asked as she sat up.

"You need to see this." Hawkgirl answered as she directed Harpy to some graves.

The five headstones had the names of the Justice Guild members on them.


"It's true. I saw the graves." Hawkgirl stated. She and Harpy were now outside of the Justice Guild headquarters, trying to convince Green Lantern and J'onn that the Justice Guild that they had been interacting with wasn't real.

"But it doesn't make any sense." G.L said as he watched Green Guardsman having a conversation with the Streak inside of their headquarters.

"You know what else doesn't make sense? They don't give off any heat. At all. So either they're not real, or their body temperature is absolute zero." Harpy said.

"We're in another dimension, maybe you just can't" G.L tried to reason but was caught off by Harpy.

"After Music Master knocked me out, I concentrated. I could sense the heat signatures of the townspeople, so no, being in another dimension isn't affecting my powers at all." she snapped.

"No. I won't believe it." G.L said before flying off.

Harpy and Hawkgirl flew after him, while J'onn stayed behind to wait for Flash.


When Harpy and Hawkgirl arrived at the graveyard, John was crouched in front of the Green Guardsman's grave. "You were right. They're gone. All of them." he said as he stood up.

"Then who were those people back at the mansion?" Hawkgirl stated.

"I already told you. They're not real. Actually, I don't think the town is real either. The buildings, they're not right. What I see doesn't match what I sensed earlier but my concentration was broken before I could pick up what was wrong." Harpy explained.

"If it is an illusion, then who's making it, and why?" John asked.

Harpy shrugged. "Maybe we should ask?" she suggested.


The first person they came across was the ice cream man. John stopped him.

"What can I do you for folks?" the man asked.

"What can you tell us about those graves on the hill?" G.L questioned.

"Sorry, I've got to finish my route, can't keep man customers waiting." the man said.

"What customers. I noticed you before. You never stop." G.L said.

"Business has been kinda dead." the man stated.

"When's the last time you actually sold any ice cream?" G.L inquired.

"Please. No more questions, he might hear you." the man whispered.

"Who?" G.L demanded.

"I can't say anymore." the said quickly, before speeding off.

"Curiouser, and Curiouser." Hawkgirl commented.


They went to the library for more information. They entered the building to find it empty and dark. Green Lantern pulled a book off a self and opened it. It was blank. He began pulling more books of the shelves.

"They're all useless." he growled.

"Let's check the newspaper archives in the basement." Hawkgirl suggested.

"Right." Lantern agreed.

The light down the basement stairs didn't work, so lantern used his ring to light the way. He opened the door and found a brick wall.

"Why am I not surprised?" G.L asked rhetorically.

"I've had enough." Hawkgirl exclaimed before bashing the wall with his mace.

They walked through the hole. Hawkgirl flipped an emergency power switch. Lights came on an revealed a wreck subway station subway station.

"Must have been an earthquake or something." Green Lantern commented. Harpy frowned, she could see bullet holes in the subway cars.

"No these are battle scars." Hawkgirl stated.

Lantern found an old newspaper. The headlines said "Peace talks break down" and "War Near." "You're right, and look at the date." he said.

"That's about forty years ago." Harpy stated.

"The same date as the last Justice Guild comic." G.L explained.


The three went back to the Guild's mansion, were they waited for them to get back. When the Guild did arrive, Ray was talking animatedly about their most recent fight. He quieted as soon as he saw Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and Harpy.

"Some friends." Flash said. "It's a good thing that the Justice Guild was around to save me." he stated.

"They are not the Justice Guild." Green Lantern declared solemnly.

"Say what?" Flash asked confusedly.

"You heard me. They are not the Justice Guild." Lantern repeated.

"How can you say that?" Ray asked.

"This is a serious accusation young man, explained yourself." The Streak commanded.

"No. You explain this!" Harpy snarled as she thrust forward a newspaper.

"Justice Guild killed in Battle." the Streak read.

"It's a hoax. Some kind of sick joke." Ray exclaimed.

"It's no joke. The real, Streak, Tom Turbine, Green Guardsman, they're all dead. I've seen their graves." Green Lantern stated sadly.

"He can't be serious, can he?" Black Siren said, an edge of fear in her tone.

"I don't know, it sounds fantastic but" the Streak was interrupted by a ringing phone. He dashed over and picked it up. "Hello."

He listened for a moment before saying "We're on our way Sergeant." He hung up the phone and turned to address everyone.

"We're needed downtown." he stated. He and the Justice Guild went to leave but Green Lantern used his ring to create a barrier to stop them.

"We're not done here." he stated.

"But Seaboard City needs us." the Streak protested.

"Haven't you noticed that nothing here makes sense?" Lantern asked. "Library books with blank pages, ice cream trucks that never stop." he continued.

"Dangers that spring up whenever someone get's to close to the truth." Hawkgirl added.

"What truth?" Green Guardsman asked.

"That this town isn't real. It's nothing but a memory of a city that was destroyed by war forty years ago, when they Justice Guild died for this earth." Harpy explained.

"That's why they stopped publishing the comic book in our world. No more Justice Guild." Green Lantern said.

"And anytime someone starts to figure things out" Hawkgirl began.

"Nuns and dynamite." Flash finished. Harpy gave him a funny look.

"If what you say is true, who or what is creating this illusion?" Tom Turbine inquired.

"I suggest you ask Ray." J'onn stated.

"Ray?" the Streak questioned.

"Why would I know anything?" the boy asked, trying to come off as innocent.

"Because you are the source." J'onn answered, grabbing Ray by the shoulders. His eyes began to glow as he forced Ray back into his true form.

"Noooo!" Ray cried as he began turning into a deformed creature with a large head and uneven limbs wearing tattered clothing.

"You ruined it! You ruined everything!" he exclaimed, sending a mental blast that caused J'onn to go flying backwards.

The roof shook as a robot that looked like an oversized child's toy ripped a hole in it.

"That's it. I officially want to go home." Flash said.

"Justice Guild: Attack!" the Streak ordered.

"No!" G.L exclaimed, but the Guild didn't heed his warning.

"Don't he's the real menace." Lantern told his teammates, stopping them from entering the fight with the robot.

"It's over, Ray." G.L stated.

"It's been over before. I changed that." the boy turned monster said.

"You didn't change anything. You created a lie, and forced everyone left alive after the war to live that lie with you, when it would have been better to rebuild and move on." Harpy responded before sending fireballs at Ray. They were deflected by a barrier. Flash began running forward, but Ray turned part of the floor into a sticky, sap-like liquid that trapped the speedster. Hawkgirl flew at Ray, but he used his mental powers to through a chair at her, knocking her out of the air. Green Lantern sent bolts of green energy at him. They were deflected by the barrier.

"This is my world. I decide who wins and who loses." Ray exclaimed before causing the roof to collapse on Green Lantern and Harpy.

J'onn phased in arms into Ray's head. Energy crackled, and J'onn was thrown back.

Hawkgirl had recovered and began bashing Ray's mental shield with her mace. Ray ripped the JGA insignia off the wall and slammed it into her.

Ray used his powers to lift Green Lantern up.

Green Guardsman saw this. "The Justice League needs our help!" he exclaimed.

"Wait. If what they said is true defeating Ray could destroy this reality and eve thing in it." Tom Turbine said.

"Including us." Black Siren stated.

The sound of John in pain caught their attention.

"We died once to save this earth, and we can do it again." The Streak said to his teammates. They rushed forward to help the League.

"You'll be sorry you messed things up." Ray said, right before the Streak came and punched him in the face.

"What is this!" Ray exclaimed.

"In Seaboard city, crime doesn't pay." Tom Turbine answered, before slamming both fists into the ground, creating a shockwave.

"You can't. I made you!" Ray protested as the Guild surrounded him.

"Let Justice prevail!" The Guild said together, before it began it's assault.

The fight was taken outside after Tom Turbine threw a pillar at Ray that knocked him through the wall.

Ray couldn't take the mental strain of having his creations attack him, and the illusion broke, revealing the war torn ruins that was the real Seaboard City. The Justice Guild vanished a few moments later.

The League slowly got up, having finally recovered.

"What happened?" Flash asked.

"He couldn't maintain the illusion. The strain was to great." J'onn explained.

"But how did he get like this?" Hawkgirl inquired.

"Radioactive fallout. That stuff can mutate you. Usually though it just kills you. But it seems Ray was one of the very, very, extremely, few people who get psychic abilities that allow them to create illusions." Harpy replied.

"So he chose the recreate the world with the heroes he worshipped as a child." Hawkgirl stated.

"Who could blame him?" Flash said.

"Listen." Hawkgirl instructed as a sound grew louder. It was the ice cream truck. It was driving toward the mansion, with all the townspeople following it.

The truck stopped in front of the league, and the driver stepped out.

"It's like waking up from a dream." he said.

"I'm sorry, we destroyed your world." Green Lantern apologized.

"No, we did that." the driver responded.

"But now all that's left is this nightmare." Lantern replied.

"Being stuck in an ice cream truck for forty years, that's a nightmare. Compared to that, rebuilding our world will be a piece of cake." the driver answered.

Sergeant O'Shaughnessy stepped forward and shook Green Lantern's hand. "Thank you, for giving us back our future." he said. The townspeople murmured their agreement.

"So what now? How are we supposed to get home?" Flash asked.

"I have an idea. Come on." Green Lantern led them back to the ruins of the mansion.

"Remember when Tom Turbine said he had been working on a trans-dimensional gateway? It's possible that… yes, there it is." he said as he located the gateway.

"What good is that gonna do? He was never able to find a way to power it." Flash responded.

"True. But maybe I can." G.L replied. He used his ring to activate the gateway.

"I don't know how long I can hold it. Go!" Lantern exclaimed. He waited for all his teammates to go through before going in himself.


Ivy was laying on her bed glaring at the ceiling. She had just gotten off the phone with the head of the Transportation Department, who had wanted to know every little detail about Tom Turbine's gateway. Three hours of her life that she would never get back. Ivy needed a way to relax. She sighed, closed her eyes and concentrated on the thermal energy around her.


Don't be fooled by Harpy's babble about universes and the Gate. There is a difference between knowing what something does and how it does it. All Harpy knows is the what.

Here are some alternate lines for the scene where Harpy first sees the Justice League fighting the Justice Guild.

"Am I drunk?"

"How hard did that robot hit me?"

"If I back away really slowly, maybe they won't see me."

"I died and went to the bad place and my punishment is spending eternity in a clichéd 60's T.V show."

"Darn it. It's "that dream" again. Any moment now Batman going to come by riding unicycle while wearing a tutu and I'll wake up and be unable to look at him for a week."

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