It was two days later and emergency was declared. Everyone was put on alert but no one was pulled from class or work.
Those that were available attended the meeting led by Virgil.
"Ten minutes ago the probes and satellites picked up a small group of objects entering the solar system on a direct heading for Earth. We managed to get some pictures."
The screen suddenly showed a group of humanoid beings that looked like robots. They had silver faces embedded in a deep red helmet that was joined to a muscular looking torso of the same colour on top of a lower body of the same build except in a deep blue.
"Manhunters?!" Kilowog exclaimed in shock. "Why would they be coming here?"
"And Manhunters are…?" The Flash asked.
"They were the Guardian's first attempt at an interstellar police force." He explained. "They were assigned other duties as they became a bit… obsessive in catching their targets. They didn't care about collateral damage."
"Sounds like someone else I know." The Flash muttered with a quick glance at Hawkgirl. "OW!"
Hawkgirl just smirked as he rubbed his head. "I would like to point out that there was no collateral damage just now." She announced to the table causing them to snicker.
"Back to the original question then; why are they here?" Superman queried.
"They still work for the Guardians and anyone who will hire them. We will-"
"They are here for me." John said stiffly as he rose from the table and stood at attention.
There was a stunned silence.
"You've only been a bloody Lantern for a few months… what the devil could you have done to piss off the Guardians?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"Man, you really take advantage of Miya not being around, don't you?" Dani grinned at him.
"Focus please." Superman pleaded. "John, why do they want you?"
"I- I made a mistake. They must have found someone to press charges. The Guardians were still debating what happened so they sent me back to Earth on suspension." He reported; he was acting like a soldier being questioned by a superior officer.
Having served in many of the armed forces Harry knew that John was falling back into a defensive safety zone. The US Marine Corp was his life; you don't stop being a Marine.
"They are here to put you on trial?" Harry asked. "In that case we will meet them in orbit and accompany you to this trial. I haven't stepped in a courtroom in a long time… I think I deserve some fun." He said with childish determination.
"No. This is my respon-"
"Silence Lantern." Harry ordered. "The Guardians will have no problem with my presence and if you aren't guilty of maliciousness I need to know what happened so I can help prevent it from happening again."
"I will stay on Earth, hold down the fort." Superman offered.
"I'd stay too… but I really want to see more of the universe." The Flash admitted sheepishly.
"I'll re-deploy the Sekirei and Amazons to your cities so they can cover your absence." Superman promised.
"Call in Manuel. He's been getting a bit bored." Harry grinned.
"I knew all that stuff about settling down was just talk!" The Flash exclaimed.
It was a fairly small group that met the Manhunters just as they passed Mars. Harry, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Hawkgirl, John Stewart and J'onn J'onz who was looking for more to do in life and a way to help.
They had been provided with the necessary communication protocols by Kilowog.
The group hovered in space in a straight line in the path of the Manhunters.
"Stop and identify yourselves." Harry ordered.
The group of about ten Manhunters came to a stop around ten metres away. "We have come for the Green Lantern, John Stewart. Surrender him now or we will destroy you." The lead Manhunter stated.
"On what grounds do you demand a member of the Corp and a citizen of Earth?" Harry demanded with a scowl.
"That is none of your business. Stewart will surrender his ring and come with us."
"Not without knowing what authority you have."
"Stewart is wanted on charges of genocide. He is to be taken to the Ajuris 5 where he will tried by an intergalactic tribunal."
"Very well. We will accompany the Green Lantern." Harry stated.
"You are not needed. This is not your concern." The Manhunter said calmly.
"We are his friends and teammates. I am his council. Unless you are looking for war with Earth and the Guardians then I suggest you lead on." Harry challenged.
"If you wish to follow, we will not stop you." Came the same unconcerned reply. He turned to John Stewart. "Your ring?"
"He keeps the ring. And restraints won't be necessary." Harry instructed.
"This is non-negotiable."
"Exactly." Harry grinned.
The Manhunter had to take a second to process what Harry meant. "John Stewart must relinquish his ring or we will take it."
"If you want his ring you will need to put in a request to the Guardians of Oa. There are thousands of Lanterns just waiting for my call to deal with you if you decide to… take it." Harry said. "Now lead on or we will bypass you completely and you can explain to the people who sent you- you know what?" Harry stopped mid-sentence. "Lets bypass them anyway. John, you've been to Ajuris 5?"
"I have."
"Then teleport there and we will follow." Harry ordered.
As John vanished on the spot the other heroes did the same with The Flash taking Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman taking J'onn.
That left just Harry and the Manhunters. "Next time you come to Earth, send a warning first. We've had far too many invasion attempts and will likely blast you out of the sky if you decide to just drop in."
Harry vanished leaving a group of fairly peeved Manhunters floating in space near Mars.
Clark let out a breath of relief as Virgil informed him over the comm. lines that the Manhunters were leaving the system. The last thing they needed was another invasion to deal with. They were still trying to find Brainiac.
"Trouble, son?" Jonathan asked as he took off his work gloves.
Clark was on the farm with his Sekirei helping with chores before they headed to Japan.
"No, the opposite. Virgil was just telling me that the Manhunters are leaving."
"Then it's in Harry's hands now." Jonathan nodded. "I'm surprised you didn't go-" Jonathan trailed off as they noticed a car travelling at high speed down the dirt road towards them.
"Is that Uncle Jack?" Clark asked in disbelief.
Jonathan just chuckled as he planted his feet, crossed his arms and waited expectantly.
Clark watched curiously as his father practically played chicken with a speeding car.
At the last possible second the car spun into a handbrake turn stopping just a foot or so away from Jonathan's legs.
Jonathan leaned down and looked into the window with a smirk. "You're slacking. I've got a whole foot on this side."
"Like hell!" The driver, Jack Jennings, declared indignantly as he jumped out of the car.
"Hell, I'm just a farmer. What do I know about the length of a foot?" Jonathan continued to grin.
"Hey Uncle Jack." Clark smiled at his father's childhood friend.
"Clark! Do you know how long I have wanted to come and congratulate you on your successes?" Jack declared as he hopped over the bonnet of the car and pulled both men into hugs. "I would have come sooner but I didn't want to make it seem like I was looking for a campaign contribution." He chuckled.
"Nothing wrong with donating to a good cause." Clark shrugged.
Jack blanched slightly. "You mind if I steal your old man for a bit?" He stepped back and held up his hands in mock defence. "I promise not to hurt him… but he might be a bit green when he gets back."
"As long as you are prepared to deal with Mom and the girls." Clark smiled warningly.
"Girls?" Jack repeated with raised eyebrows. "I know it's been a few years since I've been here but I can't have missed that much!"
"I became a billionaire over night." Cark said pointedly.
"Fair enough." Jack laughed. "Come on Jon, let's ride!"
As soon as the group appeared on Ajuris 5 they were met by crowds booing and throwing rotten fruit.
"CUT IT OUT!"
The boos turned to screams of fear as they were confronted by an angry dragon.
Then came the lasers.
Harry turned his head on its long neck to glare at the aliens in uniform firing at them. "Flash, you may want to deal with them… they are becoming… annoying." He growled.
"On it!" The Flash declared before he zipped off only to return a second later with an armful of weaponry.
"Anybody else want to piss me off?" Dragon Harry demanded.
The crowd flinched and backed away.
The uniformed aliens looked a micro-second away from bolting.
"Good. Now, you, where does John Stewart need to be?" Harry asked the closest of the uniformed aliens.
"Erm… wherever you say he should be?" He asked very nervously.
Harry expelled a large sigh that was punctuated by a lot of hot smoke. He then shifted back to his human form. "I wasn't looking for boot-licking. John Stewart was requested for a trial. Where is this trial being held?"
"Senator Jonathan Kent. Well it does have a nice ring to it." Clark grinned as he hefted another bale of hay.
"I'm a farmer, Clark. Not a politician. I don't know the first thing about politics." Jonathan grumbled. "This is something that Amara would be better suited for."
"They've already discussed American politics." Clark turned serious. "They aren't fond of the fact that they have to falsify their identities in this universe. They don't want to… add insult to injury by attempting to seek positions of power with those false identities."
"How do they justify North Korea and Themiscyra?" Jonathan asked curiously but with out malice.
"Harry conquered North Korea and the Hidden City under his true name and identity. Aphrodite knew exactly who Amara was when she asked her to be Queen.
"Being a politician should be really simple for you, Dad. Fight and argue for what you believe in. Stick to those morals you taught me. You don't have to worry about bribes and blackmail because you are guaranteed a long life with no monetary issues. Harry and I can generate enough backing on our own to fund any cause you want to champion."
"And if someone tries to frame me, like with Jack?"
"I thought Uncle Jack admitted to having the affair."
"The girl was murdered Clark. Soon after the photo of them together was leaked. He came here right after the police released him."
"Well… in that case, you don't need to worry. Do you honestly believe your little group of bodyguards is going to let you out of their sight for any reason whatsoever?" Clark grinned.
"At least I still have the bathroom." Jonathan sighed as he looked at the smirking group of Amazons who were a few metres away doing their own tasks whilst listening to their god and regent talk.
"That's what you think. I'm considering assigning Sheena or Mutsu to your detail if you take the job." Clark smirked.
"What did I ever do to you?" Jonathan whined.
Having been directed to the largest building in sight Harry and co. marched up to the doors only to be caught off guard by several Lanterns nearby.
Specifically a Lantern that looked like an oversized ping-pong ball with limbs called Galius Zed.
"You're a disgrace to the Corp." The short, rotund alien stated with a sneer as he floated in front of John Stewart.
"Do I really need to slap you down?" Harry demanded as he pushed between the two Lanterns.
"But he destroyed an entire planet!" Galius argued. "Billions died because of his carelessness."
"A whole planet?" Harry frowned. "What planet?"
"Ajuris 4." The Lantern pointed to the star-lit sky.
Harry looked at the where he was pointing. He then blinked hard and peered carefully. "Ajuris 4? Just how badly did he destroy it?"
"All that's left is that asteroid belt." Arkkis Chummuck, a Lantern with light brown skin and a beard said sadly.
"Huh. Well this ought to be interesting." Harry muttered. "Come on, we have a trial to deal with."
Harry continued to lead the group into the large building. They eventually came to a large auditorium that was almost like an arena. The ceiling was a glass dome through which you could clearly see the night sky.
Murmurs rose up as the small group of colourful characters marched into the room in the company of the most hated man in the galaxy: John Stewart.
"What is the meaning of this!?" There was a large screen floating high up with three digital faces displayed there. They barely moved and were clearly a form of AI. Harry was only just able to tell which one was talking.
"This is John Stewart and Council appearing voluntarily to answer the ridiculous charges you've come up with." Harry glared.
"Where are the Manhunters? They were sent to bring John Stewart in." Demanded what appeared to be a male alien in long blue and white robes. He had pale skin and his head was shaped like an American football on its side.
"They had no concept of manner or etiquette. We left them behind with a warning. The same warning I will now give to you: If you ever send an armed force to Earth again with initiating audio contact first I will consider it an invasion and then come here and deal with you personally. It won't be pretty." Harry scowled.
"You dare threaten the tribunal?!" The middle face demanded.
"Ask the Guardians that question. Then get back to me. Now, let's get a move on."
"There are protocols and procedures. You can not just march in here and deman-"
"And you can't just expect to just make demands on the Green Lantern Corp or a citizen of Earth. You should have requested John Stewart's presence through the Guardians and the Government of Earth, not sent a hunting party. Now, start the proceedings."
"We can not just start them. We require time to gather the witnesses." The tall alien argued.
"Then you have two hours… two hours of Earth time." Harry amended. "If you are not ready by then you will be considered in contempt by the Government of Earth and we will not humour you idiots any longer."
Harry didn't give them a chance to respond as he teleported everyone straight back to the Castle.
"Don't you have any respect for the law? For justice?" John demanded angrily as they appeared in the Great Hall.
"Of course I do. If I didn't I wouldn't have gone there in the first place. To be honest, I am acting on my immense respect for you at the moment."
John was taken aback by what he considered a completely out of place compliment. "If you respect me why don't you respect my decision to confess and answer for my crimes?"
Harry sighed with a small smile. "John, you honestly believe you are guilty of what they are accusing you, yes?"
John nodded firmly.
"And you are willing to subject yourself to their judgement based solely on your confession? Even if it means a death sentence?"
John straightened his back and stood at attention. "If that is the sentence deemed necessary, then yes."
"Fine. I want you to look into my eyes and let me relive the entire event. I will experience everything you did. Actions, emotion… I will be you."
"Ajuris 5 uses something similar. A memory viewing technique, like when Earl shows me those memories from his friend Heimdall." Kilowog explained.
"Fine. Do it." John said as he looked Harry in the eyes defiantly.
When Lex had heard about Jonathan's friend, The Senator, being accused of murder and circumstances around it, he decided to try and help. Being an influential man himself he had a VIP pass to the Windgate, a 'Gentlemen's Club'… or as Tess called it, a high class strip club.
Lex had never been there himself. The card was given to him by some glad-handing politician looking for support. He was dreading telling Helen he was going there, his only saving light was that Logan and Tess would be there as witnesses… or backup… whichever kept him off the couch.
Said pair of bodyguards were sitting at the bar stoically keeping an eye on the boss whilst they sipped their non-alcoholic beverages.
"We should be very glad my sisters are no where near this place." Tess said in disgust. "They would tear the place down and castrate every male here. Including Lex."
"Now I know you ain't trying to tell me your sisters don't like admiring a good piece of male beefcake." Logan smirked.
"Most of them hate men. Clark is loved because he brings happiness to our goddess. Harry is… more feared than loved.
"Only Jonathan is loved for simply being him."
"Which doesn't explain why they get horny when they see certain males. Including our boy Lex." Logan chuckled. "Of course some of them get horny around the girls. But the fact of the matter is that it doesn't matter how you were raised, eventually your body is going generate hormones and you will notice other people look better than others to you."
"At least we don't create clubs where men can leer and ogle and demean women." She scowled.
"First of all, there is such a thing as a male strip club. Second of all, what do you call it when your sisters dance around in less clothing than a bikini model?"
Tess was outraged. "Those are dances to honour and celebrate our goddess!"
"Except when they aren't." Logan said calmly. "Your sisters like to dance and they like to do it together and with little clothing. And they don't always do it in the temple as an act of honour and celebration for the goddess." He smirked. "Doesn't really matter though. They enjoy it and that is what matters."
Tess just grumbled into her drink. "How the hell do you know about this?"
Logan grinned widely. "Because Hibiki and Hikari also like to dance and your sisters have been teaching them their moves."
"Speaking of moves and dancing… is that who I think it is?" Tess asked incredulously as she watched the next dancer literally stumble out on the stage wearing a Stars and Stripes bikini. She looked exactly like someone having a bad dream about arriving to class in their underwear… which was a fairly apt description for stripping.
"God bless America." Logan said with a smirk.
Tess whacked him on the shoulder. "What do you think Clark and General Lane will think when they find out about this?" She scolded him.
"Clark will probably laugh and ask for a copy of my memories. Sam will probably… be torn between mortification and saluting." Logan laughed. "I'm more interested in Lex's reaction as she seems to be about give him a lap dance."
"Lex will be fine. As long as he keeps his hands to himself." Tess growled.
It was at that moment that all hell broke lose as the doors burst open and Captain Sawyer marched in with a full compliment of armed officers.
"All of you stay right where you are and keep your hands in plain sight." She ordered.
Tess grinned sheepishly as Sawyer noticed them and glared at them. Logan had the gall to salute her with his glass. This was going to be one of those nights.
John Stewart was taking a long drink from a very strong fire whiskey. He had just re-lived the entire horrible ordeal that had led to him destroying a planet.
"You are not guilty." Harry said firmly as he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I saw exactly what happened and not a single part of it was your fault."
"It was my shot that bounced off the pirate's shields and hit the fault line." John argued.
"Yes, which makes it the pirate's fault. It is the pirate's fault because he is a criminal. It is the pirate's fault because he should never have been a pirate and never have forced you to fire at him."
Harry sat forward and put an elbow on his knee as he rubbed his chin. "I'm going to tell you about one of the major incidents that happened in the last world I was in. The X-Men's world. It happened mere weeks after I arrived there.
"One of the teams of heroes was young and fairly fame-hungry. They had a television crew following them around as they captured criminals and super-villains.
"One day they came to a house where they had tracked a bunch of low lever supers on the run from the law.
"They cased the place.
"Got ready for a breach.
"But they were spotted.
"But that didn't make much of a difference. They were experienced enough to handle what they had seen. They tore through the villains easily.
"Except for one who ran.
"He didn't get far though, but he had a secret he had kept from the rest of the world, including his teammates. He had increased his power artificially.
"You see he had the ability to create explosions, usually around ten feet or so in diameter.
"Now he had increased that by several factors.
"He activated his power right next to a school of children playing.
"He killed 600 that day.
"Now tell me Green Lantern; who was at fault there?"
John ran the story over in his mind. Trying to find the trick, the catch. But he couldn't find it. "The villain was at fault."
"Right. And it should have been a rallying call to the world that super-villains needed to be stopped." Harry nodded. "But it wasn't. Regular citizens turned on heroes blaming them for the deaths, even those that weren't there."
"But why?" Kilowog couldn't help himself, he was enraptured by the story.
"Because the first ones on the scene were heroes trying to find and save survivors.
"They picked the first available target, and latched on. It took me a long time to help sort things out."
"But that was clearly the fault of the villain." John argued. "I was the one that took the shot that destroyed a planet."
"Look at it this way John; if you had died that day with the planet then who do you think would be the target of all the anger currently aimed at you?
"You would be a martyr.
"You can't take the blame for the crimes of others. Innocent civilians will always be hurt in the pursuit of criminals, do you know why?"
"Because they don't have the power to protect themselves like we do."
"No. Because criminals operate around civilians on purpose. They use them like human shields. So as we head back to that courtroom I want you to think about something: Why was that criminal flying so close to Ajuris 4? Why was that other ship using a shield that deflected fire around populated planets?
"I need to speak to J'onn and Diana. You think on that for a bit."
Lex had finally been cleared by a fairly annoyed Captain Sawyer to leave.
"Lois, where are you?" Lex sent out telepathically. "Lois?"
"Logan, I can't reach Lois." Lex said as he hit the intercom from the back of his town car.
There was a few seconds wait. "Jean says she might be unconscious."
The door to the car opened and Chloe and Kazehana got in. Kazehana was looking very angry and Chloe was looking a bit guilty.
"Chloe? What were you doing at the club?" Lex demanded as Tess lowered the privacy window so Logan could join the conversation.
"We were investigating the murder of one of the dancers. She called The Planet last night and was killed right after."
"I gotta know. How and why did you convince Lois to dance?" Logan chuckled.
"We got caught snooping in the managers office and… I improvised." She shrugged meekly.
"She is going to kill you." Tess sighed.
"No she won't. This is payback for when she went into the boys locker last year." Chloe grinned. "I told her: This is karma."
"Enough talk! Lois is out there and we need to find her. The sun is coming up and I will not fail my duties in protecting her." Kazehana interrupted angrily. "Chloe refuses to take me to her without backup. So you are now backup."
"Fine, but you had better not make a move unless Lois is in immediate danger." Logan warned. "You wait-"
"I am a trained member of the original Disciplinary Squad, Uncle. I know how to follow orders and behave in this situation." She snapped.
"Let's just get this over with." Chloe interrupted before an argument could start.
"Lois. Wake up Lois."
Lois groggily shook her head. She was dressed in a red dress over her 'patriotic' costume and her hands were bound. "Chloe?"
"You were kidnapped. We are just getting into position to rescue you."
Lois frowned as she tried to remember how she got here. "Wait! Just follow us for now. I think this bastard is trafficking the dancers. I think that's what the dead girl was trying to warn us about."
There was a long pause. "Fine, but if things get dicey we're calling it quits and taking him down."
"I want to use him to find the other girls. The ones he already sold. We need to rescue them." Lois said firmly.
"Oh shit."
Lois was shocked to hear her cousin swear. "Chlo?"
"Apparently someone told the other Amazons what was going on. There are about fifty hiding outside now."
"Make sure they don't do anything till we know how to find the girls." Lois begged.
There was a flash of light and Emma was standing there in costume. "Darling, we will simply rip the information from his mind." She said coldly as she severed the bonds and helped her up.
John Stewart had no idea where the others had gone. For now it was just Harry, The Flash and himself standing in the court with thousands of spectators in the gallery.
They had just watched the memories of an alien pirate which showed everyone exactly what John had shown Harry. They had shown John stopping the pirate by ripping the engine from his ship without causing any damage to the pirate himself. They had shown John being ambushed by the pirate's partners and the shot that had been deflected off the ship and set off the chain reaction that destroyed Ajuris 4.
"The evidence is incontrovertible." The prosecutor stated. "John Stewart is guilty of destroying Ajuris 4 and the billions that lived there."
"Objection! The evidence does not show that." Harry said calmly. "The evidence showed that in pursuit of his duties as a Green Lantern, a member of the Inter-Galactic Peacekeeping Force, John Stewart did safely and efficiently apprehend the criminal Kanjar-Ro. He was then ambushed by additional criminals and in his efforts to defend himself and apprehend them the criminals employed technology that caused Ajuris 4 to explode."
"You cannot spin the evidence to suit your own needs!" The prosecutor argued.
"Spin? I don't need to spin!" Harry sneered. He threw his hand out and projected his memory of what they had just witnessed. "Tell me Prosecutor, who was John Stewart aiming at when he fired this shot?"
"Who he was firing at d-"
"Is entirely the point! It was not John Stewarts fault that the pirates were operating so close to Ajuris 4. Why aren't the pirates on trial here? It was their shielding technology that caused the shot to hit the planet." Harry challenged.
"It was John Stewarts shot that hit the planet so it is John Stewart's responsibility." The Prosecutor said not willing to change his stance.
Harry turned to the digital faces of the Tribunal. "What do you three think?"
"Whilst your argument holds merit, someone must be held accountable for the deaths on Ajuris 4." The left face stated.
"Then perhaps you should find the pirates who were operating illegally instead of trying to prosecute a man who has done no wrong." Harry said with disgust.
"I have a question for the Tribunal." The Flash said as he zipped up next to Harry. "What sort of threat do these pirates pose to Ajuris 5?"
"They traffic in weapons, drugs and even deal in slavery." The Prosecutor said in disgust.
"They steal people from Ajuris 5?" The Flash asked for clarification.
"Yes."
"Ok… so whose job is it to stop these pirates?"
"The Green Lantern Corp of course. They are supposed to be the defenders of the civilised galaxy."
"But you haven't put the pirate there on trial." He pointed to Kanjar-Ro who looked fairly nervous. "Why should any Green Lantern… any law enforcement official for that matter, try to help Ajuris 5 if they are going to be accused and charged for any damage that occurs during an arrest?
"Especially if you aren't going to prosecute the actual criminals?"
"The Green Lantern should have exercised more care in carrying out his duties." The Prosecutor stated.
"And how do you propose he should have done that?" Harry asked.
"I am neither a Green Lantern nor a police officer. It is not my place to say." He said loftily.
"Then the how in the hell is it your place to prosecute him?" The Flash asked angrily. "What is the sentence John Stewart is looking at?" He asked the Tribunal.
"If convicted, he will be sentenced to immediate death." The middle face answered calmly.
"For murder?" Harry asked calmly.
"Correct."
"So… if he is found innocent… the whole lot of you can be considered guilty of attempted murder."
"The evidence shows he is not innocent and we can not be held accountable. We have immunity from prosecution." The Prosecutor stated. "I fail to see what you are trying to prove with these pointless arguments." He added in frustration.
Harry smiled darkly. "Pointless? Tell me, Prosecutor, how much of an investigation did you do into the events that occurred around Ajuris 4?"
"We took the statements and memories of Kanjar-Ro as well as the obvious absence of the planetary body from our skies." He answered sarcastically.
"So… you didn't send a team to examine the debris? Search for weapon's signatures? Search for engine emissions?"
"We had the testimony from the witness. Again… we are missing the planet from our skies."
The courtroom gasped as a short blonde human female appeared next to Harry.
"The defence re-calls Kanjar-Ro." Harry stated clearly before nodding to Chloe.
"The witness has been dismissed." The Prosecutor sneered. This human was really getting on his nerves.
"And yet the defence has not been permitted to ask him any questions." The Flash smirked.
"We saw his memories."
"Are you a part of the conspiracy to convict John Stewart?" Chloe asked loudly.
"What conspiracy?"
Chloe looked at Harry and shrugged.
"Yeah… he's just a malicious idiot." Harry nodded with a grimace.
Chloe sighed and turned to the visibly scared Kanjar-Ro who was standing with the Manhunters nearby. "Did John Stewart destroy Ajuris 4?"
"No." Kanjar-Ro looked horrified as his mouth betrayed him.
"Who did destroy Ajuris 4?"
"No one."
"Why did you claim John Stewart did destroy Ajuris 4?"
"The Manhunters paid me to."
Kanjar-Ro was of a species that had a front exit for urination. This was quite clear to the court.
"Oops." Chloe said sheepishly as the Manhunters drew weapons and began firing… everywhere.
The six Manhunters in the arena suddenly started sinking into the ground.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you could do that." The Flash remarked to Harry.
"Wasn't me." Harry grinned.
They watched as Superman, Wonder Woman, Death's Hand and several of the Lantern's they had encountered outside the arena rose out of the ground.
Superman strode calmly up to Harry, his cape fluttering majestically behind him. "The Corp is in position." He announced.
Harry just nodded before turning back to the Prosecutor and Tribunal. "So, your witness has just confessed that John Stewart is innocent. Will you dismiss the charges?"
"We have no way of knowing if this human coerced him through mind-control." The Prosecutor sputtered as he gestured at Chloe.
"And we have no way of knowing if your memory viewer can be tricked." The Flash countered snidely.
"It has been used for centuries." The Right face stated.
"Fine, hook me up." Harry said. "Let's test it."
Harry teleported up to the floating platform that Kanjar-Ro had used. "Ask me about something you already know about me."
"We know nothing about you!" The Prosecutor snapped.
"I've got a question." The Flash grinned. "Turn that device on."
The Tribunal activated the memory viewer and a beam of light shone down on Harry.
"Harry Potter, please show the Tribunal what occurred when you first appeared on this planet." The Flash grinned.
Harry calmly and clearly began to speak.
"We were confronted by some grumpy guards." An image of the Ajuran peacekeepers appeared. They seemed to be a lot more… cuddly than John Stewart remembered.
"They threw things at me." The peacekeepers started to throw glowing flowers.
"So I turned into my dragon form and dealt with them." The image of Harry turned into a large furry purple dinosaur that lumbered over to the guards and… hugged them whilst singing.
Several people in the gallery threw up at the words of the song.
Superman was rubbing his brow trying to hide his frustration.
Death's Hand was ruining his reputation by rolling on the floor laughing. Months later Xander Harris would be talking with a Lantern who would use the term 'ROFL'.
Neville would later apologise to Harry for giving him more work when he killed their adopted father.
"Harry, please stop." The Flash grinned as he tried not to laugh.
Harry just shrugged and teleported back to his place next the Avatar of Time.
"Perhaps the Tribunal could now play any security recordings of what actually happened when Harry Potter arrived on this planet." He requested.
The Prosecutor and most of the gallery were dumbfounded by the difference between Harry's memories and the security footage.
Most of them were glad that the purple creature didn't actually exist. It was still entered into the inter-galactic database as one of the most dangerous creatures in existence with a kill-on-sight order.
"As you can see, Kanjar-Ro could easily have faked the memories." The Flash continued his argument. "As you have no other evidence we demand you dismiss all charges."
"We still have the confession of John Stewart himself." The Prosecutor blustered.
"Harry, this has gone on long enough." Superman said tiredly.
He floated up to the level of the Prosecutor. "Ajuris 4 was never destroyed." He indicated the night sky and the debris field vanished to be replaced by the undamaged planet. "This was all a ruse by the Manhunters who colluded with the pirates to discredit the Green Lantern Corp so they could get revenge on the Guardians for casting them aside centuries ago.
"As of this moment the Corp is engaging the Manhunters. John Stewart is needed there now, so I suggest you dismiss the charges and release him."
"But that doesn't explain how the planet vanished!"
"For mercy's sake." Harry groaned. "Superman, take the others and go. I will finish here."
Superman nodded before vanishing with the others.
"Come on John, we have work to do." The Flash grinned.
John Stewart was in shock. He couldn't believe that all that guilt he had carried around was for nothing. He never noticed The Flash remove his shackles and teleport them away.
There were loud gasps and screams as the same dragon that appeared on the security tapes appeared in the arena.
"Now then." Harry said in his gravelly voice. "This Tribunal has failed spectacularly. Prosecutor, you are under arrest for malicious prosecution and dereliction of duty.
"The Tribunal is also under investigation."
"You have no right!"
"SILENCE!" Harry roared. "You have the audacity to try and put a respected member of the galaxy's most respected law enforcement organisation on trial. You didn't even do a proper investigation. You didn't try to capture or place the blame where it belonged.
"You don't have right to make demands and set law. As of this moment the Guardians are to create an oversight body for all planets under their care. They are not to try every case but where it is deemed appropriate they can step in and start their own investigation.
"Want to argue about it?" Harry glared at the Prosecutor as he moved his fire dripping snout a mere foot from the cowering alien. "Didn't think so."
Harry shifted to his human form. "I will be very upset if I find I have been ignored."
Harry calmly walked towards the exit conjuring a lightsabre on his way and casually chopping off the head of Kanjar-Ro.
He didn't say a word as he vanished.
Despite the best efforts of the Corp, the Manhunters were getting far too close to Oa and their ultimate goal of the Central Battery.
Harry arrived and instantly shifted to his dragon form and began tearing away at the Manhunters.
He quickly shifted back when he broke a tooth on one of their metallic hides.
Instead he drew his lightsabre and tried to ignore the chuckling coming over the Avenger's comm. line from Superman. As far as Superman was concerned this was karmic payback for allowing him to get eaten by a T-Rex.
"WE ARE CUTTING THIS WAY TOO CLOSE!" Xander shouted as he hacked away and tried to avoid blows and blasts.
"Don't worry, the cavalry is here!"
Those who weren't about to receive a blow or deal a blow glanced away to where the new signal was coming from as Iron Man and War Machine tore through the massive portal that had been developed in conjunction with the Guardians to transport ships like the Amaterasu.
Which was useful as the Amaterasu and five other identical ships followed the armoured heroes through the portal and immediately began firing on the Manhunters.
The Manhunters appeared to be fairly immune to energy based weapons, which included magic and the Green Lantern Rings, but when faced ballistic projectiles they were just so much scrap metal.
In short order they were wiped out leaving the Green Lanterns to carry out garbage duty.
The castle residents along with the rest of Earth's heroes floated nearby to discuss certain events.
"Ok… so why did you two keep teleporting out with Manhunters?" Xander asked Lex and Jason, aka: Iron Man and War Machine.
"We promised the guys in the other dimension a crack at the action." War Machine explained. "So we made use of the dimensional teleporters in our armour and reduced the number of combatants on the field."
"We also asked them to keep one or two as a prisoner so they can at least try to ascertain motives and try to reason with it." Iron Man added.
"I'm sorry, I can't take you seriously when I know for a fact that there is short white guy in there instead of a hulking black guy." Mirage laughed at Jason in the War Machine armour. She was floating in front of Magma who was in her lava form and therefore… naked.
Mirage was very picky about who got to see her lover naked.
"If I hit her you can heal her right?" War Machine practically begged.
"Yes, but then you'll have to deal with Magma and Mirage both trying to get revenge on you." Jean pointed out.
"There is no justice in the world." He lamented.
Whilst the rest of the castle residents and Earth's most well known heroes defended Oa from the Manhunters, the combined forces of the Amazons and Sekirei descended on some of the worst the world had to offer.
Emma had started them off when she mentally ripped all the information from the man who kidnapped Lois, Mr. Lyon, had on the girls he had sold. From there Chloe, Chiho, Matsu and a few other Sekirei trained in technology managed to find his clients.
Each client was brought to Chloe who asked a specific set of questions about the client's crimes and the location of his slaves and victims whilst the telepaths were dealing with the Manhunters.
The client was then executed by an Amazon warrior for their crimes.
They had just worked their way through over one hundred of Lyon's clients when someone else joined them.
"You really are keeping us on our toes." Luna Lovegood grinned as she appeared before Chloe, Lois and the others. "Harry and Clark are going to have a lot of souls to destroy when they get back."
"Hi Luna." Chloe smiled. The she frowned as a thought crossed her mind. "We aren't doing anything wrong are we? We aren't over stepping our bounds?"
"Not with the after life." Luna shrugged. "But there will be some who disapprove of your mass executions."
"I spoke with Aphrodite." Kyla said sombrely. "She suggested that once we are finished we submit ourselves for arrest and tribunal so that we can justify our actions."
"She wants to imprison us?" Matsu asked with wide eyes.
"No. She wants us to set a standard. If we or others ever do this again then we will have to be able to justify our actions in front of a panel of higher beings." Kyla explained. "We Amazons might be sentenced for our… presumptions on executions, but it will only be a matter of imprisonment for a set amount of years."
The mood became very sombre.
"We have just executed over one hundred unarmed individuals." Homura said quietly.
"Foul beings who deserved far more than the swift and painless strike of our arms." Tsukiumi said proudly. "I will serve any sentence so long as I am permitted to be proud of what we have achieved here. I care not for how many we have killed, only for how many we have saved.
"I will only request that my sentence be carried out beyond this timeline so that I may return as soon as possible to slay more of the wicked and free their victims."
"Why isn't she an Amazon?" Lois asked with slight disbelief.
"Because she's a Sekirei. She serves the same god as us and that is good enough to make us sisters." Jodie said firmly.
"Well spoken daughter." Aphrodite smiled fondly as she appeared among them. "Regardless of how you fare before the tribunal, know that you have my blessing. You are fighting the enemies of Love and we Avatars are grateful to you." She said looking at Amazon and Sekirei alike.
"Have Clark or Harry call me when the Tribunal occurs. We will have someone from the after life sit on the panel." Luna instructed as she faded out.
"It's going to be a very weird tribunal if we have to keep stopping every ten minutes or so for the soul from the after life to recover." Lois muttered.
"I heard that!" Came Luna's echo-y voice.
"The Guardians had very little resistance from the other planets over their assumption of duties as the judiciary." Sinestro reported to the assembled group in the Great Hall. "Especially as many citizens had friends and relatives on Ajuris 4 that they thought were dead."
"This is going to be one of those wait and see things." Lorna sighed. "I hate those because we spend the first few months jumping at every little thing."
"I still say it's better than trying to conquer them." Harry argued. "This way is much less work in the long run as we don't need to worry about being directly involved. They can govern themselves."
"Except when they try and take us on because they think we are trying to conquer them anyway." She said sarcastically. "At that point it is clear we should have conquered them in the first place."
"It's done. Let's move on for now." Laura requested. They were all tired; it had been a long and very eventful day.
"Not so fast." John said angrily. "Why didn't you tell me I hadn't destroyed the planet?" He demanded of Harry.
Harry just looked at him with a tired smile. "I did. Over and over again. But you insisted on taking the blame."
"You know what I mean! Why didn't you tell me Ajuris 4 wasn't destroyed?"
"Because it was irrelevant. As far as I was concerned it was more important for you to accept that it wasn't your fault. You are very young, John. Over the coming centuries you are going to be accused of far more heinous crimes by misguided cretins. You need to know when to stand up and accept the blame and when to stand toe-to-toe with your accusers and put them straight."
"I don't get it John." Hal sighed. "Harry said you weren't guilty. Kilowog said you weren't guilty. The Guardians said you weren't guilty. Are you honestly saying you know better than the ones we trust to lead us?"
"For once, Hal Jordan and I are in complete agreement." Sinestro nodded, causing Hal to roll his eyes. "You insult the Corp with your childish and primitive stubbornness."
Hal patted Sinestro on the back slowly. "Way to go, Pal. Playing the 'Primitive Card', that's how you win an argument."
"John can see a psychiatrist." Jean offered. "Send him back home and someone can take him on as a patient."
"I want to get to the events that happened on Earth." Phoebe interrupted with a scowl.
"Are you seriously going to put the Amazons and Sekirei on trial?" Mindee demanded.
"They saved so many lives. Do you know how many minds we had to wipe of horrors they were subjected to?" Celeste asked. She was clearly very upset as Chloe put an arm around her.
Clark stood up and picked up Mindee from her chair, placing her on his lap before wrapping his arms around her sisters comfortingly. The triplets leant into him and took peace in his warmth.
"Maybe the Cuckoos should also go home for a while." Clark suggested softly.
"Terrence can handle the high school." Emma nodded. "I will accompany my daughters."
"I'll come too. Jason-"
"I can handle your classes Coach." Jason assured him quickly.
Everyone knew the basics of what the Amazons and Sekirei had uncovered today. It was bad as what the Manhunters had done to John Stewart and the rest of the galaxy with Ajuris 4.
"There will be a hearing as Aphrodite suggested." Harry said quietly. "Everyone needs to remember that this is not a trial, but an intense debriefing. We will use this to setup guidelines so that we can be more effective the next time we have to do something like this."
"Who is going to handle the questioning?" Loki asked. "I truly have no desire to be party to it."
"We'll find someone." Harry sighed.
That night was hard on the Smallville Amazons and Sekirei. Even Miya took extra comfort from Harry and his other wives.
For Lana it was much more difficult. For the first time in a long time she was alone in her room. Over the past years since she was adopted by Scott, Jean and Emma she had bunked with the Cuckoos. The three adults had accompanied the trio back to their home universe leaving Lana alone after a very difficult day.
She spent the better part of an hour tossing and turning in her bed. Several times she had started to make conversation only to remember she was alone.
That was until Kyla and Jodi burst into her room.
"Come on Lana. You can bunk with us." Jodi gave her a sad smile. "We can feel your depression ourselves."
"Yeah, it's hard enough trying to deal with our own." Kyla grumbled. "At least we have Clark."
"We?" Lana pulled them to a stop with raised eyebrows. "I am not ready to start a new relationship. And I don't care what remarks Jason says about sorority vamps I'm not going to hurt him by jumping into bed with Clark so soon after we broke up."
"It's just sleeping Lana." Kyla sighed frustrated. "Besides, Ku is far too young to be dealing with that side of things."
"Ku is there?"
"Sure, she sleeps with us on certain days." Jodi nodded.
"Again… we? Since when did you start sleeping with Clark?" Lana asked.
"Since I joined my soul to yours. I'm not having sex with him… yet. But I love sleeping with my friends. It's like a sleep over every night!" She grinned.
"What do you do when you want to… you know?" She asked awkwardly.
"We drag Clark back to Asgard, have our way with him using his altered time and then get back so someone else can ravish him." Kyla explained with all the seduction and romance of computer manual.
"How does he find the time to sleep?" Lana wondered as they reached the door to Kyla and the other's room.
"Altered time Lana. He just goes up to Asgard and gets more sleep." Kyla answered.
Jodi opened the door and was met with a cheer.
"Lana!"
Lana gave a soft grunt as she was impacted by a near flying Kusano. Fortunately the little girl's weight was negligible for her Amazon strength.
"Hi Ku." Lana gave her a hug.
Kusano frowned as she pushed back to look Lana in the face. "Are you sad too?"
"I am. We saw lots of people being treated badly today." Lana nodded.
"We'll make it all better." Kusano promised as she kissed her cheek sweetly.
"You've already started sweetie."
A/N: A tool for Marvel Fanfic writers...
This isn't really a comment about the story but more a note about a tool I started to develop to aid me in writing future Marvel stories. if you go to marvel-timeline (add dot com to the end) you will find... a Marvel timeline.
The idea for the timeline is to allow readers, writers, etc, to view comics and compare the different series as to when they are published. I started creating it after writing M-Day as it was hard to keep track of what every character was doing during the Civil War and Secret Invasion.
Anyone can contribute to the site. There is a general FAQ page and a developers page.
The content is seriously lacking at the moment as I am the only person adding to it so if you have comics you want to add then feel free to start typing.
That is all... we return you to you regularly scheduled programming.
