Chapter 4: The Birth of a Team

GOTHAM CITY
FEBRUARY 13, 21:15 EST

Superman, Batman, and their new friends arrived in Gotham City shortly after driving the first of the elemental aliens out of New York and hopefully out of America. But from what Martian Manhunter had said, there was more trouble happening across the world. Superman had suggested they meet together to discuss the matter, and when they all agreed, Batman provided the location.

"Head to Wayne Manor," he had told them. "Ask for Bruce Wayne."

So it was that Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter went through Gotham until at last, they reached the residences of the high-class individuals and happened upon the most elegant there. This turned out to be Wayne Manor, as the family crest was upon the gate that led to the entrance. The six heroes came to the door and Superman did the honor of ringing the bell, and they were soon met by the master butler, Alfred J. Pennyworth.

"Well, I'll be!" he said with an impressed tone. "Never have we had superheroes on the threshold of Wayne Manor!"

Superman approached slightly and said, "Good evening, sir. Batman told us to ask for Bruce Wayne as he has asked to meet us on the current extraterrestrial threat."

"Yes, of course, Superman," replied Alfred. "You and your allies are welcome to come in. Any friend of Batman's is a friend to us."

The superheroes entered the manor and looked around at the outstanding elegance of this dwelling as Alfred led them through the main hall. They were all impressed at being in such a fine house, but the two who felt the most surprise were Wonder Woman and Aquaman. To them, everything before their eyes spoke of much splendor, yet great humility at the same time: the brass-painted walls, the electric candelabras, the chandeliers of crystal and gold, the ornate pieces of art. It was all a great sight to behold.

Wonder Woman mused, "This Bruce Wayne must have the wealth of Midas under his roof. Even the President himself would be jealous."

Alfred heard her and replied in his good-humored way, "I wouldn't know about that, miss, but Master Bruce does have enough for daily charities."

The group said little more as they followed Alfred into the library. Then he tapped a button on the old grandfather clock, which opened a hidden panel leading to a staircase heading down. Now Alfred led the six superheroes down the long path of steps for what felt like hours until at last they stood in what seemed like a large cave. Alfred turned on a switch, activating several rows of electric lanterns. When the tomb-like chamber was lit, the heroes realized where they were. This place was the Batcave; the subterranean maze of caverns that served as Batman's hideaway, and standing at the enormous tri-screen computer was the Dark Knight himself.

Alfred approached Batman with a surprising air of confidence and said, "Our visitors have come, sir."

"Good. We can begin now."

The group shifted uneasily at this ominous affirmation, and Flash, Green Lantern, and even Wonder Woman felt shivers running down their backs when Batman turned his frigid gaze to them. However, Batman approached them calmly and said, "First things first. Let's get to know one another under the masks."


This would not seem like a normal meeting for superheroes who had had so little contact with each other, but Superman vouched for Batman in saying that if he did not think they could be entrusted with his allegiance, let alone his friendship, he wouldn't have asked them to come to Wayne Manor in the first place. This put them at ease, so Flash and Green Lantern felt relieved to remove their masks and entrust Batman with their true identities.

For about twenty minutes, the seven heroes sat together at the meeting table in the cave and spoke as acquaintances, sharing their true names and their stories and swapping tales of the various deeds of altruism they had performed in the past few years. There were a few laughs cracked around the table, and though none came from Bruce, he did smile at how his five new friends appreciated their jobs as much as Clark did. Alfred served tea as part of his host duties, and when the pleasantries had been observed, Diana was the first to ask J'onn about the elemental creatures that had been reported on Earth.

"So tell us, J'onn. What are these creatures, and why are they here?" she asked.

"They are alien beings from a world beyond our solar system they call Appellax," J'onn replied. "Their planet is ruled by a central government whose head is addressed as a 'Kalar'. On Appellax, the word translates to 'emperor'. From what I have seen in their minds, the one who was their emperor has died, and now these seven are contesting with each other to determine who will be the next to rule."

"Okay. But what does this have to do with them coming to Earth?" inquired Barry Allen.

"I have explained it to Superman and Batman in brief detail," explained J'onn. "The Appellaxians engage in games of conquests to determine who will rule their planet. They must choose a world to come to and seek to attain victory by conquering the greatest amount of territory they can and enslaving all the populace within that territory. The one among them who succeeds in this will become the new Kalar."

Diana was fiercely angry when she heard that, and she spoke very hotly indeed. "So these creatures will conquer a world that is not theirs and enslave innocents simply to determine who will rule their world?! It is a blatant disgrace!"

"Diana's right," Clark insisted. "These Appellaxians must be stopped before they can claim any territory, but we can't do it individually. This threat requires all of us to fight it."

Hal Jordan spoke next and said, "I'm with Superman. We have to go after the Appellaxians and drive them off the planet. But that's gonna be a little difficult since we're not sure where to look."

Bruce only gave him a look that said "Don't be so sure" and activated a projector in the table that brought up the national news. Catherine Grant of GBS News was at her desk, and she had a grim story to tell.

"The attack on New York City was fortunately short-lived, but it appears that this is only the beginning," she was saying. "We are getting reports that similar creatures have appeared in Paris, London, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Tokyo, and Taipei. Evacuations are currently underway in every location at threat, but military efforts to stop these monsters have been fruitless. All we can do at this moment is wait and pray for help."

Clark and the others looked at each other with knowing glances, and then he said, "We need to get out there and fast."

With that, the seven heroes resumed their superhero identities, and Batman set to work to discern which Appellaxians had gone where while Superman worked with the group to formulate a plan to stop the invasion without too much damage resulting from the attacks. They analyzed each situation, discerned the best possible way to handle it, and determined what to do should their plan have its flaws used against them. Then after one last debate, the heroes moved out to counter this threat as a team.


ARGENTINA
FEBRUARY 13, 23:56 ART

Superman was over Argentina in less than an hour when he saw the signs of what he was looking for. He focused his telescopic vision and saw the capital city of Buenos Aires, and there was already a lot of damage done. Several offices and apartments were knocked down to size, fires spread throughout other buildings, and there were some civilians who had been hurt in the wake of this destruction. There were also a handful of tanks that had been dented, torn, and even stepped on, which accentuated the truth that the military had not been able to confront the thing that had done this.

Superman put on a burst of speed and arrived at the west side of the city, where the disaster had begun. As the report had said, another Appellaxian giant was carving its own swath of ruin. To Superman's surprise, this creature had a body of crystal and was vaguely human-shaped. Its body was angular and surprisingly lank, with its hands ending in absurdly long claws and its legs having no discernible feet with two claws on the front and back. The creature's torso had a chest, but its body was skeletally shaped down to its pelvis. Its head was curved at the back, with a protruding jaw sporting sharp teeth and deep blue eyes, and crystal spikes extended from its shoulders, elbows, knees, and upper back.

Superman knit his brow with a look of fierce determination and flew headlong at the crystal giant, and he struck it in the jaw and knocked it back. The monster turned its head to look at him, then it let out a screeching roar and lumbered towards him.

Superman easily evaded the blows of those terrible claws and then began punching the creature's chest. His blows damaged it enough to leave holes, but the creature began healing and then knocked him away. Superman felt his back slam against an office building, but he stood up fully conscious and resumed his battle with the crystal creature. This time, he struck at its mineral ribs and managed to shatter them with ease. The monster screeched with pain, but its wounds were just as temporary, for its fractured rib-structures soon regenerated.

What happened next took Superman completely by surprise: the crystal giant opened its fanged maw and blew a frigid wind that reminded Superman of his own freeze-breath. It was icy by the feel of it, and the Man of Steel was blown several yards away. He could feel the cold building up around him, sealing him in until he was practically entombed in a rock of crystal-ice.

The next thing he knew, Superman was on the street frozen solid. But the crystal giant had clearly never met a Kryptonian, as a split second later, Superman busted out of his icy trap and flew up to meet the creature's face. He pounded the creature once more, leaving more bores, and then tried blasting it with his heat vision. The tactic worked better than he expected, for the crystal giant howled and retreated as its crystal form began glowing a brilliant hot red.

The success didn't last, however, for the creature then seized Superman and began slamming him repeatedly into another building as if this would be enough to break him. Of course, Superman was too tough to be harmed with extreme force, but the slamming was rather jarring. Eventually, he pushed back and managed to free himself before using his speed and strength to strike at the creature's legs.

The crystal giant was completely surprised at this new attack and resorted to try stomping Superman into the ground. It raised one crystalline leg, but Superman evaded it and then grabbed the creature's leg, flinging it to the ground. When the monster tried a second time, Superman caught its clawed appendage and pushed up with immense force. The crystal monster toppled to the ground and then slowly rose again.

"Now to get this thing out of Buenos Aires!" Superman said to himself.

With that, he flew under the crystal giant's rib formations, took hold of its body, and lifted it into the sky. This had to be the most cunning tactic he had used yet, since he was under the creature's ribs, its oversized claws couldn't touch him.

In a few minutes, Superman had flown the crystal giant over the Atlantic Ocean, and he flung it into the sea with a mighty heave. He watched as the creature flew away from South America until it was far from his sightline, then flew back to the Batcave to report his success to Batman.