Quick side note: All attacks relating to DBZ will be in Japanese and Bolden.
Guest: Yeah, I was thinking about how to motivate her. I didn't want to do the cheesy small pep-talk, but rather I wanted to be loud and clear. Imagine yelling at yourself for motivation in the middle of the night and that's how I played Nathol out. I needed something that just resonated. Something memorable. Why not a loud-mouthed guardian of Zuce's? I'm planning for her origin story down the line and
Dragonslayerajahn: I'm unsure as to what the plan is for the Woods later on in the future.
: I rather not have her powers be on a galactic level and that we're dealing with Pre-Flashpoint Superman *hint, hint*.
Roaddogsc: Thanks!
Deathgeonous: Thanks! When I was starting out, the most problematic thing was trying not to rush things first chapter. But now, I'm getting the hang of this. I'm leaving breadcrumbs for the life Zuce had before chapter 1 through minor details such as who is Nathol? And what was he like to Zuce? Zuce is short for zucchini, and it's pronounced like Zeus. Bit of a homophone (two words having the exact same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, etc).
Flash runs across the street as a trail of bullets are following his footsteps.
"Stand still!" The voice is coming out of a giant purple with Gatling guns attached to its arms. The mechs are as tall as a seven-story building.
"If I had a dollar for that, I'd be rich as Lex!"
He cuts at the corner as Green Arrow launches two in front of the Flash. Flash turns and grabs the arrows while still running and bolts for the robot's legs. He sticks an arrow to a leg before zooming out of there. Bolting out of there, the arrows tick before immediately exploding. Smoke emits and covers the legs. But the robot still stands and continues its assault, and this time, it targets Green Arrow. He ducks as the bullets are flying. They tear away the materials of the building. He pulls an arrow back. Bolting as the bullets are coming, he jumps to another rooftop and in mid-air, turns around and fires the arrow. It hits right in the yellow eye but it doesn't penetrate. But it does clang on. An electrical shock releases and travels all across the machine. But it continues firing. He keeps on jumping on rooftops. But with the shredded materials, they collapse down to the streets below. A father and daughter are underneath, and the father hugs the daughter close to his body, using himself as a shield, but within a blink of an eye, Flash picks them up and out of the way of the falling debris.
He sets them outside the town as he races back in. A smoke trail is left in his wake, but it's cut by the hailing bullet storm.
"Need some help here! I'm going to be a Red Arrow soon!" Several bullets fly toward Green Arrow before a green shield appears behind his back. The bullets collide with the shield and fall to the ground, smashed. Green Lantern creates a huge hammer and charges in. He nails it on top of its head, and the top caves in before Hal smashes it on the chest. It falls flat on its back and then, Hal constructs jackhammer and digs. Robotic parts begin to fly.
"Brothers and sisters, I require assistance!"
"Rays of Light incoming, brother!"
Green Lantern turns around to see missiles coming towards him. He takes to the skies. The missiles curve up and trail him. The ring charges up, and Hal whips around and creates a wave of green energy, colliding with the missiles. They explode mid-air, but more come out of the smoke, and he fires beams from his ring. Green Arrow loads four arrows before releasing them. Smoke arises the air, but Superman cuts through the smoke as he zooms to a red mech.
Superman gives a powerful right-hook, and the other red mech returns with a steaming left jab. A wide shockwave is made, shattering the remaining windows. But, cracks appear throughout the robot's arm, before it shatters. With its only other arm, it tries to swat Superman away, but he ducks under and lays another devastating punch to its chest. The robot launches far back; the street crumbles under its boots. Superman's eyes glow bright red before two piercing hot lasers come out. The beams target its right leg and slice it off after a few seconds under the intense heat.
The red mech begins to fall to its side but uses its right arm to holster the massive body.
"Brothers and sisters, I am down! Superman is on me!"
As Superman gets closer, a blue mech crashes through a nearby building. Superman darts his attention as the blue mech has its fist coming at him. Holding out his palms, he catches the punch. Then he processes to dig his fingers into the fist and lift it up. The blue mech falls before Superman stomps on its chest.
"Cyborg! How do I shut this thing off?" A hail of gunfire swarm Superman's position, but the bullets hitting him hit the ground, flattened. A huge blue beam hits the purple robot's head as Cyborg weaves under a green mech's fist with his jetpack.
"The power core is in its chest! Rip it out, and it shuts off." With that, Superman flies to the sky before booming back down. His body leaves a hole in the blue mech's chest with ripped broken wires. The ground rumbles and a hole is created with a flash of red and blue coming out of it.
In his hand is a blue power-core, and he crushes it. The mech's yellow eyes darken. The person inside bangs.
"My family! I have fallen, and I can't get up!"
"Sister Rose has fallen to the Angels of Darkness! We must avenge her! Let them have it!" The remaining mechs' arms open up. Gatling guns, rocket launchers, and a huge laser beam appear out of the arms. On its shoulder, there are tracking missiles and heavy cannons. Green Arrow fires more arrows, each varying in types, explosives, electrical, and piercing. They all hit and do some damage, but they still stand.
"Man! These machines are essentially a man-of-war. Well, mechs-of-war! Where did these people get them from? Got an answer, Cyborg?" Cyborg's red eye shines with about a million of things going on in his cybernetic mind.
"Some of these parts are stolen Argus technology. The rest seem to be from LexCorp. It says that these parts were on route to New York via ship, but it was lost in a storm. It was never found, but now we know why." Cyborg ducks under another swing before taking it to the air as missiles are following him. Several arrows, however; intercept them and they blow up mid-air. Green Arrow fires several more explosive arrows at the green mech's head, and with the force of the explosion, it takes several steps back. The machine stabilizes and points its finger at Green Arrow.
"Get rid of Demon Archer!" The laser cannon's barrel lights up red as it's aiming at Green Arrow.
"That would be a cool name if I was a super-villain. But red isn't my color." He loads an arrow with a hook at the end and shoots it to the building across from him. He swings as the street and lands on another rooftop as the laser cannon cuts through the building and the other buildings above it. Prepping another arrow, a red glow shines behind him; turning around, he sees that the blue mech has its laser cannon already ready to fire.
"Ah, shit!"
The orb forms at the end of the barrel and is about to fire except for a few black bat-a-rangs are stuck in the weapon. The bat-a-rangs tick before letting out an electrical shock. The weapon short-circuits before a massive explosion, and the mech falls to its side due to the sheer knockback. Batman lands on the same roof as Arrow.
Arrow smiles at his savior, while Batman glares. He drops the happy expression and whistles his way around to face the robot. Landing on its chest, Superman shoots red lasers out of his eyes, hitting the tracking missiles and Gatling guns tracking the fliers fired from the other mechs before ripping out the blue mech's power core and crushing it.
"Brother Matius is down! Three of us left, we need to stick together now." The remaining mechs form a triangle with each other covering each other's backs. They're getting desperate. Their attack was to go according to plan but had it not been for that darn accident in the river, they would have gotten away with it. Well, until they would have fought against the Justice League. It would have been a great run until it lasted.
"What do we do, Sister Carol?!"
"Don't target the Satanic spawn now! Focus on the people; these sinners need to be cleansed! These spawns can't save them all!" All of the weapons aim towards the fleeing citizens and cars. They immediately fire. The skies are filled with missiles, bullets, and lasers. Batman turns to all of the members of the Justice League.
"Everyone! Protect the people!"
In an instant, the streets are filled red, blue, green, black, and silver as they are all moving around, dispersing the missiles and shielding others from the bullet-storms and falling debris. Explosions litter the streets while lasers pierce through the buildings. Flash grabs a few people as debris is about to fall on them along with Batman, Green Arrow picks off the random missiles in the air along with Green Lantern as well, and Superman is shielding civilians from the hail-fire along with Cyborg.
Near the center of the town are two people running to the town's welcoming gates. Sister Carol's green mech has its laser beam setting its sights on them.
The laser beam focuses on a brunette mother and daughter retreating near the center of the square. But all the other heroes are too busy or far to reach them. Flash notices the trajectory of the laser locking near the center, and he zooms. He has to make it; he's the fastest man alive! The laser shoots towards them. The parent sees the incoming beam and grabs her child. She pushes the child to the side as the laser inches closer to the two. As the child is pushed, her body spins around to see her mother's impending doom. Flash sees this as well, but with his speed, he won't make! He's too far from saving the others, and no one is close to them. But goddamnit, he runs like hell!
"MOM!" Her mother with tears in her eyes smiles.
"Goodbye…" Now the beam is centimeters away. She can feel the intense heat, her back feels like it's on fire, her tears drop to the ground.
But a golden comet crashes in front of her. The mother is knocked back and lands several feet away. The beam hits, and the child has an uncontrollable sob going on. But… but the beam doesn't consume the mother. Rather, a golden aura is holding it back. It flares and spikes tremendously. The mother sees a figure in front of her with spiky sunlight hair. The figure's back end of the outfit flaps and they are not even struggling against the beam. Soon the laser ends, and there stands the figure in all their glory. The sunlight dazzles the figure. Flash stops at the unknown individual. But… there's something about them; their clothes look familiar. The chin and also the simple eyes. An image of a crying girl pops into his mind, and it all connects.
"You're Z-"
"MOM!" The crying daughter runs over and hugs the mother. They embrace before looking back at the figure.
The figure glances back and the mother sees that they have teal eyes. The figure turns around and levitates with a golden aura surrounding them.
"I didn't want to experience that again… Great, I'm pissed now. Get to safety, now!" The figure zooms towards the robots. The flight from that creates a huge wind which blows their hair back. Flash catches up in no matter and follows the figure. The figure glances to see that someone's underneath them.
"Zuce, right?"
"Yeah… I want to help you guys out. I-I'm sorry about what happened in that room." But Flash waves it off. He and Zuce dodge the incoming missiles and gunfire as they run and fly across the street. Zuce shoots some yellow balls, and they collide with the missiles, exploding them mid-air.
"Don't worry about it. And how or why are you yellow?"
"Transformation. I have lots of them, but that's not important right now. How can I help?"
"We could always use a helping hand for destroying those weapons; the others are too busy and, you're now our free hand. There's a power core in the middle, destroy that and the whole robot crumbles. Be careful though! Takes out those missiles as well!"
"Got it." And Flash runs off elsewhere to save more civilians. In the nick of time, he picks up a couple from getting hit by the missiles.
Zuce dodges and weaves through the missiles and gunfire as the mechs are firing randomly. Turning around and cupping her hands, she launches many barrages of yellow orbs to counter the missiles. The air is covered in all sorts of projectiles. Explosions litter the streets and the air. A perfect word to describe this is a war zone.
She turns around as the distance is closing in. Two fingers go to her shoulder, and a small spark vibrates between the two fingers. A yellow ball of light appears, and a blue aura surrounds Zuce. She closes her eyes and lets the energy build up. Like a dam, gather it all then… release the wave.
"Warning, flier approaching!" The mechs all see that a golden flier is coming for them. The red mech steps in front of the others.
"I'm going to hit her with full power!" The laser cannon retreats from the shoulder and reappears on its chest. The red mech has their laser beam charging and aims it at Zuce. Still, her eyes don't open. Steady breathing, absorbing it all, all to a single point. Straight, straight as a needle.
The laser from the red mech goes off, and it has the length of a stadium and a width of a skyscraper if placed horizontally. The beam paints the town red as they see this massive destructive wave. But Zuce is unfazed by this oncoming projectile. She isn't bracing for the attack. Why stop it when you can send your own? Her eyes flash open and they lock on with a straight demeanor. Instantly, her fingers are in front of her.
"MAKANKOSAPPO!"
A smaller yellow beam with a purple spiral shoots out and heads for the red death. The two beams clash, and huge winds gust throughout the town. The attacks illuminate the sky and paint the town purple, yellow, and red. Everyone seeing this new color painted on every building turns their attention to see that the purple and the yellow beam immediately penetrates and disperses the red beam. Soon, Zuce's attack nails the red mech and drills through the metal. It penetrates through with ease like a hot knife going through fabric. Explosions go off in its chest and it timbers over. The fall crushes the cars behind along with anything else. The mech's eyes darken.
The Makankosappo comes out of the other side and curves to the skies. It then gets smaller and smaller before vanishing into the thin air.
"DAMNIT! I'm sorry, Sister Carol. I've failed us all! I leave up to you and Brother Morgan! You're the last two alive, finish the mission!" But the green mech gets into a kneeling position after getting back up.
The last two Black Lords see their fallen brethren.
"Do not worry; god's plan will still be carried out."
"KIENZAN!"
They look over to see multiple yellow saucers coming towards them, but it's too late to dodge. The discs cut off all the shoulder weapons, and one of them cuts off the yellow mech through the middle. The top half begins to slide off; once most of it is off the bottom, it plummets to the ground with a *thud*.
"Brother Morgan!"
"Ugh, this one is teeming with satanic powers! Just go! Finish the mission of the Black Lords!" But the green mech is suddenly sent about fifty yards across the town, enough to send it to the forest. The last mech lands on a bunch of trees, and it slides a good seven yards. It gets up and quickly scans the area. The scanner locks on to Zuce, and all of its arsenal fire towards Zuce.
The forest is set ablaze with trees being shredded, launched in the air, or being disintegrated. But not a single attack hits Zuce. She cocks her right-fist. She's inching closer and closer. Sister Carol can see it. The end of her journey, she and the Black Lords and Knights have fallen, and now the world will be plunged into darkness. But a golden light appears before her, and it's not stopping. It heads straight for the chest. NOW GIVE LIFE A GOOD RIGHT-HOOK!
"ORAAAAAA!"
Zuce slams the chest with a powerful right-hook, and its chest bursts out along with a blue shine. Seeing what seems to be what Flash said, the power core flies out of its chest and into the air. Zuce fires a yellow orb, and it makes contact, shattering the heart and scattering it into a million pieces. The last of the mechs falls face first on the trees. Zuce lands near its head as that's where she's sensing the energy signature inside. A hatch opens and out steps a middle age woman with black hair and several wrinkles on her face. Her eyes glare daggers at Zuce as she jumps down. Her clothes consist of a black leather jacket with 'God's Chosen' inscribed high on the back along with a cross, holed blue jeans with a spiky belt buckle.
"Give it up."
"You! You are with the rest of the sinners! Our goal was to prepare and cleanse this world for the Second Coming! We are all Black Sheeps to our Lord, but some of us have seen the light!" Images of Zamasu pop in Zuce's mind. He has pinned her down and sends a powerful shock to her body. Zuce's attention is now on the ground. Taking this opportunity, Sister Carol pulls out a Glock 19 and aims for Zuce's head. She fires in a rapid succession, emptying the clip.
"DON'T EVEN IMAGINE THAT FUCKER STILL BEING ALIVE! IF ANYTHING MAKES YOU THINK OF ZAMASU OR BLACK, IMAGINE YOU WINNING THAT FIGHT! PUSH FORWARD AND REACH FOR THE STARS!"
Nathol's voice rings throughout. Zuce nods. The bullets are closing in, but Zuce's attention snaps back. She stares down Sister Carol.
She raises her hand as the bullets inch closer and closer. Her hand catches the closest one, then the other, and then another. Soon, all of the bullets are caught. Zuce opens her hand, and the bullets themselves fall and scatter upon impact with the ground. They are perfectly fine.
"Should have just given up."
Sister Carol's eyes widen. Zuce's body dissipates into the thin air.
"What?!" But Zuce rematerializes in front of Sister Carol and gives her a good tap of a left-hook towards the stomach. Hitting the spot with such force, her body goes limp, eyes whiten, she tries to make out words, but they come out to be garble. Her spit flies out, and she falls to the dirt. Zuce lugs over her shoulders.
A golden aura surrounds her, and she takes to the skies and back to town.
"BOOYA, CHAMP! THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT! YOU GAVE LIFE NOT ONLY A GREAT RIGHT-HOOK, BUT ONE OF THE GREATEST ONE-TWO I'VE EVER SEEN!" Zuce smirks as she continues to fly. An image of three people appears. It's Belli, Nathol, and Zuce. Nathol has little Zuce on his shoulders while Belli is standing beside him. They all smile together and share a laugh. Belli has on her Saiyan combat suit with purple sleeves while Nathol has his in blue. Zuce's wearing a white robe.
"Thanks, again, Nathol."
A few seconds passed as she finally gets to the edge of the town. Emergency services are all over the place. Several individuals are on stretchers, some have gauzes on several parts of their body, and police officers are forcing the Black Lords into the patrol cars while the mechs are being picked up, part by part.
Zuce lands in the middle and the police officers run over.
"Here, the last one of the Black Lords." She sets Sister Carol down, and the officers handcuff her and take her off Zuce's hands. Zuce and the officers wave bye to each other.
"Thank you very much, madam." The officers put her into another police car.
Zuce turns around as she senses the now familiar energy signatures. Green Lantern is the first to land around her.
"Hey… who's the new girl? And why is she wearing the same clothes as the girl back from the base." Flash dashes over.
"That's because it is the same girl." Zuce powers down and with that, her hair returns to normal, eyes back to black. They all are taken back as they connect the dots, well, except for Batman. He already knows.
"Well, I'm glad that's over. Black this, Black that, are there any more of these Black people coming?" Everyone else gathers around. She bows.
"I'm sorry at what happened in that room. If there's any way I can make it up to you, I'll do it." Everyone has a little smile going on the inside, well, except for Batman. Batman smiling is a rare event in which there's a solar eclipse, and when pigs can fly. Superman walks and places his hand on her shoulder.
"That's alright. It happens to the best of us." But Batman steps forward.
"But there is a way you can help us out." He does want her to work off for the damages of a destroyed wall, chairs, and table. Those materials aren't cheap.
Back at the Base, in the garage
"You know, you guys are really bad at 'helping' people out." Green Arrow air-quotes 'helping' as he stares from the other side of the mirror. This doesn't faze Batman as he continues to type away on his computer as Zuce identifies more of the rubble.
"This was…uh, a house if I remember correctly." Zuce sees the familiar color of the building and the Capsule Corp logo. In front of it is a hologram with an almost exact copy of the building and its shape. Most of the rubble has a picture of what they could have been. Zuce moves over to the green rubble. Green Arrow points to the other rubble next to it.
"And this?"
"A… hospital." Next is the red rubble.
"Okkk, this?" Next is the blue rubble.
"Oh, that's a buffet. It's the… 'Red Steakhouse.' We, uh, Saiyans, have huge appetites and that's where most of us eat at. Ate there a few times myself, and it's good, but I prefer Tengen Toppa Grill."
"Isn't that it?" Zuce scans to her right and sees the familiar famous colors within the Conton community.
"Damn, that got sucked up too?"
Many minutes later
Zuce walks out of the door.
"And that's all of them. I hope I was of good service to you, Batman." Zuce bows once more, and Batman returns with a nod. Green Arrow comes out the door exhausted as the rubble stretches out for miles. There were several sets of the rubble withdrawn from the river. Each time the two of them completed a set, a new one would arrive. The identified rubble was then sent to the dumpster. Zuce told them if it was destroyed, it could be repaired but Earth doesn't have that advanced construction technique, well, not yet, Batman is now developing something similar. Zuce wasn't even tired but was speaking with her normal voice while he got annoyed after like the 6th set.
Green Arrow walks to over the couch and crashes. He lets out a moan of comfort.
"I never want to be on labeling duty, ever again..." His stomach grumbles. Batman types into the Justice computer and presses enter. All the data and schematics are sent to the Watchtower's computer and to the Bat-computer.
Flash enters through another door on the far side. In his hands are Zuce's phone, wallet, and her two pouches.
"Seems that you left these here. Don't worry, nothing was damaged." Zuce takes the items off Flash. She slips her phone and wallet back into the pockets. With the pouches, they are tied to her belt and her Gi vest conceals them. Green Arrow slowly rises from the couch and walks over to them.
"Hey, you have a pouch almost full of these little… green beans? What are they?" Zuce digs into the pouch on the right and draws out a Senzu bean.
"A Senzu bean, it's something to help with recovery and for food."
"Is it just for your race or…?"
"No, anyone can eat it. But don't eat more than one unless ten days have passed. You'll get fat." Like Mason, Green Arrow's stomach growls. Batman doesn't bat an eye to their conversation, but he does make a mental note of everything she's saying. Bean equals recovery and food.
"Can I try?" He opens his palm, and Zuce nods. She has plenty more. Dropping it, Green Arrow pops it in his mouth and chews. They can all hear the loudness of the crunch as he continues on to chew before swallowing.
"Really fishy tas-" His body immediately expands. Flash's eyes widen as to the sudden transformation. His jaw drops. Zuce stands there, unaffected. In fact, she stretches and cracks her body. Green Arrow's body-mass increases exponentially as time continues. He breaks out in a cold sweat as he can feel his outfit going to its absolute limit with this expansion. His muscles are bulging out along with seeing the massive vein lines. Flash then turns to Zuce.
"Don't worry. He's fine. It takes a few seconds."
"FINE?!" Batman turns around to see a massive Ollie. He darts from his chair but immediately, Ollie deflates with his body returning to normal. He crumbles to the ground and lies on his back on the cold floor. They all stare at Green Arrow before everyone except for Arrow stares at Zuce. She feels the piercing gaze of Batman and the shocked stare from Flash. Zuce shrugs.
"What?"
"You could have mentioned that people bloat up and are on the edge of explosion when they eat that!" This surprises Zuce.
"Oh… do you guys not have that?"
"NO!"
"Oops…"
"Hahahaha!"
Green Arrow gets up and wipes a tear away. He exhales and pats Zuce on the back several times. Batman eyes for anything significant in Green Arrow beside his humor. Body mass, height, eye color, beard, nope, everything's the same.
"How are you feeling?" He wipes another tear before glancing to Batman. He ends up cracking up again.
"Haha, I'm fine, Bats. Man, did that get me good. It was just the shock value, that's all. But… I do feel… full and not exhausted anymore." Green Arrow pats himself down before rubbing his belly. Batman holds out his palm.
"Let me see one of those." Zuce, once again, digs into the pouch.
"Hey, give me one of those again."
"You're not supposed to have another one until ten days from now."
"Don't worry, it's not for me."She eyeballs him as he's up to something. Zuce shrugs her shoulders.
"Fine…" She drops a Senzu bean in their hands. Batman closely examines it before putting it in a yellow pouch on his utility belt. When she drops it on Arrow's hand, he smiles. Flash realizes what's about to happen, but doesn't anything about it. It's just Ollie being Ollie.
"Oh boy, this should be interesting."
Green Arrow bolts through the door.
"Hey, Lantern, where are you?"
"The main room, why?"
"I got a present for ya." Flash face-palms and releases a chuckle. He zooms out of the door, and all that's left are Batman and Zuce.
Zuce turns towards Batman. She extends a handout. Batman stares.
"Thanks… for that… back in that room. I guess I-I was just simply overwhelmed with the news and this new discovery. I blamed it all on me, and it overtook me… That fact that I failed the others, that I charged in reckless, that I-" She's beginning to tear up again, but Batman stops her by shaking her hand. He wouldn't let people fall into the same rabbit-hole he did. This is why he dons the suit. They release the handshake after a few seconds. Zuce nods and wipes away the tears that were forming. Thank you, and to you too, Nathol. Batman walks back to the computer.
The door behind Zuce opens and enters in Superman. He walks in as Zuce finishes wiping her eyes.
"You guys done with labeling the buildings?" Zuce nods while Batman types away on the computer. He takes that as a yes and walks to Batman. He's currently tracing the lost shipments as those robots were made of Argus and LexCorp technology. These shipments have weapons in them, why? Where were they going to be sold in the first place? And to whom?
Superman turns to Zuce.
"So what now? What's your plan?"
Kal-El's question catches Zuce off-guard as she tries to think of a response.
"Uhh… hmmm…" She stops and her eyes dart to the ceiling. Nothing is coming to her. No light bulb appearing over her head, eyes don't sparkle. Nothing.
Superman smirks at the humility Zuce is showing. He steps up to the plate and towers over Zuce. Looking over to Batman, he just stares. Kal-El smiles before returning his gaze back to the lost girl.
"We were… well, some of us were thinking… about having you join the Justice League."
Zuce is taken back by this offer. She's only been here for not less than a few hours, well about four days if counting when she was passed out, but not the point. Her eyes widen.
"Really? Why so soon? I-I just met you guys and…"
Zuce rambles uncontrollably, trying to find a reason as to why they are offering her a position. Words are not formulating as Zuce tries to understand it all. She stops her rambling as Superman simply chuckles and puts his hand on her shoulder.
"Relax. You're not the first person we've done this too. The Justice League was built when we all met for the first time. We all realized that some threats might be too much for us alone, but together, we stand a chance."
"Really? Why me? Again, we just met!" This sudden offering is stunning Zuce much more than when Avdol adopted Scooby, and almost nothing tops that except when they threw her first birthday party on Earth.
"You once worked for a group that protected history to protect others, and with us, you can continue protecting others. We were hoping you would join us. Could always use a helping hand, fighting for the greater good." This stuns Zuce even more. Are they that willing to trust me? I-I-I don't want to be rude, bu- but this way beyond me. It's only been 5 chapters now and I'm joining the Justice League? At least this isn't in the first chapter like in many other stories! T-this is all too much for me! Zuce glances back at Superman.
"Can I get back to you on that?"
"Sure, we'll be here until tomorrow afternoon most likely."
"T-thank you. Thank you all. Goodbye now." Zuce bows again and they accept the gesture. As she gets back up, she places two fingers on her forehead. She vanishes. Bruce's and Kal-El's eyes widen as she disappeared. Batman spins around and types a few things into the computer. Kal-El quickly takes note of Bruce's furious typing and as he turns around, he sees a red dot on the computer. It seems that she's in a house. Bruce leans back while Kal-El walks to him. Seems their new friend has all sorts of abilities, transformations, shouting out attacks in Japanese, and now teleportation. And all without any use of technology. She also is speaking the same language as them despite being from a different reality.
"Tracking device, Bruce? Where did you put it this time? Never mind about that." But Kal-El already knows the answer as Bruce doesn't reply. He never does when asking a rhetoric question.
"She's… a hundred miles south of the base. It was like instant."
"So it seems she keeps on surprising all of us, you and me as well. But you're going to be best friends with her, I'm sure of it. You're a good friend to her in her time of need." Bruce bats an eye towards Kal-El.
"You were listening in to the entire thing. Back when the distress signal went off." Batman knows all. He glares at Kal-El, but Kal-El turns around and walks to the door.
"I can neither confirm nor deny." Bruce can't see it, but he can feel it. That sensation of a joke. Superman is smirking. Kal-El walks out of the room.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" The voice, it's Hal's and it's coming from the main room. Superman bolts over there to see an inflated Green Lantern. And also a laughing Green Arrow and Flash trying to hold it in. They see Superman.
"Do-hehe don't worry. He's fine." Ollie has to support himself on his legs as Hal bulges out. Superman sighs.
"As if this day wasn't already bizarre."
"YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS, OLLIE! SOMEONE HELP ME!"
The Woods' House
Mason slips and trips. He's about to hit the carpet floor before a hand grabs his flailing hand. The other person pulls Mason up, and he breathes heavily. Looking up, it's Zuce.
"HOLY SHIEEEETTTT! FUCKING HELL! WARN ME NEXT TIME!" He supports himself by his knees. Mason is out in a cold sweat as he tries to reel himself in.
"Sorry…"
A few awkward seconds pass by as Mason tries to regain his composure.
"Don't *breathe* worry about… I need to sit down." He walks over to the couch and crashes. He stretches himself out and has a hand over his heart. His heart is beating faster than the Flash's top speed. This has Zuce a bit worried.
"A-are you ok?" But he waves it off.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine. I haven't been this frightened except for when I asked Caroline out for the first time and then for marriage. But WHEW! I'm going to die at an early age with you and Sarah around." Mason laughs at his own joke, and Zuce nervously laughs along.
"Mason? Why are you screaming in the house?" A new voice pops up, one that Zuce hasn't heard yet. She senses the energy signature getting closer and turns around to see a young woman with blonde hair and green eyes. The woman has on a pink t-shirt along with blue jeans. She stands taller than Zuce for about two inches. Stopping as she sees the new girl in her living room, she eyes her husband.
"Honey, is this one of your college friends? Why do you look familiar though?" Mason chuckles and gets off the couch. He brings an arm around Zuce and reels her in. He greets his lovely wife with the biggest of smiles.
"That's because this is the person in that room for three days, Caroline." As he finishes, the realization hits her.
"You'r-" Literally. A blue plastic ball hits the back of her head, and she turns around to see Sarah running after the ball. The ball coincidentally lands in the middle of the living room.
"Sorry, mom!" She runs around the couch and picks it up. Turning around, she sees her.
"ZUCE!" Bolting like a madman, she chugs the ball elsewhere and bolts to Zuce. Her arms entrap Zuce's thighs, and she pushes her face into her thighs.
"Hey there, Sarah." Zuce caresses the back of the little child's head and she giggles. An energetic child, this one is. Mason directs everyone to the couches, and they all sit together-ish. Mason and Caroline are on one couch while Zuce and the sparkly eyed Sarah are on another.
"So what happened after you charged in to stop those Black Knights? Superman carried me and Sarah out to safety but from what I heard, they took a good beating from this 'mysterious girl' from the Justice League supposedly." Sarah is giddy with joy as Mason finishes. Sarah gets Zuce's clothes and pulls her closer. She then moves into her ear.
"TELL US!" Zuce shakes a bit as she's being manhandled by this small child.
"Ok, ok, don't scream again. Please. You're right about that part. Afterward, I met Superman and Green Lantern-" Sarah gasps.
"And, and, and! What were they like? Just like I described them to you at breakfast, right?" Zuce shrugs.
"I don't know. I kinda accidentally punched Superman…" She winces as she can hear Sarah's dream falling. "Bu-but he caught it. I thought he was an enemy until I saw the red and blue." Zuce braces herself for Sarah's loud mouth.
"THAT'S SO COOL! I WANT TO SEE WHO'S STRONGER, YOU OR SUPERMAN?! YEAH, YOU MET THEM AFTER PUNCHING SUPERMAN, THEN WHAT HAPPENED?" Mason coughs.
"Ahem, Sarah, can you please stop? Let the young lady tell her story in full."
"But, daddddd-"
"No buts, Sarah."
Zuce and Caroline nod in agreement. It's going to take a while if Sarah keeps on questioning and questioning Zuce.
"Everyone's betraying me! Fine!" Sarah gets off of Zuce and sits at the end of the couch. Mason nods towards Zuce.
"I met them and asked for their help to get me back home. They didn't respond and took me to their base. I was questioned on basic stuff, like my origin, who and what I am, who my parents were, where I lived. I then asked them if they could help me get back h-home. Sadly, t-they can't…"
Zuce bites her mouth for a second. Crying is normal, everyone does it, but that doesn't mean giving up and sulking. I-I just missed them all! Caroline gets up and moves over. She sits beside Zuce and rubs her back. She hears a few sniffs and sees the formation of tears. Caroline embraces Zuce. Even with the powers of a god, she's still mortal and mortals suffer. They experience sorrow, joy, regret, all emotions on the spectrum. It is a curse and a blessing.
"I know you do, champ. You miss your two homes, everyone that you befriended, all of that gone in an instant. I hate to be in your shoes, champ, but keep moving forward. Don't forget the past, but don't ever let it stop you. Your past is who you were back then, the present is who you are now! Look how much you've grown! AND YOU CAN ONLY KEEP ON GROWING, CHAMP! JUST BECAUSE I'M AN IMAGINATION OF THE REAL NATHOL DOESN'T MEAN HE WOULDN'T BE PROUD TODAY! PLANT YOUR SEED IN THIS WORLD, CHAMP! CHANGE IT FOR THE BETTER! FOR EVERYONE WHO WISHES FOR A BETTER TOMORROW! CHAMP, I'M ONLY GOING TO SAY THIS ONCE, STRIVE TO BE BETTER!" His voice echoes as it dissipates through her mind. Zuce nods.
"Take a second if you need to. We're here for you." Zuce wipes away the tears. She clears her throat.
"Thank you… I'm ok now. Yo-you can sit with Mason."
"Are you sure?"
"Y-yes."
Caroline returns to her seat.
"Then an alarm went off and there's another group called the Black Lords. They were terrorizing the local police station, and the Justice League went and stopped them. I joined the fray a bit later. We defeated them, and Superman offered me a position in the Justice League. And that's the synopsis of chapter 4 and parts of 5."
"And to Superman's offer. What did you say?" Zuce shrugs.
"I told him I needed to think it over. They'll be here until tomorrow afternoon."
"JUST SAY YES!"
They all look to the annoyed child. She has a huge pout on her face! She's mad! She didn't get what she wants!
"I don't want to rush things… It's not all sunshine and rainbows for me to switch my life around first thing when I wake up or get transported here." But Sarah crawls over. She grabs Zuce by the shoulders and violently shakes her.
"Sooooo whatttt? It's obvious you should join! The second they tried to rob that bank, you charged at them with no fear and took a good portion of them down! That has 'superhero' written all over! You may not see it, but I do! You're fit to be a superhero and I'm going to help! I realize that you can't be my sidekick, but I can help you create your own path!"
Caroline leans over to Mason.
"How is she that knowledgeable and philosophical as well?" He also leans.
"I don't know… I think I'm too loose on letting her read other comic books. Lately, she's been complaining about the quality of comics such as Cool-Man, Captain B-arvel? Was it? She loves the way of the older stories where characters feel real and doesn't like the new superheroes as they are shoehorned in, and they replace the current character… Oh my god, she knows a term way above her vocabulary. Yeah, it's the comics…"
"Jeez, Mason. What kind of comics are you letting her read?"
"All of them."
They return to their positions. Caroline shakes her head as Sarah keeps on talking, trying to motivate Zuce. Sarah shakes the alien girl and even slaps Zuce, and a huge red imprint is left in her wrath. The two parents' mouths drop at the volatility of their child. They lean again.
"Should we stop her?"
"We should, but I rather not. She knows too much about our personal lives and could ruin us."
"I think we've been spoiling her too much now. And who's been teaching her to use force to get wh- oh that's rights, comics. Mason…"
"Yup. I'm sorry."
"Oh, I pity for the boy who's going to ask her out. He's going to be soooo lost. And when he breaks her heart, oh man, he better move out of the state."
"Yup."
They, once more, return to their positions as Sarah continues on. She readies another slap, but Zuce puts her hands up.
"Alright, alright! Not again! Please! I'll join by today!" Sarah lowers her palm and so does Zuce.
"Good." That was easy.
Zuce rubs her left cheek as it stings. Sarah gets off Zuce and sits back on the arm of the couch. She reaches down in the couch and mysteriously pulls out a notepad, a pen, and glass. Her parents are half-shocked, half-surprised. Pushing the pin on the pen in, she scribbles some words on the notepad.
"Where did you ge-"
"First thing we need is a superhero name for you. Let's see, your name is Zuce. You come from another world where the alien race is called Saiyans. What else about you?"
"I fight using martial arts. I can fly and use energy blast using Ki. From what my friends told me, I crashed on Earth in a space-pod." Sarah takes down notes.
"Alright, alright, so a kung-fu alien, I can get behind it."
"There was this guy I knew who kind of did the superhero business. His alias was Saiyaman. Maybe I could be Saiyagirl?" But Sarah bites her bottom lip. She reels back and hits the couch multiple times. Her face turns rose-red and tears are forming. Can't hold it in anymore, have to burst out.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Oh…" Sarah continues laughing.
"Oh, oh, oh, I'm sorry. Hahaha. But that's too cheesy and ridiculous!"
"It is?"
"Oh yeah! Haha, oh man. But let's see, how… uh… how about Fist of the North Star? You know? Fist for your fighting style, North Star for your pathway to Earth." Mason gets up and towers over Sarah, looking at her notepad. Besides her chicken-scratch writing, she has a medium size list of names bounce off of.
"Honey, I think that's taken. And that, that as well, wow, some anime names in here as well."
Sarah scribbles out most of the names by the time Mason's done.
"Dang it, dad! This is my superhero creation!"
"I know it is… but we rather not have Zuce have a civil case against her for plagiarizing another person's work."
"Fine."
Caroline joins alongside Mason. She sees the notes taken and scratched out. Looking at Zuce, a name comes up.
"How about Comet? It's fast which goes in sync with her martial arts and that hits home with how she came here. Also that we took care of an alien. That doesn't happen occasionally. It is a once in a lifetime for us as well." They all stare before they all nod.
"Comet, Comet, I like that. Short name but has a deeper meaning."
"You know, I was thinking of Galactic Hand, but that works."
"Yup."
Sarah flips to a fresh clean page and writes 'Comet' as the header.
"So henceforth, your new superhero name is Comet! Now for the clothes and accessories!"
Sarah puts down everything and grabs Zuce's hand. She drags Zuce off the couch and up the stairs as her parents watch. They both sigh but chuckle. Crazy day and even crazier Sarah. Never has she been this hyped up except for when she got a huge robot for her seventh birthday. And also to their surprise, their new friend is following a little kid's orders. Mason giggles.
"You know, I thought I didn't need anything else in my life to excite me. But this, this day making my life energetic again."
"Me too. I'm loving it because of crazy our lives have become right now."
"I never thought I would help in creating a superhero, but now that I've experienced it, I want it more."
"Come on, let's go see the clothes."
They get off the couch and walk up the stairs and into their oldest daughter's room.
*A short montage of them having Zuce try on different clothes as I'm too lazy write this out. She's stylized in many ways, but they all have this teenager vibe to them. Usually, two of the three agree but it has to be all three of them in agreement. And oh hey, the montage is fin-*
"Are we actually dressing her up as a superhero, Sarah?"
There's a huge bag and in it are the clothes that were approved.
"No, mom. Her current clothes are her superhero clothes; we're just trying to put new clothes on her. She's a teenager, mom, you would know about needing new clothes. And also, we need some sort of accessory to conceal her identity. A mask, something of that nature. It has to go along with her red jacket and black shirt. How about…" Sarah runs off and out of the room. They all shrug before Sarah comes back, holding what looks to be a black V. It doesn't have the hinges on each end. The top part creates a V while the bottom creates a W.
"What did you get that?"
"A friend gave it to me. And now as a friend, I give it to Zuce. It sticks nicely without needing something to hold it on both sides. Don't worry about any color change when putting these on." Zuce takes them and puts them on. As Sarah said, they stick nicely. Her vision doesn't falter, and that everything she's seeing is the normal color. The black is there just for cosmetics. She grins.
"Seems nice. I'll take them."
Mason sets up a high-five, and Sarah slaps his hand. Mason and Sarah examine more of Zuce as Caroline has her twirl around.
"You're looking pretty cool. I think you're about ready. All that's left is to go to them."
"Come on, let's have a group hug." They all hug together as one big unit.
"You guys… you people are the best I can ask for. I'll make sure to visit! T-thank you!" Zuce steps back and bows. Her hand claps together, and they accept the gesture. They all smile. Despite being total strangers, they were able to bond in a matter of hours; sadly, she has to do what's ordained by Sarah.
"Hey, let me see your phone. Take this with you." Zuce digs through her pockets and pulls out her phone. Mason takes it and sets it to picture mode.
"What's this?"
"We're taking a group picture. Now, everyone bunch in together." They all do so, and Mason holds her phone up at an angle.
"Say cheese!"
"CHEESE!" And Mason presses the button. The photo is snapped, and he hands it back to her. She slips it back into her pocket after taking a quick gander at the photo. Still here, she stares at the family, but Sarah steps up.
"Well, GO!"
"Oh… right."
"You're always welcomed back here."
Zuce grabs the bag and presses two fingers to her forehead and she vanishes. Poof and she's gone. In an instant, but she'll be back and they'll still be here.
Mason reels in Caroline and gives her a big kiss.
"You think we did well by her? That she can help make a world a better place?" But his lovely wife shrugs.
"I don't know. It's selfish of me, but I wish we could have talked longer."
"You know what they s-… Actually, I don't think there are any words to describe just this feeling. But had the day started over, I don't think I wanted this to change. We created our first superhero."
"Hehe, I married the right guy." Mason goes in for another kiss.
"Ewwwww!" Sarah bolts out of the room before she has to see them kissing again.
Justice League Temporary Base
Superman flies back as someone materializes in front of him. His heart is racing faster than Flash can get to the Justice League meetings and conferences. He prepares himself until he sees the red and black clothing of the person. This time, the person has some sweet looking glasses to mask their eyes. And that this person is waving at him.
"Hi!" It's just Zuce with her teleportation.
Superman lowers his stance and breathes in and out.
"Hello, Zuce. You're back already? Do you have a question?"
"No, an answer. I want to join the Justice League."
Universe 7, Conton City
The rain pours as people are marching up a hill. They're all dressed in black and have umbrellas to protect from the downpour. All of this is being viewed through a window above as a purple cat uses his nail to pick out food stuck in his teeth. He gets the stubborn piece of pork and flicks it. To his right in a chair is a blue angel slurping some chicken ramen.
"I'm amazed at how fast you people can count the dead and already build tombs for them. But I'm not the one for funerals. The only reason I'm still here is for the food. Hmmhm! I love the way the chicken was done. How was it cooked?" A light purple woman almost half the size of Beerus turns around from looking at the window along with a man with purple hair.
"It was professionally made. I don't know. But I'm glad you two stuck around." Supreme Kai grabs a sit along with Trunks. Whis finishes slurping his noodles as he sets the chopsticks on the bowl sideways. Using the napkin, he wipes off his lips.
"Hmmm, yes, we wouldn't want to be rude and leave after such a devastating attack. I'm just glad that no harm was done to Toki-Toki or else, who knows what might have happened?"
"You told us that Zamasu attacked and Zuce fought against him. Can you show us how it all played it?" Whis's staff suddenly materializes out of thin air as his arm stretches out. He taps the floor twice, and the orb glows green. A projection then appears with Zuce in this weird aura along with Zamasu getting the ever-living shit kicked out of them. Trunk can't help but smile. The scene ends with Whis and Beerus standing next to Goku and Vegeta.
"Strangely enough, there was a huge white blast and I can't seem to find that recording."
But strangely enough, a spark emits from Whis's staff.
*Boom*
A white light engulfs the entire room in a quick flash. Those outside notice a huge expansive light coming towards them, but it's too late.
Soon the whole world is engulfed, but as it's engulfed, like before it disappears. Everyone's standing where they were. They all blink and look at others for answers.
"What just happened?"
"No idea."
"I got nothing."
Back inside the house, the four people all blink as well. They all shake their heads.
"What was that?" Trunks runs to the window to see that everyone's also confused as they have stopped their sad walk. No one's injured; nothing seemed to have come out of the blast.
"Did something happen outside?"
"No… everyone's fine."
"Hmmm, what were we discussing about again? Oh, that's right, Zamasu attacking the city." Whis taps his staff, and a projection shows up. This time it's Zamasu simply rampaging through the city. He litters the streets and air with explosions and energy attacks. Dead Time Patrollers fill the streets as they stand no chance against him. But in come Xenion and his team. They fight him off and get him to his two-faced form. Xenion is grabbed by the neck. He fires a Masenko into Zamasu's face, and the demi-god drops him. He and his team lay out a full frontal assault. But Zamasu, one by one, kills all of them except for Xenion. Zamasu chokes Xenion once more, and he's about to lose conscious until Beerus and Whis appear behind him. Beerus lays out his hand.
"Hakai" And Zamasu is destroyed. The projection ends with everyone staying silent. Trunk grips his fists to the point of hearing the fabric giving its all to stay in place.
"So that's how it went down. If I had stayed here, Conton City wouldn't have suffered like it did." Beerus flicks another piece of food out of his mouth.
"You know, you people have got to stop relying on the gods. Especially you. Sure, it was Whis's job to protect Toki-Toki, but you're all pathetic if this man can cause that much damage. How can you all possibly be Time Patrollers when someone attacks your own city, and you can't defend it?" Chronoa steps up; her chair slides to the wall and slams into it.
"Lord Beer-"
"He's right…" The rain continues to beat down on the roof as thunder roars through the skies. A quiet stormy night as no one else speaks. Just two people eating to their hearts' content.
Andddd I'm thinking about stopping here. Any more and I'll essentially be cramming more stuff into this chapter. This chapter already has too much stuff in it, and I'm burnt out on adding more to this chapter. This chapter ends the Origin Arc of Zuce, hence the connecting title chapters. Next is her "First Flight". Totally not a reference to a Green Lantern movie along with the Tengen Toppa Grill. *Whistle myself away*
I bet some of you totally thought she had overcome everything bringing her down. You though all it takes is a little paragraph for her to not bring herself down. Ha, nope. It's going to be a journey for her.
Ok, again like with giving her Ultra Instinct, I was conflicted with having her 'accept' in this chapter. But I decided to roll with it. And I'm sorry to everyone who wanted more to the Woods Family. I can try to find a way to squeeze them in, but with how I'm planning Zuce's adventures go to, maybe it can be a fun solo chapter. I mean, Thanksgiving is around the corner in this story right now. Just be a little nice story.
Date 4/10/18