/comm/
Telepathy/flashbacks
'Bee's speech
Five Years Later, January 1, Boston
Erica West and Brandon Pax slowly made their way to an abandoned water plant guns drawn. "Should we split up?" she asked.
"If we don't he could escape,"'Bee replied readjusting his FBI vest.
Nodding they went inside searching for the serial killer hiding within.
Going inside, Erica went left while Bumblebee went straight. The red-headed woman aimed her gun and flashlight ahead, turning a corner, walking into the room with the giant pools used to clean the water. Hearing a clang she whipped around and saw a rat scuttle across the floor. Turning back she continued searching the tanks, not surprised to find several bodies at the bottom.
Gritting her teeth she grabbed the communicator of her vest. "Brandon, I've got six more bodies," she said.
/I told you he'd find a new dumping site after we found the old one/he said walking into a room filled with tubs, tanks, and pipes./Be cautious, at this point he's devolved into a spree killer/
"Roger that."
Turning back, she turned down the next dark hall, several rooms were on each side, the first door she opened it was an empty room, the second there was one desk shoved in the corner, the third: same. Turning towards another door, she kicked it open to find a set of stairs. Going down she found herself in the facility's basement, where all the major piping was.
"Of course, he hid down here," she muttered looking around.
Footsteps sounded rushing towards her, whipping around, she was slammed to the ground by a brunt force, her gun skidding across the floor as it fell from her hand.
"You're a pretty one," the man sneered.
"And you're not my type," she quipped, punching his nose. A satisfying crack sounded and he reeled back, cradling his broken nose. Getting to her feet, Erica got into a fighting stance and did a roundhouse kick, hitting him in the side of the head, making him stumble back more. Satisfied, she began to run back to her gun, when he chased after, jumping and grabbing her leg, knocking her over just a few feet from her gun. He crawled over her and punched her.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you!" he snarled grabbing a pipe and raising it above his head.
"You may want to consider your next move, Joshua Barnes. I never miss."
The man turned to see the second FBI agent he hadn't even known was in the building standing at the second entrance to the basement, his gun aimed right at him. Growling he turned and began to charge at the second agent, when three shots rang out, and pain ripped through his shoulder and knees, making him crumple to the ground.
Brandon ran over and pulled out his cuffs, sitting on the Barnes' back and arresting him."Joshua Barnes, you are under the arrest for the murders eight women. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be provided to you."
Getting up Erica grabbed her communicator. "We need medics down here," she huffed.
/Copy that, on their way/
"Could it have taken you any longer to get down here?" she asked putting her hands on her hips.
"You had it handled, besides I intervened when I was supposed to,"'Bee replied."Did you remember to tell them about the other bodies?"
Sighing she called the police waiting outside again. "We also need crime scene experts on the first-floor water containment, there's more bodies."
"Isn't this a great way to start the new year?"
"No! It's not you psychopath!"
"Hey! I'm a high-functioning sociopath! There's a difference!"
-.-
Cave
A green boy with fins slammed against the training floor, the wordfailhovering right over him. "Neptune's beard!" he snapped slamming his fist against the ground. A young man in a black uniform with a blue bird on his chest helped him up. "I don't care how many years you trained as Robin then Nightwing, one of these days I'm going to beat you."
Nightwing smirked. "I don't doubt it Lagoon Boy," he replied.
"Recognized: Superboy—B-0-7, Miss Martian—B-0-8, Wasp—B-1-9, Robin—B-2-2, Beast Boy—B-2-0, Blue Beetle—B-2-4."
The group Zetaed in each heading for the showers. Mal walked over to Wasp as she returned to normal size and removed her cowl. "Hey slow down babe, what's the rush?"
"Sorry Mal, I'm late for a session with Dr. Palmer, rain check baby ok?" she said rushing off, leaving the dejected man alone.
"Welcome home Angelfish," Lagoon Boy said walking over to M'gann.
"Thank you La'gaan," she said kissing him as Moonknight, Wolf, and Starburst raised their heads before going back to napping, and Conner gave the couple a quick glare as he walked past.
"Recognized: Bumblebee—B-0-6."
"Primus! What's that stench?"'Bee growled covering his nose.
"We had a mission in the sewers to get Clayface," Conner replied. "Just about to hit the showers."
"Which sounds great for you hermano," Beetle said retracting his armor and covering his nose as he walked away from Beast Boy.
"Clayface is safely back in his Arkham Cell," Robin reported.
"Good," Nightwing replied turning to 'Bee. "How was your case?"
"Jerk hid in a water plant, ambushed Erica, she broke his nose, I shot him, he's in jail,"he replied as Nightwing looked mildly concerned.
"Is Em alright?"
"A little bruised, but otherwise fine. She said she'll be back in about a day or two; got a call from the Alpha Corps. Emergency in the Santec System."
"Emergency," Captain Atom said appearing on a holo-screen.
"Speaking of which…"
"The United Nations' headquarters is under attack."
"Beta's two blocks away," Mal stated.
"Captain Atom our Beta Squad is in vicinity, ETA three minutes," Nightwing informed.
-.-
UN Headquarters, NYC
"What happened here?" Emerald asked flying into a wrecked hall of the smoking building.
"Here!" a blonde girl in a pair of red yoga pants and a black tank top with a W on the front called flying over to join the older heroine.
"Wonder Girl? What happened?"
"Got a call from Nightwing, said there was an attack here, so we came to investigate. What are you doing here?"
"Got the alert as I was about to leave Earth for a mission. Destruction says our attacker went this way! Let's move!" she ordered as both girls flew down the hall towards a door where they could see a massive man looming over one of the ambassadors.
"I got him!" Wonder Girl exclaimed shooting forwards and flipping over the being and punching him in the gut towards Emerald who constructed a baseball bat, swinging and knocking him out the window as Batgirl flew in.
"That was unconventional," she muttered.
"It worked didn't it?" she shrugged. "Anyways, Batgirl, get the Secretary General to safety. Wonder Girl with me. I know this guy, he's an alien bounty hunter known as the Lobo, always talks in third person, talk about super annoying. Trust me when I say this dude's a heavy hitter."
"Got it!" she grinned slamming her fist into her hand.
A grapple line shot up, and Main Man leapt back in looking furious. "Kari? Kezifemme thinks they can take on the Main Man," he snarled and Erica grinned.
"Please, compared to sparring with Bumblebee, you'll be nothing," she taunted giving the universal signal for come-at-me.
He growled, lunging forwards, before getting knocked through a wall as Wonder Girl rammed him from the side. Chasing after, she yelped as he grabbed her hair, tossing the unfortunate protégé into her older teammate.
From there, he went after his target, forcing the elevator doors open and jumping down.
"Scrap," Erica grumbled sitting up. "Batgirl! You're about to have company!"
/Got it!/ the other girl replied as Erica yanked her teammate to her feet.
Flying down the elevator shaft, they quickly raced through the smoke-filled hall, hearing the sounds of fighting from the assembly room.
"Hold it clown-face!" Wonder Girl exclaimed divining down and kicking Main Man's feet out from under him as she landed in a fighting stance. "I don't recall us ending our little dance."
"Kezifem."
"Yea whatever, I've been called worse…I think," she shrugged ducking under his first punch and kicking him in the face. Going into the air, she hurled her lasso at him, pinning his arms to his side.
Or so she thought.
Main Man reached up and grabbed the rope, yanking Wonder Girl down to the ground and punching her in the face sending her crashing into the ceiling.
Only he didn't get to bask in his victory long as Emerald hit him with a giant hammer, forming a giant crevasse in the floor as she sent him skidding across the room. Batgirl then vaulted over his shoulder planting two explosives on him, that sent the bounty hunter reeling back.
Things so far seemed to be going well…until they weren't. Wonder Girl flew over to punch their target again when he grabbed her and hurled her into her teammates. Turning around, the alien bounty hunter leapt in front of the fleeing secretary. "Time to die Krolo."
"No!" Emerald exclaimed forming a spear and getting ready to throw it as the Main Man lifted the ambassador and pulled on his arms, ripping him in half. Except, instead of blood, guts, and various organs spilling out onto the floor, it was tech and a tiny green alien.
"Ew."
"That's different."
"…A Krolotan?" Erica muttered confused. What in God's name was a Krolotan doing here on Earth? They were supposed to be near Rhimbor and New Genesis.
"The Main Man's contract's complete!" he said picking up the tiny alien with a single hand. "Kezifemme, your world's your world."
"Will you ever stop talking in the third person?!" The wall blew inwards and the bounty hunter hopped onto a ship hovering outside. "And will it kill you to use a door for once?!"
-.-
Watchtower, January 3
"Recognized: Zatanna—3-1, Rocket—3-2."
The two newest members of the Justice League zetaed into the cave, joining everyone else as John Stewart stood in front of a monitor showing the two aliens from the UN.
"The big guy's Lobo, a bounty hunter. Extremely dangerous, but not likely to return," John stated.
"The little guy's another story," Ratchet sighed running a hand through his hair.
"That's a Krolotan," Bulkhead grumbled crossing his arms.
Arcee put her hands on her hips with a snarl, "Yep, and they always travel in packs."
"Meaning more of them are on Earth," Batman grumbled.
"At least a few hundred," Ratchet replied. "They're quite the irksome little race, going around and stealing technology that doesn't belong to them and abducting natives of the worlds they try to hide on. They're almost as bad as their 'competitor' race; now those are really a pain."
"Sounds like you all have dealt with them before," Nightwing mused.
"You should've seen the infestation theXanthiumhad," the medic growled in a tone that sent shivers up their spines. "Took us forever to purge it."
Martian Manhunter stepped up, "Though, I believe my friend can shed some light on the subject for us," he said motioning to the scientist standing behind him, "for those of you who don't know, this is Dr. Adam Strange of STARR Labs Ardel Initiative. He is the scientist responsible for maintaining the Zeta Tube technology we use for teleportation."
"I was wondering why a stranger was allowed on the 'Top Secret' Watchtower,"Superboy grumbled through the team's telepathic link.
"And he has a story to tell," J'ohn finished.
"Uh…it's a little involved," he muttered rubbing the back of his head, "wish I had visual aids or something."
"I can assist," Manhunter replied as his eyes glew red."We are all linked Adam. What you remember, we will see."
"Uh…great," he said before switching to telepathy,"Well I was performing a routine Zeta Tube upgrade, only something went wrong and I found myself transported halfway across the galaxy to a planet called Rann. There was a scientist there, Sardath, he was conducting his own experiments in enhanced—very enhanced Zeta Beam technology. It took weeks to establish even basic communication. But he eventually made me understand, some of his zeta tech, had been stolen."
"Fits the Krolotan M.O.," the Lanterns grumbled.
"Their entire culture revolves around stolen tech," Arcee muttered, "they were a real pain to deal with whenever they tried taking any of ours."
"Sardath detected a communication network between a single location on Rann, and multiple locations on Earth," Strange spoke up again. "He was attempting to trace them when he accidently transported me to Rann." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small device, "He gave me this, it detects trace Zeta radiation and can pinpoint all the locations where Krolotans have beams to Earth."
"Then I propose a two-pronged attack," Captain Atom said. "We stage simultaneous attacks on every location on Earth while a team of Leaguers handle the base on Rann."
Strange cleared his throat, "That might be a problem. I'm not clear on the why, but Earthlings are persona non grata on Rann's corner of the galaxy," he said changing the device's projection, "and these six Leaguers are wanted criminals."
"What." John Stewart said in shocked.
"Batman. It's the missing sixteen hours!" Nightwing exclaimed.
"Agreed. Five years ago, Vandal Savage took complete mental control of the entire Justice League. These exact six Leaguers went missing for sixteen hours.
"Never even occurred to us Vandal might've sent us into space," Stewart muttered. "I'll alert Hal; he, Erica, and Guy are on Oa with the Green Lantern Corps."
"Meanwhile, we have other Leaguers who can go."
Strange shook his head, "You aren't getting it, there's a planetary watch alert on Rahn for any members of the Justice League. The only Leaguers I haven't seen on there are the Autobots, which is why I can't make any sense of this."
"Optimus, can we send your team?" Atom questioned as the older man watched the holograms.
"I'm not sure that would be a wise course of action given the Decepticons' latest course of actions," he replied.
Batman nodded in agreement, "They haven't been spotted in the system for some time, but the mines are still open and operating as if the Warship hasn't left. The only question is: why?"
"I'm not sure, but given that Megatron and the Light have been quiet for some time now, we can only assume that whatever it is will play a part in their plans."
"If that's the case, I have another idea," Nightwing said stepping forwards, "not all of us are Leaguers, I can send a small, covert team. They can find out more about the sixteen hours without causing an intergalactic incident."
"You know, unless Optimus knows of any Autobot warships in the region," Conner shrugged and all eyes turned to the Autobot leader.
"I think Solarflare said she was in that quadrant. I could check to see if she'll be able to provide assistance."
-.-
Mt. Justice, January 4 20:00
"It's all hands on deck," Nightwing said. "The League and the Team will hit all fourteen Zeta locations simultaneously. Your priority is to destroy all Zeta Tubes or platforms and search for any humans the aliens may have abducted. As always, Mal is Ops Manager coordinating comms from here. Wonder Girl, Beast Boy, you're both with me on Alpha. Assignment: Philadelphia."
"Neptune's beard!"
"Batgirl, Wasp, you're with Wolf, Starburst, and Moonknight on Beta," Nighting continued rubbing her massive albino panther's head. "You'll be heading to Vlatavastok."
"Robin, La'gaan, Beetle, you three are Gamma, you'll be in New Orleans,"Bumblebee informed.
"Gamma always gets the soft gigs," La'gaan muttered storming away.
"Tim, you'll be running Gamma," Nightwing said grabbing his young brother's shoulder as he turned to follow the others.
"But I've never led a squad before."
"Then this is a good opportunity to get your feet wet,"'Bee said.
"Because it's Gamma and you don't expect us to find anything, or because we're stretched thin and you have no choice."
"Think of it like, you never know what could happen. Sometimes the simplest things can hide the most important clues."
"Just don't die ok?" Nightwing sighed, "And no unnecessary risks to the squad."
"Wait, where are the others going?"
"We have a mission that's, let's just say…out of this world," Conner grinned and Bumblebee facepalmed muttering something in another language.
-.-
Rann
"Zeta Squad, welcome to Rahn," Strange said as Bumblebee, Miss Martian, and Superboy arrived on the alien world.
"Guys?"
All heads turned and they saw Emerald floating nearby looking at them in confusion.
"What're—How did—What