I Can't Believe it IS the Justice League! (Part 3 of 3)
The wall to the prison cell which Maxwell Lord and Booster Gold stood had been incinerated, opening the way to the outside wall. The two men watched dumbfounded as the criminals who had been locked away with them cheered for joy and hastily made their escape. "Well, that was kind of odd and unexpected," Booster commented as the green flames slowly began to dye out, leaving nothing but charred stone.
"What was more odd and unexpected is the fact that everyone just jumped out from eleven stories up," Maxwell stated, shuddering as the crisp wind from outside blew into the now open prison cell.
"That is true, although I guess some of them can fly..." Booster said thoughtfully.
"Did you see anyone fly out?" Maxwell questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Now that you mention it, no, I didn't. I guess they all really did just plummet to their deaths or disappear or something..." Booster conceded, before shaking his head and suddenly declaring, "Wait, green flames!"
Blinking in confusion, Maxwell turned to his companion; it only took him a second more to catch on. "You don't think...?"
"Of course I think! It had to be Fire!" Booster exclaimed with excitement as he eagerly ran over to the edge of the room that now overlooked the rest of Metropolis. Hesitantly, Maxwell followed behind him.
"Do we have to get that close to the edge...?" Maxwell asked, warily looking out at the city that seemed so far below them.
"Stop being so – " Booster began, but stopped mid-sentence as soon as he saw Fire a short distance above them, taking out some of the gunmen at the top of the prison who had been shooting at her with a few blasts of green flames. "Fire! You came to rescue us!"
"Booster?" Fire looked down in perplexity as she finished with the gunmen. She anxiously flew down to them, joining them in their demolished cell. "You mean, you were arrested, too?"
"Yeah..." Booster admitted sheepishly. "But wait, if you're not here to save me, then why are you here?"
"To get Max, obviously," Fire explained curtly.
"Oh..." Booster trailed off disappointedly.
"Anyhow, what the hell is going on here?" Fire impatiently demanded, turning suspiciously to Maxwell. "How on Earth are you still alive?"
"It's a long story..." Max replied. "You see, I wasn't actually the Maxwell Lord that murdered Ted or that Wonder Woman killed."
"Oh," Fire mumbled, obviously let down by Maxwell's simple explanation. "Is that it? Really?" Both Maxwell and Booster nodded. "Well, that wasn't really a long story at all," she dully remarked, placing her hand on her hip.
"I'm glad to see that you're oh so thrilled to learn about my innocence," Maxwell sarcastically jibed.
"Sorry, but I just honestly thought the whole thing would be a lot more interesting," Fire explained with a shrug. "Like, I don't know, maybe you were brought back from the dead for a second chance and were on the path to redemption or something for having killed Beetle. I mean, without your darker side, you really are just a sissy after all. But I suppose that's a good thing...I suppose..."
"Thanks," Maxwell snidely muttered.
"Anyway," Fire ignored Maxwell's last remark, and questioned, "Is there anything else that I should know?"
"Well, Beetle's alive," Booster offered.
Fire's eyes widened in shock. "He is?"
"Yep," Booster happily answered. "Turns out that after the other Max killed him, he heard Sue calling to him to 'stay with us' and then woke up in his bed. Now he believes that we're in some kind of dream world and that Sue is alive in the real world – I think."
"Now that's interesting," Fire stated as Max rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Mary and I were thinking the same thing – "
"Wait – Mary's with you?" Maxwell interrupted.
"Yeah," Fire replied. "She's around here somewhere..."
Just then, Mary Marvel can swooping in, beaming from ear to ear as soon as she saw Maxwell Lord. "Max, you're alive!" She exclaimed, at last landing and throwing her arms around him as tears came to her eyes. "I'm so glad, even if you are evil!"
"I'm not evil," Maxwell managed to choke out through her crushing hug. "Mary, I think you're cutting off my circulation..."
"Oh, sorry," Mary apologized, blushing as she broke from him. "But, you aren't evil? Really?"
"No," Maxwell answered, adding, "I don't know why this keeps coming as a surprise to everyone."
"I'm sorry, Max," Mary lowered her head in shame. "I should have known better than to doubt you. What a terrible friend I've been."
Maxwell frowned. "It's okay..."
"No, it's not!" Mary sobbed. "How could I think so badly of you? But then, everything had gotten so strange and everyone was acting even stranger and I didn't know what to think anymore. It was such a dark time, you know, and I was so frightened. Please, Max, please forgive me!"
"Well, at least someone is sorry for doubting my integrity." Maxwell shot an angry glare at both Fire and Booster. "So, I forgive you, Mary."
"Thank you!" Mary gushed through her tears, embracing him firmly once more.
"Hey, Mary," Booster spoke up, "Beetle's alive, too."
"He is?" Mary again detached herself from Maxwell and directed her attention toward Booster. "Oh, this is the happiest day of my life! First, Fire came and found me and then to find out that Maxwell is really alive and good and now to learn that Beetle's okay, too, and – Booster, it's you!" Finally realizing that it was Booster Gold, whom she had not seen in so long, addressing her, she immediately ran to him and hugged him tightly. "Booster, I've missed you so much! I didn't mean to completely abandon you!"
"Oh, it was nothing, really..." Booster strained to say, finding the girl's super strength too much for his mortal body, especially without his uniform.
"As heart warming as this little reunion is, I think we better get going," Fire cut in.
Mary Marvel let go of Booster and nodded. "Right," she agreed. She then smiled. "The Lord really is great, bringing the whole team back together again like this! Well, without Beetle...and Ralph...and Sue...and L-Ron..."
"Yeah, yeah, we get it, Mary," Fire muttered impatiently. "God is good and all that crap. Let's just get a move on it, all right? Booster, where's your uniform?"
"Uh, the police took it from me..." Booster responded, averting his eyes to the floor.
"I'll go retrieve it," Fire stated. "Mary, you take care of getting these two out of here to safety, okay?"
"Got it!" Mary agreed, and Fire then blasted the prison cell's door, proceeding into the hallway and out of sight. Mary merrily turned to Booster and Maxwell and asked. "Ready?"
"I think I'll just take the stairs – " Maxwell started nervously, but his protests were in vain, for Mary joyfully took a hold of both Maxwell and Booster's hands and flew out of the prison cell and into the Metropolis sky.
"So that's what happened during Crisis on Infinite Earths," Ralph said as he and Beetle arrived outside the clearly chaotic prison located in Metropolis.
"Strange, isn't it?" Beetle remarked.
"I'd say...wow..." Ralph trailed off, still trying to digest everything he had just learned. Then, he solemnly added, "I'm glad to know what really happened to Barry." The two were quiet for a moment, and then Ralph asked, "Why did we stop here for?"
"You'll see," Beetle replied ambiguously.
"Okay..." Ralph looked at him skeptically. Growing bored as the two waited, he began to whistle, glancing around his surroundings. Gaze falling to his left, his mouth gaped open as he saw a giant sea monster terrorizing downtown Metropolis. "What is that?!"
"That?" Beetle looked over at the massive undersea creature, as well. Then, he replied matter-of-factly, "Oh, that just has to do with the Booster and the whole nuclear powered submarine thing I told you about before."
"It does...?" Ralph frowned severely, his eyebrows furrowed in fret. Shaking his head, he then demanded, "Beetle, why are we still waiting here for? What is going on?"
"Just a few more seconds..." Beetle muttered in reply.
"Ralph! Beetle!" the familiar voice of Mary Marvel suddenly exclaimed happily, as she, with Maxwell Lord and Booster Gold at her sides, came flying down to ecstatically greet them. "I'm so happy to see you both!"
As soon as they landed, a very white Maxwell Lord stumbled forward. "I think I'm going to be sick..."
Booster's face contorted a bit in disgust as he watched Maxwell turn from the rest of them, hunched over, and threw up. "Eek..." Then, he looked over at Beetle and Ralph; as soon as he saw the latter, he grew red and muttered, "Oh, hi Ralph..."
Growing equally embarrassed, Ralph gave Booster an uneasy, "Hey Booster...how you've been...?"
"Okay, I guess...you...?"
"I'm fine...so..."
"So..."
There was awkward silence. Then, desperately, Ralph blurted out, "Do you know that Ted's the Spectre now?"
"He is?" Booster was quite surprised by this revelation and immediately interrogated Beetle about it: "Why didn't you ever tell me you were the Spectre?"
"It just happened," Beetle answered brusquely. "Anyhow, that's not important right now. I need to tell you about the nuclear powered submarine and Supernova and – "
"What are you talking about?" Booster interjected.
"If you would just listen – " Beetle began, but this time Maxwell interrupted.
"Uh, guys, it looks like Metropolis is being invaded by a bunch of robots," he stated as he at last regained his balance.
Beetle groaned, "Skeets' massacre..."
"Skeets' what?" Booster chocked out in complete shock.
"He's sort of possessed and evil – in this world, anyhow," Beetle elaborated. "He's been scheming behind your back and is the one responsible for orchestrating this ridiculous invasion of time displaced pirates and robots."
"My Skeets is leading an evil invasion? My Skeets?" Booster looked utterly heartbroken at the very notion that his friend would deceive him so.
Maxwell shook his head and placed a sympathetic hand on Booster's shoulder. "You just can't trust your artificial intelligent robot associates like you used to."
"Yeah, especially because I see L-Ron with them," Ralph remarked, stretching out his body so that he was beside Maxwell, who stood a few feet away.
"What?!" An outraged Maxwell's eyes narrowed as soon as they landed on his betrayer. "That sneaky little – "
"Will you people listen just to me for a minute!" Beetle shouted, growing impatient. "The stupid robot pirate invasion is not important. What we really need to worry about is the - "
"Sea monster!" Mary abruptly exclaimed.
"Yes, the sea monster," Beetle said with a sigh of relief. "Now, Booster, the sea monster has to do with the nuclear powered submarine I was trying to tell you about – "
"No, it's coming this way!" Mary clarified, pointing to the approaching beast.
"So, wait," Maxwell spoke up. "Are you trying to tell me that we're dealing with both an invasion by time displaced pirates and robots led by Skeets and a sea monster terrorizing the city? Wow, Metropolis sure has problems nowadays."
"Such is a dream without Superman," Booster commented gravely.
"Oh, poor Superman, wherever you are!" Mary began sobbing.
Beetle moaned, hanging his head. "Why can't you all just pay attention for just one minute...?"
"Were you saying something, Ted?" Booster then asked.
"Yes," Beetle answered with irritation. "I was saying that – "
Beetle again did not get a chance to finish, for Fire had arrived, with Booster's uniform. "Well, it looks like I missed a lot," she said as she quickly took in the impending threats while tossing Booster his attire. "So, who's got what?"
"Mary, Beetle, and I can take the sea monster," Booster said.
"Leaving me and Ralph to handle the invasion – that doesn't seem too hard," Fire commented.
"Count me in, too," Maxwell quickly stated with clenched fists, and the others immediately looked at him in surprise. "What? I want to beat the crap out of L-Ron."
"Fine," Fire conceded. "Let's just get this over with so we can talk about how we can get out of this crazy dream."
As the others left, Booster went to go change into his uniform, but Beetle took a hold of Booster's arm. "You need to listen to me now."
Noticing the urgency in Beetle's voice, Booster grew serious. "What is it, Ted?"
"You're going to die."
Booster's mouth gaped open. "You're joking, right?" he stammered
"I'm not," Beetle answered. "I can even see your funeral."
"You do?" Booster frowned. Then, as an after thought, he added, "Do a lot of people come?"
"Well..." Beetle trailed off awkwardly. "Not really. To be honest, it seems like people are going to be paid to go."
"You mean, they had to pay people to go to my funeral?" Booster exclaimed, absolutely aghast.
"I'm afraid so," Beetle replied with a sigh as Booster continued to mope. "People just really don't like you here."
"Don't worry, Booster," Mary, who had overheard, interjected, "I'd definitely go to your funeral and they wouldn't have to pay me at all!"
"Thanks..." Booster muttered, still upset about his miserable fate.
"But wait," Mary went on, "Booster can't die!"
"He doesn't have to," Beetle went on, "As long as he stays away from the leaking nuclear powered submarine."
Booster gulped. "I – I can do that."
"It's going to be hard, Booster," Beetle insisted, "No matter how illogical it is, you're going to want to stop that nuclear powered submarine from destroying the city without any help from anyone."
"Well, that doesn't make any sense," Booster laughed uneasily. "Why wouldn't I want any help?"
"I'm just telling you what I see," Beetle said. "Just keep your head, okay? Don't let this Supernova – "
"Who's Supernova?" Mary innocently questioned.
"Yeah, who is he?" Booster concurred more edgily.
"He's this mysterious superhero," Beetle explained. "I'm a little fuzzy on the details right now, but you're going to be jealous of him because he's going to destroy the sea monster and steal your spotlight."
"Why would I be jealous?"
"Because," Beetle snapped. "I don't know! You just are. It's a dream, so it doesn't need to make sense."
"I guess," Booster admitted. "But if I die here, does it really matter? I mean, it is a dream, and it didn't seem to hurt you much."
"But I almost did die," Beetle reminded him. "If it hadn't been for Sue, I probably would be dead. It's like the old saying goes, if you die in a dream – "
"You die in real life," Booster concluded glumly. "I got it."
"Good," Beetle said, relaxing somewhat. "Now let's go take care of this sea monster and be done with it." His fellow Super Buddies nodded in agreement.
Several minutes later, Mary Marvel found herself being thrown by the massive undersea creature into one of the nearby buildings and falling to the pavement, the impact breaking up the street. Groaning, she looked to see Booster, who was now in uniform, also being flung in her direction, skidding before landing by her. "Ow..." he moaned while rubbing the back of his sore head.
"I don't understand," Mary said. "It shouldn't be that strong."
"Yeah," Booster concurred with a grunt. "And we're running out of time, too." It was then that the mysterious Supernova appeared, dressed in silver, blue, and red. In an instant, he disintegrated the sea monster. Eyes narrowing, an irritated Booster remarked, "So that's Supernova."
"I guess so..." Mary trailed off. "I wonder how he did that...hey, Booster, where are you going?"
"To give that jerk a piece of my mind!" Booster answered, having risen to his feet and starting to march over to where Supernova stood. "How dare he steal my spotlight?"
Mary's eyes widened and at once she sprung up and flew in front of Booster, standing worriedly in his way. "No, Booster, you can't! Remember what Beetle said about Supernova and the nuclear power submarine?"
"Nuclear power submarine...?" Booster tried his best to remember as he slowly repeated the words, his gaze shifting from Supernova to the dangerous leaking submarine that was still there just a few feet away. "I must stop it..."
"Huh?" Mary blinked in confusion as Booster's eyes remained locked on the nuclear powered submarine and he slowly began to walk toward the submarine. "Wait, stop!" Mary protested, but before she could stop him, she felt a hard blast hit her in her back, causing her to tumble forward. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the time displaced pirates and robots had arrived.
"Mary, are you all right?" Fire asked, flying to her side. "We tried to stop them, but they just keep coming, no matter what we do."
Soon after, Ralph and a badly bruised Maxwell made their way to where Mary and Fire were. "Oh my, what happened to you, Max?" Mary questioned as she looked up at him with worried eyes.
Ralph, however, answered instead with a snicker. "L-Ron beat the crap out of him."
"Shut up, Ralph," Max snapped, rubbing his aching shoulder.
"Guys, this isn't the time to bicker," Fire intervened, standing up from where she knelt by Mary's side. "Or did you forget that the robots are still coming?"
"Oh, right..." Ralph muttered, as more blasts were sent in their direction and the group of superheroes prepared to face their approaching opponents.
Meanwhile, Booster continued toward the nuclear power submarine. "Booster, what are you doing?" Beetle called out to him, struggling to stand up from where he laid in Metropolis' debris.
"I'm going to save the city, Beetle! And nobody is going to stand in my way, especially not Supernova!" Booster responded.
"Don't you remember anything I told you?" Beetle questioned as he tried his best to get to his friend, but all he could do was limp quickly. "You're going to die!"
"But I need to stop the nuclear power submarine, Beetle. I need to. Nothing else matters." And Booster continued toward the leaking sub.
Beetle then turned to Supernova and pleaded, "Please, you've got to stop him!" Supernova simply turned to him but did not respond. Yet, as he stared at him, Beetle's eyes widened. "You're – you're Booster!"
Sue Dibny paced nervously, wringing her hands as she walked by the unconscious members of the Super Buddies, all of whom had been carefully laid out on the floor of their Queen's headquarters. Nearby, L-Ron fidgeted nervously, glumly hovering over Maxwell Lord and imploring, "Please wake up, your sleepiness. Such a state is unbecoming for a cyborg of your wealth and prestige."
Frowning, Sue bit her lower lip and knelt down beside her husband, who looked almost lifeless as he remained motionless save for very faint breathing. Then, she glanced over at J'onn J'onnz who was studying Blue Beetle's conditions. "J'onn, there must be something you can do. What's wrong with them?"
"It appears as if they've been removed from their bodies," a pondering J'onn replied as he stood up.
"But you can help them wake up, can't you?" Sue pressed.
"It's odd..." J'onn began, pausing for a moment. He then went on, "But I don't think they're asleep."
"Surely m'lord is just taking a nap!" L-ron spoke up. "He'll wake up soon enough. After all, he's always been a rather lazy person, but he's our fearless leader nonetheless!"
"Don't worry, L-ron," J'onn stated. "I am certain that I will be able to return them to their bodies."
"I don't understand," Sue shook her head, standing up as well. "Where are they?"
"Another world, I think," J'onn explained. "Or, at least, their consciousnesses have been transplanted from their physical bodies here to what seems to be physical bodies elsewhere. Admittedly, I am having difficultly understanding it fully myself. However, I believe I should act quickly, as their bodies' survival here does depend on the well-being of their consciousnesses."
"Right," Sue said with some uncertainty, but trusting J'onn. "Just tell me what I can do."
"Care for my body while I'm gone."
"Huh?" Sue questioned, but J'onn's body had already become limp and crumbled to the ground, as lifeless as the others.
Beetle felt like his mind was going to explode. He stumbled back, clutching onto his throbbing head. Mustering all the strength he had, he managed to shout to Booster, who still headed toward the nuclear powered submarine, "Booster, he's you!"
"Nuclear...powered...submarine..." Booster said in response, clearly entranced by the dangerous object. "Must stop...by self...make me better than Supernova..."
"Booster, you idiot, you are Supernova!" Beetle tried again, this time with more force.
At this, Booster at last stopped, only inches from the nuclear powered submarine. Blinking with confusion, the blue and gold clad superhero slowly turned around to face what he had thought was his arch nemesis, at least for the last few minutes. Yet, as soon as Booster was finally looking at Supernova, with but a few feet between them, the latter raised his hand to his mask, and as if in slow motion, he removed it to reveal that he was, in fact, also Michael Jon Carter.
It was Booster Gold's turn to feel like his mind was going to explode. Closing his eyes and hunching over he let out a painful cry as he suddenly felt his consciousness being ripped from his body. Meanwhile, Beetle looked on with a grave expression of concern. "Perhaps I should have thought this over more..." he thought out loud, grimacing while Booster fell to his knees. Booster continued to shout loudly and incoherently, writhing spasmodically until he withered to a ground and deteriorated into nothing but a skeleton. Beetle froze, horrified eyes locked on his dear friend's remains. All he could choke out was, "Booster...?"
"I'm over here," Booster's voice suddenly came from Beetle's left. Immediately, Beetle snapped his head in his direction, to see that it was Supernova that spoke. "And I feel really, really sick." Dizzily, Booster stumbled forward, clearly disorientated.
"What – what happened?" Beetle stammered, glance darting back and forth from the old Booster to the new Booster.
"I think my uh...soul, I guess...was just ripped out of that body and stuffed into this one," Booster managed, adding, "And now everything is spinning incredibly fast. And you have two heads. This is worse than that time I rode the roller coaster sixteen times in a row at Six Flags...almost...yeah, I think that time was worse...but this is still pretty bad..."
"Uh, I think you better sit down Booster..." A still bemused Beetle offered.
"Yeah, that might be a good idea – " Booster started, but interrupted himself. "No, I've got to stop that nuclear powered submarine!"
"Sure, but – wait, what?"
"I'll be right back!" Booster – as Supernova - then declared, as he determinedly marched forward.
"I thought we established that you're going to die if you tried to stop the nuclear powered submarine by yourself," Beetle tried to rationalize.
"Die I might, but at least I'll be remembered as the one and only true hero here instead of that jerk Supernova."
"But you are Supernova!"
"Details, Beetle, details," Booster laughed haughtily and in a flash, he was at the nuclear powered submarine and carrying it up into the sky as a dismayed, but helpless, Beetle looked on. While his altitude increased, Booster smiled widely, his expression growing more blissfully ignorant as he prepared to contain the deadly nuclear explosion of the submarine. However, it was only when he at last stopped moving upward, the explosion just seconds away, that reason finally hit him and he fully began to understand the consequences of his actions. Face dropping and quite panicked, Booster had only a moment to react before the nuclear powered submarine blew up.
Yet, when it exploded, the violent blast was snuffed out by a whiteness that seemed to pour out of a hole in the sky. From this whiteness, to Booster's surprise, emerged the image of a very familiar friend. "J'onn...?" Booster questioned, squinting to see, before the whiteness engulfed him and all that was around him.
Booster opened his eyes to find himself standing before a blue house with a white picket fence in the suburbs. He soon noticed that J'onn and his other companions were with him, all appearing – save perhaps J'onn - as confused as he was.
"What just happened?" Maxwell Lord spoke up first. "Where are we?"
"At the home of the person who I believe is responsible for all of this," J'onn answered and gestured to a handsome blonde man in his early thirties playing with his three children in the front yard.
Noticing their obvious presence, the man stood up straight, sighed, shook his head and chuckled. Then turning to his children – two boys and one girl – he ordered, "Time to go inside now. Mom has cookies for you."
"All right, cookies!" the six year old boy exclaimed, and the seven year old boy grinned, sharing the excitement. Eagerly, the two scurried into the house.
However, the little blonde girl, only about four, lingered by her father's right leg and looked curiously up at the strangers. "Daddy, who are these people?" she asked inquisitively. "Are they your friends?"
"No, darling," the man replied good-naturedly, kneeling down to her. "These people are superheroes!"
"Wow, really?" the girl asked with wide, gleaming eyes. "Do they know Wonder Woman?"
"I don't know," he replied with a smile. "But Daddy needs to talk to them about some very important things. But, if you're really good and go inside to help Mommy and your brothers make dinner, I'll make sure that the next time they come they'll bring Wonder Woman with them and you can meet her, all right?"
"All right!" the girl enthusiastically agreed. She then gave the Super Buddies a shy smile and a small wave before trotting back to the house.
The man watched her leave before rising to finally address his visitors. "Sorry about that," he apologized with a smirk. "You know how kids can be. She's my only daughter, though, so I can't help but spoil her."
"Who are you?" J'onn demanded, not willing to participate in idle prattle.
"Daniel Diamond," the man answered bluntly, sticking his hands in his pockets. "But I suppose what you really want is my alias, right? After all, that's how you all know each other – on an alias name basis only. So, in that case, you can call me Mindbender." Yawning, he continued, "Anyhow, I hope you're not too bitter about this. It was just a harmless little experiment on my part, really. After all, you seem to have come out okay, right?"
Maxwell stepped forward indignantly. "That's only because J'onn saved us from that – that – what exactly was that place again?"
"It was a dream, wasn't it?" Blue Beetle spoke up. "It had to be."
Mindbender smirked. "You could say that…" He paused, then added, "Of course, several key elements certainly were disrupted by that Sue Dibny, but I suppose I enjoyed the chaos that ensued all the same."
"That means it was Sue I heard when I died – she did wake me up again," Beetle clarified and Mindbender nodded.
"Then she's alive, isn't she?" Ralph's face lit up. "Isn't she?"
"So many questions," Mindbender snidely chuckled. "And yet, you already know the answers, it seems. But, yes, she's alive and well elsewhere – in your world, that is."
"Well, I just want to know how we wake up and get back home," Booster stated, arms crossed.
"Are you sure?" Mindbender raised an eyebrow. "Because I had great things planned for you."
"Really?" Booster was immediately intrigued, anxious to hear more.
"That's right – you were going to be a star," Mindbender confirmed. "Although, admittedly, the rest of you weren't going to fare so well." Shrugging, he then said, "Ah well, it's over now, isn't it? So back you go."
"But wait, what about those 'great things' you were talking about – " Booster went to protest before Beetle shot him an elbow into the ribs.
"Just forget it Booster," Beetle told him with an annoyed glare.
"You're just jealous because he killed you first and was going to make me a star!"
Beetle rolled his eyes and turned to Mindbender with a frown. "You really picked him out of all of us to find success? Really?"
"I found him to be the most amusing, I suppose," Mindbender replied simply. "But, now it's time for you to return to your reality."
"You mean wake up," J'onn corrected him with suspicion.
"Of course," Mindbender conceded with a grin. "Wake up. Till next time…"
Maxwell Lord opened his eyes to see the ceiling of the Super Buddies headquarters located in Queens New York. It took a few moments for any sort of feeling sensation to return to his body. Letting out a groan, he mumbled, "Are we back…?"
"Did m'lord just stir?" L-ron asked hopefully, scurrying to Maxwell's side. "Oh, you are awake – our fearless leader awakes! What a miraculous day it is!"
"Can you not talk so loud? My head is killing me…" Maxwell muttered, sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck.
"I apologize, your wonderfulness." L-Ron explained, "I suppose my joy at seeing you wake at last caused me to get a bit carried away with myself."
Meanwhile, Sue, who had been kneeling by her husbands side, glanced over at her boss, clearly surprised to see him finally conscious. "Max…?" She asked as she stood up to get a better look at him. However, before she could say any more, she suddenly felt the rubbery arms of Ralph embrace her tightly; he had waken up, too, and had sprung to his feet to hug her.
"Sue!" he exclaimed. "I've missed you so much! I can't even tell you – I'm just so happy! I don't think I've ever been so happy before in my life! I love you, Sue."
"I love you, too, Ralph," Sue began in perplexity, "but what happened to you all?"
"Long story…" Beetle muttered, as he, Fire, Mary Marvel, and Booster Gold all regained consciousness, as well. "Some guy who goes by the name of Mindbender had us trapped in an alternate dream reality."
"You mean nightmare," Maxwell corrected, rising to his feet and brushing off his expensive tailored suit. "I can't begin to tell you all the terrible ordeals I've been through."
"Hey, it wasn't so bad," Booster argued. "I was going to be a star!"
Sue frowned at this. "Wow, it really does sound like a nightmare."
"You have no idea," Ralph said with a shudder.
"Oh, it was so terrible!" Mary interjected with a sob. Her tears, though, quickly turned to tears of joy as she beamed. "But I am so happy that we're all back together here, safe and sound! Just like one big happy family!"
The rest grimaced upon hearing Mary's last conjecture. "Let's not get carried away, Mary," Fire stated with a nauseated look on her face.
"But wait," Sue then questioned, anxiously looking around the room for the Martian Manhunter. "Where's J'onn?"
"I'm here," J'onn replied, standing alone in the corner. "And I'm fine."
"Something wrong?" Maxwell now asked, looking a bit concerned.
"There was more to that 'dream' than you think," J'onn explained. "In fact, it wasn't a dream."
"It wasn't?" Beetle questioned with surprise.
"No," J'onn answered. "It was another world, another plane of reality. However, it seems your presence there disturbed that world's natural order, particularly when Sue managed to cross the dimensional barrier, hence causing the dreamlike characteristics you all experienced. I didn't press the issue, because Mindbender seemed willing to cooperate and return you here, but – " he broke off mid-sentence. "Just, please, be careful. I don't think that's the last we'll see of Mindbender."
"Ah, you worry too much, J'onn," Booster laughed. "Besides, I don't know, that Mindbender seemed like an all right guy."
Fire nodded. "I thought he was okay. Pretty handsome, anyway."
"And he also seemed like such a great father, didn't he?" Mary chimed in. "So nice!"
"I guess he was polite," Beetle also conceded. "And it didn't appear like he wanted to hurt us."
"That's right," Maxwell pointed out. "He said it was just a harmless experiment, which suggests, at least, that his intentions weren't evil. Perhaps he was even trying to help us in some way."
"I don't understand…" J'onn trailed off with confusion and grave concern as he watched the Super Buddies defend the man who had been their attacker.
"Me neither," Sue sighed, when she suddenly felt a tug on her arm. Looking to her right, she saw Ralph pulling her toward the door. "Huh? Ralph, where are we going?"
"Yes, that's a very good question," Maxwell spoke up, looking down at his watch, "as you both still have a half a day left of work."
"Well, we're taking the rest of the day off," Ralph declared as he swooped Sue off her feet and into his arms. "Because I'm going home to sleep with my wife."
Sue blushed violently at this, exclaiming, "Ralph!" as her husband headed out the door still carrying her.
"You go, Ralph! You're the man! Do us all proud!" Booster crudely called after them, adding, "Lucky man, that Ralph."
"I'd say…" Maxwell stated in a rather serious tone that caused the others to stare at him quizzically. "What?"
After a moment more of awkward silence, Booster went on, "Anyhow, I think I ought to do some reconnecting myself. After seeing evil Skeets, it made me appreciate my own Skeets that much more."
"You know, I've been meaning to ask you about that – whatever happened with you and Skeets in the first place?" Beetle asked. "I mean you two used to be so close, and now it seems like he's never around anymore."
"Well," Booster started, sheepishly staring at his feet, "you see, he and Gladys never really got along…and then when Gladys refused to even allow him to come to our wedding, well…let's say it just put a strain on our friendship…"
"Wow, Booster, you really are a sell out," Beetle commented flatly and Booster frowned.
In the meantime, Maxwell turned to his robot companion and ordered, "L-Ron, bring me lunch. I'm in the mood for Japanese this afternoon."
"Of course, m'lord," L-Ron complied, "I'll have it for you immediately. Is there anything else you'd like me to do for you, sir?"
"Has you've seen that my dry cleaning has been taken care of? I have a very important dinner date and – "
"Don't worry, my impeccably dressed leader – I have seen to it that all has been tended to while you were sleeping, as I never lost hope that you would soon awake."
Maxwell smiled. "You know, L-Ron, although I don't always show it, I really do appreciate everything you do. And even though it took a horrific nightmare to make me admit this, I don't know what I'd do without you – the real you, that is." L-Ron, however, did not respond. "Well, say something!"
"It's just that I'm so shocked, m'lord," L-Ron managed to choke out, "To hear you actually be so sentimental for a change – why, it's so unexpected! Could it be that you're turning over new leaf?"
"Don't get your hopes up, L-Ron. Now, weren't you supposed to be getting me my lunch? Come on, make it snappy!"
L-Ron sighed. "Yes, sir…"
End
Author's Note: That's it for I Can't Believe It ISThe Justice League! If you didn't realize, Daniel Diamond/Mindbender is my own creation, but his first name and initials might give away a little bit as to who he's supposed to loosely based on. Anyway, as I've mentioned, I'm considering using this as an introduction to a series of Super Buddies stories, which is why the whole Mindbender storyline is not completely resolved and left somewhat ambigous. Well, we'll see, but thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!