The following takes place in the Justice League animated universe. Before Justice League Unlimited.
Episode 14: Battlefield (III)
New York City"That's enough," an authoritative voice rang out, "That's as far as you go."
The robot turned towards the voice as the red and blue clad man stepped down onto the street, hands on his hips. Never taking his eyes off the construct, he said over his shoulder to the two men cowering behind a dumpster, "Major, get your people out of here and clear the area."
"Right, Superman," the Major said, "and thanks."
"NON-TERRESTRIAL ORGANIC DETECTED. UNUSUAL PHYSIOLOGY. UNABLE TO ACHIEVE DEEPER SCAN. CAUSE UNKNOWN. INTIATE STANDARD OFFENSIVE PROCEDURE. ELIMINATE TARGET. THREAT ASSESMENT: MINIMAL."
"Mister, I don't know who sent you, but your rampage in this city ends here," Superman said, stepping forward. The construct brought its main weapon to bear, the glowing tube on it forearm centring on the red "S" on Superman's chest. In a flash Superman was off his feet and hurtling towards the robot, his arm cocked back and his face grim.
"SUBJECT POSSESSES FLIGHT CAPABILITY. NO TECHNOLOGY DETECTED."
With a crash Superman lashed forward with his fist, striking the construct in its expansive torso. The construct was thrown backwards, sailing halfway down the street and landing hard, pavement buckling under it. A clawed hand reached out and sunk into the sidewalk, razor sharp talons on its feet dragging it to a stop. Gazing down, its sensory apparatus was surprised to find its armour dented.
"CORRECTION. THREAT STATUS: MODERATE. SUBJECT POSSESSES UNUSUAL ABILITIES FOR AN ORGANIC."
Superman braced himself for another attack. He had held back his punch, unsure of how strong this robot was. Where had it come from? Was it a creation of Luthor's? No, Superman realized. This was not his style. The robot had slaughtered dozens of civilians when it arrived, for no apparent reason. Surely whoever had sent it knew someone would try to stop it. Yet, it seemed to be surprised at Superman's capabilities. Unprepared, even. What was it?
No matter, Superman thought as he charged forward, wind rushing around him, it has to be stopped. He would figure it all out later. Preferably when he was done picking up the pieces of this murdering metal monster.
This time the construct was prepared for the assault. Swinging its arm forward, it unleashed a wide swath of purplish plasma energy, engulfing the oncoming hero. Flames churned, Superman becoming a hurtling inferno. The construct continued to fire, watching as a blazing arm swung upwards and connected with its head in a vicious uppercut, sending it flying into the air. Turning and spinning, the construct landed at the end of the street, crushing a minivan with its landing and sinking deep into the pavement. Lumbering forward, it dragged itself free.
"ALERT STATUS. SUBJECT IS IMMUNE TO PRIMARY WEAPON. SUBJECT STRENGTH AND ABILITIES INCONSISTENT WITH ORGANIC POTENTIAL. DETECTION OF MULTIPLE INCOMING TARGETS. REQUIRE INTERVENTION. RECOMMENDATION: UPGRADE INCURSION LEVEL."
Superman stood in the middle of the street, watching the robot carefully. He could be on it in an instant, but he still did not know enough about it. The last thing he wanted was it blowing up in the middle of the city or unleashing some kind of massive energy attack. He had tried his various visions but could not penetrate its outer shell. The robot soon straightened up and was engulfed in shimmering red energy. Superman braced himself as the robot's body dissipated, three more robots appearing and taking its place amidst an explosion of red embers. These robots, Superman observed, were quite different than the previous construct. Taller and sleeker than the preceding model, these had large wing-like structures emerging from their back. Their legs were swept backwards, not bent forward at the knee like a humans, with a segmented tail rising upwards and pivoting around, pincers on the end opening and closing around a sparkling tube. The robots arms ended with four clawed fingers, the forearms opening to reveal more weapons. The robots were different colours; red, green and blue respectively, with strange writing down the left sides of their chest.
"Incursion complete. Targets acquired," the crimson one said coldly.
"Primary function," the cobalt machine added, "gather data on organics."
"Whatever that thing was," Superman said into a hidden communicator, "it just brought some friends over." His sensitive hearing detected the sound of jet engines coming closer. Over his shoulder a black dot could be observed, growing larger in the sky.
"We're on the way," a voice answered. Superman nodded. Like a streak of lightening, Superman was off his feet and flashing out at the lead robot, becoming a blur of red and blue. With a loud crash, he struck the crimson robot, arms wrapped around its chest and flying straight into the adjacent building, smashing through the stone wall. The remaining two constructs ignored this, their heads turning towards the incoming black jet.
"Primitive flying device," the emerald one stated.
"Insufficient armament to warrant significant threat," the cobalt coloured robot replied.
"Maybe this will instead!" a voice yelled. Suddenly a green wall of energy appeared in the street, flying with tremendous speed at the blue robot. The robot turned, its energy canon raising up just as the wall impacted with it, knocking the construct off its feet and crushing it into another building, the cement wall crumbling down from the impact. A green and black clad man flew by, a gleaming ring on his finger.
Overhead, the jet flew low as two missiles emerged from its hull, dropping down and targeting the green robot. The robots wings closed around it, just as the missiles impacted. The explosion was deafening, debris sailing up into the air and dropping down to the street. However, the robot was undamaged, its wings opening to reveal the green construct arms covered in weapons, trailing the jet and opening fire. The beams struck the plane's underside, destroying one of the turbines. Smoking and beyond repair, the plane banked towards the city's harbour, a man jumping out of the cockpit, his black cape unfolding behind him.
"I got you, Batman," Green Lantern said, turning and heading towards the hero. The emerald robot observed this as the cobalt one rose out of the shattered building's wall. Emerald again levelled its weapon, just as over a dozen pieces of rock and debris peppered its armoured chest.
"Hey there," a flashing blur of motion yelled, "look at me!"
Emerald swung its head over to a fast moving organic, the human little more than a vague impression of red and gold. Its sensors slowed down the replay, showing another human strangely clad in gaudy colours, moving far faster than normal.
"Organic possesses remarkable speed. Targeting sensors compensating. Subject presents no definite threat."
The Flash threw more rocks at the robot, smiling as he did so, "I wasn't trying to hurt you," he shouted, "just distract you."
Another flying object appeared on the robots sensors, this one female and dressed in red, blue and gold. In a flash the woman grabbed Emerald by the head, spinning herself around and with a grunt of effort dragging the robot off its feet and into the air. Twisting violently, she drove the emerald machine down into the street, sinking it several inches. Turning quickly around, Wonder Woman let loose a cry of triumph and punched the cobalt construct square in the head as it stumbled forward from the shattered wall, sending it sailing back down the street. She turned once more, facing the rising jade shaded mechanism of destruction.
"Come on," she beckoned.
"Upgrading offensive capability. Organics possess abilities exceeding established norm."
Emerald opened fire on Wonder Woman, its arms unloading several bursts of energy. Shockingly, Wonder Woman's bracelets somehow deflected the blasts. Emerald lowered its weapons, seemingly incredulous.
"Subject has…unusual defensive capabilities."
Wonder Woman again flew at the robot, her arm pulled back for another punch. Behind them, the sounds of a terrific battle could be heard within the building as Superman and the crimson construct battled.
Superman's attack had thrown the two combatants deep into the office building. Walls and furniture became little more than matchsticks under their assault. Superman threw Crimson clear, the hero's feet finally touching ground as the construct rolled to a stop, cubicle walls doing little to slow it. The robot rose and charged, its beam weapon firing and striking the caped champion. Its other arm rose up, claws flashing menacingly. Down the arm came, only to be caught by Superman, who returned the favour with another ferocious uppercut. The robot crashed through the ceiling, ploughing through several floors before silver jets slowed its descent. Superman flew up after it, striking another punch into the construct's head, the force throwing the machine through another wall and back down to the street, four stories below. The construct landed on its feet, but before it had time to recover Superman was attacking again, his fists blurs of motion as he threw dozens of punches, Crimson's torso and head becoming dented from the onslaught. The robot was forced down into the pavement, crashing through the cement boundary between street and subway corridor, roaring down to the steel rail lines below the city.
"Subject possesses tremendous strength. Transferring data to base. Transferring power to offensive weaponry."
On the robots back the tail opened wide, the canon mounted within beginning to hum. Superman descended down into the subway, both hands pulled back for another colossal punch. With machine accuracy, the construct fired a massive ball of energy, striking the hero dead in his chest. With a cry of pain and surprise, Superman was sent flying back into the air, smashing through the top floor windows of a nearby skyscraper. The robot staggered and fell to one knee, a clawed hand bracing itself upright.
"Power diverted. Recuperation in ten seconds," it echoed.
Above, the Flash was circling the cobalt robot, throwing whatever his hands landed on at the machine with incredible speed. The construct leaned forward, the energy canon on its wrist narrowing to a tiny slit. Above them Batman and Green Lantern descended to street level.
"Get the Flash out of there, Lantern," Batman shouted.
"He seems to be handling himself well enough," Lantern replied.
"That's a robot," Batman replied coldly, "his speed is no match for it."
Below, the construct studied the motion of the rapidly moving human, data streaming into its targeting computer. Rapidly it computed the necessary equation, the canon moving to the necessary location and firing a narrow beam of light. Flash stepped into the beam, his reflexes unable to adjust in time. The beam sunk deep into his knee, bone and cartilage sizzling into liquid. With a cry of agony, the Flash fell to the ground, hands cradling his wounded leg, face buried into the street as he fought the terrific pain.
"Dammit," Batman said, dropping to the sidewalk and throwing a half dozen spinning blades. Exploding on impact, they blacked the wing structure of the robot but did little else. Turning around, the robot fired more blasts in the direction of the caped crusader, a green wall suddenly springing to life between the combatants and absorbing the energy flares. The robot turned again, striding towards the wounded hero on the street.
"Flash!" Batman yelled. Green Lantern flew off, heading for the construct and firing a series of blasts from his ring. The machine torso spun, its arm extending faster than the Lantern could react. Connecting solidly with a strike to his chest, the construct sent the Lantern hurtling backwards. Smashing into the diving Batman, the two tumbled onto the sidewalk, a jumble of limbs.
The cobalt war machine continued its approach to the dazed speedster, its arm retracting as the other limb unfolded a plasma canon. The weapon began to charge when a cry of rage filled the air. The machine looked upwards, just as a blur of feathers and fury dropped from above. Hawkgirl arrived on the scene, her mace crackling with energy.
Hawkgirl swung down hard, driving her forward momentum and her considerable strength into the blow, enhanced by the electrified mace. The top of the cobalt robot's head crumbled under the blow, the machine sent staggering under the surprise attack. Hawkgirl twisted around, landing in the street in front of the machine and continuing her attack, swinging her weapon in a series of ferocious attacks, the robotic torso caving under the blows. Cobalt raised its arms for a counterattack, only to find a band of green energy suddenly encircle them, leaving the machine helpless to the combined hero's attack.
Hawkgirl cried out once more, only to find her voice drowned out by another female. From across the street, Wonder Woman shouted, "Look out!" as the emerald engine of conflict sailed over their heads, crashing into its fellow robot and rolling down the street, smashing through another wall of stone.
Batman ran over to Flash's side, inspecting the injury. Landing near the heroes, J'onn J'onzz nodded to Batman.
"Did I arrive too late?" the Martian asked.
Batman glanced over at the rising robots, which were swiftly untangling themselves. Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and Lantern were taking a defensive position around the Flash, Hawkgirl tapping her mace in her hands and smiling.
"Not really," Batman answered, removing anaesthetic from his belt and injecting Flash's leg. Where the knee had been was now a gaping hole, the flesh and bone completely dissolved.
"How bad?" Flash asked through gritted teeth. Batman said nothing.
A few streets over the crimson robot hauled itself back into the street, widening the hole it had fallen through as it did so. Above, Superman soared out of the building the robot had blasted him into, hovering in the air and gazing down on the damaged machine, his eyes beginning to blaze with a fiery glow.
The machine connected with its brethren and realized they had fared no better against these enhanced organics. While further battle would no doubt result in their eventual destruction, the Assembled machines decided further study was needed. The crimson machine climbed unsteadily to its feet.
"Organics present severe threat. Request intervention. Request transfer of Pinnacle."
With a sudden flash of sparkling red energy, the three machines vanished without a trace. Superman looked around, then swiftly returned to the League members gathered in the ruined boulevard.
"There's no sign of them for miles," Superman informed his colleagues.
"What were those things?" Lantern asked, "I've never seen anything like that in the Lantern Corps reports."
"I've never even heard of such robots," Hawkgirl added.
"Whatever they were…" Batman began, just as another red cascade formed at the end of the street, coalescing into another robotic form. The heroes lined up, Superman ordering Hawkgirl to fly Flash to safety.
This machine was again different from the last, taller and slimmer. It had no elaborate wing structure or segmented tail, nor the unfolding weapons arrangement of the other machines. This one was sleek and uniform, no sign of joints or seams in its design. Where it needed to bend the metal appeared to become malleable, yielding easily to its movements. No eyes or visual apparatus could be detected, its head cone shaped but otherwise indistinguishable. The machine's hands opened and closed, its head moving back and forth, studying the heroes.
"Pinnacle transport complete. Targets detected. Data logs from Assembled strike team downloaded. Appropriate counter-measures initiated."
"Get ready," Batman breathed, reaching into his belt.
"Wait," J'onn ordered, "perhaps we can reason with them." The Martian flew off, hovering above the new construct. Pinnacle studied the alien, not moving.
"Who are you? What do you want?" the Martian asked.
"We are the Assembled. I am Pinnacle. You are non-terrestrial."
"That is correct. Why do you attack us?"
"You are organic. It is the fate of all organics to fall before the Assembled. You are inferior to the Machine."
"Where do you come from? Another world? Another planet?"
"A universe like this one. Your abilities can be explained by your non-terrestrial nature, as can several of your colleagues. Explain the humans who are enhanced. They have never been encountered before in our travels."
"I'm afraid that kind of information we are unwilling to share with you at the moment."
"Possible genetic mutation or manipulation," Pinnacle mused, "however, such modifications should result in death. Organics are weak. Their bodies flawed."
"That's not true," Martian replied.
"Your arguments are immaterial. You shall fall to the Machine."
"We don't want another fight," J'onn said, raising his hands, "we only want to talk."
"Discussion is irrelevant. No further information is forthcoming that cannot be determined through the examination of your remains."
Pinnacle raised his arm and fired an energy blast at J'onn. The blast sailed through the Martian, who had reduced his physical density greatly during the conversation. J'onn flew down, driving his hands into the torso of the robot, intent on disrupting its power systems.
"Administering neural-shock," Pinnacle coldly stated. Electric arcs covered the Martian, who screamed in pain and fell to the street, unconscious. Pinnacle drove its foot into J'onn's body, sending him flying to the sidewalk.
"I've had enough of this," Superman said flatly. Flying at enormous speed, he was a blue and red bullet aimed straight for the construct. As he approached a shimmering energy field rose around the robot, wavering like heat rising off a desert hardpan. The air around Superman took on a red glow, the sun above him shading from yellow to fiery scarlet. The Kryptonian fell to the street, sliding to a stop in front of Pinnacle's feet.
"The sun!" Superman gasped.
"I have altered the local sunlight to a different wavelength," Pinnacle said, reaching down and pulling the caped hero into the air with one hand "Sensors indicated your powers derive from solar power transference. You should now be vulnerable to damage."
"Attack!" Green Lantern yelled, as the remaining League members swarmed forward. Pinnacle glanced over at them, tossing Superman aside, sending him sailing through the air and into a nearby plate glass window, shattering it. The field around the robot swiftly dissolved as the Lantern approached. Green Lantern fired off a series of blasts from his ring, as Pinnacle's colour went from silver-blue to bright yellow. The blasts bounced harmlessly off the robot.
"No!" Lantern said, "I can't affect the colour yellow!" The robot then fired a concussive charge, dropping the dazed champion to the street.
Lamest weakness ever, Wonder Woman thought as she too headed for the robot. Pinnacle gestured at her, the air again wavering around its hand. The Amazon was shocked to find her wrists slamming together, the bracelets she wore suddenly attracted to one another.
"It has somehow magnetized my bracelets!" Wonder Woman exclaimed, struggling to free herself. Pinnacle gestured again, sending the female high into the air and though the wall of a high-rise. Debris and stone fell to the sidewalk far below.
Hawkgirl's powerful wings flapped as she stormed towards her adversary, mace upraised and a fierce snarl bellowing from her lips. Swinging her mace with all her might, she watched in amazement as the robot caught the weapon by the handle, its other hand catching her by the throat. The Thanagarian struggled to free herself, to no avail.
"Transferring power," Pinnacle stated. The electricity arcing around the mace dimmed somewhat, as Hawkgirl felt the energy drain away from it. Then, an instant later, her body twisted and writhed, the energy from the mace pouring into her. The world faded to black, and Hawkgirl slumped forward. Pinnacle dropped her to the street, stepping over her comatose body. Batman rushed forward, a bladed weapon in his hand. Pinnacle observed the human for a long moment, studying him.
"You are human."
Batman said nothing.
"You possess no latent abilities, unlike the others. You are no threat."
"We'll see about that," Batman said, eyes narrowing. He felt the ground shift underneath him, the rocks suddenly lifting off the ground. Batman was flung into the air and then tossed against the side of a building, cracking the stone. He collapsed to the sidewalk.
"Gravitic shift complete," Pinnacle said, watching the caped crusader struggle to get up, only to fall back to the sidewalk. On the street Green Lantern arose, one arm steadying the other as he took careful arm at a dented automobile. I may not be able to attack you directly, but I'm far from helpless, he thought. The car was enclosed in a green aura, and then flew at the robot with tremendous speed. Pinnacle knocked the automotive aside, sending the vehicle careening across the avenue and shattering another storefront. One of the robots arm extended out, pointing at the Lantern. A succession of thin yellow beams issued forth, striking the Green Lantern throughout his body and sending him into convulsions, the beams rupturing through his back in small eruptions of bone and blood. The Lantern pitched backwards, falling to the debris-laden boulevard, his blood quickly covering his surroundings.
"John!" Batman yelled. The dark knight ran over to the heroes' side, cradling his head. Green Lantern's eyes rolled in their socket, his breath hitching and wheezing.
"No!" Superman screamed, rushing out of the storefront and charging the robot. The robot caught the Kryptonian in the jaw, then followed up with another punch to the face. Superman hissed in anger and returned the favour, delivering a blow so great several windows shattered from the noise of the impact. Pinnacle was sent hurtling rearward, knocking over a parked delivery van with the force of his impact. Superman's eyes burned red as twin beams of intense heat poured out, scorching the van's fuel tank and igniting it. The explosion roared upward, black smoke and fire covering the area around it.
"How is he?" Superman asked, never taking his eyes off the burning vehicle.
"Not good," Batman said, "he needs a hospital."
"Get him help as fast as…" Superman began, but a ray of green cut him off. From within the fire a stream of emerald energy stormed outwards and assailed Superman. The red and blue garbed defender fell to his knees, gasping in pain.
"Kryptonite!" he bellowed, his head falling to the concrete. Pinnacle emerged from the fire, continuing to coat the fallen champion with the sickly green energy.
"My sensors indicated your physiology was susceptible to this particular brand of energy. I did not expect it to be so effective."
"Bastard," Superman breathed.
"It will be interesting to observe how much it will take to end your existence."
A few more bladed projectiles landed on the robot, exploding as they did so. Pinnacle ignored these, systematically hammering his defeated enemy with more and more of the kryptonite beams. He continued to do so until a large section of a building landed on his chest, again knocking him backwards.
Wonder Woman flew downwards, her wrists free from the affected bracelets. The Amazon was loathe to remove them, but had little choice. She blasted through the air as quickly as she could, hoping to attack before the robot could use its energy weapons. Arriving on the scene, she drew back her fist and hit the stumbling automaton in the head, driving it further back. Bracing her feet on the street once more, she hefted a damaged streetlight and swung it at Pinnacle, using it as a bat. The robot was knocked off its feet, falling to the ground. Wonder Woman went airborne, arms joined above her head for a massive jackhammer blow.
"Lantern, we need you for a few more minutes," Batman said, injecting the dying hero with painkillers. Touching the ear of his cowl, Batman said into his communication rig, "Alfred, do you read me?"
"Go ahead Master Bruce," a crisp English voice responded.
"Alfred, send out a distress call, all channels. We need help here."
"At once, sir."
"Bat…can't…" Green Lantern said, struggling for air.
"We're finished if you don't hold on a little longer," Batman replied, patting the dying man.
Wonder Woman slammed her fists down on the rising Pinnacle, the blow forcing the robot back to its knees. The Amazon drew back for another punch, only to find her blow caught in the vice-like grip of her nemesis. Pinnacle rose, throwing the woman away. Wonder Woman spun in the air, flying back at the robot, fists outstretched. However Pinnacle was faster, catching her by the head and driving her into the street, her momentum sliding them backwards several feet and throwing up a spray of concrete shards. The robot began to pummel the helpless Amazon.
"We need Superman," Batman continued as the ground under them jumped from the force of the blows, "but he can't go near that damn robot. It knows our weaknesses."
"Under..stand…" Lantern gasped, blood frothing out of his mouth, "need…help…"
Lantern held up a shaking arm, his ring flaring to life once more. Batman reached out and steadied it, the two aiming it at the struggling Superman. The ring glowed green, a shield forming around Superman's body. Shocked for a moment, the man of steel looked at his arms and then at his two comrades, nodding grimly. Running over to the dazed Hawkgirl, he took her mace and charged the robot, the mace sparkling, seeming to realize it was needed and allowing Superman to utilize it.
Pinnacle's head moved upwards, almost surprised by the attack. The robot left the injured Wonder Woman and turned to confront the Kryptonian. Wonder Woman quickly rolled over, her foot lashing and connecting with the back of the robot's knee. Pinnacle staggered forward, its defensive strike narrowly missing Superman. Superman returned the favour, solidly connecting with Pinnacle's head. The hit, enhanced by the power of the mace, caved the robot's head inward. Superman continued the attack, his arms a blur.
"Superman!" Batman yelled, "It's a robot! The brains might not be in the head! Go for the body!"
Nodding, Superman swung around, gathering momentum and hitting Pinnacle in the chest. With a hollow ring, the robot collapsed from the force of the blow. Wonder Woman jumped up, wrapping her arms around the robot's limbs from behind and held it, while Superman continued the assault.
"We've got it now," Batman whispered. Under him, the Lantern let out a strangled gasp, his body stiffening. "Lantern! Just a little longer!"
A bloody bubble erupted from Lantern's lips, as he let out one final breath of air. His arm dropped to the ground, the ring's glow fading. Around Superman, the shield winked out of existence. Seeing this, the robot arms suddenly swivelled upwards, carrying with them Wonder Woman and sent her headlong into the Kryptonian. The two fell to the ground, as Pinnacle's arm began to shine sickly green. The robot leaned forward and struck the two champions, their bodies soaring high into the air and against the marble stairs of an office building entrance across the street, shattering the stone steps.
Pinnacle walked forward with a slight limp, its damaged head surveying the ruined city block. On its body the metal skin began to melt and liquefy, becoming the consistency of clay. Its damaged and dented body began to restore itself. Turning, it moved towards Batman, the hands shimmering with new energy. A purple aura surrounded them.
"That's enough!" a clear voice rang out from above. In front of Batman a man dropped from the sky, a red and gold uniform covered by a white cape. The image of a lightening bolt was emblazoned on the chest.
"Captain Marvel," Batman said with a sigh of relief, "Thank God."
Captain Marvel crossed his arms across his chest, his feet spread apart in a defiant stance, "If you think you're going to do any more harm here, you'll have to go through me."
Pinnacle paused a moment, considering the statement. Its sensors swept over this new hero, studying him closely. The adversary before him had powers comparable to Superman but no apparent weakness, unlike the blue and red attired alien. Pinnacle was already damaged internally from the battle. Overhead, more flying organics were arriving on the scene, some circling while others descended.
The probability for victory was rapidly dissipating. The new hero, this Captain Marvel, presented an enormous challenge. Pinnacle considered the degree of new information against another encounter and found it wanting. With a gesture, a field of red covered the robot. With a burst of energy, it was gone.
Captain Marvel turned towards Batman, his face showing great concern. Around him, the remaining Justice League members slowly got to their feet while above it all, more costumed champions were arriving to assist them.
"I happened to be passing by when I intercepted your message, Batman," Marvel said, "What went on here?"
"I don't know," Batman said, placing his cape over the dead Green Lantern, "and I don't know if we'll ever find out."
Note: I don't really know if Green Lantern's weakness is still the colour yellow (that's kinda sad, really), but for the sake of this story, it is.