DISCLAIMERS/NOTES
1. This is a fan fiction based on characters owned by DC Comics. I DO NOT OWN THEM. This is just for fun.
2. My continuity branches off after the end of Season 1. So the last episode to occur was the two-part "The Savage Time". No Season 2. No JL Unlimited.
PART 2
The hangerbay doors opened and the craft slowly moved in. As the massive doors closed, the craft landed on the floor of the bay. Once everything was in place and the airlock had been secured, the cockpit opened and the occupant stood up out of his transportation.
Batman looked around the Watchtower hangerbay. There was the Javalin-7, right in the same position it had been for the past week. Whoever had last used it must have been staying at the Watchtower for several days.
Batman leapt out of the Batwing cockpit and landed like a cat on the steel floor. He then activated the jet's shielding and, once satisfying himself that all was fine, left the bay.
As he neared the main deck of the Watchtower, Batman heard voices. His teammates were all there already. But something else caught his attention. As he walked more, he made out the sound of music.
"Oh no," he murmured.
Batman reached the entranceway and saw his fellow Justice League colleagues decorating the deck.
They were decorating the Watchtower. His Watchtower. That he had paid for.
Did they not know he did not like the holiday season?
Flash stopped his gyrating to his Christmas CD and looked at the entranceway. "Hey Bats!" he shouted. The others in the room turned to see Batman.
Batman walked into the room, out of the shadowed corridor. "What… are you all doing?"
"What does it look like?" asked a smiling Superman. That comment, and the expression, made Batman want to smash the Kryptonian's face in.
"I… thought you didn't celebrate Christmas," Batman lied. He knew very well that Superman loved celebrating the season with his family. But still, why were the others celebrating with him? J'onn and Hawkgirl were aliens like Superman; John always seemed that celebrating things was beneath him; and Diana…
Wait a minute. Where was Diana?
Batman hated not knowing where Diana was. Whenever she was not present at a League meeting or mission, he always made sure he knew where she was. Call it one of the effects of being in love.
Deciding to not ask where she was, in case his colleagues began suspecting something, Batman let his curiosity go. Instead he turned to walk out of the room, but was stopped by a cry of anger from Hawkgirl.
"Yeeeeeeaaaarrrrrrrrgh" she cried and she threw her book against a wall. "Stupid thing! Can't the writer just get on with it?!"
Flash zipped to Hawkgirl's side. "What were you reading?"
"War and Peace. I thought I could get into it, given the title, but I guess reading just isn't my thing."
Flash grinned. "There there, cookie, maybe we can find out what your thing is - together." He draped an arm over her shoulder. Hawkgirl looked at his arm then glared at him. That was all the warning Flash needed, and he zipped right back to his previous position, on the other side of the deck, by the ghettoblaster.
"OK, time to crank this thing up, moonside!" Flash turned the volume up and the deck was filled with Christmas music.
Batman turned to leave again. "Flash, turn that off."
Flash was dancing at superspeed again. "Oh come on, Bats, get with the jive!"
There was a small whooshing noise, and the music suddenly stopped. Flash stood still to see the "Stop" button speared, with perfect precision, by a batarang.
"Er… anyone up for Twister?"
/
"There it is, ladies and gentlemen. Keystone city."
Lex Luthor pointed to the outskirts of the city just over the hill. With him was the entirety of the new Injustice Gang.
The Prankster walked up to Luthor's side. He saw the welcoming banner which greeted people as they entered the city. "'Welcome to Keystone City,'" he recited, "'Home of the Flash'. Bah! I'm twice the character he is!"
"Maybe it's because you tried to blow up the city like, a dozen times. People don't like that," Star Sapphire said, deadpan.
"Careful what you say, Pinky," warned Prankster, "or you'll be on my hitlist."
"She's already on my 'hit' list," Copperhead hissed, flicking his snakelike tongue at Sapphire. Sapphire's face creased with disgust.
"Let's remember why we're here," interrupted Luthor. "Phase one of my plan begins tomorrow. For now, we go into the city, lie low and then, well, Joker knows the plan from there… don't you?"
Joker stepped from the darkness from under a tree. "You know I do, Lexy my boy! What else would you expect from the Clown Prince of Pranks? No offence, junior." Joker raised a hand in mock apology at the Prankster.
Luthor suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. He doubled over and buckled under his own weight, falling to his knees. "Arrrrrrrrrrrgh…" The other criminals looked down on him, but none offered assistance.
He was having another pain attack, a result of the Kryptonite poisoning that was slowly killing him. For over two minutes, Luthor tried to calm his breathing and regain his composure. His compatriots meanwhile, had lost interest and were talking amongst themselves.
Once the worst of the attack was over, Luthor slowly stood up and slowed his breathing. "Never mind about me," he growled, "I'm fine."
Joker noticed that Luthor was back up and got a handkerchief out from his pocket. He then ran to Luthor and pretended to look concerned. "Oh, Lexy, are you OK champ?" he asked, as he mopped Luthor's head.
"Stop that!" screamed Luthor, grabbing the handkerchief and throwing it to the ground. Joker looked hurt.
"Why Lex, I'm only concerned for your safety! After all, if you go… who else am I gonna tell my baldness jokes about? Ha!"
Luthor clenched his teeth. "Come on," he ordered. "Let's get into that city before I get my armour out of my bag and wipe that smile off your face."
As Luthor and the others began walking towards Keystone, Joker danced on the spot. "Ooh, I do believe he made a funny! There's hope for you yet, Lexy!" He then turned towards a nearby field and called out. "Come on Harl, time to go!"
Harley Quinn looked away from the ivy that was growing up the side of a fence and weakly said "Coming, Mr. J." She turned back to the ivy, gave a longing look, then turned and followed the others into Keystone.
/
"Wonder Woman."
Diana turned her head from her milkshake and looked at the kitchen doorway, seeing the Batman. She gave a big smile. "Why do you call me that?"
Batman walked into the room. "What do you mean?"
"You're the only person who calls me that," she replied. She motioned for Batman to take a seat at the table, but the man in the mask just stood there. She shook her head and let it go. "Why do you call me 'Wonder Woman'?"
Batman seemed abit embarrassed, but quickly composed himself. "Well…" he began, obviously put on the spot. "Your… chest insignia is of a double-'W'."
Diana could swear she saw the Dark Knight blushing under his mask. With a smirk she said, "A 'WW'?"
"No, a double…" he stopped. "Yes."
Diana tried to stop a giggle, but failed. She loved talking to Batman; she loved just being near him. Despite his cold exterior, she found his presence reassuring.
Batman raised an eye at her amusement and seemed confused. Diana managed to stop laughing, but her big smile stayed. "You know," she said, "you must be quite clever to come up with a name for me, based purely on two letters."
"It… seemed logical," Batman said.
Diana noticed his discomfort and immediately felt a pang of sorrow. The last thing she wanted to do was make the man she loved feel uncomfortable. "I'm sorry," she said, "I guess I just needed a little fun. I haven't been in the best of moods."
Batman's tone immediately changed from confusion to concern. "What's wrong?"
Diana noticed the change in Batman's tone, and thought for a second that, perhaps, he cared about her more than she thought. But she quickly brushed the thought away – this was the Batman; he did not like anyone in particular over anyone else. Why would she be any different? "Oh, nothing really. Don't concern yourself," Diana replied, before taking a long slurp from her milkshake.
"Diana…" Batman pressed.
She sighed. "I just… keep wondering if I've made the right choices. Am I really in the right place?"
There was silence for a few seconds. Finally, Batman said, softly, "The League would be less of a team without you, Diana."
Diana felt better. That was one of the things she loved most about Batman – although he kept his comments short and to the point, when he had to he could say something to make the atmosphere better. Although not an official part of the team, he was in many ways the glue that kept the League together.
She turned to look at him, but Batman was gone.
"Typical," she sighed. She returned to her milkshake and shook her head. Despite the way it could freak the Flash out, Diana hated it when Batman performed his disappearing act. Because it meant he was no longer there. No longer around her. And she found that feeling more empty and painful every time it happened.
/
21st December. Four days until Christmas.
The alarm clock buzzed like an annoying bee, relentlessly. The man in the bed groaned as he awoke, groggily lifted his head from his pillow and saw the clock. Then, at an alarming speed, he sped his hand at the wrist, creating a whirlwind powerful enough to move the clock from the bedside table and send it flying into the air, before crashing onto the floor.
Wally West sat up and looked down. It was a good thing he had bought an extra-thick rug; after five clocks smashing on the thin-carpeted floor, he had finally gotten a clue. He thought about stopping the clock by just turning it off… but using his abilities to send it to the floor was more fun.
He stood up and went to a mirror. After a few minutes admiring himself, he thought back to the previous evening. He had been at the Watchtower with his fellow Justice Leaguers, getting ready for Christmas. He wondered why they exactly had decorated the base – it was not as if he was going to be spending the big day with them. Then again, maybe they had nowhere else to go.
Wally felt a bit of sadness for them. As far as he knew, they did not have civilian lives to go back to once the superheroing was done. True, Wally spent most of his time as the Flash, but at least he had somewhere to go home to.
After he had showered and ate, Wally slipped into his red costume – he could hardly remember the last time he started the day in normal clothes – and at superspeed, ran out of his apartment.
Within seconds, he was out of his building and halfway across another block. His mind began to wander back to the previous evening.
Superman had been going on relentlessly about the Christmas season. Flash found that surprising – he never thought that the Man of Steel would be interested in the holiday. Then again, he never really thought of the man behind the costume – he had never even considered that Superman had a life outside of superheroing.
Then Flash remembered Superman's sudden silence right after he talked about his parents. That was a shock alone – Superman had parents? But after that, his continual talking of the holiday season had ceased, almost as if something was wrong.
Flash brushed those thoughts away. What could possibly bother an uberhero like Superman?
His thoughts turned to Green Lantern. Flash was completely surprised that he had contributed to the festivities. Green Lantern, Mr. Serious, Mr. "Grow-Up!", liked Christmas? Perhaps there was hope for the humourless guy yet.
Flash's mind went on a brief tangent – the word "humourless." He knew what it meant, but if he could just pronounce it…
His mind wandered to Hawkgirl. He remembered his comments to her at the Watchtower. Flash winced as he played out the moment in his mind. How could he have been so stupid? If only Hawkgirl had known that he was serious about wanting to be with her more…
But that was his problem. He could not say anything serious. It was a defence mechanism. No matter how much he tried, he could not bring himself to be serious for any reasonable amount of time. In fact, the only times he showed any selfcontrol was in near-death – make that near-imminent death – situations. Other than that, he always cruised on "idiot" mode.
He cursed himself. He hated his tactless personality sometimes. Especially when it came to her. To Hawkgirl.
Flash had always been a ladies' man. He had womanised practically every female he had ever encountered. But Hawkgirl was different. He actually cared about her.
Maybe the Christmas season would be the key. After all, it was the time for miracles. Surely…
By now, Flash had been away from his apartment for about ten minutes. He had already covered half of Keystone. As he approached a videostore, something caught his ears.
He stopped infront of the store and looked at the televisions in the window. They were showing the local news… and what Flash saw, surprised him.
It was a hostage situation. The Prankster was holding a young blondehaired woman at the top of a building.
Flash pondered the situation. Not the Prankster's usual strategy. But still… if evil was afoot and a beautiful damsel was in distress, who was he to leave it?
Flash sped to the building's location, ready for an easy rescue.
/
The Flash reached the building where the Prankster was holding his female hostage. Deciding to get the job done as quickly as possible, the Fastest Man Alive ran up the side of the building, reaching the roof in a matter of seconds. However, before Flash could reach his goal, the Prankster threw his hostage off of the roof.
His eyes widening, Flash zoomed back down the building, as the young woman screamed in terror. Then, once he was below her, Flash kicked off the surface of the building and leapt into the air, catching the woman in his arms.
As they landed on the ground, Flash skidded to cushion the shock. Once they were still, Flash looked at the woman he had saved. To say she was cute would be an understatement: she had puppy-dog eyes, a big mouth and long blonde hair wrapped in pigtails.
Momentarily distracted, Flash did not sense the person approaching him from behind. Suddenly, he felt two hands on either temple and an electric shock attacked his head. After a few seconds the attack ended and Flash, who had fallen to his knees from the shock, slowly lowered the woman to the ground. It was not so much a concerted effort – he was merely too weak to move any faster and it was just fortunate for the young woman that he did not simply drop her.
As he held his head to regain his senses, Flash moaned. "Oh man…" After his thoughts cleared, he looked up and saw Star Sapphire standing infront of him. Still dazed, he only managed a gasp before Sapphire fired a purple ray at him, sending him flying into a wall on the other side of the street.
Though weakened, Flash's brashness got the better of him and, vaguely seeing Sapphire about twenty yards from him, he got to his feet and ran towards her for an attack.
However, he did not notice Solomon Grundy step infront of Sapphire, and Flash crashed right into the gigantic monster, knocking himself even more senseless. "Oh man…" he repeated. "Three of you?"
Grundy raised his fists and sent them down, but Flash managed to move out of the way and Grundy pummelled a small crater into the pavement.
Flash decided to take stock, running into a nearby alley. Taking quick breaths, he decided he needed help. He put his hand to his ear to activate his League communicator. "Superman, this is Flash, I…" He stopped when he noticed no signal on the other end. "Superman? Can you hear me?" He tried the others. "Batman? J'onn? GL?" Nothing. "Aw no…"
Trying to calm his breathing, he took a chance and peered out of the alley. To his surprise, the street was clear. No Star Sapphire. No Grundy. Not even the Prankster.
However, Flash noticed that the hostage was still there, and she appeared groggy. Forgetting his own pain and weariness, Flash ran as fast as he could to the young woman. Raising her head from the ground, she appeared to recover from her grogginess and looked up at him.
Flash smiled. "Hey, babe," he said, "You OK, trooper?" As he looked at her, he noticed, in the corner of his eye, a flower on her left lapel.
"Oooh…" replied the blondehaired woman. "I'm fine now that you're here, puddin'."
As she stared into his eyes, Flash did not notice the woman raising her hand to the flower. Giving it a little squeeze, it sprayed out a puff of gas, which Flash breathed straight into his lungs.
Taken aback, Flash began uncontrollably coughing, then, falling to the ground, he looked at the woman, who began giggling. As he felt consciousness slipping away, he heard maniacal laughter from above him. He caught a foggy outline of two people, one in shiny green, the other in deep purple, before his strength left him…
TO BE CONTINUED