Note(s): I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long. But I lost my father on Thanksgiving Day of last year, and I have been trying to work through the pain. I thank you for waiting, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Gotham City
The late night sky was the same as it always was in Gotham City. A sickening shade of dirty coffee brown that was complete with clouds of smog and pollution blocking out most of the stars. During the day, the city was a wonder to behold. Not as grand as Metropolis was, but still a wonder within itself. At night, the older neighborhoods looked as dark and sinister as the various criminals that were insane enough to call the massive urban war zone a home. And in the heart of Gotham City was the only remnant that was left from the days when Gotham had been originally founded and built. Wonder Tower. The mysterious and massive iron construct whose purpose and meaning had been long forgotten. The rumors about the tower were numerous. The oldest rumors were that another city had been built next to Gotham, it's founders calling it Wonder City. But after a strange plague broke loose, Gotham sealed off Wonder City and built over it. The only thing left being Wonder Tower.
On the large balcony that had been built halfway up the massive structure, one lone figure of a young man stood. As he gazed out at the massive city around him, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
"How long has it been?" he asked into his comm link.
"They're ten minutes late." The voice on the other end growled.
"Give them a break, boss. They're not like you and me." Robin said.
"You can say that again." Batgirl scoffed from the shadows. Robin didn't have to guess who Batgirl was referring to.
"How many times,"
"Heads up. Two life signs are heading up to the balcony. Be on alert." Batman said, interrupting what Robin was fixing to say.
Robin and Batgirl quickly assumed a defensive stance as they waited for whoever was approaching. Within a few moments, they could hear what they swore were the sounds of rocket boosters. Within a few moments, a large figure that looked to be clad in a strange assortment of high tech armor flew over the balcony. When the figure was five feet above them, it cut the rocket boosters that were on the bottom of his feet and that were on its back before landing on the balcony so hard that it felt like the entire tower itself shook.
"Sorry about that. I'm still working on the landings." The figure said as it emerged from the shadows and revealed itself.
The figure was a young African American man, with a portion of his left face and eye covered by a metal plate and a red artificial eye. The rest of his body wasn't that much different. His torso was covered in a metal armor, but it looked like most of the chest was actually a combination of robotic and cybernetic components. It looked like most of his right arm was real, but his entire left arm, and both legs from the thighs down, were advanced cybernetic prosthetics. The only time Robin or Hannah had seen this kind of technology was either in the Watchtower or the R&D division of Ronald's company. But the strangest thing about him was the fact that it looked like he had a terrified green squirrel clutching the back of his neck.
"Nice of you to make it, Victor. But where did you get the rodent?" Robin asked him.
"Believe it or not, he started off as a cat." The young cyborg said.
"I didn't think you'd fly here like a lunatic!" the small creature screamed as it leapt off Victor's shoulder and transformed into a young thirteen-year-old boy with green skin and hair as it landed on the balcony. Besides his strange skin pigmentation, the only weird thing about him was the fact he was wearing a black and purple body suit. "Now I know why I keep kicking his butt in video games. He has no sense of direction or control!" the young man said as he tried to calm himself.
"I'll remember that the next time you need a ride." Cyborg said, making the green teenager gulp. "Anyone else here yet?" Cyborg asked.
"You two are the first." Robin said.
"They wish." a voice said from behind them. All turned to see a young man wearing a red and yellow bodysuit as he leaned against part of the tower. His mask had a pair of special made goggles in the eye pieces that allowed his red hair to flow freely. On his chest was a white circle with a red lightning bolt across it. "I got here before bird boy did."
"Then why didn't you say something?" Batgirl asked.
"You know how long it takes to get here from Central City? I was taking a nap! A growing hero like me needs his rest."
"Why don't you just tell them that you got lost?" another young man, about fourteen, asked as he climbed out of the elevator lift shaft. He wore a red and black sleeveless armored body suit with a red domino mask on his face. Strapped to his back was a large quiver filled to capacity with arrows, and a collapsible compound bow hung from his belt.
"I did not!"
"Please! Last time you came to Gotham City, you took the wrong turn twice." Beast Boy said.
"At least Cyborg has GPS installed in that tin can head of his." The young archer commented.
"Nice to see you again, Speedy." Victor/Cyborg said.
"And don't you think it's time to get over yourself, Wally?" Beast Boy asked him.
"Why don't you bite me, Garfield?" The young Kid Flash snapped.
"How about you take a long run off of a short pier?" Beast Boy shot back.
Before any of them could say or do anything else, a dark, almost black, energy surrounded their mouths and froze their legs in place. Both tried to pull and tug away from the energy but to no avail as they soon found themselves falling over face first. All of the gathered teens were confused for a few minutes at what had just happened until Robin looked toward the largest gathering of shadows on the balcony.
"You can come out now, Raven." Robin said.
Stepping out from the shadows, almost like she had been hiding within them, was a young pale skinned woman. She wore a black leotard that covered her arms and body, but left her smooth and toned legs bare. A pair of navy blue boots covered her feet as a large navy blue hooded cloak covered her body and most of her face while a large red ruby pendant kept the cloak together around her neck.
"Someone had to shut them up." She said as she pulled back the hood, revealing a perfectly smooth an unblemished face. A small red jewel sat in the middle of her forehead while her black hair was cut just below her ears. Her full lips were also coated in a thin coat of black lipstick. But the most stunning feature about the woman was her smoky purple eyes. It was almost like she truly did have a set of the rarest jewels on Earth inside of her head instead a pair of living eyes. As soon as she made herself known, Beast Boy immediately stood to attention and sucked in his gut, trying to make himself look more manly and masculine.
"Give it up, Beast Boy." Raven said in her monotone voice, making Garfield let out the breath he was holding like a deflated balloon.
"That just leaves Starfire." Robin said.
"Tramp." Batgirl said to herself.
"Would you give it a rest, already?" Robin asked her.
"She still sore about that kiss, huh?" Cyborg said with a grin.
"IT WASN'T A REAL KISS!" Robin shouted while the others, minus Raven, snickered.
"I mean Tramp at twelve o'clock." Batgirl said as she pointed upwards.
"Sorry I am late." A voice overhead said. Landing softly onto the balcony with effortless ease was a young teenage girl with long reddish brown hair and smooth orange skin. Her eyes were green within green as she wore an armored pare of leggings and a breastplate that left her arms and flat stomach bare. A pair of large metal bracelets wrapped around both of her wrists. "I am still trying to become familiar with my new surroundings. And when the bat child calls me a tramp, is she referring to the four legged animal in the animated movie I saw?"
"Child? Who do think you're calling a,"
"Enough, Batgirl!" Robin said, knowing that he was going to get the beating of a lifetime from his girlfriend when all of this was over with. "Thanks for coming, guys. I really appreciate it."
"It's no big. Friends stick together, right?" Beast Boy asked. "But, why are we here?"
"Good question." Speedy said as they all faced Robin. "What's so important?"
"Truthfully, I didn't call you guys here." Robin said.
"If you didn't, who did?" Victor asked.
"Me." A deep and rough voice said from behind the group. All of them turned and gasped in surprise and shock as they saw the Dark Knight standing behind them with his eyes narrowed. "We have a serious situation on our hands, and we need help. But if all of you want to continue to act like children, then I made a mistake by calling you here." He growled.
"Sorry, Mr. Batman, sir!" Beast Boy said as he stood to attention like he was in the armed forces. All of them seemed to stand up straighter than what they usually would at the sight of Gotham's protector. Starfire, who was usually upbeat and perky at even some of the worst odds, even seemed to be very afraid of Batman's mere presence.
"Batman has a special mission for all of us. What the Cyborg Superwoman has been telling us about Coast City isn't adding up. We have proof that the footage she's been showing everyone is a lie. So he wants all of us to check it out." Robin said to them.
"As in going to what's left of Coast City?" Kid Flash asked.
"You're kidding, right?" Beast Boy asked.
"Note serious face." Batman growled, making Beast Boy turn himself into a whimpering puppy.
"But that doesn't make sense. Why would Superwoman want to lie to everyone?" Cyborg asked.
"Because she isn't Superwoman." Another voice said from the shadows. Everyone one of the teenaged super beings gasped in surprise when they saw the tall redhead step from the shadows, wearing a black jumpsuit with a large silver pentagonal S shield on her chest. And the look on her face showed that she was far from being happy.
"You – you're . . . . but this is . . . HUH?" Beast Boy asked as she shifted back to his normal form.
"If you are the real Superwoman, then who is the one in Coast City?" Starfire asked.
"The fake Superwoman in Coast City is the real leader of the aliens. We were able to get a confirmation from a – a friend that barley managed to survive the disaster. So it's time for us to step up and prove to everyone we're more than sidekicks, and to show the world who the real traitor is." Batgirl said.
"One question. Is anyone else from the Justice League going to be joining us?" Raven asked, having kept mostly to herself.
"We can't risk it. Their communications may be compromised." Batman said.
"Then we're doomed." Raven said.
"Come on, Raven! Can't you be optimistic for once?" Beast Boy asked her.
"This is me being optimistic. A handful of teenagers, being lead by a man with no superpowers and a hero who barley has her own powers back, is a certified suicide mission."
"How did you know about," Kim started.
"I can sense many things about people. And I can sense that even though you are the real Superwoman, you barley have any powers right now. So I will say it again. We're doomed." Raven said as she began to skulk back into the shadows. However, she received quite a surprise when she saw the Dark Knight in her way.
"I'm not going to lie, but the odds are against us. But this is the situation. Coast City has been destroyed, thousands are dead, and the Justice League has been deceived and everyone on this planet is blind to what's going on. But let me ask you this, Raven. Which one is the real suicide mission? Trying to stop a possible invasion, or just standing aside and doing absolutely nothing?" he asked her as she scowled at him from under her hood.
"I didn't say I wasn't going to help. I was just stating the obvious." She said as she closed her eyes and regained her control of her emotions. "But I do see your point." Raven said.
"What about the rest of you? Save the world or go home?" Kimberly asked the rest of them. All the young teenagers there only glanced at each other for only a brief moment before they nodded their heads.
"We became heroes to make a difference. And we're not going to run away just because everything looks grim. We're all in." Cyborg said.
"Victory or death." Starfire said.
"So I guess the next stop is Coast City?" Beast Boy asked.
"No. The next stop is Metropolis." Batman said.
"Metropolis? Why Metropolis?" Speedy asked.
"We have to visit an old friend." Robin said.
"Anyone we know?" Kid Flash asked. "Robin? Batgirl?" he asked, but Batman, Superwoman, Batgirl, and Robin were no where to be seen. The teenage superheroes were by themselves. "Is it just me, or is it just creepy whenever they do that?"
Engine City
"Wh-where?" she moaned as she opened her eyes and tried to raise her head.
Her neck was soar and stiff as she tried to move. That mean her head must have been hanging low for a while. Her head and her jaw was still sore, as was most of her body. The last thing she remembered was the fight with the cyborg psycho. She saw the horrific monstrosity it had built on top of what used to be Coast City. The next thing she knew, the robo-bitch punched her in the head. Wait a minute. She wasn't dead. Granted, she had no idea what being dead was like, but she could feel the air in her lungs and feel how freezing cold it was in here. But where was here? She tried to move, but she couldn't. Her arms and legs felt like they were being held in a vice. She pulled and strained at her limbs until she felt her muscles begin to cramp from too much strain.
Her breathing was labored for a small amount of time as she waited for the ache in her muscles to go away. She decided to try and open her eyes in hopes that she may recognize her surroundings. After a few moments of blinking her eyes, she realized that her eyes had been opened the entire time. Wherever she was being held was completely shrouded in darkness. Just what the hell was going on here?
"All right, circuit breath. Do you actually think this is funny?" the young woman demanded.
"I'm surprised you regained consciousness. That blow I gave you was enough to even take Captain Marvel's head off." The cold and digital voice of the Cyborg said.
"I have a gift for being a pain in the ass." She said to her jailer as she tried to focus her eyes, but was still unable to see anything. "You think you can at least turn the damn lights on?" she asked.
"Let it never be said that I wasn't generous. Illuminate." The Cyborg said and the lights arose, finally revealing the girl's surroundings. The entire room had various pipes and hoses stretching from the polished floor to the smooth ceiling wall, almost like they were pillars that were holding the roof in place. The walls all around her were smooth with the exception of a few flat monitors that were built into the wall. The main wall in front of her almost looked like it was a large Imax screen that was made of polished metal.
The device that held her in place seemed to be constructed just for her. She felt her back pressing against cold flat metal while large curved chambers that seemed to resemble over grown vacuum cleaners held her limbs in place. Across her arms and across her waist were restraints that almost looked like expandable watch bands, but they kept her held tightly in her little restraint. So far, everything she looked at looked like the the combination of a Star Wars geek and Star Trek fan's wet dreams all rolled into one eye sore.
"I must admit, you showed impressive resiliency during our fight. Supergirl."
"That's Superwoman to you Mrs. Roboto. You want to see resiliency? Let me out of this thing, and I'll turn twist your new arm around like a Frenchman's pretzel!" the heroine shouted as she struggled against her restraints again, trying to break free.
"It would be wise for you to stop flapping your tongue before I rip it from your mouth, pup." A deep voice and rough voice said as she heard something large enter the room from behind.
What appeared in front of her was a massive figure in a humanoid male shape. He stood eight feet tall with his shoulders as broad as the front end of a large MAC truck. His brow was large and exaggerated, like the brow on the mannequins of cave men at a museum. His skin was a sickening yellow while a strange headpiece made of dark metal covered most of his bald head as he glared at the teen prisoner with dark red eyes.
"It looks like someone should lay off the steroids." The teen said before the large alien's hand gripped the lower half of her face tightly and began to squeeze.
"Apologize, and I will consider not ripping your jaw from your face." The alien growled with pure venom and hate dripping from his voice.
"Let her go, Mongul." The Cyborg said.
"But she needs to learn respect!"
"She will. Now let – her – go!"
"Yes – Leader." Mongul said with reluctance as he freed the young girl's face.
"Leader? That Jolly Jaundice mutant works for you?" Supergirl asked in disbelief. "When the hell did I walk into the middle of War of the Worlds, and what's going on? Why did you bring me here?" the teen demanded.
"What's going on is the reformat of your entire world. Behold." The Cyborg said with a smile as the large wall came to life and showed what looked like two sleek giant cooling towers standing high above what looked like a sleek alien refinery. "We are currently situated where the human civilization of Coast City once stood."
"You killed women and children just to build that thing?" the teen asked.
"It's my masterpiece. I give you Engine City." The Cyborg said with awe.
"Still looks like something from New Jersey." Supergirl said.
"What?" Mongul asked.
"I assure you, child; that what you see before you is nothing more than one of the grandest engineering marvels the likes of your galaxy has never seen." The Cyborg growled as her red eye began to glow.
"Polish a turd, it's still a turd." The teen said, only to have the Cyborg's cold metal arm grasp her firmly by her throat. The machine applied pressure to the young girl's neck until the young girl's eyes were bulging and the blood vessels seemed to almost burst.
"If you were any other human on this backwards planet, I would kill you for what you've said." The machine woman said before she released the girls neck and listened to her cough and gasp for breath. "Engine City is a masterpiece. But despite its grandeur, it is only a small piece of what will soon become a grand creation."
"B-but what the hell is it?" the young girl asked as she gasped for breath.
"Are all humans as pathetic and stupid as this one, Master?" Mongul asked as he glanced toward their prisoner.
"My dear child, that is for you and your primitive mind to figure out. But as for why I have brought you here? If you truly are a clone of Superwoman, then there will come a time that I most likely need spare parts."
"You are one sick and twisted bitch, you know that?" the teen asked.
"And I take great pride and joy in it." The Cyborg said as she turned to leave.
"Wait a minute. Engine City? This place is a freaking engine?" the super powered girl demanded.
"Apparently she has a small measure of intelligence after all." Mongul said.
"Yes, my dear child. What you see before you is a massive engine. A thruster to help maneuver your planet out of its orbit." The Cybrog said.
"You're going to kill every body!"
"With one Engine City, yes. Your planet would just spin out of control. But don't worry. Another Engine City will soon be created."
"Where? Where?" the girl demanded as the two began to walk away. "You couldn't stop talking a minute ago, you slime! Where is the other Engine City going to be? TELL ME YOU CYBER WHORE!" Supergirl screamed.
"I hope you weren't fond of the Big Apricot." The Cyborg said in barley a whisper. But it was loud enough for the young teen to hear as her eyes widened in dread and horror.
"M-Metropolis?"
The Fortress
Inside the tank, Galatea floated inside the healing solution looking more helpless than Kal had ever seen her. Her new solar suit covered her entire body as an intense solar lamp, set on its maximum setting, bathed her in yellow solar rays. An oxygen mask was strapped to her face to give her air, but Kal sat and wondered if it was actually doing any good for her. When she came crashing into the fortress, he was relieved she was alive. But now, watching her float like a useless aquarium toy, he wondered if the cruel thing was trying to keep her alive. Despite the powers he had developed on this world and his skills with the Fortress' systems, he felt completely helpless.
"How is she?" Kal asked aloud.
"Progress is slow. Most of her physical wounds are ninety-two percent healed, but she has slipped into a delirium." The closest fortress robot said.
"How bad is it?" Kal asked.
"She seems to be confused about her identity. Her delirium may be resolved if the fortress computer began to relay all data it contains about her."
"What about the rest of her wounds? You said only ninety-two percent of them were healed."
"Some of her injuries are more complicated. Some burns sustained in the explosion of Coast City, and internal injuries caused by an energy based weapon. It may be weeks, or perhaps months, before they begin to heal properly." The android said, causing Kal's heart to sink where he sat.
"There has to be another way. What about the process that repaired her DNA? Could it be used to heal her?"
"Calculating. In theory, using a complete pure Kryptonian DNA chain as a base for the program to use would fix any error in her DNA as well as heal her completely. However, there are two problems that have severely reduced the odds of success."
"What are they?"
"Not enough time has elapsed since her first procedure. Undergoing it again could be too much of a strain for her mind and body. The other is energy resources. Healing Kara Jor-El, and the first procedure to fix Galatea's flawed DNA have drained the power core. If we were to proceed with the procedure again, all energy in the fortress would be used. Afterward, the Fortress would shut down. Probability of Fortress systems recovering from such events, 5,000 to 1."
Kal looked up at Galatea once more as he began to go over what the android had said. The Cyborg is the leader of the invasion force. They've killed innocents and neutralized the most effective members of the league. Batman and Kara are on it, but Kara has now powers. He could go in, but he still hadn't mastered how to control his abilities. There was a strong chance that they would need Galatea. But what if they didn't? Kal had heard and read the stories of Kara growing up and saving the world. And that was before her powers had fully developed. She could rely on her old skills. But for the past several years, she had been using her powers.
What was he to do? Using all the power in the Fortress? That means everything about their home world, the knowledge of their people and what they had achieved, would be gone forever. Then the Fortress would be nothing more than a memorial to a planet long since dead. What was he going to do?
"What would you like us to do, Kal-El?" the robot asked.
"For now . . . start the data feed. Let the computer remind her who she is. Then keep a close eye on her progress afterward. Let me know if anything about her condition changes." Kal said.
"Compliance." The robot said as it wirelessly relayed its orders to the other robots tending to Galatea's care.
"Come back to me. Please, come back." Kal said as he placed a hand on the tank, and watched as Galatea floated in her deep sleep.
Metropolis
The small cannon sounded more like the foot stomps of doom as its blast echoed in the small testing range. On the wooden targets several feet down the range, several splintered holes stood in various areas of the body silhouettes while several metal spikes were firmly set into the steel wall behind it.
"At least the new arm cannon works." John Henry said.
"But it's way too powerful. We're focusing on non-lethal weapons, remember?" Wade asked.
"I know. Just one more bug to work out before the new armor is ready for a field test." John said as he removed the cannon from Wade's arm and took it back to the table. He was thankful he wasn't on crutches anymore. His legs had improved to such a degree that almost didn't notice he wasn't using a cane anymore.
"You're lucky I was able to repair the prototype. I still can't believe you took it just to find your old girlfriend."
"She's the one that stole my design and selling it to the gangs, Wade. But no one has seen her for weeks. She's probably gone underground."
"That's exactly the case." A very familiar and grim voice said, making Wade smile slightly.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up." Wade said as he saw John Henry Irons' eyes slowly widen. Wade spun his chair to face the person the person behind him and saw the all too familiar scowl of the Dark Knight. "One of your emergency facilities has been operating for the past several months, and you just now take notice?" Wade asked as John Henry looked at his lab partner in amazement. The way he was acting toward the Dark Knight was unbelievable. "So how has life in Gotham City been treating you?"
"The same." The Dark Knight answered.
"That bad, huh? How about my replacement?"
"Better than what I had expected." Batman growled.
"Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment." Wade said as he noticed the small gesture Batman made with his head, indicating the other person that was in the room with them. "Oh, I forgot. Batman, this is John Henry Irons. He's,"
"Former R&D cybernetics scientist and weapons designer for Gough Industries." Batman growled. "Wade, I'm going to need your help." Batman said.
"What is it this time? Has Joker taken over Arkham or something?" Wade asked.
"I'm going to Coast City, and I need to be prepared." Batman said and saw the smile that was on Wade's face immediately disappear.
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't call Gordon and tell him to get you a room ready at Arkham." Wade said.
"How about me, Wade?" another voice said as she stepped out from behind Batman and beamed a bright smile to the broad technicians. "Long time no see, Wade." Kim said to the stunned tech wizard. Wade just sat and looked at his friend, alive and well, standing in front of him. After not moving for at least a minute, Wade did the only sensible thing. He fell over backwards in his chair and passed out.
"He took it better than I planned." Batman said to himself.
In the heart of Engine City, all the various biological and cybernetic lifeforms were going about their duties as fast as they could. Many of them hadn't had any form of rest or sleep in days. But their leader had a goal, and would allow nothing to stand in its way. Failure was not an option. And the punishment that was given who did not perform their tasks to the fullest was met with either intense pain or death. And sometimes, death wasn't swift and merciful. More times than not, the death was slow and drawn out and making the pain last as long as possibly. Even begging for death would make the process last even longer and become more drawn out. Many worked and dwelled in the massive mechanized city in fear of their leader and its minion, Mongul. No one knew why their leader wanted to harm this world and it's inhabitants so much. No one dared to inquire why or investigate. But they all knew why Mongul was involved in this plot.
Mongul had been the ruler of a planet he had called War World. He ruled with an iron fist and without pity or mercy. To keep the starving citizens entertained, he would enslave people from all over the galaxy and force them to battle to the death in mortal combat. No one knows exactly how or why, but Mongul was dethroned and exiled to a remote part of space. No one had seen or heard from the dictator until he had begun recruiting a crew for his new ship and his new master. The plan was that with two Engine Cities in place, they would be able to maneuver this planet out of orbit and across the galaxy. And Mongul would be left to rule it. A new War World reborn on Earth.
With everything being run at such a pace and a such a strict time frame, the last thing anyone wanted or needed was something unexpected. And beneath all their extraterrestrial noses, the unexpected was brewing beneath their feet. Ever since the Cyborg had her little chat with her in the early hours of the morning, the young clone of Superwoman had been struggling against the device that held her in place. Sweat dripped from her face torrents and her hair was now stringy and damp. She gasped for breath has she went limp against her restraints. She had flexed, bulged, and done her best to try and break free using her strength, but it was no use. Nothing she did was working. If she only had heat vision, she could melt the thing. But the problem was that she didn't have heat vision. And as far as she could tell, she didn't even have the ability to see through anything either. She had the hearing, the strength, the flight. She could even see into windows several miles away from where she lived if she focused hard enough. But why no heat vision? No X-Ray eyes? And more importantly, why was she vulnerable to fire? The only other alien that was vulnerable to that was the Martian guy. And as far as she could tell, she they hadn't used his DNA at all on her.
In the back of her mind, a part of her did wonder if they had since her complexion was a pale green. But she remembered everything on display at Cadmus. A photographic memory was one of her good points. And she saw no evidence of Martian DNA. So what the hell was wrong with her, damn it?
"You are a pathetic creature." A digitized voice said as she saw a strange android patrol the room out of the corner of her eye. He had been in there with her since the cyber fake left. He had been mostly quiet until just now. It was bad enough that she had to listen to the psycho cyborg and her friend. Now she had to take flak from an alien erector set too?
"Something on your mind, bucket head?" she asked the machine.
"I said that you are a pathetic creature." The machine said to her.
"Care to back that up?"
"These creatures we destroyed didn't even bother to defend themselves. And the one filthy organic they had put their faith in, our leader was easily able to dispatch without even emitting sweat. And you yourself, are nothing but a horrible and feeble, primitive attempt of genetic manipulation. If I were an organic, I would become sick and vomit at the mere sight of you." The machine said.
"Roboto, you just did the one thing I needed."
"And what is that, insect?"
"You just pissed me off." The young girl said as the sound of groaning metal attracted the android's attention.
It raised its head upward and saw that various parts of the restraints that were holding the child's hands were starting to expand and warp in various places. And the levels of radiation were rising beyond their normal parameters. Before its sensors could examine the machine further, the entire upper portions of the restraint exploded in massive explosion of green energy and overloaded the androids optics and forced it onto its back. The android was able to stand itself back into an upright position as it waited for its optics to reboot and come online. By the time it was receiving visual data again, a bare and scorched hand punctured the metal alloys of its chest. Within seconds, the hand retracted from the android's chest while holding a small glowing sphere and machinery before it grew dark. For a few seconds, the android stood rooted to its place before it fell over backwards and became nothing more than a paperweight.
"You're terminated, Dick Head." She said before letting her temper rise and focus her hands at the restraints on her feet, destroying them with another blast of emerald energy. She didn't know why she had these blasts or how she got them, but they sure were coming handy right now. She had no idea how they worked, but it looked like her temper had something to do with it. When she lost her cool with Batgirl, she remembered how destructive her energy blasts were. Maybe she could use that to her advantage and escape from this nerd's wet dream that was really a nightmare.
As she stumbled free from the blasted mechanism, an ear splitting alarm began to sound through out the room and probably the entire complex. She knew it wouldn't be long until she was up to her neck in aliens, robots, or whatever this technological abomination was carrying. Thinking back to every thing that ever made her angry since the day she escaped from Cadmus, every mistake she made and every low thing the press or anyone else ever said about her, the young Supergirl began to feel her anger rise higher and higher. She knew it wasn't enough for what she was planning though. Then she thought back to what the Cyborg had done to the camera crew that had followed them and her mistake with getting the pilot in the Daily Planet helicopter in Metropolis killed during that gang war. Everything the Cyborg said and put her through since they arrived.
As she felt her anger rise to a point, she could feel a strange tingling flowing all through her. It was like a strange heat was burning in every inch of her body, but it was a good heat. Like it was wrapping around her like a blanket on a cold day. As she opened her eyes, she could see her entire body was glowing with what almost looked like an emerald fire. Hoping it was enough, Supergirl put every ounce of strength and will power she had into her legs as she crouched down and felt her legs tighten like a spring in a trap. With a feral scream of rage and hate, the teen of steel launched herself upwards at such a speed that entire room shook and expanded with the same force of a bomb. The intense energy around the teen and her speed allowed her to punch through level after level of Engine City. Various alarms were blaring like the wails of banshees as various aliens screamed in fear and rushed to their stations. Several weapons turrets came online and opened fired with blasts of destructive energy. Instead of injuring the teen that was blasting through Engine City like an emerald comet, the energy blast only damaged several systems and consoles, as well as injuring and killing several of the crew that were screaming and running away in fear and panic. Within moments of her escape from her restraints and emitting massive energy from her body, the young heroine soon found herself barreling through one more wall and into the sky at such a speed that she almost escaped the grasp of Earth's gravity before she was finally able to force herself to come to a complete stop.
As she gazed downward, the sight of all the open terrain before her was breath taking. An absolute wonder that only so few people would ever get to see. She wished she could float there longer to try and take everything in, but she couldn't. The emerald energy that had surrounded her was extinguished, and she was holding her breath. Taking her best guess at which direction Metropolis was, the young teen directed herself and began to fly as fast as she could back toward the ground. She just hoped she had enough time to warn everyone.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE ESCAPED? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?" the Cyborg screamed as she blasted Mongul with a blast of her heat vision, forcing the broad conqueror to his knees.
"W-we don't k-know." Mongul groaned as the heat vision stopped. Slowly, smoke rose from his burned uniform and blistering yellow skin as he sat up straight. "She was using – an energy blast. We d-don't know how she c-created it." Mongul said through gritted teeth as he did his best to ignore the pain.
"I am surrounded by nothing but the stupidest beings in the galaxy. Every where I turn, all of you FAIL ME!" the Cyborg screamed as she blasted Mongul again with another intense blast. "This will change nothing." The Cyborg growled. "What's the progress on the rocket?"
"I-it will be finished within two days time, Master." Mongul groaned again.
"Accelerate its completion. I don't care if you have to force the workers to forgo sleep and feed them the remains of their dead. Make sure that rocket flies and will turn all of Metropolis into nothing more than a smoking crater."
"Y-yes, Master."
Metropolis
"Now I know you've lost it if you're planning on taking a bunch of kids with you into that danger zone." Wade said as they took a lift into the sub basement of the lab he and Dr. Irons had been calling home for the past several months
"There isn't any other choice, Wade. But you know me. If I didn't think they were ready for this, I wouldn't have contacted them." Ron said as he slid back his cowl. With John Henry up top, waiting for the others to arrive, he felt safe to reveal his face.
"I still think your all nuts." Wade said as he shook his head.
"You've seen the results of Ron's research." Kim said.
"And my computers confirmed it. The footage is faked. But I've also seen what this thing is packing, Kim. The only Kryptonian weapon you've been up against was that device that sent you into the Phantom Zone. This is heavy duty weaponry we're talking about."
"And this thing killed innocent people while using my name, Wade. While wearing my family crest. I'm sorry, but no one does that and gets a clean bill of health." Kim said as the lift came to a stop.
"We're going to need something that can hopefully fly in under their radar." Ron said as they followed Wade deeper into the sub-basement.
"You're going up against a technology light years beyond anything we've got. I don't know about under their radar, but I've got something that I think can get you close." Wade said as he came to a darkened area and stopped. Wade removed a small device from his pocket and aimed it at the darkened area. The lights came on and illuminated what appeared to be a large white and blue shape in the shape of a T with at least five cockpits.
"What is this?"
"A side project of mine. I've been trying to design a replacement for the javelins up in the Watchtower, and this was one of my prototypes. Mach 4 capability, magnetic repulsers, combat weapons with non-lethal weapons only. And one side bonus is that she can separate into five different smaller ships with light weaponry. Each cockpit can seat two, maybe three people." Wade said.
"Why does it look like a T?" Ron asked.
"I thought it looked more like the Norse symbol for Thor. That's why I named her the Thunder Road." Wade said and saw the looks his two oldest friends were giving him. "So I like Bruce Springsteen."
"This could probably hold the kids. What about Kim and me?" Ronald asked.
"Yeah, that. Since you crashed the Batwing, I've had to try and make another one from the design table, up." Wade said as he took then to another part of the large hanger area. "I give you the Batwing 3.0" Wade said as he pointed to nothing but empty space.
"Wade, there's nothing here." Kim said to her broad shouldered friend.
"Is it?" Wade asked as he pressed a button on his device, allowing a very sleek and smooth two passenger jet appear that was painted black. IT looked like a hybrid combination of a stealth fighter jet and a fighter from the Starfox games with the only feature that looked like a bat were its tail fins.
"How did you do that?" Kim asked as she admired the flying machine while Ron gave it a criticizing gaze.
"A chameleon circuit. Cameras are almost all over the ship. It records what it sees, and projects it onto the hull plating to almost give it a cloaking field quality. I decided to test it on the Batwing first before I put it in a jet I'm making for Wonder Woman." Wade said.
"Since when have you been making things for Wonder Woman?" Ron asked with a raised eye brow.
"She felt left out that everyone else has all these gadgets. So she asked nicely and I – uh," Wade said as he began to blush.
"You're secret is safe with us." Kim said with a small smirk.
"Are they ready to fly?" Ron asked as he slipped the cowl back on.
"Diagnostics give them the green light. If I've built them according to my calculations, they should be good to go." Wade said.
"NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" a loud voice shouted, causing Wade and Kim to turn and see John Henry in the lift with the sidekicks. "I have died and gone to heaven! That's my new baby, right there!" Cyborg said as he looked at the proto type ship while Beast Boy was almost drooling at it.
"Boys and there toys." Raven grumbled.
"Can I keep this one after we're done? I swear I'll take care of it!" Cyborg said as he ran to the ship and looked at it like he was seeing the world's largest pinup poster.
"This is no time for joking around. I'll give you one hour to familiar yourselves with the ship's systems. After that, we head to Coast City in teams of two." Batman said as he walked to the gathered teens. "Team one will be composed of myself, Superwoman, Batgirl, and Steel."
"Say what?" Wade asked as his eyes widened.
"Like you said, its advanced alien technology, and you're one of the best experts in the world. I'm going to need you on this, Wade. No ifs, ands, or butts."
"He said butts." Beast Boy said as he giggled like a school girl with a crush.
"Are you done yet?" The Dark Knight asked as Beast Boy saw the hero towering over him.
"Y-yes, sir." He said as he stood perfectly still and began to pale.
"Wade?" he asked as he looked at his old friend.
"This isn't exactly how I wanted to test the new suit." Wade said as he rolled his eyes.
"Batman, why aren't I on your team?" Robin asked him.
"You know them best. Their strengths and their weaknesses. If this is going to work, they're going to need a strong leader. And I know you can handle this, Robin. I have faith in you." Batman said to his young ward, as if a mantle of trust had just been handed down to the young man.
"Do we get to give our teams any cool names? I was thinking something like, Alpha Cool Wolf Squadron." Beast Boy asked and gulped as Batman glared at him again.
"Cut them some slack, Ron. They've got a heavy load on their shoulders." Kim said to him.
"Robin, you come up with a name." Batman said as he walked back to join Wade and Kimberly.
"So what do we call ourselves, man?" Cyborg asked with all of his friends gazes upon him.
"How about . . . the Titans?"
"Miss Gough? It's Mercy! Please pick up!" the intercom in Shego's office blared.
"What is it, Mercy?" Sherri asked as she walked to her desk.
"The Cyborg just sent out a press release saying that Supergirl has been captured and brainwashed by the fake Superwoman. What do you want us to do now?"
"Give me thirty minutes, Mercy. I'll think of something." Sherri said a she turned off the intercom and began to rub the bridge of her nose. She turned and looked at the other end of her office and let out a deep sigh. "Interesting turn of events since the League is chasing them in deep space. Something isn't right. There aren't a lot of options here. So I'm open to anything you have to offer." Sherri said to the small redhead laying on her couch as she gulped down two more bottles of bottle water.
"Then there's one person that I can trust now." The young teen said as she still tried to catch her breath.
"And who would that be?"
"I've got to find Batman." The teen said as she looked out the window. "If I don't, Metropolis won't be here anymore."