Same disclaimer as before

Chapter 2: Escape

Josh awoke in a pod. Already, he was hyperventilating. He was incredibly claustrophobic and being in such a tight space was activating his childhood asthma.

The pod was made of black metal except for an orange-tinted window. Outside the pod was a large, futuristic looking room with several other pods.

"Interesting." The voice was monotonous and metallic. Josh jumped in fright and hit his head on the top of the pod. He was now having trouble breathing, his heart was beating so fast that he could feel his ribs cracking, and now he could feel a substantial lump forming on the top of his head. "It appears the specimen is infected with microscopic future technology."

A massive android shaped like a colossal crab passed Josh's pod. He screamed in terror as the droid turned to look at him with mechanical eyes. "My technology." The droid continued on its route. "Exobytes. Signatures of genetic material collected from the Flash. Potential abilities: super speed, enhanced strength, pyrokinesis, and enhanced mental capacity." Josh was too busy screaming to hear most of what the voice said.

. . .

Ariel cried. She had woken up in the same room as Josh in a similar pod. A humanoid robot walked past her, not even sparing a glance. "Another one." The voice caused her to cower lower and continue sobbing. She tried to fold herself into the fetal position, but there wasn't enough room.

She dug her nails into her arm, clawing at her skin. The pain felt like a reset button for her body and she panted as she tried to calm down. "Subject is contaminated with exobytes bearing the genetic material of the Martian Manhunter. Potential abilities: telepathy, tactile telekinesis, gravity desensitization, density shifting, and empathetic healing. Put subject under surveillance to prevent escape." The robot returned and stood in front of her pod.

Ariel had no idea what was going on, but she knew she wanted out of that pod. She gently put her hand against the window and rested her head against the thick, alien material it was made from. God, what she wouldn't give to just go home right then. At that exact moment, a headache the likes of which she had never felt before hit her brain like an out of control freight train. She screamed in pain as she gripped in her skull. Strange voices screamed in her head and her vision went blurry

God! Get me out of here!

Oh please, please don't hurt me!

Where am I! What is that thing!

Ariel shrieked and slammed her head against the window. With an echoing crack, the window shattered and large splinters shot into the back of the robot guarding her pod. With that release of energy, Ariel poked felt the voices subside in her mind and she cautiously stepped out of her pod.

She was in a circular room lined with identical pods. All of them held people of all shapes, sizes, and ages. Some of them were awake and were banging on the windows to their pods, desperation clear on their faces. A few robots were walking around the room nonchalantly.

One was a massive, robotic crustacean, which turned its giant head to Ariel as it stepped out of her pod. "Escapee detected," it said, "Recapture and pod, priority alpha." The robot scuttled towards a petrified Ariel as the two or three humanoid robots in the room ran towards her.

Hang on, kid!

. . .

Josh felt heat rise up in him. It was a familiar rage that he had been taught to keep down. It was his fear, his anger, his anxiety building up like a pressure cooker. He tried to take deep calming breaths, but only succeeded in fanning the flames.

If a teenage girl had escaped her pod, than a grown man sure as hell could. Josh rested his hand on the window and tensed his muscles. Grunting in effort, he pushed outwards.

His hands went straight through the window. He gasped in surprise as he fell forward and slammed his cheek into the glass. He pulled back slightly and panted in horror. His hands were glowing white-hot, but he felt no heat. Yet they had burned straight through the glass, it was melting and dripping around his sleeves. He withdrew his hands to inside the pod and flexed his fingers experimentally.

"What the hell?" he whispered in terror. Josh looked up and saw the girl who had escaped running in circles around the room, four robots chasing her. Three were human-like, but one was the colossal crab he had seen. He felt the fire in his stomach rise and bile build up in his throat. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening his eyes, Josh carefully used one finger to trace the outline of the window, melting the glass along the trail. With a kick, Josh shoved the glass away and it shattered on the floor. He stepped out and turned his head as the girl ran by.

She had long black hair, wore a long-sleeve black shirt, and was followed by a gaggle of robots. "Escapee detected," said one, "Contain prisoners, by order of Brainiac." One of the humanoid robots broke off from the group and charged at Josh. He raised his hands in defense as the robot leaped at him and the droid fell through his hands. It had melted as it hit his fingers. The remains of the robot clattered to the floor around Josh.

He looked at his hands and clenched them into fists. "Groovy." He looked up and saw the girl running around the rim of the room. He ran towards her and skidded to a halt between her and the robots. Josh raised his glowing hands as the first robot ran straight into them and it melted around him. "Two down," he murmured as the last robots stopped before they reached him, "Two to go." The crab robot backed off as the humanoid strafed left.

Josh flexed his fingers. He heard panting next to him and glanced over to see the girl. "Hey."

"Hey," she said, "Who're you?"

"Josh. I'd, ah, shake your hand but…" he snapped on of his fingers and leapt in surprise when his hand lit up in fire. "Well," he said shakily, "That's new."

"Where are we?" whimpered the girl.

"No idea. Let's ask." As if on cue, a robot charged. The humanoid jumped at the girl, but she caught it by the neck and it immediately crumpled into the size of a soda can. Josh stared. "How did you do that?" He whispered in awe.

The girl fell slowly to her knees and stared at her hands in shock. "I don't know." She sobbed, "I don't know!"

"It-it's gonna be alright, kid." Said Josh. Of course, fate had to prove him wrong. The crab robot began to hum and it was suddenly surrounded by a field of orange light. It charged like a cheetah at Josh and the girl. Josh raised his hands, ready to melt the machine, but his hands didn't go through the light force field, a shield made of solid light. He realized this just as the droid stampeded over him. He cried out as it threw him ten feet in the air and he landed with a hard grunt. The several ton machine jumped and one of its legs landed on his chest and he cried out in pain as his sternum cracked.

The weight was suddenly lifted off him and he turned his head to see the girl carrying the heavy robot and force field in her bare hands. She held it above her head and roared in fear and anger as she threw it. The machine broke through the wall and the force field failed just as it smashed on the floor in the next room.

Josh panted, each breath causing intense pain. "How…how did…"

The girl broke into sobs again. Josh breathed deeply and closed his eyes. The fire in his gut was dying down and his hands cooled to their normal temperature. There was a cracking noise and both of them looked up. "Hey, you guys, outside your pods!" the voice was female and everywhere at once, but definitely human. "Yeah, you! Listen, I don't have much time before these systems reboot and kick me off the speakers. My name's Oracle and I'm with the Justice League. In the next room is a laser cannon that can bottle a city block. I need you to destroy it, and then we can teleport in some heroes to get you and the rest of the people in there out." There was a sudden burst of static and the voice was cut off.

Josh looked up at the girl. "The Justice League, huh? This must be some heavy duty shit right here."

The girl leaned down and crouched next to Josh. "I'm Ariel." She said as she wiped her eyes.

Josh gently touched his chest and coughed up blood. "Well, Ariel, I think I'm dying." It was an oddly pleasant sensation, dying. There was no light and no sound, just a brief warmth that started in his chest and spread through his entire body, filling him with energy. Josh had always been afraid of death, but this was really quite nice. He wondered where he would go. Was heaven real? Would he wind up there or hell? Oh well, it was in the hands of the powers that be. That was when he realized that his chest actually didn't hurt. He looked down at himself and saw that Ariel's hand was resting on his atop his chest. He slowly sat up.

Ariel gasped at his movements. "But…you were just dying!"

Josh shrugged and stood up woozily. Ariel helped to steady him. "That was very weird, even for me." Ariel stared at him strangely and turned to the whole she had created in the wall to the next room. It was a larger room with three large, glowing pads on the floor. In the middle of the room were four tall, humming pillars.

Ariel pointed at them. "Do you think those power the laser?"

Josh shrugged. "Worth a shot. Let's go cause a little chaos." He walked forward and stepped through the hole. Ariel followed him, watching for more robots. Josh put his hand on the closest pillar and closed his eyes. He concentrated on his diaphragm, focusing on building up the pressure. It took a minute, but he suddenly felt the pressure in his core burst and the fire reignite. His hands immediately warmed up to solar temperatures and melted through the metal of the pillar. It fizzled with electricity for a moment before it shorted out.

Somewhere in the distance, an alarm blared. "Attention," said a monotonous voice, "Protect the main central server." A door slid up from the floor and a host of humanoid robots marched into the room.

"I'll handle them," said Josh, "Think you can use that monster strength to finish these pillars?"

Ariel ran to the next pillar and hesitantly put her hand on it. It imploded and collapsed in on itself instantly. "I think I can manage." She said softly. Josh charged forward, his fists swinging wildly to catch as many robots as he could with his super-heated hands. He cut many in half without even feeling it. Ariel collapsed the third pillar with a touch and ran towards the final one. Just as she was about to touch it, an orb of orange energy fell down upon her, tossing her across the room. She slammed into the wall painfully. She looked up to see a massive robot. It was humanoid, but three times the size of the others. It was also flying.

The giant robot floated down to the ground near Josh and raised its arm, readying some sort of cannon.

"Josh!" Ariel jumped towards the giant robot and flew halfway across the room. She didn't have time to be properly surprised at her new ability as she ended up phasing straight through the robot, causing it to shudder in electric death as it fell to the ground. She couldn't stop herself and slammed into the fourth pillar. "Oww," she groaned as she slid down to the ground. She could feel a headache building up from where she'd hit her head. She leaned against the last pillar and it crumpled beneath her powers.

As the final pillar was crushed, there was an immediate humming sound and rush of wind and energy. Above Josh, an orange tunnel formed from nothing, and speeding through the tunnel to his aid was a famous blue and red blur.

The man of steel exited the portal and hovered in the air above the small battle between Josh and the robots. "Stand back!" he called to Josh. The star-struck Josh immediately ran towards the far wall and Ariel. Superman glared at the Brainiac robots and narrowed his eyes. Twin red beams of light shot out of his optics and blasted apart the first row of robots. He slowly raised his vision and completely demolished line after line of robots until they were all nothing more than pieces of junk. Ariel and Josh both stared at the legendary last son of Krypton in awe. Superman drifted down to their level. "You two get out of here. Oracle has reprogrammed these teleporter pads to take you to the Watchtower. I'll get the rest out." Josh took a deep breath and cooled his hands down. He grabbed Ariel and pulled her towards the nearest pad as Superman flew off into the next room. As soon as they had both feet on the pads, they both experienced a flash of light and a feeling of weightlessness.

The light faded and they looked around at the metal hall they had arrived in. Surrounding them were hundreds of people, some in civilian clothes, some in the signature outfits of heroes. There were people clinging to the walls and floating through the air. There were people made of various elements and people who existed only for a moment before reappearing somewhere else.

Standing in front of them was one of the founders of the Justice League, the emerald Martian Manhunter. "Welcome," he said in a gravely voice, "To the Watchtower. Can you come with me, please?"

. . .

Devon woke slowly, not entirely willing to open is eyes.

"Wake up, Devon," said a soft voice, "It's time for you to wake up." Devon slowly opened his eyes. He was in a white room on a very soft bed. Sitting next to his bed was a bald, smiling man in a nice suit.

"Where am I?" he asked.

The bald man grinned and patted Devon's hand. "You were in trouble, Devon, but I saved you. You're in a safe house in Gotham." The man held out his hand, "My name's Lex." Devon took the hand and shook it, but it required so much energy that he simply didn't have. He was dead tired and needed rest. Lex chuckled and patted his hand. "I have to go to a meeting, but I'll be back. Now, why don't you get some rest, mmm?" Lex stood up and walked out of the room, turning off the light as he did. Devon went out with the fluorescents.

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