Same disclaimer as before.

Chapter 3: Explanations

Josh stared up at the last Martian in awe. "You…you're…"

"Martian Manhunter, yes." Said the alien, "Now, I think you're the last ones. I can begin now." He crossed his arms and floated up leisurely to a balcony overlooking the space that hundreds of new meta-humans were currently occupying: the Monitor Womb. "May I have your attention, please." It was not a request, but some still spoke between themselves, trying to figure out what was going on. The Martian narrowed his eyes. May I have your attention please! The voice resonated through the room on a mental wavelength. Everyone clutched their skulls in confusion as they experienced the Manhunter's mental abilities. The alien cleared his throat. "Now that I have your attention," he said, "Allow me to inform you of the current situation. Yesterday, Earth was invaded by an alien intelligence known as Brainiac. Brainiac wishes to digitize all life so he can download all the information in the universe into himself. He has bottled several buildings in an impenetrable force field in multiple cities around the globe. From there, he took human prisoners to digitize." The Manhunter paused. Everyone stared at him in shock, trying to process the information.

"What Brainiac didn't count on, however," he continued, "Was human resilience. A time traveler came to us from the future and released microscopic robots into Earth's atmosphere before he unfortunately ceased to exist. The robots are called Exobytes and were stolen from the technology of Brainiac himself. The Exobytes contain the genetic information of meta humans, and can integrate themselves into a host body. If you are here, it is because you have been infected with one or more Exobytes and they have fused with your genetic code. In other words, you now have super-human abilities." There were a few gasps of surprise and fear, but many had already discovered their new abilities in their escape.

"Unfortunately, you were all captured by Brainiac after he started bottling. Luckily, we managed to free you and bring you here, the Watchtower." With a mental command, the Martian Manhunter telekinetically raised the metal shutters to the massive window at the head of the Watchtower, revealing to his audience their true position. There were screams of delight and panic as the new meta-humans gazed out into starry space, interrupted by the massive blue and green sphere of Earth. "Less than twelve hours ago, this was the setting of a great space battle." Declared the alien, "But we have forced Brainiac's forces back to the asteroid belt for now. His ground forces are still on the planet, however, so we have to move fast." He motioned to the sides of the Womb. Huntress stepped out of the shadows on the left. "Please form two lines," he said, "Huntress and I have scanners that will tell us what kind of Exobytes you have and we will send you to someone who an help you cope with and learn about your specific abilities." As he spoke, the lines quickly formed. Nobody wanted to disobey the superhero a second time.

Martian Manhunter floated down to the right of the Monitor Womb, a chrome pad in his hand.

Josh gulped and looked over at Ariel. She was staring out the window, her pale face now downright white and bloodless. "C'mon," he said gently, "We need help with this." He felt the fire building up in his stomach and he quickly took his hand off of Ariel's shoulder. She turned to him, confused and worried by the loss of a reassuring presence. He shrugged sheepishly as his hands slowly heated up.

The line moved slowly. People were scanned, given directions, and sent on their way. Occasionally, a hero would arrive to whispered murmurs of awe to give Huntress and Martian Manhunter an update. They would deliver the news and go away into the depths of the space station.

After ten minutes of waiting, Josh and Ariel were up. Martian Manhunter waved them forward. Josh turned to Ariel. "You wanna go first or second?" Ariel took a deep breath and stepped forward.

The Martian raised his pad and a red scanning bar took a quick picture of Ariel. "Hmm," he said, "It would appear your powers are copies of my own, if a little weaker. Telepathy, tactile telekinesis, density shifting, flight, even a bit of shape shifting." He pressed a few buttons on the pad and nodded, "I see you have some previous experience with the mystic arts?"

Ariel winced. "Ah, sort of."

Manhunter nodded. "Understood. How about you go see Raven? She's in the Magic Wing, that way. I trust you know who she is?"

Ariel's eyes widened and she took a step back. "I-I don't that's a good idea."

Manhunter waved his hand. "Nonsense, she'll be perfect." With that, a R.E.E.S.E. robot arrived and led Ariel off. Josh stepped forward nervously. The Matian Manhunter scanned him. "You were good for her, you know." He said, looking at the screen.

"What?"

"You were just as scared as she was, but you were brave and inspired her to be brave as well." There was a beep from the pad. "Interesting," said the Manhunter, "Your powers are derived from the Flash and another…the scanner cannot determine who the second Exobyte data emulates, but it appears you have been granted super-speed and reaction time, and a powerful pryokinetic ability." Josh raised his hands. They were glowing white again and small sparks of fire were sprinkling from his fingertips. The Manhunter stepped back. "Kindly quench your fires." He said, a sprig of fear entering his voice. Josh clenched his fists and closed his eyes, concentrating.

He felt a sharp pain in his stomach and doubled over. "Ow!" There was a small breeze and he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Josh looked up to see the red cowl and lighting headpieces of the Flash. "Let it out," the speedster said, concerned, "Stand up, pick a place, and move. J'onn, get down!"

Josh stood with difficulty. "My stomach…it burns!" he whispered in fear.

Flash grabbed him by the forearms. "I know it does, but you just need to run. Follow me." With that, the Flash took off. Josh stared at the speedster. The Flash was supposed to be the fastest man alive, so why was he moving like a normal man? Josh started to run after him. He followed the speedster for a few seconds before he noticed too things. One, a streak of flames was popping up after every step he took. Looking back, he saw the flames leading back from his path. Two, everything was frozen. People he passed didn't move, even the flames were solid and not flickering.

Ahead of him, the Flash stopped in his tracks. Josh tried to copy him, but skid almost ten feet, falling painfully on his rear. The Flash held out his hand. "Feel better?"

Josh breathed deeply, trying to ignore the pain of his rear, but his stomach felt fine. "Much." He took the Flash's hand and was helped to his feet. He looked around and stared in amazement at his new surroundings. They were in a massive room with a balcony with a giant model of a genetic strand slowly revolved. The floor was transparent, allowing him to see the depths of space bellow him. People were everywhere, speeding around or flying. Some were experimenting with their new powers. Josh saw a woman shoot beams of ice into the ceiling. The woman grinned as she looked at her hands in triumph. She looked up and saw the fire trail that Josh had left. With a wave of her hand, the fire froze and an icy breeze spread along the fire, putting the entire trail out.

The Flash grinned at the new speedster's awe. "Welcome to the Meta Wing."

. . .

Ariel gasped when she was shown the Magic Wing. All the rich, creamy tapestries and the mystic runes looked great and made her feel a pleasant warmth as she stepped into the room. The room was packed with new meta-humans, but she saw the golden helm of Dr. Fate flash in the crowd a few times, and even saw Wonder Girl herself jump up and fly to a balcony to get away from the fanboys.

"Come," the robot creeped her out, it reminded her too much of the Brainiac androids. She was led up a ramp and a flight of stairs into a side room. Unlike the Magic Wing, this room was nearly empty except for a few people. It had a large, raised stage where she saw a few people meditating and a massive, floor-to-ceiling window that looked out to the stars. The robot pointed up at the stage where she saw a cloaked figure with it's back turned to her levitating a foot or so off the ground. The robot turned and left, leaving Ariel to stare at the figure.

She knew who it was. It was the person she'd spent two years hating. Two years she would never get back. It was the girl she had almost tried to kill. Ariel took a deep breath and two steps forward. She was brave enough to do this; to talk to the daughter of Trigon. Ariel took another calming breath and another step.

Well? Are you going to speak with me or not?

Ariel turned and dashed away. She took the stairs two at the time and, at the bottom, ran smack into a Sentinel of Magic. "Are you alright, ma'am?" he asked.

Ariel shook her head. "Ah, um, bathroom?" The Sentinel nodded and pointed to the left. Ariel ran and found a swinging door with the universally recognizable stick figure woman on it. She dashed through and went straight to the sink where she let loose the contents of her stomach.

She breathed and grabbed a paper towel to wipe her mouth. She had been in her head. Raven had been in her head. She knew everything. Ariel stared at the mirror, wondering what her next move was.

Apparently, fate didn't let her make a choice, because at that moment, the bathroom door opened and in walked a tall, slender woman with a purple cloak and hood. "Hi." Ariel scrambled backwards, away from Raven. The Teen Titan walked up to the mirror and pulled down her hood to check her hair. "Want to talk about it?"

. . .

Devon was in his room, playing with his toys. The door opened with a hiss and Lex walked in. "How are you today, Devon?"

Devon looked up. "I'm doing great today, Lex! How are you?"

The bald corporate executive smiled. "Very good, Devon, thank you. Would you come with me, please?" Devon stood up and took his hand. Lex led Devon out into the next room. It was just as white and bland as his bedroom, but was larger and had black targets at the far end. Devon groaned when he saw the targets. "Now, now, Devon," said Lex sternly, "It's important for a boy your age to work out and grow big and strong."

"But I don't like it," complained the boy, "I sound like a girl."

There was a shimmer of light and a sudden cold blew through the room as Circe teleported in. "And what's wrong with that?" she demanded with a raised eyebrow.

Devon bowed. "I'm sorry, your highness."

Circe sighed. "Dammit boy, I don't know whether to turn you into a pig or pat you on the head." Lex fixed her with a glare and she threw her hands up in defense. "Very well, I'll leave you boys to it. But if I hear you say something like that again, I'll turn you into a gerbil and leave you in some kindergarten class in…I don't know, Omaha." With that, she teleported out in a similar fashion to how she got in.

Lex clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "Now, why don't we get started?" Devon turned to face the first target. "Remember, Devon," said Lex, "Think of it like a ball in your throat, and you're throwing it with your voice." Devon opened up his mouth and took a deep breath. With a rush of air, he spat out a sonic bullet which shattered the first target. Lex smiled, rolling his eyes to the heavens in thanks. "The only Exobytes of Black Canary," he whispered, "And I got to him first."

"Did you say something, Lex?" asked Devon.

"Oh, nothing important. Again, Devon, again."

. . .

I have big plans for this story. I'm really new to all this so comments and reviews are appreciated, even flames.