And action!

*Disclaimer: I do not own JL, maybe just the teens in this fanfic

O~O~O

Chapter Twenty-Two: Crisis Pt. II

Linda West was sitting in her dressing room, getting ready to broadcast the four o'clock news. After powdering her nose and going over an abridged update on current events she makes her way towards the studio. She takes a seat next to her co-anchor, Greg Wright, at the news caster table with the false city skyline background behind them.

"Alright, we go live in five, four, three, two…" the stage manager, Fred Willis, counts down and points to them, signaling their cue to start.

The news introduction jingle plays and the lights come up on the anchors.

"Hello, good afternoon, this is KEY 4 news," Greg begins, reading the words off the screen. "I'm Greg Wright…"

"…and I'm Linda West," she introduces herself. "Our first story tonight-" she pauses, losing her train of thought. The words on the screen were suddenly changing.

"Breaking news," she announces. "There seems to be a dangerous situation occurring at…"

She couldn't utter the next few words that came up on the screen. It felt like her heart turned cold and dropped into her stomach. The camera men and producers watching try to urge her to continue, but she continues to stare like a deer in the headlights.

"There's a dangerous situation occurring at Trinity Union High School," Greg continues, sensing Linda's distress. She was a seasoned news anchor and whatever causes her to freeze up like that in front of live television, must've been too much for her to bear.

"We're going to our news reporter on the scene, Gina Miller. Gina what's going on there?"

The news feed switches over to young, blonde news reporter standing in front of the high school. There was a pause as she awaits her cue to talk. Once she got the green light, she holds up the microphone and begins to give an account of what she's seeing.

"Greg, Linda, you won't believe what I'm seeing here," Gina begins, sounding incredulous. "I'm standing right outside the school where there have been reports of explosions occurring around the campus. There seems to be a translucent barrier that allowed the students and faculty to get out, but at the same time keep police and firefighters from going in. And get this…" she pauses for dramatic effect. "We can see through the barrier that there seems to be a very powerful storm brewing over the school, especially over the field. Teachers say that there are still some students trapped inside, however, neither the police nor firefighters can get to them."

The news feed goes back to Greg and Linda at the studio.

"We'll keep you viewers updated as soon as we get more information. Stay tuned after this commercial break," Greg concludes, as they go off the air.

Linda quickly gets out of her chair and walks off set. The stage manager trails after her, trying to get an explanation for her strange, unprofessional behavior.

"Linda, Linda! We go back live in two minutes. Where are you going?" Willis asks, clearly confused and concerned.

"My children and their friends attend Trinity Union," Linda explains. "I need to call my husband and the other parents to see if they're alright."

"But-"

"Let her go," Greg cuts in. "It's her kids. I can handle the news anyways."

Linda mouths a 'thank you' to him as she quickly walks, almost runs, to her dressing room and fishes out her cell phone from her purse.

O~O~O

"So how would you like your coffee?" Lois asks her husband as she pours the black coffee into two mugs.

"Umm…I'll have it the same as you," Clark answers off the top of his head. He was busy going through some paperwork and could care less on how he had liked his coffee.

Lois pours in the half-and-half milk and cream then stirs in two sugar packets. She was a bit peeved that her husband could be as dense as a wall when he was busy. Luckily, she knew how he had actually preferred it.

The two are found in the Daily Planet employee lounge on a ten minute break.

Lois hands Clark his steaming mug and takes a seat right next to him. She watches for a few minutes as he shuffles through his paperwork. Finally annoyed, she sits up and places her hand over the pile of papers.

"Clark, stop. You're on a break. Can't you just relax a few minutes before going back to…whatever it is that your doing?" she pleads in a soft tone.

When she got no response she places another hand over the paperwork. "Clark?"

"Lois, I have x-ray vision. I can read right through your hands," Clark reminds her. A small smile was tugging at the corner of his lips as he tries in hold in a chuckle. He knew his wife was already annoyed and he didn't want to make her blow.

"Ugh, fine! Whatever Clark!" Lois exclaims. She pouts as she continues to sip her coffee.

She takes a quick glance over his shoulder, just to see what had gotten her husband so engrossed with paperwork. Her eyes grew big as she read what, or rather whom, the paperwork was for.

"I can't believe it!" Lois fumes. "You're at your job, on your break, and the paperwork you're doing isn't even for the Daily Planet! This is all League business," she skims, leafing through a few of the papers. "I didn't even know the league has paperwork!!!"

Clark lets out a long sigh. He understood how she was upset, but there was some business he had preferred to deal with himself.

"Lois, I know you're upset but there are some League businesses I'm still obligated to oversee," he begins to explain, but was cut off when Lois's phone begins to ring.

She was surprised to see that it was Linda calling her, especially when it was time for her broadcast. Clark decided to listen in on the conversation, feeling a sense of urgency if Linda was paying them a call at this time.

"Hello Linda…"

"Lois, Lois, oh thank goodness you answered your phone!" Linda exclaims, sounding a bit relieved.

"Yeah, Clark and I are on our break. What's wrong?"

"Lois, there's something going on at the high school. They said that there're a few students that are still inside. I just called Wally and he said he'd be there pronto. Now you have to tell Clark to go there too. Something tells me that our kids are involved."

A look of shock and worry spreads across Lois's face as she digests the news.

"Alright, I'll tell him. Do any of the other parents know yet?"

"No. I thought that I should contact you after Wally that way Superman can get on the scene ASAP. I'm going to call Diana and Bruce next. However, Vic must already be on the scene."

"Oh alright then, I'll tell Clark right now," she hangs up.

"Clark-"

"Don't need to say another word. I'm on my way down there right now," Clark says as he makes his way to the door.

"Oh no, you're not Kent!" the editor and chief, Perry White, walks in. "There's something going down at Trinity Union High School and I need you to cover it."

"Mr. White, I was just going down there right now," Clark explains. "My son attends there and I need to know if he's alright."

"No, you're going there as a writer for the Daily Planet, not as a concerned parent," White commands.

"Perry, why don't I go with him? I'll cover the story while Clark checks to see if our son is fine," Lois tries to reason.

White considers this idea for a minute and allows it. "Fine, then. I just want that story on my desk by tomorrow. You got that?"

"Thank you, Mr. White," Clark says as he and Lois make their way out the door.

O~O~O

Vic was on the scene as The Question, rather than a journalist. A journalist wouldn't be allowed to get passed security lines. He holds his Justice League identification card and badge to a police officer. She takes a glance at it and allows him to proceed.

He sees The Flash attempting to pass through the barrier with no avail.

"The barrier seems to be made purely of magic," Question explains to Flash to get his attention. "It's not like those barriers created by machine. Only an ancient, powerful spell can create a barrier that is this impermeable from the outside."

"In that case, we're just going to have to wait until Shayera gets here with her mace, since it disrupts anything magical," Flash realizes, sounding a bit peeved off that he had to stand by and do nothing, especially when it could be his kids inside.

"Is there anyone else coming?" Question asks.

"Supergirl says she coming with Wonder Woman, Nightwing, and the Green Lantern. Linda says she called Lois, so Supes should be coming too. I don't know about Bats, but whoever else comes is going to have crowd patrol."

"Yeah, the crowd of concerned parents and scared high school kids seem to be getting even more restless," Question observes. "It's gonna take a lot of people."

"I don't blame them," Flash states. "I'm already going crazy not being able to do anything from out here. Plus it could be our kids in there."

"It is our kids in there, most likely," Question confirms.

"What?!" Flash gasped.

"I scanned the crowd over and over. I didn't see any of our kids amongst them," Questions explains.

"What? Oh man I got to get in there," Flash runs into the barrier, trying to penetrate it no matter what Question or anyone else said before. He was thrown back but he kept tackling it again, only to get the same result.

"Flash! You have to calm down. The rest of the League will be here any minute," Question tries to talk sense into him.

"They're too slow for me!" Flash yells, banging his fists against the barrier. "My kids could die any minute!"

"My son is in there too!" Question yells back. "And so are some of the other members' children." He grabs a hold of Flash trying to get him to cool down and think reasonable.

Flash puts his face in his hand, registering what Question said. "You're right…"

Question releases him, relieved that he was able to talk sense into the hasty hero. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Lois standing in the front line of the crowd along the security boundary. Just then, Superman and Hawkgirl flew down. Supergirl and the rest of her team, along with more heroes teleported unto the scene.

Superman assumed the role of leader and began to divide people into groups.

"Shayera, you're going to need to use your mace to break open the barrier. Once the barrier is open, you are going to stay put on crowd patrol with Fire, Star Girl, Booster Gold, Supergirl, Speedy, and Question," Superman commands.

"What?! Why can I go in?" she questions, refusing to stand by.

"Our children are probably in there. Do you want Rex to be close enough to recognize you?" he pointed out. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right.

"Now Green Lantern, Flash, and Nightwing, you are coming with me," Superman orders. "Wonder Woman, I need to join the crowd patrol group for the same reasons as Shayera. We don't want Eva to recognize you. You look too much like Diana."

Donna could only nod her head in agreement. Although she didn't like this game plan, she could question her superior, even if he was a man.

Superman turned his attention to Supergirl. "If we need back up, I'll call you in to take Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl, understood?"

She nods her head in understanding as Shayera steps forward with her mace, putting their plans into action. She lifts the heavy mace, over her head and begins to pound the barrier over and over. She grunts as the barrier slowly begins to crack. With one final heave, she slams her mace into the barrier and it cracks open.

"Alright, let's move in," Superman says as he flies through the barrier before it closed up.

Nightwing, Flash, and Green Lantern went in as well, trying to move as quickly as they can. As the team approaches closer to the field, the storm grew more furious. Green Lantern placed a protective bubble around Nightwing and himself. Superman and Flash were already far ahead.

O~O~O

"Anybody got a good plan?" Maddox asks again, hoping for a better response.

The demons smirked with pleasure as they noticed how intimidated the children looked. Abnegazar was the first to speak up.

"I, personally, like a challenge. However, I'm afraid I can't stay too long to play. The Master is a busy man and prefers that I get the job over with," Abnegazar snarls, ready to attack them.

"If you like challenges, then you're going to love me," Flash runs in, punching him square in the jaw before he could even realize what happened. Taken off guard, Superman deals with Rath and Ghast by slamming their skulls together.

"Whoa! It's The Flash and Superman!" Billy cries in complete awe.

The teens continue to stare at the fight scene in front of them, unaware of the flying boulder coming towards them. "Watch out," Nightwing swoops in and pushes Evangelia to the ground since she was in front. Green Lantern reacted in time and shielded the rest of the teens with his ring from the boulder and other flying debris.

"Are you alright?" Nightwing asks as he helps Evangelia up. She stares at him in a daze, sensing that he had seemed familiar to her. "I-I'm fine," she stutters. He picks her up and carries her towards the safety dome Green Lantern created.

"We have to take you kids outta here," Green Lantern yells over the roar of the winds.

"What about Superman and Flash?" Valen asks. He couldn't bear to standby and watch the superheroes take on the demons outnumbered.

"They'll be fine," Nightwing assures as he steps in and puts Evangelia on her feet.

"No, we can help," Valen argues as he grabs a hold of Billy and Rex.

The three had suddenly teleported out of the dome within a blink of an eye. Nightwing and Green Lantern were too astonished at what they had witnessed. Their greatest concerns had just been confirmed.

"Hehe…" Evangelia grins sheepishly up to Nightwing.

"Our friends happen to do that," Ophelia coyly remarks.

"You don't say…" Nightwing replies, speechless at what he had just seen.

O~O~O

Yup. So here's part two [:

Thnx again for the reviews readers! Keep 'em up to read the next chapter!