Chapter Two: An Entrance

"There he is."
"No, he's there."
"No, he's there now."
"Definitely much faster than a speeding bullet these days!"
Zooming from one place to another was Superman.
Superman and Flash, actually. Once again an invading army had decided to come. Though this time there were no provocations.
It had been a normal Wednesday until three hours ago. Each person going about their own business, when an alert came to the Watchtower. The force came without any provocation and started raining down hell. The primary warning systems hadn't activated, the scans were not complete in time. This force was too great. Wonder Woman took the charge with Cyborg and Aquaman. Taking on the ground units that were deployed on the Western coast. Superman and the Flash were doing the same in Metropolis, while Green Lantern, accompanied by the Red Lanterns, was taking the fight to space. Batman was coordinating and assisting Superman and Flash. Of course many other heroes were around. Supergirl. Martian Manhunter. Shazam. All doing things that often the citizens couldn't even see. If it hadn't been life threatening it could easily have been magnificent.
The great hordes of aliens were spewing down upon the Earth. Never had an army attacked Earth in such a manner. No preliminaries, no warning. These guys didn't care. But Superman knew who they were. He knew that Helspont had returned. But why now?
He thought a bit too long: a ray gun managed to hit him; it shot him through three buildings. Luckily they didn't collapse. Luckily.
"That hurt," said Superman, shrugging it off.
"Superman, move into the left flank, there are too many there," came the hoarse voice. That know-it-all voice they'd all come to appreciate and respect. Batman. If he said so, you did so. It wasn't ever a true order, but it was always the best tactical choice.
"On my way," and with that Superman flew over to the platoon of robots there. The metal looking armour was tough, his X-ray vision was no real help right now, he couldn't see any real weak point in them. So blunt force had to be the way.
Makes it easier, less thinking, he thought to himself as he slammed into the ground, creating a shockwave that affected quite a large portion of the robots around him.

There are many sounds on the battlefield. The clanging of swords, the boom of explosions, the grunting of the fighter. Yet these were not heard by him; he was moving so fast that he wasn't able to hear anything truly distinct. That was the way he lived, he was the fastest man alive, after all. He is the Flash. His super speed meant that each hit he gave, though respectively wasn't full force, made a huge impact. Which meant that even he could destroy these robots. It also helps that I can create these controlled whirlwinds, he thought as he sent three robots flying. Dodging one blade, he was stuck in front of a robot, no room for evasion. So we go through him, he thought, and vibrated through the robot. On his way out, he grabbed a few parts and ripped them out. Causing the robot to explode. Vibrating kept him unscathed. The Flash kept fighting, zooming through the enemy. Rarely being seen. Always being felt.

Slowly, the battle was beginning to be won. The large portion of the alien fleet in space had been destroyed. Green Lantern saw an opening. He veered left, and visualising it, he created a huge hand wielding a golf club.
"Fore!" He yelled, and smashed an alien attack ship into a bigger ship.
"Screw you, bastards!" yelled Guy Gardener, as he created for himself a space ship of red energy, the colour of rage, And bore down on one ship. The ship he created made a kamikaze manoeuvre into another large ship. Both went down. He smiled and turned around. A cannon was pointing right at him. He quickly crated a shield, but nothing happened. Then an explosion occurred, and Guy was swept away.
"Gotcha," he heard. Of course it was Hal, always there to gloat after a save. Guy was lying on a bed. A hateful green-coloured bed.
"Yeah yeah, I had it covered," said Guy.
"Of course you did. You always like flying away in a tumble."
They looked at the destroyed ship. That was the last of them.
"So the last one goes to you, I see," said Guy Gardener.
"I didn't do that," said Hal.
"Then who did?"
"I did," came Superman's voice. And there he was, standing in front of them. Arms folded. Perfect hair. But the suit... It was different. It was a dark blue, very dark. And the S on his shield was a crimson red with not yellow but green in the background. The cape was crimson, but had a pattern of gold at its hem. And unlike Superman's cape, it didn't end at a point but in a line. On a closer look, he looked a little… Tanned?
"New suit, supes?" asked Guy.
"Aren't you meant to be on the ground?" asked Hal.
Superman smiled and flew off. Neither Hal nor Guy saw it. It was just that fast. Hal always had a weird feeling when it happened. He'd known Superman for a long time, but Hal never liked the fact that someone was faster than him, not even the Flash.

Left, right parry, parry, stab, withdraw.
Right, right throw, catch, stab, withdraw.
It was a rhythm. Something she had done for years and years. It was almost a dance. In some cultures, dancing was something that the best warriors could do. Wonder Woman was very good at fighting. Superb. Probably the best trained for it, only matched in the Justice League by Batman, and even then not truly. Aquaman was a bit more dramatic, more brute force. Then again, he was using a trident.
"I'm still not able to home in on the signal they're using, Batman." Came Cyborg's voice on the comms.
"Keep trying, Cyborg."
"SHAZAM!"
A bolt of lightning came down from the sky. It shattered quite a few of those robots and toppled a few low-storey buildings. It can happen.
Shazam and Cyborg, the youngest member in the Justice League. It's almost befitting that the least experienced Should be with the most experienced. Though both of them were doing just fine.
"Come on, 'borgy, don't make me take out all of them."
Shazam always seemed to take things lightly, but Wonder Woman knew it was a front. He was very serious. So like Hal, but so much purer of heart. Purest, if the wizard spoke the truth.
"Shazam, focus on the task at hand," said Batman. He had no use nor time for games. How that attitude lasted after training four robins is unclear.
"Main ship is down. I repeat, main ship is down. We're coming back," said Hal.
"West coast is almost clear as well," said Aquaman. It was true.
"I'm almost done," said Superman.
"Weren't you already done?" asked Hal.
"No, why?"
"We just saw you. You destroyed the big ship. In a new suit."
"You're not funny, ugh, Hal. I was here all the time."
"He's not joking, we saw you," said Guy.
"If it wasn't you," said Batman, "then who was it?"
Superman turned around, just one more large tank and it would be over.
Boom!
The tank exploded, and debris flew everywhere. As the smoke cleared Superman saw that it was split in half. And by something moving fast. Very fast. Then he saw it. Him. The odd one out.
The Flash, as he skidded to a halt next to Superman, said: "Batman, I think I found the answer,"
Inside the ruins of the tank, stood Superman. The other Superman. With the crimson cape. Arms folded.
Superman, stood up, still on guard. His voice was unwavering, confident and only slightly aggressive: "so, who are you?"
The other Superman smiled slyly.