AN:
Eric - Thanks for letting me know about the formatting. Ipad changes a few things from pages I guess.
Riley 000 - Funny you should mention the Martians. I saw a posting on Tumblr and Deviant Art of a story that sounded interesting. I could do something with their powers in that one after a few more chapters here.
3.
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
April 29
13:01 UTC
"Get her off me!" Conner shouted over the mind link as the woman all but sucked his tonsils out. She refused to let go until she was good and ready to.
Separating with an audible pop, the alien smiled menacingly at Conner with a sparkle of purple in her eyes. "Mmm, call me Komand'r, baby. You're a tasty one. How about we-"
"Get away from him!" the alien heard Mrs. Martian yell. Giggling, she darted away right before the green skinned woman could connect her fist to her head.
"M'ga-" Conner yelled.
"Con-" Not being able to apply the air brakes, Mrs. Martian slammed into her husband, sending her and him tumbling backwards along the football field and coming to a halt on the large blue star on the fifty yard line.
Rising from the ground, with matching moans, Conner and M'gann slowly got back to their feet with him helping her up. Rubbing her head, Mrs. Martian looked her husband over, taking stock of his largely burned off shirt.
"Why didn't you phase through?" Superboy asked as after he made sure she was alright.
"Why didn't you fight her off?" she retorted.
"I did. She's as strong as Starfire and about as strong as me."
"Should have used your TTK."
"I couldn't concentrate."
"Oh that makes me feel so much better."
"Aw, did I come between you and your mate?" Floating above the two, the alien woman laughed at the predicament she caused. "Trust me honey, after I kiss'em, the pervious one's always tossed out with the trash."
"Freeze!" Surrounding the new alien, Cyborg, Zatanna, and Raven were ready to unleash everything they had with the machine man targeting his sonic cannon at her head at full power.
"Oh please, like any of you could tell me what to do and expect me to comply." Grinning madly, Komand'r charged up her hands, creating the purple light around them as her eyes did the same. She was about ready to attack when a high pitched whistle drew her attention above her and twin red beams struck her square in the chest.
"They're not the only ones who expect you to comply!" Meeting the alien on the same level, Supergirl had her eyes glow red as she prepared to fight Komand'r herself. "You may look like Starfire, but-"
"Starfire?!" The name came out of the alien's mouth like a curse. "You know Starfire?!"
Before anyone could move, Komand'r charged Supergirl and attacked with her illuminated hands. Blocking did nothing as the moment the female Kryptonian did so, a blast erupted between them, sending both back from the force.
"Take her down!" On Cyborg's words, the heroes attacked as one.
With Komand'r still locked on, Cyborg fired a fully powered sonic blast but missed as she spun gracefully out of the way and hurled several of her orbs in retaliation. Try as he did, the man/machine was struck on the foot, causing his ability to stabilize himself during flight to fail, knocking him out of the air. Catching him with her telekinesis, Mrs. Martian lowered him to the ground and joined the others in the air with Conner just ahead of her.
"Azaerath Metreon Zenthos!" Harnessing her power, Raven had her dark energy create an explosion as she ripped several seats from the bleachers out of the stands and rammed them into Komand'r.
The blast was enough to stagger the alien, making her tumble backwards through the air for a bit before regaining her midair balance. Mrs. Martian was next to attack as she created an invisible fist to slam into the assailant's face. She followed that up by seeking to deliver a roundhouse kick to her head when she was grabbed and flung away. Conner faired no better as he was struck with one of her purple orbs pointblank. Spinning to the side, the Titan leader recovered enough to deliver a left cross when he was grabbed and kissed all over again.
"You just can't keep your hands off me, can you, sweetie?" She then blasted him in the face and threw him into the Martian with a laugh.
"Sniahc!" As Komand'r laughed, Zatanna had a set of mystical chains ensnare her. She had to move fast as purple beams of energy shot the spot where she was at. "Dnuorg dnuop!"
Being ripped from the air, Komand'r was slammed into the artificial turf but did not stay down for long. Using her eye beams on the chains, she cut her way free and took to the air again. She was first attacked by Raven who attempted to go hand to hand with her with her fists surrounded with black energy. No sooner had she dispatched of the Gothic girl when Cyborg fired several sonic blasts at her. She struck back with a shower of her orbs, forcing him to cover up and retreat.
As she attacked the man/machine, she failed to notice Conner and Supergirl double team her. Both Kryptonians tried to bring her down with Conner slamming his fists onto her back and Supergirl delivering an uppercut. Flipping backwards, Komand'r dodged the next attacks and managed to grab hold of Supergirl's hair then swing her around, using her to bat Conner away before she was held in place by an invisible force.
"Game over," Mrs. Martian told her as she rose with her hand out and eyes glowing a bright green. A second later, her entire demeanor changed as she lowered her hand and her eyes went back to thier regular coloring. "W, what?"
"Looks like I'm not just protected from Despero." Powering up her eye beams, Komand'r fired an struck Mrs. Martian in the chest, nearly knocking her out. "Gotta love the head accessory."
Acting fast, Raven reached her just in time to snag her team leader by the arm right before she was blasted in the back by Koriand'r. Both crashed into the ground with the wind knocked out of them as Cyborg hurried to provide cover should the orange woman try to bombard them with more orbs. As he fired blast after blast from his sonic cannon, Zatanna went hand to hand and held her own until being shot in the shoulder, knocking her out of the air and into the arms of Conner who stopped her from hitting the ground head first.
"You alright?" Conner asked as he set her down.
"Ugh, yeah," the League magician said as she rubbed her shoulder. "She may look it, but she doesn't fight like Starfire. She's trained."
"So are we."
Taking off, Conner went to join his cousin who was trading blows with Komand'r and entered into a stale mate with her. He had to hand it to the alien, whoever and whatever she was trained in was giving them a hard time. She was standing toe to toe with all of them and was even managing taking on two at a time.
Throwing a right cross, Conner's attack was ducked before receiving a knee to the stomach. With him doubled over, Komand'r slammed her knee in Supergirl's chest after flipping over the male Kryptonian. Spinning around, Conner landed a backhand to the alien's side when Supergirl came in fast with her fist cocked back. Blocking the blonde's attack, Komand'r spun around to force her two attackers to collide with each other. Hoping the Kryptonian's would take each other out, the alien woman paid them no attention as she targeted her next prey, the cyborg. She was finished with dodging his blasts and did not notice Supergirl taking hold of Conner's arm, spun around, and was flung back at her with both fists held out. The moment she was to fire her eye beams, Komand'r was hit hard from behind and tumbled forward. The attack was followed up with Conner landing a thunderous blow with his TTK behind his punch to her head.
With the fight over, both Kryptonian's looked at the groaning Komand'r as she lay in the middle of the endzone. It had took some time to get in sync with the way she fought, but the Super cousins were glad to have gained the upper hand when they did. Below the two, Cyborg's leg was letting out a few sparks, considerably less than it was when struck earlier due to the technology he was comprised of. Like Sphere, he was self healing over time. Zatanna was taking things slow as she muttered another spell to bind Komand'r's arms and legs together while making sure she could not move her head from having a neck brace put on it. She even had a metal plate cover her eyes to keep them closed. With Supergirl making sure the hostile alien woman was indeed out of the fight, Conner flew back down to check on his wife who was just getting her breath back with Raven by her side.
"Thanks for the assist," Mrs. Martian groaned. She was still a little short winded from the hit she took.
"No problem," Raven told her. "But I should thank you. That blast might have knocked me out too."
"Took all I had left to make that shield behind you. Like we told you, we watch each others backs."
"You alright?" Conner asked as he touched ground.
"Yeah, just a little woozy from having the air knocked out of me. Not that you noticed."
"What? I was busy having Kara thrown into me."
"And kissing another woman."
"She forced it."
"Twice."
"I-"
"And you didn't fight back."
"She took me by surprise."
"Um, I'm alright too. Thanks for asking," Raven said as she had her hooded cloak completely surround her.
"Sorry, are you okay, Raven?" Conner sighed as he turned to the Gothic teen.
"Like I said, I'm fine. Glad I don't go to school like the others now?"
Seeing M'gann turn on her heel and head to where Komand'r was, Conner let out a huff of air. "Glad you're here, but ticked that orange woman is too."
"M'gann," Zatanna said over the mind link. "Are your seriously-"
"No, I just like to keep him on his toes every so often." Flashing a grin, Mrs. Martian sent a private message to her husband who looked at her wide eyed.
"You're messing with me?" Conner asked.
"Just a little."
"You so owe me one later for that."
"Seeing as to what happened here just now, I say you're the one who owes me one." With the grin still on her face, M'gann continued walking with her magician friend to where Cyborg was looking Komand'r over and contacting the League. "And believe me, you will make it up to me later."
"Yes, ma'am." With a grin of his own, Conner watched as M'gann walked away when he heard a groan from beside him. "What?"
"I know what you're feeling and see what you're staring at," Raven told him before taking off to join the others. "Being an empath sucks sometimes."
Watchtower
April 2
14:34 UTC
"I cannot believe this!" Flying down the halls of the orbiting space station, Starfire was in a hurry to see the captured alien woman. Once arriving in the hanger with the shuttle Captain Marvel and Captain Atom piloted, she was informed by Batman on what the mystery being looked like and literally dropped everything to see her for herself.
Since she lived in the station since arriving on Earth, she knew the place like the back of her hand. Shooting out of the long hallway from the hanger area, she weaved through several trees in the forest room and was soon above them. If she had taken the long route, which did not involve flying, she would not be on the level where the interrogation rooms were in the short time it had taken her to leave the shuttle behind. As it was, she knew the fastest ways to get anywhere in the station through flight and would take turns so sharp, one miscalculation would have taken out an entire section of wall.
"Star?" As the Tameran came to a stop near the shielded door leading to the interrogation room, Nightwing gestured for her to join the others outside the room as the others looked the new alien over. "Sorry for the bluntness, but is what she says true? Is she your sister?"
The others, Raven, Zatanna, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Flash, and a just arrived Superman were standing by a large window with the others inside clearly visible. Speaking to Komand'r, Mrs. Martian, Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle, and Superboy were making sure what she said was not a lie by using their various powers in doing so. Through practice with Starfire, Mrs. Martian was able to find a way inside a Tameran's head, it also helped the head piece she had on was removed as it was designed to block all mental attacks, including Despero's paralyzing gaze.
"Yes, she is indeed my twin sister." Walking up to the window, she could see the dark haired version of herself sitting in a chair with her friends around her. A look of sadness came over her usual happy features. "I never thought I would see her or any of my people ever again."
"Why not, Kori?" Zatanna asked.
"I told you all about the duel I lost to her but that is only half of the story. It was also for the leadership of my entire planet of Tameran. And it was her idea."
Everyone stood in silence as she continued.
"We were both born into one of several royal families. Our planet was beautiful and there had finally come a time when it was necessary for only one ruler. So a contest was held and it came down to me and my sister with a stipulation that whomsoever loses will not only be banished but would have to become a trophy for an invading warlord who sought to turn every Tameran into slaves."
"So your sister came up with the tournament?" Flash asked. "Because that's all kinds of messed up. You know, with the stipulations that is."
"It was her idea I be banished as I was the weakest between us. I did not know of that until our fight was over. I could not go against my sister, even though I knew what would happen if she became ruler of our people. Where I was seen as a most fair and honest ruler, she was seen as an iron fisted uncaring individual. I just couldn't fight her."
"I can relate," Wonder Woman said as she came closer to Starfire. "During my time training for battle, I was expected to beat all other Amazons, my friends, in combat. It's always hard going against people you know be it sparring, light combat, or on the battle field. We had traitors who aligned themselves with Aries and attempted to overthrow my mother for control of the island. It was all the more difficult having grown up beside them as sisters."
"On Apocalypse where I was raised," Kara spoke, "it was a common thing to fight your comrades. There was no such thing as sisters or friends, other than sisters in arms. Those were words we learned upon arriving on Earth."
Leaning with her back against the glass, Kara moved a few strands of hair behind an ear. "We were expected to weed out the weak. Those who held their ground, stayed in the fight, would be seen as candidates for the status of Granny Goodness' Fury army. Those who lost, well, life meant nothing on that planet. Fail to go as hard as you can during training...they would beg for death." She then looked down and let out a sigh. "I never forgot my twenty seven."
"That, I think I could never do," Starfire muttered as she looked back inside the room.
Inside the interrogation room, those with Komand'r refused to give her an inch of leeway. Jaime's scarab kept him informed of the woman's vitals as she answered every question while Conner listened closely to her heartbeat. Cassie had her rope around the woman's wrist to force her to tell the truth and M'gann was there to make sure Koriand'r's sister would not make a move without risking being telekinetically restrained.
"Okay, now that we have all that out of the way," M'gann said as she kept her eyes on Komand'r, "we can get down to the real questions."
"And what might those be?" Komand'r asked with an air of arrogance. "How many fingers I have? How many eyes? How much gward can a gwardstall stall if a gwardstall could stall gward?"
The four heroes stared at her blankly until Cassie broke the silence. "Yeah, she may look like Kori, but she is nothing like her."
"And where is my dear baby sister, if you don't mind me asking."
"Look out the window," Conner told her while motioning with his head.
Looking through the thick glass, Komand'r saw Koriand'r standing with her left arm holding her right. "Thanks handsome, I've been wanting to see her again. Any chance I can actually speak with her?"
Growling, Conner sneered before answering the question. "Depends if she wants to talk to you. She told us what you did to her after we met her."
"And how do you know what she said was the truth? I was in a holding cell, a captive of Despero and future trophy. Had it not have been for my superior fighting skills forcing him to see me as more than a decoration, I would have my head on his wall, which would be a shame for you and, Beetle was it? I see the way you two stare at me."
"Dios mio," Jaime said while running a hand through his short, black hair. "I'm not staring at you."
"Sure about that? You and the...bigger man, obviously like what you see. Why not make your dreams come true?"
Outside the room, those gathered heard everything that was being said over an intercom close to the door. A few sinkers were held back as they remembered what happened when Koriand'r was questioned. Even though they were not present at the time, they did remember watching the recorded footage of when the first Tameranian woman embarrassed both Conner and M'gann, only it was intentional this time as Komand'r seemed to have really taken a liking to him and Jaime as well and she was not shy about hitting on both of them.
"Anyone want to bet M'gann's going to blow first?" Flash asked. "The look on her face she gets every time that Komand'r makes a comment about or even looks at Conner screams 'Step off of my boo'."
"Personally, I wouldn't put it past Cassie to say something first," Wonder Woman commented. "She does have a protective streak when it comes to what's hers."
"Would you just shut up!"
"Back off, Komand'r!"
"Well that settles that." Crossing his arms, Superman flashed a grin as both males in the room sought to settle their significant others down after they yelled at the alien woman simultaneously. "Tie."
"Anything wrong, Raven?" Zatanna asked.
"Just trying to block out the emotions," Raven answered. "The stronger ones still make it through."
"Just concentrate. Eventually the outside world will feel as if it's muffled and faded, like when I had you learn to summon energy faster for spells."
"Still sucks to be an empath."
"Oh come on, we can share," the outside crowd heard Komand'r casually say. "I won't damage them to much."
"That girl's pushing the wrong buttons," Kara said while shaking her head. "My cousin and sis-in-law? There's nothing they won't do to protect each other. And Cassie? From what I've seen, that girl's got a mean streak in battle. If it comes to it, let them fight. It'll be entertaining at least."
"We have a son!"
"Not my problem, Lime-arita."
"Like he would even consider an orange beanpole!"
"Don't knock it till you've tried it, Blonde-zilla."
"Oh man, this is great," Flash said as they continued listening to the Amazon and Martian argue with the cool headed Tameran.
Inside the room, both Jaime and Conner were getting their partners to cool down. Cassie grinded her teeth as her boyfriend softly spoke to her in an effort to convince her not to go ballistic on Komand'r. Nearby, Conner was sitting his wife down, who had her eyes glowing a bright green from anger, and was having a mental conversation with her when Komand'r goosed his rear. The unwanted touch made him jump and had M'gann renew her attempt to strangle the woman.
"I'd say it's a good time to send in Kori," Cyborg said with the others agreeing through their laughter.
"Um, guys, we're sending Koriand'r in," Zatanna said through the intercom, somewhat settling things down.
Both the demi-Amazon and the Martian woman felt their blood boil as the Tameran flirted with their significant others but had no choice but to keep their cool, or at least what cool they had left that is. Nodding to signal Koriand'r could come in, Conner made sure he was far enough away from Komand'r with M'gann as close to his side as he could manage.
Stepping back from the window, Koriand'r nodded with her eyes never leaving Komand'r.
"Be careful, Kori," Kara said. "Don't turn your back on her."
Letting out a huff of air, Koriand'r stood before the reinforced sliding door separating the room from the hall and reached to press the switch to open it.