Holding his hands in front of him, Black Lightning gathered electricity before he thrust them forward. A bolt of lightning fired from his palms, striking one of the plasma rifles a Kalanorian was holding.

In an instant, bolts of electricity shot over to the nearest plasma rifle, and then to another one after that. Down the corridor, the electricity leapt from weapon to weapon, frying their internal circuitry, rendering them useless. Many of the Kalanorians immediately dropped their weapons the moment they felt the shock through the metal weaponry. A couple weren't as quick and received enough voltage that they collapsed to the floor, arms and legs spasming.

Several beams of green energy shot over Black Lightning's shoulders, forming fists at their heads. The fists slammed into the faces of the Kalanorians, knocking them off of their feet as they fell to the floor.

Taking advantage of the moment, the dark-skinned man fired another bolt of electricity, this time right into the floor. Controlling it, he directed the electricity down the hallway and away from himself and his allies. The voltage washed over the fallen Kalanorians, causing them to wiggle all over the floor until it was over.

For a moment, Black Lightning felt satisfied with his work before he felt something wrong. It was hard to explain other than he felt as if he had made a mistake. Like he shouldn't have shocked those Kalanorians.

A hand clapped down on his shoulder, jolting him out of his stupor. "Those poozers are down," a pink-skinned alien declared. "We need to keep going."

Jefferson glanced to the alien. Why was it talking to him that way? It was way too friendly.

"You okay?" the towering alien questioned him, a look of…concern? Was that concern on its face? "You look funny."

Over the alien's shoulder, Jefferson spotted Vixen. She was walking towards the alien's back before a strange look appeared on her face. Immediately, a hand went to the totem that hung from her neck. No doubt she was trying to summon one of her animals, but which one? He needed to know before he acted.

"Guys," Vixen said, getting both of their attention. "I'm detecting something trying to get into my head. Do your countermeasures, now."

Countermeasures? Jefferson wondered. What was this mystery woman talking about? Why would he need to use a countermeasure?

He shook his head then. Something was wrong, he could feel it. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but he needed to clear his head. He did that by focusing on the electricity his very nerves were conducting. First, he sped them up, the muscles of his body tensing, then he slowed them down, allowing the same muscles to relax. He felt a little lightheaded afterwards, but he could feel his mind clearing up.

Immediately, Black Lightning looked at Kilowog and Vixen. "Guys, I think the Kalanorians just tried to get into my head."

"Really?" Kilowog asked. "I didn't notice anything."

"I did," Vixen confirmed. "I had to summon a hummingbird to throw them off."

Which explained why Vixen was able to detect the intrusion before he had. "We were warned about this," Black Lightning said. "And now we have our confirmation. From here on out, we need to be honest with each other. If we start feeling weird, tell someone. For a moment, I didn't recognize either of you. I even felt bad for taking out the Kalanorians."

"Good tips," Vixen confirmed. She then glanced to Kilowog. "We should have had J'onn put us under his protection. I know we want him to focus on Despero as much as possible, but if we get taken control of, we're not going to be much help anyways."

Black Lightning took that moment to send an electrical pulse through his brain, ensuring that he was still in full control of himself. He had a feeling he was going to have to start doing that quite frequently. "It can't be helped now. If I were you, I'd cycle through all of those bird species that can detect intrusion. The different instincts might throw off their telepaths."

"Not a bad idea," Vixen responded before she touched her totem again, no doubt putting that suggestion to action. "So what do we do now?"

"We push forward, right, Wonder Woman?"

There was a silence, one that Black Lightning didn't like. Looking around, he repeated himself, "Right, Wonder Woman?"

Only to discover there was no Wonder Woman around, nor Hawkgirl for that matter. Don't tell me, he internally moaned, continuing to search for either founding Justice League member.

"Uhh, guys?" Kilowog spoke up. "I think we're missing a couple of people."

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Vixen said. "Great, not only do we have to find J'onn, but we have to find Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl."

This wasn't good. They were on an alien ship full of hostiles and now had no clue where the rest of their team was. They were effectively cut off from half of their forces. "We need to stick together," Black Lightning announced. "If we get singled out, we won't stand a chance against the Kalanorians."

"So we go find the others?" Kilowog asked.

The dark-skinned man shook his head. "No, we head for J'onn. We don't know where we got separated from the others, but we do know they are searching for him. If we go to J'onn, we'll have to run into them eventually."

"Haaaaaaa!"

Shayera slammed her mace into the side of yet another Kalanorian head, knocking the man straight into a wall, where he went limp and slumped down to the floor. Behind her were several more Kalanorians in various states of unconsciousness, each one crumpled on the floor.

There had seemed no end to them, but right now, Shayera thought it looked as if this latest group had finally gone down. Spinning around, she quickly spotted Diana as she stepped around the fallen men, careful not to step on them.

Unfortunately, that was the only other person with her. At some point or another, they had gotten separated from Black Lightning, Vixen, and Kilowog, and there was no telling where that had happened on this gargantuan ship. Wandering around wasn't an option to find them again because they would only become more lost.

So they were heading for J'onn and they hoped like hell the others were doing the same.

"It seems we are at a crossroad," Diana remarked as she turned her attention to an intersecting hallway. Unlike the brightly lit hall they were in, the new corridor looked as if it were more of a side hall than anything. Did it go too far, or would it end abruptly?

"I don't see any reason not to check it out," the redhead replied as she entered the corridor, keeping both of her hands on her mace. If there was another ambush here, she wanted to be ready for it. Diana followed behind her, staying close.

The corridor led to an abrupt left turn, one the two women made and found the hall led to a door at the very end, the one place where the corridor was lit up. Clearly this was a dead end if that door didn't lead anywhere. That said, they needed to check it out if only to rule it out. Keeping up her guard, Shayera made a beeline right for it.

Suddenly, the door slid to one side. Standing in the doorway was a Kalanorian, but one dressed unlike the rest that Shayera had ever seen. This one was in solid black, an upside-down triangle on his chest with a round circle within the shape along what should have been its base. Metal shoulder guards and thigh guards offered some protection, giving the outfit the appearance of a samurai that the Thanagarian had seen in a movie on Earth. The Kalanorian just stared at the women impassively.

Then, "You are trespassing on Lord Despero's ship," the Kalanorian declared. "For that, you will be destroyed."

"Just try it!" Shayera shouted as she lunged towards the purple-skinned man. Drawing her mace to one side, she got ready to swing for his head.

In response, the Kalanorian raised one hand up and then a burst of brilliant light fired from his palm. Instinctively, Shayera swung her mace in an attempt to bat the energy blast away.

Unlike all of the other times this had worked, this blast merely swallowed her mace up, much to the Thanagarian's amazement. Then she felt the full force of the attack as she was blasted backwards, crying out from the searing pain she felt. She flew until she hit something surprisingly softer than a wall. The moment a pair of arms wrapped around her, she knew it was Diana she had hit, the dark-haired woman clearly catching her.

Finding herself being set down, Shayera forced her eyes open, hissing as light stabbed at her eyeballs. Damn that had hurt! Glancing to her Amazon comrade, she saw Diana striding forward before she began rushing the Kalanorian.

This time, the man held up both of his hands, and once again fired that powerful energy blast. Diana immediately crossed her arms in front of her, no doubt attempting to use her metal bracers to bounce the attack away. Much to Shayera's astonishment, the beam wasn't redirected as it collided with Diana. Instead, it seemed to swallow her up before flinging the dark-haired woman backwards, much like it had done to the Thanagarian previous.

However, the Kalanorian didn't let up. He fueled his attack, forcing Diana to careen through the air, past Shayera, until she slammed into the wall right at the turn. To Diana's credit, she only grunted from the collision, but she kept her arms raised to protect herself.

Alright, enough was enough. Shayera edged away from the energy that seemed to sear the very air it burned through, keeping low on the floor. Maneuvering herself, she drew back her mace and then swung it forward, throwing the Nth metal weapon through the air. Her aim was spot on as the mace collided with the leg of the Kalanorian, causing him to yelp as he jerked his leg up following the hit.

This also cut off his attack, ending the beam that pinned Diana. Forcing herself up, Shayera took to flight, skimming over the floor with her wings spread out as wide as she could. At the last moment, she leaned upward, swinging a fist so that she landed an uppercut to the Kalanorian's chin, causing his head to snap backwards.

Drawing back her other fist, Shayera slammed it across her foe's face. She pulled back her first fist again, but when she tried to punch the Kalanorian again, his head snapped back to face her. Shooting an arm up, he blocked the Thanagarian's next blow, then promptly raised his other hand up so he could drill a blow on top of her head.

Stars exploded before her eyes as Shayera cried out, crashing down on the floor. That had been as unexpected as it had been fast. Already, she could feel a headache forming.

However, she found her mace lying on the ground nearby, which she quickly snatched up. She was just in time too as the Kalanorian drew a leg back and then swung it forward. Holding her mace up horizontally, she blocked the kick, but the force of it caused her to slide across the floor, slowing down to a stop moments later.

Ignoring the friction burn she felt, Shayera forced herself onto her feet, then promptly wished she hadn't. The Kalanorian was firing that powerful energy beam again and she was too close to dodge it completely.

As it turned out, Diana had been busy. Suddenly, the Amazon shoved right by her, only to hold up a metal plate in front of them. The Kalanorian's attack hit the plate, Diana grunting from the force behind it. Energy snapped and sparked around the edges of their cover, but there was no telling how long that would last.

"We need…to withdraw…" the Amazon grunted as she held back the blast.

"Withdraw where?" Shayera demanded. "I rather doubt this guy is going to let us just leave!"

"We can't stay here," Diana responded. "We're…too enclosed. We can't fight him…like this…"

Well, fighting in a cramped corridor wasn't the best place admittingly. "Alright, we find somewhere else," Shayera agreed before she spun around and took to flight, heading down the hallway and to the turn. There, she saw a square hole, no doubt where Diana had ripped that metal plate from. Making the turn, she headed right for the intersecting hallway, landing there as she looked back the way she came.

She spotted Diana backing into view, face twisted from the strain she felt holding off that blast. Then she lunged around the corner, letting go of the metal plate, which was promptly sent crashing into the wall from whence it had been removed. The Amazon had taken to flight, racing towards the Thanagarian.

Shayera didn't stay to make certain if that Kalanorian was following. Instead, she took back off into the air, heading down the hallway and away from the still-unconscious Kalanorians they had beaten previously. If she had been the one holding the advantage, she knew she would be giving chase. Right now, she and Diana needed to find a wide-open place on this ship so that they could use their numbers to their favor.

Surely there was such a place somewhere on this ship.

The room was incredibly large. J'onn felt there had been an original purpose for it, but whatever it was, that was no longer the case.

The Martian could see the metal plating that had been welded along the walls. It was reinforcement, no doubt a design Despero desired for a great battle. He wanted a lot of space and in a place that could take substantial damage.

"Welcome to our arena!" Despero declared as he strode through the room, stopping once he had reached its center. As he turned around, he rose one hand to a clasp that kept his cape on his shoulders. Undoing it, he then yanked it off, tossing the cape to one side. "I have been waiting for this day for some time."

J'onn stood by the door, staring at the giant Kalanorian. There was no doubt that this fight was inevitable. Despero wanted it despite any objections; the green-skinned man had known this coming in. Still, there was a part of him that did not want to engage in mortal combat. If there was a chance this could be avoided, he had to at least try.

"There are other ways for us to settle this matter," he called out. "Violence is not necessary if we open a dialogue."

"You seek negotiations?" Despero relaxed his posture, seemingly standing straighter. "Then for the violations against my mind, I demand the blood of every Earthling you protect. I want the skulls of your allies mounted throughout my throne room. I want the very name of Earth a word whispered throughout the galaxy, a cautionary tale for every species for all of time."

All of those were requests designed to be abhorrent to J'onn, so that he immediately rejected them. Despero did not want any of those demands save for the destruction of Earth in principle. He should have expected such a response, but he had to at least try.

As silence dragged on between the two men, Despero finally said, "I take your silence to mean you decline these demands. Do you wish to continue to prolong your demise?"

"No," he answered. "I see further words are useless. You may try to defeat me, but you will not find it easy."

A wide grin appeared on Despero's face. "I'm counting on that."

Suddenly, the Kalanorian charged, every footstep pounding on the floor as he closed the distance between them. He drew a fist back at the last second, throwing it right at J'onn's face.

In an instant, J'onn changed the composition of his body, his skin becoming a shiny metal. The moment Despero's fist collided with his face, there was a loud, shrill ring that echoed out, the large Kalanorian immediately jerking his hand back as he yelped.

Immediately, J'onn returned to his normal state before he went on the offensive. He slammed a fist right into his foe's face, snapping his head to one side as he staggered backwards. A follow-up blow landed on the man's abdomen, causing him to flinch from it. Pulling the same fist back, he rammed it back in the same spot as the previous hit, ensuring that Despero was stunned. He threw yet another punch with his other fist, hitting the man on the opposite side of his abdomen.

Then he reached out with his other hand, slapping the palm right on Despero's face, fingers digging into the vibrant pink skin. J'onn extended his arm then, stretching it out. He forced Despero off of his feet, shoving him through the air until his back hit the far wall behind him, a loud bang! echoing throughout the room.

A moment later, J'onn released his grip, shrinking his arm until it returned to its normal length. He dropped it to his side them, letting it dangle there.

Despero remained leaning against the wall for a moment before he pushed himself off of it. "You're as strong as ever, I see," he remarked, his three eyes focused right on the Martian. "Good, I couldn't ask for anything more."

The next strike did not come physically. Out of nowhere, J'onn felt an incredible force rush into his mind, causing him to jerk his head back as he bared his teeth. A telepathic attack! He could feel pain searing into his mind, to which he instantly fought back, shoving the presence of Despero out—

Suddenly, a large shoulder rammed into his chest, forcing the air right out of J'onn lungs, leaving him breathless. In the amount of time it had taken for the psychic attack to burn into his mind, Despero had charged once more. Pulling back after his shoulder tackle had done its damage, it was Despero's turn to slam a fist into J'onn's face, snapping his head to one side and down, spit flying from his mouth.

Despero reached up with his other hand and grabbed the Martian by his throat then. Raising it up, J'onn found himself being lifted off of the floor, only so Despero could lean his head back and then throw it forward, landing a headbutt that made it sound as if both of their skulls had cracked. Stars were flashing before J'onn's eyes as he felt stunned.

That's when he felt both of Despero's hands gripping onto the biceps of his arms. At what point he had released his hold on the Martian's neck, he did not know, but now he found himself in another unfavorable situation. A strain filled his body as the Kalanorian began pulling him in both directions. "I will rip you in two," Despero growled.

J'onn jerked his head up, anger on his face. He fired his Martian Vision, the white beam blasting right into Despero's face. The Kalanorian immediately cried out as he released his hold on the green-skinned man, his hands shooting up to clutch at his burnt face.

Finding himself dropping, J'onn landed on his feet, only to spring forward. Leading with both of his fists in front of him, he rammed them right into Despero's wide open stomach, his turn to knock the air out of the man's lungs. Summoning his flight, he lifted the Kalanorian right off of the floor, angling the two of them so that they were flying straight up towards the ceiling. J'onn slammed his foe against it seconds later, pinning his opponent against it as he drew a fist back and then pounded it back into the vulnerable abdomen. Over and over, he slammed punch after punch into his foe.

Right up until Despero reached out with his hands and grabbed onto J'onn's forearms, stopping his assault. "That infamous eyebeams of yours," he spoke. "They sting just like they did the last time." His face was lit up with glee, a wide smile on his face. "I had almost forgotten.

"Now let me show you something new."

Despero's third eye glowed a brilliant orange before a beam fired from it. Due to their proximity, J'onn couldn't avoid the eyebeam as it drilled right into his face. It was completely different from Superman's Heat Vision, or even his Martian Vision in which the blasts seared and burned their targets. Despero's attack tore into his skull until it erupted out the back of his skull, his head exploding and goo, leaving him headless.

Though his head was gone, J'onn's mind was not. Immediately, he spread his awareness to compensate for the immediate loss of his sight and hearing. However, he felt a powerful blow as Despero struck him, sending his body careening down to the floor, landing on it hard.

Internally, J'onn winced from the throbbing pain he felt, but he did not allow his mental awareness to retreat. This allowed him to sense Despero falling down towards him, maneuvering himself so that he was falling horizontally through the air, an arm raised so that he could ram his elbow into the Martian's back.

The moment Despero landed his pile driver strike, J'onn's entire body exploded into a thick slime, spreading out in all directions. Then, just as sudden as it had happened, J'onn pulled his body back inwardly, wrapping tendrils all over Despero's body. He pinned the man's arms against his torso, his legs together. Once he was certain he had Despero's body contained, J'onn gathered quite a substantial amount of his liquified body on the Kalanorian's back. Then it grew up, reforming J'onn's head, arms, and upper body. Raising both of his hands up, he clasped them together over his head, then swung them down, landing a jackhammer blow on the back of Despero's head.

The blow forced the Kalanorian's head to bang on the floor. Immediately, J'onn felt Despero begin resisting, trying to extend his arms and legs apart—all of this despite the blow to his head.

Unclasping his hands, J'onn then rained punch after punch against the back of Despero's head, ending his barrage with another blast of his Martian Vision. He felt Despero stiffen from the onslaught, stopping his resistance if only for a moment.

Recalling his body, the tendrils of J'onn's lower body released their hold on the Kalanorian, the Martian reforming his lower body and legs. Coming to a kneeling position next to his opponent, J'onn then grabbed the man by his shoulders. With his strength, he hauled the man up as he stood up, pivoting on his heels as he began to spin his foe around in a circle. He only released his hold to throw Despero through the air, where he flew right into a wall, this time leaving a sizable dent in the metal from the force that had hit it. Despero let out a short cry before he collapsed to the floor in a heap.

Several seconds passed before the silence that had fallen between them was broken by a deep, guttural chuckle. "Yes," Despero hissed as he began to push himself back up. "This is exactly what I wanted. The pain, the struggle, it is exactly as I desired."

"I never took you for a masochist," J'onn responded, his facial features hardening. This was not like the Despero he had fought so long ago. He had been calm and collected then, a warrior demanding to fight one that was his equal.

This…this creature in front of him was not that man.

"Do not mistake my glee for enjoying physical pain," Despero countered. "I only revel in the fact that I am fighting an equal that I have desired to face for so long. That you are still worthy to battle is only exciting me."

J'onn noticed Despero's third eye glowing again, the only warning he received that he was going to fire his eyebeam once more. Immediately, he called upon his Martian Vision, firing the white beam as Despero fired his orange one. The beam beams raced towards each other before they collided.

Retreating was not something Diana enjoyed doing, but she knew when withdrawing from an unfavorable environment was preferable to facing defeat.

That's what she told herself she was doing as she flew down the corridor, Shayera hot on her heels. As they reached the end of the hall as it divided into two different directions, forming a T-intersection, she heard her sister cry out, "Incoming!"

Diana took a left immediately, taking cover behind the corner even as Shayera made a right. The blast from the Kalanaorian chasing them raced by, hitting the wall an instant later. The Amazon could practically feel the heat from it. With her back pressed against the wall behind her, she held up both of her arms to ward off the searing heat from her face.

The moment the flame-like beam ended, she noticed a gaping hole in the wall, its edges melted, some of which was actually dripping down to the floor. This power, whatever it was, was unlike anything the dark-haired woman had ever seen before. She didn't remember the Kalanorians possessing it the last time they had done battle.

So where had this power come from?

"This is insane!" Shayera shouted. "We can't keep running from this guy! Eventually, we're going to run into a dead end and that's it for us!"

This was true, so they had to do something different. "Then we make a new path!" she declared as she tilted her head up.

Bending her knees, Diana then launched herself up towards the ceiling, leading with her fists. The metal surface gave way against her strength as she tore a hole right through it. She found herself in yet another hallway, one she drifted down, which turned out to be a good thing. Shayera came flying through it right after her, head jerking from side to side as she searched for enemies.

"Well, this is marginally better," she commented. "I know we're looking for a better place to fight this guy, but I'm honestly not seeing where we can find one."

"Perhaps we're overthinking this," the Amazon suggested. "On a vessel this big, where could we find a place large enough for us to fight this man?"

The Thanagarian gave that a moment's thought. "The hangars, I would think. There must be more than the one we landed in to carry all of their ships."

"Then we should search for a hangar," Diana declared. Suddenly, she noticed the floor beneath her begin to glow a faint lavender, the same color as those blasts the Kalanorian had been firing at them.

"Go, go!" Shayera shouted as she rushed by Diana, pushing her to one side. The dark-haired woman flew off an instant later and barely in time as a blast ripped through the floor, consuming the very spot she had been hovering. If she had waited another second…

Never mind that. She and Shayera needed to lead this man to one of the hangars here. It was their only chance if they were to fight him on equal footing.

Hopefully they found one soon. This cat-and-mouse game they were playing could only last for so long. If they made one wrong misstep, then it would be the end of them.