[Young Justice: Doom & Rebirth]
by Spaceman
Start: May 15, 2022
DISCLAIMER
I do not own Young Justice or any of the related characters. The Young Justice series is by Brandon Vietti and Greg Weisman and owned by DC Comics. This story is a work of fanfiction and is for entertainment only. I am not making profit from this story. All rights of Young Justice belong to DC Comics. All other characters other an OCs beyond to their respective creators and owners. This is a fanfiction for non-profit entertainment.
Notes:
Praises and Suggestions are Welcome. Flames are not. If you love my story, tell me. If you hate it, don't read it. Each chapter is over Ten Thousand Words Long (+10K), and some are over Twenty Thousand Words Long (20K). Any suggestions or Ideas that I include will take time. This is Chapter Thirty (Ch 30) and I'm working on Chapter Forty-Two (Ch 42).
I'm also working on a new crossover – Nemo of the Myriad Worlds. I'm currently on Chapter 5 which has over 26K Words and not finished yet.
Reviews for Chapter 29
Guest – Nice Idea, but I may use it for my next fic.
OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla + superpierce - The 52 will get chapters of their own.
I do reply to Reviews, if they are Good.
*DOOM*
Chapter 30 – Wedding Bells and Explosive Shells.
*DOOM*
Wednesday, December 2, 2015 – Cognito Inc Christmas Catalog was released online. They have a new stuffed toy that looks like a soft gel-filled animal of some sort. The toy animal can move like the real thing, but is boneless, hypo-allergic, and absurdly resistant to damage. The Ani-Cogs as they are called even have USB ports so owners can plug them into their computers and add them to their games and online profiles. It looks like it's going to be the next fad.
Thursday, December 3, 2015 – Holy Shit! I've seen a lot of toy fads like Fidget Spinners, Beanie Babies, Tickle-Me Elmos, Tomagachi, and those damned Furbys. Now, tens of thousands of people are buying these little gel-filled abominations. Ani-Cogs are next new fad and it's only been a DAY. Thankfully, there are many other toys such as Funko POPs and figurines for all the collectors watching Cognito Cable shows.
Monday, December 21, 2015 - Dongzhi Festival or Winter Solstice Festival (lit. 'winter's extreme') is one of the most important Chinese festivals celebrated by the Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong Chinese, Overseas Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese and other East Asian-related people during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice), some day between December 21 to December 23. I only learned of it from Jade. The increase in Asian immigrants has also made the holiday more apparent.
Monday, December 28, 2015 – In 1922 – Stan Lee, American publisher, producer, and actor - was born. Outer Heaven's Marvel characters - mostly composed of Spider-People and Red Witch's X-Men Characters ended up having a wild party in Stan Lee's name. I don't know how they got all the alcohol, if Rorschach decided to allow it or they somehow managed to bypass his security. Either is possible considering the Misfit's level of chaos. I also overheard that one of the Mary-Janes is pregnant and doesn't know which Peter is the father of her baby.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015 – In 1916 – Russian mystic and advisor to the Tsar Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin is murdered by a loyalist group led by Prince Felix Yusupov. After 99 years, he doesn't know to stay dead. The infamous Russian mystic appeared on a street in France and attacked a young girl named Anatasia believing her to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. He was defeated and reduced to ash by John Constantine. This time is Occultist's activity was seen by dozens of cameras, so John is now famous. Poor Brit.
Tuesday, January 5, 2016 – Rorschach sent me to Vlatavastok, a city in Vlatava. The reason was delivering a wedding invite to Queen Perdita of Vlatava. He's the Knight of Vlatava, so shouldn't he be delivering this Invite? I'm a Knight Commander of Atlantis, but somehow, I got the Quest. At least I don't have to deal with those alien thieves – The Kroloteans – as they weren't able to get pass Cognito Earth Defenses.
*DOOM*
Royal Palace
Vlatavasto, Vlatava
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
8:31 (1 hour after sunrise)
1POV
Vlatava, also known as the Kingdom of Vlatava, is an Eastern European country boarding Hungary and Romania. Formerly under the control of the Soviet Union. Queen Perdita I, also known as Perdita Vladek and born Perdita Daciana Vitalievich, is the current Queen. Due to Cognito's Extremis enhancement, Perdita went from having dying heart to being the healthiest person in her country, if not all Eastern Europe! After the permanent removal of her uncle Count Werner Vertigo, she has grown to become a great leader. The only criticism she gets is her dating an American actor, something only tabloids bother bringing up.
It's a beautiful country with a mixture of beautiful light and old-world architecture, comparable to Budapest, Prague, and Bucharest. The most impressive place being the Royal Palace of Vlatava. As I walk down it's restored halls, many businessmen, politicians, and servants stare at me. They are not use to seeing a seven-foot giant of man dressed in black and the mantle of Atlantis.
"Announcing, Sir Ash Grey, Knight Commander of the Order of Megalodon, Knight of Atlantis."
I walk forward and bow respectively before the Queen on her throne.
"I am curious. Megaladon?" asks one of the advisors in the native Vlatavan language, which is like Russian and Hungarian. The moment someone spoke, I learned it thanks to my Skill.
"Megalodon was the largest species of Shark to exist, at 18 meters and most of my Knights are Shark-Men like Nanaue Sha'ark." I answer the man in their native language, "Also, I can speak any language."
"Thank you for your explanation, Sir Ash." says the sixteen-year-old Queen, "I believe you have a delivery?"
I pull out the Invitation Letter and hand it to servant who hands it to the Queen, after giving it a once over with a handheld scanner. I can tell the scanner was Cognito made to make sure mail delivers didn't contain poison, pathogens, or any other nasty surprises. There was actually an assassination in South East Asian in which a letter released a magical wind blade that decapitated a general, so the high-end scanners are on demand.
Queen Perdita reads the Invitation, then looks at me with an arced eyebrow.
"My savior Sir Rorschach is formally marrying Queen Maxima of Almerac. I've been invited to the wedding. I wonder why he sent you to deliver the invite, instead of delivering it himself?"
"I do not know the answer, your majesty. I am merely his best friend and an Agent of Cognito's SPB Division which Rorschach commands. He often sends me on Quests for various reasons. I don't question them as they are usually for very good reasons."
Suddenly, I get a notification from my Party Gamer. The letter is delivered, but the Quest is not finished. I silently read the next part, then scan the room. The guards in the room are also quick to notice my actions and are put on high alert.
"The first part of the Quest was delivering the letter. The second part is taking down the criminal smuggling drugs into your Kingdom, your Majesty."
"Who?"
"Nikolai Egorov."
Nikolai Egorov is the aide for the Russian Ambassador to Vlatava. He's a tall, lean man with dark blue eyes behind glasses, light skin, thick black hair, and a goatee. The man looks ready to run at the sight of the seen foot tall American. I grab him to prevent Nikolai from escaping and the Vlatavan guards surround both of us.
"This is outrageous! Where is your proof?" says the Russian Ambassador.
"Right here." I say as I rip off his coat and shirt, to reveal numerous tattoos. Nikolai is shocked by my strength and by the fact that he is standing in front of Queen, half naked!
"Tattoos?" questions Perdita, while some of the most innocent ladies of the court turn away. Although the general acceptance of tattoos is on the rise in Western society, they still carry a heavy stigma among certain social groups. In Russia, tattoos are generally considered an important part of the culture of the Russian mafia.
I pull out a scanner and wave it over one of the tattoos on his back. There is aloud beep.
"Magical storage tattoo. Normal border patrol wouldn't be able to detect these. They check vehicles and luggage for contraband, not the very tattoos on their skin."
After reading the instructions on the scanner and glad that Rorschach placed the device in my Inventory, I press a button and the tattoo begins to glow. A minute later, the tattoo is missing from my prisoner's back and there is a large case with the same markings as the tattoo on the ground.
One of the guards bends down, breaks the locks, and opens the case. Inside the case are tightly wrapped packages of white powder tightly packed into the large metal case. There are shouts of shock and outrage at the case's contents.
"Queen Perdita, me and my government were not aware of Egorov's criminal activities." says the Russian Ambassador, "Our government would never support this."
"That is true. At least it is now." I comment, "According the data I'm getting, it was originally a part of the Russian military that started shipping drugs into unstable regions, hoping to weaken the insurgents. When the USSR fell in '91, the General left the army and became part of the Russian Mafia. He did keep some of his connections, including to Egorov."
"What about the magic?" asks the Queen's advisor.
"Ishmael Gregor wasn't the only member of the Russian mob interested in the occult."
Egorov freezes at the name of feared Russian mob boss.
"How... How do you know that name?"
"Over four years ago, I rescued one of my wives from Hell. During my time in the Inferno, I killed Gregor who had been empowered as Sabbac." raised eyebrow tells me to continue, "A demonic version of Shazam empowered by the demon lords of Hell - Satan, Aym, Belial, Beelzebub, Asmodeus and Crateis. Asmodeus called him because he was worried, I would kill him, which I did."
There is actually a representative of the (main) Church in the crowd, who nearly faints at my words.
"You killed a Demon Lord of Hell?" says the Ambassador sounding doubtful, as do some of the others in the crowd.
I transform into my full Eight-foot-two spiky self and look down at the Ambassador.
"Is this more believable than?"
The Russian Ambassador quickly becomes very pale, then his face goes blank. He turns to his other aide.
"Do you still have that bottle of Vodka?"
"The Ultra Black Label, Sir? Yes, Sir."
"I think it's time for a drink."
*DOOM*
Friday, January 8, 2016 – After exposing the aide for Russian Ambassador to Vlatava as a drug smuggler and myself as the world's scariest monster, I spent the last couple of days discussing things with the security people. Thankfully, Rorschach sent over the paperwork and brochures. Magical smugglers have become a big problem and the Eastern European former USSR countries are particularly vulnerable. China used to have a lot of magical smuggling before the Day of the Dragon fractured China.
Thursday, January 14, 2016 - My Girls are looking for wedding presents for Maxima. What do you get for an extraterrestrial warrior princess who's married to smartest man in the universe who can literally get her anything she could ever want? Anything, including galaxies and fictional items? If I was back in my own world, I would just send money or gift cards, but I can't do it in this case! Finally, I got a Party Gamer notification for a Quest.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016 – 12 days. It took me 12 days to complete the Quest. I managed to get back a dozen important Almeracan cultural artifacts from the Galactic black market. I also got back thirty-two Almeracan women and children that had been captured by slavers. The last thing I acquired was Almeracan Holy item that had been stolen by a demon-worshipping cult. A cult whose six hundred members and patron demon are now very dead.
Monday, February 1, 2016 – Atlantis News – The Order of the Megalodon have a Mascot now. During an exploration of a destroyed Black Manta base, a magical shark was found. The adorable magic shark has the ability to transform into a much larger form and various shark-themed forms. It has an extreme hatred of romantic couples, but has bonded with me. The Party Gamer even gave me a [Monster Tamer] skill. The little guy even has a title [Killer Shark Embodiment – Same]
*DOOM*
Paradiso Hall
Outer Heaven, Moon
Monday, February 7, 2016
Wedding Prepartions
11:65 (Outer Heaven Time)
1POV
Neo is preparing for the official wedding ceremony that will join his Rorschach of Cognito Inc. and Queen Maxima of Almerac. Paradiso Hall is the name of the area constructed for the event and Rorschach is sparring no expense. He's currently giving me an Augmented Reality (AR) Tour of things.
"Anti-metal field, decarbonize field, repulson field, and standard metaphasic energy fields layered and compressed 52-layer spatial warping to prevent any form teleportation. If some tries to teleport in, they will end up a bunch of fused atoms. "
The only exception being his own encrypted portals as they are the only way in and out of Paradiso. The doors can't be forced open in this place and windows are fake.
"The physical layers of the wall are a mixture of nano-polymer and adamentium nanomesh sandwiched between two layers of Neoashium alloy."
"Neoashium?"
"It's an alloy I created based on analyze of your physiology. I could have picked Adamentium, but Neoashium is lighter and easier to make."
Neoashium is a double pun. While –ium Is used for forming names of metallic elements. Neo can reference to his former writer's name or New. So, it's either "Neo's Ash Metal" or "New Ash Metal"
I look out one of "windows" to see the dark lunar surface illuminates by lights and the stars above.
"Holographic sensors on the moon's surface transmit visual data to the Hall, where it's displayed on the walls, creating the illusion of windows."
I look at the various white surfaces – white walls, white ceiling, white floor, and white pillars
"Every surface is hypoallergenic anti-biotic nanomaterial. This place is more sterile than a high-end hospital, not including Cognito facilities."
In the United States, an early patent for a folding chair was by John Cram in 1855. In 1947, Fredric Arnold created the first aluminum folding chair with fabric strapping for the seat and back. By 1957, the Fredric Arnold Company of Brooklyn, New York, was manufacturing more than 14,000 chairs per day. Today, the folding chair is mostly made of hard plastic or metal or wood. The numerous chairs aren't the standard folding chairs.
These are Cognito Comfort Chairs. It's a flex of money and power, even those in the nosebleed section have more comfort than a high tier stadium's five-star luxury box (skybox). These chairs are made of some sort of nano polymer that adjusts to the person sitting in it and is self-repairing, hydrophobic and antibacterial. They do eventually expire after one year warranty and can be easily recycled or renewed.
I look at the odd mixture of flowers. Some of them resemble Earth Roses, while others look far more exotic. They are either from another world or a hidden part of the tropics. Until recently, more and more of the rain forests were being destroyed by farmers and land developers. These days, there are more than two thousand eco-activists with plant-manipulating or animal powers to hand them their heads. Cognito Inc. has also bought more than a hundred million US dollars' worth of land and protected it with specialized Iron Legion – Eco Warriors!
"The flowers are actually non-nucleic hypoallergenic bio-replicas of Cognito Botany's Wedding Garden picks. They possess scents that are native to both Earth and Almerac."
I walk over to the Food and look at the options, paying close attention to the chocolate items. The wedding cake design is HUGE with fondant, expert decorations, and a bride and groom figurine that dips into uncanny valley.
"The Cake looks amazing, like something made by Buddy Valastro or Duff Goldman, but that figurine is too uncanny. You could scare Eri with that thing!"
"Your right about that. I'll look at the alternatives." says Rorschach, "The foods are the best of Cognito Foods include the New Secret Sweet Selections. It even includes the Chocolate Cataclysm – a candy designed to cause food-gasms in hardcore chocolatiers and chocolate lovers. It was created with help from that friend you made in France."
"It's good that guy got out supervillainy and got a real job."
I listen to the music playing. I think it's a song from the Wedding Episode of a Cognito Channel Anime.
"The sound system is the best Cognito Music is producing. The song mix is a bunch of romantic and dance songs from Cognito Cable known as the CC Wedding Album. I'm thinking of calling it the Maxima Album."
"Charity Donations?"
"You got it. Everything from the Wedding Album will be donated to Charity. It's not like I'm hurting for money."
I notice floating black orbs around the room, each one the size of a baseball. They float above certain seats with the "Reserved" typed on them.
"Virtual Seats. Not all of the wedding guests will be physically present. The wedding will be also taking place in a virtual environment on the Main Amusphere networks. Some Guests will experience the wedding through full immersion VR. They will experience the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the real wedding without leaving the security of their homes and businesses."
I notice blue-white versions of the Cleaning Slimes. These versions of the classic Cleaner Slimes are a little more intelligent than the common ones. They won't "aggressively clean" (attack) a person for being dirty, but they will keep surfaces clean and sterile. Guests can also request to be cleaned by them if they want.
We aren't the only people in the Paradis Hall. There are some of the Queen's Royal Guard. The elite Almeracan warriors that serve the Queen and the royal family, currently led by Maxima's female lover Primaa. They have received the best training and medical from Cognito Inc, making them far stronger than how they were when they were forced to flee their doomed homeworld.
"Have you tried out the new resistance machines? You feel like you're moving through deep water or the atmosphere of a high gravity world without any of buoyancy." says one to his buddy. "It's the best workout I have ever had."
I actually tried out one of those machines. Rorschach set it to max and it was like trying to move through molten osmium. The biggest different is lower density objects tend to float on high density fluids, such as a human on the Dead Sea or a Human Corpse on Lava. In that room, despite the resistance, you don't float or feeling like you're swimming. Personally, I think Rorschach was attempting to make a better DBZ gravity chamber.
The Royal Guards will be equipped with Cognito-upgraded body armor, which includes SPB defenses. It doesn't matter if someone attacks with psychokinesis, dark magic, or Ki Blasts, the armor will protect against it." says Rorschach, "They will be paired with the Royal Knights."
Rorschach's Royal Knight. Another incarnation of the Iron Legion/Libertus Units. The Royal Knights are gold-decorated white units with immensely powerful defense barriers. While they possess the standard Repulsion system and variable energy beam emitters, what makes them unique is their generation and manipulation of force fields. While it could withstand a nuclear explosion, it could also generate a thousand individual barriers at the same time to protect a thousand mundane humans from the same explosion. They even having solid shields that can float around them as drones and bounce directed-energy attacks, while generating anti-metal fields.
Rorschach made me fight a couple of them without using any of my skills. While they couldn't damage me, they could knock me around and took an absurd amount of damage before being defeated. While I can break barriers with ease, those robots generated shields so quickly I was pushed back. Seriously, Neo, one of those machines had its head and arms blown off, and had a hole through its torso, but still pulled off a barrier that could match the AT Fields from Neon Genesis Evangelion!
"Security is Paramount." says Rorschach.
Even before the Guests are portal-ed into this place, they will have to go through more security than the most severe border security.
Anybody that physically attends the Wedding, will need to go through Cognito Deep Scanners. These massive machines look like metal hallways, but they can scan a person on many levels. They not only get a complete medical scan of the person, but a scan of clothing and equipment. They can detect any medical issue or foreign force be it pathogen, nanotechnology, or demonic possession. If something evil reacts violently to being discovered, they will be thrown by directed repulsion fields into portals to more secure facilities.
*DOOM*
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Topic: Rorschach and Maxima's Wedding
In: Boards ► Global ► Events ►Main
DCNewEra (Original Poster)
Posted on January 1, 2016
Rorschach - the Joker Killer, Dragon Slayer, and Bad Ass Agent of Cognito Inc. –is getting married to an extraterrestrial warrior Queen - Maxima of Almerac on February 14. This will be a historical event of an *official* marriage between a person of Earth and an extraterrestrial. This wedding will not only be attended by friends and family, but important business and political leaders, and members of the Justice League. Common people can attend via Amusphere Event [Link].
[Pic1] - Husband - Rorschach
[Pic2] - Bride - Queen Maxima
(Showing Page 96 of 96)
►3GisGod (Veteran)
Posted on February 14, 2016
[BANNED – 2 Week]
Moderator: Pip02 – Seriously? That's 5 violations in two paragraphs.
►MKimura (Ninja)
Posted on February 14, 2016
This isn't a marriage of love. It's a political marriage. Queen Maxima originally came to Earth to marry the smartest being in the universe, which turned out to be Cognito Inc's Doctor Genus. Doctor Genus is married to his work, so Rorschach was given the privilege. They are working together to take out an alien conqueror named Brainiac.
It's all listed in the Updated Guide to the Galaxy - [Link]
Reply to 3GisGod
You are a sick, twisted individual.
(Japanese-English Translation)
►Dokuja (LOS)
Posted on February 14, 2016
I'm not saying it didn't start off as Political, Ninja boy. What I am saying is it's gone beyond political. This isn't just Cognito becoming the Corporate Overlords of Earth. I believe those two are actually falling in love.
I wonder if they will have children?
(Japanese-English Translation)
►EIvankov (Actual Doctor)
Posted on February 14, 2016
Cognito's Reproductive technology is impressive. I have had formerly male patients give birth in their new female forms and formerly female patients impregnate their wives. I can imagine them succeeding especially since Almeracan have very human physiology much like Kryptonians.
(Russian-English Translation)
►Lil_Anton (Mad Scientist)
Posted on February 14, 2016
The hybridization of genetics sound fascinating. I hope to get a sample one day.
[End of Thread]
*DOOM*
Paradiso Hall
Outer Heaven, Moon
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Valentine's Day - Wedding
11:45
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, through later folk traditions, has become a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.
Today, it's the day of Rorschach's ceremonial marriage to Maxima. Technically, they are already marriage through law, but this is the public event. I've never been a fan of weddings and romantic tropes. People talk about how beautiful the bride looks in her dress, but wedding dresses look generic to me. People talk about how impressive the cake was, but unless it's made by the Cake Boss, I doubt it. People talk about how happy the couple looked, but unless it's an arranged marriage they are supposed to look happy. Even with my own polygamous marriage I'm not into mush.
I still wonder how Rorschach managed to get me into a tuxedo. They only other time I wore a tux was at my grad party (what the Americans call a Prom). I did look good in the tux back then, even with my long curly hair, but I was constantly worried about getting the rental dirty. The worst part was the cummerbund that nearly fell in the toilet several times.
My new black tuxedo looks like a generic modern tux, tailored to my seven-foot human form. Jacket, black bow tie, trousers, waistcoat, shirt, footwear, and handkerchief are all composed of hydrophobic stain-proof nanomaterials. Inside of a zipped-up bag, this tuxedo started off a ball of black goo that flowed over me like a Klyntar symbiote. Rorschach thought it would be fun surprise.
My girls look beautiful in their custom dresses, each one unique, but fitting the wedding's theme. Daniya looks adorable in her outfit. Cognito's newest scientist Euclid Lucifuge looks like she is still getting use to fancy dresses and Servant Saber-Adam has elected to remain a masculine suit much like Artoria during Fate/Zero.
Kara arrives with Alexander Armstrong, she dressed in a very expensive dress (matching the wives of monarchs and billionaires) and he dressed in Cognito deluxe tuxedo. There are a few in the crowd that actually want to meet the actor behind "Weird Science Rick", but he says to wait until the after-wedding reception. Since this is being transmitted to the Amusphere Audience, the message boards will soon be screaming "Weird Science Rick is Fake!" and questions about the hot blonde he's with.
The next couple to arrive is Interesting - Pip Cognito and Sari Sumdac. Rorschach's Iron Patriot Transformer son and the original Techno-Organic Transformer. Somehow, Sari has transformed her normal outfit into a yellow dress, while Pip has altered his plating coloration to simulate wearing a tuxedo. Normal folding chair would not be able to support their weight.
Queen Perdita I of Vlatava is the next to arrive. A Queen appearing to attend the wedding of her knight is a big deal and is just another demonstration of Cognito's vast Influence. Her date for the wedding is fourteen-year-old Garfield Logan.
In the original timeline, Garfield Logan gained his powers in 2012 (a year after his mother was killed by Queen Bee and after he had been taken in by his godmother Rita Farr). Thanks to Cognito and Me, Marie Logan is alive and got to see her son become an actor, encouraged by his godmother. Rita herself returning to acting with the removal of her Doom Patrol powers.
Garfield stilled gained the metahuman ability to become animals, but that was due to a "Red Event". Thankfully, with the Phantom Zone annihilated, he won't suffer the crippling depression from Superboy's "death", that would ruin their relationship.
*DOOM*
I watch as more people arrive, and this must be one of the most mixed crossover weddings I have ever seen.
The core members of the Justice League are attending with their significant others due to some computer trickery. Superman, Batman, and Flash are attending, but so are Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, and Barry Allen are also attending the wedding with their families. I'm not sure which ones are the body doubles as they are Cognito made.
Members of the Light are also attending the wedding, namely Lex Luthor and his family in physical and Vandal Savage, Ra's al Ghul, Queen Bee and Black Adam via the Amusphere. It shows what kind of power Cognito possesses if both heroes and villains attend an Agent's wedding.
All-Might, Deku, and Teachers and Students of UA are attending the Wedding. Himiko Toga and Jin Bubaigawara are attending the wedding as well, but Dabi/Toya decided to skip physically attending and merely use the Amusphere attendance. Some of the seats are close to the honored guests, while others are far back in the Paradiso Hall, considered nosebleed section.
There are some Cadmus Upsilon survivors attending, such as X-Men, Misfits, and Avengers. These are those with enough mental health to function in normal society or in the case of the Misfits are "stable enough". Jean Grey (Phoenix), Althea Delgado (Wavedancer), and Tony Stark (Iron Man) lead their respective groups.
Phoenix is the future leader of a META/STAR academy, a successor to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. She will be helping thousands of young people with controlling and developing their special abilities. She is supported by her husband Scott Summers (Cyclops) who thanks to Cognito tech can use his optic blasts without the need for the visor. Having emotional support is important when you are the host of a star-consuming cosmic entity of creation and destruction like the Phoenix Force.
Wavedancer was a member of the Arashikage clan of ninja and a member of American's daring special missions force GI Joe. Having no connection to the US Military of Eart-DR, the Misfits and Joe Handlers were eventually assimilated into Cognito's own forces. Her husband Todd "Toad" Tolensky has also grown from the pickpocket he was into a competent fighter. Together they share the power of the Destiny Stone – their universe's counterpart to the Phoenix Force – which transforms them into beings resembling Final Fantasy characters – Aqua Seraphim and Tatsukaeru, respectively.
Anthony "Tony" Stark is a genius inventor and billionaire industrialist on his world. He was stripped of his fortune and resources when he was kidnapped by Cadmus and brought to this world, but he refused to give up. With help from Cognito, he has risen from the ashes and is now known as one of the smartest men on the world. He's actually similar to Batman in having genius-intellect, cunning, and resourcefulness, but Tony's even most basic Iron Man suits are far superior to any of the Bat's suits. Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne have formed an odd friendship/rivalry.
The most surprising people in physical attendance, to me at least, are the Worm Girls. Amelia "Amy" Claire Dallon, Lisa Wilbourn, and Taylor Annette Hebert. In Earth-Bet, Capes got their powers from parasitic shards of extradimensional cosmic Entities. During the worst day of their lives, when a person was alone with nobody to turn to, when all hope died, the shard would connect to person and give them power to make their lives worse. As Capes fought, data was collected and when enough data was collected, the world was destroyed across dimensions so the Entities could move to the next one. Earth-Bet was only sparred because the Thinker Eden did the Interdimensional equivalent of "using your phone app while driving".
Amelia "Amy" Claire Dallon was an insanely powerful biokinetic that could reshape life on a bio-molecular level. The immense stress she was under threatened to cause her to burnout and in the canon timeline, she would have gone from the beloved healer Panacea of Earth-Bet to the feared Red Queen of Earth-Shin. Her transformation into a metahuman on Earth-DR weakened her powers and Cognito Inc's nanomedicine has made her almost redundant. She's currently working a Nurse at Outer Heaven.
She is currently blushing and flirting with a co-worker? It's amazing what can happen to people if you remove most of the stress in their lives. Without a constant gnawing sense of guilt and others making her feel like a monster, she seems a lot happier.
Lisa Wilbourn (born Sarah Livsey) gained her power when her brother committed suicide. She gained a parahuman Thinker ability – Super Intuition – which meant Sherlock Holmes deductive reasoning amped to absurd levels. Even when she escaped her exploitive parents, she was recruited at gunpoint by the Bond-villain-wannabe Coil. In Canon, she continued to survive even assisting the Wardens - a superhero organization that was formed out of the remnants of the Protectorate following Gold Morning. Lisa's conversion into metahuman didn't change her power beyond removing the Tinker headaches she used to experience. She now works as secretary/aide for Cognito Inc.
She is currently working on a computer tablet, while deliberately not looking at me. I'm guessing I have Anti-Thinker abilities. I'm immune to nearly everything imaginable, including real psychic abilities and reality-warping powers of cosmic horrors, so it's not surprising. The girl is charismatic enough to become a cult leader worse than Heartbreaker in her world, but she knows I'm Invincible.
Taylor Annette Hebert is the protagonist of Worm. She is one of most determined people in existence, who also has the bad habit of escalating situations. She gained her powers from being severely bullied by a former friend Emma and the psychotic bully that became Emma's role model. Her trigger was being trapped in locker of rotting medical waste bad enough to be called a biohazard. She gained the ability to control insects and it was the beginning of her infamous legend. In the canon universe, to fight against Warrior Entity Zion she had Amy jailbreak her power and became Khepri – the villainess who enslaved the world to save it from a mad god. What is terrifying is her conversion into metahuman actually *increased* the range of her arthropod control powers and connected her to the Red – the metaphysical plane that connects all animal life in the universe.
Taylor is currently controlling the glowing butterflies that decorate the wedding hall. The butterflies are extremely cute looking like Venezuelan Poodle Moth only its fur is actually soft as it looks. It's black/white wings are not only beautiful, but bioluminescence strong enough to be seen in day. It makes me wonder if Neo has been tapping into Pokémon genes to make them. The youngest guests are giggling at the "Taylor Moths". Taylor also begins to giggle.
"Why is she giggling?" asks Jade next to him.
"She can see through the senses of the bugs. These cutie moths can see UV like I can."
Jade shifts her vision briefly, then giggles.
*DOOM*
"Clark." says Lois, whispering in Kryptonese, "How accurate is that doppelgänger?"
Clark was surprised when the Fortress of Solitude taught his wife his lost home world's language. He didn't find out she could speak the Kryptonese until literally months later. The Fortress's AI told him that it taught her so their children would be fully aware of both parent's cultures.
"Scary Accurate. It's accurate down on the nanoscale. That skin is identical down to the proteins." says Clark looking at his hyper-accurate body double, "He even copied the material of the cape and simulated its exact age."
"I wonder what Jade is giggling at?"
*DOOM*
"I have to say Cognito does good work. I can't tell if Superman or Clark is the real one" says Lex Luthor to his wife, "What's your guess?"
"I think Clark is the real one. Lois is discretely whispering to Clark. Probably asking how accurate the copy is."
"Sometimes I wonder why he bothers to hide his identity." says Lex "I guess he likes the relaxing mundane life."
"Everyone needs down time. Otherwise, the stress will make you go bald."
"Very funny."
*DOOM*
"Cognito is mocking me, again." says Bruce Wayne, hiding his Batman grimace.
"What do you mean by that, Bruce." says Selina Wayne (nee Kyle)
"I did a UV scan. 'Batman' has 'Property of Talia al Ghul' marked on it."
"Really? What about you?" says Selina, eye arched.
"..." Batman pauses. "My tux says 'property of Selina Kyle' stamped on it in UV"
"At least we won't get them mixed up." quips the former Cat burglar.
Batman doesn't mention the 'Bat's Cat' on Selina's dress.
*DOOM*
Pre-Wedding Ceremony
Almeracans have many interesting customs due to their warrior culture. One of those customs is before the bride can be revealed, the Priest must be shown that all challengers to the betrothed have been formally defeated. There is no "Speak now or forever hold your peace" spiel like on Earth; instead, things must be spoken and dealt with before the wedding. The reason this custom is being upheld is because Rorschach a non-Almeracan is marrying Royalty and Maxima wants the traditionalists to back off.
Rorschach faced three challengers and showed the video of the fights to the Priest. Originally, a warrior prince showed the priest the severed heads of his numerous rivals, but that fell out of favor with the severing of many, many bloodlines over the centuries. In Alamacan medieval times the losers were forced to write Declarations of Surrender written in blood and stamped by the officials who witnessed the fight. That fell out of favor too when one prince with atrocious writing died of blood loss before he could articulate a proper declaration.
Ultraa of House of Blood Royale had been trying to force Maxima to accept him as fiancée before The Fall of Almerac. He was more of a talker than a fighter. He started talking about history and tradition before the fight, trying to sway his people against Rorschach who was merely seen as the assassin of Doctor Genus, due to the fact that Assassins were not a respected subset of Almeracan culture. He claimed to have the blood of kings that would abhor the mockery of history.
Rorschach responded by revealing the truth of Blood Royale and how they altered historical records to gain power. It turned out founders of Almerac were in fact two women and the society used to be matriarchal. The so-called Kings were merely the concubines used to continue the bloodline and Blood Royale was descended from an overly ambitious male courtesan. This enraged Ultraa to the point he physically attacked.
Rorschach is the brains of our duo, but it doesn't mean he's weak in combat. Due to his super-intellect Gamer build he can actually predict his opponent's movements and figure out the perfect attacks in literally a fraction of a second. His Gamer Body also has advantages, as crippling and disabling injuries are impossible. Anything that doesn't dismember or instant kill Rorschach is deducted from the Health Points/HP in the corner of his HUD instead of leaving physical damage. Rorschach's HP regeneration was impressive even before the Dragon Blood made him immune to conventional weapons.
Ultraa despite his power was left beaten bloody on the floor, while Rorschach didn't even have damage to his coat. If I had to compare it I would it to Batman beating the living crap out of a venom-augmented thug, only without mercy and fear of going too far. He even did a Johnny Cage Ball Buster from Mortal Kombat. Apparently, hitting below the belt is not considered illegal into Almeracan Groom fights.
When Ultraa pulled out a hidden weapon like the coward he was, Rorschach ignored the shots and pulled out a glowing green whistle. He then blew the whistle and a glowing green GHOST TRAIN of all things smashed into Ultraa. Despite his superhuman durability, the ghost train smashed into Ultraa with enough force to liquify the arrogant Almeracan and leave a sizable hole in the exact shape of the ghost train in the wall of the challenge site.
After the clean-up, the second challenger appeared.
Heroo was the second challenger and the most powerful of the three. His physical abilities augmented by psychokinesis made him the strongest male Almeracan. He represented the traditionalist faction who believed solely into warrior prowess. They believed in the old religion that stated the higher heavens were meant for the warrior slain. These were the kind of people that believed only those willing to fight for their rights deserve to have any rights and pacifists don't belong in their society.
Heroo was a far superior fighter than Ultraa, but he lacked deception. Heroo's style of combat was based on honorable one-on-one fights. That works in sporting events and duels bound by ancient honor codes, but that style doesn't work against someone whose style is based on deception and cunning. A single precise blow collapsed Heroo's throat and he fell to the ground. He was about to asphyxiate, when Rorschach injected him with nanomedicine that repaired his ruined throat.
"Why? Why didn't you let me die?"
"I would rather you die fighting beside me than against me."
Heroo then kneeled before the future King of Almerac, completely and utterly defeated.
The third and final challenger was surprising.
The third challenger was a giant named Hyperion – a member of another warlike race of extraterrestrials with similar powers to Almeracians. Hyperion's own race was receiving help from a group of extraterrestrial businessmen who had lost substantial profits to Cognito. The business group hoped to leverage things against Cognito.
Rorschach spent the match avoided Hyperion's blows, making the man more and more frustrated. Finally, Rorschach delivered a pressure point attack to Hyperion's nigh-invulnerable chest. The attack instantly stopped Hyperion's heart causing the man to struggle and fall. Hyperion was close to death when Rorschach hit the counter-point to restart his heart.
"The Fight is over."
"Are you mocking me?" asks Hyperion, struggling after his near death.
"The Arcadian home world just received aid from Cognito Inc. A far better deal than the one you made with the Thralzak – Zaegner – Urlers alliance. As for your former sponsors, they have been ruined. All of their criminal activities have been exposed, all of their investors and customers have abandoned them. Thralzak is on the run and will be nabbed by a Green Lantern within the next six hours. Zaegner committed suicide by detonating his ship's power core. Urlers is hiding behind his grandfather's diplomatic immunity on the homeworld, but will be cast out when his cousin gives birth to a son to become grandpa's heir."
"How?"
"Remember. Brains before Brawn. Doctor Genus is the smartest mammal in the universe, and I'm smart-enough to be able to use all his best toys without killing myself by accident."
These fights were witnessed by Sazu. She is the personal handmaiden, and royal advisor of Queen Maxima. Her duty to the Royal House is also with the preservation of Almeracian customs and protocol. As a result, the rulings of the referee was unquestioned.
*DOOM*
Outside Paradiso Hall
3POV
Lobo of Czarnia is leaning against the side of the door. He was hired by Cognito Inc to act as a bouncer for the wedding. Lobo normally works as a bounty hunter known for his brutality and his willingness to keep his word. The Main Man has hunted down everything from thieves to planetary dictators to cosmically empowered cult leaders, and brought in them or their heads every time. With his insane durability and regenerative abilities, he has survived adventures that would kill the entire Justice League.
Ash Grey, who apparently works for Cognito Inc, impressed him. In their first meeting, he helped save a bunch of dolphins from an Bastich Ursan mercenary with his babe. He later heard he won a drinking contest on Ventura, even swallowing his own concoction without flinching. He doesn't care what the man said about the taste as he didn't make "Brain Melter" for the taste. Then, Ashy fought monsters in an Arena and proved he was one the toughest monsters in the galaxy. The kind of badass guy Lobo would accept as a friend.
If Cognito Inc wants to blow a few million to have him play Bouncer for their assassin's wedding, he's not going to complain. The Cog boys are doing some free fueling, cleaning, and upgrading to his SpazFragg666. The food is fantastic and this world also has dolphin videos on their computer networks. Still, it's a pretty boring job as not many people are willing to mess with the planet's most feared man and the universe's smartest primate.
"What is that!?" says Flash (Barry Allen) with his disguised wife Iris. It's ironic but the World's Fastest Man is actually late to the wedding.
Lobo looks over large pure black blob that is "sitting" next to Lobo like a loyal dog. Lobo seems to treat the blob like a puppy, even giving it a scratch behind the pseudo-pod.
"That is Body Bag. He's one of Cognito's industrial cleaner slimes modified for me. Cognito gave him to me to clean up messes."
"Messes?"
"Uninvited guests and intruders. The black is to make sure observers don't see the digesting process." says Lobo, "Now, where are your invites?"
Invites appear in Flash's hand so fast it's like they teleported into his grip. The Invites are actually made of translucent color-shifting polymer with numerous holographic images and hidden codes that make them nigh-impossible to duplicate or forge. Ash compared them to Canadian plastic money. This is after going through border security before being allowed to use the Space Bridge to reach Outer Heaven. The League Zeta Beams and Light Boom Tubes can't make it pass the defenses around the Moon.
*DOOM*
[Wedding Ceremony]
The Wedding Ceremony begins, and Maxima walks down the aisle.
Queen Maxima is a beautiful bride, and I was surprised that her dress resembled anything from Earth. The Almeracians are a warrior culture with most of their clothing made for combat or after-combat sex. The dress she wears looks more like something Wonder Woman would wear to her wedding if her mother allowed American influences. I do recognize the little flower girls, Daniya and Eri look freaking adorable.
The groom – Rorschach – is hard to read and dressed in what I believe is meant to resemble an expensive wedding tuxedo. It's probably made of Cognito nanomaterials and loaded with gadgets like the one in that lesser-known Jackie Chan film - "The Tuxedo".
Groomsmen or ushers: One or more friends or family members who assist the groom, usually men. The chief groomsman is called the best man, and is given a place of honor.
I'm the Best Man at Rorschach's wedding as his closest friend. The Groomsmen next to me is Alexander Armstrong - the actor who plays Weird Science Rick and who is probably a Life Model Decoy, since Amstrong is one of Neo's personas. Next to him is Kotetsu Kaburagi – the Cognito Corporate Hero Wild Tiger, beloved by single fathers, lusted after by single women. Next to him is Commander John Shepard – hero of Mass Effect turned Cognito Space Force commander. All are dressed in high quality and probably very durable Tuxedos. Wild Tiger is wearing interesting gloves and Shepard is wearing a concealed omni tool just in case.
Bridesmaids: One or more friends or family members who support the bride. The chief bridesmaid may be called a maid of honor or matron of honor. A girl too young to be marriageable, but too old to be a flower girl, is called a junior bridesmaid.
Maxima's bridesmaids include Primaa (Maxima's Almeracian attendant/lover), Kara Zor-El (last daughter of Krypton and Alexander Armstrong's date), Karina Lyle (Cognito heroine Blue Rose and claim-staker to the plot of land that is Kotetsu Kaburagi), and Jane Shepard (John's female counterpart). Each one is dressed in quality bridesmaid dresses, one that while are beautiful don't outshine the bride's own dress. Like the men, Karina and Shepard are also wearing concealed devices in case of party crashers.
Flower girl: A young girl who scatters flowers in front of the bridal party.
The two cutest flower girls are Eri and Daniya. Even the flowers they have are ethereally beautiful. I can imagine the photos (and screenshots in case of Amusphere) from this wedding will end up spread across the planet. I don't mind, but I hope they don't get dumb memes. If they end in up darker servers, some perverts are going to end up in fates worse than death.
Ring bearer: An attendant, often a young boy, who carries the wedding rings.
My "son" Hakudōshi is fulfilling the role of Ring Bearer. Hakudōshi looks different, as the demon boy has his long flowing messy lilac hair tied back in a ponytail and is dressed in a little suit instead of his normal robes. When I asked my son about Rings, he revealed he actually had a collection of magical and curse rings. I ate the curse rings much to Hakudōshi's amusement.
The Wedding Ring itself is also unique as while it looks like white gold, it was crafted from a hard-to-produce artificial magical alloy based on my physiology. This means it's nigh indestructible to point even Neo doesn't know what could damage it. The sparkling diamonds are also made of a rare crystal that is worth more than some Moons.
The Priest for this wedding is one of the Almeracan survivors. He's a tall elderly man with long white hair, light skin, and one green eye. The reason he has one green eye is because of a scar over the other eye along with an eyepatch. He's dressed in loose dark clothing with a hooded religious robe and a tall "pope" hat with a staff. He's actually very tall and muscular despite being over ninety (in human years). If he suddenly says he's actually King Odin of the Aesir I wouldn't be surprised.
I noticed he said some prayers before they started the wedding vows in an old language from a very old leather-bound book. I'm guessing it's the Almeracan equitant to Latin and that the book is equivalent to the Christian Bible. Since I have the omni-lingualism skill, I can now read and fluently speak the "old tongue", but it's kind of useless as its only spoken during religious ceremonies these days.
I'm not listening to the music or the words of the priest, because wedding music and vows are generic in my opinion. I do wonder how Rorschach is going to kiss the bride at the end, will he show his lips or will he do something else.
Then, I noticed something strange. I see a double image. In one of those images, on one of Rorschach's hands is covered in something that resembles the Infinity Gauntlet, and he has already snapped his fingers. It's strange as I don't see anything different, but then I realize he could have altered the timeline. I can sense changes because of all the times he and Lovecraftian horrors have used time against me.
Batman and Bruce Wayne stiffen in their chairs. The Real Batman is a world class detective with super-genius intellect. This is the man who in other timelines kept finding the League of Shadow bases so often they had to routinely wipe his memory and was able to determine a bullet travelled back in time. He just realized that "something" has changed, and his android doppelgänger also realized that.
How accurate is Rorschach making body doubles?
*DOOM*
"I, Ba'alkazar, High Priest of Almerac, do thusly acknowledge the strength of Rorschach. All those who have stood before your love bond have fallen, and thus, you are worthy," the elderly priest began after reviewing the duels' outcomes. "Do you, Queen Maxima Almeraci of the Royal House of Almerac, last of her line, take this man to be her husband? Will you acknowledge before your ancestors and The Presence that he is worthy of you, and you of him?"
"I do."
"And do you, Sir Rorschach of Earth, Knight of Vlatava, take this woman to be your wife? Will you acknowledge before your ancestors and The Presence, that she is worthy of you, and you of her?"
"I do."
"Then let all being see, hear, and understand that Queen Maxima and Sir Rorschach are now bound in marriage. May their descendants praise their ancestors. May you now invoke the Seal of Matrimony."
The priest taking a step back, Maxima reached up to Rorschach's mask, and to everyone's shock, the enigmatic man made no move against it.
The world on the edge of their seats as one of the most sought-after secrets in the modern world was on the cusp of revealing itself, with a dramatic flourish of her hand, the black-on-white facial covering in Maxima's hand, revealed beneath Rorschach's mask was-
"Another mask. Pretty cool, huh~" Rorschach grinned behind the white-on-black facial covering, those on the edge of their seats falling completely out of them with a series of *THUD*s. Off to the side, Lobo was rancorously laughing his ass off, Body Bag gurgling giddily and spitting out a human skull by accident.
"Talk about paranoia," Batman whispered over his shoulder.
'You would be the expert,' Selina thought to herself.
Batman calling someone else "paranoid" was like a volcano calling a forest fire "hot".
"I should've known~" Maxima beamed, a beautiful smile on her face before she grabbed Rorschach by the front of his suit and swung him around, bowing her head and kissing him through his mask, the people of Almerac cheering jubilantly and louder than anyone else as the royal bloodline was assured.
*DOOM*
After the Wedding Ceremony...
Batman and Bruce Wayne confront Rorschach with me standing next to them.
"You erased someone from reality" says Bruce.
God damn, he figured it out.
"Yes, I did. He was never here or anywhere; he was never born."
"Do you realize that you changed history?"
"127 - The number of people who are now alive or have been born due to my action. 0 – The number of people who are dead or have been never born due to my action. You hear people talk about a person who is so bad that the world would be better off if he had never been born. This man was the living proof of that saying. A man who literally did nothing good in his life starting when he inadvertently killed his mother with his birth to his murdering of thirteen innocent children under the age of ten just to get the power from a Cosmic Horror to get pass my defenses. A deal which not only destroyed the souls of those children but weakened our world to more horrors. Doctor Fate would approve of my actions."
Rorschach stares into Bruce's eyes despite the mask.
"Don't believe for a second that we will do anything major for trivial reasons. Even killing the Joker served a far greater purpose. 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few', thus, is to say that 'the needs of the many have a greater value than the needs of the few'. Heroes see people, Cognito sees numbers. While your lot try to inspire hope in the world, we look to the future and make it happen."
*Beep*
Rorschach looks at the notification on the Gamer screen.
[Boss Battle] - [Brainiac Attack]
The ultimate wedding crasher has arrived. It's time to go to War.
Difficulty: [S]
Mission:
01 - Destroy Brainiac
02 – Save Earth
Extra:
[Hidden]
Rewards:
[Hidden]
"It's Showtime!"
*DOOM*
In Space.
Time for War
Vril Dox was a brilliant Coluan scientist. While the average member of the green-skinned race having a "Level Eight" intelligence, far higher than humans, Vril Dox had a Twelfth Level intellect. He acquired a spaceship and went on a journey through space, acquiring knowledge and using his robotic drones to capture living organisms of various alien species. In his pursuit of knowledge and power he became a conqueror seeking technological dominion.
His conquest was slowed when he encountered the last son of Krypton Superman and the Justice League. Despite his superior intelligence, the protectors of Earth defeated him multiple times. First defeating the mere drones, they believed to be the real Brainiac and then the real Vril Dox. In the process, Brainiac was banished into the Bleed, the space between universes. Eventually, he pierced the barrier of a universe and found himself in the Earth-DR Universe.
The Earth-DR Universe was very similar to his home universe, but the abilities of its inhabitants were far inferior. After consuming his counterpart - the Collector of Worlds, he began to gather resources. He would amass an armada before eliminating Earth and the Justice League, then conquer the remaining universe. He even planned to eventually return to his own Universe with a massive fleet to get his revenge on the Justice League of his home universe.
Brainiac's armada of ten thousand main ships (ones that resemble skulls like tentacles) leading a million war ships containing of a hundred million drones and ten billion automatous robots. Each of the main ships is powerful enough to take out a planet by itself, but Brainiac is not leaving anything to chance. His obsession with Earth has threatened his existence and he will be victorious.
Suddenly, cloaked Cognito satellites release energy waves that disabling the cloaking capacity of the armada, revealing them to the Earth and Moon forces. Brainiac's forces attempt to restore their cloaking capacity, but the fields continually fail. Drones are ordered to capture the satellites for analyze, only for the satellites to self-destruct when the drones get close. Even with the satellite destruction, they can't restore their cloaking so it's abandoned.
The Brainiac Drones are the first to engage the Earth forces, encountering the Liberty Primes and Iron Legion of Space. It's a massacre for the Brainiac forces as the space sentinels have far superior combat ability. Brainiac drones are designed to terrorize civilian populations of planets and take control of weapons and technology. Iron Legion units are absurdly durable and strong capable of ripping the Brainiac Drones apart like the Kryptonian. Their variable beam weaponry is a form of technology that Brainiac has not encountered. Also, when the Brainiac Drones attempt to take control of the Earth machines, they get fried by the countermeasures.
Brainiac is forced to use a messy tactic. On Earth, Japanese Giant Hornets are vastly stronger than honeybees to the point they can each kill forty bees per minute. The Japanese Honeybees' solution is to dogpile the Hornet and cook them with their body heat. The Brainiac Drones begin to dogpile the Iron Legion and Primes and then either self-destruct or let the warships detonate them.
*DOOM*
Onboard the main ship, Brainiac stands analyzing the battle.
"Stealth invasion - failed. Digitization of planet – failed. Brute Invasion - in progress"
Brainiac was originally a Coluan – a green-skinned humanoid extraterrestrial looking very much like a human, but he believed he couldn't achieve his goals as an organic being. On Earth, he would be called an extreme transhumanist, as he replaced the majority of his body with the most advance cybernetic prosthetics he could create. He's little more than a green head on a body of black machine tentacles illuminated by purple and green lights. His symbol being the three lights on the forehead of his bald head.
"Battle efficiency is dropping. 45% of Drones have been destroyed. 5% of enemy drones have been destroyed. Electronic warfare – failure."
Brainiac considered his emotions to be a weakness that interfered with his intellect. The implants he placed in his brain, not only linked his mind to his computer systems, but allowed him to turn off his emotions and function with machine efficiency. If those emotions were active, he would be feeling doubt and frustration.
"Launch Project Scarab."
*DOOM*
Around the world, swarms of metallic insects appear from dark spatial anomalies. These machine insects resemble black beetles with a white skull marking on the back. As they clear their portals, they seek out humans and burrow into their bodies. When they reach the spine, clothing is shredded as black armor covers the victim like an insect's exoskeleton. The new slaves resemble Reach Scarab warriors only they are pure black with glowing green eyes and white skull-like marking over the face.
One million Brainiac-Beetles immediately take to the sky and fly towards Cognito Inc properties with some going for Lexcorp and Wayne assets. They are more than willing to kill anyone that gets in their way, but instead of focusing on them – Cognito security agents get civilians to safety.
Suddenly, every Brainiac-Beetles drone pause, hovering in place and not making a sound other than their flight mechanism.
*DOOM*
Cognito Building
Metropolis, Delaware, US
Now
3POV
The two Scarab Warriors stare at Rorschach. If anyone else stood in their way they would open fire with their vast array of weaponry, but a high-ranking Cognito Inc member is a cause for concern.
Rorschach slowly takes off his trench coat and tosses it into his inventory. Taking off his coat revealed he's wearing an odd belt with a metal plate around the bucket area for equipping a device. He raises his hand and a large metallic beetle flies out of a portal into his hand. It's a black-and-white robotic beetle with neon green highlights.
"I'm the Chosen One for this fight." says Rorschach, "Henshin"
As he places the Scarab Driver on his belt, there is a bright glow and thick red/black armor spreads across his body with a distinct hexagonal light pattern. It's an impressive suit of armor with a distinct grasshopper helmet. Rorschach then taps the driver causing the lever to rise and electricity to arc across the surface of the armor. The armor opens up, with plates separating and rising.
"Cast Off."
As he pulls the lever, there is an electronic voice saying "Cast Off." The plates release jets of steam before bursting off Rorschach to reveal more advance armor underneath. The Driver announces the name of the new form "Green Beetle."
The Brainiac Beetles attack the now armored Rorschach, only for Green Beetle to move at far greater speeds and deliver devastating punches. The B Beetles attempt to use their weaponry – both blasted and directed energy - only for Green Beetle to strike them hard enough to break them. He tosses the two around like rag dolls, but soon dozens of more B Beetles arrive.
"That was fun. Now it's time for a move from Ash's favorite." says Rorschach tapping his belt, "Wake Up Fever!"
The B Beetles are retrained by glowing symbols that float in the air behind them, shocking them as they struggle. Green Beetle turns gold as he jumps into the air. Brainiac's vast knowledge can't explain the illusion of the full moon he sees through the eyes of his drones. Green Beetle then descends with a glowing kick. As the power kick collides with the chest of one of the B Beetles, something shatters.
It's not the body of the B Beetle drone or Rorschach's armored leg, instead it's Brainiac's control.
A surge of strange energy cascades through the network connecting the Scarab warriors. Not just the ones present at the Cognito Building, but all one million units in control of Brainiac and even the remaining warriors under the control of the Reach are affected. Rorschach inside his new shell watches as the energy arcs like lightning across their forms and then with a roar they cast off. The black coloration is cast off like a discarded insect shell, leaving more colorful textures. Colors and patterns based on the reawakened personalities of Scarab hosts. The skull pattern is gone, revealing emotional faces with colorful vibrant eyes.
"Those needing to rest – rest at Cognito. Those wanting to fight – let's light this candle!"
*DOOM*
If Brainiac was currently capable of emotion, he would be crying out in disbelieve, fear, and anger. His plan was for the one million modified Scarab Beetles dimensionally warped to Earth, to take control of one million hosts. The transport method was dangerous and of the ten million sent only one million made it, but it was required to get past Earth's Cognito defenses (which reluctantly impressed Brainiac back when his emotions were active). They were supposed to cause damage to Earth's defenses, take hostages against the League, and be hostages themselves.
Instead, all one million are now independent of his control of those one million, four hundred sixty-four thousand nine hundred forty-two (464942) have decided to attack him and his forces, while the remainder recover or defend their homes.
He observes fourteen units appear via portal and swarm a warship. The ship is not meant to battle such small and agile fighters, and soon the energy beams cover the ship in crisscrossing patterns of molten markings. Eventually the beams do more than blow up gun placements and cut through the armor. When the energy conduits are cut, the high-pressure high-energy plasma is explosively released. Magnetic interlocks shatters and circuitry overloads, before the inside of the ship is consumed by explosions. Finally, the power core of the ship explodes, blasting it into two disintegrating halves.
Brainiac is computing a strategy, when suddenly all the Beetles and Iron Legion are transported away from the battle. Alarms then begin to sound and holographic screens show warnings.
"Emergency. Dimensional vibrations detected. Gravitational anomalies detected. High energy event is progress. Danger level is Extreme."
Brainiac can only watch as the numbers grow at an accelerating rate.
*DOOM*
When Brainiac's invasion had begun, his warships appearing in the Paradiso Hall windows, fresh portals appeared and ushered everyone to somewhere called "The War Room".
Upon arrival, the many guests, and other Cognito employees who were attending virtually, found themselves in a huge bowl-shaped arena with rings of seats, allowing them to look down onto an enormous holographic projector table. Presiding over it, and appearing for the first time in public astride a complicated-looking throne and holographic interface, was the elderly Doctor Genus, a man pushing past a full century of life; and it showed. Hunched back, gray hair, dry wrinkly skin, thinning limbs, gnarled fingers, and rectangular glasses before milky white eyes, the elderly man looked like he could drop dead at any moment.
And yet despite his withered, aged body, the man manipulated the holographic interface around him with amazing dexterity even as his limbs creaked, the skull-shaped warships slowly approaching Earth. Red targeting chevrons appearing around Brainaic's armada, the elderly man held out his hand, a hard-light gun appearing in his grasp and a targeting visor appeared before his eyes, Cognito's own fleet breaking stealth and appearing above the projected planet.
"All Wave Motion Guns... Fire!" he ordered with a pull of the trigger.
*DOOM*
Wave Motion Gun the trope name given to the Dimensional Wave Motion Gravitational Beam Emitter. An extremely destructive weapon based on the very BIG Guns of very big spaceships designed to destroy Very Big Objects. These insanely destructive weapons were placed on Moon and on Rorschach's Armada including the Outer Haven and his new absurdly long super-dreadnaught.
The massive brilliantly bright beams launched from the moon travel a hundred fifty thousand kilometers in half a second with the beams from Earth orbit taking another fraction of a second. Brainiac's strongest shields are around his ten thousand skull ships and they last for a remarkable 1.2 seconds. The energy beams strike with enough force to turn the sides facing them into fluffy clouds of plasma, then the rest of those ships are blown away and turned into plasma mixing with the solar winds.
Due to them being direct beams only part of Brainiac's Armada is wiped from the universe, but the Iron Legion open portals to redirect the wave motion beams. The beams annihilate the thousands of ships and even ships that manage to dodge are annihilated by the radiant power, bursts like molten metal balloons in the cold depths of space. Some ships are even destroyed when portals open inside the ships and the beams turn the ships into plasma-filled metal cannoli before they completely disintegrate
Brainiac, Vril Dox himself, and some of his drones activate a dimensional warp towards Earth, not caring about the risk of this method of transportation. If he doesn't reach Earth, he will be annihilated by the space defense forces.
*DOOM*
[Metropolis. Delaware, US]
[2 Hours later]
[DOOMSDAY]
3POV
Brainiac finally stands victorious over the Justice League. When he appeared in Metropolis he used his matter-energy conversion to create a cloud of nanomachines. These nanomachines spread across the world like a virulent pandemic consuming all organic life from plants and animals to people, while taking control of machines. Even with the loss of their world, the League and their allies continued to fight.
Martian Manhunter was incinerated into ash by an air-fuel bomb. Aquaman was hit by sonic shockwaves so powerful they liquified his organs. Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) was driven insane by radiation that bypassed his Ring's defenses, then had a spike driven through his skull. Flash was trapped in a energy field that aged him to dust. Wonder Woman was impaled by needles over and over again, until her body fell apart. Batman was trapped inside a field and vaporized by a micro nuke.
The younger teams tried their hardest, but they were all brutally killed in less creative methods than the League. In some cases, the Headquarters were vaporized.
Brainiac looks down at the Kryptonite irradiated corpse of Superman, allowing some emotion to return so he can enjoy his victory.
"Not a bad plan, Vril Dox." says an old man. "As expected of a Twelfth Level Intellect."
Brainiac turns and fires at the one that talked only for the beam to pass through Doctor Genus, doing no damage. It does produce trails of purple particles.
"Not good enough." says Doctor Genus replies, now in Coluan and unashamedly a hologram as the corpses of the League dissolve into blue-purple polygons and pixels. Brainiac looks in all directions as the ruined Metropolis also dissolves into data particles.
"A simulation?" he asks as a black void replaces it.
"A micro-cyberverse. When you tried to warp to Earth, I rerouted you into a little digital universe instead. There are no network connectors, physical or wireless, so don't bother trying to escape."
"Do you intend to use me for my information?"
"Foolish cyborg. I have grown beyond your paltry Twelfth-Level Intellect." Says Doctor Genus, "I have no need for obsolete garbage like you."
Brainiac knows with absolute certainly, that he is Doomed.
And also, when he had erred.
"The Reach homeworld... The data cache I detected. You baited me into going there before Earth, didn't you?"
"If you were any smarter, you wouldn't have fallen for it~" Doctor Genus' hologram grinned.
*DOOM*
Outer Heaven, Moon
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Valentine's Day - Wedding
Brainiac's Doomsday.
1POV
"That was an amazing Simulation" says Garfield Logan, "Is that going to be a new game on the Amusphere."
"Oh no, the invasion was all real," Rorschach hummed causing everyone to gawp. "Only the planetside invasion was relocated in a virtual space. Everything else was in real-space."
"What!?" yells most of the heroes in the crowd, which is a lot.
"Cognito wiped out Brainiac's Armada and is cleaning up the mess left behind. Cognito Satellites will be blocking debris and particles for next month, but Earth won't get hit by the radiation. We eve took care of Brainiac's backup hidden throughout the galaxy so we won't have to worry about a resurrected villain showing up."
"What happened to Brainiac?" demands Batman.
"Cool your cape, Bat Brat. He should be ready..."
*Ding*
"...right now."
Doctor Genus moved to get up, but slumped back into his chair with an exhausted sigh. Immediately getting the hint, Rorschach moved over to the side of the projector table and unplugged a cube-shaped lava lamp, rectangular and filled with swirling, glowing purple goo. The top of the lava lamp was marked with a white button covered with a hinged glass covering, a black "Recycle" symbol printed in impossible-to-miss print.
"Hold on a second, we all saw Rorschach transform into that 'Green Beetle' guy, but he's also been at the wedding the entire time?" Garfield blinked.
In response to this, an exact duplicate of the white-on-black-masked figure walked into the hall on Maxima's opposite side, the one that'd been with her the entire time stepping away.
"Thanks for covering for me."
"No problem. If you need me, I'll be in my wireless charging station."
"Did I miss anything important while I was out?"
"No. Most of the conversations were boring," Rorschach and 'not-Rorschach'(?) exchanged, some of the guests riled up and insulted, but completely unwilling to give voice to their malcontent.
Maxima standing beside her lawfully-wedded husband, the two of them held the Micro-Cyberverse Battery containing the digitized Brainiac with one hand, the other flipping up the glass case shielding the button from any unwanted pressing.
"Together?" Rorschach inquired.
"Always, and forever."
The two threading their fingers together and pressing down on the button, the Micro-Cyberverse Batter emitted a loud humming noise and was filled with bright sparkles. The purple glow fading before going completely black with a loud *POP* like a blown fuse, Brainiac, the super-genius obsessed with knowledge and data, willing to reduce the universe itself to nothing-but, was himself erased like an unwanted computer file.
"So that's it, then?" Maxima inquired while Kotetsu peeled away from the rest of the spectators and took a knee beside Doctor Genus.
"Yes. Brainiac is really gone. For good this time," Rorschach answered while Kotetsu checked the old man's pulse at the wrist, and then the throat.
"This isn't the victory I wanted," she said holding the inert Battery which was nothing more than an empty glass box, whereas Kotetsu pressed his phone to the underside of the elderly doctor's nose. "But... It's the victory my people deserve," she admitted as Kotetsu looked at his phone screen and hissed.
"Um, Rorschach?"
"What is it, Kotetsu?"
"Doctor Genus is dead."
" . . . "
"WHAAAAAT?!" the entirety of the present audience, nay, the entire world gasped in shock as their attention focussed on the slumped-over body of Doctor Genus. Doctor Genus, the smartest mammal in the entire universe and the driving force behind the corporate juggernaut that had completely and utterly changed the world's standard of living, was dead. Already, people were speculating whether or not Cognito Inc. would fragment, whether or not it could survive the loss of its most-powerful scientific mind.
"K-Kotetsu, are you sure about that?" Karina asked worriedly, glancing worried between Wild Tiger and their new sponsor.
"Karina, I actually know how to pronounce a dead body. That's why I insist on teaching that class personally," Kotetsu stated, reaching over and shutting the doctor's lifeless eyes.
A moment later, Eri broke through the crowd, running over to the old man and ripping her Inhibitor Ribbon from her horn before pressing her hands to Doctor Genus' side and letting her power run wild. Gold energy spilling out of her horn, bathing Doctor Genus in a golden halo, after several seconds she looked up hopefully, only for Doctor Genus to remain slumped over, eyes closed. Tears welling up in her eyes, the little girl frantically shook him in an attempt to wake him, the Infinite Chocolate Bar he'd given her fell from her pocket, a corner breaking off with a *Crack* in a room now so-silent a pin dropped could've been heard.
"Eri..." Izuku said walking up to her as the last of Eri's [Rewind] petered out, water running down her cheeks as her hands fell to her sides.
As the world mourned the loss of its most-influential figure, "corporate overlord" he may've been, up in the "nosebleed section", part of the wall pulled back revealing itself to be a door. Steam hissing out and causing one Kyoka Jiro, aka "Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack", to ready her mutated earlobes in anticipation, the sound of wet footsteps met her ears. Her friends nearby turning to see what was going on, as a figure walked into the light, the hushed silence was suddenly pierced by a shrill- "EYAAUUUUUUUGH!"
Everyone in the audience turning to the source of the sound, stared incredulously as, stepping out of the shadows, was a wiry Japanese man with pale skin, sharp features, piercing blue eyes, and sopping wet black hair that he was parting to the right. That, and he was completely naked with rivulets of mysterious blue fluid trailing down his body.
While Kyoka was having flashbacks of Mirio leaping up behind her and flashing her the goods at point-blank range, Mirio himself realized that this was what it was like to be flashed the goods by a complete stranger.
"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Who the heck are you!?" Ochako demanded as she covered her face, her Quirk causing her to pinwheel through the air.
"What? Don't you recognize me?" the naked man asked as he shamelessly did nude stretches, shaking his leg to get some of the fluid off which had the expected results on his free-hanging... anatomy.
"No, I'm pretty sure we don't. And why are you naked?" Nejire asked, only slightly nonplussed at the sight.
"Well, obviously I'm not going to have my clone bodies wear clothes, they'd get ruined by the cloning fluid. Not to mention all the chaffing."
"Clone... bodies...?" Momo questioned, looking to the naked man and keeping her eyes above the waist before she turned to face the deceased doctor at the bottom of the arena. "Wait... you can't mean..."
"Doctor Genus...? Is that you in there...?" Jin questioned incredulously, using his Quirk to make a Double of himself who took off his jacket and tied it around the cloned body's waist like an apron.
Doctor Genus simply nodding his head in turn, caused shocked cries of outrage to spread through the crowd as he descended the stairs.
"The Doctor is alive in a new body!?"
"The Doctor is young now!?"
"Is he immortal?!"
"Why doesn't he have clothes on!?"
"That's your question?"
"Doctor Genus – put on some pants!"
"I have pants in my office; it's in my contract," the now-"youngified" doctor said as he descended to the ground level. Everyone still staring at him in shock, even at his firm, young buttocks. Eri, eyes watery with tears while Izuku muttered uncontrollably about the implications of what he was seeing, suddenly ran towards him crying rivers of tears and threw her arms around his legs, burying her face into Double-Jin's jacket. Doctor Genus, still dripping with tank fluid, looked a little hesitant before Maxima shot him a demanding look, the scientist reaching down and patting the girl atop the head until she stopped crying.
"Doctor Genius...?" she blinked, eyes slowly drying.
"Yes. It's me."
"I... I dropped your chocolate..."
"It's okay. I'll make you another one."
"You... Did you 'Rewind' yourself?" she blinked as she looked up at the young man, and then back to the elderly body slumped over in the chair, trying to process what she was seeing.
"In a sense," the man replied, lightly extricating himself from Eri's grip and sidling around her, taking care not to expose his buttocks to her as he backpedaled toward his old body, looking down on it like a man staring at his own dilapidated house for the last time before the wrecking ball started swinging. "Huh. Guess my math was a bit off. I was sure I had another forty-seven hours before I croaked of old age."
"To be fair, you did put your body under a lot of duress convincing Brainiac he wasn't in a simulated universe," Rorschach stated completely nonplussed by this.
"Excuse me, but I think the world has a right to know..." Lois Kent (formerly Lane) said as she peeled away from the crowd and approached, ignoring the nudity of the half-soaked near-naked man before her. "Are you... the real Doctor Genus, or a clone with the memories of the original?"
"The real deal. My Aiúa, the physical representation of the 'soul', simply jumped ship to a new Philote the moment my old body croaked," Doctor Genus answered.
"And how did you do that?!" she asked incredulously, the rich and wealthy seeing functional immortality ripe for the taking.
"Not telling. Everyone else would get it wrong and have 'Transporter Clones' running around every time they stubbed their toe or sneezed funny. Not to mention that the germination and storage are prohibitively expensive outside the Cognito Inc. Life Insurance Plan."
"So that's what all those line items in our policies are for..." both Shepards hummed, following this the easiest since the majority of their bodies were either cybernetically augmented or cloned tissue.
Doctor Genus, taking the glasses and coat off his old body and donning them himself, completely disregarded how he sent his old body tumbling out of its chair. "Old Genus" would've hit the ground and bruised like fruit had Izuku not shot forward and righted the body.
"H-Hey! Show a little more respect!"
"Why? It's my dead body. As far as I'm concerned, that's just a collection of dead cells no different than hair or nail clippings," Doctor Genus shrugged uncaringly.
"What should we do with your old body?" Maxima inquired, visibly apprising his younger form.
"Bury it. Burn it. Embalm it and take it on a cross-country 'Funeral Tour' like they did with Lincoln. I could mathematically quantify why, I do not care," Genus 2.0 said as he proceeded to walk off.
"Hold on..." Lois said barring his path for one more question, knowing if she didn't act upon this exposure, Doctor Genus might completely seclude himself and never be available in-person ever again. "If you could always jump into a new, youthful body, why did you wait until your original body died of old age to do so? Couldn't you have just... given yourself bionic organs and medical nanotech to keep yourself alive long-term?"
"Mrs. Kent," Doctor Genus sighed tiredly as he adjusted his old glasses on his new face. "The reason I chose to die of old age as nature intended, before completely subverting it, was so that I would treat my immortality with the respect that it deserves, and not treat every body I inhabit so-callously. It's why Cognito Inc. employees who wind up dying repeatedly for asinine and preventable reasons will be cut off from the program. Immortality is a gift that I earned over decades of research and choose to share with those under me; it is not a privilege, nor is it something that should be treated frivolously. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's getting kind of drafty, and I really would prefer to put my clothes on in solitude."
Doctor Genus pushing his way past her and doors locking in place at his back, barring the sudden tide of people willing to shell money out the ass for backup bodies and actual Soul Transfers, I on the other hand didn't care as I myself had my own form of Immortality.
Though admittedly, I didn't so much "die" as I had "gotten Isekai'd", so there might've actually been something to the whole "treating immortality with the respect it deserves" thing.
*DOOM*
Aftermath: The League
Watchtower
Earth Orbit
Monday, February 15, 2016
Station Time: 11:00
3POV
"What a wedding."
The Core members of the Justice League have gathered around their meeting table. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman and Martian Manhunter
"Yesterday, Rorschach set history by being the first human to officially marry an extraterrestrial." says Superman, "At least to the public that was the only case. He also became the King of high-tier SPBs."
Superman is married to Lois Lane, but only under his human identity of Clark Kent. Icon (Arnus/Augustus Freeman) who arrived on Earth in 1810 has been married, but those relationships never lasted and no children were produced. There are actually dozens of extraterrestrials living on Earth that have taken human spouses and more in the past, but the world is mostly ignorant to their existence.
"These is actually the least of our worries" says Batman. "Rorschach Erased an Assassin from existence."
"Erased?" asks Aquaman.
"He was completely erased from existence, including history. Thanks to Rorschach the assassin was never born." says Batman
"Did he tell you why he went to such an extreme." asks Wonder Woman, accepting Batman figured a person had been erased from history, "Rorschach has been able to eliminate threats with far less effort."
"According to him the Assassin used dark magic to bypass Rorschach's defenses. The ritual involved sacrificing thirteen children to a cosmic horror, an act that apparently weakened the barriers between our world and the horror's realm."
"Actions of a Madman!" says Doctor Fate (Nabu) as he appears through a glowing golden ankh portal. The Lord of Order sounds very angry, something even Klarion hadn't managed to this level.
"Nice of you to join us." says Batman.
"The summoning of Outer Gods and creatures beyond the Gates is Forbidden by magical laws. The fact the fool was willing to sacrifice the souls of innocence to those things is also unforgivable!" says Nabu, his eyes glowing bright with his agitation, but he is calming down, "I have consulted the Lords of Order. They agree with Rorschach's actions."
"Woah. Not that I care about a child murdering assassin, but the Lords approve of erasing someone from existence?" asks Flash
"The Assassin's actions endangered the stability of universe, opening our world to beings whose very existence would erode the universe. These beings seek to increase their territory by consuming other universes, so the stability of those barriers is paramount."
"The danger of those beings is very real." says Aquaman, "Atlantis has gone to war with surface world countries in order to destroy even the most basic texts on summoning those creatures."
"My people have also done similar." says Wonder Woman, "They were once ordered by Gaea herself to destroy a city because the citizens had become infected."
"My Tower once contained the nigh-indestructible examples of those tomes, grimoires, and relics. Thankfully, Ash Grey's unique ability was able to finally destroy them."
"There is something I was thinking about. What about Cognito's portals?" asks Batman, "It's no secret that he gets resources from other universes. How do they effect the barrier?"
"I have analyzed the portals. They are shielded against the horrors. Cognito is very aware of those beings and had taken steps to protect our local cluster of universes."
"I'm guessing Doctor Genus' awareness of these things is the reason he drinks?" says Green Arrow.
In the room, they are joined by Green Lantern (John Stewart), Black Canary (Dinah Lance). Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce). Hawkman (Katar Hol) and Hawkwoman (Shayera Thal), and Green Arrow (Oliver Queen).
"Without a doubt." says Doctor Fate, "I have seen thousands of scholars and heroes drown themselves in liquor after learning of existence of those things."
"Was Lovecraft aware of those things?" asks Dinah.
"To a very small degree." says Doctor Fate with some disgust. "My host before Kent Nelson was unfortunate enough to meet the man. He was scared of anyone outside his hometown, racist for the time, and terrible at science and mathematics. "
"How bad was he?" asks John Stewart, feeling he will regret it.
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of weird, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. His lack of scientific knowledge led to some of his story elements such as misunderstanding of ultraviolet and infrared light led him to write the "The Color Out of Space", and his ignorance of non-Euclidean geometry (geometry on a curved surface like a globe) led to the alien geometry in "The Call of Cthulhu". His dislike of racial crossbreeds and lower-class people led to the horrific fish people in "The Shadow over Innsmouth".
"He thought African-Americans were hatched from eggs like lizards."
There are a lot of grimaces.
"Next topic. The fact that Cognito Inc has enough firepower to wipe out an entire extraterrestrial Armada created by one of the smartest beings in the Universe."
The meeting continued for two hours. Finally ending on a discussion about the hundreds of thousands of Scarab Warriors around the world. Batman was worried that those converted humans would become an army under Cognito's command, but what the point. Cognito already has an obscene amount of firepower and unlimited resources. If Cognito wanted to take over the Earth, they could do so with ease and the people would argue the world would be in better hands.
Flash also got roasted because he agreed to advertise a new brand of Cognito Coffee, on top of "Lightspeed Energy Bar"s.
"Sooooo... Are we just going to gloss over how Doctor Genus, and probably everyone working for Cognito Inc., is functionally immortal?" Green Arrow questioned. "Because in all honesty, 'going Corporate' is starting to sound pret-ty darn good right now..."
"I wouldn't too sure about that." says Batman, "Nothing is without a cost. Even life eternal."
"Immortality weighs on the human soul. Humans are social animals, but immortality causes them to become emotionally detached to mortals. They have to become detached or the burden for centuries of painful memories will break them." says Wonder Woman, "The Amazons were blessed with immortality, but it's also the reason it took so long to reconnect with the outside world. I'm over ninety years old, but I was able to connect because I'm a 'child'"
"Vandal Savage gained immortality thousands of years ago." comments Martian Manhunter, "It's ironic but his own villainous heart is the reason he has survived. If he actually truly cared about people, the constant loss of family and friends would have broken him."
"Doctor Genus' immortality is different. He wasn't gifted or cursed with immortality, he gained it with his own intellect." says Superman, "Instead of a mortal mind stretched and grown over centuries, he's a super genius who gained a wealth of knowledge and wisdom during a single mortal lifetime. His mind is already aware of things beyond mortal understanding."
"Immortality is not a gift. Immortality is an achievement, and only those who strive mightily shall possess it." Says Batman, quoting Edgar Lee Masters.
"The Maltusians... the Guardians achieved Immortality. Doctor Genus himself pointed out how detached they have become." says Green Lantern Hal Jordan.
"What's different about this is Doctor Genus didn't just achieve immortality for himself, he achieved it for anyone that wants to follow him. Cognito can now offer their heroes insurance that they will return to their friends and family not matter how great the danger."
"Wouldn't immortality make the corporate heroes more reckless? Since they have extra lives, they can take risks without permanently dying."
"Doctor Genus said explicitly that if that system were abused, he could cut them off from the program. He wants people to fully live their lives, not waste them on preventable risks."
"At least people won't be wasting their lives like video game characters."
"So, what does immortality mean to us, other than some of us could be going corporate?"
"It means if we ever got into a major conflict with Cognito, they could escalate things without fear."
"It's not like they need immortality for that. Rorschach is a nigh-invulnerable super-assassin with access to all of Doctor Genus's best weaponry and toys. Ash Grey is the universe's most feared monster and immune to everything. Cognito also has an absurd number of disposable robots, not to mention all the alliances they've made across the universe."
"So, the best solution to surviving a conflict with Cognito; don't start one."
*DOOM*
Aftermath: The Light.
Light Virtual Meeting
Monday, February 15, 2016
11:45
3POV
Everyone has logged in and the virtual forms of the Light members sit around a round table on the plateau of a virtual mountain above the clouds.
"I have to say that was the most interesting wedding I have ever attended" says Luthor (L3) with a little mocking in his voice. "Thankfully, the Scarab warriors were only under the control of the Brainiac for a short period, so the damage inflicted was minimal."
"There are now nearly one million modified scarab warriors in the world. Of those one million - four hundred sixty-four thousand nine hundred forty-two joined in the battle against Brainiac. Of those one million, only four hundred seventy-five died during the battle. This was due to inexperience of civilians given superhuman abilities with little training." says Ra's al Ghul (L2), "It's still impressive."
"How many of Scarabs work for us?" asks Vandal Savage (L1)
"It's difficult to determine. Brainiac distributed them over the most populated areas, so the majority come from India, United States, and Indonesia. Nearly all countries have at least one Scarab. The numbers in China are uncertain due to the destruction caused by the Dragons and the resulting civil wars." says Ra's, "Among the League of Shadows, we have one hundred thirty Scarabs. One hundred twenty-eight that remained loyal, while two have left."
"Left?"
"The two feel in love with each other and decided to retire. The League of Shadows has been aware of them for some time and it was decided they weren't important enough to warrant termination. I'm confident in their ability to keep secrets, so the league is allowing their retirement."
"How sweet." says Queen Bee, with sarcasm, "Greater Bialya has two hundred thirty-six Scarabs. One hundred twenty-nine are military or law enforcement. One hundred six have been recruited and one was an underage orphan girl who has been adopted by a loyal family."
"I only have nine Scarabs among my current men" says Black Manta (L-8), "One of them is my second in command. Lucia is currently calling herself Water Beetle."
Water Beetle (Lucia) is also David Hyde's current lover, but the Light has already teased him.
"I have some interesting news" says L-9, who replaced the now deceased Brain (L-6). "I managed to get samples from a Scarab subject and I found CNA."
"CNA?" asks Vandal.
"CNA is the genetic material that determines what Cybetronian Transformers are like. It's also present in Technoformers – the human/transformer hybrids – along with corresponding DNA." says L-9, "I theorize that Brainiac's Scarabs were hybrids of Reach and the advance Coluan technology. Doctor Genus freed everyone by replacing the Coluan tech with cybertronian."
"How does this effect the host?" asks Vandal.
"Even without the symbiotic Scarab, the human hosts contain techno-organic traces. Enough that all remaining subjects can be considered transhuman." says L-9 "These subjects could the beginning of a new advance in humanity."
"An advancement that will serve the Light." says Vandal Savage, "Keep us informed of your research, Dr. Sevarius."
"Of course."
"I have a question."
"Yes, L-7."
"You sound like that pollution monster that fought those rainforest fairies" says Klarion (L-7) "and the darkness that fathered the devil with huge horns and that jerk Godfrey"
"Meow" says his familiar.
"I don't want to talk about the clown."
"Klarion, I told you not to show up if you were in the catnip again."
"Honestly, I'm surprised you of all people are so nonchalant about this," Lex hummed.
"What do you mean?" Vandal inquired.
"Well, I mean... He cracked the code. Immortal life is literally in the palm of his hands. Him and everyone else under Cognito's banner; assuming they're important-enough, that is."
"Immortality is the achievement that humanity seeks in every era," Vandal replied with a wave. "I have watched many, mostly my own descendants, achieve it. The reason the majority are not around today is because they didn't adequately prepare for what they would do with a life eternal. Doctor Genus, the 'smartest mammal in the universe', in all likelihood has hundreds of contingency plans."
"So then instead of working against him and risking certain failure, it's best to turn those plans to our advantage?" Lex inquired.
"Unfortunately, that is all we can do at the moment..." Sevarious hummed. "Until we know whether his immortality method is actually 'prohibitively expensive' or if that's just a ruse, it wouldn't be in our best interests to provoke him."
"I say you wake that sleeping dragon!" Klarion whooped. "Let anarchy reign!"
"Someone get this imbecile into rehab..." Ra's groaned, while at the same time, idly wondering how-well Doctor Genus would handle his newly-utilized immortality.
*DOOM*
Throne of Tyranny
The Palace, Apokalips
[Earth Date - Monday, February 15, 2016]
7:06
3POV
Apokolips is a terrifying world, an ecumenopolis (planetwide city) with massive burning firepits that can be seen from orbit. All citizens of this world exist to obey the commands of their absolute ruler, all slaves to his will, but some possessing enough power to rule over those weaker than them. It's a world of massive factories that produce vehicles, supplies, and weapons for its massive armies. Those captured by the armies are brought back to either be brainwashed into devout slaves or transformed into parademons – the cybernetic beasts that act as the personal shock troops.
It's a place where hope dies and freedom is an illusion.
In the comics, Darkseid is one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe. Once known as Uxas, a prince of Apokolips, he murdered his brother Drax for the throne and took the power of the fabled Omega Force for himself. The New God ceased to exist as man becoming the literal god of tyranny. In the main DC Multiverse, he is nearly impossible to kill, because he merely uses avatars in lesser worlds. The true Darkseid's very existence would cause a normal universe to rot.
Thankfully, the Darkseid of Earth-DR is cut off from the True Darkseid and exists independent. He is still one of the most powerful and feared beings in the universe, leading one of the most advance armies, but there is a tiny fleeing spark of hope in the universe.
Around the turn of the thirteenth century, Darkseid's forces attempted to conquer Earth but were faced with resistance from Vandal Savage, who at the time was using the name Genghis Khan and his army. Although Savage's army was defeated, Darkseid was intrigued by the Meta-human abilities Savage and his two sons displayed. He entered into a partnership with Savage, stating that they would join forces in order to conquer the Galaxy, however once this goal was accomplished, Earth and Apokolips would engage in a final battle for sole domination of the universe.
"Report." says the God of Tyranny as he looks out from the balcony, not even turning to look at his servant.
"Brainiac - Vril Dox I from another universe – has been destroyed. The massive armada sent against Earth was annihilated. Doctor Genus of Cognito has proven he is the smartest mammal in the universe, surpassing the Twelfth Level." says the servant, his head to the ground, "It is possible he is one that solved the Anti-Life Equation"
"Darkseid!" yells a warrior breaks through the doors to the throne room. He's a tall muscular man with glowing eyes and long golden hair, He's also dressed in a skintight outfit with a cape. He looks a lot like one of the Flying Brick superheroes found on Earth, but Earth's contact with Apokalips is very limited. He soars towards Darkseid with rage in his eyes, "For My People!"
Darkseid doesn't move a millimeter, instead two red laser-like beams shoot from the tyrant's eyes, curving at strange angles so they hit the attacker behind him. The warrior cries out in agony, surrounded by red light of the Omega effect, then he burns away. The cloth and flesh burn away first, and the bones are mostly gone before the ashes hit the ground. Only ashes remain of the nigh invulnerable hero of a conquered race.
The servant doesn't move from his position on the floor, awed by his lord and master's power.
"Continue the Investigation... and clean that mess up."
*DOOM*
END OF CHAPTER 30.