Avenging Justice 3:

To Infinity and Anti-Life

Part XXXIV

Earth Orbit, Justice League Watchtower

J'onn watched the chaos down below. The news agencies were running with the Spider-Man story, and many were doubting his report. Leading the charge was J. Jonah Jameson, who had taken his local rag, the Daily Bugle, and made it a national sensation going after Spider-Man. Despite this, a sizable portion of the population was actively calling on their elected officials to heed his warning.

The being known as the Martian Manhunter had already called up all the Justice League, and their reservists. Black Canary and Green Arrow were already on station and were getting ready to be sent down to the surface. Green Lantern Stewart was looking over the images coming in, and studying them. J'onn could see the determination, and the worry. For all they knew, this imposter was just as powerful as the real deal.

J'onn looked down, a message from Wonder Woman flashed across his screen. She was on her way, and he felt a pang of sympathy for her. She'd been running almost nonstop, trying to make up for the missing Superman and Batman. She truly was a wonder woman, because she had been holding the line. However, being the paragon of Hope and Vengeance was a heavy one. He'd have to remind her to take some time off, and rest. If those two were going to be gone for much longer, than she and the rest of the world would have to adapt.

What came next almost made him lose his reserved demeanor. It was just a few words, but they spoke volumes. Spoken by a man who put meaning behind the few words he said, and made them count. J'onn felt himself smile, and held onto that tiny resurgence in hope.

On my way, picking up something. Hold the line, and tell the others those who do injustice will fear the night. Next to these few lines, was the symbol of a chiroptera, a bat.

Then the station went crazy. Klaxons blared all around, the whole station shook, and multiple warnings flashed across his screen. Multiple fires, atmosphere leaks reports came in, and the station started to lose its orbit. He knew if it continued, soon the orbit would deteriorate so much, it would burn up reentering the atmosphere. He had to stop this.

"Oliver, Dinah, get to the transports, I'll get you down to the ground," J'onn called out. Then into the intercom, "Abandon station, repeat abandon station."

Green Lantern Stewart found one of the evacuation tubes, "I'll do what I can from outside, you can't do it alone in here."

"Appreciated, but if we don't find what hit us, I fear it will be for naught," J'onn said back.

Green Lantern's reply was almost immediate, "I can tell you what caused it, and we're in trouble. Quick fire the repositioning thrusters. We need to move the station."

Just as the words finished, the station was hit again, rocking it around and Martian Manhunter kept it stable, barely. A green globe covered the station and J'onn felt it moving in addition to the reorienting thrusters he had begun. Now as the screens blanked out, he looked out of the station's windows. There was an invasion fleet, one that made the battle of New York look like a skirmish.

"I'm sorry, the Green Lanterns are stretched thin," came Green Lantern Stewart's saddened voice. "All you've got is me."

Martian Manhunter nodded, "You forget this is Earth, and it has mighty champions. Besides, sometimes, I'm told, it is darkest before the dawn."

"Let's hope you are right, "Green Lantern said. "I just have this feeling it's going to be a long day."

Earth, Oklahoma, Broken Bow

The Flash was running, in one hand was a sack full of hot dogs, in his other hand a soda. Not the healthiest of meals, but he was having to eat on the run. Spider-Man's message had just come out, and there was no way he was going to let anyone face an evil superman alone. It was just going to be really weird fighting someone that looked a lot like an old friend, if you disregarded the metal components.

He almost stopped as the communicator in his cowl, registered the Watchtower going dark. Something bad just happened, and he couldn't fly up to see what it was. He was missing the big guy right now, and not for the first time felt scared. Scared because of all the heroes, they each had their fit. Batman was the strategist, Superman the symbol, Wonder Woman a warrior goddess, even the Green Lanterns were space cops. He was what, really fast?

"Anybody out there?" the voice was Green Arrow's and he sounded like he was straining.

Flash stopped and put a hand up to his cowl, "Flash here, is that you Arrow?"

"Yeah, why don't you be a good speed freak and get me and Canary down," Green Arrow sighed.

Flash shook his head, "What are you talking about, where are you?"

"He's hanging upside down from a crane, with all his gear below him," Black Canary's voice was holding back laughter. "Don't worry about me, I got this."

Before Flash could ask, a map appeared over the lenses in his cowl. It showed an arrow icon directly northwest of his position. The oracle image that flashed over the message, gave him reassurance. As he ran towards the position, another message scrolled across his vision. Watchtower is down, I'll be attempting to compensate from here."

Flash didn't have time to think about that, but at least someone was there trying to help them coordinate. They were good too, whomever was helping out. He found Green Arrow trussed up and hanging on by a thread. Quickly Flash collected Arrow's gear and then got him down, just in time for a loud, piercing sonic scream to fill the air. He looked back to see Black Canary landing hard, but not enough to cause injury.

"Remind me not to try that again anytime soon," she said. "You okay there?"

Green Arrow nodded, "Yeah, remind me to send a thank you card to the attackers. The system glitched and sent me and my gear in different directions."

Flash smiled, "Hey, at least all your parts and organs are in the same place."

He rethought that only after the scowl Green Arrow gave him. He held up his hands to show no offense, but the other man stomped off, growling something about checking to make sure that was true. Meanwhile Black Canary looked up at the sky worriedly. What had they seen up there?

"Everything that matters is still there," Green Arrow declared as he came back out. "Now, how do we get to California?"

Flash shrugged, "I could temporarily get you somewhere close, but anything more than that and it could be dangerous for you two."

"I'm getting messages from Oracle, I say we find what the plan is and go from there," Black Canary said. "Flash, why don't you continue, we might need someone with your speed there."

Flash nodded, "Do you want me to drop you two off somewhere?"

"No, we're good," Green Arrow sighed. "I'll never be living this down now. Especially if you know who find outs."

Black Canary gave him a hug, "Don't worry, I won't tell the big bad Bat that you were left hanging."

"You know, I don't care, let's just get going," he said grumpily.

Earth, Delaware, Metropolis

Lois was trying to talk down a very, very angry Kyrptonian teenager. Talking to supervillains, superheroes and everything in between, no issue. However, one angry teenager with the ability to melt buildings with a glance, or crush a car into something the size of a diamond, was not a job she was particularly finding easy to do.

"You need rest, you were nearly falling over on your feet!" Lois argued.

Supergirl's face was a mask of rage, "That imposter is destroying my cousin's legacy, the only family I have left! I am going to rip those robotic parts out one by one!"

"Exactly why you need to stay here," Lois put herself in front of the angry teen girl. "He has all of Superman's abilities, and you're going to need your head on straight to take him on."

Supergirl's visage softened and she gave Lois a smile, "You have been good to me, tried to help me out. He would be so proud of you, but This is something I have to do. I promise, I'll keep my head on and not let my emotions to get the better of me."

"At least call Captain Marvel," Lois said, hoping to get the young woman some help.

Shockingly, Supergirl gave her a gentle hug, "No, I don't need her to take this imposter down. I did call her to help get his hostages out. I don't know where she is, or when she might get the message. So, it's got to be me."

"Don't make me get kryptonite to keep you here," Lois threatened. "The world can't lose another Super person."

Supergirl smiled sadly, "No, they need him. I've always been looking for my own place, on an alien world. You've always been good to me, the Danvers have been good to me. The champion of this world will always be him. I can try, but I'm merely a visitor."

"You know, he's always felt out of place, but he always tried to do what was right," Lois reminded her. "He doesn't always get it right, and sometimes he feels isolated as well. There are times he needs his friends. That is one of the reasons he and Batman get along. They will always be there for each other."

Supergirl walked to the outside balcony, "Yeah, Wonder Woman has tried, so did Captain Marvel. I owe it to him to do what he can't do right now. Please don't try to stop me."

"Just promise me two things," Lois said as she looked up into the air. "Come back in once piece, and kick that imposters ass!"

Supergirl smiled, "Oh, he's going to regret the day he thought of impersonating Kal."

Lois watched the young woman fly off, again feeling like she needed some prognosticator, to tell her she had made the right decision. In her head, she knew she should have kept Kara there with her. She was still raw from losing him, her only surviving family. Yet, there was the side of her that was the military brat, that understood sometimes the best medicine was fighting back. So, she made her decision, and would stand by it.

Of course, it was at that time that her phone rang. Sure it was Perry White, she picked it up. However, the voice was mechanical, and she knew it was one of the robots from the Fortress of Solitude. However, the message it played was recorded by another. She fell her knees, tears streaming down her face, and she looked up the sky thrusting a fist straight up. The call ended and she took a moment to let all of her emotions play out. Then Perry White called her, almost as if on cue.

Earth, Washington D.C., Naval Yard, NCIS Headquarters

Special Agent Regina Lawrence looked on at the video playing across her screen. She couldn't believe it, though she had to admit the cyborg wasn't her choice for the real McCoy. She had thought it could have been the kid. I mean cloning was something that had been improved on, and with the rapidity that he showed up, would make sense. Than again, why couldn't just make him an adult?

That was all in the background, and her conscious mind was going over plans, ideas for what was going to happen next. None of it would be good, the government had three Kryptonian criminals in lockup. How tempting would it be to bow to their demands, for them to save the world from the now evil Cyborg super guy? No, she rather not think of that, because it would be very, very tempting. And would be a new dark age on humanity.

"Agent Lawrence, my office," Director Vance's voice came from the stairs. "I have a new mission or you and your team."

With what was on the news, she had a very good idea of what that would be. Still, she got her team together and marched up to the director's office. Even as they entered, the director's assistant buzzed them on through. The director was on the phone, talking to someone, and his whole demeanor showed that whomever he was talking to was high up in the government.

"That's right, I've got my agents on this," Vance said. "We'll be connecting up with the agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. Yes, there will be no issues. Are there any other countermeasures we should be aware of? I understand this, but these are my agents, please keep me informed." He hung up his phone and then turned to the team in front of him. "That was the Secretary of the Navy. As you know, we have a potential disaster on our hands, and the President wants your help. Agent Lawrence, your team will be joining up with the Avenger's outside of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. I take you've been there before?"

Regina nodded, "Yes, took a Trekkie friend there once. She wanted to see where the Klingon crash landed on 'Enterprise.'"

"Good, then you and your team head there immediately. Load up on supplies and whatever resources you need. Be ready to leave in half an hour," Director Vance said. "This is a matter of national security, so all of this is beyond Top Secret. If we survive what comes next, you all are not to speak of this to anyone."

Ian nodded, "Understood sir. I'll be heading to the armory immediately. What load out are we going with."

"Personal choice," Director Vance answered. "Take whatever you need to make a significant impact and get your team back safely, or enough to take out any threat you come across."

Ian was already going over an inventory in his head, "Yes, Sir."

"Agent Lawrence, congratulations, you're about to meet a man who doesn't exist," Vance said. "Tell Fury, this makes up even now."

In exactly twenty-five minutes later, the team was assembled in full body armor. Ian handed each one of them rifles and pistol side arms. Each wore dark helmets, meant to protect them in case of getting hit. However, if he understood what they were going after, it wouldn't do much good. It was just better than nothing at all. He looked them all over, he would rather be going with his old team, but that wasn't an option. The others were good investigators, and he respected Regina's ability with portals. He just had this sinking feeling they were going to need warriors, and he didn't want to see his friends harmed.

The portal opened and the team went through, and the cool garage was replaced with warm Oklahoman air. Beside them was a statue of a Klingon and a Human, marking the first contact between the two races, in the fictional universe of Star Trek. Ian gave the Klingon a once over, thinking he could take one of them, if they had been real. Meanwhile the other two of their group looked around nervously towards their boss.

Overhead a massive flying carrier materialized into being. The cloaking field giving way, while two Quinjets launched from the flight deck. Over their radios the team was given information and soon they moved back to give one of the jets a place to land. The ramp door at the rear of the Quinjet opened and a one-eyed man in a trench coat stepped out.

"Agents, you've just been drafted," Nick Fury said. "Now, I need your skills to save the world."