THE WATCHTOWER
June 01, 23:56 EDT
Pure data flowed through the mind of Victor Stone, AKA Cyborg of the Justice League. He 'watched' via live feed as Doctor Fate (was it Khalid or Traci this week?) confronted the Enchantress over Göbekli Tepe in Turkey. The demon sorceress was using the Neolithic ruin as a focal point for… Well, Vic wasn't honestly sure what she was trying to do. According to the Watchtower's sensors, whatever she was doing was turning local space-time inside out.
He 'listened' to a coded subspace transmission from Rann reporting that the Team were now in pursuit of the head of the Rannian Science Command, who had fled into the capital's sewers after morphing into a 'squid-snake'.
All this and more Cyborg did without screen or speaker, which didn't stop him physically doom scrolling through the Outsider's Flitter feed on his phone. Those kids had been good to Vic when he'd been in a bad place. He hadn't really appreciated it at the time but looking back, he wondered where he'd be now if not for them. He wondered if he'd be anywhere at all.
His train of thought was broken by a shrill ting from his internal chronometer. This was what he'd been dreading.
Tigress' squad just missed their check-in.
[-]
ANTARCTICA
June 02, 03:58 UCT
Halo, Glimmer, Bow and Forager formed a defensive ring in the middle of the alien ship's med-bay, weapons drawn, auras bright, pincers poised. Covering almost every square-inch of the chamber's ceiling and walls were countless silver beetle-like mechanoids. Each was perfectly still; each kept a single gleaming red optic locked on the interlopers.
"What are they?" Halo whispered, fists glowing bright yellow.
"I am Multi-Bot," one of the mecha-bugs droned.
"I am also Multi-Bot," another echoed.
"I am all Multi-Bot," the entire swarm chorused.
"Forager thinks that must get very confusing for Multi-Bot?" Forager clicked.
"Not at all," the Multi-Bots spoke in unison. "My AI has been programmed by the Creator Himself to operate multiple physical avatars at once."
"A non-centralized processing system distributed among all your bots?" Bow lowered his arrow slightly. "I'm impressed, mostly terrified, but also impressed."
"Yes, the Creator is wise. The Creator is perfect," the swarm droned, its digitized voices tinged with quiet awe. "If judged worthy, your biological distinctiveness will be added to the Creator's perfection."
"Yeeaah," Glimmer drawled. "That's gonna be a hard pass from us."
"The specimen's consent is not required." The swarm skittered down the walls, descending like ravening locusts. "The specimens will submit to processing!"
[-]
"What have you done with the Outsiders?!" Tigress demanded, cold horror turning to hot anger as she trained dual crossbows on the alien monster that called himself Galen Nycroft. His Frankenstein bulk blocked the only exit from the spacecraft's 'body bank'. Catra and Melog flanked Tigress, growling low as they bared their fangs.
"The Outsiders?" Nycroft quizzically tapped his pointed chin with the tip of a massive barnacle encrusted claw, grafted to the left shoulder of his hulking torso.
From his right shoulder sprouted a mass of undulating black tendrils. A pair of thin humanoid arms dangled almost comically from mid-abdomen; an abdomen supported by three thin spider-like legs. But what most chilled Tigress was the billowing manta-ray wings rising from Nycroft's shoulder-blades, wings she recognised as having once belonged to the missing meta-teen known as Sea Angel.
"Ah, yes the band of young meta-Terrans," Nycroft spoke clinically. "Unfortunately, I have not yet had time to properly... process them."
"'Process'?! Is that what you call this?!" Tigress snarled, gesturing to the countless cryogenic tubes containing just as many extracted alien organs. "Hacking up people for spare parts?!"
"Now you sound like my so-called 'peers' back on Ungara," Nycroft snorted derisively. "'Nooo, Galen, this procedure is too dangerous!' 'Wait, Galen, you can't do that without the subject's consent!' 'Stop, Galen, you're hurting me!'"
Tigress shot a discreet side-glance at Catra and Melog. The feline Etherians began quietly edging away.
"I have no patience for such parochial moralism," Nycroft spat, clearly having rehearsed this speech many time before. "There is only one true universal law: adapt or die! I am merely taking charge of my own personal evolution."
"Adapt this!" Tigress fired off twin blast-bolts from her crossbows as Catra and Melog shifted into invisibility.
Nycroft's eyes flashed bright green as a sack of grey matter grafted to the back of his skull pulsated. The twin blast-bolts froze in mid-air before being sent flying back at Tigress, who barely had time to duck behind a cryo-tube before they exploded.
"You can't outfight me. I possess the combined mental power of four superior species..." Two of Nycroft's black tendrils whipped behind him like striking vipers, snatching Catra and Melog in mid-pounce before slamming them into the nearest bulkhead.
"And the brute strength of one stupid one."
[-]
Energy bolts and trick arrows flew back and forth across the med-bay as more and more Multi-Bots flooded through the access vents. Forager rolled across the chamber like a wrecking ball, flattening drones under him by the dozen. Glimmer blasted a pouncing bot, only for another to leap onto the head of her mage-staff, clasping it like some ornamental silver crab.
"Why do you resist?" The Multi-Bot's optic blinked. "Do you not wish to be one with the Creator?"
"EEEK!" Glimmer whacked the bot against a bulkhead. "Beau, hun. Can you please technobabble the creepy robo-spiders away!?"
"Working on it!" Bow's eyes fell upon a terminal on the far side of the chamber. He smiled, pulling an oddly two-pronged arrow from his quiver. He took aim, only to have a Multi-Bot pounce on him from behind, sending the arrow flying wildly into the air. "Halo!"
"Got it!" An orange-glowing Halo snatched the arrow out of mid-air, blinking bemusedly at it. "Now what?"
"The terminal!" Bow gasped, pointing across the chamber as he was rapidly buried alive under a wave of scuttling bots.
"BOW!?" Glimmer wailed in anguish from across the cavernous chamber.
Halo's eyes hardened like onyx, streaking across the med-bay like an orange comet. It took them bare milliseconds to cover half the distance to the terminal, before one of the spider-bots entangled them in a blue energy web. They hit the deck like a stone, aura shifting into yellow as they tried to blast their way out. The energy-web responded by counter-shifting into purple, neutralizing their yellow aura.
"Glimmer!" Halo cried, hurling the arrow with all the strength in their free arm.
The young mage-queen caught the payload with one hand as the other unleashed a storm of light, fragging wave after wave of Multi-Bots. Glimmer fought for every inch between her and the terminal, clutching Bow's arrow tight to her heart.
The mecha-swarm refused to abate, clawing and scratching at her with countless tiny metal claws. Glimmer was mere feet from the terminal when she felt a bot land softly on her shoulder, before discharging a crackling surge of white-hot pain through her body. The young mage fell to her knees before collapsing entirely, sending the arrow clattering across the floor.
"Ignorant fleshlings, you lost this battle before you even set foot on this vessel," the Multi-Bots chorused coldly. "You thought you could defy the Creator, even out-think the Creator!? But the Creator mind is vaster than you can comprehend! The Creator sees all, the Creator knows all! The Creator IS ALLLLLLL-BZZTG-VRRR-%&$£ &£$!"
One by one, the Multi-Bot's crimson optics began randomly cycling through the color spectrum before toppling over. Their spidery metal limbs twitched in the air like turned over beetles.
Glimmer groaned; her head hadn't pounded like this since Mermista first introduced her to the sea princess' music collection. She bolted upright, one thought cutting through the fog of pain. "Bow!?"
The young archer had just detangled himself from a pile of helplessly twitching Multi-Bots, when Glimmer threw her arms around his neck.
"Don't ever scare me like that again!" Glimmer sobbed, lightly punching her 'Beau' on the arm.
Bow shrugged sheepishly. "Um... Sorry?"
"Not that I'm complaining but how are we still alive?" Halo asked, lightly brushing off the inert remains of the energy web.
"Virus-arrow, something Entrapta whipped up before we left Etheria," Bow answered before taking Glimmer's hand. "We're just lucky you made it to the terminal in time."
"But... I didn't," Glimmer replied.
Bow frowned. "Then who?"
A slight click, almost like someone clearing their throat, echoed through the now silent med-bay. All eyes turned toward the terminal where Forager nonchalantly stood, twirling the virus-arrow in his pincer, having already delivered its payload.
"Forager caught Multi-Bot monologing. Classic bad guy mistake."
[-]
Tigress squirmed under the weight of Nycroft's massive crustacean claw pinning her to the deck. She beat her fist futilely against the brine-encrusted pincer as Catra and Melog struggled in the grip of the alien organ thief's writhing tentacles.
"You display remarkable strength and speed for a baseline Terran," Nycroft mused. "Perhaps I'll use you as a control?"
The lights above flickered and died without warning, plunging the 'body bank' into near complete darkness, lit only by the soft blue glow of Melog's mane.
"Multi-Bot, status report?" Nycroft demanded irritably. "Multi-Bot, respond!?"
"Don't you just hate it when you can't get through to tech-support?" Tigress quipped, before delivering a piston kick to the underside of Nycroft's distracted skull. The alien hulk swayed for a moment, eyes glazing over before toppling like a fallen redwood.
Tigress wriggled her way out from under the now limp claw. "Shoulda replaced that glass jaw while you were at it."
She dashed to Catra's side only for the feline Etherian to hiss defensively as the Earther reached out. Tigress threw up her arms placatingly. "Whoa, easy there, killer!"
"Sorry… reflex," Catra replied sheepishly.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fi-" Catra inhaled sharply, cradling her right shoulder as Melog whined sympathetically. "Actually, I think I broke my arm."
Tigress carefully examined the wounded limb. "Halo should be able to fix this once we find them, so long as we set it first. All and all, could have been a lot worse."
Catra chin pointed at Nycroft, an unconscious mass of mismatched alien flesh. "What about him?"
"No idea, he might come to in hours or minutes. Either way..." Tigress helped Catra to her feet. "Let's find the others before that happens."
[-]
Terra's eyes fluttered open. Feeling gradually seeped back into her body, her mind staggering to catch up. She remembered icy wastes, an ambush by an alien monster backed by an army of spider-like bots, and then? Her eyes snapped open as she remembered exactly where she was...
"Nē..."
She was in a pod.
"Nē, Nē, Nē!"
Tar... black tar... sickly sweet... invading her... altering her...
"Izlaid mani! IZLAID MANI!" Terra roared, pounding her fists against the pod's inner casing; somewhere deep below, the earth began to tremble. The hatch suddenly sprung open, sending her tumbling into Tigress' arms.
"It's okay, Tara, you're safe," Tigress whispered, holding Terra tight. "Just breath, okay... I got you... I got you."
Terra clung to Tigress' arms, waiting for her heart to stop racing as she steadied her breath.
"We've freed the rest of the Outsiders," Bow said, abrupty walking in on the two Earthers. "Whoa, Terra? Are you okay."
"I'm fine," the Earth Princess answered, falling back into her usual laconic cool. "I just don't like pods."
"Who does?" The speaker arrived arrived in a streak of yellow and red, kicking up dust from the deck plating as he skidded to a dead stop.
"What's the sitch, Kid Flash?"
"Blue and Livewire got Modulok and what's left of his bots on lockdown in the main cargo hold," Kid Flash reported.
Tigress raised an eyebrow. "Modulok?"
"You know, 'cuz he's all modular and junk," Kid Flash answered. "What, you want everbody thinking we were all nearly moded by some dork called 'Galen Nycroft'?"
"Fair enought," Tigress conceeded. "We'll have ask GL about taking 'Modulok' and his bots into Corps custody later. In the meantime, KF, do another sweep of the ship, check in on Blue and Livewire, then meet us back at Baby."
"Back in a flash!" Kid saluted before disappearing in another gust of air.
"Wow," Bow gaped. "Doesn't he get hard to keep track off?"
"You have nooo idea," Tigress snarked.
"What about Sea Angel?" Terra asked.
Tigress sighed. "We found him; he's alive but..."
[-]
Angelo del Rey wished he was dead.
No, he stamped down the thought, buried it under a layer of rationalization. He just wanted to sleep, to stop feeling for a little while. He had thought nothing would ever compare to the merciless despair of Granny Goodness' 'Orphanage'. That was before he'd woken up in a pod with two new fresh scars running down his back.
He'd spent the last two years trying to put the horrors of the Orphanage behind him, trying to make something good come out of that nightmare. After the Justice League had returned him to Earth, he'd finally told his family he was trans. He figured if he'd survived the Orphanage, he could survive most anything. He'd even taken a crack at the hero game.
Now he sat in the cockpit of the Outsiders' bio-ship, wrapped in a thick blanket they'd managed to scrounge from somewhere, staring blankly at his own reflection in a glossy black console. For the past two years, he thought he'd escaped despair's hook, now he wondered if he ever really would.
"Cocoa?" Beast Boy asked, holding out a steaming mug.
Angelo blinked. It took him a moment to realize Beast Boy was talking to him, much less what he said. Normally, he'd have found a cute guy like Garfield Logan offering him cocoa flattering. Now it didn't seem to matter, nothing did.
"Yeah... thanks, Gar..." he droned, taking the proffered mug.
"Hey, don't give up, Angelo," Wonder Girl said, sitting next to him. "The League has all kinds of wizards and super-genius on call. Ed's dad, Doctor Cross, Zatanna... I'm sure one of them can help you!"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Gar interjected. "Just focus on healing for now. I can set up a few sessions with Black Canary if you want? You know, to get you started."
"Yeah... sure..." Angelo mumbled.
"Hey," Gar gave Angelo's shoulder a soft squeeze. "I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but you're gonna be okay, bro."
[-]
In the bio-ship's rear compartment, Catra cocked a hypersensitive ear. Picking up every word from the cockpit. "How can they just lie to him like that?"
"Pardon?" Halo asked, looking up from Catra's freshly healed arm with glowing violet eyes.
"Nothing." Catra flexed her arm experimentally, feeling only a faint twinge where moments ago had been grinding pain. Melog sniffed the arm before giving a small mew of approval.
Catra smiled thinly. "Not bad, Rainbow."
Halo shrugged. "Just one of the perks of being a human Motherbox."
"A mother-whatnow?"
"Long story. It's this whole cosmic space-opera thing that I'm not even sure I believe myself."
"Does... Does it have to do what why Granny kidnapped you?"
Halo was quite for a long moment. "Sort of, I-"
Before they could elaborate, the rear hatch of the bio-ship dilated to admit Tigress, Glimmer and Bow. They were followed a moment later by Wonder Girl and Beast Boy exiting the cockpit.
"How's Angelo?" Tigress asked.
"I don't know," Beast Boy answered. "Honestly, I think he's still in shock, might need more time to process, you know?"
"He asked us to contact his folks," Wonder Girl added. "Try to prep them for all this."
"And the rest of the Outsiders?" Tigress asked.
"Securing Modulok's ship," Wonder Girl answered.
"Well, that caught on fast," Tigress smirked briefly. "Cassie, you good to take over here. I hate to leave all this on your shoulders, but I need to get back to Lian before Will has to leave for work."
"No prob," Wonder Girl replied. "We got this covered."
"Thanks." Tigress turned to Halo. "Vi, mind if I bum a Boom-Tube back to Star City?"
"Sure," Halo answered as they and Tigress stepped back out onto the icy plain, leaving Glimmer, Bow, Catra and Melog with Wonder Girl and Beast Boy.
"Sorry, I don't think we got properly introduced yet," Wonder Girl said, turning to the three Etherians. "I'm Cassie, this is Gar."
"Great to meet you, I'm Glimmer. And this is Bow, Catra and Melog."
"Crash codenames," Wonder Girl said.
Bow blinked. "Codenames?"
"From Etheria, right?" Beast Boy asked. "M'gann told me all about you guys. You really saved our butts tonight."
"D'aww!" Bow blushed. "It was nothing really."
"So where have they been keeping you guys?" Wonder Girl asked.
"The League set us up with a couple of suites on the Watchtower," Glimmer answered.
"Wow, really? You guys okay with that?" Wonder Girl's brow furrowed. "I mean, the Watchtower's a crash place to visit but I'm not sure I'd want to actually crash there."
"No, no, it's fine, really! There's a nice atrium where we can watch the stars. Plus, it's quiet," Glimmer sighed. "So very very quiet."
Beast Boy tapped his chin. "I might have an idea!"
[-]
HOLLYWOOD
June 04, 21:08 PDT
Recognized:
Glimmer-A-Five-Eight,
Bow-A-Five-Nine,
Catra-A-Six-Zero,
Melog-C-Zero-Six.
The four Etherians stepped out of the golden glow of the whirring Zeta-Tube; the three of them with arms carried an assortment of duffel bags and travel cases between them. Bow whistled low, taking in the spacious living area before her.
"As KF might say... Ta-da!" Beast Boy greeted them enthusiastically, flanked by three Earth youths the Etherians didn't recognize at first. "Welcome to the Outsider's super-styling super HQ, or as we like to call it… 'the Hub'."
"This place is amazing, Beast Boy," Glimmer said. "You sure you don't mind letting us stay here?"
"Nuestra casa es su casa," Beast Boy answered. "I cleared it with Cassie, and the two of us agreed. After how you guys saved our butts from Modulok, you can all consider yourselves honorary Outsiders. And please, call me 'Gar'."
"Ahem," interjected the pink-haired, dark-skinned girl next to Beast Boy. "Gar, babe, aren't you forgetting something?"
"Hello, Megan!" Gar chuckled, slapping his forehead. "Glimmer, Bow, Catra, meet my angel, my inspiration, my girl, Jill Jackson!"
"D'aaw," the pink-haired girl cooed, pecking Gar's cheek. "You're such a cornball."
"It's very 'crash' to meet you, Jill," Bow said. "Am... am I using that right?"
"More or less," she giggled.
"Cool!" Bow noticed the small pink, white and blue button on the young woman's jacket, wondering if that meant anything on Earth.
"Halo, Forager, Looker and Windfall are out on mission, but let me introduce you to the rest of our residents," said Gar, gesturing to a slim girl in black leather with shock-white skin and electric-blue hair. "Y'already know Livewire from Antarctica."
"Call me Leslie." Livewire shot the newcomers the 'finger guns', electricity sparking from the tips of her nails. She then threw her arms about an olive-skinned teen with a silver-white bobcut. "And this is my girl, Andie."
Andie waved shyly. "Hi."
"Oh, my gosh, you two are such a cute couple!" Glimmer squeed, leaning into Bow as the two intwined fingers. "I remember when my Beau and I first-"
"Where's my room?" Catra cut-in like a knife.
"Uh, next level up," Gar answered awkwardly. "It's got your name on it, literally. I can sho-"
"I can find it on my own," Catra said curtly, slinging a duffle bag over her shoulder.
"Catra, wait!" Glimmer pleaded as she and Bow quickly decoupled.
"We didn't mean-" Bow began.
"It's fine," Catra said icily, casually leaping onto the upper level's rail. "Have fun with your new friends, maybe you can triple date." She disappeared over the rail with Melog hot on her bare heels, leaving a long awkward silence in her wake.
"Yikes," Leslie drawled. "What's her damage?"
"Didn't you read Miss Martian's mission report, Les?" Andie asked. "Her girlfriend was captured by Granny."
Leslie gasped. "Oh shit, seriously?!"
"I can't believe my brain went into neutral like that," Gar groaned. "All this coupling must've made her feel like carp."
"Should we go say something?" Jill asked.
"It's okay, really," Glimmer sighed. "Catra just needs some time to cool off."
At that moment, a bullet of golden fuzz streaked out from between Gar's feet, excitedly circling the Etherians as it yip-yapped in delirious delight. Glimmer and Bow's eyes went wide as saucers.
Glimmer squealed. "What. Is. THAT!?"
"That is my wingman, Wingman!" Gar lifted the hyperactive Corgi, stubby legs furiously dog-paddling in mid-air, tongue lolling from a drooling grin.
"May we?" a smitten Bow pleaded, extending his hand.
"Go right ahead," Gar laughed, before Wingman was lost in a deluge of head rubs and ear scritches.
[-]
Catra made a third sweep of the spacious guest room, utterly ignoring the sparkling panoramic view of the vast city called 'Elay'. She was far more focused on any out of the way nooks where surveillance tech might be discreetly tucked away.
Melog tilted their head, mewing quizzically.
"You'd be paranoid too, if you grew up in the Fright Zone," Catra countered, tapping the skirting board suspiciously. There wasn't much more she could do without ripping the fixtures from the walls; that would just raise more suspicion. "What about you, picking up any scrying spells or magic whatever?"
Melog sniffed the air, pausing thoughtfully before shaking their glittering mane in the negative.
"That'll have to do." Catra activated the holo-console on the corner desk as she sifted through her duffel bag. She fished out a small metallic green sphere, carefully hidden among her spare outfits, tapping a hidden switch as she placed it on the desk.
The tiny sphere sprung to life, sprouting three coppery spider-legs as it skittered manically about the desk. 'Emily Jnr', as Entrapta had called the tiny bot, beeped in delight at the joy of dawning consciousness. It nearly went careening off the desk's edge before Catra blocked it.
"Hey, focus!" Catra admonished.
Emily Jnr paused, eyeing Catra with a single purple optic.
"I need you to hack the Justice League's network."
Emily Jnr beeped enthusiastically, releasing a fibre-optic cable that dug into the holo-console, summoning streams of data.
"Get me everything the League has on Apokolips, Granny Goodness... and Halo."
[-]
GOODE WORLD STUDIOS
June 10, 01:08 PDT
Building 16's metal canopy grinded open with a thin metalic wail to reveal the night sky over Burbank, inky black yet tinged with a fluorescent orange haze. The aperture gaped open like a carnivorous flower for at least ten minutes before grinding shut. A moment later the very air within the seemingly empty warehouse rippled as a strange ebon vessel decloaked. Its design was alien and angular, without a single curve or softened edge. Beneath the black hull plating, crimson power-coils pulsed like the veins of some voidborn predator.
The alien vessel hissed as it lowered its landing ramp, allowing half a dozen darkly clad yet distinctly earthly figures to disembark. They split off in pairs, each carrying a heavy metallic crate between them. Overlooking the whole operation from the upper catwalk, stood Whisper A'Daire, Intergang's reigning underboss. Her serpent-green eyes tracked each of the workers below like an adder tracking field mice.
"Just got word from Kobra," spoke a younger dark-haired woman with features very similar to Whisper's own. "Their people will be here in about two hours to complete the buy."
Whisper nodded. "Good, check in with our lookouts every ten minutes."
"You sure it's a good idea to seal the deal here?" the younger woman asked, casting a glance about the old warehouse "This place kinda has a history."
"Relax, sis," Whisper chuckled. Her younger sibling always was a worrywart. "The 'Good Guys' know we know they know about this place, so they'd never think to-"
A smoke grenade abruptly went off in Whisper's face, blacking out her field of vision and choking her lungs. She staggered out of the billowing cloud, one hand clinging to the catwalk's rail. Her vision finally cleared, only to be confronted by a snarling panther stalking down the catwalk. Though last time Whisper checked, panthers didn't glow neon red.
"Shit!" she swore, unhooking a black metal rod from her belt. A serpentine coil of crimson energy ignited from the hilt as she prepared to lash out at the shimmering beast.
"I wouldn't," a cold voice spoke from somewhere behind her.
Whisper spun on her heels to find her sister locked in a chokehold like a human shield, held captive by an orange-furred cat-girl with heterochromatic blue/yellow eyes. The workers below immediately pulled their sidearms on the cat-girl, only to be stilled by a gesture from Whisper.
"Little late for FurCon, aren't you, kid?"
"Whisper!?" the younger A'Daire gasped, before 'Catgirl' gave her arm a sharp wrench.
"Stay frosty, Scorpia," Whisper chided.
Catgirl snorted at some private joke, side-eyeing her hostage. "Your name is 'Scorpia', seriously? Man, what are the odds?"
Whisper's lip curled. "You have no idea who you're playing with, kid."
"Actually, I do. Intergang, interstellar arms dealers who traffic in illicit off-world tech, mostly from Apokolips." Catgirl's voice turned to ice. "And I am not playing." She traced her claws across Scorpia A'Daire's throat, drawing tiny crimson beads and pausing perilously close to the jugular.
"You're bluffing," Whisper said.
"Wanna try me?"
Whisper's fist clenched about the hilt of her weapon. Her glare locked on Catgirl's blue/yellow eyes, empty save for cold desperation. Whisper knew that look well; it was the look of someone with nothing to lose. Then she glanced at Scorpia's eyes, brimming with barely supressed panic.
"What do you want?" Whisper sighed.
"I like your whip," Catgirl chirped.
Whisper scowled, deactivating the weapon before kicking it over to Catgirl's feet. "Happy?"
"It's a start. I want you to deliver a message to your contact on Apokolips."
"What kinda message?"
"Tell them I want to make a deal," Catgirl intoned. "Tell them I can give them the Anti-Life Equation."