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Flash raced through the desert; he was out on a run. He was going a little slower than normal but that was because he didn't have anywhere to be. It was a nice day, he didn't have to be up on the Watchtower until later and Central City was fairly calm. So he decided to enjoy his day and go for a run. He was making his way through the desert when he raced past several police cruisers.
Flash stopped and turned around and raced back to get a better look. His jaw dropped. In front of him was a large compound that was fenced off for what looked like a good few miles and there were police cruisers and heavy SWAT vans along with snipers and other heavily armed policemen wearing tactical gear along the fence line. There were several buildings inside the fence though most of the police were gathered around the front entrance of the main building and there was a very large bald man standing behind the fence in a bright orange suit and tie.
Since they were out in the desert, Flash knew it was hot and he was impressed with the man's confidence in his choice of fashion sense, along with not breaking a sweat while facing down several SWAT units and dealing with the heat from the sun.
Flash blinked a few times to make sure what he was seeing was real. He hadn't heard anything on the Justice League comms about the need for heavily armed units and he was sure that the tower would have picked something like that up. Especially since Batman was on monitor duty today.
Flash zoomed over and behind the police line. Flash noted a sign near the man. A metal plaque that read Safe Haven. Flash took a mental note of it.
"Hey, what's going on?" Flash asked "Who's in charge?"
"I am," an officer said who was holding a sniper rifle that rested on the hood of a police car. He stood up and turned to face the Flash. "Officer Jackson, horned to meet you, big fan…though I wish I could say it was under better circumstances,"
"Yeah, what's going on?"
"It's a damn cult, they're holding children hostage in there," Officer Jackson said.
"A cult?" Flash asked, confused.
"Yeah, go in there and knock that guy out before he can start heading out Kool-Aid to the kids," Officer Jackson demanded.
"Okay, slow down there. How about you tell me what happened before I start ignoring a person's civil rights," Flash requested.
"See that lady over there?" Jackson gestured to a dark-skinned woman in a yellow skirt and top "She with social services. She claims she was attacked and that man blew up her car,"
Flash looked at the man again, other than having a very tense staring contest with the social worker who was talking, he didn't see any aggressive body language. The man was tense and stiff, yes, but that was likely due to the police blockade "Seriously?"
"Yeah, he's clearly a terrorist and a threat to decent people. So go over there and deal with it,"
Flash did not like the officers' attitude and he certainly was not going to go and beat someone up without proof they deserved it. However, he could also tell that if the officer was left to stew any longer a firefight might break out. Flash didn't want to see that happen.
"Well, since you asked so politely, I'll go talk to them," he offered and walked over to where the woman and the bigger man were. He put on his most friendly smile and tried to come off as least hostile as possible "Howdy folks, what seems to be the problem?"
"Flash, oh good, you're here," the woman said.
"Yes, I am, and you are…?"
"My name is Maddison Kerry, I'm with the state Child Protection Service" Maddison introduced and showed Flash her badge "I'm supposed to be visiting Safe Haven today. To do field checks on the children to ensure that they are being looked after properly,"
"Nice to meet you, Maddison. Did you make an appointment?" Flash joked.
"I did, I called last week to arrange a meeting time and two days ago to confirm. I was told that the children would be ready for our monthly inspection. Yet when I arrived, Mr. Shepard here barred my entry,"
"Has this place ever given the state problems before?"
"No, they've always been very cooperative," the Maddison claimed "today is the first time there has been an issue,"
"The Police said he attacked you?"
"Well…not exactly. We were arguing over why I wasn't allowed in and I think he blew up my car," Maddison admitted "At least I think it was him anyway,"
"Why do you think that?"
"Safe Haven is a children's home for abandoned and traumatised Meta-Human children," Maddison explained.
"Wait, the kids in there are all Metas?" Flash asked in surprise.
"They are and their carers are Metas too," Maddison confirmed "I honestly believe they are doing a good thing here. But they still need to follow the law,"
"So, your car exploding could be an accident then," Flash reasoned "one of the kids,"
"Yes, I…admittedly was quite terrified when it happened and reported it to my supervisor. She must have called the police because they showed up not long after," Maddison claimed.
"Okay, I'm going to check with…umm what's that guy's name?" Flash asked and pointed to the large man.
"Mr. Shepard,"
"And just to be clear, the big guy here," Flash said and pointed to the man behind the fence "is the legal owner of this place and has legal custody of the kids and CPS confirms this?"
"Yes, Mr. Shepard and his wife are legal and registered guardians of all the children in the building," Maddison agreed.
"Great, now let's hear his side," Flash said and he turned his attention to Mr. Shepard.
"Okay big guy, as you can see this has gotten a little out of hand," Flash said and gestured to the police blockade "So why won't you let the nice lady from CPS in?"
"Because it will bring danger to those children under my care," Mr. Shepard answered.
Flash was taken aback, out of all the reasons this man could be denying a Child Protection Officer into their home…complex… whatever this place was. Child endangerment was not one of them.
"What do you mean?" He asked "Why is allowing her to come inside a danger to the children?"
"Some new kids came into our care a little over 2 weeks ago, and they have not been vaccinated. Additionally, several other children are behind as well. My wife and I do not wish for any virus to be brought in until our new children are settled and all of them are up to date on their vaccinations," the man explained.
"That's a valid concern," Flash agreed, he knew there was no law against not having a child vaccinated. However, in his experience visiting children's homes, they preferred not to have visitors unless the kids had all of their childhood shots. "Did you alert the state to this?"
"Yes, a message was left yesterday with the agency to inform them and reschedule the appointment until those kids are up to date with their vaccinations,"
"And I'm guessing they either didn't see it or they are choosing to ignore it," Flash supposed.
"Yes, last month when a social worker came in, five children who weren't vaccinated got chickenpox, the year before that it was measles and six months before that it was mumps. I don't want to see that happen again," Shepard explained.
"Can't you just give them a jab today and do the visit tomorrow?" Flash asked.
Shepard shook his head. "No, due to all children being Metas they each have special needs. My wife is a doctor, we have a few doses but it is not enough to cover them all," Mr. Shepard claimed "The vaccines won't arrive for another two weeks,"
"Alright, Maddison says her car blew up. Was that one of the kids or you?" Flash asked.
"That was one of the children. I am a pacifist and do not like violence," Mr. Shepard confessed "They didn't mean to, it was an accident and will be happy to pay for a new car,"
Flash nodded "Alright, hang tight," Flash turned to look at Maddison "How about we go over to Officer Jackson and see if we can't get this sorted out,"
"Thank you," Mr. Shepard said gratefully.
Flash escorted the CPS worker behind the police line and went over to get Jackson.
"Well, is the terrorist surrendering?" Jackson demanded.
"Okay buddy, you need to lay off on calling that man a terrorist,"
"Agreed," Maddison said "he's a very kind man,"
"If he's so kind then why is he obstructing an officer of the law and preventing you from doing your job," Jackson challenged.
"First off, she is not an officer of the law, second Mr. Shepard is well within his rights to deny entry to anyone on his property," Flash stated "Plus he's got legitimate concerns and a good reason to not let her in,"
Flash then explained the whole situation to officer Jackson, the officer thought it was just an excuse, but Maddison seemed more understanding.
"Shepard says the medicine is two weeks away," Flash tried "is there any way you could hold off on your inspection until then?"
"We can't. Large centres like this have to be checked each month; especially since this one holds almost five-hundred children. If we don't the centre could be shut down and those poor kids will have to go through finding placements all over again," Maddison claimed "I would rather not put the kids through that so I need to see them so I can sign off on the paperwork,"
"I don't know what you're waiting for, just go in there and do what you need to do," Jackson said "Besides, it's not like vaccines really work. So, there is no problem,"
Flash groaned. Great, the officer in charge was an anti-vaxxer.
"Ignoring everything wrong with what you just said, those kids' guardian has very real concerns that letting this woman in will make them sick. People can get medical exemptions for a lot of things, surely there is some rule regarding kids with special medical needs," Flash pointed out.
"There are but, nothing really for this scale and not for unvaccinated children," Maddison claimed.
"If you can't get in there, what will happen?" Flash asked.
"If this inspection doesn't go ahead there is a good chance that those children will be removed from Mr. and Mrs. Shepard's custody first thing tomorrow,"
Flash bit his lip and tried to think up a solution. This was not an easy situation, both sides had very good reasons for doing what they were doing and they both seemed to care for the children's well-being. However, he wasn't an expert on child safety law.
Flash, very much out of his element, touched his ear and activated his commlink. "Guys I could use a hand down here, lock onto my coordinates," Flash said "All hands-on deck, I'm in a situation that could get ugly fast,"
About ten minutes later the rest of the League arrived, the only ones not there were Hawk Girl and Alucard. Flash explained the situation and the dilemma. The League spoke to both parties involved. The police were not happy to see the Justice League however their presence did allow Shepard and Maddison to talk to the League together.
There was a little back and forth between the two and while both parties wanted to do what was best for the children neither was willing to back down.
"What if the Justice League did the inspection?" Batman offered as a compromise "You give us a list of everything we need to look out for and give you a report on the children,"
"Can we do that?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Yes, we can act as third party arbitrators that would make our inspection as official as if CPS did it. But it has to be authorised by both the child's parent or guardian and their case officer," Batman started "in this case Maddison,"
"That could work, I will agree to it if Mr. Shepard does," Maddison stated.
"It is a good idea; however, I still cannot let you into my facility with unvaccinated Children," Shepard said.
"That won't be a problem," Green Lantern spoke up and held his ring up "I can guarantee a Germ-free experience for all of us,"
"If that is the case then I can do the inspection myself. This way everything will be resolved without incident," Maddison said "however if it will put Mr. Shepard at ease, I will allow Justice League to oversee the inspection,"
"Very well I will allow Maddison to enter and perform the inspection. If the Justice League accompanies her and you are all germ-free first," Shepard agreed.
"Wonderful. Then we'll get sterilized and let's get to work," Green Lantern said.
Officer Jackson was informed of the plan, he was not happy about the League's interference or the compromise and refused to leave until the inspection was complete. Green Lantern used his ring to scan and destroy any germs that the Justice League may have been carrying on their clothes and any part of their exposed skin. It took ten minutes to get everyone in the Justice League and Maddison completely sterilized and once they were done. Mr. Shepard finally opened the gate to let them and Maddison in.
Mr. Shepard led them inside where the League found the kids playing in an open area with lots of play equipment, balls, slides and a few were even squirting water guns at each other. Most of them looked normal, however, there were quite a few kids who had animalistic traits or some parts of their bodies were different as a result of their Meta powers.
Mr. Shepard gave them a brief tour of the facility, showed Maddison where a lot of the kids were, and while she spoke to a few of them and did the inspection Mr. Shepard explained why and how he had set Safe Haven up.
"I didn't have much money, but the land was cheap out here but I couldn't afford a builder. As Meta my powers are mainly strength based so I built this place myself," he explained.
"You built a whole building complex on your own?" Batman asked suspiciously.
"No, it was just a small house, to begin with, before moving out here I was in construction," Mr. Shepard claimed "but one day my wife and I caught three hungry and abused Meta child stealing, they said their parents had abandoned them in the desert because of their differences. We took them in and Safe Haven grew from there,"
"I got funding from the state, my wife pitched the idea of making a youth home for lost and abused Meta children. It was granted and this was built,"
"Why only meta children though?" Superman asked.
"Because there aren't many places that will look after them," Shepard said "it's true there are a lot of children's homes for neglected kids, but if a Meta child goes into them, they are still treated badly. So, I created a safe place for metahumans, one where they can be themselves.
"It's certainly a noble thing to do," Wonder Woman said.
"I agree," Flash said "I visit a lot of youth homes and orphanages, spend a day with the kids, play with them, that type of thing. If you want, I could come here too,"
"That would be nice, a lot of the kids here idolize the Justice League," Mr. Shepard agreed "However I will need to ensure that my wife is alright with it first,"
"That's fine and I'm happy to wait till the kids get all their shots before I visit," Flash smiled.
"Where is your wife?" Green Lantern asked.
"Probably in the office," Mr. Shepard answered "We'll go there next,"
The League continued to talk with Mr. Shepard and after a while, Maddison finished speaking to the kids. Mr. Shepard led them to the kids' bedrooms, which were several floors of rooms filled with beds. She inspected them, the eating area, and other locations. There was a bit of a concern about power and the fact that the facility was off the grid, however, those concerns were alleviated when Mr. Shepard explained how they managed.
Superman noticed an odd smell in the air, but Mr. Shepard claimed that it was because the air conditioning filters needed replacing along with some maintenance that needed to be done. Mr. Shepard had plans to do so once the kids had been vaccinated. Since the repairs needed were minor and not an emergency and the worst that occurred was a slight odour in the air. He and those living in Safe Haven were willing to put up with it. The League seemed to accept this.
There were several large greenhouses out back and an underground river on the other side of the complex for fresh water. Additionally, Safe Haven got a delivery of donated food once a month from food drives and another company that gave food to youth homes.
Superman flew out and used his x-ray vision to confirm this. Eventually, the group wound up in the office where a woman with blond hair was working, she wore a yellow dress with a sunflower pattern and had white wings coming out of her back.
"This is my wife," Mr. Shepard introduced.
Mrs. Shepard got up and walked over to the League and held out her hand. "Hello, I'm Helena Shepard," the Helena introduced "It's an honour to meet you,"
"I'm Maddison with CPS," Maddison introduced.
"Ah yes, sorry about the issues earlier," Helena apologised.
"That is alright, I understand you are concerned for the children. If you don't mind, may I ask you a few questions?"
"Of course," Helena smiled.
"Your husband and file say you're a doctor, is that correct?"
"Yes, I am, a doctor and in charge of the children's health,"
"A doctor, in what field?" Batman asked.
"I studied to be a surgeon however I changed to Pediatrician and child health care early on in my career," Helena responded "I'm a registered and certified GP and I am currently studying online for a degree in Nutrition,"
"That is very impressive," J'onn stated.
"I see, does that take up a lot of time?" Maddison asked.
"Yes, fortunately, my husband takes care of the children for four hours in the afternoon so I can do my online study, I also stay up doing assignments and readings once the kids have gone to bed," Helena stated.
Maddison wrote that down.
"Mrs. Shepard," Green Lantern stated.
"Please call me Helena," Helena insisted.
"Helena, your husband mentioned there were children behind on their vaccinations, do you mind if I confirm this with my ring?" Green Lantern asked.
"Of course not, my husband can tell you which kids are a little behind," Helena said.
"This way," Mr. Shepard said and he led Green Lantern back to where the kids were. Batman and Wonder Woman followed, leaving Flash and J'onn with Helena.
Maddison asked a few more questions, mainly about the kids' health and what care and treatment was provided for them if they got sick or injured. Helena was more than happy to answer and Maddison took notes, had another look around. Green Lantern came back, having scanned several children and his ring backed up what Mr. Shepard had said.
A good 55 children were missing some vital vaccinations and 15 hadn't had been vaccinated at all. Thus proving that it was highly dangerous to the kids for the inspection to take place. With that information, Maddison turned back to Helena.
"I think I have everything I need, one more thing," she said "Your husband said that you contacted the state in regards to this inspection. How did you do that?"
"My husband called the Child Protective Services office directly and left a message as no one was able to speak to him. I also sent an email to our contact officer as well," Helena answered.
"Could I have a copy of that email, as well as a list of names of the kids who aren't vaccinated? It would help prove that you had very good reasons for your actions today,"
"Of course, give me a few minutes to print them out for you," Helena agreed.
Helena sat back down and started going through her files on the computer. While she and Maddison were doing that the League moved away to discuss the situation amongst themselves.
"So, what does everyone think?" Superman said.
"I agree with what there doing out here," Batman said "they are right about Meta children getting abused in the foster system and often being left behind,"
"Yeah, it's sad but this is a good thing," Flash said, "I think we should help them out,"
"How?" J'onn said.
"We could put in a good word for them to let CPS know we approve of this facility or I could get my Daily Planet contacts to do a story on them," Superman offered.
"We really shouldn't be using our influence like that," Batman said "However if we're careful about it we could get away with it,"
"I think the least we can do is give Mr. and Mrs. Shepard a way to contact us. In case something like this happens again," Green Lantern said.
"That is not a bad idea," Wonder Woman agreed.
"We shouldn't force them into it though," Green Lantern warned.
Their conversation was interrupted by Maddison, she had a few papers and was attaching them to her clipboard as she walked over to the Justice League.
"I've finished my inspection. I just wanted to say thank you once again for this," Maddison said.
"It's fine, we're just happy we could de-escalate the situation," Superman said "I trust there won't be any need for further action here?"
"I don't believe so, there might be a phone call to set up a meeting to discuss a more flexible inspection time for the future around the children's medical needs. But that is all," Maddison said.
"We're grateful too, the truth is the Justice League is a big inspiration to us," Helena said "It is my and my husband hope that these kids grow up to use their powers for good, as all of you do,"
"Well, maybe when they grow a bit more, they can join the Justice League," Flash joked.
"I'm sure they would love to, but it would be enough if they didn't use their powers for the wrong reasons," Helena said "Too many times people with powers lose their way,"
"Agreed," Batman said. He reached into his utility belt and pulled out a signal device "Use this to contact us if you have any problems like today again,"
"Also, if you would like, I have some contacts in the press. We could do a story on this place, get the word out about all the good you're doing here, and hopefully get some extra funding to help out the kids,"
"That would be wonderful, thank you," Mr. Shepard said.
"Welp, guess the only thing is to tell the cops outside to head home," Flash said "But I have to ask, Helena your wings…are you part of Hawk Girl's race?"
Helena laughed "Oh no, I was born here on Earth. The truth is my wings came out when I started puberty. It was a shock that was for sure," Helena claimed "I had to hide them and it was hard as I was frequently bullied and teased through my schooling years. But I was never ashamed of them and was able to use them in the correct way,"
"How so?" Wonder Woman asked.
"I wasn't fitting in so I studied abroad, did some of my placements in third world countries, I was able to fly medicine into disaster zones, save people from floods and just help out as best I could. It's not as grand as saving the world like all of you do. But I hope to pass on the lessons I learned to these kids,"
"I think what you're doing is just as important as what the Justice League does, more so even," Batman said.
"That means a lot coming from you. Anyway, thank you again for your help today," Hellin said.
"Don't sweat it, it's nice when things just work out," Flash said.
Mr. Shepard was about to lead the group back to the entrance when a sound of a gunshot could be heard. Everyone froze and looked out a nearby window. The police blockade was still there but the officers were all moving and running around.
Suddenly the door to the office burst open and a teenage boy rushed in. "Helena help, Billy's been shot!" the boy cried. It was clear he was distressed and frightened.
Superman instantly sped outside in a blur of red and blue.
"Oh, me and my big mouth," Flash sighed and he raced out following Superman. The rest of the League followed.
Outside Superman saw a young girl on the ground, crying and clutching her side, she looked like a bipedal porcupine. Superman used his x-ray vision to scan her, the wound wasn't fatal but it would need immediate medical treatment.
"Flash get the girl to safety, I'll deal with the officers," Superman ordered.
Flash didn't need to be told twice, he zipped over, picked up the girl, and raced back inside. Superman landed in front of the police blockade.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
"That cult freak shot at us first," Officer Jackson restored "we're defending ourselves,"
"You serious? She doesn't have a weapon on her,"
"Doesn't matter, we're taking this cult down,"
"They're not a cult," Superman tried.
"Men Open fire," Jackson ordered.
"STOP!" Superman cried out as the police opened fire.
Inside Helena was laying the girl Billy on a medical bed created by Green Lantern.
"Billy, oh my god what happened?" Helena asked.
"My ball rolled outside…I went to get it…why did they shoot me? I didn't do anything wrong…" the girl cried "Am I going to die? People who get shot die…"
"She's in shock," Green Lantern said "tell me what you need and my ring can make it for you,"
"Alright, Flash, go to my office and get my medical bag along with several bags of IV fluid and pain killers," Helena instructed.
"On it," Flash was about to rush out but all of a sudden, the bullets could be heard and they pierced the compound walls. The spray hitting and injured many of the children. Those that weren't injured began to panic and cry. The League watched in horror as more than 80 kids were shot and gunned down. The spray of bullets only lasted for a moment as the sounds of them hitting something hard could be heard but the damage had been done.
"Hera," Wonder Woman whispered.
"What is going on outside?" Mr. Shepard demanded.
"I'll get the medical bag, Flash and J'onn go help Superman, Wonder Woman stop as many of those bullets as you can from hitting the kids. Lantern can you keep those medical beds operational, we're going to need a lot of them," Batman ordered "Shepard we need a defensible position, is there somewhere we can use to treat the kids,"
"The classrooms are close, the windows are made from bulletproof glass," Mr. Shepard responded.
"Good, let's move all the injured there, those that aren't should move to a safer part of the compound," Batman instructed.
Shepard nodded, he and Batman started to round up the children, it was hard. Thankfully it seemed like between Flash, J'onn, and Superman the bullets would not pierce the walls again, but there was no guarantee they would last.
Outside Superman and Flash were reaching up and down the police line in an attempt to block all the bullets. Superman mainly focused on protecting the compound walls where he knew the kids and Batman was and Flash was racing up and down the police line doing his best to redirect the path of the bullets but there were just so many.
J'onn was trying to get the police to stop but they were bent on taking out the Safe Haven compound. None of the officers were listening to the League anymore and things were getting swiftly out of hand.
"Superman, we need to stop this now," J'onn urged.
"I know but they're not listening!" Superman responded, he glanced over his shoulder for a brief second "Hold on for a bit longer, Batman and Wonder Woman have almost cleared the play area,"
Flash suddenly stopped running.
"We may not have time. Look," he said urgently and pointed to the sky.
Several black Helicopters were on their way
"The D.E.O what the hell are they doing here?" Superman asked. This was getting worse, if the D.E.O was getting involved there would be no saving those children, they would be deemed a threat to humanity and likely taken away and locked up for the rest of their lives or worse.
"J'onn don't let those helicopters near Safe Haven," Superman ordered. He activated his commlink "Batman, Wonder Woman get out here, the DEO is here,"
J'onn flew towards the Helicopters and enlarged his size to be giant so the choppers were forced to stop.
"Turn around now," J'onn demanded in a threatening booming tone "there is no threat here,"
"Out of our way Martian, we've got orders to take every single person in that building into custody," a voice came through the chopper speakers.
"This facility is filled with children and their caretakers, there is no threat to humanity or the planet here," J'onn said, "On whose authority do these orders come from?"
"That's classified," the voice said "If you do not move, we will consider you an enemy and bring you in too,"
J'onn quickly sent a telepathic message to Superman, the man of steel mentally sent instructions back. J'onn looked at the chopper and shifted once more, this time returning to his normal size, and floated out of the chopper's way. They passed him and met with a very angry Superman. While Superman dealt with the chopper, J'onn headed back down to help stem the flow of bullets.
Just as Batman and Wonder Woman were coming out of the building. Tanks arrived; they parked several miles away. They weren't the only ones to come out as Maddison ran out from the safety of the compound towards the police blockade.
"Wait, stay back!" Batman tried.
"No! This is a misunderstanding!" Maddison cried out and she ran outside "There is no threat here, they were cooperative, the inspection is…" however she was cut off as a bullet went through her head and she fell to the ground.
"Civilian down!" Officer Jackson cried out "Told you they were freaks, they killed her,"
"Attention Terrorists of the Safe Haven Compound," Officer Jackson said through a loudspeaker "You are under arrest, you are surrounded. Surrender your hostages now and if you continue to resist, we will not hesitate to destroy the compound. Justice League, stand down. If you continue to interfere you will be considered and charged with terrorism,"
"You've got to be kidding!" Flash yelled "We're being charged as well?"
"This is bad," Batman growled.
Before any of the League could react to the death of a bystander. Mr. Shepard walked out with a very serious and angry look on his face.
"Justice League, thank you for your help today but you may all leave now," Mr. Shepard said "I do not want you to be labelled as terrorists,"
"Mr. Shepard… what are you doing?" asked Batman suspiciously
"Defending my children," Mr. Shepard responded. He let out a war cry and rushed towards the police blockade. The police opened fire on him, but the bullets just seemed to bounce off him. Mr. Shepard tore through the fence and when he reached the Blockaded, he picked up the nearest car, lifted it over his head, and smashed into another.
"YOU WILL NOT TAKE ANY OF MY CHILDREN OR OUR LIVES!" Mr. Shepard cried out.
"OPEN FIRE!" a voice came from the choppers and each of the D.E.O helicopters let loose a barrage of missiles that headed straight towards Safe Haven.
"J'onn take care of those missiles," Batman ordered through his com "Wonder Woman, the helicopters, Superman stop those missiles, Lantern you need to form a shield around the kids now!"
Wonder Woman pulled out her lasso and used it to stop the main propeller of the Helicopters, she did her best to take down the choppers but to prevent the loss of the pilots she was only able to do so one at a time. J'onn flew out at high speed towards the tanks, when he approached, he went intangible so their bullets went through him. He then phased through each tank, pulling out the weapons guidance and firing systems, disabling the tanks without destroying them.
At the compound, Batman was still waiting on Green Lanterns shield while he took down the police officers and tried to talk Mr. Shepard down, as he was destroying as many police cars and SWAT vans as he could get his hands on.
If things weren't bad enough, some of the non-injured children ran outside and began to use their powers against the police. One girl with telekinesis abilities was stopping bullets and throwing them back at the police. Another boy climbed on the roof and his arms and hands turned into rapid-fire machine guns and he started shooting at the helicopters. A small 4-year-old girl screamed, creating powerful high-pitched sound waves that brought the police to their knees. More and more children were coming out and each displaying their powers.
What should have been a safe refuge for Meta Children had turned into a warzone and it was only getting worse. The Justice League did what they could, but the situation continued to escalate, Flash stopped attempting to stop the bullets, instead, he focused on grabbing the children and racing them back inside.
With the League now focusing on protecting the children who were engaging the authorities in battle, it was harder to protect the compound. Batman knew this, Superman knew this and it seemed to the authorities knew this as well. The DEO Helicopters unleashed another barge of missiles. Superman used his heat ray to destroy them, while Wonder Woman used her Lasso to grab a few missiles and toss them away. Batman threw a couple of exploding Batarangs to take the missiles out.
Unfortunately Batman's Batarangs and Superman's heat vision caused two missiles to go off course, this would not be a problem if they did not collide with the ones Wonder Woman had thrown away with her Lasso of Truth. The missiles collided near a gas tank. Superman's eyes widened as he saw what was about to happen.
However, he knew he would not make it in time. He dashed down, grabbing Flash and Batman, using his own body to shield them just as the whole complex exploded. Wonder Woman was unharmed; however, the explosion also caught the helicopters and the police blockade.
Unlike Batman and Flash, the authorities did not have Superman to shield them from the blast and debris; they were immediately vaporized. J'onn was outside the blast range and dealing with the tanks when, suddenly, everyone stopped. He and the army stared at the explosion that could be seen for miles around in shock.
Once the explosion died down the Justice League were the only remaining survivors, they looked around. What was once a youth home was now nothing more than a field of charred rubble, the helicopters and police vehicles had been caught in the blast and their smouldering melted remains could be seen.
The League stood there in silence as if they were unable to comprehend what had happened. What they had done. After several moments J'onn landed and behind them.
"What happened?" he asked, "where is Green Lantern?"
The martin didn't get a response as the League; however, the tanks were moving and J'onn could see them coming. While J'onn may have taken out the tank's weapon firing system, he had no doubt the soldiers driving them didn't have their weapons.
J'onn activated his Martin vision and scanned the remains of the explosion site for survivors, Green Lanterns ring should have protected him; sadly, J'onn didn't see anything. He reached out with his mind and got the same result.
Only the Justice League and those in the tanks had survived.
"We should leave, there is nothing more we can do," J'onn said.
"We can't… We did this," Superman stated softly.
"We killed all those children," Wonder Woman said as a tear ran down her face.
Flash didn't say anything, he raced off leaving a gust of wind behind. J'onn watched him go, before turning back to see Batman already walking away from the scene. J'onn did not need his mental powers to see that the dark knight was barely holding it together.
"Where are you going?" J'onn called out.
"Home," Batman responded as walked in the direction where he had parked the Batwing. Fortunately, his habit meant he had landed it out of sight.