Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or DC franchise
Hey folks, its me again. From now on, there will be some bits and pieces of missions from Human-Flood war will be addressed through conversations and video logs etc., Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 8:
Multiple voices...*echoes*
*WINDS HOWLING*
*RAIN STORM*
The City of Tomorrow was hit by strong gale winds as the dark clouds covered the whole city. Cracks of thunder and lightning flash occurring frequently to adding to the other sounds of nature.
Snapper Carr was already on the scene in highway giving the weather report to the Metropolis channel.
"This is Snapper Carr as already mentioned, this tropical storm Gardner has now officially reached the Hurricane status! Storm waters from heavy rains have already flooded the roads and subways! The seas are boiling to 40 feet height because of the strong winds...!Emergency services are enroute and the roads are only open to them alone-..."
One of the said services, a ladder truck was riding along the road and entered a small bridge.
"Ladder truck 32, respond to the overturned vehicle at 5th street...pronto!" an officer said over the comm.
"Roger that!-.." one of the firemen besides the driver replied as the driving fireman picked up the vehicle speed.
"When it rains, it never pours ehh partner?"
"Rightly so"
As the vehicle was moving in top speed to get to the scene, all of a sudden, an rooftop from a nearby building was torn by the winds as it came straight flying at the vehicle's wind shield.
*GLASS SHATTER*
The wind shield shattered and the driver lost control
"CRAP!" the driver yelled as he was struggling to steer the vehicle that was going zig zag in the road.
The truck hit a barricade and was thrown to the left towards the end of the bridge, as the vehicle was hanging in balance midway with one half in the road and the other half in open and at the bottom was nothing but the raging sea waves.
"NOW! Get out from the back!" the driver said the passenger immediately went back, but before he could get out, the truck lost balance and fell off from the bridge.
"DAMN!" the driver yelled in fear thinking that was end of them. Thats when a man in red and blue suit and cape flew at blinding speed and caught the truck. The driver opened his eyes to see the Man of Steel from the now broken wind shield space and was relieved to see him.
"Dont worry officer, got you!" Superman said as he flew carrying the truck and placed in the ground. The occupants came out unscathed with little scratches in the arm.
"Thanks Superman! Without you, we would have become shark dinner" the passenger firefighter said.
"Anytime officer" Superman said as he flew away to scout the area for any other problem.
But meanwhile Diana was also in the spot before the bridge inside a cross street. She watched a small girl probably 8 years old crying. But the real danger wwas she was hanging onto to a tree branch, tightly holding on for her dear life.
"MOMMY! HELP!" The girl cried as Wonder Woman noticed the tree was slowly getting uprooted by the strong winds which will end in a disaster for sure. As the tree began slanting, Diana swooped in and caught the little girl.
"I got you little sister!" Wonder Woman said to which the girl was confused.
"I am not your sister!" the girl replied naively without knowing the underlying meaning of the term.
But Diana was equally naïve at first when she came to man's world as she needed help from Cortana and Miranda to learn the ways of the world outside of Themiscyra. She always answers question in straightforward manner and it took some training from the two other ladies to hold on to the wits. John on the other hand, helped her learn the basics of modern warfare. She maybe immortal, but he told her that crazy minds can be a surprise even to someone as powerful as her and there's no telling what kind of offense they may develop.
Diana soon identified a blonde woman waving her hands high at her, leading Diana to believe that she has to be the child's mother.
Diana flew towards the woman and dropped the child on the floor.
"CASSIE!" The woman yelled in joy running and hugging the little girl.
"Mommy!" The girl hugged her back in fear and joy as they both were separated by bad weather for sometime and both were terrified.
"Oh Cassie! Dont run away like that! You scared me so much!"
"I'm sorry mommy!"
"I dont know what I would've done if something happened to you!"
"I love you mommy!" The girl said as the mother and the child walked into the house.
"I love you too darling!"
Diana was watching this from a distance with a warm smile so much she lost the world around her for a time.
"*SIGH*...oh mother!...Donna!...I miss you so much...!" Diana thought about her sister and her mother. She has been away from Themiscyra for a long time and after seeing the mother and her daughter, she had this overwhelming urge to see her own family once again. Though Diana was not sure how her people will receive her.
As she was going through these thoughts, she didn't realize what was happening around her. A heavy lamp post got bent and broke by the wind as it flew at high speed towards her.
Superman saw this and immediately reacted.
"DIANA!" he called out her name as she was snapped out of her thoughts and turned to look back only to see the lamp post charging at her.
Diana blocked it with her right arm as it hit her arm and shattered in sheer resistance. Superman landed besides her. He can clearly see that she was out of her focus and clearly distracted, since being an amazon warrior, she was always wary of her surroundings usually.
"You are usually more careful than this"
"I'm sorry, Its just-...I was-..." Diana stumbled with words as she didn't know what to say.
"What happened Diana!? You can talk to us if something bothers you" Superman said trying to understand what happened at the moment.
"My mother used to call me her little wonder, her suns and stars. The world revolves around me. Its been a long time, since I left my homeland and now I feel a bit guilty. Guilty of leaving without even saying a single word even to my mother and sister! I am sure they aren't pleased with the way I left things back" Diana said with a hint of sadness.
Superman now understood what she was talking about and realized that could shake someone up emotionally.
"Maybe you should go back and set things straight with them, explain yourself to them!" Superman suggested to her.
"And what should I exactly tell them?" Diana asked confused.
"Maybe the truth! Diana, I never knew my original family personally. God gave me another loving family for whom I would do anything! Your mother and your sister maybe angry, but they will never give up on you" Superman said to which Diana was surprised and also motivated.
"If only that were that were easy, but you are also right! I cant put this off any longer!" She said as she prepared to fly away.
"When you will be back?" Superman asked.
"Honestly, I dont know" was the reply she gave. Superman gazed for a moment to process that then flew away hoping its not the last time he saw his friend.
Diana decided to tell one other person about this, someone who has mutual respect and deserved to know. She made her way to the Spartan.
In another part of the Metropolis...
As of then, The Spartan sent multiple pelican dropships and a phantom vessel for transport and evacuation, sending emergency supplies to the city. Spartan's vessel has near unlimited resources which he decided to put it to good use by sending all sort of supplies needed for the people. Flash helped carry those supplies to each and every home in the city since no one can come out of their houses amidst the hurricane. The pelicans and the phantom vessel survived the hurricane winds due to their energy shielding and ultra strong hull made of NC-D(Titanium-Iridium Degenerate Nano Composite)
John also asked Cortana to refit argus drones with hardlight emitters and spread them all over the city to reinforce all the buildings with hardlight to prevent serious structural damages otherwise would have sustained due to wind force. Despite the extreme serious situation, No casualties were reported thanks to the Spartan, Cortana and Miranda.
"All good Flash?" John asked over the comm channel. John usually never involved himself in these disaster relief measures as he is a soldier and leave the recovery to a separate department back in his universe. But the weather itself wasn't new to him as he had been in these worst weather situations more times he can remember.
"Fine on my end, Commander! Some people got stuck under the bridges and streets. I am providing them the supplies and getting them to their respective houses!" Flash answered.
"Glad to hear it. Keep me posted" John said.
"Cortana, Keyes? How's the city doing? Status of the storm?" John asked over the comms.
"Well, the city is doing fine with some toppled trees, vehicles which are being handled by some of the drones I redirected it to. Some power lines have their cables damaged and the substations have been busted up by the winds. So I have taken the liberty to install a temporary wireless power generator with the receiving endpoints hotwired to the existing supply grid. Otherwise, the city's fine. well-...except some flooded streets and subways" Cortana replied.
"Good to hear that"
"When was the last time we actually experienced a storm, John!? You remember!?" Cortana asked switching to the casual conversation.
"It was on a world in the thousand ruby galaxy. The storm was 5 times more severe and we were in the middle of resolving a civil war of the native inhabitants, circa 59334 AD" John answered acutely recalling the date and the incident which made Cortana laugh.
"I always knew you had a great memory, for an oldman!" Cortana said with a smirk to which John didnt react but was mentally amused at the dig on his age by her.
"You are not an eternal youth either" the spartan countered her with a dry sarcasm which made Cortana raise her eyebrows with a smile.
"Wow! Didnt know you still had it in you!" Cortana said with a laugh.
"Keep me posted on the situation"
"Sure Commander and I will tell Keyes that you joked today!" Cortana said to which John didnt reply. John immediately contacted Miranda.
"Captain, do we have anything on the hurricane's status?" John asked.
"The wind speed it picking up Commander, but our algorithms are predicting the hurricane will weaken in the next 3 hours" Miranda said.
"Thats a good news. Hope the city returns to normal soon" John replied.
"Likewise! How are you holding up?" Miranda asked.
Ever since she heard what John was going through with the shard of keymind banging the psychic walls in his head, she became a bit restless and was concerned about his health. No living being can survive such a cruel encounter and keep moving sane, but the fact John had been doing this for tens of thousands of years was mind boggling to her. But the most unsettling fact is that he has created a protocol to neutralize himself should he become a threat. Beyond a super soldier and as her current commanding officer, she sees John as a good friend. Back in the early covenant war, she looked up to the Spartan IIs and ODSTs as her admiration and Jacob, her father would tell their stories of bravery to her. She also looked up to many military leaders of that time including her father himself and battlefield leaders like John-117 and Kurt-051. When John became part of her crew, she always counted on him with impossible tasks that she believed he can get it done. But now things have changed a lot for the better but also stayed the same on certain aspects. Though as grim the situation is, She is still confident that he will pull this through like he always does.
"I am doing fine, thanks" John responded.
"Hope you are safe down there. It would be an insult to a 60,000 year old Spartan to be defeated by a bad weather!" Miranda joked to which John let an evasive smile.
"As long as its a worthy opponent" John said with his dry wits. Keyes was surprised to see him understand humor and respond to that.
"Did you just respond to my joke!? Oh Boy! Now this is the day! Either way, I'll keep you posted" Keyes said enthused.
"Understood, 117 out" John said as he cut the comm. John was inside a pelican dropship parked on a helipad on a building monitoring the situation from high above. The winds started to get much worse as the weather entered the next phase. Rain started to splash all over due to wind current. The holo emitter in the cockpit was displaying the 3D hurricane live with meteorological data tagged around it.
Suddenly he heard the dropship back door open only to reveal Diana getting in. She was wet all over.
"Diana!?" John called out.
"Spartan, I was hoping to see you here" Diana said wiping the water off her face.
"Are you alright?" He asked looking at her water logged state.
"Other than soaked in rain water, I'm doing fine. Besides, how are things from this end?" She asked.
"All good, hardlight emitters keeping the buildings intact, the supplies we took from the Labyrinth is being distributed by Flash. No Casualties fortunately" John replied.
"Glad to hear that. Hope the city returns to normal. The people have suffered enough!" Diana said genuinely.
"True, but we've been prepared for this, so nothing to worry about" John replied though he noticed some hesitation in Diana's face.
John then exited the cockpit to sit on the passenger seat. Diana then took a seat next to his.
"Is something bothering you, Diana?" He asked with concern.
"John, I will be leaving the Justice League for quite some time!" she said looking down and then at him.
"Is something the matter?" he asked trying to understand if she is in any trouble that can be helped with.
"I never told this to anyone. I-...I didnt come here with all the blessings from my people. I came here against the will of my mother, Queen Hippolyta. But now-...I feel-...I dont know!" She said with a glint of sadness in her voice.
John for his part totally understood what she was trying to convey. Through their previous conversations. John learned a great deal about the Amazons and their law, their culture. Even if she's queen's daughter, her actions could be considered treacherous nonetheless. Besides, her mother would also be worrying about her daughter, having gone for too long.
"I see, Do you regret coming here? To man's world?" John asked.
"Absolutely not! I cherish the new friends I made here and the opportunity to help the innocents that are threatened here on daily basis. I would have missed a lot of things that I would never find even in Themiscyra" Diana said with a smile. John nodded in agreement.
"I feel the same. But hope I complete the mission and leave to my place to make sure everything's fine" John said. Diana understood his sentiments as well, He is here is help with an emerging threat, but he always felt his need and duties were back in his universe.
"I just hope, I could talk to my mother and sister and explain the circumstances. I just did what I thought was the right thing which was again taught by my mother after all" Diana said. John understood this is out of the field subject for him, but he grew up with his Spartan brothers and sisters and other people he see as family. He has some understanding of what family though not in the traditional sense.
John commanded his helmet to retract as it fragmented and retracted back into his suit. Diana saw his face that expressed some emotion she never saw before in their time, spent talking. John always suppressed his emotions to stay focused, doesn't mean he doesn't know how to express them. It only helps him move forward with one mission after another.
"I think you should go back and talk to them. Your mother may be angry, but she always look out for your well being and safety only. I dont say this from my personal experience, but I do know thats how parents are" John said to which Diana gave a warm smile.
"Ofcourse, thats true! I shouldn't be worrying. I need to go and talk to them confidently!" Diana thought to herself.
"Thank you John, I needed this talk. Now I feel reinvigorated and I shouldn't worry about something that may never happen at all" Diana said abliss.
"Glad I could help and hope you return back safe before Cortana and Keyes chew me down their throats" John said to which Diana laughed and she too agreed that they will do that.
"Heh heh! It may take a while, but I will be back before that happens" Diana warmly replied.
John gave a nod as he turned silent till the storm and rain passed. He could hear the violent howl of the wind through the hull of hte pelican. Then he could also hear a bang in his head as the keymind shard was so desperate to get out of John's mental prison. Then all of a sudden he heard Diana's voice.
"Spartan, you told us a great deal about yourself, your-...family. Would you like to hear stories of my family? We have some time to kill either way" Diana asked which surprised John. He never got into any personal conversation outside of the people in his closest circle.
"I wouldn't pry on other people's personal stories. Are you sure that's wise?" John asked.
"I dont mind at all! I consider you as a good friend like the others in the league" Diana said to which John gave a thought.
"If you have no problem, I'm all ears" John said to which Diana smiled.
She then spoke about her land Themiscyra, the Amazons and their culture and the Gods they were close to. John found it intriguing to learn that she was the daughter of Zeus, the actual greek god. She then spoke highly of her mother Hippolyta, her sister Donna and her tutor Artemis.
John then shared some stories about his family, his fellow Spartans and some of the left out details during their training in the early days, his early missions against the insurrection and he spoke highly about his brothers and sisters, Mendez and Halsey. He still didnt talk anything about the darker aspects of his life. He also spoke about a training mission on a remote colony where Mendez sabotaged their escape dropship and how John devised a plan to steal Mendez's pelican and leave him stranded much to his annoyance. Diana laughed at that and felt amused.
Then how Mendez and the young Spartans prepared bonfires and had a true family time near the end of the first phase of the training. Diana could picture that and only smile to herself that John and the other kids may have been ripped off from their family, but instead they gained another.
Diana was stunned to hear about the background of Silent storm as John and his fellow spartans were only 15 or 16 yrs old that fought the covenant and the human insurrectionists at the same time. She was even horrified to hear that there were traitors that chose to side with the enemy in hopes of getting spared, even a high ranking UNSC officer who secretly conspired against the Spartan IIs in the middle of the war. Then the stories of how he led a handful of soldiers on a covenant world alone to blow their significant fleet operations, then about the glassing of planet Biko. While these may seem so harsh, Diana was nonetheless astounded by how John looked after every soldier under his command and dragged them to unattainable victory and that how soldiers in the battlefield looked upto him for his guidance. He then talked about how in the early covenant war, on the success of Operation Silent Storm, his good friend Avery Johnson persuaded Colonel Crowther to give a 4 rank jump to make John a Masterchief Petty Officer, a promotion that was unheard of in those times.
But the more stories she heard from him, the more she started to admire him even believe that he is not the machine that everyone made it out to be.
The conversation went on as the storm finally weakened and the rain stopped with only the clouds covering the skies. Diana then bid him farewell and promised to return soon once everything is set alright at home. With that, she took the Javelin and flew off.
Somewhere in the ocean...
Javelin 7 was soaring over the clear skies of the night where the moon shone bright and the stars twinkled. Diana was thinking of ways to explain to her mother while in the pilot seat.
"Mother! You look radiant as ever...uh no"
"Gone mother!? No, I didnt go anywhere, I was in my room alone...for eight months-...doin-...uhh nope, this doesn't work!"
"The world was in danger and would you rather have me do nothing!?"
*SIGH*
"Hera, give me strength" she finally prayed as she was frustrated and didnt know what it would take to convince her family and people. She flew the Javelin as she could see her homeland at the far end of the horizon.
"Home at last" She said feeling relieved and calm but when she took a closer look, she was horrified. The whole place was on fire with structures broken and ruined.
"What!?" she exclaimed in fear. As the Javelin landed, she blasted her way out to see what was happening to her home. The overlapping fear, anger and anxiety for the safety of her people and family kicked in together.
"My people! My sisters!? What happened!?" Diana thought as he jogged her way into the castle town.
Then she spotted a silhouette of her sisters.
"No! Philipus! Antiope!" she screamed as she ran towards them only to find them turned into a rock with their swords held high as if they were turned while trying to attack something.
She then walked further distance only to find all her Amazon sisters were turned into stone. Some were turned to stone and then they were broken, technically making them dead on spot. Diana had tears looking at that.
"By the goddesses!" she whispered as she finally saw her mother at a distance who was being attacked some powerful energy explosion from which her mother was hiding.
"MOTHER!"
She flew towards her swiftly crossing the temple of Athena. The worshippers were turned to stone though their faces expressed fear and confusion. She landed near her only to find her mother was turned into a stone too. Diana was shocked to see that.
"Mother! No-! This is all my fault! I should have stayed here!" she cried at the sight of Hippolyta.
By the time she was criminating herself, she noticed a robed figure moving along the shadows. She immediately dashed through a wall and grabbed the figure and pinned him to the wall.
"AAGHH!" the man who had blood red eyes with an evil incarnate face that sent mild shivers to the amazon princess herself.
"Who are you!? And what have you done with my people!?" Diana interrogated fiercely. He grinned and uttered a spell.
"Luminous Daktorb!" he said as a big violet energy fired at her and blasted her away. She blocked it with her bracers but the force behind it was too much even for her strength. To make things worse, the man was firing bolts of magical energy to further push her away till she lost her balance and had to back flip to regain her posture.
The unnamed foe was firing magical energies towards her which she blocked with fallen pillars. Then she threw at great speed towards the sorcerer only for him duck with greater reflex. Diana didnt waste time as she dashed at him and delivered a powerful right hook.
"Ughhh!" The man screamed as he was picked up by his neck again.
"You dare mortal, to defile these sacred grounds with your presence!" She said furiously as she squeezed his neck.
"*GRUNT* You kill me-... and they all will remain as cold heartless-...stones forever!" he said struggling to breath. She looked at the surroundings to see all the statue sisters and finally decided to drop him to the ground.
"Who are you!?" she asked glaring at him.
"Doctor Felix Faust, a humble student of the mystic arts!" he said bowing. Diana could see this man was full of pride, way over his head despite his grim predicament.
"What have you done with my people!? WHY ARE YOU HERE!?" she yelled giving thoughts on unleashing the nightmare upon him incase she didnt like his answer.
"I came here seeking great knowledge of the ancients. In order to that, I need to assemble 3 sacred artifacts of which one of them is here, in this very land of the Amazons!" Felix said.
"Go on" Diana said.
"I'll make you a deal. You help me bring the pieces and I will turn them back again" he said to which Diana was clenching her fists tight angered at the fact that this man was still trying to bargain at this time.
"And why should I listen to you?" Diana asked taking one step forward.
"Allow me a gesture of goodwill, perhaps-...'Revis Vitae'" he said and he aimed a strange medallion towards her mother. A green energy hit the statue as it turned back to its human form. A breathtakingly beautiful woman in white attire, raven hair, blue eyes and generous curves. One can say where Diana got her looks from. Queen Hippolyta took deep breath as she knelt down and rubbing her eyes to clear her vision and mind from disorientation.
"Mother!"
"Diana!?"
Hippolyta was so happy to see her daughter back as they both hugged each other.
"Praise Athena for heeding my prayers and sending my daughter back home!"
"Mother, I-...I'm sorry for letting this all happen!" Diana said regretfully.
"How touching! But we still have business to tend to, dont you think?" Felix asked to which Hippolyta looked at him in confusion. She was also angry at the man who attacked her place.
"I will have your head for this!" the queen gritted her teeth and charged at him
"Petroba kisstes!" Felix once again used the medallion to turn the queen back into stone.
"Mother! NO!" Diana cried as she watched helplessly Hippolyta turn into statue once again. He then threw it away as no one could find it. He did that as an insurance.
"Do we have a deal, princess?" Faust asked grinning at her with evil in his eyes. Diana so much wanted to rip his head off clean and feed it to cerberus. But one look at her mother and her people forced her to stand down.
"Fine! But what kind of man you are-...you filth!" Diana cursed at him.
"A practical one my dear" He said as he clapped his hands to summon an hour glass.
"You have 24 hours to bring the pieces to me. If not, your people remain as statues forever"
"And how do I find these accursed relics you are looking for?" Diana asked.
"This gem is magically attuned with the vibrations of other relics. This will lead you to it" he said as he handed over a blood red gem.
"I will do it. But know this Faust! If you back track on your words. No amount of magic will hide you in any corner of the universe!" Diana said grabbing him by his robe.
"Real pretty! Tick tock, princess" Felix said with an evil smile as Diana flew the Javelin out of the Island. Then Faust went inside the fortress to reach a temple. Inside, he stood nearby a pit that suddenly blew out ethereal flames.
"FAUST! WHY DO YOU LINGER-..!" a roaring voice blazed through the fire.
"Change on plans my lord! The relics are protected by some powerful magic. Why risk my neck when I can have someone to do it!" Felix said.
"IF YOU FAIL ME FAUST, YOU NECK WILL BE THE LEAST OF YOUR CONCERNS! I WILL DRAG YOUR SOUL TO TARTARUS AND ENJOY SKINNING IT!" the being spoke which made Faust's face turn sour.
"The prize will soon be ours my lord! The queen's eldest daughter herself is on her way to fetch it for us!" Faust said.
"DAUGHTER? AH-...YES, HER-...HA HAH HA!" the being said with a chuckle.
"And soon the ancient knowledge of the likes you have never known will be yours, Faust! Hang in there!" Faust spoke to himself with high confidence.
Onboard the Javelin...
Diana was afraid and confused at the same time. On one end, her people and her family are in grave danger. On the other end, she is not sure why Faust, a human from man's world is seeking powerful relics and what sinister plans he has for them.
This was when she recalled what John once told her about war which he learned in his early days.
"You know the strength of your enemy and yourself, victory will always be within your reach. You only know your strength, but not the enemy, you may have victory or defeat. But if you neither know your strength nor your enemy's strength, you are doomed always to lose"
"Thats true. I know Faust is a powerful sorcerer, considering he was able to lay siege on the Amazons themselves. But what else I know? Nothing. I need to know the enemy better" she thought to herself.
"Batman, its Diana" she called the Batcave calmly not to raise suspicion though she knew Batman is too smart that he will piece together everything.
"Batman here" finally the voice came from the other side.
"I need your help to find everything about a man, one named Felix Faust. He is some kind of a sorcerer" She said/
"Interesting, care to explain what this is about?" Batman asked. But before she could answer, the red gem started to glow. She realized one of the relics is nearby.
"Sorry, I need to go now!" She said cutting the comm channel.
In the bat cave...
"Hmm, something doesnt feel right!" the Dark knight thought to himself looking at the large monitor before him.
Batman is considered the world's greatest detective because he observes keenly the things in different perspectives that even the brightest crime solvers can miss. Right now, he can easily understand that Diana was not behaving in her normal self cutting the comm in a hurry. He also noticed the distress in her voice though she spoke like nothing else. He understood her odd behavior has something to do with this Felix Faust. He input some commands into the computer.
"Computer, track Javelin 7" he said and soon a holo emitter behind him projected a 3D map with a moving glowing point that represented the Javelin. It was passing through a series of Islands.
"Hmm, why would she be secretive about this? Its better to warn the others" Batman thought.
"Batman to Watchtower" he called out though he didnt receive any response. Then the station's native AI that Bruce developed to handle the automated tasks responded.
"Voice recognition in progress..."
"Voice pattern analysis complete. Hello Mr. Bruce Wayne" the female AI voice spoke.
"Where is the Justice league?"
"Jonn Jonz is currently meditating, Flash is in the cafeteria, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern are currently outside the solar system on a mission, the Spartan and his crew are onboard their ship" the voice gave him the status. Batman laid the next course of action.
"Fine, give me full details on a man named Felix Faust, keywords Mysticism, Sorcery, magic. Track Javelin 7 and as soon as it lands, send the coordinates to Superman and inform him that Diana might be involved in something that requires the Justice league's intervention. Inform the others including the spartan to be prepared for anything" Batman ordered the AI.
"Understood Mr. Wayne" The AI voice spoke and the link was closed. Batman was getting ready to solve the next big puzzle brought forth by Wonder woman.
...
Onboard the Labyrinth...
John was in his advanced MJOLNIR armor, green and black with golden visor. The armor was advanced as if its thousand years more advanced than the 26th century counterpart. He was not alone as he was walking the surface of a planet that was dark and the only light source was the raging fire and smoke all around the place.
Space ships crashed and shattered and spread across.
"Kelly, what is the status of Red team?" John asked.
"Douglas, Jerome, Jorge and Alice are helping with evacuating the civilians from a colony in Roma system in the Centaurus arm. But the flood keeps pouring in and our UNSC and Covenant forces are struggling to keep them at bay" she replied.
"Too bad, we lost all the defense forces in and around the system. Its one of a major military hub" Fred spoke.
"Lets keep moving. The city over there is hosting many flood compound minds. Before they achieve a significant biomass, we need to cut through their numbers and incinerate the place" John responded.
"Yes and the ONI intel says that this city will become a hub for another gravemind. If that happens, that will increase the flood intelligence 100 folds and this and the surrounding 1000 light years will be lost to us" Cortana spoke through John's external speakers much to everyone's dismay.
"Sir, we are not gonna make it! We will die once we descend down this hill. Lets call evac and get the hell outta here!" A marine corporal, named Riddick who was only survivor of his company told the Masterchief. He was clearly paranoid of the situation. The spartans understood his mentality but staying close is the best option he got at survival.
"Then you stay with one of us here, the rest of us will move down. We cannot leave with a greater threat looming here. Linda, give us covering fire" John said to which she nodded as she readied her long range guass sniper rifle loaded with incendiary chemical within metal bullet round that will burn the flood since fire is their weakness.
John, Kelly and Linda proceeded down the hill. But to their frustration, the flood combat forms have smelled their presence as they charged towards them enmasse.
"Shit! They have found us!" Kelly cursed as she readied her plasma rifle which is human variant.
"OPEN FIRE!" John yelled as they started sending barrages of plasma towards the flood forms that screamed and growled in agony as they died. Linda used the gauss rifle to make kill count. The corporal who was with her, used rocket launchers filled with nitro glycerin warheads and fired at the flood forces. But with all the firepower at their disposal, they were barely making a dent. They couldn't push through as they planned as they were being slowed down by overwhelming numbers.
"I dont understand, how did the flood got our scent already!?" the confused and terrified corporal asked.
"The flood has grown tremendously smarter that they are 10 steps ahead of us" Linda replied as the corporal was sweating in heat and fear.
"Sierra 117 to UNSC Paragon!"
"We read you 117! And a whole lot of flood awakened nearby your position!" the Ship's comm officer spoke.
"We need to launch a nuclear strike down the city! The flood were waiting for us laying an ambush to get near! Fire position, danger close" John said.
"John are you out of your damn mind!?" Cortana yelled for everyone to hear.
"Cortana, I need you to run a program to route all available power to shield emitters in our suits, then have a bubble shield created out of them to cover us all" John said as he fired his rifle at the charging flood forces. They were getting closer and John knew they cant stay there anymore.
"Fall back!" John yelled as they all started sprinting back to the hill top where Linda was present.
"John we have still have not tested it yet, dont even know if it can protect us from a nuke!" Cortana yelled tensely.
"Then dont waste time and get ready to do the field testing!" John said as he knew the risks involved and if it didnt work, it will be their collective demise. Cortana was nonetheless getting to work.
The three reached the hill top to Linda's position and were spending magazine after magazine of plasma chargers. The Corporal was doing his best to send rockets towards their position but he too was running out of ammo.
"Fury tactical missile enroute to the city, blast radius 30miles detonation ETA 2 mins, Good luck Blue team!" the comm officer from the UNSC paragon vessel said.
"Fine, the program is complete" Cortana said.
"Hope to god, it works, if not, Its been an honor!" Fred said as the five got closer. The program got loaded into all the spartan's armor and immediately, shield emitters were flaring and releasing high energy coherent photons and it formed a huge bubble of shield with photons layers stacked one above the other to few centimeters of thickness. It glowed in golden color. The 4 spartans and the corporal was kneeling down under the energy shield as the flood reached their position as the combat forms keep pounding on the bubble shield. It was tense moment for all of them. The corporal began to close his eyes to ignore the wailing and growling to pray for himself.
Then all of a sudden, there was bright light of nova at the city center as powerful blast erupted in a second sending the nuclear fire towards everything in a circle. The fire soon reached their position and the force behind it was so high that few layers of shield were totally scorched out. John was gazing at the fire that illuminated his eyes and all of a sudden...
John opened his eyes and immediately got out of his bed. He then walked a step forward towards a mirror that showed his tired face.
"It was a dream...of one of the early mission during the flood war! John thought as he breathed slowly to calm himself down. He then got himself ready to get to the bridge.
John then walked into the bridge and Cortana was there working on few hardlight panels and consoles.
"Sleep well big guy?" Cortana asked. John took a brief moment to answer which didnt escape Cortana's attention.
"I-...hope so" he said.
"Big guy! Tell me what was it? and dont try to sugarcoat. Thats really not your style" she said folding her hands. John knew he cant dodge her questions as he is aware of how persuasive she is. So he decided to tell her the truth.
"Had a dream about a flood campaign, one of the missions we did on a flood covered world" John said to which Cortana turned to look at him with mild concern.
"Was it worse? Are you feeling good?" Cortana worried if the mental fortifications have weakened giving rise to the old nightmares.
"No, it was nothing. I am good" he replied.
"I am working tirelessly on how to remove that personality shard from your neo cortex. But for some unknown reasons, that shard has latched on to you like a-..like a parasite that is stuck sucking the life blood from something!" Cortana said drawing some comparison to the case at hand.
"May be this cant be fixed" John said which quite stunned Cortana. She was narrowing her eyes in confusion wondering why the spartan was saying such things.
"Dont be ridiculous John! We are from 62558 AD, remember!? We are capable of anything at this point! I know this is a complicated case, but we will eventually find a solution, dont you remember!? Like it or not, your plan to defeat the flood actually worked...*SIGH*...at a cost though" Cortana said reinvigorating John's spirits though he is realist and believes in facts. And right now it says that he may have keep living with it.
This was one of the main reasons he had to minimize the use of his psychokinetic powers as it scorches the mental blocks slowly away. John decided to change the subject.
Where is Miranda?" John asked.
"Well, she's having some fun down there in NYC" Cortana replied to which he let an evasive smile, glad that she is enjoying her life, like she got a second chance.
Miranda was on Earth, Newyork city to do some shopping. When there were no missions, Keyes was taking her time off enjoying the civilian life, sometimes alone or sometimes with Diana, since she never had a break before during the covenant war.
"Cortana, any word on the promethean presence?" John asked.
"No, in fact, its silent. As if they have vanished!" Cortana said surprised by their inactivity.
"Keep scanning. They are still out there, must be trying to sneak past us. With the White lantern ring and a Mother box, the prometheans-...Didact...They need to be stopped soon" John said to which she agreed. All of a sudden, a small 3D hologram of Miranda popped up nearby the hardlight displays.
"Its Keyes, she's calling" Cortana said and she answered the call.
"I bet you are having a great leisure time, Miranda?" Cortana asked.
"Heh, I certainly do. Just now finished watching Star wars movie in a theater. Now onto a shopping mall. Gotta say, Civilian life has its perks, almost regret I couldnt get it back at home" Miranda said enthused.
"Well well., atleast one of us here is having fun, poking fun at John to which he just sighed in response.
"By the way, I am headed to the pizza corner. You want to grab a bite John? Heard this one here serves some real tasty ones" Keyes asked to which John thought for a second.
"Perhaps, not a bad idea" he said.
"Great, then I will buy two, double cheese margarita!" she said, though John didnt like the sound of that.
"I think you can tone down the cheese for me though" John said to which Cortana chuckled.
"Fine fine, I will get you something else thats not so fatty, Keyes out!" Miranda said and closed the comm. Before Cortana and John could utter a word, they got an automated voicemail relayed from the watchtower.
"Hmm, an automated voice message from the watch tower's AI. It was sent from-...Batcave?" Cortana said surprised as she knew from whom exactly this would have been sent.
"Batman sent this!?
"Yeah, looks like something urgent" Cortana replied as she took the comm package in a hologram format as it expanded to play the info. It then displayed Diana's current whereabouts and Batman wanting to investigate on a guy named Felix Faust.
"Felix Faust!? Who is he and why Batman is looking for him and what's Diana doing alone!?" Cortana trying to find some answers as she ran through the console. John for his part didnt feel right about this. Diana said she was going to her homeland to set things right with her people. It was only a few days ago. But here she is on a Javelin, going alone.
"What happened to her? Something tells me she could be running into trouble" John thought of the unusual situation. He decided to bring Miranda upto speed on this.
"Cortana try to find whatever you can this Faust guy and have Miranda to keep all her shopped items in our secret location in NY city and meet me in Bronx. I think Diana maybe needing some help" John said.
"Right on it. I hope she doesnt run into any trouble" Cortana said to which he nodded as he left the bridge.
...
Back with the Javelin...
Diana flew the Javelin as she reached the Museum of natural history in Metropolis. She landed the jet behind the building as she got out.
"I hope this artifact is here" she said as she carried the gem that was still glowing bright. She then flew to the terrace and opened the glass door to enter from the ceiling. She dropped to the floor silently and slowly walked forward past several artifacts that were hung on the wall and some on pedestals, like swords, shields, vases etc., as she reached an end, she saw red amphora that read as maker unknown from 6th century. But Diana recognized the amphora was from ancient greek era and knew the maker instantly.
"Menolipi? Good for you! I always knew your works were museum quality" she said with a warm smile. Menolipi was her old friend she knew long back. As she moved the gem in her hand in front of her that illuminated another object in the distance.
It was another grey colored amphora. The amphora instantly started to react by glowing alternatively in tune with the gem.
She walked forward past several tall statues of knights. She walked into the zone without realizing her foot got exposed to a laser from a proximity sensor. Immediately the alarms went off shuting all the doors and entrances, even the glass passage she used to get from ceiling.
"Damn it! I must tripped the alarm. But first things first" she said as she punched the amphora to reveal a grey colored cylindrical object with strange engravings.
"I hope this doesnt get my friends into trouble!" she thought since a league member barging into a museum if and when gets public, will not be well received by everyone, creating some backlash.
"What does Faust want with this!?" she asked as the tall knight statue nearby started to turn golden and it opened its eyes all of sudden.
It then slowly took out a huge sword as it stepped out of its place with heavy thuds that mildly shook the place.
Diana however felt the tremors as she turned to see what it was only to find it was a huge statue of a knight standing alive as it rose its sword up in the air.
"Great Gaia!" she yelled gasping as the knight swung its blade, she flew away from its reach.
"Wretched sorcery! How did this statue even come alive!? What is happening here?" she thought starting to suspect the circumstances around her.
She then threw her lasso at the knight's fist and pulled it hard. But the statue resisted and pulled her towards it at full speed that send Diana flying uncontrollably only to be punched hard by the knight that sent her back.
"AHH!" she yelled in pain as she hit the wall and fell down toppling some shields that were hung. She then got to her feet. The knight didnt waste time as it charged towards and leapt high to stomp on her. But Diana managed to escape as she flew to it back high in the air. The statue slowly turned towards her as it opened its palm to look at the artifact from the amphora. Diana was shocked to see it was lost it.
"NO! Give that back! I must have it!" Diana charged towards the closed fist that has the artifact and tried in vain to open its grip. But the knight tried to punch her which she evaded by air dodging to its left, then a couple of swings from its sword which she narrowly evaded and was surprised at its speed for its big size.
But the knight got a lucky shot as it punched hard on Diana.
*WHAM*
"UHH!" she gasped as she flew back and crashed upon multiple columns that collapsed on to her. The knight slowly walked and used its sword to poke around to see if she was put down. But then Diana rose with a big force that surprised the knight.
"I am Diana of Themiscyra! And I will not be DENIED!" she yelled as she threw a huge column to its left leg with huge force that shattered the column and its leg.
"Time to end this!" she thought as she lunged at the statue and punched it that toppled it to the ground. She then stood on its chest and kept pounding repeatedly until it was nothing but a lifeless dust.
She then took the cylindrical artifact in her arms and then took a look around to see the extensive damage they have wrought upon. She sighed at that but her people's lives were at stake and she dont have much time to tend to this.
She then heard a voice, a familiar one.
"Diana! What's going on?"
She turned to the ceiling as Superman flew in landed in front of her. This is exactly what Diana wanted to avoid, a confrontation with her friends.
"This is not your concern!" she said in all seriousness. But Superman was serious looking at the destruction she has wrought.
"It concerns me when my friends start to tear apart museums without explanations. Besides, you are in Metropolis, which is under my protection. I have notified the others too. When-...they get here. They will need an explanation" Clark said looking around.
Diana sighed in frustration that her mission is getting delayed further, but she knows he is right on his part.
...
Later...
Superman, Martian, Flash were standing opposite to Diana. And between them to the left were none other than Spartan and Miranda both in their combat armor with Miranda having her helmet retracted. Cortana's hardlight form was there too coming out from John's armor hardlight emitter. She went inside the museum to survey the damage and came out.
"Wow, I'm surprised the museum is still in one piece. But a lot of historical pieces got damaged severely. The museum guys are not gonna like it. We are talking about some serious reparation" Miranda said.
"We can cover that loses and fix the building and security features all together" the Spartan replied which stunned Superman, Martian and Flash.
"Wait, are you sure? It could cost you billions!" Superman said wondering how they might pay. He knows they've got the tech with them, but monetary resource is a totally different thing.
"Well, no need to worry. John may not be rich back in our universe, but his extremely long and brutal career came in handy to earn a significant pay. I ran an algorithm to convert a few credits from his account into equivalent dollars that is as per the current value in this world. With that, he's got 90 billion US dollars with him right now. Thought this might come in handy in future" Cortana said with proud smile.
"WHAT THE SHIT!? 90 Billion!? Thats filthy rich and you are saying its a normal pay!?" Flash exclaimed in shock at how much the Spartan is worth at present. Though its not even remotely close to what Bruce Wayne or Lex Luthor is worth, but still, this was huge. Superman was equally confounded at the fact, but wasnt so surprising. He has seen how advanced their society and the technological advancement they had. And its logical that with such a lengthy military career, its possible to be having earned a lot.
"Ever considered stock market investment Commander? Heard its going great this year" Miranda said folding her hands with a smirk.
"I am not good at that honestly, given my time spent only on holding weapons and ship's consoles instead of counting currencies" John replied that made Miranda chuckle at the response.
"Either way, Cortana, contact the city council and take care of the formalities" the Spartan said to which Cortana gave a salute with two league members were taken back by his gesture. He is not even from this world and he didnt have to do this. This made them to respect the supersoldier even more.
"So back to the topic at hand. Diana, what were you upto all this time?" Cortana asked the question on everyone's mind. Diana told the others the entire set of events that transpired recently in Themiscyra.
"And you trust this Faust character?" J'onn Jonz asked.
"Ofcourse I dont trust Faust, but what choice do I have? Diana asked folding her hands.
"I say we go back to her place and kick this would be sorceror's butt!" Flash raced towards the Amazon and voiced his opinion.
"That wont be easy flash. I believe men are not allowed in Amazon's homeland, I guess?" Miranda asked having heard the stories of the so called mythical island.
"In that case, someone forgot to tell him that" Flash quipped.
"Thats true Keyes. We break that law, we will be facing severe consequences. Besides, I gave my word in finding these relics. If I backtrack, my people will be cursed forever and only he has the knowledge to break it" Diana said lowering her head down.
John for his part was quite uncomfortable with the concept of magic as he comes from a place of advanced technology that borders around that concept, but still its all science nonetheless. But things like curse, spells, they are an unfamiliar domain to him. But he cant keep second guessing about that. His friend is in trouble and he will do everything to help her, as always like he helps his people back in his universe.
"This only leaves us with one course of action" the Martian said breaking the silence. Everyone turned to look at him.
"We will have to help you see this through" Martian said which surprised Diana as she smiled at them.
"Perhaps, it was wrong to have kept this from my friends. I should have trusted them" Diana thought guilt ridden.
"So how do we go about this?" Superman asked the team.
"I suggest splitting into two teams. Myself, Superman and Diana on one spot. Jonn, Miranda and Flash to the other. This is race against time if what Diana says is true, so we cant keep hauling" Spartan said to which nodded in agreement as it was a great idea and saw wisdom in it.
Diana gave one red gem to Jonn.
"Take it, when you are nearby the relic, it will give out a bright glow and you will know it" She said to which Jonn nodded.
Soon everyone left as the Martian, Flash and Miranda entered the Javelin and took off.
Superman, Diana and the Spartan flew directly from the spot to the next place where the relic is hidden.
...
Deep in the Jungles of South America,
Guatemala
The Javelin cruised in the air and landed nearby a Mayan pyramid structure. Flash and Jonn who was holding the red gem which was glowing walked out. Miranda was holding an Ion-particle rifle with talon launcher strapped on the back by the armor's magnetic lock.
"Imagine this, the beach, the sun and hundreds of women around and comes me!-...the first man they have seen in...oh, maybe forever" Flash started to ramble which made Miranda to raise her eyebrows. Though she realized what the speedster was getting at only nod in disappointment.
"And oh look what I've brought. Iced mochas for everyone! Sweet" he said as the three walked by.
"I fail to see the attraction here" Jonn replied in his stoic tone as they all saw the pyramid structure a few metres from them.
"Well, flash sweetheart! I have to break it to you. But a society of immortal warriors who have secluded themselves from man's world wont be taking it nice seeing you there. If its anything, they will be using you as target practice" Miranda said to which flash's face turned sour.
"Ah lady! Why do you always have to be such a bummer!? Perhaps you never got to date anyone?" Flash asked. Though it did strike a nerve, she wasnt offended though.
"Well, we were at war when I was born. Ever since I graduated, I only had one date, death. Every single day, so the covenant never gave me a chance to think about marital life" she replied.
It was true in her case, Miranda was born at the beginning of war and she was always in one battle after another ever since she graduated near it peak. She dedicated her life in doing her part to save humanity as whole. And by the end, she died and she was only 28 years old. Halsey was the most heart broken as she lost both her husband Jacob and her daughter. She has lived with that memory for 60 millennia and would be rolling on the floor in joy once Miranda get back to her.
Flash cursed himself for that since his words brought back the past horrors.
"Hey Keyes, I'm sorry-...I didn't mean to-..." Flash gave an awkward apology to which Miranda waved her hand, not bothered by that. The Martian deicded to divert the topic to get relieved from the stressful subject.
"Perhaps, we should concentrate on finding the relic" Jonn said.
"No problem!" Flash said as he blitzed inside the pyramid and came out fast with a big jar in his hands.
"That was easy" he said as he opened to take out a big cylindrical piece of marble with strange engravings similar to what Diana found.
Suddenly the ground started to shake violently as a huge red serpent breathing fire rose from the ground.
"Shit! You should have known these things wont be left alone without any form of protection!" Miranda cursed as she readied her rifle.
"Oops!" Flash said with an awkward smile. The serpent suddenly shot a fireball from its mouth to their way. The three evaded the attack. to the sides.
"How am I suppose to know?" Flash yelled looking at the serpent in horror. Miranda fired her rifle as the metallic ion-photon plasma rounds was somewhat hurting the creature as it roared in discomfort, but not enough.
"Its kinda obvious dont you think?" Miranda said as the three readied to counter the next attack.
...
With Spartan, Superman and Diana...
The 3 were flying in the air towards the place the gem was guiding them to. John was silent the whole time, the suit's anti-gravity thrusters keeping him in flight. All of a sudden, he started to feel dizzy as the world around him started to dull in color and fill with sage green hue. John immediately stopped midair as he looked around tensed.
"What is happening?" he thought.
"IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME SPARTAN-...AND I HAVE PLENTY OF IT-..."
John instantly recognized the deep bass voice that growled in his head. John stressed himself as he shook his head mildly to keep the voices locked away.
"EVENTUALLY-...YOU WILL BE-...CONSUMED!" the voice roared in his head as he grunted in response.
"No!" he muttered.
"Spartan! Spartan!" Diana called out as they both stopped to look at him and even though his face is behind the helmet, they can sense he is in some trouble.
John used his telepathic abilities to hard lock the voice away in a mental chamber and buried it deep as he felt calm.
"Spartan, you alright? I sensed some sort of distress, you were grunting as if in pain" Superman said concerned for the supersoldier's well being.
"I am fine Superman. Its just, I've been having headaches recently" Spartan said not revealing the exact nature.
"Perhaps you should take rest then. You dont have to push yourself" Diana said concerned for the Spartan.
"Its alright Diana, I gave my word I would help and I always keep my promise. Lets move" the Spartan said to which Diana was touched by the words. She knew from learning his life that he would go to any lengths to keep his word.
The Spartan then flew in front as Superman and Diana glanced at each other as they followed him.
After sometime, they all stopped as the gem's signal grew stronger. They then reached a place as they were looking at the tall building.
"This is the last place I would expect to see a mystical relic hidden" John said as they standing in front of the Metro city mall.
They all entered the mall through front door.
"Why would anyone hide an artifact here?" Diana asked in confusion.
"There is some sort of interference with the armor's scanner, Let me filter through them" the Spartan said as he commanded the armor to fine tune the scanners past the unknown form of interference.
"Hmm, never seen anything like this. Could it be anything magical related to the artifact here? Either way, I should save this data and have Cortana work to break the signal down to develop countermeasures" the Spartan thought. The idea of magic coming into play never sat well with him, but since Diana's people lives are at stake so decided to go with the flow no matter how much they never made sense.
"This looks like some form of temple" Diana said looking around as they walked.
"Yeah, for those who worship their credit cards" Superman let a sarcastic comment.
"Glad Miranda is not here, else she would be a bit critical on that regard, having spent more time as civilian here" John said which he earned a curious look from the Man of steel and the Amazon.
Diana then looked around at some of the mannequins covered with some not so modest clothes.
"How does any female wear these ridiculous garments like these?" Diana asked not knowing much about how fashion worked in man's world.
"You got me" he said. John was worried whether they had to break the mall like the museum as this will lead to significant backlash. Meanwhile he managed to filter through the interference and the deep layer scanners revealed the location of the relic.
"I think I've found it. Its buried beneath that place" the Spartan said to which Superman used his x-ray vision to scan through the floor and identified it.
"I see it too. Let me get it" Superman said as he flew above and spun at great speed like a drilling machine and bore through the floor and returned with a similar amphora.
"Hmm, why would someone hide a relic like this in this place?" Diana asked in confusion. The more she involved, the more suspicions started to raise.
"There is a chance these relics have been here a long time and the city structures have been built upon" Clark said to which Diana nodded in agreement.
"But why would anyone want to go these lengths to get these relics that are well hidden? Why would Faust want others to do his dirty bidding? Something is not right" the Spartan added to which others looked at him concerned as they too feel the same way.
...
Meanwhile Jonn, Miranda and Flash were tackling the magical serpent. The fire attack imbued with magic hurt the martian as it was his core weakness. He was blown away a few meters apart. Miranda fired her rifle running to its left. The rounds were quite hurting as it started to chase her.
It got so close that it opened its mouth wide open to eat her only to evade the bite as he used the thrusters to get to the air. Miranda then immediately took the talon launchers and shot a missile that exploded with a powerful fusion energy burning the serpent and weakening it severely.
But soon it woke up and got back.
"Damn! This thing is like a cockroach. Let me distract it!" Flash said as he had the serpent to follow him. Flash cruised around and suddenly climbed the serpent's body and had it follow him. He ran in the form of a loop where the thing locked itself in a knot unable to get out.
"Flash, take the relic and get inside the javelin. We'll handle this!" Jonn said as he delivered a powerful punch to its face that sent it reeling in the air. Miranda immediately shot another missile into its wide open mouth as it exploded inside completely killing the serpent.
"Nice shot" Jonn said as Miranda landed slowly.
"Thanks, you too. Now, let get the hell out of this place" She said as they both walked towards the Javelin.
"Dude, remind me never to get on your bad side!" Flash said looking at the Martian as he watched how he one punched the serpent.
...
With Superman, Diana and Spartan, Clark broke the amphora and took out the relic. But once he did that,
*ZZZZAAAT*
A powerful flash of light threw everyone around. It took a while for them regain their sight and look around as they heard the amphora fall down and break. The dust settled and the environment became clear.
The Spartan rubbed his eyes to see Diana and Superman slowly getting to their feet. The Spartan for his part, felt fine, but deep down he knew that magical light did something to him and he hasnt discovered it yet because of that eerie feeling he has at present.
Diana for her part rubbed her eyes and was horrified to see a gargoyle like creature standing where Superman was before.
"Superman! Spartan!" she called out in confusion. She was also looking around and she couldnt find the spartan too. But she saw a cyclops like creature that was lying on the ground to her confusion
Superman for his part rubbed his eyes to see a dragon in the place of where Diana was before.
"Diana? Spartan! Where are you two!?" he cried out thinking the relic did something bad to them.
"What did you do with Superman and the Spartan, foul creature!" Diana yelled getting ready to beat the gargoyle as she noticed the cyclops was still on the ground, immobile.
"What did you do to Diana, answer me!" Superman yelled as he watched the dragon roar. He also noticed the cyclops lying on the ground much to his confusion. He didnt waste time as he flew towards her and delivered a powerful punch to its face.
*THAM*
The dragon was sent crashing on to a wall high above.
"AHH!" Diana yelled in pain and surprised at the gargoyle's raw strength. She got back to her feet as she didnt waste time and delivered a two powerful punches that rattled the gargoyle in quick succession.
"My God! That dragon has some brute strength! I need to finish this soon, if I wanna find Diana and the Spartan!" Superman thought. But before he could get back on his feet. The dragon flew by him and delivered a powerful kick that sent Superman crashing through multiple shops.
"RRRHH-...!" Superman grunted in pain.
John for his part was totally confused as to why Clark and Diana are fighting each other. He presumed that this magical blinding light must have done something to their senses, possibly an illusion of a kind.
"Superman! Diana!" he called out. Before he could stop them, suddenly the world around him started to rot away, it started to turn sage green, as strange spores started to fill the air. He was smelling rotten corpses or atleast thats what his brain thinks it to be. But John knows his smell too well, he has smelled this stench too much that its feeling has been permanently etched in his memory.
"Whats happening!?" He thought dreaded at the situation thats unfolding upon him.
"HMM HMM HUH HUH HA HA HA HA HAAAA-...WE ARE TWO CORPSES IN ONE GRAVE!" suddenly a loud laughter in deep bass tone started to fill, the laugh was filled with sinister. John suddenly saw flood combat forms crashing through the walls charging at him.
"NO!" John yelled as he summoned a pulse fusion rifle and started to fire at them. The micro stellar rounds pierced and burnt the flood's bodies as they all died one by one.
Superman got back to his feet and he is pissed off now as the dragon was staring at him. He dash charged towards it and pushed through the shops the same way backwards and delivered a powerful punch to its body.
*WHAM*
The dragon crashed on the floor hard, rolling its body in the ensuing momentum, unable to stop itself because of the power behind it.
John for his part was firing at the flood and all of a sudden, two large creatures that resembled the gravemind he encountered in Delta Halo or Installation 05. This time there were 2 gravemind creature coming at him. One can say that a Spartan II cant be scared easily, but seeing 2 graveminds here, brought back all the memories of flood crashing on to his consciousness.
John instantly blocked the graveminds with his telekinesis.
"I-...need to get to Diana and Superman!" He said holding the 2 graveminds and then he pushed them away with telekinetic power that sent both crashing back at the wall.
As the dust settled, all of a sudden, all the green, rotten smell, the spores and the flood including the graveminds vanished only for John to realize that the two graveminds were replaced by none other than Superman and Diana which horrified the Spartan.
"Oh no! All this time, I've been fighting them! Damn this magic! We were all trapped in an illusion!" John thought both in anger that this made him hurt his friends and sadness that he is slowly losing control of his mind that he succumbed to this. But he cant dwell on this right now so decided to pull himself together.
"Finally that one eyed being is awake, but damn! That thing had the strength to push me and that dragon at the same time!" Superman thought.
"Where is the Spartan creature! Tell me or you will be in world of pain!" Diana yelled as the cyclops walked forward. Diana saw that as a threat as she didnt waste time. She flew at full speed to punch the cyclops that toppled it to the floor.
"RRRRHH-...!" the Spartan grunted as he saw Diana punched him. She held him by his neck and was asking.
"Tell me creature! What did you do with the Spartan!?" Diana yelled. John realized she is still under the illusion that he appears as some monster to her.
"Diana, its me! The Spartan!" John tried to break the spell's effect.
Diana saw the cyclops growl. She then pounded on its chest. But suddenly,
*THOOOM*
A powerful blow from Superman sent Diana reeling in pain. The Spartan had a plan to bring them back to their senses but he didnt like it a bit. He had to do a little beating by himself.
Diana used the lasso to grab the gargoyle. But the Gargoyle pulled the lasso and spun her at full speed to send her crashing at the ceiling.
"Damn it! We have been fighting for a long time and I am nowhere near finding Superman and the Spartan!" Diana cursed herself as she got back on her feet upon the floor. Diana didnt waste time as she picked up a model car nearby threw it at the gargoyle.
Superman was hit by the car with much higher force that sent him back at the wall crashing it.
"This fight is simply wasting my time! I need to find Diana and the Spartan quickly. Her people are already running out of time!" Superman muttered as he flipped the car away.
As the dragon flew towards him at great speed, all of a sudden the cyclops appeared out of thin air in-between and delivered a punch to the dragon's face. Superman was shocked to see what just happened.
"By the gods! How did this creature come out of nowhere?" Diana thought still feeling the pain of the punch.
It was Spartan who used the armor's instant translocation to teleport in between and punched Diana though he regretted hurting his friend knowingly.
But Superman didnt waste time as he flew and bashed the Spartan with his right shoulder.
*GUH* The Spartan though protected by the Armegeddon battlesuit, felt the impact. He then used his arms to do a flip and get back to his feet. Superman dashed near him and delivered a straight jab. But John's superior reflex helped him see his fist coming slowly as he side stepped to evade it and quickly evade another set of right and left hook.
John grabbed his arm and delivered a knee jab to his abdomen and judo tossed him in the opposite side. Superman hit a pillar and fell nearby a swimming pool.
"Time to wake Clark up!" the Spartan though as he teleported towards him and grabbed his head on the sides with his two palms and psychically entered Superman's mind.
"Clark...CLARK! Listen, its me, Spartan 117! You need to stop fighting! You and Diana are under an illusion that forced you both to fight each other!" John said to which Superman's eyes widened in horror as the whole world made sense to him now and his vision cleared as the face of the cyclops faded away and the Spartan appeared before him. He immediately drew a deep breath as he was trying to get his senses back fully.
"My goodness! Spartan!" Superman called out to which the armored soldier was glad that his friend was back to his senses. He then helped Superman to get back to his feet.
"Damn it! That relic did this to us! And I was hurting you and Diana!" Superman cursed himself as this reminded him of how he got brainwashed years ago by Darksied. But the Spartan understood and held no grudge or animosity as this is something of a new territory even for the Kryptonian.
"Lets help Dia-...*GUH*" the Spartan said and instantly got bashed by the Amazon that sent the spartan crashing on the floor.
"DIANA! WAIT! ITS AAN ILLUSION! YOU HAVE TO-...*POW*!" Superman tried to talk Diana down but was swatted away by her. She was extremely angry that she still couldnt save her friends.
She wasted no time as she dashed towards the Spartan and began punching left and right alternatively with no break as the Spartan was in his defensive position, holding his arms cross to take the punishment. He noticed that Diana was going on a rage and her adrenaline spiked skyhigh as her vitals were highlighting all red in his visor.
Then in an unexpected move, Diana grabbed him by his waist and pinned him against a wall.
"I wont ask again! Where are Superman and Spartan!" Diana yelled. John used this opportunity to Grab her head with his both hands.
"Diana! Its me, Spartan! You and Superman were all under an illusion caused by the relic's magic. You were fighting each other!" John said as he intruded Diana's psyche and cleared her of the prevailing illusion. Seconds later, the world started to appear normal and the visions cleared only to reveal that she had the Spartan himself pinned to the wall much to her dismay.
"Oh! By the Gods above! What have I done!?" Diana released the Spartan. Superman walked nearby them.
"Its not your fault. The relic did this to us!" Superman said trying to convince his friend out of the guilt trip.
"But I dont understand. This illusion didnt affect you, Spartan?" Superman asked confused as he was the one who broke through their minds.
"The metaphysical connection between my mind and this armor protects us both. But the magic indeed trapped in a momentary illusion of my own. I broke free fortunately" the Spartan replied not going into the details of what he saw.
"What horrors have we unleashed?" Diana asked looking at them.
...
To be Continued...