Chapter 45: A.M.A.Z.O.
Onboard the Watchtower, the Justice League was in the midst of a massive training session. Aquaman and Wonder Woman were sparring, his trident clashing with her sword in a battle that looked like it belonged in the roman coliseum. Batman meanwhile was duking it out with several sparring robots, dodging around their stun blasts so he could toss batarangs at them to take them out.
Above the three, performing various aerial maneuvers, were Superman, J'onn, and Green Lantern. They were all engaged with aerial drones that were firing at them intensely. J'onn easily dodged the shots before going intangible so they could pass through him and hit a drone behind him. Superman used his heat vision in rapid succession to shoot down several drones repeatedly, and GL formed three paper airplanes with his ring that sliced through several drones at once.
Flash meanwhile was on a reinforced treadmill, running faster and faster as he kept pushing himself. His breath was labored and sweat poured down his brow as he pushed himself far beyond his limits.
Lastly, there was Cyborg, who was lifting up a massive weight machine that kept adding slab after slab on top of it. As the weight poured on, he glanced over to his wrist to see a counter beginning to appear, reading a percentage that quickly climbed to 100%.
"Warning," the small mechanical voice that ran his systems began shouting. "Physical limits exceeded. Disengage and prepare cooldown procedures."
"Hey!" Cyborg called out. "Someone shut this down!"
Cyborg's pleas got the other Leaguers attention, Flash coming over to his side.
"Don't stop now. You can do it. Keep going!"
"No! Shut it down! I can't…. Hold it!"
"Yes you can. You can do this!"
"No… I… can't!"
Finally, Cyborg collapsed, causing the machine to collapse on top of him. Superman quickly went over and lifted the machine off of him, allowing Wonder Woman to help him up. Cyborg pulled himself free of Wonder Woman's grip, grunting in anger and annoyance.
"Told you I couldn't do it," Cyborg retorted, brushing against Flash.
"Look, it was a bad break," Flash reasoned. "Just take a few minutes and-"
"Just drop it, ok?!" Cyborg snapped. "You may be willing to push yourself until you break, but I'm not!"
With that, Cyborg just opened a Boom Tube and walked through, leaving the rest of the League in the dust.
"What was that about?" Flash asked.
"Could be your insistence to train like crazy six times a week," Aquaman remarked. "Though that's just a guess."
"Aquaman is not wrong Flash," Wonder Woman admitted. "You have been pushing yourself and us fairly hard recently."
"Only so the next time the Reverse Flash shows himself, we'll be ready. He's still out there."
"We won't be able to beat him if we run ourselves ragged," Superman reasoned.
"Besides, he's not the only threat we need to worry about," Batman added. "There's still a whole world we need to protect. Not to mention Luthor is still on the loose."
"Yeah, well last time I checked, Luthor's just one man with no powers, no assets, and nowhere to go. Reverse Flash has gotten away with attacking us three times already, and I will not rest until he is finally taken down."
"Running yourself ragged isn't gonna get him any faster," GL remarked. "Why don't you head back to Central City, take it easy, hang with your girl for a while. Give yourself a break."
Flash let out a very long sigh, then pulled down his cowl.
"Alright… fine. But someone should probably talk to Vic."
"I'll call his father," Batman suggested. "He's probably the best suited for the task."
…
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cyborg stalked into his room, angrily punching the metal punching bag in the corner. He then plopped on his bed, just as the door opened up again, letting Silas inside.
"Victor?" He called out. "Everything alright?"
"Just fine!" Cyborg replied, punching through the bag.
"Clearly. Batman told me about your training session. You shouldn't blame Barry for wanting to push you."
"It's not that, I…" Victor paused for a moment before leaning against a wall. "Back when I was on the team… when I was human… I used to love pushing my limits. Getting stronger, faster, better. The coach would always tell us to give a hundred and ten percent, and I always did. But now… a hundred percent is all I got. Built in limits I can't exceed without the world's most annoying alexa yelling in my ear."
"My designation is not 'Alexa'."
"I know!"
Silas raised an eyebrow in response.
"I… didn't know you had an AI in your systems."
"I try to drown it out to be honest, but that's not the point."
"No, of course not. Victor, you shouldn't let this get to you. We'll figure out something. Your body may be mechanical, but your spirit is still human, and so is your will. As long as you still have that, you can overcome anything."
Victor looked up at his dad, cracking a smile in response to his father's words.
…
In the ruins of an abandoned building, a shaded figure was putting the finishing touches on a massive gold plated robot with the shape of a man, large solid yellow eyes, and golden etchings all across its body. On its chestplate, right on the left pectoral, was a label that read A.M.A.Z.O. After putting the last finishing touches on the, the robot's eyes snapped open, prompting it to look around at its surroundings.
"Welcome to life, my greatest creation."
The robot looked down at the figure that turned it on. His eyes flashed, indicating that it was scanning him.
"Why did you make me?" the robot asked. "What is my purpose?"
"To show the world… what we can become. First though, you'll need to deal with some… very troubling individuals. The Justice League. Find them, learn from them… and then kill them."
The robot nodded before walking out, the figure chuckling darkly to himself as he watched his creation leave.
…
Later that day at the DEO, J'onn was sitting in Kari's lab, listening as she prattled on about her latest scientific endeavor while occasionally stealing a bite of food. M'gann was asleep on the cot in the corner, having grown quite bored about 20 minutes into the doctor's latest tangent.
"-which could allow us to facilitate interplanetary travel without the use of a spaceship. The idea is still very much in the planning stages, the only instance of it having occurred by accident, but I think that the Erdel Initiative could open the gateway to deep space exploration and mapping. Just think of all the possibilities, the countless worlds and star systems that would be open to us if the Initiative worked!"
"It sounds… most promising."
"I lost you halfway through and you were just listening to the sound of my voice without actually hearing a word I said, weren't you?"
"I… got the jist of it."
Kari just laughed, smirking a bit.
"I want to recreate the phenomenon that brought you to Earth, only in a controlled environment and hopefully without elderly scientists dying of fright."
"That would be a preference. I still can't help but feel remorseful about what happened to Dr. Erdel."
"Hey, that wasn't your fault. You never meant him any harm. Besides, that's why this is the Erdel Initiative, so his work will live on."
"Sounds pretty worthwhile to me," Superman's voice agreed as he flew inside.
"Superman!" Kari greeted happily. "How can I help you?"
"Actually, I'm here for J'onn, if that's okay."
"Me?" J'onn asked.
"I need a favor, please."
…
"A psychic sweep of the entire city?" J'onn questioned as he and Superman flew back to Metropolis.
"If it's possible."
"It's possible, but difficult. Once the door is opened, it will be hard to close."
"I know it's asking a lot, but despite what Flash said, Luthor is still a threat. I just don't like the thought of him running free and ready to do God knows what. Now that he's a wanted fugitive, it might make him even more dangerous."
"I understand. I will make an effort, but that is all I can promise."
"It's all I can ask for."
J'onn nods before flying off, taking a vantage point high above the city. After taking a few moments to ready himself, J'onn activated his telepathic powers, scanning throughout the entire city. Unfortunately, he found no trace of the malicious businessman, coming up empty. He was about to inform Superman, but something stopped him.
"Why won't he tell me he loves me?"
He stopped, looking down to see a couple standing at a crosswalk, walking arm in arm.
"I'm not sure he even likes me," the girl thought.
"I wish she'd wear something a bit more showy," the guy thought.
J'onn just shook his head in confusion as he picked up the thoughts of more passers by.
"I stink, I just know it. Twenty showers a day, and I still can't get rid of the smell."
"Bald? How can anyone say I'm bald?"
"I should ask her out, but why would she be into someone like me?"
"Rotten kids! They don't appreciate me!"
As more and more minds became open to J'onn, he clenched his head in pain. He tried flying upwards to get away from the noise. Superman watched him go, looking concerned.
"J'onn?" he called out. "J'onn what's wrong?"
As J'onn turned to Superman, his thoughts became open to him as well.
"What's wrong with him? I hope I didn't push him too hard."
"Stay back!" J'onn yelled, trying to fly away.
"J'onn, wait," Superman insisted, grabbing his shoulder.
Thinking impulsively, J'onn punched Superman across the face, knocking him back so he could fly away. Superman rubbed his jaw, watching as the Martian disappeared into the night sky.
…
Meanwhile, at the Central City Power Plant, the A.M.A.Z.O robot walked towards the installation, casually tearing through the fence as it approached the area. As the robot walked through the plant, it made its way over to one of the massive transformers, raising its fists so it could smash against it. The impact caused electricity to spark from the transformer, and power to fluctuate all across the city.
…
Meanwhile, Flash was running around the city, looking for any crimes to thwart.
"Cisco, got anything for me?"
"Sorry pal, all's quiet around here."
"There has to be something. Check again."
"Dude, you've had me check every five minutes. Nothing's happening. No metas, no evil speedsters, not even a bank robbery. Can't you just take a break like normal people?"
"Dude, I can go from zero to six hundred in ten seconds. What part of that is normal?"
"Hey, that's not… hang on, activity at the Central City Power Plant. Looks like you'll get some action after all."
Flash sped towards the power plant without another word.
…
Back at the Power Plant, the A.M.A.Z.O. robot continued wreaking havoc, smashing transformers and knocking aside security guards that came and tried to stop it. As one guard was knocked aside, Flash came up from behind him and caught him.
"You alright?" Flash asked, setting him down.
"Y-yeah."
Once the guard was secure, Flash sped off to confront the robot.
"So, what's your story?"
The robot turned towards Flash and raised a fist to strike him. Flash dodged it before speeding around it, finally striking the robot in the chest and knocking him back.
"Didn't figure on that one, did ya?"
The robot slowly picked itself up, its eyes fixating on Flash before glowing bright. It slowly got back to its feet as Flash rolled his eyes.
"Alright, but you're asking for it."
Flash sped towards the robot, only for it to move out of the way at high speed. Flash came to a sudden stop right where the robot was, unsure of where it went. The robot then appeared behind Flash and grabbed him by the shoulders, throwing him into the electric fence, shocking him until he dropped to the ground.
"Didn't figure on that one, did ya?" the robot repeated.
Before the robot could make another move, sirens began filling the air, prompting the robot to speed off, leaving Flash on the ground, groaning in pain as he fell into unconsciousness.
…
Meanwhile, J'onn managed to make his way out into the woods just outside of Metropolis. As he made his way further in, the voices in his head slowly started to fade away until all was quiet again.
"J'onn," Superman called over comms. "Are you alright?"
"Leave me alone!" J'onn shouted, ripping his comm out of his ear.
He threw it to the ground and smashed it beneath his foot, grinding his toes to ensure it was destroyed. J'onn ran down to the river and dropped to his knees in anguish. Slowly, he reverted back to his natural Martian form, steeling himself before retreating further into the woods.
…
Back with Flash, he slowly began waking up at S.T.A.R. Labs, being greeted by GL, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman standing over him.
"How ya doin, pal?" Aquaman asked.
"Fine," Flash replied, sitting up on the bed. "If not a little pissed."
"What happened?" Wonder Woman asked.
"It was some kind of… robot. It was attacking the Power Plant, and I went to take care of it. But it somehow, was able to move as fast as I am."
"Sounds like whoever made it had you in mind," GL remarked.
"Could it be a creation of the Reverse Flash?" Wonder Woman proposed.
"Maybe," Flash replied. "Except he's been pretty direct before, why send a robot to do his dirty work?"
"Maybe to keep us distracted?" Aquaman offered. "I dunno, I mean, I doubt Luthor could have built something like this."
"You're kidding right?" GL replied. "This is the same guy who turned Corbin into a Kryptonite powered Terminator."
"That was when he had time, money, and resources," Aquaman pointed out. "He seems to be lacking the latter since his assets were frozen and all that."
"Hey, genius is genius. No matter how deep his pocket book is."
"Hey guys," Flash spoke up. "It doesn't matter who made the robot right now. What matters is that we find it before it causes any major damage."
"Perhaps we should call in Superman," Wonder Woman suggested. "If Lex is involved, his expertise could come in handy."
"Let Supes stay on the Lex search for now," Flash insisted. "We can find the robot ourselves."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" GL asked.
"Has anyone searched news reports for large robot attacks?" Dr. Wells suggested from the main desk.
The four looked at each other for a moment before Flash sped towards the TV, turning it on to the news and seeing a broadcast showing the same robot from before stomping his way through downtown.
"I'd say we found it," Aquaman remarked.
"We'd better get down there," Wonder Woman decided.
…
Downtown, the robot ran down the street, destroying cars, knocking over street lamps, and basically wreaking havoc. As the robot ran down the street, Wonder Woman's lasso shot out and wrapped around it and pulled it upwards. As the robot shot upwards, Wonder Woman whipped the lasso downwards, bringing the robot crashing down onto the roof.
"Stand down!" she commanded. "Who created you?"
The robot looked up at Wonder Woman, flashing its eyes at her before grabbing hold of the lasso and pulling hard on it. It pulled Wonder Woman down to the roof, causing her to land so hard, she cratered the roof.
"You failed to mention this machine is as strong as I am!" Wonder Woman spoke as Flash and the others joined her on the roof.
"It wasn't like that before," Flash replied.
"Let's see if it can handle this!" Aquaman shouted, pointing his trident at the bot.
The trident blasted at the robot, knocking him back. As the robot fell to the ground, Aquaman stood over it, pointing the trident at its chest.
"Not so tough now, are you?"
The robots eyes flashed again, prompting the robot to raise its hand as a mass of gray matter emerged from its palm. The matter shifted into a silvery replica of Aquaman's trident. Aquaman was taken for a loop as the robot smacked him across the face with the faux trident, knocking him back.
"What the hell?"
The robot got back up and marched towards Aquaman, swinging its trident at him. The two clashed weapons back and forth repeatedly, keeping a constant pace with each other. Diana took this opportunity to watch the bot's movements, recognizing his fight pattern.
"He's fighting exactly like Aquaman is."
"Well let's see him copy this," GL remarked, firing an energy blast at the robot.
The blast knocked the robot hard into the ground, but the second it lifted its head, it flashed its eyes at GL. the robot then seemed to form a ring on its right hand, similar to the one GL had, allowing it to fire a laser blast of its own at him, forcing him to make a shield.
"He copied it," GL realized. "Somehow, this thing is copying all our powers just by looking at us!"
"So how do we stop it?" Wonder Woman asked.
Without responding, Flash ran towards the robot and tried to attack it, only for it to spin around and smack him in the back of the head with its trident, knocking him to the ground and making him roll to the edge of the roof.
"I don't know if we can!" he shouted.
Aquaman charged at the robot and tackled it off the roof. The two tumbled in the air for a bit before the robot leveled out and began hovering midair. It then grabbed Aquaman by the throat and tossed him aside. Reacting quickly, Aquaman flipped onto a nearby fire escape, grabbing hold of it for support. As he landed though, the part he grabbed tore off, causing him to fall into the alley below. The robot quickly looked up and saw Wonder Woman shooting down towards it, prompting it to speed out of the way before she could connect. Wonder Woman was quick to level out as the robot appeared across from her, firing one energy blast from its ring. She was quick to deflect the blasts with her bracelets, forcing the robot to shoot out countless blasts at once. Wonder Woman did her best to keep pace with the shots, but one managed to strike her in the chest, causing her to fall out of the sky.
Before she hit the ground though, GL shot out a green energy hand that caught her as he flew towards her. Once he had her in hand, he formed an energy bubble to shield him and Wonder Woman from the robots own green energy blast. This forced GL onto the street as the robot powered down on him even more. As the robot pressed the attack, Flash ran down the side of the building and began circling around it at high speeds, hoping to lift him off the ground and carry him away. Unfortunately, all the robot did was slam its wrists together, creating a shockwave that shot the Flash right into a wall. He collided hard before dropping to the ground. Slowly raising his head in pain as the robot turned towards his friends.
…
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cyborg was still in his room, taking up some video games to help him vent. At the moment, he was doing an online fighting game against a player called "Changeling65". They were also sending messages to one another via the player chat.
Changeling65: Dude, you're awesome at this game!
VictoryStone: Thanks man, nothing to it.
"At least I can still push myself in cyberspace."
Changeling65: I rarely if ever find someone to play with. Everyone here says I shouldn't waste my time on "childish nonsense". I'm like 16 dudes, I'm allowed to be childish!
VictoryStone: Eh, adults are like that. Pushing you to do things you're not capable of.
Changeling65: I guess you have your own problems, huh dude. Overbearing guardians?
VictoryStone: something like that.
As the two continued playing, Cyborg performed the winning move, defeating Changeling65's character.
"Booyah! Sorry Changeling, but it is not your day!"
Changeling65: Dude! No fair! How did you pull off that combo?!
VictoryStone: it's all in the wrists, dude. All in the-"
"Victor," Superman's voice spoke.
Cyborg looked over, seeing Superman and Batman approaching him.
"We need your help," Superman spoke up.
"Right, one sec," Cyborg replied before turning back to the game.
VictoryStone: gtg, something came up. Later."
Changeling65: NP Dude. TTYL!
"So, what's up?"
"There's something wrong with J'onn," Superman informed. "We were trying to search for Luthor, but when he did a psychic sweep, he got freaked out."
"Yikes. Didn't even know J'onn was capable of freaking out."
"His mind has been under some stress lately," Batman informed. "I thought he was getting better though."
"Well whatever's wrong with him, we need to find him fast," Cyborg remarked.
"Agreed," Superman concurred. "We should get the others first, though. Any idea where they are?
"Haven't heard from them since our little training session," Cyborg admitted.
Superman then activated his comms, hoping to get in contact with the rest of his team.
"Flash? Lantern? Diana? Anyone there?"
"Hey Supes," GL answered, grunting a bit. "Sorry, can't talk right now. Got our hands full at the moment."
"With what?"
"Oh, you know. Killer robots, the usual."
"Killer robot, huh?" Cyborg remarked. "Sounds like just the thing I need to get my mojo back."
"Sounds good to me," Superman replied. "GL, where are you guys?"
"Oh no, don't even think of coming here. Somehow, this thing is copying all our powers just by looking at us. It's got Flash's speed, Wonder Woman's strength, Aquaman's trident, even my ring!"
"We can't just stay here," Batman insisted.
"That's exactly what you're gonna do. You come here, and you'll only make him stronger. We can handle- GYAH!"
"Lantern!" Batman shouted.
The three heroes all looked at each other in shock, then Victor opened up a Boom Tube.
"Looks like J'onn will have to wait."
…
Back with the others, GL's energy shield was being wailed on by the robot's trident. Every repeated strike was causing several cracks to form on the shield, the breaking point drawing ever closer. Just before it did though, a Boom Tube opened up, allowing Cyborg to leap through and blast at the robot, sending it flying back.
"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone with circuitry!"
The robot picked itself up as Cyborg ran up to it, punching it across the face repeatedly.
"Come on! Show me what you got! Show me what you-"
The robot cut him off by grabbing his fist, shocking him before it punched him across the face rapidly and repeatedly, combining Flash's speed and Diana's strength. It then tossed Cyborg upwards, causing him to plummet towards the ground so the robot could strike him with its trident, causing him to crash into a car. As Cyborg groaned in pain, the robot scanned him too, forming his other hand into a cannon similar to its own. It aimed the cannon at Cyborg, prompting him to leap out of the way before he fired it at the car, causing it to explode.
"And now it has my cannons..." he let out. "Superman, stay the HELL away from this thing! It copies anything it sees!"
"Then we just need to keep me out of its sights."
As the robot took aim, it was suddenly knocked back by a street lamp being wielded by Superman. Superman then grabbed a piece of metal from a nearby sign before flying over to the robot, wrapping the metal around its eyes before welding it shut. The robot then grabbed Superman and flipped him over its shoulder. Superman skidded on the street a bit before darting towards the robot, punching him in the chest repeatedly as he did. He then knocked the robot into a construction site, denting it into one of the girders. Superman punched a few more times before grabbing its head and slammed it into the ground. As the robot picked itself up, it discreetly formed a Lantern ring on its hand and spun around, blasting at Superman. Once Superman was knocked aside, the robot grabbed hold of the metal bind on its face and tore it off.
"No!" Cyborg shouted.
Superman flew towards the robot, but it easily sped out of the way as Superman crashed into a wall. The second Superman pulled himself out though, the robot flashed its eyes, scanning him. Superman's triangular crest then appeared on its chest as a trident and ring appeared on one hand, a cannon forming on the other, silver bracelets appearing on its wrists, and a lightning bolt emboldened on the triangle. Superman braced himself as the other Leaguers watched in horror.
"No…" Flash dreaded.
"Hera help us," Diana prayed.
"She'd better," GL remarked. "I doubt anyone else can now.