Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or DC franchise.
Chapter 2:
John and Cortana for the next hour learned everything about the Earth of this universe and its inhabitants. The idea of color costumed individuals calling themselves Super heroes and villains were both intriguing as well as distressing.
"So, what do we got?"
"So we have individuals who have natural powers, some artificial through legal and illegal experiment or freak accident, some are just individuals who trained themselves to peak human capabilities that rivals a pre-augmented Spartan and finally those who wield...magic!" she finished. John shrunk his eyebrow in confusion.
"Magic? You gotta be kidding me!" he said as couldn't believe the facts.
"I'm not. You will see it for yourself" She said with a smirk. John found himself in a weird situation.
She then proceeded to show the individuals. First was a man in full blue suit with red belt and cape and an big 'S' symbol in the chest. She said that his name is Superman and went on to explain his alien Kryptonian origins to how he landed on Earth as a baby and raised by a Human family in Smallville, Kansas. Then she showed John, his bouts on Earth. Then she went on to explain his adversaries like the New-God Darkseid from Apokolips and Lex Luthor of the Lex Corps. The name Apokolips reminded him of his conversation with the Gods of New-Genesis. As for the Lex Luthor, he is a genius billionaire industrialist with a grudge against Superman. John was quite impressed with the technologies he had developed that could rival the 26th century Humanity. John was astounded by Superman's powers like flight, super speed, strength, invulnerability and abilities like freeze breath and shooting laser from eyes, being powered by yellow sun radiation.
"You won't believe this, but when he did some crazy things on Earth to save those in trouble, he was even revered as a god, like in one instance when he pulled an entire tectonic plate to stop an earthquake" she said calmly though she herself couldn't believe he pulled such a feat like that.
"He's got a power to rule the world, yet he's protecting Earth from threats. People like him are very rare"
"Though he's not without weaknesses that can injure, even quite possibly kill him. He's weak against Kryptonite, a radioactive remnant of his home world, red sun radiation, supernatural elements" she explained.
"Very well" he said.
Then Cortana projected the next image of man in red suit with a lightning symbol in chest who runs at unimaginable speeds.
"This is the fastest man alive, 'Flash' as he is called. His original name is Wally West from Central city. He gained his powers from an alternate dimension called the Speed Force'. Trust me, There is a record in which he circled the world around the equator 1000 times in a pico second. With speed, he can also use to deliver momentum that at some point even rivals the power of the Superman. Apart from that, He cares a lot for his city, unconditionally loves its citizens and helps them whenever needed. He quite a celebrity in his place and helps with any kind of chore ranging from stopping a super-villain to helping an old lady to cross the road and meeting with kids for Christmas...and he kinda flirts with women, but no one took offense on that" She finished with a laugh which made the Spartan to raise his eyebrow. Though he was impressed with the young man's activities, he felt he was kind of an immature person.
He also found that he had occasionally worked with Superman and another costumed vigilante which she brought next.
John then saw a black Bat themed costume man who used different gadgets at his disposal to fight his enemies.
"This here is Batman of Gotham city, AKA Bruce Wayne, genius, billionaire, philanthropist by day and crime fighting vigilante at night. Huh, talk about show off! He doesn't have any super powers, but he is able to lay waste to enemies who possess super human strength like Bane, Killer Croc, Clay face to name a few"
"Interesting, not many take such a daring venture. He must truly be relying on his skills and abilities alone to achieve this much" John said with respect, giving credit to the man and also the fact that he never uses guns to kill his enemies. The Spartan IIs in the early days were similar as they relied solely on their skills and saw their armors as just an extension of their body.
"What's his story?" he asked curiously.
"His parents were killed right in front of him by a common criminal with a gun. Young boy was devastated to watch that and he was taken care by his Butler Alfred Pennysworth until he was ready to take over his father's legacy. That's the reason he swore never to use guns. He has a good rapport with the GCPD commissioner Jim Gordon. Also he's not alone to fight corruption by himself as he has assistants" Cortana said as she brought images of his other partners, a girl in a similar bat-suit, a teenager in blue and black suit with eye mask and two batons and a similar man in red costume with a Bo staff.
This was the time when John asked the obvious question he wanted to ask.
"Back in New-Genesis, Metron said a universal police force called the Lantern Corps exists here. Do we have any data on them?" he asked to which she smiled in amusement.
"I was about to show you that, Fine. The Lantern Corps are the police force that maintain peace across galaxies. Every galaxy has one or two representing their species" she said bringing images of alien beings and humanoids wearing green suits with a ring that project hardlight objects of countless shapes. These Lantern corps reminded him of the inter-galactic response squad that comprises of multiple teams of Spartan super soldiers, Marines and Air force non-commissioned officers that deals with threats like rebellion, civil war and patrol the space for piracy. They are the first line of defense and offense for the UGSC that responds to threat immediately. These teams reports to the main planet side defense headquarters in every star system.
"Nice, any one from Milky way?" he asked.
"Yeah, first it was Hal Jordan, former Air force lieutenant turned Green Lantern. But he has moved to a different sector and now its owned by the one John Stewart, USMC Gunnery Sergeant" She explained as she projected the image an African American man with military haircut.
"Unlike Hal, this Marine's got some insubordination issues, though he's a nice guy"
John always gave respect to the chain of command. Though he himself has gone against orders in certain situations in the distant past like when he decided to go against Andrew Del Rio's order to pursue the Didact as the latter failed to realize the real threat. The second being the infamous one, when he disobeyed Lord Hood when he objected to the idea of baiting himself to the flood keymind. He was even declared AWOL and personally ordered by Hood to arrest him. Though the move resulted in success, Hood was actually worried about losing Humanity's hero and being turned against his own people.
"Are there moles in this unit too?" he asked.
"Yes there was this guy, Sinestro, a former green lantern who turned to yellow lantern wielding the ring of fear and has no remorse when it comes to taking life. Trust me, he was a pain in the ass for the entire lantern corps" she finished as John mentally took note of him to prepare for him in case he ever faced him.
Are you surprised by this John?" she asked a question to which she already knew the answer.
"Considering the things we have done and seen, I am not surprised, though seeing color costumed individuals is intriguing" he responded.
"You don't say" Cortana said.
"Anything else?" he finally asked to see if any details are left.
"Yeah, there are some other elements that you need to know like the STAR labs that worked with dimensional energies, robotics, Corporations like the Stagg enterprises that works with AIs, and other parties that does big bad things to plunge the world into chaos. I will send you the details so you can peer through them after sometime" she said to which she nodded.
"All in all, this is a fascinating discovery. Halsey and Brown would definitely throw themselves into fits when they learn of this" she said with a chuckle though John's concern were different.
"Mean while also keep an eye for the conduits from the Domain. If those Prometheans began another attack, we need to respond and get any clues as to who started this show in the first place" he said firmly.
"Gladly. By the way, what do you want to do now, that we are here and will continue to do so until we finish our investigation" she asked folding her hands. John was silent for a minute as he himself was wondering the same thing.
"I-..uh...don't know, maybe combat practice and meditate?" he replied blandly. Cortana was already counting on this so she voiced her opinion though not sure if he would like the idea.
"Then how about we go to Earth and keep an eye on the world and it would be a good chance to learn a lot and who knows, may be even make new friends" she said to which he was wary.
"I don't think that's a good idea" he said, not liking the idea of going to Earth as it still not 'HIS' Earth to meddle. While this was his reason, Cortana didn't buy it as she knew what exactly was it's underlying meaning and she was glaring at the spartan in disappointment.
"Then what, practice and meditate?That's your best shot? For how long you think you will keep doing this? You are not a goddamn machine! You need to rest a bit, go down there, sit and relax. It not like the end of the Universe, we still got time and we can return to our place at anytime we want" she said raising her voice in mild frustration as she wanted her friend to calm himself instead of going everywhere to solve everyone's problems.
Cortana had always worried about him since there were times in the early days when he had to risk his own sanity to help win a war, one such prime example was the Human-Flood war of 3317 AD when John baited himself to be captured by the keymind, the most powerful flood hive and stall it until they can rig it's place to blow up and defeat the flood. It was the Spartan's sole idea as he concluded that conventional warfare is totally useless against those things and he believed that outwitting them is the only way to stop this parasite at bay.
While this was a success that earned him honor and glory, even promotion, Many in the HIGHCOM were wary about John-117 and his mental stability especially after the encounter with a Keymind. Some even believed that he may have already been defected to the Flood before they were wiped out of the radar. He was quarantined, isolated with strict security for one full year with very limited access to his need and underwent constant bio-chemical and psychological evaluation to make sure there are no signs of infection or cognitive degradation.
But true to Cortana's worries, John's personality indeed took a slight shift ever since, like there was never a grey area. In some of the following wars, there were times when he either had to choose sparing the enemies or eliminate an entire race with extreme prejudice and showing no remorse for the greater good. Once Halsey and Cortana even suspected, if he's becoming more like the Forerunner Didact which rattled them to the core with fear as the Didact became ruthless in his pursuit after he was tortured by a Gravemind in the distant past. But the Spartan proved all of their fears to be simply misplaced and in some instances, they were happy that John is still the same as when he was recruited in the Spartan-II program at the age of 6.
"Listen, no matter where, Earth is still the only place you can find friendlies. We can stay there until we get an heads up on the Promethean situation. Besides, what if these golden trinkets decide to attack Earth?" she asked to which John gave a deep thought, he believed her point to be right as well. If the Prometheans attack Earth, they will need his help to fight them, even if there are 'SUPER' powered beings.
"Fine, we'll go, but keep our profile low. We don't want to drag unnecessary attention" he said firmly.
"Then we are agreed. We will reach Earth in few minutes. I have already surveyed the Geo and Polar orbits for satellites and picked up the right spot where we will stay in the shadows" she said with satisfactory smile as she prepared the slipstream jump from the New-Genesis system to Sol.
"Initiating jump sequence in 3...2...1..." she said as the ship started to hum loud when the translight engine was powered on. The Labyrinth of Chaos tore open a portal as it entered the void slowly, activating the Tachyon field generator for space-time reconciliation that would otherwise trigger unwanted causal paradox in transporting such a huge mass. Once the ship vanished, the portal spiraled inwards and closed.
...
3 days after reaching Earth...
In the city of Metropolis...
After reaching Earth, Cortana put the ship in a specific spot with no interference from Earth based satellites and space stations. Then she activated the 'Trick geodesics' a technique used to warp the local space around an object such that it appears invisible to naked eye and even to the most advanced sensors. This will keep the ship hidden.
John then learned of all the other parties in this planet that needed his undivided attention, he found the compiled report useful and had a clear heads up of what is around and what he should be aware of. John was never used to the civilian life like walking a lively street filled with normal people with nothing but handbags and backpacks. He was more used to walking the battle field with guns and in armor and surrounded by people holding weapons. This was new, but he had no choice as they have plenty of time apart from surveillance.
There was only one Spartan II ever to live a civilian life, Maria-062. She even rejected further spartan genetic enhancements and decided to live a normal life. She only lived for a thousand years and by October 07, 3525 she would eventually pass away of age. While the other Spartan IIs mourned her death, they were none the less happy that she lived her life to the fullest, the way she wanted before her death. No other Spartan II were comfortable of a life outside their field.
Ever since they got here, he and Cortana were constantly monitoring the entire galaxy including Earth for Promethean attacks, but oddly enough, there were none.
John was currently walking the street of Metropolis, the city of tomorrow and the infamous Man of Steel's home town, as it was called among the civilians. He was wearing a military green round neck T-shirt and pair of black jean pants, hi-top sneakers and a black full sleeved jacket. John never needed any money to live here or he never had to purchase anything as their technology simply answered for every need.
There was no such city called Metropolis in his Earth, so he wished to learn about them. He was truly impressed. He managed to get a glimpse on a big neon screen in a building that played the news from the city's infamous channel 'Daily Planet'. He even saw it's office, a tall building with a planet model with rings like Saturn and a huge blocks of letters reading the agency' name.
John managed to read all the other details related to this planet and to be honest, he was quite troubled with the fact that this world has too many threats ranging from underworld crimes to superhuman levels of bedlam.
The next part that he was not comfortable was the occasional stare he received due to his tank like physique and handsome face, standing 7'7, he was more like the odd one out among the crowd. While he's used to receiving stares back in his UNSC days, he was quite tensed since his appearance alone draws quite an attention. But John decided to ignore as he decided not to add any fuel to the fire.
"Hmm, it's peaceful today" he thought. He had a wrist watch in his left arm, which is a portable quantum communicator with holo-projection feature.
Just when he thought that, John telepathically sensed a sudden change in air flow and pressure near him and not a second after, he heard a crescendo of a screeching sound and then
**BOOM**
A police car crash landed in the street with explosion and soon the entire place was in chaos as people started to scream and run in random directions, though no civilian was injured. John was alarmed and he moved in fast to the crash site to take a look inside the toppled vehicle. He saw one officer who was dead on spot and another one crawling for life with blood on face.
John didn't waste time and he didn't carry any first aid, so he used his telepathic abilities to numb his pain and slightly lowered his heart pump to prevent blood loss, though without letting him know. He then tore a piece of cloth that was in the car and pressed the wounded abdomen.
"Keep applying the pressure, I will call for help" he said to which the officer let a smile of relief as he pressed his left palm over the wound with the cloth.
He then went into a nearby abandoned alley an opened his watch which projected a little hologram of Cortana, though a hint of worry can be seen on her face.
"What happened Commander?" she asked.
"A police car flew outta nowhere and we have one casualty and another fatally wounded. What's happening?" he asked in a strict military tone.
"One second-...Crap! Looks like the city baddies have decided to break in. I am seeing Grundy, Metallo and several armed thugs, 4 streets across to your position, robbing Metropolis city bank. The cops are having tough time and our Man of Steel is already on the scene" she said to which John assumed that he didn't have to interfere though this didn't last as Cortana's facial expression changed slightly.
"What happened?" he asked.
"*SIGH* Looks like Metallo is using the Kryptonite to weaken Superman and Grundy is taking advantage of that" She said with worry.
"John, this doesn't look good. Looks like he will fall soon. You need to help them" she said.
"I will. Time to suit up" he said as her avatar vanished.
"Before that, John? Use minimum force, a GMX pistol with non-lethal rounds would suffice. We don't wanna risk alienating ourselves as the others can see you as a threat indifferently"
He simply nodded in approval and then tapped his watch once and raised his arms to his sides. Then in an instant, his Armageddon suit wrapped over, with the helmet wrapping over in three parts, finally covering his head.
"Time for action"
He used his armor's anti-gravity unit to levitate and fly towards the crime scene.
...
In the crime scene...
Superman was patrolling the city when he observed anarchy over the city's national bank as people were running and crying for help. He senses were overwhelmed with multiple voices. He first prioritized helping the civilians but the villains have been making it tough as they pinned down the city's Finest with gun fire. Also with the presence of Solomon Grundy, things got worse as he was throwing huge chunks of rock at them.
"What is Grundy doing here? Looks like they are from shore leave I guess" he thought.
"GRUNDY WILL CRUSH YOU!" the pale humongous being roared as he threw a huge rock at the officers and was about to hit them and that's when
*BRRRAAACKKK* Superman shattered the rock with his fists.
"Same chores, different day! It never stops, huh" he said. When Grundy charged at him, the man of steel flew straight and gave a blow to his face.
*WHAMM*
"AAGHH" Grundy roared in pain.
"Stop your activities and surrender Grundy or I'll make you do it the hard way!" Superman warned the zombie.
"GRUNDY NO LISTEN TO YOU. GRUNDY GET PAID TO BEAT YOU...RRRARH! the being roared as it ran towards him. Superman nodded disappointingly as he flew quickly and delivered a thunderous right hook to his face and then followed by an uppercut that sent Grundy flying high and crash land on the ground far away.
"He's strong as me, but ain't got my speed. I have to finish this quick" he thought as he prepared to attack the monster and that's when,
"AAAHHH" the man of steel was attacked by fiery green beam that severely weakened him as he held his abdomen with his right palm and knelt down in pain.
"Greetings Superman! You miss me?" asked a man in a metallic armor with a glowing green core in the chest.
"METALLO!" Superman grunted in agony.
"YES, Your's one and only! I know you would come. That's why I am here as their back up to keep you at bay-...SHOCKS AWAY!" he said load and as Clark turned front, he could already see a huge fist riding its way to his face.
*BOOM* as Superman was sent flying away as he crashed into a huge truck.
Metallo then reached near the Man of Steel as he fired the beam continuously upon him as he yelled in pain.
"AAAHH"
"Get away from my Cousin!" a voice of a female came and landed a devastating punch to the armored villain.
"WHAT? YOU!-...*WHAM*...UGH!" he gritted and was sent crashing far off ground.
"It's Supergirl!" a Police man yelled in relief as they got additional help. The blond teenager, wearing a similar blue costume with 'S' symbol in the chest, slowly landed besides his cousin and helped him to get back to his feet.
"This inconvenience doesn't matter" Metallo said as he fired red energy beam from his eyes.
Supergirl and Superman quickly dodged them as Supergirl fired her own heat vision. But was countered by Metallo's own energy beam. She then flew towards him. Mean while Grundy was looking for a payback as he charged toward him.
Superman and Grundy locked themselves in a grip both trying to over power the other. But that's when Supergirl was blasted away by Metallo by kryptonite beam.
"AAHH!" she yelled.
"Supergirl!" Superman yelled as he tried to help her and that's when Grundy kicked his gut that sent him crashing a police car. Superman could have easily finished the fight, but Metallo exposed him to kryptonite radiation beyond his threshold.
"NO, YOU ARE MINE!"
*BAAM* *SUPERMAN GRUNTS IN PAIN*
"Stop looking at them and help!" one of the Police said,
"If THEY are getting their asses kicked, what can WE do?" the other Police man yelled.
"Now time to finish you little freak!" Metallo said with a sinister laugh that's when
*BOOM...BAAM* two explosions that filled the place with a huge dome of plasma, it's flare brighter than the sun. The explosion and the heat sent both Grundy and Metallo flying away.
"AAHH!' "GGRRRR" they both grunted in pain as they crash landed on the ground.
"Now who the hell was that?" yelled Metallo
"What just happened?-...*GASP*...What is that?" Supergirl asked terrified as she and her cousin including the two villains saw a dark silvery armored being flew at high speed, carrying a huge black alien like weapon that had few tiny hologram buttons over it's body. The armored being slowly hovered above the ground and had the weapons vanish into a blue light from his hand. It looked totally alien like, with extremely sophisticated and flamboyant design. The others felt a deathly aura around him.
"Huh, looks like using lethal force won't make much of a difference with these guys after all" he thought with a evasive smile. He was carrying a Talon launchers that fire ion propelled micro fusion warheads. He fired them in the exact position so that, he don't end up killing them.
As he stood tall, there was a question on everyone, civilians, police men, the heroes and villains mind that were boggled at the sight of this mysterious being in a dark alien looking armor.
"What the hell is THAT!?"
Superman and Supergirl were holding to their wounds, wide eyed at the sight of this towering being.
"Who in the blue hell are you!?" Metallo asked as he and Grundy got up slowly.
"GRUNDY NO LIKE HIM!" Grundy grumbled in his voice.
"You both have a choice to stand down or face consequences" He said as his Visor's augmented reality display showed every detailed information about the two.
"Hahaha! Look, a newbie in a fancy tin suit. C'mon Grundy, let's make short work of him and get away with the money" he said without fear of the armored being in front of him.
"You never learn" he said as he raised his left arm and telekinetically stopped the rushing Metallo and stopped him right there. He then lifted him above ground which stunned everyone.
"Wh-..What's happening!? LET ME-...LET ME GO!" he yelled as he struggled to get out.
"As you wish" he said as he simply waved his hand a little that threw him directly towards Grundy's position. Metallo hit Grundy and they both fell down.
The other armed thugs were terrified and decided to do something.
"Shit! Shoot this guy or we're gonna lose our heads" a thug yelled as they all fired at him. To everyone's shock. The bullets didn't even scratch his suit as they all simply fell to the ground. John summoned a GMX pistol, a black sidearm of alien design, loaded with non-lethal rounds. He then shot the thugs in their legs below the knee. The shots were enough to stop them from firing and yell in pain as they bled slowly. In a few seconds, they were all neutralized.
And that's when,
"GRUNDY WILL CRUSH YOU!" the zombie roared and charged at him. John simply did a backward kick to his chest.
*BAAM*
The kick was so strong to send shock waves around and Grundy flew back and crushed a car. His visor displayed that the kick to it's chest has rattled it's nerves beyond it's threshold and ended up flattened. Grundy for his part, the kick he felt was many times stronger than the Man of Steel's punch and he couldn't get up after that.
Metallo couldn't believe what just happened as they all had an advantage only to be crippled in few minutes by this unknown being.
"You will pay for this BASTARD!' Metallo launched his thrusters at full speed only to be stopped by the Spartan mid-air using telekinesis. But this time he applied pressure.
The force started to increase and crack Metallo, then he slowly started to choke on to the pressure, up until the electricity started to leak out of him, John then released him as he fell down silently in free fall. Metallo's threat came to an end and thus all the others. He then walked over him, ripped his chest piece like it was nothing to see a glowing green mineral. His visor displayed its properties to be radioactive and exhibit crystalline atomic structure. He then opened a portal in his palm, through which the crystal entered and vanished, displaying as 'Material Contained'
"It's over. Time to tend to the others" he thought.
He then slowly walked towards the heroes. Kara Zor-El while weakened by prolonged exposure, the sun light is healing her and her cousin.
John knelt down and held her back, below neck and used his right hand to hold her arm and slowly help her get up and stand. She was calming her breath as she turned her head up to look at her rescuer's face only to see a glowing blue visor in his dark silver helmet(Helmet design is a combination of Didact, Locke and classic Mjolnir mark VI. Visor is same as Locke's). Kara was wary of this man as he released her.
"Are you alright?" he asked calmly.
"Ye-Yes...I will be fine, Thank you very much!" the teenager replied with an evasive smile of gratitude.
John didn't waste time as he walked towards the Man of Steel and helped him stand the same way he did to his cousin. Kara was surprised to see the armored figure totally dwarfed Kal in his stature. As he and Superman got to Kara, Clark decided to ask the question on everyone's mind.
"Thanks for the help, but who are you?" Clark asked.
"You can call me Spartan 117" he replied.
"Are you military? Are you even human?" Kara asked as his armor appeared totally alien to them.
"I am human and I am from military...kind of" he gave a vague answer.
"*SIGH* Listen all this artifice doesn't help. Do us all a favor by giving a straight answer!" she said growing tired of this secrecy.
"That is all I can divulge for now. I am not your enemy. If you will excuse me, I gotta tend to the wounded" he said as he walked toward the wounded officers. The other policemen aimed at him reluctantly not sure if he was a friendly or an enemy.
"Please, I mean no harm. I'm just here to help" he said calmly which didn't sound hostile to them, so they lowered their guard but kept an eye on him.
John initially tended to those with fatal injuries. He took out a small serum injector that contained a blue liquid, which is nothing but water and billions and billions of bio-nanites that help with cellular regeneration. He gave them each, one shot of the serum. In a few seconds, the wounds started to disappear as it began to heal the internal organs and restore to normal self in few seconds. Those who saw that were astonished at the sight. Some even called that close to magic. In the earlier days, UNSC used a non-addictive version of Morphine as pain killer and biofoam to seal wounds. But the current regeneration serum containing programmed bio-organic nanites even brings people back from dead if their brain activity is still present at the time.
It was not only the people and police, but the two kryptonian heroes were also flabbergasted by the serum's effect as they had never seen anything even remotely close to such thing as resurrection.
John finished treating the wounded and he prepared to leave the place only to be stopped by Supergirl.
"Stop! Spartan!...We have-..."
*WHOOOSH* the armored being took off from the ground.
"-...Questions!?" Kara finished her sentence bu the Spartan was already gone, to which she sighed.
"Cortana?" John called her out.
"So Spartan, how was your first venture as the city superhero?" she asked with a smile.
"Hostiles have been put down and the injured has been treated. And established contact with Superman and Supergirl" he said.
"That's great news! I would even buy you a round. Come over and we can celebrate this" she said.
"Fine, have it your way" he responded.
"You don't sound excited!?" she asked.
"Well, I am not used to celebrating" he said blandly to which she place her hands over her forehead.
"John, you know what? I think I can teach a rock troll some humor than to you" she said in a childish tone.
"Except for the fact that rock trolls don't exist" he gave a witty response.
"Wha-..Oh-...My My! You are starting to get there. Fine, get back and we will discuss further" she said as she disappeared from his visor display.
"Huh, who would have th-..." John went to murmur something before a strong sensation took over his mind as he stopped his flight mid-air and all of a sudden his vision blurred and started to be filled with flashing red and yellow images and a dark whisper.
"HEEELLLPP-...ME-...THE-...THEY ARE-..."
John heard a faint weak voice in his mind as he used his visor to scan the surface from his vantage point, but he couldn't find anything. John knew that someone was trying to contact him through telepathy, but he could sense the link from their end was weak, as if they are in pain and suffering and begging for help. It was enough for him to know that it wasn't some psychic intrusion, but a legit one. He tried to use his own telepathy to follow the link, but got scattered in few meters distance.
"Damn, I am unable to reach it. Looks like the telepath, whoever's trying to contact me is weak. Need to talk to Cortana and find out who this mysterious person was" John thought as he flew away to his ship.
...
In the Batcave, beneath Wayne manor...
The batcave is a dark brooding place with few lights in the wall that has a under cave water stream flowing, with water falls and the sound of swarm of bats flying. It is a typical cave except that at a certain distance, there is a huge man made construction with lots of industrial equipment, a hi-tech fighter jet and a car and a workplace with lab equipment and lots of huge display screens and computer systems.
In front of the computer, was standing a man in a bat costume, Batman. Billionaire Bruce Wayne uses the bat cave as one of the several base of operations. He was currently looking at the satellite footage of the fight in Metropolis.
That's when he heard a sudden whiz in the air as he lifted his eyes above and back to the screen.
It was none other than the Superman who was watching Bruce, Batman actually as he could see he was vehemently looking the footage multiple times.
"I was viewing the footage and seems it didn't go well" he said in stoic tone without even turning back, getting straight to the point. Superman shrunk his eyebrows like 'WOW' and was even confused if he was talking to Batman or Bruce Wayne.
"Yeah I can see that. Not a handshake, not even a 'good to see you'?" Superman asked with dry sarcasm. Batman remained silent.
"After that bout, I needed some rest. Then decided to drop by to discuss the events that unfolded. But I take it that you are more interested in this new comer in a fancy armor" the man of steel replied.
"You are right. And there seems to be a lot of discrepancies and intriguing find as well" he said rubbing his chin.
"What would they be?" he asked as he slowly walked towards Batman.
"First the armor in question. I tried every possible deep layer scans on the entire EM spectrum and everything was a futile attempt. Even gamma ray frequency was ineffective...That can mean only one thing" Batman said in grim realization,
"The material is a lot denser than any known material on Earth...Bu-..But how's that possible? Could he be an Alien? Even I couldn't use my X-ray vision to see through him" Superman finished saying, analyzing it on his own by recalling his encounters.
"He may be" Batman replied but was immediately denied by Clark.
"No, He said he called himself, 'Spartan'. That's a human term and even he himself acknowledged that he's a human" said Superman correcting his statement. Batman was deep in thought.
"Human? That's interesting!" he said to which Superman was confused.
"What's so interesting about that?" he asked feeling he might have missed something that the dark knight did not.
"I pulled out every single Tech corps and PMCs around the globe. But none had the resources nor the knowledge to build armors like that. My satellites picked up something weird around that Spartan's armor, Higher levels of gravimetric shift. The analyses suggests his armor uses artificial gravity" Batman said after thorough check.
"By the Gods! Is that even possible? The amount of power you need to create artificial gravity is mind boggling, but something like that existing in an armor?" Batman wondered at such scientific possibility.
"Artificial gravity in an armor. You don't jest right!? The amount of power required to pull such a feat, you need something like a fusion reactor" Superman said as the revelation of the Spartan is getting quite troubling to him.
"And there's no organization, not even STAR labs have created anything like that" Batman finished his analysis, his thoughts so fixed on the origins of this mysterious armored guy.
"He lifted Metallo and crushed him without physical contact. Guess, he used the same gravity manipulation to do that" Superman said as he recalled another of the Spartan's tricks he saw.
"No, it's not. The satellites didn't detect any gravity surge between him and Metallo, that leaves only one option...Telekinesis, that too strong enough to crush metallo's armor" Batman said to which Clark was stunned.
"You mean to say-.. he's got superpowers?"
"That's the only possibility"
"Though I am not sure what is the exact extent of his abilities. I don't know how much of tricks he still got under his sleeves" he thought warily and he was growing frustrated by the minute as he's still in the dark about this Spartan.
"Another thing was the kryptonite shard he took it away Metallo's armor? He took it and suddenly teleported it from his hand" Superman said as Batman observed the monitor which was the next thing that it showed.
"He does have some form of powers, but this is purely a technological feat. I don't even have a clue as to how he did it. But that mini portal from his palm is connected to something in his armor" Batman explained as he himself was astounded with such a feat.
"Like a boom tube?" Superman asked from his experience with the technology.
"Could be, then there is this troubling fact" Batman said as he brought the next image. But Superman knew what he referring to.
"Use of guns, I know. I needed time to recover or I could have stopped him"
"But the rounds he used were non-lethal, just used to temporarily cripple someone. Here, take a look" Batman said as he showed him the detailed scanned image of the bullet used by the Spartan. The bullet appeared sharp at the nose, but a close zoom revealed that this was an extremely flawed one.
"I don't understand. Someone with such an advanced technology using such ineffective weapons?" Superman asked not getting hte logic here though Batman cleared it up for him that left no more room for doubts.
"If he's a new comer, then I know how he will think. He won't project himself as greater threat by using deadly weapons that he has chosen not to reveal so far. Do you truly think a guy like him would use a primitive gun like that?" he asked a rhetorical question turning to the man of steel with the bat glare. Superman nodded in response getting the point he was making.
"But there seems to be some sort of discipline in him. Something tells me he is a soldier, some sort of super-soldier exactly. Maybe that's the reason he never hesitated to use guns and the only reason he didn't kill them was either the previous reason I mentioned or because of your presence" Batman said.
"No, I believe he didn't kill because he chose not to" Superman said denying his statements.
"How do you say that?" Batman asked wondering what his point of view was.
"I couldn't get a read on him, but judging by the way he fought there? He was calm and collected like he has seen and doing things like this for a long time-... in his ways" he replied to which Batman found intrigue.
"Then this serum he used to treat the people. They used instant cellular regeneration that healed every macro and microscopic wounds, both supericial and lethal. I managed to get the post-medication reports of those who went to city hospital for final check up. That's bleeding edge medical tech and we are decades behind from achieving that" Batman said now awakening the genius scientist in him, being one of the smartest person on the planet, it marveled his mind on the possibilities of such technologies. He even wished, if he could study them if opportunity presents. His company's bio-organics sector could even reverse-engineer the serum to develop cure for deadly diseases.
Thus Superman and Batman finished discussing the ramifications of his presence. That's when Wayne's loyal butler came in with a white plate, 2 white cups above.
"Master Wayne, Master Kent" he called them out.
"Alfred! Good timing!" Clark said with a smile.
"Indeed, It is my responsibility to keep you men of justice alive with my nice hot tea!" he said sarcastically.
"Huh...good, I need it!" Clark said with a chuckle taking the cup. Alfred suddenly saw the image of the alien armored man in the monitor and was wide eyed.
"OH MY! Isn't he the one everyone calls 'The Spartan'" Alfred asked which caught Bruce off guard slightly.
"How do you know that?" Clark asked.
"He's been the hot topic in all the news channel" He relied as he went and turned on the new in the computer which displayed multiple split screen of all the available news channel that were flooding the news about the Spartan.
"Great!" Batman said staring at the screen.
"I must admit, he's quite an intriguing individual, yet terrifying" Alfred said in a mellow tone. He may be old, but he has seen fair share of beings that Batman and Superman had encountered in the past and he was even more used to seeing them.
"We need to keep an eye on him. We don't know if he's here on friendly terms or with hostile intentions"
"Its itching you, isn't? You couldn't get enough from this" Superman said.
"In my career, I have seen a lot of things. His presence doesn't itch me, but his motivations surely does. We don't know what else he is capable of. It was not even a spar for him to put down Grundy and Metallo" he responded to which Superman acknowledged.
"And there are these other parties who will definitely take an opportunity to capture him and study his armor" Alfred said to which both nodded in approval. People like Lex Luthor, organizations like H.I.V.E, Intergang are a serious threat peeking like vultures for meat from high above.
"Agreed! Bruce, I going back to Metropolis. We will meet again. Got a lot of paperwork back at the office" he said with a smile.
"Fine, I will notify you of any progression" he said to which the man of steel nodded as he flew away the same speed he came in. Batman was still lost in thought. Though he was wearing his mask, still he could see his worried face.
"You are worried aren't you, Sir?" he asked.
"That would be reckless, if I am not" he replied as he slowly lifted his head to look at the frozen monitor as the image of the Spartan froze.
"Who-...What are you?" He thought his eyes fixed.
...
With that the second chapter is over, Since I wanted to keep up with the Marvel story, I am planning to write and publish as many chapters possible before jumping to the Marvel story again.