CHAPTER SIXTEEN

OA.

Kilowog, Tomar-Re, and Peter Parker exited the rush of green light to find themselves on another planet entirely. Peter gaped in astonishment, blinking his eyes as he stared at the wonderous world before him. The sky was a breathtaking array of colors that resembled the Northern Lights back on Earth. Architecture that looked like something out of an impressionist painting was floating in midair. In the distance, a stunning citadel towered above everything else on the horizon.

"Where are we?" Peter asked.

"Welcome to Oa," Tomar said. "This planet has been our home for countless millennia. It was created for us by the Guardians."

"Of the Galaxy?!" Peter exclaimed.

"No, not that rag-tag bunch of idiotic assholes," Kilowog grunted. "The Guardians of the Universe, you poozer."

"The Guardians of the Universe are immortals among the most ancient of races," Tomar explained. "They made all that you see, and are responsible for all that we do. Since time immemorial the Green Lantern Corps has served as the keepers of peace throughout the universe. To be chosen to join its ranks is the highest of honors and greatest of responsibilities."

"Yeah, about that," Peter said, awkwardly. "I wasn't chosen. I'm not a Green Lantern."

Kilowog and Tomar-Re looked at each other.

"Do you not possess the Green Lantern ring of the late Abin Sur?" Tomar asked Peter.

"Well, yes, I do," Peter said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. "But it wasn't, um, it wasn't given to me, exactly. Abin Sur, he didn't, um, he didn't actually pick me."

Kilowog crossed his arms. "Then how did you get the ring? We tracked its signal across space. It took us a long time to find you, you know. We were on our way to your puny planet when it was like you disappeared without a trace for several days."

"Uh, that was probably when Superman and I were imprisoned by the TVA," Peter explained. "Listen, this is a really long story, and I think you guys are going to find it funny, I really do. You're going to laugh. See, Abin Sur actually picked this guy named Hal Jordan to be his replacement. But I kind of borrowed the ring. You see, we need it for this battle with Darkseid that's coming up. Darkseid has a ring too, and he-"

"Darkseid? In possession of a Green Lantern ring?" Tomar exclaimed. "How could this have happened?"

"He took it from Hal Jordan," Peter said.

"But I thought you said you took your ring from Hal Jordan," Kilowog objected.

"Well, you see there was all this stuff that happened, and then, time travel, so it didn't happen, but because Darkseid has the Infinity Gauntlet he is protected from paradoxes, and—"

"A Green Lantern ring AND the Infinity Gauntlet?!" Tomar said in abject horror.

"Not possible," Kilowog spat. "If Darkseid of Apokolips had come into such power the Guardians would know about it."

"Like I said, it didn't happen yet," Peter tried to explain. "Or at least, it happened in a different timeline I guess? To be honest as I'm trying to explain it even now it doesn't really make sense. I'm actually really confused right now."

Tomar looked at Kilowog. "Humans are a young species," he said. "Perhaps possessing the ring has affected the mind of this one. He appears to be delirious."

"No, there's nothing wrong with my mind," Peter said. "I just am having trouble explaining everything. But like I said, I'm not the new recruit that you guys think I am."

"We should take him to see Sinestro," Kilowog said. "He'll get this one straightened out."

"Indeed," Tomar said. "We need to begin his training at once. It is not good for him to attempt to utilize the ring in such a befuddled state."

"I think we should talk this out some more, guys," Peter said.

"Enough talk," Kilowog said, shaking his head. "You're making my head hurt. Come with us."

Peter sighed. So much for that downtime he'd been looking forward to. Reluctantly, he followed Kilowog and Tomar.

. . . . . .

THE BATCAVE.

Bruce Wayne woke up on a cot in an area of the cave that had been curtained off for medical purposes. A first-aid kit and other treatment supplies were on a small tray next to him, and bandages were wound around his chest. Every muscle in his body ached. His skin was singed like he'd gotten an extreme sunburn. He felt groggy. Grunting, he blinked his eyes and tried to remember what had transpired to put him in this condition.

"Master Wayne. You're awake." The voice belonged to Alfred, his faithful butler, who was seated dutifully in a chair beside the cot. "Thank God. For a while there I thought I'd lost you."

"Alfred?" Bruce mumbled. "What... happened?"

"There's someone here to see you," Alfred said. "Will you allow me to show Mister Stark in?"

"Stark," Bruce repeated. Suddenly a fragment of a memory came back to him. Iron Man, attacking him. No, not Iron Man. Just the Iron Man suit. No one inside.

"I am going to take that as a yes. I will go put on a pot of coffee, sir." Alfred stood up and excused himself from the makeshift room.

After a moment, Tony Stark popped in from behind the curtain. He was wearing jeans and a navy-blue blazer over a Guns N' Roses t-shirt.

"Heard you got an up close look at one of my suits," Tony said, sitting casually down in the chair that Alfred had previously occupied. "You know if you wanted to borrow one you could've just asked."

"Mmmph," Bruce mumbled. "How. Are you. Here?" He was having trouble unclenching his jaw, a side-effect of being electrocuted by the Iron Man armor.

"Funny thing," Tony replied, somewhat smugly. "I was teeing off at Pebble Beach when JARVIS sent me an alert that one of my suits had been damaged. I wasn't quite sure how that could've happened, since I wasn't wearing one at the time. Apparently this…" he reached into the interior pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a batarang. "…was lodged in the arc reactor of the Mark 43. I have a small, localized EMP built into each suit just in case it gets lost or stolen. I detonated it remotely, which shut down the suit. A few minutes later I got a call from Alfred saying he found you unconscious next to a fried Mark 43. Care to explain why you were using my armor for target practice, Bruce?"

"Do you honestly… think I'd steal… one of your suits… you arrogant…" Bruce muttered, finally finding the strength to sit up. He cracked his neck. "The suit was running on… some kind of rogue program. It… called itself… Ultron."

Tony's face went pale.

"What did you just say?"

"Tony," Bruce said, looking angry now. "What did you do? What is Ultron?"

Tony stood up. He ran his hand over his face. "Shit," he said. "Shit shit shit. How is that even possible? Ultron was just an idea. Some rough math, a few pieces of code. There's no way."

"It said it came back from the future," Bruce continued. He stood up. "It was hiding in the armband that got sent back through time. Tony, what the hell is Ultron?"

"It's an artificial intelligence," Tony said, looking like he was going to throw up. "Something I've been toying with since we started forming the JLA. Like JARVIS on crack. Something that would eventually eliminate the League."

Bruce furrowed his eyebrows.

"I mean eliminate the need for the League!" Tony clarified quickly. "Something that could defend the world in our place. Something that would make the Justice League Avengers unnecessary."

"Well considering it said it fights us in the future I'd say you miscalculated," Bruce said, clenching his fists.

"But we've been through every inch of the files about the League's future battles," Tony objected. "There's nothing about us fighting Ultron."

"If it's been living in those files it could've erased any references to itself," Bruce reasoned. "It must've scrubbed any information that would've told us about its plans. But it's worse than that, Tony. Ultron was responsible for the three Jokers. It said it wanted to see if it could change history without anyone noticing."

"It knows everything that we know, and a hell of a lot that we don't," Tony said grimly. "It can change whatever it needs to change to give itself an advantage. If it knows how we beat it in the future, it can stack the deck in its own favor."

"You detonating that EMP may have knocked Ultron out of that particular suit, but it said that it was in the armband, the Batcomputer, and finding its way into other places," Bruce said. "We have to assume that all of our systems are compromised and that it has access to everything. Tony… we're trying to fight something that knows our next move before we even think of it."

Tony took a beat. After a moment he replied, "Then we can't be the ones to think of the next move."

. . . . . .

STARK TOWER, NEW YORK CITY. LATER.

Tony Stark took a private elevator down to a sub-basement of Stark Tower. This was an area of the tower that, according to blueprints and public records, was used for storage. Only a select few knew it had been completely renovated into a secret think-tank.

Tony exited the elevator and strolled through a pair of automatic double-doors that slid open with a quiet "whoosh."

Seated at a large round table in the middle of the room were Otto Octavius, Samuel Sterns, Hector Hammond, Victor Fries, and Aldrich Killian.

"Gentlemen," Tony said. "I have a matter that requires your immediate attention."