Omniverse Earth-38

by choejhulkp9

The multiverse is a big, wide open space of possibilities. Think of them like snowflakes: they look similar but they're different enough. This earth is no different. A citizen of earth finds himself wielding the most powerful weapon in the universe. It stuck itself upon his wrist with secrets that it hid. Now he's got superpowers, he's no ordinary kid. He's...well, you get it.

12. Success through Distraction

Hello everyone, here is Chapter 12 of Omniverse Earth-38. In the aftermath of Viglax's invasion, the world is shaken but it's safe now and it's brought together some of earth's greatest heroes to form a league of their own. While they still need to iron out the kinks, they have each other's backs in case something happens which is precisely the point. And it'll be needed as the ISA begins to make their moves. The Thinker, like a grand chess master, begins to move his pawns into place. It's time for his move now. Enjoy!

Omniverse Earth-38: Success through Distraction

September 2008

There was a great deal of commotion, hubbub, attention, and business going in National City, more so than normal considering what had recently transpired. Two days ago, an alien invasion of evil robots attacked National City. Suffice it to say that made global news as despite earth being human to Superman and Green Lantern, two heroes with ties to outer space, invasions of earth wasn't common place and hopefully it would remain that way. Only the future would be the judge of that. But being global news now, the entire world was reeling from the invasion and more importantly their lack of information. To many, it seemed to come out of nowhere and ended just as abruptly. In the span of about two hours, an alien ship appeared over National City and an army of alien attacked. National City played host to an alien robot army invasion but was defended by some old heroes alongside some new ones before said robot army was called back to the mothership and said mothership was gone. It all ended rather abruptly and naturally people had questions and were worried that things were over.

Superman would make a statement regarding the invasion and inform the public that the alien threat was dealt with. He didn't go into much detail or specifics considering if he did than it risked Will's identity and informing the world that he was the reason that Vilgax came to earth. That would end badly so he kept to fairly broad strokes. An alien invasion came to Earth and thanks to the efforts of Superman and other heroes it was defeated, and the invaders sent away. They were safe. Granted, some were given more details. Director Henshaw reported to the President about what happened given his position as Director of the DEO but also left out the details about the Omnitrix. The President even made an announcement the day after the alien invasion. The typical we will be strong speech. He acknowledged people would be scared and how this was a new chapter for humanity but now they would be stronger going forward.

For most that seemed good enough and while they were scared, they had Superman looking out for them. For the rest, well this just opened up a massive can of worms. For certain groups like ARGUS and people like Lex Luthor, the alien invasion was just a sign of things to come and to prepare for more and for both that included the question of why did the aliens attack National City first? If anything, they would have attacked Washington DC or any other capital to do the most damage. Or even Metropolis to deal with Superman, yet they attacked National City which meant it was important to them and the reason for their invasion. The only factor that made sense was it had to do with National City's hero Sentry. By now both ARGUS, mainly Waller, and Luthor were aware of Sentry's unique ability to shapeshift but were still unsure as to how. They would figure it out and they had a feeling that it was the reason why those aliens came to earth so it now it was the reason for their vested interest in him. Granted they just joined others who thought the same and likely wouldn't be the last to be on that growing list.

Thankfully, the list of friends and allies was growing as well.

Civic City, Nebraska

The sun was setting over the horizon and perched up on hill on the outskirts of Civic City, Nebraska was an old observatory that was abandoned back in the 50s. The building was forgotten before being taken into the private ownership of one Alan Scott and Rex Tyler to become the headquarters for the Justice Society of America. It only came out of retirement along with other JSA members on their attempt to stop Icicle and the ISA. Their bodies were returned to their loved ones while Will returned their suits to the headquarters to be put away with Pat's help.

The duo had returned to the building alongside Kent Nelson, Jay Garrick, Ted Grant and Diana this time. The DEO VTOL jet touched down on a flat enough space near the observatory and the heroes got out.

"Dad, you coming?" Will walked over to the cockpit and saw his dad didn't seem to be getting out of the pilot's chair.

"No, I'm good. This is a conversation between heroes. I'm just the pilot and I'm ok staying that." Max assured him.

"All right. Let me know if something comes up." Will told him and Max nodded. He walked out of the jet and walked over to the others standing near the building.

"Are they coming?" Pat asked and Will took out the Proto-box to check.

"They're on their way." Will assured him.

"Yes, I don't think the others would miss this. Fighting alongside the others was most invigorating." Diana said as Pat, Jay, Ted, and Kent looked at her with confused expressions.

"So, she is an Amazon from ancient Greece? Made from clay and brought to life by Zeus?" Ted asked and Will nodded. He had explained who Diana was on the ride over from National City, but they were still confused and had a hard time believing it.

"Now fitting into the modern world to help protect people as Wonder Woman while maintaining a secret identity as Diana Prince." Will finished. "Odd but no more odd than aliens, giant robots, and a secret cabal of supervillains."

"The world sure has gotten stranger." Kent pointed out.

"Isn't that the truth." Jay remarked.

"Thanks again for letting me talk to them here. With everything going on, I felt it was best to start here so they knew what was really going on and how important this is." Will told them.

"We get it, kid." Ted assured him. "And it's ok. Something tells me Rex and the others would have agreed to this."

"Like I said. The legacy continues on to the next generation." Jay said.

"With help from the previous one. This is as much your fight as it is mine. And soon we won't be outnumbered." Will promised when Kent turned his head to the horizon.

"Here they come." Kent said and just as he finished his sentence they heard the roar of jet engines. A sleek, high-tech black colored jet soared through the air above them. When it passed by them they saw a caped figure drop down and fall to the ground. It was Batman and when the timing was right he extended his cape out to slow his descent and he glided down next to them.

"Thanks for coming, Batman." Will said and Batman nodded in response.

"Grant."

"Batman. Keeping sharp I hope." Ted said and Batman nodded. "See you're the same conversationalist now as you were then."

"Oh, so he's always been like this?" Will asked and Ted nodded.

"As far as I've known him." They heard and saw Superman hover down. "Hope I'm not late."

A subtle green glow appeared around them which is when they saw Green Lantern fly to the ground with Aquaman and Hawkgirl in a green bubble. "Right on time." Will said.

"Why did I have to go pick them up?" Green Lantern pointed to Hawkgirl and Aquaman. "You know how out of my way that was?"

"You're the one with the ring that turns anything you can think of into reality. Get ready to be dubbed the unofficial taxi." Hawkgirl told him.

"She has a point." Will said. "Thanks for coming."

"What are we doing here, kid?" Aquaman asked him. He could tell this wasn't a fight as he was dressed in his casuals along with Will and Diana along with the fact that they had three older men with them.

"A full explanation and introductions and once I begin explaining I felt it was better done here. I know we haven't really kept in contact after Vilgax's attack, but I agreed with the idea that all of us sticking together is a good idea, not just for any future threats that could come to earth. There's a threat brewing right here on earth that I think could warrant us working together again." Will told him. "That's part of why I wanted us to meet here. I'd like you guys to meet Pat Dugan, Ted Grant, Kent Nelson, and Jay Garrick. They're the surviving members of the Justice Society of America."

"Justice Society? That was real? I thought it was just a story spread around by veterans from World War 2." Green Lantern pointed out.

"No, it was real, and we took measures to ensure our anonymity. Times changed as did our members, but we all entered retirement in the 80s, some more than others and a few kept a low profile in case they were ever needed again. And unfortunately, the circumstances that have led us here made us the last surviving members." Kent Nelson told them.

"What happened?" Hawkgirl asked.

"We can talk about that inside." Will suggested and they agreed. Jay led them into the observatory using an old key to unlock the building. They walked down a very dark hallway with Lantern using his ring to give them some light. They could see from the hallway that it has post-war architecture although with all the dust and everything no one had been there in a while. The hallway eventually led into a large circular room that was likely the old telescope room, and they could see tarp covered chairs surrounding a large round table in the center.

"What is this place?" Aquaman asked.

"It's the headquarters of the Justice Society of America." Jay answered. He pulled a breaker-box lever on a wall which turned the lights on, and Pat pulled off the tarp on the table. There the table had the words Justice Society of America emblazoned on it. Not only was there the table and chairs but around the room on the walls were portraits of each member of the JSA. The original team from World War 2 to the members on the team when they all went into retirement/non-active duty in the 80s. There were old black and white photos for World War 2 which were the original members of the JSA. The original Starman AKA Ted Knight was there in his red suit, a soldier named Commander Steel, a man with a bird helmet and giant bird wings like Hawkgirl, a man in a blue suit with bug wings and seemed to have an insect motif, there was a green hoodie/cloak figure whose face was indiscernible, and then there was Dr. Fate and a young Jay Garrick as the Flash which made you wonder how he was still so young if he fought back in World War 2. Jay noticed Will pointing at his portrait and looked at him in confusion. "Slowed aging is a fringe benefit of my powers."

"Ah." Will nodded as the others looked around when he saw an owl perched up a rack near Dr. Mid-Nite's portrait where there was food and a water bowl. "Is this thing real?"

"Yeah. That's Dr. Mid-Nite's owl. There was a special bond the two had. Every time we were here the owl would fly right to Dr. Mid-Nite and land on his arm. Not sure what's gonna happen to him now, though." Jay told him. Will walked over and tentatively reached his hand to the owl. When it looked like it wasn't going to shirk away or bite him, he gently pet it on the head.

Diana walked over to the portraits of the JSA's female members, Red Tornado and Black Siren. Red Tornado AKA Abigail Hunkel was wearing a red body suit with a blue cape and a red domino mask on her face. On her chest was a little red tornado symbol. Black Siren AKA Dinah Lance wore a black ensemble. Black boots, fishnets over grey stockings with a leather short and bodice. A black leather jacket, black choker and black domino mask finished her outfit and it all clashed nicely against her blonde hair. "These two look like fine warriors."

"They were." Ted agreed with her. "Abigail's wind powers made her powerful, but she had the kindest heart. And Dinah…well, she was the best hand-to-hand fighter the JSA had, sometimes even besting me. Her daughter is something special as well. Inherited her mom's sonic scream ability and her skills in fighting."

"Someone I would like to meet one day." Diana said.

Batman walked over to the portrait of the Spectre, the so-called Spirit of God's Vengeance and looked at it with intrigue. He couldn't exactly say how but he felt like he had seen him before. Looking at the eyes of the portrait he saw they seemed to carry a hardened focus, like someone who was on a mission. In a way it felt like he was looking into the eyes of someone who had also gazed into the same abyss that had forged him into Batman.

"The Spirit of Vengeance. The Avenging Wrath of God he was sometimes called." Kent Nelson said as he walked over to Batman and looked up at the portrait of the Spectre. "His real name was Jim Corrigan, at least when we knew him. Being the host of a primordial entity dedicated to vengeance made things very complicated which coming from me is definitely saying something. But Jim believed in the JSA's mission. When he passed on, the Spectre went with him, however the spirit of vengeance is immortal, and he'll return one day."

"Will that be a good thing or a bad thing?" Will popped up behind Batman to ask.

"That would depend on where you stand." Batman remarked before walking away rather abruptly.

"Guess he's not much of a conversationalist." Kent said and Will nodded.

Hawkgirl walked around the room when she stopped at the portrait for the JSA member known as Hawkman, one of the founding members back during World War 2. Complete with his bird helm, an axe, an armored buckle harness on his chest connected to a giant pair of feathered wings on his back, he shared the same motif as she did. "Long lost family member?" Green Lantern asked her.

"Highly doubtful considering we're not even from the same planet." She replied when she noticed the portrait for Alan Scott AKA The Green Lantern of the Justice Society. "What about you?"

"We have the same name but definitely different lanterns." Green Lantern held up his ring.

Aquaman walked over to one portrait for the Blue Beetle AKA Dan Garrett. "A buy guy…"

Superman looked up at the portraits of Commander Steel, Hourman, and Starman before he spotted a group portrait the JSA had taken at their table. They were all dressed in their suits for a team photo. Here was a group of people who put their lives on the line to protect the world for decades long before Superman and the others were active. A true Golden Age of heroes who gave their lives to stop evil. It was humbling to say the least.

"What does this have to do with what you wanted to talk about Will?" Superman asked him.

"About two weeks ago I was doing a patrol out in National City, stopping an illegal contraband shipment coming in from the Russian mob. It started out normal, but it ended up being a trap and I had an encounter with Deathstroke. He set a trap for me as a kind of test of my skill." Will started.

"Deathstroke is a high-class mercenary and one of the most skilled assassins in the world. The people he's paid to kill are high-profile targets and his skills don't come cheap. Why did he target you and then break out Solomon Grundy from Blackgate?" Batman asked him.

"Wow, ok you're getting ahead of me." Will muttered before clearing his throat. "Deathstroke was there to test me and broke Solomon Grundy out of prison along with Sportsmaster and Tigress because of who he's working for. Clifford Devoe."

Batman and Superman adopted serious looks while Aquaman, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern were confused. "Who's Clifford Devoe and why should I care about him?" Aquaman asked.

"Clifford Devoe, AKA the Thinker. A typical university professor and engineer until he created a device that boosted his intelligence to superhuman levels." Superman answered which is when Will took out the Proto-box. After a few button pressed it projected a holographic image of Devoe towards the center of the table so everyone could see. "With his Thinking Cap, he grew incredibly smart and began leading intricate criminal syndicates in various cities. Batman and I managed to final catch him."

"And a year ago he masterminded his own prison escape and nearly plunged National City into the dark rages while robbing us of all our money, but I managed to stop him. I took down his associates which included Sportsmaster, Tigress, and Bloodsport but he was long gone. I was always waiting for him to show up again but in doing so I stumbled onto part of Devoe's plan and what he's been up to the past year. It's where I bumped into Mr. Dugan." Will said and motioned him to speak.

"Uh, hi there. Pat Dugan. A pleasure and an honor to meet you all." Pat said. "Uh, well all of this began to start about several months ago. As Jay told you, the members of the Justice Society went into retirement in the 80s. Or semi-retirement in the case of Hourman. There were some loose threads that lingered and Hourman worried what would happen with no more JSA, even talking about the possibility of bringing the group back together with the assistant of the new heroes such as yourselves that had arrived since then. But then a few months ago, I was informed by Starman that Hourman had been hearing whispers and tracking down movements of the Injustice Society of America."

"Injustice Society?" Aquaman thought the name was ridiculous as did the others.

"Naming is not their strong suit." Will stated. "Go on, Mr. Dugan."

"Hourman was tracking movement from various villains the JSA had tangled with the past including Icicle, Ultra-Humanite, and Dragon King." Pat explained which is when Will brought an old photo of him via hologram. "Otherwise known as Dr. Shiro Ito. Japanese scientist who committed horrendous experiments on POWS during World War 2 and survived his execution in 1947. He's experimented and modified his body over the years and the JSA has stopped plenty of his schemes from killing thousands if not millions of people, but he's been in hiding for a long time. Eventually, Hourman managed to track him and some of the others down and recruited some of the JSA to go after them, but it was a trap."

"That's where I came in." Will then played the footage from his HUD when he arrived at the ambush, just saving Pat from the Icicle. His HUD played out the whole fight and projected separate holograms of all the members of the ISA there. Brainwave, the Gambler, Sportsmaster, Tigress, the Wizard, Shade, Geomancer, Ultra-Humanite, and Solomon Grundy. The feed was then cut out when Will went alien. "I managed to push them back, but they used a teleporter with the same frequency and energy field as the one Deathstroke used to escape. I've been trying to track down its signature but Devoe's either scrapped them or built new ones. No new hits yet."

"It was after that we went to rescue Kent, Ted, and Jay before the ISA could go after them." Pat added.

"Why weren't you there with the others?" Hawkgirl wondered.

"We should have been. Rex gave us the call. I missed mine but we dismissed his worries, and we'll regret that decision for the rest of our lives." Jay answered.

"Don't feel guilty. It was a trap and if you three were there than it's possible you three would be dead as well. With Devoe working with the ISA now they're even more dangerous than ever. I can see now why you wanted to tell us." Superman said and Will nodded.

"What's his plan?" Hawkgirl asked.

"I don't know. I've been getting nowhere for months and Deathstroke was my lucky break that led me to the ISA, but I have no idea what he's planning or why. If anything, this could all be part of Devoe's plan." Will replied.

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?" Aquaman pointed out.

"No, Will's right. Devoe is a super genius along with being a certifiable ego-maniac. Every single move he makes is calculated and thought out so he would have contingencies for any kind of situation. Devoe has a long-game planned out that we can't see yet, but it has to do with why he's working with the Injustice Society. Devoe's ego and pride in his intelligence means he would only work with the ISA if they were helping him with his own goals or their goals aligned, and he can use them against the people who would try to stop him." Batman theorized.

"And what goal would that be?" Diana asked.

"Well, figuring the ISA are a bunch of supervillains then it likely involves the death of a lot of people and taking over the world." Will deduced. "Nothing else would make Devoe work with others unless the goal was something that grand."

"Ok, so the plan is to stop a super genius leading a group of supervillains from taking over the world, or whatever their grand plan is. The question now is how we stop them. If Clifford Devoe is as smart as you say he is than he's gonna have taken measures in case any of us started sniffing around." Green Lantern pointed out.

"Thankfully we managed to get a little lucky in that regard." Will pressed a button on the Proto-box and brought up the image of Brainwave. "Devoe's the genius but the rest of the ISA aren't. Meet Henry King Sr. AKA Brainwave. When he's not using his telepathy or telekinesis to kill or torture people he's been moonlighting as a neurosurgeon at National City Hospital. He's been living there for years under his alias. His son goes to my high school and now he is currently residing in a coma."

"What happened?" Superman asked causing Will and Pat to sigh. "I'm guessing things were bad?"

"Not exactly but complicated and through no fault of mine or Mr. Dugans but Brainwave believed that the JSA had returned and went after him through his son." Will replied.

"Why would they think that?" Aquaman asked.

"Because my stepdaughter found Starman's staff and accidently beat him up." Pat answered earning looks of confusion from all of them.

"That staff is a menace and blew up my car as well." Will added.

"Starman's staff is a special item. It's only ever worked for its creator Ted Knight and then when it was passed on to Sylvester Pemberton when he took on the mantle. The only reason it would work for Courtney is if it found her worthy of taking up said mantle." Kent told them.

"And she did." Batman said, pressing a few buttons on his gauntlet and all of a sudden the holographic images from the Proto-box shifted to show amateur footage of Vilgax's invasion. Stargirl was there with STRIPE, Wildcat, the Flash, and Dr. Fate.

"How'd—How'd you do that?" Will couldn't believe that Batman managed to crack into the Proto-box. Grey Matter designed it so it was supposed to be unbreachable, yet Batman had somehow managed to mirror the signal to the point where he could partially control it.

"Don't bother, kid. You'll rack your brain until it melts trying to figure out how he does that." Superman told him, well aware of Batman's intellect and knack for doing the impossible. Will would definitely need to upgrade it, that's for sure. "So, your stepdaughter is the new Starman? Sorry, Starwoman?"

"Stargirl. Yes, believe me, Will and I tried to stop her but Courtney's not exactly one to back down and she went into this full force." Pat replied.

"Short of locking her up or brainwashing her there's not a lot we could do. Anyway, Brainwave went after her for revenge, but we managed to stop him. It was just him which meant this was personal but he's a member of the ISA which means that sooner or later they'll need to check on him." Will added.

"Ah, easy bait and see who comes to visit. Anyone who does likely could be a member of the ISA." Aquaman said, and they nodded.

"Brainwave's attack and current condition definitely has to have thrown a wrench in their plans. Devoe may not care but the other members of the ISA would at least try to figure out what's going on. That will be our moment to gather intel and plan ahead. With the footage taken from Vilgax's invasion, the ISA are gonna have eyes on National City for the rest of us so if they're gonna make any moves there than it could help us figure out more of what they're ultimate plan is." Jay said.

"That also means you all will have targets on your back." Hawkgirl warned them.

"I've already taken the necessary precautions to make sure we stay as hidden as possible. The base I have them set up in National City has the best anti-surveillance and stealth tech the DEO could provide with some upgrades from one of my smartest aliens." Will held up the Omnitrix. "He's as smart as Devoe and the fact that the ISA haven't come knocking on our door means it's doing the job right, but I'll be sure to work constant upgrades and improvements."

"Make sure you do that. Devoe may not have cracked your systems yet to find you but that doesn't mean he hasn't stopped trying." Batman warned him and Will nodded. "He is relentless but he's also ruled by his ego so he could not bother if he feels that all our efforts won't stop him. He'll have kept things tight, but the rest of the ISA are his weakness. That's the avenue we need to exploit. I'll do some digging into Brainwave and figure out any other possible connections that could lead to other ISA members."

"In the meantime, we're just going to have to wait because trying to look for them might as well be like looking for a needle in a haystack." Green Lantern remarked.

"The three of us are going to the funeral for the JSA members, Hourman included. It'll a closed casket for close friends and family and only a few knew who he was a superhero. Rex was smart and meticulous, so he'll have left behind research and notes on what the ISA were planning. He had to be had been closing in on something if Devoe orchestrated a trap." Ted said before looking at Batman. "We'll bring back what we can so Batman can look over it. With any luck it could point us in the right direction, and we'll be one step closer to stopping them."

"So, before that happens I want to make something clear. I asked you all here to tell you this, so you weren't caught unaware and while I love the idea of us keeping in contact and making this team-up kind of thing permanent, I don't want to force anyone to deal with this if they don't want to. So, if you want to leave now than by all means go ahead." Will said but no one seemed to give any indication they were leaving.

Aquaman leaned forward onto a tarp covered chair. "Kid, you think any of us would be here if we weren't going to stick through with this. We should be asking you that. I mean, shouldn't you be worried about your driver's permit or your first school dance?"

"I told you guys I'm 18 years old." Will reminded him. "I already got a license and had my prom which didn't exactly go without incident either."

"Ok, then focusing on your college stuff, I don't know. Be a regular kid?" Aquaman asked him.

Will just gave a subtle glance to the Omnitrix. "I really haven't been a regular kid for a year, and I made my peace with that. This is my life now."

"Well, if an 18-year-old is willing to stick through this than there's nothing can we say to justify walking away." Green Lantern said before looking at him. "We're in, kid."

"Sticking together only makes sense. You did make those communication watches for us." Hawkgirl said.

"What watches?" Aquaman asked as the heroes held up communication watches with the Omnitrix symbol on them. Will reached into his pocket and handed one to him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. High-frequency quantum bandwidth signal carrier capable of crystal-clear communication all over the planet. It's waterproof and resistant to about 35,000 feet under water." Will told him.

"Nice." Aquaman put it on and kind of liked it. "Not sure about the symbol and just because we can talk doesn't make meeting up any easier especially if the green taxi cab has to come get me."

"That's a good point." Green Lantern agreed.

"We'll just have to deal with it in the meantime. Once we get more information on the ISA then we can move forward." Batman said.

"Sounds like a plan. Until then we just carry on as we normally would but stay in contact in case any of us come across anything weird or potentially world-ending." Superman added and they all nodded in agreement.

"A new Justice Society of America." Jay said but Will had one slight caveat.

"With all due respect Jay, Ted, Kent…we're not the Justice Society and we shouldn't try to be." Will said as he looked at the group portrait. "Their heroism and sacrifice for all these years is something we can only hope to live up to and we'll keep their legacy alive but if we're gonna pick up from where they left off and keep this going then we need to make it our own. Make it different."

"The kid's right." Ted said as Jay and Kent looked at him. "We were good, but we weren't perfect. We made plenty of mistakes and if we treat this exactly like last time than that's exactly what it'll be. A repeat."

"An evolution." Superman said, walking over and standing beside Will. "I'll be honest, when I first started helping people I thought I could protect the world by myself, but I was proven wrong. Sometimes I had to rely on others and it's doing that which is how we managed to stop Vilgax's invasion of earth and Ares's takeover in Washington DC. Working together we could be a force that could truly work to protect the planet for any future threats. Uphold what the Justice Society stood for and protect the ideals of peace and justice."

"Like a group of super friends." Aquaman remarked.

"I was thinking more like…the Justice League." Will countered.

"You have any idea how corny that sounds?" Green Lantern asked him before walking over to him. "But who knows? Maybe it'll grow on me."

"I like it." Diana said joining Will's side with Aquaman and Hawkgirl.

"A little derivative but it's got a nice ring to it." Jay admitted as he, Kent, Ted, and Pat walked over leaving Batman by himself.

"You're with us on this, right Batman?" Will asked him.

"I said I would help with the ISA, and I meant it but I'm not much of a people person. When you need my help, and you will…call me." Batman said.

"Understood." Will told him and Batman walked away. "Something tells me that's probably the best answer I could have gotten from him."

"You're right. In the years I've known him, I think this situation is the most I've ever heard him talk." Superman said as he and Will looked up at the portrait of the JSA. "The Golden Age of heroes has done their part."

"Their memory will live on, and the Justice League will keep their legacy alive." Will swore as did the others.

In that moment, the silver age of heroes was born.

Line Break xxxxx

National City, California

It was the late afternoon as the sun was started to dip to the horizon. With National City being the host to an alien invasion, suffice to say that many people were shaken. There were some casualties, more injuries, and a lot of damage done by the alien robot invasion. Things would have been a lot worse if the invasion hadn't abruptly ended and even more so if not for the help of some heroes, both old and new. Amateur cellphone footage quickly circulated the internet along with stories on how five heroes protected National City and its people from the alien robots after Sentry led the first wave away. Three heroes that had made a resurgence in the form of Wildcat, The Flash, and Dr. Fate but joining them were two new heroes. A girl with a glowing golden staff and a giant robot. The internet began speculating as to who these new heroes were and what their names were. They didn't exactly stick around for paparazzi photos and interviews, but it was clear from the amateur phone footage that the five heroes worked together. The question was now why they were in National City and if they were working with Sentry. Catco media and Cat Grant were quick to report on the news, but they didn't exactly have much to report on. Cat Grant's idea to try and get an exclusive with failed miserably as he had made no contact with the female media mogul with the reveal of his name even being the exclusive of a competitor. She now wanted the exclusive for the new group of heroes who arrived but suffice to say that she'd be disappointed with that too.

Given everything that happened in the city, there was some significant damage and noticeable unease and panic. That had a fringe benefit of temporarily keeping the schools closed in the city since the attack until the school board was given the go ahead to reopen them. Four days since the attack and the city was still recovering but was getting there. Will and his friends had been given four free days off of school in the middle of the week, which was awesome, but they'd be heading back tomorrow as the schools were given the go ahead to reopen. And during those free days Will was kept busy.

[Pow-bam-thud]

Two armed members of the One-Seven Gang were sent flying through the air and crashed down into crates or boxes in the warehouse they used as a front. Another gang member raced to attack their attacker with a crowbar but was quickly disarmed and given a vicious headbutt before being thrown into a wall. Two One-Seven gang members raced forward and opened fire with their assault rifles, trying to shoot their attacker but he quickly jumped out of the way and raced around some crates for cover. When the shooters had to reload their guns, said attacker leapt forward revealing himself to be the legendary Wildcat. He hit one shooter with a vicious flying elbow across the face and tossed him to the side before closing the distance to the other shooter. He grabbed the barrel of the gun and pushed it to the side as the shooter squeezed off a few rounds before he was punched in the face. Wildcat ripped the gun out of his hands and threw it to the side before punching the shooter in the stomach causing him to double over. He put him in a clinch and kneed him twice in the face and then twice in the chest before landing a final straight punch that knocked him on his ass.

The other shooter got back to his feet and aimed only for a shield to come from the side and hit him in the face, knocking him out. The shield ricochet off a wall and sailed back into the hands of Sentry who side kicked a goon into a crate and then shield bashed another into the ground. He turned and threw his shield, hitting two One-Seven goons in the face and chest before they were smacked by a golden staff and knocked to the ground. Said staff flipped through the air back into the hands of Stargirl who grabbed onto it and flipped through the air. She landed on the ground and hit two One-Seven goons with it before it lifted her up into the air to avoid being grabbed from behind. She came down with a vicious axe kick on the goons head before slamming the staff on the ground making a small shockwave that sent some goons flying.

A goon with a shotgun took aim at her only for Sentry to throw his shield at him. It broke his shotgun and hit him in the face before ricocheting back into Sentry's arm as he came in with a flying hurricanrana and took him to the ground before knocking him out with a solid right hook. He then turned into a butterfly twist into a corkscrew spin and threw his shield which ricochetted all over the room and hit the last four goons across the face. Three of them fell to the floor but the fourth was worse off as Wildcat picked him up and suplexed him to the ground. He did a kip-up back to his feet and walked over to the two younger heroes but kicked one goon in the face as he began to wake up.

"Is that it?" Wildcat asked and Sentry nodded.

"Wow, Mr. Grant. You haven't lost your touch." Stargirl told him.

"Thanks, kid. Feels good to finally get back out there but why did you want us to hit this group?" Wildcat asked Sentry.

"Two reasons. One is to get Stargirl some more experience and training which she still needs." Sentry answered.

"Please, I'm fine. I'm ready." Stargirl replied with naïve enthusiasm to her new superhero-based reality.

"No, he's right that you need more training. I'll admit that you're better off than most given you have some training in karate, but you need more training if you really think you can handle it out in the field like the rest of us. That guy with the shotgun would have gotten you if it wasn't for your boyfriend." Wildcat warned her.

"I knew he was there." Stargirl assured them but they could tell she was talking out of her butt.

"And the other?" Wildcat asked Sentry as he saw him walk over to the side and pulled a tarp off some crates.

"Helping out some people in National City." Sentry used his HUD's backscatter mode to check the contents of the crates and they were exactly what he was looking for. "But a good night's work. I think we call it done for the night."

"No, come on. Let's keep going. The rest of the Injustice Society is out there in National City, so we need to stay vigilant. Let's go find them." Stargirl said.

"Ok, first off that's a horrible idea. Don't let your encounter with the aliens and Brainwave go to your head, kid. You're no way ready to handle the rest of the ISA." Wildcat warned her. "That kind of arrogance and thinking can get you in trouble. You never go looking for a fight."

"But they're out there and with us taking out Brainwave they're gonna come looking for us. So, it's better if we hit them before they hit us." Stargirl planned.

"Stargirl, uh…hang on." Sentry threw his shield to the side, knocking out a goon who had regained consciousness before it ricocheted back into his hand. "Sorry. But Wildcat's right. We don't know if the rest of the ISA are in National City. Brainwave was a lone wolf, likely because he thought we went after his son. And we can't go after them if we don't know what we're looking for. The Thinker will have taken extra measures to stay hidden so trying to find them might as well be like trying to a piece of hay in a stack of needles."

"Don't you mean needle in a haystack?" Stargirl corrected him.

"No, because this version hurts more which it will with Devoe involved. We can talk about this tomorrow. I'll contact the police so they can pick these guys up and handle the cargo. You guys get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow." Sentry told him.

"Fine." Stargirl walked away to the exit before climbing up onto the Cosmic Staff which flew into the air and took her home.

"You're girlfriend sure is overeager, kid. That's dangerous." Wildcat warned him.

"I know. That's part of her charm but with this, that overeagerness can get her into trouble." Sentry stated.

"You sure know how to pick 'em, kid. You sure you can handle her while we're gone?" Wildcat asked him.

"We'll be fine. Pat and I can handle things here while you guys are gone, and I spoke to my director. He'll have some plain clothes DEA agents nearby in case you run into problems." Sentry informed him.

"Thanks for the thought, kid but I doubt we'd run into any problems at funerals." Wildcat told him before patting him on the shoulder. "See you in a few days."

"See you then." Sentry gave him a mock salute as Wildcat left the warehouse. He would leave a few minutes later after placing an anonymous call to the police but didn't leave the warehouse via his flight wings or even using the Omnitrix. He drove away in a pickup truck with the truck bed filled with four large crates. He ensured to take out all surveillance around the warehouse so no one would know what was going on. One simple drive through National City showed Will the progress that was being made as the city didn't look like it had been invaded by aliens. That was due to the efforts of Will using XLR8 and Ultraman. Using his two aliens with incredible speed he was able to aid in the rebuilding efforts of the city and do what would have taken weeks or months in a few days. He felt partially responsible since he was the reason Vilgax came to earth so he tried to help where he could. What he was doing now was part of that.

The pickup truck pulled up to alleyway behind Al's Dive Bar, the secret alien bar in National City's western district that also held the entrance to the secret underground alien market in the warehouse next door. Though never really explicitly mentioned or confirmed, Will's actions in arresting Mandrax and freeing the aliens and the bar from his control made him welcome with open arms by the proprietor Ignacious Baumann. Will wasn't old enough to drink but with all the aliens that frequented the bar and with the alien market Mr. Baumann would be privy to information that even the DEO would have trouble obtaining. He hasn't really had to use that yet, but it could come in handy one day and the other benefit was that helping out Mr. Baumann at the bar meant he could talk the alien vendors there like Pakmar into giving him discounts and look out for any kind of alien tech he might need.

Will backed up his dad's pickup truck to the garage of the bar where Mr. Baumann was waiting with a dolly cart. Will parked and got out of the truck before opening up the back. "Have any troubles, kid?" Mr. Baumann asked him.

"Please, the One-Seven? They're just morons trying to act tough and are now enjoying some nice time in jail." Will smiled in delight before patting the crates. "Well, this is it like you said. Four crates in total."

"Perfect." Mr. Baumann walked over and checked the contents of the crates and checked off some boxes on a clipboard. "One crate of Kormite power crystals, one crate of Level-4 Power decoupler and power suppressors and two crates of Fleen Cake. The people in the market have been really looking forward to that. Thanks again, kid."

"Don't mention it." Will helped him move the crates onto the dolly cart. During the chaos that was the aftermath of Vilgax's attack on National City, some criminal groups used that as opportunities for their various illegal activities. With the One-Seven, they broke into a shipping warehouse and took several truckloads worth of cargo. They stole the basics that would make them money like TVs, phones, car parts, and anything else they could make a buck on. The four crates of alien items were taken by accident as they likely had no idea what they stole. When Mr. Baumann was informed of the theft at the warehouse he told Will. Now they were taken back with many of the One-Seven going to jail and all the stuff they stole going back to where it belonged. "What is this stuff again?"

"The Power decouplers and suppressors are exactly what they sound like only they're a bit more advance than the kind on earth. The supply of those in the market went down after all the repairs and updates they've done on the stores there and some aliens need them to repair their homes. The Kormite crystals are a power source used for certain alien technologies. Nothing dangerous but the kind of technology that some aliens use aren't compatible with human energy sources so that's where the Kormite crystals come into play." Mr. Baumann explained as he and Will lifted the crate off the back of the truck and put it onto the cart.

"Got it. Basic alien needs." Will helped him lift the final crate off the back of the truck and push it into the bar. "What about the Fleen Cakes?"

"Oh, those are a delicacy. I've been on backorder for those things for a year and they cost me a pretty penny, but the aliens around here have been waiting forever for them." Mr. Baumann said as he pulled while Will pushed the dolly cart back into the bag. Mr. Baumann opened up one of the crates and pulled out a small aluminum-like package like you'd see a Pop-Tart packaged in. Once unwrapped he held up a blue brick of food that looked like a piece of pound cake but was three inches thick. "It may not look like much but what you see here is one of the most delectable deserts in five galaxies. Just not ours."

"Is it any good?" Will wondered so Mr. Baumann broke off a small piece and gave it to him. In his hands Will could feel that it was light yet surprisingly hefty given he only got a small piece. There was a sweet smell of vanilla mixed with chocolate, and he could have sworn he picked up hints of lemon, orange, and strawberry. He ate the small piece he was given, and the texture was the first thing that caught him off guard. Despite how it felt in his hands its texture was like the best brownie he ever had. Soft, chewy, and dense but with some crusty textures like the on the edges of brownies that certain people, including Will, preferred. While the texture was amazing, the taste was more confusing. He was hit with various flavors all at once with some sweet and some savory. A part of him liked the taste but the rest of him was just confused as neither his brain nor his tongue could make heads or tails of what he was eating. "I honestly don't know what to say."

"I had the same reaction when I first tried one." Mr. Baumann told him as he placed it back into the wrapper to give to Pakmar later. "One of the aliens told me that it's the way the flavors are worked together that make these very confusing for humans. Our tastebuds can't really decipher how these things taste."

"That would explain a lot. So, to us just confusion but to others the most delicious desert in several galaxies." Will remarked. "Are these things really that popular?"

"Those two crates are the only ones I was able to get after working with Pakmar's best connections. This time tomorrow they'll be gone. People buy plenty of them and freeze them so they can have them whenever." Mr. Baumann told him as they moved the cart into a spare storage room. "Thanks again, kid."

"Don't mention it. I was partially responsible for this anyway with Vilgax coming to earth, so it was only right that I make up for it." Will admitted.

"No one here knows what you did, why Vilgax was here or what really happened but from what I heard Vilgax is practically the boogeyman to a lot of galaxies." Mr. Baumann said with trepidation, but Will gave him a reassuring pat on the back.

"Oh, yeah, I heard that. Conqueror of ten worlds, destroyer of five, feared pariah throughout numerous galaxies, yada, yada, yada. He shouldn't be bothering earth anytime soon or hopefully ever again."

"If there's anything I learned in my many years and most recently while running a bar that caters to and hides a secret alien supermarket is never be sure of anything. Just keep your head on a swivel, kid." Mr. Baumann warned him, and Will gave him an appreciative nod. Mr. Baumann then took off a small box off a shelf filled with three bottles of liquid wax, but it wasn't regular car wax given the alien writing on it. "Pakmar's still working on getting parts from Talpeada, Amperi, and Orishan. Even with his connections getting all of those specialty parts to earth will take time and a lot of moving but he was able to get this Pyronite wax. A few coats and this will ensure the panels of your car can handle extreme temperatures. Pakmar included some instructions, but he stressed that you need to wear thick gloves and protective clothing when you apply the wax. This stuff stains clothing and you'll never be able to get it out."

"Good to know. Thanks for the warning." Will took the box with the bottles of wax. "Let me know if anything else comes up you need help with or you hear of anything you think I should know about."

"Will do, kid. Be safe." Mr. Baumann bid Will farewell. It was getting late, so he'd have to put off applying the wax for another day.

Line Break xxxxx

Morning came and with it, some semblance normalcy prior to the alien invasion of National City. The city was repaired so things were back to normal, which included school. At the Dugan/Whitmore household, Courtney had gotten up ready for the day. She took a shower and got dressed before grabbing her backpack. She pulled out her Stargirl suit and smiled as she traced her finger over the star before putting it back in and heading downstairs. Pat was in the kitchen making breakfast with his son Mike eating. Little Richard's The Girl Can't Help It was being played on the radio after Pat found an oldie station and he was loving it.

"I'm loving this National City oldie station, right? How did I not know this existed before?"

"Please, god, make it stop!" Mike begged, ready to tear his hair out.

"Yeah, it's pretty good. This DJ is a hoot, huh?"

"Can you change the radio station? This guy's been playing the same ten songs over and over, and they're all fossilized garbage." Mike told his dad.

"You know what? You want a little public radio, you got it. Coming right up." Pat turned the radio to the news as Mike breathed a sigh of relief which is when they saw Courtney walk into the kitchen. "Oh, hey, a friendly reminder. Family dinner is tonight at 6:30pm. I'm thinking I'll make fish, maybe some salmon or a nice tilapia."

"How about some fish sticks?" Mike countered.

"No, Mike, because fish sticks—"

"Are awesome. You can't even taste the fish." Mike told him before grabbing his backpack and heading to the door. "All right, shotgun.

"You know, I've never seen him eat a piece of fruit. Seriously. It's worrying." Pat said to Courtney. "You ready to go?"

"Don't drive me to school." Courtney told him.

"What? Why not? Is Will gonna drive you? I know he finally fixed up his car."

"No, because we have to find the rest of the Injustice Society. They've probably assumed new identities in National City just like Brainwave did." Courtney suggested.

"Ok, weren't you even a little scared of Brainwave? We both could have been killed not to mention that we had to deal with a robot alien invasion soon after. None of that freaked you out?" Pat asked her.

"Of course it did, Pat, it was an alien invasion. But as crazy and insane as it was it also felt right. Being out there with you and the others, fighting and everything felt like it was where I belonged. The newest member of the JSA…Stargirl." Courtney said, being completely honest which terrified Pat.

"Ok, Court, we don't know if there are other members of the ISA here in National City and with everything we learned from Will with his investigation into this with the Thinker than we need to proceed carefully. Lay low and make a solid plan." Pat told her, trying to impart some necessary caution.

"I have a three-point plan. Find them, surprise them, kick their assess. We're Stargirl and STRIPE and with Sentry, Wildcat, the Flash and Dr. Fate we can take them." Courtney told him.

"The JSA thought as you did, and they never could, and the ISA are more dangerous now than they were before. And being a superhero is not being one most of the time. Will's spent plenty of time not in the mask as he was in it. You should know, you were dating him." Pat reminded her.

"You mean, lying to me for months about who he actually was?" She clarified.

"We lie for very good reasons but never to hurt those we care about. To keep them safe. Considering we're currently lying to your mother and Max then we'd understand that this decision wasn't easy for him as it is for us." Pat stated and she nodded. "Will's got some things set up already to look into the ISA so there's nothing we can do now but wait which means he and you will just act like normal teenagers."

"That's boring."

"It's safe. Text, tweet, do your homework, make out with your boyfriend…" Pat stopped as he suddenly realized what he said as did Courtney and she smirked. "…kiss your boyfriend a respectful amount. Just…be safe."

"Ok, fine! I'll go make out with my boyfriend." Courtney cheekily said as she walked to the door. Her intentions clear to him, and he was definitely uncomfortable now due to his blunder of words."

"A respectful amount! You hear me!"

"If Brainwave wakes up, come get me and Will from class." She told him.

"Do you ever listen to anything that I say to you? Ever?" Pat wondered.

"Everything. Keep your eyes open. Remember, they could be anywhere or anyone." Courtney told him before she walked out to catch a nearby bus.

While she took the bus, Will drove his car to school. With the four days they had off due to Vilgax's invasion Will was able to use that free time to work on the car when he wasn't out in the city. With him rebuilding it for the third time he knew what he needed to do and used XLR8 to put it back together. The only thing that really took time was getting the parts and considering how his car blowing up or getting wrecked was becoming a regular occurrence he should really buy those parts in bulk and work on more upgrades. He already had the Khoros-5 indestructible engine block and the lightly coated Promethium metal frame, but he was hoping that more alien tech could make it so that he wouldn't need to rebuild it so often. Once he applied the Pyronite wax to it he wouldn't have to worry about fire damage anymore so that was good.

Will parked his car in the school's parking lot and got out. On the way to the entrance, he saw the school's janitorial staff dealing with the destroyed school emblem/plaque that was damaged during the fight between him, Courtney, and Pat against Brainwave. The students were confused as to what happened and were quickly coming up with stories and rumors while the staff were just as confused and not exactly thrilled to be dealing with this. Will averted his eyes and walked into the school. Being back after being gone for so long was a little jarring and a part of him kind of got use to the routine of not being in school. As he walked down the hall to his locker he could see that a lot anyone could talk about was the robot alien invasion and how crazy things were getting around the world. Will arrived at his locker and sorted through his text and notebooks to get what he needed when his locker was slammed shut by Vic and Ed. "Geez!"

"Welcome back, dude!" Vic picked him up and jostled him around. "Oh, man. You're getting heavier. Packing on the muscle or too much Big Belly Burger?"

"Vic…please put me down." Will told him so Vic let him do. "Thanks. And was the morning scare really necessary?"

"Can you blame us? We haven't been able to see you in nearly three weeks. Would have been two but then the whole robot alien invasion happened. Which, by the way, thank you for that." Ed told him. "But seriously, first you and now Courtney's a superhero. Can I be next? Before Vic?"

"Why do you get to be a superhero before me?" Vic asked him.

"You're already lead running back for the football team. I need this." Ed countered.

"Guys, icks-nay on the hero stuff, ok. Seriously. It was bad enough you guys knowing what I do but now with Courtney involved things are even more complicated." Will told them.

"Really? I thought you'd be happy that Courtney's apart of your life like this?" Ed asked him.

"Why would I be happy about the fact that my girlfriend now has a target on her back from a bunch of psychotic old Golden-Age has-beens? And you two know Courtney. Her overeagerness is going to get us in trouble." Will pointed out.

"Which is precisely why you have us to help you with this. So, when do we get suits? Can I get mine in gold?" Ed asked and Will just banged his head against his locker in defeat.

Elsewhere in school, Courtney was talking with Beth, Yolanda, and Karen about being Stargirl and everything that's happened, most recently how slow things have been going. "And Pat's all like, we need to be careful, Courtney. Listen to me. I'm the adult here." Courtney said, mimicking her stepfather.

"He's probably just looking out for you, Courtney. He has been at this longer than you have, right?" Yolanda asked.

"Sure, but as a sidekick. We need to keep up the momentum. More of the Injustice Society could be in National City so we need to find them before they find us." Courtney said.

"You mean, find you." Beth corrected her. "Look, as much as I loved helping with your suit and like the idea of helping you and Will fight crime we're not exactly equipped to help."

"Yeah, we're just moral support." Karen added.

"No, you guys are more than that. Your part of the team now. You know my secret and you know Will's so you guys can help us. We have a lair now. The place Will took us when he learned about him he repurposed into a lair for the new JSA. Completely protected and it has a whole bunch of computer stuff so you guys can be like our home base support. Helping us with tracking leads and giving us intel while we're out in the field. And you'll be able to meet the others." Courtney told them, excited at the thought.

"Who else is there?" Beth asked.

"Well, there's this really cool magic guy Kent Nelson AKA Dr. Fate. Think Harry Potter but with a cool helmet and way more powerful. Than there's Jay Garrick AKA the Flash. He's superfast and he can generate lightning although the helmet he wears is a little weird, but his wife Joan is really nice. And there's Wildcat AKA Ted Grant." Courtney listed off when Yolanda stopped her.

"Ted Grant? Ted Wildcat Grant, the Gotham Southpaw, World Heavyweight champion Ted Grant?" Yolanda asked and Courtney paused a bit.

"I think so, but they could just have the same names." Courtney said, so Yolanda took out her phone to bring up an old photo of Ted Grant during his Heavyweight championship run. "Yeah, that's him. He's a little older now but that's him."

"I can't believe Ted Grant's a hero." Yolanda said in disbelief mixed with amazement. "My dad used to show me his old fights all the time. He's part of the reason my dad got into boxing and then started me and my brother in it."

"Well, you should definitely tell him that when you meet him. I'm sure he can teach you a few things." Courtney said as they walked to the class.

While Will and Courtney were at school, Pat Dugan went to National City hospital to check up on Brainwave. Pat walked around the floor while keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary until he arrived at Brainwave's room. There he was lying on the hospital bed with a breathing mask attached to his face. Brainwave was lying there in a coma being one of the most dangerous supervillains the JSA has ever faced but to the hospital he was one of their own as Dr. Henry King Sr, head of neurology. Despite the fact that he was lying comatose on the bed, Pat had goosebumps and a nagging feeling in his stomach. Brainwave was dangerous and Pat was hoping that he coma was permanent despite how bad that may sound.

"Pat?" Pat turned around and saw Dr. Bridget Chapel, Beth's mom walk over to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hi Bridget. I just, uh, I heard what happened and wanted to stop by." Pat said and she nodded.

"Seizure. It's horrible. Henry's the cornerstone of this institution."

"I'm sure that he is. Um, where did they find him?" Pat asked.

"Just outside the Emergency room. Some nurses found him on the ground. He was likely on his way home. So sudden."

Pat nodded his head. When Will dropped the body off he must have ditched Brainwave's suit and dropped him off, so no strange questions were asked. "So, what's the prognosis?"

"The seizure caused an overload of his brain. He's in a coma at the moment. We're not sure when he'll wake up. Strangely enough, if there was another patient like this, Dr. King would be the one who could help him." She told him.

"Yeah, I'll bet." Pat muttered. "Has he had any visitors?"

"Just his son. Henry's here every day." She told him. "His work unfortunately kept him very busy, so he didn't have much time to socialize outside the hospital."

"What about his wife?"

"She died ten years ago. Heart attack. So sad. Other than his son he was really alone." Dr. Chapel said when she heard the hospital's intercom go off.

Dr. Chapel. Please report to operating room 425. Dr. Chapel. Please report to operating room 425.

"I'm sorry, Pat. I need to go. Take care."

"You too, Dr. Chapel." Pat bid her farewell. She walked away to get back to work while he lingered a moment longer. "He's not alone."

"Thankfully neither are you, Mr. Dugan." He heard and saw a beautiful, tall, dark-haired woman with a pair of eye glasses delicately perched on the bridge of her nose. She was wearing brown boots, blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a blue blazer on top. "And neither is Will for that matter."

"Diana, good to see you again. What are you doing here?" Pat asked her.

"Will asked me to keep watch over the hospital in case anyone came to see Brainwave but to blend in. Since Max is busy I offered to help."

"Thank you." He said and Diana nodded. "Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Not recently and no new visitors." She said. "Perhaps we should talk about this elsewhere from prying eyes. And I have wanted to see this hideout that Will said he's using.

"Then allow me to escort you." Pat said before the two left.

Mystery Location

Clifford Devoe AKA the Thinker was sitting in his chair in a large secret conference room where he was busy at work doing whatever it was he was planning with the ISA. The large round conference table in said room was empty since he was the only one there. In front of Devoe were a bank of monitors each set to a singular purpose. Some of the monitors had security camera footage of various places but most seemed to be satellite facilities around the world. On one monitor were some schematics and designs for a land-based satellite facility but it had alterations done to it that tied to the adjacent monitor which had various chemical and biological equations/formulas strewn around working on some kind of problem. Devoe was hard at work to ensure that the timeline set for their plans went on as scheduled and taking into considering all possible adjustments, changes, interference, interruptions, and disturbances that can possibly happen especially after recent events. Despite him being an evil super genius who outsmarted both Superman and Batman, Devoe will admit that the alien invasion of National City was something he didn't anticipate happening and it threw a momentary wrench in the plans. With the alien invasion, global attention and attentiveness would be at an all-time high which included from the likes of ARGUS. Amanda Waller was paranoid, distrusting, and relentless as he was smart so the second she caught a whiff of anything than she'd be on them. Same with Sentry and his cavalcade of heroes along with the DEO. To ensure that their plans went smoothly with as little interruptions as possible, Devoe was planning and adjusting. One of the most recent adjustments had to do with Brainwave's comatose state but one that Devoe would plan for.

Devoe heard the door open and the clatter of shoes on a refined tiled floor but didn't need to look away from his screens and thousands of thoughts going through his head to know who it was. "You assured me that your compatriots were competent and professional, Mr. Mahkent." Devoe said before his chair turned around so he could see Jordan Mahkent AKA Icicle. He was standing by a chair near the conference table. "So, what would you call Mr. King's current predicament? The result of a fleeting whimsy or does he not care for our plans anymore as you said he would?"

"What happened with Brainwave was a mistake. His loyalty to Project New World is without question. He's made his own personal sacrifices to ensure that." Icicle told him.

"So, then his current comatose status is a result of his own ego and inability to follow orders. My disappointment still stands." Devoe told him. "You are aware of how delicate this plan of yours actually is? How laughable the results would have been had I not decided to take over the planning? How Dr. Ito's hard work would have been wasted and how all of you would be in jail or dead?"

"Brainwave acted carelessly and got emotional. He thinks the JSA went after his son as revenge for what we did. I told him to wait so we can consolidate a response and work together, but he went out on his own." Icicle told him.

"And look where that got him." Devoe remarked. "The JSA are all dead. Another gift I gave you towards the good will of our partnership. It's because of me that your plan is expanding but how can we ensure its success if your associates are so controlled by their egos that they won't listen to you."

"Isn't that a little hypocritical of you, Devoe? What about your little chess match with Sentry? How is that any different?" Icicle asked him, pointing to the little chessboard Devoe had off to the side symbolizing his little mental back and forth the two were engaged in. "That's all this is about with you, isn't it? A way to beat Sentry without him even knowing because he stopped you. You got a super ego to go with that super brain of yours. I started all of this to truly change the world for the better and they labeled me a villain, a criminal. I've traveled across this country and hunted down everybody who played a part in Christine's death. Everybody who exposed her to a toxin that led her to get sick and I did this because I made her a promise. As she lay dying in my be I promised her that I would combat injustice for our son, for everyone's children, for the future. Project: New America…Project: New World is my destiny. You just jumped on to help to suite your own needs."

Icicle's rant and emotions got to the point where his emotions boiled to the surface and ice began to spread over his clenched fists. "Ah-ah-Ah…" Icicle heard and saw Deathstroke step out of the shadows of the room in full armor and laid his right hand on one of his Desert Eagle .50 caliber pistols holstered to his thigh. "Watch that temper Icicle. Wouldn't want you to have an accident."

"You don't scare me, Deathstroke." Icicle warned him.

"That's your first mistake there, Mahkent…you should be very afraid." Deathstroke threatened.

"Stand down, Mr. Wilson. Mr. Mahkent is still useful to our plans, which we will now have to adjust. Lucky for you, Brainwave's little blunder has given me an idea on how best to move forward." Devoe said, turning back around to his monitors where one showed the amateur footage of Stargirl, STRIPE, Wildcat, the Flash, and Dr. Fate. Other monitors showed footage of Sentry, Superman, Batman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. Most were isolated footage of their own heroics, but a few showed footage from Lobo's attack in Metropolis and then Ares's attack in DC. "All warfare is based on deception. The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent. Sentry and his friends are looking for the ISA so we will give them the ISA."

Line Break xxxxx

The lunch bell at National City High rang so students filed in to the cafeteria. Will was among them and waited in line to get a sandwich, some chips, and a bottle of water. He walked through the cafeteria towards a table when he saw Henry walk past him. He was distraught and looked like he had been through a lot. From his current status Will could guess that Henry wasn't doing well with his father in a coma. He was going through a lot and Will felt for him a bit, despite him being a jerk and an asshole though that did make him wonder if Henry was still in the dark about who his father really was and how that discovery would go. Thinking that made him wonder if the other members of the ISA had kids like Henry, possible legacies to take up their parents monikers for villains like how Jay said that some of the JSA had legacies to take up the mantle of heroes. All of those thoughts then gave him an idea which momentarily distracted him as he walked to his table, and he nearly ran into Principal Bowen.

"Whoa, sorry Principal Bowen." Will stopped himself from running right into her.

"That's all right, Will. Are you ok? You're not usually the one to get distracted like that." She pointed out.

"Yeah, it's just…a lot of thoughts running through my head. That combined with everything that's happened lately." He admitted.

"I understand. Things certainly have changed around here but don't let that distract you. You're back in school now and I hope you've learned your lesson." Principal Bowen said to him.

"Fully learned, Principal Bowen and caught up as well." Will assured her.

"Good. Wouldn't want you to miss out on graduation with the rest of your class. Let me know if anything comes up." Principal Bowen gave him a smile before walking away. Will smiled as well. He did always like her, and she was really nice. The irony on all of that would hit him later.

He walked over to a lunch table where Courtney and the others were already sitting and eating lunch. He sat down in a chair after giving Courtney a kiss on the cheek before he picked up his sandwich but before he could take a bit he noticed the looks he was getting. It was a combination of the giddiness of a child waiting for their Christmas present mixed with eagerness for answers like book readers who didn't care about spoilers of the next book. He turned around thinking they were looking at someone behind him but nope, it was him. "Why are you all looking at me like that? It's kind of creepy." He told them.

"What's our next plan?" Edd asked.

"Our next plan?" Will questioned.

"To take down the Injustice Society. Granted, I'll be busy with football and everything but when I'm free I'm ready to help." Vic said.

"What's our next plan, Will?" Courtney asked him only for him to shush them as they were speaking kind of loudly.

"Ok, first off, maybe talking about fighting supervillains isn't exactly the thing to do in the cafeteria in school." Will warned them.

"I doubt anyone really cares or even understands anything of what we would talk about." Courtney pointed out and to her credit they were pretty much ignored among the mass sea of students eating lunch. No one gave them a second thought or glance. "And we need to keep up the momentum on the Injustice Society. Not that I don't appreciate all the training and experience by going out into National City as Stargirl but with Brainwave in the hospital than we need to find the rest of the Injustice Society in National City."

"I just still can't believe that Henry's dad was a supervillain." Karen admitted.

"I can." Yolanda said and given her past with him no one argued with her.

"So, if Henry's dad was a supervillain, who else could be one? I always thought that Mr. Abernathy always relished in mistreating students too much to be just a teacher." Edd suggested.

"Are you sure you're not just saying that because you got a D in his class last year?" Beth countered.

"Maybe…who's to say that the two can't be connected, hmmm?" Edd wondered.

"Ease up there, Edd and let's all take down the investigation down a bit. Other than Brainwave, I've looked and there's no other evidence that the ISA are in National City at the moment." Will assured them.

"But with Brainwave in the hospital than it won't be long until the rest of the ISA begin to mobilize so we need to find them first." Courtney stated.

"No, we wait and see. Going out to find them could be a trap. They've proven they capable of that already and with the Thinker working with them than they're even more dangerous." Will reminded her.

"You mean the nutjob who held the city hostage months ago? Geez. I was kind of hoping we'd seen the last of him." Vic said. "Though the name was kind of stupid. The Thinker. It'd be like calling myself the Runningback. FYI, that's not what I want my hero name to be."

"And you're gonna have to wait because I told you that I get the first super suit." Edd reminded him.

"No suit talk. Guys, this is dangerous. Courtney already put your lives at risk by telling you she was Stargirl but you're not helping us with the ISA." Will told them.

"Come on, Will. We could use the help. They know who we are so they could work at the base as sort of help until they're ready." Courtney suggested.

"No, we don't need them. Jarvis can handle things at the base and I'm not putting them at risk, and you shouldn't be encouraging this." Will told her.

"Why? Because Pat said so?" She asked him.

"No, because I said so. They could really get hurt, do you understand that?"

"I get that, but we also need help, and they could do it. If you and I can restart the Justice Society than why can't they be a part of it? Give them suits like yours so they can help."

"Because this isn't a game. This is real life, and I don't want them hurt or dead on my conscious nor do I want them on yours. And we're not calling ourselves the Justice Society and we already have help."

"Oh, well here's where you and Pat disagree because he said that Ted, Jay, and Kent weren't enough."

"I'm not talking about them. I already spoke with some other heroes about helping us with the ISA and they agreed that our plan is to keep things quiet and gain intel before he move against Devoe and the ISA."

"Oh, so is there anything else you and Pat have already decided without me? Why wasn't I invited to this meeting?" Courtney asked him.

"Because it involved people you haven't met yet, Courtney. I wasn't intentionally keeping you out of the loop. I was going to tell you later when we weren't at school."

"Oh, were you? And why didn't you just tell me all of this last night when were out in the city?"

"Because we were in the city, and we needed our focus on that. When you're out there you need to focus on what you're doing."

The others had the unfortunate front row seats to Will and Courtney arguing. Courtney was the eager gung-ho new hero, but Will was the seasoned veteran even though he had only been doing this a year longer than her. Still, he knew more than she did, and he was urging a calm and collected approach while Courtney wanted all guns blazing and full force. It was hard for the friends to watch seeing the two argue back and forth and oddly enough nothing about their relationship. Some of the more eager people mainly Edd and probably Vic were with Courtney in wanting to help but the more sensible of the group mainly Yolanda, Beth, and Karen were grateful that Will didn't want to put them in the crossfire of what was becoming a dangerous investigation with a group of supervillains.

"I'm sick of you treating me like a sidekick." Courtney told him.

"Courtney, I'm not trying to treat you like a sidekick, but this isn't something we can rush. You literally just started this hero thing a week ago, ok? There's a learning curve and not rushing head long into a fight when you don't know the odds is kind of one of the main rules for being a hero. Learn from my mistakes and the mistakes the JSA made. I don't want to see you get hurt." Will pleaded with her and that seemed to give her pause. That and the way he said it, with full honesty. He was really worried that she could get hurt. "You know, what? I'm not hungry. I'll be busy after school so head to the base and talk with Pat."

Will pushed his tray forward and left the table. Courtney now felt a little bad about the argument and was going to go after him, but Vic ushered her to stay. "Let's just give him some time to cool off and clear his head."

"I didn't mean to blow up at him like that it's just…" Courtney was loss for words.

"You're excited about being Stargirl and don't want that to stop?" Beth asked and she nodded. "We get that Courtney, and we agree with you on some points but Will's also right. He's been at this longer than we have so you should follow his lead."

"And Will's not doing this because he's treating you like a sidekick. He's just worried about you and scared about what could happen now that you're a part of this. He told me as much this morning." Vic added. "As cool and exciting all this hero stuff has to be I imagine there's some serious worry that comes with it."

"Vic's right. We've only ever heard the fun stuff from Will or what's shown on the news but for him…there are times when it has to be nerve wracking and difficult." Karen added. "Guess Will's just gotten better at adapting to it."

"Guess being a hero is not all fun and games." Edd said, taking Will's lunch since he wasn't going to eat it. "But it's also why he has us. So that when he has a bad day or needs help than he has us to rely on."

"That's very thoughtful Edd." Beth told him.

"I have my moments." Edd replied. "But I still want my own suit."

Elsewhere…

Portland, Oregon

Mayor William Zarick was working in his office regarding building permits and the next city council vote was coming up. He had a good morning as usual with his son Joseph getting ready for a school talent show. Joey was doing a magic act and while he wasn't a professional magician he was on his way there. Despite everything that was going on with William Zarick whether it was politics or his personal business, spending time with his wife and son was what mattered in the end. He was brought out of his little train of thought when he heard his phone ringing, so he picked up his office phone, but it wasn't ringing. He grabbed his cellphone, but it wasn't that which is when he realized it was something else. After a quick check to ensure no one was looking he reached into his briefcase and pulled out a special burner phone like the one Henry King Sr. had. It was ringing and the caller was Jordan Mahkent, so he answered.

"Hello?"

"Apologies for interrupting you, William but this situation takes precedence. Brainwave is in a coma."

"What happened?" Zarick asked.

"He acted foolishly and instead of waiting for back he attempted to engage the new JSA by himself. Devoe is not pleased."

"There's a new Justice Society?" Zarick questioned, partially worried about the idea. They took out the JSA to take the target off their backs as the other heroes of the world had no idea what was going on but if the JSA was back then it could mean exposure. "How will Brainwave's condition affect the plan."

"Devoe is working on that and as for the Justice Society, Devoe wants us to investigate. Get your wand, ready. We're going to National City tonight."

Jordan hung up after that and while a part of him was cautious, there was a part of William Zarick that was relishing in using his wand again. Brainwave was an idiot for going off on his own and now risked the plan so now they had to do cleanup.

Back in National City…

At the secret DEO Base that was the temporary abode and headquarters for what remained of the JSA in their fight against the ISA, Pat Dugan was working on his STRIPE robot. He returned to the base to work on his robot and Diana accompanied him because she wanted to see the base as well. While her duties as Diana of Themyscira would take her to DC from time to time in establishing the Themyscira/Amazon embassy and all that political headache stuff, she was also resolute in her agreement to stand with Will and the others against the ISA. The more she learned the more she would be ready, and she was intrigued at the secret base Will was using.

Diana was not disappointed as the base was well hidden, out of sight, and fully stocked with Will taking extra digital security measures to ensure they remained out of Devoe's sight for now. The base also has various secret entrances with its largest being the perfect avenue for STRIPE to get in and out. And that's what Diana was currently enraptured by. Diana looked on in awe as Pat tinkered with his giant robot now named STRIPE. With the extra days off Will had due to Vilgax's invasion he got Grey Matter and Jarvis to work on designing some upgrades to STRIPE, mainly being offensive and defensive measures since the only real offensive one was the rocket fist and there was no defense minus the actual armor of the robot. Will helped Pat with STRIPE when he could and gained some valuable engineering practice in the process, thankfully there weren't any issues as Jarvis made easy to follow instructions. Pat should really be working for NASA with what he was able to do with STRIPE. If he could build a giant robot out of cars than what could he ships and jets.

"This is truly wonderous, Pat. You have a gift." Diana said in amazement as she walked around STRIPE while Pat put on a coat of wax. He was wearing some thick gloves, goggles, and a mask to protect him and his clothing. "This was made out of cars?"

"Yup. One of the fringe benefits of owning your own repair shop is that plenty of people drop off junkers that they want to get rid of." Pat said, spraying on some more wax. "A word of advice, Diana, just because something's not working right doesn't mean it can't be fixed or turned into something better. And thankfully with Will's help this thing will be able to do more."

Among the upgrades that Grey Matter and Jarvis thought up and designed for STRIPE, the first two major ones were the improvements to the robot's circuitry/configuration/controls and its power source. Those were the first things Pat and Will did, which would have taken a week given how big STRIPE was and how intricate the wires and circuitry were but with XLR8, Will managed to get it done in a day. Now STRIPE moved better and would last longer out in the field. After that, they upgraded the engines for better flight, improved the rocket fist and added additional weapons. Just the basics like large gatling machine gun barrels that extended out from the wrists, a flame thrower in the mouth, deployable rocket pods and missile launchers in the shoulders, and tied to the new power source STRIPE now had plasma blasters in the palms. Offensive wise STRIPE was set for now but defensive it still needed work. With the new power system Jarvis and Grey Matter designed a shielding system but it still needed work so the best they could do was reinforce the armor plating but what Pat was doing now was also part of it. Will dropped off a can of the Pyronite wax at the base last night along with instructions including being careful with it as it stained. At least with the wax STRIPE would be fireproof.

"So, I have to ask, how has it been adapting to the rest of the world?" Pat asked her.

"It still has some challenges but gets better each day. I travel back to Themyscira as often as I can and explain all the wonders man's world has to my mother and sisters. Especially the wonders of ice-cream." Diana said with a hint of giddy excitement of a young child. When you've been isolated for thousands of years it's only natural.

"I'll have to agree with you on that. I know that Will and his dad have been doing their best to introduce and acclimate you to man's world as you said but if you ever want to experience a typical family dinner, Barbara and I would be more than happy to have you all over." Pat offered.

"That sounds wonderful. I would love that." Diana replied.

"Excellent. We'll set something up though we'll need to keep quiet on all the hero talk." Pat said when his cellphone went off. "Excuse me. Hello? Yes, I'm Mike Dugan's father…he did what?!"

"Oh boy…" Diana muttered.

"I'll be right there." Pat hung up and climbed down from his work stool. "Diana, I hate to leave so suddenly but I've got to go deal with my son."

"It's all right. Go. I shall be here to await Will when he returns." Diana replied. Pat gave her a thankful nod before departing to go deal with his son.

Line Break xxxxx

School was over for the day so after getting what he needed from his locker for homework, Will made his way to the exit. He sent a quick text to Diana telling her that he would be busy after school investigating a lead and after that he and Courtney would head to the base. He then sent a text to his dad asking how things were going and he replied that things were ok. His dad and a few other DEO agents had escorted Kent, Jay, and Ted to the funerals of their fallen JSA members. They'll be back later and hopefully with Hourman's research, so they know what they're dealing with.

Will walked out the front door of the school and saw Courtney there waiting for him. "Hey, Courtney."

"Hey, Will." She smiled, albeit a small one given how things went and how they were left. "Look, Will, I'm sorry about before. All that arguing."

"So am I. I'm not proud of that." He admitted. "Courtney, you have to understand and please believe me I'm not trying to treat you like a sidekick."

"I know. I know you're just looking out for me and you're worried. And you're really sweet for being cautious and thinking about my safety." Courtney told him. "I know I've been really full throttle with this whole superhero thing and I'm sorry. It's just…ever since I found the staff and became Stargirl it's like…it's like I've connected with a part of myself that's been buried deep down that I didn't even know was there. Being Stargirl is the most me I've felt in a long time, not since you and I got together."

"And I don't want you to not feel like yourself." Will said to her. "I guess dating as heroes is going to come with its fair share of learning curves, but we work through them together. We talk."

"I agree 100%. We talk things out." Courtney agreed.

"And in the spirit of that talking, I think I've got an idea to get us a lead." Will led her over to his car in the parking lot. They stood around for a bit until they both saw Henry leave school in his car.

"Henry?" Courtney asked.

"He's likely on his way to the hospital to check on his dad which means his house will be empty. Brainwave's been in National City for years which means there could be plenty of evidence of his past evil plans and even what he's and the ISA could be up to now." Will suggested.

"That's a great idea. Let's go."

"Ok, but this is going to be a stealth mission, so we need to be sneaky. We'll need to be inconspicuous so no suits." Will said and Courtney nodded but before they went to his car she suddenly pulled him in and wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed him. He was surprised by the sudden affection but quickly returned it. Their kiss turning a bit into a make out session which lasted over a minute before Courtney pulled away to get some air. "Ok that was unexpected but no less welcome. Was that your way of saying you're sorry and we're good now?" he asked in perplexion.

Courtney gave him a sly look. "Nope just doing what Pat said I should do."

"Oh, ok th-wait what?!" Will stammered thinking he heard wrong.

Coutney giggled at his reaction. "Oh, it was something we talked about at breakfast about how I should enjoy life outside of being a hero more. Texting, doing my homework..." she looked like she was trying not to laugh at what she'd say next. "Making out with my boyfriend."

"Pat told you to make out with me?" Will questioned as he felt very weirded out by this revelation.

"Unintentionally." Coutney laughed a bit. "He meant to say I should enjoy getting to kiss my boyfriend but said make out by mistake. It was quite funny for me to hear especially when I told him I'm going to do just that and go make out with you like he said."

Will snickered fighting to not break into a full laugh as he can just imagine Pat's face when he realized his folly. "I should definitely call him out on that sometime." He smiled as he gave her a knowing look. "I'm guessing you're not going to let him forget what he said to you."

Courtney returned his smile. "Never."

"Well, this was fun to hear but we should get going."Will said asthey got into his car and drove away. As they left Edd, Yolanda, and Beth were left behind, seemingly forgotten. Vic and Karen were at Football and cheerleading practice respectively.

"I guess we'll have to postpone getting our suits or seeing the base again." Edd remarked.

Will drove him and Courtney over to Henry's house and parked on the street. He used the Proto-box to check the surroundings for any kind of surveillance tech in the area but nothing. And a quick scan showed that weren't any unusual readings or energy signatures in the area which meant that all they had to worry about was just sneaking in.

"Who would have thought that our first time sneaking into a place would be here of all places." Courtney remarked.

"Well, technically we did sneak back into your house after the staff blew up my car." He reminded her as the scans from the Proto-box finished. "All right, it looks like there's a false wall in the main study on the second floor. That could be a good place to start."

"All right. Let's go."

Courtney and Will got out of the car and walked across the street, acting like two normal teenagers taking a walk. As they got closer they got off the sidewalk and walked around the yard to the side of the house to one of the windows in the study. Will formed part of his armor and made a knife which he used to carefully undo the lock on part of the window. He climbed in and helped Courtney in after as the two looked around Brainwave's study.

"Ok, according to the Proto-box, the false wall is right here." Will said, gesturing to a large bookcase which is all it seemed to be. Nothing out of the ordinary. Courtney pulled some of the books, thinking one might be a switch, but they were all real. That's when she saw the keyholes on the bookcase.

"Will?"

"On it." He used the Proto-box to scan the keyhole and then let it scan the surrounding area for a key that matched the indentations in the keyhole. After a few seconds of scanning the room, Will walked over to the desk and removed the key from the top drawer. "Score one for alien technology."

He inserted the key, and they heard several locking mechanisms click before the bookcase pushed into the wall and split apart revealing a secret chamber. Inside said chamber was an empty mannequin, shelves with easily two hundred VHS tapes if not more and a picture frame of a red-haired woman. "Not much of a villain lair." Courtney pointed out.

"Well, it did what it needed to do which was hide his suit if it was here." Will said, walking over to check some of the video tapes. They were all marked with Day and then went up in numbers starting from one and going up to 300 or more. Courtney saw some files on a small table, so she looked through when she saw Cindy Burman's yearbook photo paper clipped to a letter.

"Will, look. It's Cindy." Courtney showed him the photo and the letter it was attached to. "You think Brainwave had plans for her too?"

Will took the letter and read it over and what he read gave him some more questions. It read:

Dear Dr. King,

I appreciate you agreeing to my proposal. My daughter Cindy will watch your son well. Cindy's very good at watching things. I'll alert you to any chances, and again, thank you for the opportunity.

With respect, Dr. Shiro Ito

"Dr. Shiro Ito? Isn't that the guy you and Pat mentioned works for the Injustice Society?" Courtney recalled.

"Yeah. He went by Dragon King. I read some of the files the DEO has on him. Guy's a full-grade nutjob with a genius-level understanding in science and biology and a penchant for human experimentation." Will told her. "Cindy Burman's his daughter?"

"It honestly makes sense with how horrible Cindy is but why would this Dragon King guy want Cindy to watch over Henry? Why is he important?" Courtney wondered.

"I don't know. This gave us more questions than answers, but it does prove that at least Dragon King is in National City." Will said.

"I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so." Courtney told him.

[Thunk]

"What was that?" Will asked.

"Is that Henry?" Courtney wondered only for Will to put the letter in his pocket.

"We got to go. Come on." He and Courtney left through the window they entered with the secret wall closing the second they stepped out of the area. They ran back to Will's car missing that the sound they heard was just the maid cleaning. She peaked her head into the study, thinking she heard something but saw nothing, so she got back to work.

Courtney texted where Pat was, and he replied that he was back home so Will floored it to Courtney's house. The two rushed in through the front door, still adrenaline fueled from what had just happened. "PAT?!" Courtney called out.

"In the kitchen." He called back so they rushed over.

"You are not gonna believe what happened." Courtney told him.

"What? What happened? Are you two all right?"

"We're fine, Pat but I had an idea at school. With Brainwave being in National City for so long, I thought that maybe there could a clue for us to use to get to the ISA at his house." Will started.

"Will and I went there after school when we were sure Henry wasn't and you won't believe what we found." Courtney said so Will handed Pat the letter so he could read. When Pat went through it he went wide-eyed at the end. "Cindy Burman is Dragon King's daughter."

"And for whatever reason, they needed to watch over Henry." Pat said when Will heard footsteps.

"[cough] Incoming. [Cough]" Will muttered as they quickly relaxed as Mike walked in.

"Hey!" Mike greeted everyone as he walked over to the cabinet.

"Mike, what are you doing here? I told you to wait in your room until dinner." Pat told him.

"Yeah, well my stomach says it's dinner." Mike said, reaching up to grab the family size bag of Cheetos.

"Ok, well, I'm working on this vegan casserole." Pat assured him.

"Vegan casserole? Big pass." Mike said. "Did I interrupt something important?"

"No, I'm just talking with Will about his car. You know, maintenance tips." Pat said.

"Yeah, I need them. For my car…" Will said, reaching into his wallet and taking out twenty bucks. "You know what, Mike. Why don't you take this and head to a Big Belly Burger, get yourself something to tide yourself over from the Vegan Casserole. Save yourself."

"Thanks! You're awesome, Will!" Mike shouted and headed to the door.

"You're still gonna eat it!" Pat told him.

"Can't hear you, I'm leaving! La-La-La!" Mike shouted, closing the door as he left.

"So, that's two of our classmates who are the children of supervillains. How many more could there be in National City?" Will wondered.

"Just for the record, I did say that there could be more of the ISA in National City, and no one believed me." Courtney pointed out.

"That was in regard to the members of the ISA themselves, not their kids. But you were right, Court. Here I was thinking that the ISA had spread out and gone to ground in various placed and that Brainwave being here was just a coincidence but if Cindy Burman is Dr. Ito's daughter than they must be planning something, and National City has something to do with it." Pat said. "Dr. Ito's spent his long-life building weapons designs to kill tens of thousands of people."

"And now that he's teamed up with Devoe, it'll only get worse." Will added. "But why did Brainwave and Dragon King needed Henry looked after. What's so important about him?"

"I don't know, Will but we need to find out. We need to tell the others." Pat said.

"All right, let's go to the base and tell Ted, Jay, and Kent and come up with a plan." Courtney suggested.

"Courtney, they're not here, remember?" Will reminded her. "They left for the funerals."

And just like that Courtney quickly lost her anxiousness for action. "Right, right. Sorry."

"They should still know. I'll call Kent and tell him what you two found. Maybe if they find anything in Hourman's research it could be the connecting thread they need. Will, you should contact the others and let them know too." Pat told him.

"I will." He replied when the Proto-box beeped. He checked it and groaned in annoyance. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"What is it?" Courtney asked as Will walked into their living room and turned the TV on to the news channel where they saw a giant frozen building in downtown National City. A news camera and field reporter explained that what started out as a brazen bank robbery somehow turned into a giant frozen tundra as the bank and every other building on that block were suddenly frozen solid along with the street and all the civilians in that immediate area. The police were keeping everyone back as paramedics attempted to help the people freezing but were kept back by beams of white energy and blasts of black shadows. "That's not good."

"That's Icicle. He's the only one who could do something like that." Pat said.

"Not just him. Wizard and Shade also." Will added. "We've got to go."

"He's right, Pat. They need us." Courtney agreed.

"Hang on. Icicle's not an idiot. The only reason he would do something like that is if it suited a purpose. We could be walking into a trap." Pat warned them.

"Then we'll have to risk it. Those people need our help and trap or not, we've got to try. Even though Jay and the others are gone, we've still got help. Diana will be ready, and I'll contact the others. Try and get them to National City as fast as possible." Will suggested. "We work together, and we can do this."

Pat exhaled in frustration. A part of him didn't like going into a trap but they didn't have a choice. "All right. Let's go."

After heading to the base to get STRIPE and fill Diana in on what was going on, the four heroes headed to downtown National City. Diana and Courtney were given ear pieces so they could stay in contact. Pat was piloting STRIPE with Stargirl and Wonder Woman perched up on his back for the ride while Will was flying beside them in his Sentry armor. On Diana's last trip back to Themyscira she spoke with her mother and found out more about the blessings she had received when she was born. Among those abilities such as her incredible strength, wisdom, durability, and speed she also possessed the ability to fly. Granted, she was still shaky on its success, so for this instance she needed a ride.

"Pat, can you hear me?" Sentry radioed to him. Inside STRIPE, Pat was piloting from the new and improved cockpit with a better HUD system and crystal-clear communication.

"I can hear you, Will."

"All right. With this being a trap, I've got a bit of an idea. I'm gonna poke the bear a bit and see what we're dealing with and maybe work with getting some of those civilians out of there. When it looks like the right moment, you come in." Sentry told him before powering up his jet boots and jetpack and flying ahead of STRIPE.

"What does he plan on doing?" Diana wondered.

"Knowing Will? It's to get their attention." Courtney said.

As he got closer to the frozen area of downtown National City, Sentry activated the Omnitrix. In a flash of green light over the city he transformed into Heatblast and flew to the ground, channeling fire in his hands. The closer he got, the more heat he generated and the second he touched down he slammed both his hands into the ground. "HA!"

A wave of intense heat radiated out from where Heatblast impacted like a shockwave. It was so intense that it melted the ice as it washed over the area, freeing the civilians frozen on the street and partially thawing out parts of the frozen buildings. "Go, get to safety!" Heatblast told them and the civilians ran away. Heatblast then threw a fireball up at one of the frozen buildings and thawed more of it. "Where are you Icicle?! I know you're here! Come out so we can end this. You afraid of being melted."

"Are you afraid of the dark?"

Suddenly a large mash of shadows surrounded Heatblast from all sides until he was basically in a giant dome of darkness. The only light in the area was what he gave off like a lone candle in a dark room. Heatblast ignited his hands and fired streams of fire all over the place, but they couldn't penetrate the thick shadow dome. Heatblast then rushed forward and punched the shadows only to get hit by a white beam of energy from the side. It pushed him to the side a bit when he was the hit by another energy blast from a gun and then a blast of ice.

"I outgrew being scared of the dark in elementary school. Hey, Shade? Ever seen a supernova?! RAH!" Heatblast shouted and turned the dial up to 11, cranking up the heat to an extreme level. Even with Shade's shadows, he couldn't stand the heat, and neither could the others. The shadow dome began to crack apart which is when a barrage of missiles impacted the area knocking Shade back. He tumbled to the ground as a beam of golden energy blasted Icicle.

With the Shade's shadow shield gone it revealed the Shade and Icicle on the ground but with them was the Wizard and Ultra-Humanite sporting some kind of high-tech energy gun likely a gift from Devoe. Ultra-Humanite raised his gun and began firing a barrage of energy bolts only for Wonder Woman to land and use her bracelets to block and deflect them all. They came out of the energy gun super-fast, but she was just as fast and ran towards Ultra-Humanite. The Wizard was about to blast her when STRIPE's rocket fist sent him flying back. Wonder Woman leapt up into the air while Stargirl blasted Ultra-Humanite's gun with her staff, knocking it out of his hands and leaving him open to a devastating axe kick. He hit the ground hard before she picked him up and hurled him into a building. Heatblast flew up into the air going supernova and his excessive heat quickly thawed all the buildings that Icicle had frozen but used so much energy that he timed out the Omnitrix. In a flash of red light, he was back as Sentry and fell to the ground.

Icicle got back to his feet and sent out a freezing cold tundra-like blizzard out at the heroes who shielded themselves as best they could. Stargirl hid behind Wonder Woman who quickly used her shield to help brace herself from the extreme cold when STRIPE got in front of both of them. Thanks to the coat of Pyronite wax applied, the robot was now able to handle extreme temperatures and it was meant for heat but also applied for extreme cold as well. Pat flicked a few switches and activated STRIPE's palm energy blasters, firing a barrage. Shade recovered enough to quickly use his shadows to cover Icicle, protecting him from the attacks which is when the Wizard fired a beam of white energy that hit STRIPE dead center in the chest. The armor took the hit, but it knocked him back. Ultra-Humanite rushed over and picked up the energy gun he dropped and opened fire only for Sentry to swoop in via his flight wings and kick him in the head. This caused Ultra-Humanite to turn as he fired the energy gun and hit Icicle in the side, stopping the tundra freeze.

Stargirl, no longer frozen, fired an energy beam from the staff and hit Icicle again in the chest which sent him flying back. Sentry flew in the air with Shade and Wizard trying to blast him, but they missed. Wonder Woman leapt forward and punched the Wizard, sending him crashing into a parked car before Shade blasted her with his shadows. Diana braced her arms in front of her to block and was pushed back slightly but found her footing and pushed forward. Shade put in more energy to try and keep her back, but she kept moving, which is when Sentry swooped in and punched him across the face. Stargirl did the same thing only with a kick. The two hits stopped the shadow barrage allowing Diana to unfurl her lasso and snag Shade. She yanked him off his feet to her and punched him in the face, knocking him into Ultra-Humanite. She then quickly unfurled and wrapped it around him as well and swung them around on the street like a tilt-a-whirl before slamming them into the pavement.

Icicle groaned in pain and raised his hand to fire a freeze blast only for Sentry to swoop in and kick him in the face. "It's over, Icicle. You're done." He pushed him on his back, aiming his forearm launcher at his face. "One twitch or a patch of snow and you become a human ice sculpture. I'm only going to ask you this once. Where is Clifford Devoe?"

"You'll never find him…and he's already several moves ahead of you." Icicle smirked when Sentry's HUD alerted him to something closing in fast.

"LOOK OU—" His warning came in too late as a speeding red blur of blood red lightning hit him and sent him flying back.

"Sentry!" Wonder Woman called out only for the same blur to catch her off guard from the side and send her crashing into the ground while also unfurling her lasso around Ultra-Humanite and Shade.

"What's going—" Stargirl was cut off as the same speeding blur ran into her and she hit the ground.

"Stargirl!" STRIPE powered up his weapons when he heard a loud thunder crack, and something slammed into him with the force of a missile. STRIPE fell back as its systems were completely in turmoil from the heavy impact and trying to recalibrate. With the four heroes down, the red blur then raced away with Icicle, Ultra-Humanite, the Wizard, and the Shade.

In a matter of seconds, the villains were gone with the only proof of them having been there was the damage done in the fight. Sentry got to his feet and looked around, using his HUD to try and lock onto them but they were long gone. "Diana." Sentry rushed over and helped her up.

"I'm all right." She assured him. A little shaken with a slight headache but she would be fine.

"Courtney." Sentry rushed over to her and helped her up. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Nothing's broken." Courtney told him as they saw STRIPE manage to push itself up, so it was sitting on the ground. "Pat, are you ok?"

"I'm good." Pat told them.

"What was that red blur?" Diana asked.

"The Rival." Sentry told them.

"Who?" Courtney asked.

"The Rival. Arch-enemy to the Flash. We haven't seen him since we rescued Jay. Looks like he's working for the ISA now." Pat said. "The civilians?"

"All ok. Some may need some hypothermia treatment, but they'll be fine." Sentry told him.

"So, did we win?" Courtney wondered.

"I don't believe this was a fight. They just seemed to be causing wanton destruction just for attention. No other purpose. They weren't here to kill us." Diana deduced.

"I agree with Diana. That didn't feel like a fight or a trap. It felt like a distraction." Pat said.

"But a distraction for what?" Courtney wondered when she saw Will checking his Proto-box.

"Well, whatever distraction this was, we weren't the only ones." He said. The attack in National City was one of many distractions occurring across the country. Blackgate Penitentiary in Gotham experienced a massive prison riot after their systems were fried and prisoners were set free keeping Batman busy. An earthquake near Metropolis needed Superman's attention despite the area not being on or near any fault lines. Coast City had several bridges blown up forcing Green Lantern to help. New York experienced mind control where many civilians attempted jumping off of the Empire State Building needed Hawkgirl's intervention. From what was reported the civilians heard weird violin music and were suddenly compelled into nearly killing themselves. And an off shore oil rig exploded forcing Aquaman to help out with Green Lantern and Superman assisting with the cleanup.

They had all been played in one massive distraction and while not long, it had to be for a reason. That reason had to be for whatever Devoe needed. Before the heroes had been on the offensive but in one move, the Thinker put them on defense.

This game was far from over.

End of Chapter 12

I hope you guys liked his chapter. We've got the Justice League formed but it's a mixture of the current heroes with a few of the old legends as well. Felt only right to include them as well. Clifford Devoe is smart and duplicitous, so this conflict is far from over. At first the heroes were on the offensive but now it's time for Devoe to act and the heroes to play catchup. While they've learned more about the ISA and some of their plans they're still no closer to figuring out exactly what they're doing. Only time will tell.

Next chapter, The ISA have Will and the others on the defensive, but they soon get reinforcements. Jay, Ted, and Kent return with some legacies to further build out the Justice League and get them ready to fight the ISA. Some growing pains occur as they learn to work together while also trying to figure out what the ISA's plans are. Until next time!

Updates for March: Crimson Speedster and Omniverse Earth-38 are updated on 3/4/2024. On March 31st will be the Perfect One and the Mandalorian Maverick.

Also, not sure if you checked my profile page but I do have a P-A-T-R-E-O-N page now. It's Choejhulkp9 writing endeavor. Don't feel pressured to sign up. Regardless, I still plan on doing what I'm doing. Writing for free and updating on and I'm slowly working on Wattpad. Sorry I'm really bad about that. But for those /that would like to help with what they can or are feeling gracious, it would be greatly appreciated. I've got tiers for any small amount. Again, don't feel pressured.

Again, thanks to everyone for all the suggestions, reviews, and words of encouragement. Special thanks to Masamune X23, my Beta reader. He gives me a lot of great ideas for this story as well as my other ones as well. Also, thanks to War Sage, JhotoLoraxius, Omni-Creator Kami of Anime and all the other people who PM me with ideas for my stories. Thank you, guys. They help a lot. Also, make sure to check my DeviantArt every now and then for new pics I'll put up. I've made cover photos for about all my stories, but I'll have more pics made so check them out.

William Benjamin Detmer

Moniker: Sentry

Appearance: Robbie Amell for Teenage Will.

Birthday, September 8th, 1990. Age 18 Highschool Senior

Personality: Kind, caring, quick-witted and smart. Able to adapt to situations very easily. Prone to quips to distract or enrage his enemies. A pragmatist and realist. Cares deeply about his friends and family. When triggered, can be aggressive and unhinged to a point. Ready to face reality and do the hard thing to protect the innocent. A superhero/supervillain fanboy.

Skills: Training in various human hand-to-hand martial arts including boxing, MMA, Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Escrima, Muay Thai and Marine Corp CQC. Training in Amazonian martial arts and sword fighting. Understanding in alien culture, technology, and biology. Quick thinking.

Casual outfit: Sneakers or boots, blue or black jeans, blue T-shirt with his father's dark blue air force jacket with Ten insignia. Hour-glass belt buckle holding Proto-Tech Armor.

Jarvis: Natural Language User Interface system and program designed by Grey Matter to assist Will and the DEO in all matters. Inspired and designed after the Jarvis program from Marvel.

Proto-box: Grey Matter and Upgrade designed tablet/phone capable of analyzing and scanning all environment with sub-sonic frequencies. And decrypting or hacking any computer system on the planet with holographic display.

Proto-Tech Armor and helmet: Colored black, blue, silver, and green. Form fitting and comprised of a highly adaptive nanites made up of Promethium and Nth Metal. Nth metal properties amplify Promethium metal's durability to provide a near invulnerable metal while providing a semi-symbiotic bond to the wearer including increasing healing regeneration, providing magic negation, and survivability in harsh conditions. The armor is self-repairing and capable of protecting the user from major explosive and physical damage. Controlled via mental command and housed in belt buckle, the armor responds to his thoughts/commands and able to shift and adjust its structure to the wearer's need including offensive and defensive measures. Built-in safety features designed to protect wearer from any physical or mental harm including attempted removal. DNA lock provides security against theft. Synaptic muscle control enhances user's natural talents by a factor of ten. Resembles full body armor suit with skull mask, protective chrome lenses, and hood for concealment. Belt contains ammo boxes for suit's projectiles. (Disguised voice sounds like Prometheus from Arrow during first 9 episodes)

Notable armaments:Round Promethium/Nth metal shield, grapple cable, jet boots, flight wings with jet pack, retractable four-blade boomerang throwing star, forearm launcher able to fire bullets, darts, and disks of varying lethality, knife, sword, remote drone, forearm fin spikes, synaptic blockers in helmet to prevent telepathy/mind control.

Omnitrix: Watch-like device that allows the wielder to alter their DNA at will and transform into different alien species. Able to scan and analyze new alien species, able to repair genetic damage and protect user from negative effects, with built-in defense systems. Built-in AI, GPS, map, communicator, and universal translator.

Unlocked aliens: Diamondhead, Four Arms, Ghostfreak, Grey Matter, Heatblast, Ripjaws, Stinkfly, Upgrade, Wildmutt, XLR8, Manhunter, Buzzshock, Cannonbolt, Ultraman, Ajak, Warhawk, Wildvine.

Will's Car: 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS with supercharger. Dark Blue with black stipes and outfitted with a Khoros-5 indestructible engine block for increased horsepower and speed. Lightly coated Promethium metal frame for increased structural integrity. Bullet-proof glass and tires, titanium-alloy plating panels, enhanced insulation with new security and anti-theft system. Pyronite wax coating for resistance to extreme temperatures.

Face claims for extras:

Family:

Maxwell Tennyson Detmer: Stephen Lang

Maria Moira Detmer (Deceased): Susanna Thompson

Friends:

Courtney Whitmore: Brec Bassinger

Yolanda Montez: Yvette Monreal

Beth Chapel: Anjelika Washington

Victor Stone: Khary Payton

Eduardo Dorado Jr.: Christian Lee Navarro

Karen Beecher: Keke Palmer

Allies:

Pat Dugan: Luke Wilson

Batman/Bruce Wayne: Anson Mount

Robin/Tim Drake: Jay Lycurgo

Batgirl/Barbara Gordon: Leslie Grace

Commissioner Gordon: J.K. Simmons

Alfred: Michael Caine

Wonder Woman/Diana Prince: Bridget Regan

Hawkwoman/Shayera Hol: Stana Katic

Superman/Clark Kent: Tyler Hoechlin

Green Lantern/Hal Jordon: Chris Pine

Aquaman/Arthur Curry: Jason Momoa

The Flash/Jay Garrick: John Wesley Shipp

Wildcat/Ted Grant: Dave Bautista

Dr. Fate/Kent Nelson: Pierce Brosnan

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10, Supergirl or any above-mentioned properties. All rights belong to their respective owners.