Avenging Justice 3:

To Infinity and Anti-Life

Part II

Above the Earth

Solaris pulled energy around himself, focusing like he'd been practicing, and created a blade of light. Beside him, Luna brought darkness around herself, contrasting brilliantly with the planet below. Both could make out the hurtling rock coming in the general solar vicinity of Earth, thanks to their enhanced senses.

Composed of several elements commonly found in the known solar system, the asteroid was rocky in nature. Several layers of carbon, iron and frozen water made up the majority of it, but there was something inside that pulsed with energy. Radiating out, the element pulsed with dangerous emissions to the people living on the planet below.

In their masks, Maria Hill's voice came, "The latest trajectory has it missing us. Though our astronomers do warn it could come back. What are you seeing up there?"

"Radioactive, might as well take care of it then," Solaris said. "We can send the core to the moon, that way it doesn't pollute the atmosphere."

Hill's replied, "Yeah, we have a collection area near the Moon's south pole. You two doing okay up there?"

Luna laughed back, "We're looking out at space, without need for a vehicle and about to tangle with an asteroid. This is so awesome!" Then taking a moment to compose herself, "Yes, we're good Agent Hill."

"Then get to work, and have some fun," they could hear the smile on Hill's face as she cut the comm.

Luna's darkness seemed to get even darker, "Why do I always have to be such a geek?"

"Because you are an intelligent, breathtaking woman, who I love," answered Solaris. "Now let's get to work before we find out how much S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors us on these missions."

Luna reached out with her powers to grab the asteroid, letting Solaris come at it with his golden blade. Two quick slashes and most of the asteroid fell away, as Luna pulled on the pieces. Solaris continued and reached the radioactive core. Wrenching it free, he quickly reduced the remainder of the asteroid to more manageable pieces. They'd need to carefully bring it down, but at least they had the more dangerous part removed.

He tossed it to Luna and she sheathed it in darkness, before sending rocketing towards the moon. Carefully he resealed the asteroid and lowered it gently into the atmosphere. Slowly anyone looking up would have seen the massive rocky thing gently gliding down to the surface. It took all his senses to keep his cargo from the routes planes used to traverse the world. Even if he hadn't been, there were others redirecting traffic, just to be safe.

With an audible boom, the once dangerous asteroid now sat harmlessly in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Off in the distance the brilliant illumination of incoming vehicles, let him know that his work was done. He lifted off into the air, relishing being high above the ground. Solaris heard Luna enter the atmosphere seconds before she was right beside him.

"All done, let's get home before they fine more work for us to do, " Luna said. "It'd be nice to be Lara and Seth for a day. We've been so busy..well since.."

Solaris nodded, "I know. Maybe we can find someplace nice to relax."

Earth, Delaware, Metropolis

Several people in powered armor barreled into a police impound yard. Several officers had opened fire, only for their bullets to deflect off the armor. The intruders pointed several gun-like objects at the police, and a wave of energy washed over them all. Sonic vibrations sent the police officers to the ground, even their skin started to burn and blood flowed from their mouths.

"Get what we came for," one of the powered armored people screamed out. "We're getting paid a small fortune for this."

As if on cue, a higher caliber round bounced off one of the visors of the armored attackers. That one turned around and blasted an energy wave that destroyed a nearby wall, and taking out several floors above it. One of those floors was a police sniper, who was now being buried alive by the building itself. Then to add insult to that, the armored attacked blasted three more times. Each time it took out more of the building, till the whole thing began to collapse in on itself.

The armored attacker laughed and returned their attention back to the officers they had been slowly killing. Only they weren't there. Scanning the sky, the attacker didn't see anything, but that didn't mean anything. Even after the loss of Superman, the city had a Man of Steel and Supergirl helping to protect it. Unlike Superman, this group wasn't scared of them. However, that is why they had upgraded their armor before coming, just in case they ran into one of those pretenders.

"We've got one of those heroes about," the attacker sent the message to the rest of the group. "No eyes on target, but stay alert. How are we coming on finding the target?"

Another voice came over, "We've located it, but we've ran into S.C.U. officers, taking care of them now."

"Good, be ready to switch to Red Energy," the attacker commanded and started off towards the others. "If this works, we'll need to talk to the White Rabbit about some upgraded Toastmasters. Those should really mess up anyone who comes after us."

One of the others cut in, "S.C.U. is backing off, watch the skies!"

With ruthless efficiency the power armored individuals made their way over to a non-descript cargo container. One ripped off the door, as the others provided cover. Off in the distance there was a glimmer of light, and their sniper quickly sent a bolt of energy right at the glint. Because of the speed, the destruction was almost immediate.

Bricks, steel, glass and building materials rained down towards the street below. The sniper zoomed in as a figure fell with it, and only mildly reacted to the small form of a child. In the boy's hands were a set of binoculars. The sniper watched with no remorse or guilt, only thinking about how they'd wasted a shot. The sniper went right back to scanning the area, looking for more targets. There were always casualties in things like this, and the world was overpopulated as it was.

Mohammed Aziz wanted to scream, but couldn't. He'd been looking out over the city, using the binoculars his father had bought him just the other day. Along with those, had come a sketch book, with the one request. He was to draw his father the most beautiful thing in the city. Mohammed had been scanning around, trying to find that when his room had exploded outward.

Now the street raced up to meet him and his whole body was tensed in terror. He wanted his parents, they would take away all this. He wanted to wake up, find out this was all a bad dream. His mother would sooth him, hugging him tight, while his father talked gently to him. All he wanted was them, even as the ground got closer and closer. Finally, he found his voice, just in time to scream.

"I got you, little guy," came a very feminine voice.

Mohammed felt a warm arm wrap around him, and his velocity lessened, before changing. He was still too scared to look, but he did see the ground begin to grow small again. Windows whizzed by as he was now being carried upward at ever increasing speed. Mercifully, he soon found himself on the rooftop. Which was when he finally managed to courage to look back at who had rescued him.

A girl, no more than sixteen or seventeen looking, hung in the air. Her long blonde hair hung loose, with a few locks slipping down towards the "S" crest on her chest. She gave him a warm, comforting smile, and he was reminded of his friend, Antonio's, big sister. Supergirl ruffled his hair and he immediately moved his head to make her stop. He hated it when people messed with his hair.

"Looks like you're going to be okay," Supergirl said. "I've got to stop those bad guys. Go find your parents, they're looking for you."

She pointed towards the rooftop access door. He immediately ran through it, and then she turned back towards where the shot had come from. Instantly she was gone, as if she'd never been on the rooftop. Off in the distance a boom resounded as another figure flew towards the attackers, this one gleaming like polished steel.

Back at the impound yard, the attackers opened up the storage container. There inside was a small crate. The energy readings coming off the crate were immense, according to the suit's sensors. All of it would be non-lethal, but released from the crate, that could be another thing entirely. It matched what the client had sent them ahead, to be on the look out for. On the side of the crate were the markings, "Powers Technology Evidence."

"Got it, let's get out of here," one of the attackers called out.

The shadow of a floating woman fell over them, "I think the only place your going, is to jail."

Behind the armored mask, the attacker smiled and blasted Supergirl. The others joined in, trying to pin her down. Meanwhile one ran in and grabbed the crate, before blasting an improvised exit in the rear of storage container. The job was going to get done, the others would be right behind. Especially if the patterned fire resulted in several hits on Supergirl.

Supergirl grabbed at her ears, as the soundwaves assaulted them from all directions. The sound was most like a siren like warble pulsing at such a speed, she was having trouble focusing. All her senses cried out to destroy whatever was making the noise, but she feared letting go. All it would take is one blast of heat vision in the wrong place, and she'd be making things worse. Instead, she barreled into the nearest armored attacker.

Quick as lightning, she removed the weapon, and broke it over her knee. Then headbutted the attacker she'd just disarmed. The attacker crashed into the storage container, and nearly went through the opposite. Just as quickly the others readjusted their aim. However, now that she had a moment's silence, she could focus. Moving quickly, she took out three more weapons, leaving only two to hit her. This time she felt more confident, and sent out two quick blasts of heat vision.

The two attackers turned their shoulders in, and their armor soaked in the damage. They reconfigured their weapons and fired again, this time, sending Supergirl smashing into another storage container. The others retreated, with one managing to get their weapon back. With the target acquired, they didn't need to stick around. Though if they did capture Supergirl, there could be someone willing to pay for such a prize.

That quickly changed to a very far off thought, as a red and blue blur sent one up into the atmosphere, while another was smacked into the rest. Just as quickly, the blur disappeared and the one sent into orbit, disappeared off their HUDs. The comms remained and they could hear their comrade cursing up a storm, and promising all sorts of horrors at Supergirl.

The one attacker with the container was nearly at the extraction point, when a gleaming Man of Steel landed right in front of him. The attacker's HUD marked out several propulsion engines on the man's boots. They looked like rockets, but actually seemed to be a propelled by a clean energy source. He checked it against Iron Man's, but though similar, it was different. The armor the man wore used a highly advanced alloy, so probably could take a hit. However, whoever this person was, they'd never been hit like he was about to.

Firing his weapon, the container carrying attacker aimed at the newly arrived Steel's head. The first blast missed as Steel moved faster than he should have been able to. The second ricocheted off his temple, and sent Steel to the ground. However, he quickly recovered, pushing himself up with his hammer. The thing was nearly as tall as he was, and he wielded it as if it weighed nothing.

Meanwhile, the other attackers were finding their hands full as a very angry Supergirl tore into them. Two got some great hits in, only for her to scream in frustration and blast their weapons with heat vision. Another tried to run, but found their suit frozen solid, as she let out a quick but very cold blast of breath. Another swung at her, only to find her parrying the blow and sending a powerful kick back. That one slammed into the side of the storage container, deforming the metal. The last one received a strong uppercut, that nearly took their helmet off. As a side effect, that attacker was knocked out cold.

Steel slammed his hammer into the container carrying attacker's arm. The armor deformed, and he was rewarded with a massive blast from the attacker's weapon. His red cape was going to need to be patched, as several portions were torn. As the second blast hit him straight on, he realized the whole cape would have to be replaced. Tearing the remaining scraps of his cape off, Steel set himself and then readied the counter. This time as the blast came, he dodged and brought his weapon down on it.

The gun exploded, sending both Steel and the attacker flying off. It also damaged the container, and whatever was inside, was now starting to put off incredible levels of energy. Before either could react, a pure pulse of energy damaged several other containers, slicing into them. Steel rushed towards it, only to be stopped by the attacker. They locked in combat, even as another attacker came crashing down beside them.

"Who are you?" asked Supergirl.

Steel forced the attacker back, "There isn't time for that. Whatever is in that container is about to do something really bad. You need to get into orbit before it does more damage."

She looked over at the container as another pulse of energy burst out. Supergirl set herself between it and Steel. She felt the blast, which was both new and disconcerting. There weren't many things on this planet that could affect her. On that same note, if it was hurting her, then it would be lethal to the people of Metropolis. That was enough for her to act. She grabbed up the broken container and went into orbit.

The attacker went to stop her, only to find a hammer head waiting. The last thing the attacker saw was the Man of Steel standing over him, complete with "S" shield over his armor. He knew this wasn't Superman, but probably a fanboy. How embarrassing to be taken down by such a thing. The attacker would have some time to ponder how much so, as already the Metropolis Police were coming in to take over custody.

Up in the atmosphere, Supergirl was hit with another pulse of energy and felt her breath leaving her body. She needed to get this thing away and quickly. Using her enhanced vision, she quickly found a good target. Pulling back her arm, she pitched the container towards a very dark spot in the surrounding star scape. Then just as quickly, she reentered the atmosphere, just as her lungs were begging for air.

Looking back one last time, Supergirl followed its trajectory. That dark area was probably a black hole, and it was probably hundreds of lightyears away. She hadn't sent the container anywhere near lightspeed, so it would take much, much longer to get there. Even with its pulsing, the container would probably keep that same course. However, she may talk with Green Lantern and see if he could check up on it. Only after she warned him of the danger, as she didn't want him to fly up to it and get flash fried.

The container itself was tumbling in three dimensions, keeping the exploding energy from redirecting it in one direction or another. More of the container itself had began to erode, leaving what it had been covering exposed. On the side of the unit were the words, "Powers Technology." Below that were another set of words, "Project: Nuclear Man." It continued to tumble, even as the final explosion happened, leaving everything atomized. Amongst the darkness, something began to glow.