This world was born quite recently, but it doesn't feel like that. The spells cast by the Fatal Compass and Khlarion X had to successfully weave together two completely different universes of history together in a way for them to coexist in tandem with each other. Eons of history became intertwined to manifest a self-sustaining continuity. The inhabitants of the Amalgam have only lived for six months, but their memories have lasted lifetimes. I think it would be novel to look back on what the LMI believes to have come before them, back to the Golden Age of Heroes that never was.
People with powers had been recorded on Earth since Ancient Egypt, but they had always been relegated to myths and legends. Asgardians, Amazons, the city of Atlantis, witchcraft and sorcery were things of fantasy for centuries. Time had rendered humanity to being simple, mundane creatures who relied on only their wits and technology. But the second world war gave birth to a different breed of people for the whole world to see: the Superheroes, and the Supervillains. But there exists a profound darkness in some people which drives them to do the impossible for the pursuit of power.
In the time of the Second World War, Adolf Hitler embodied that darkness. He was a true monger of hate in every sense of the word. He built an empire which conquered half of Europe, and could have conquered the world. In most realities, he lost, but he was dangerously close. Many look back on how if he had made one or two better decisions, had a butterfly flapped its wings in another direction, anyone in his place could rule the world. Some did more than just look back.
Not one, but two, separate, unaffiliated time travelers had come from different points in the future to aid Hitler and the Nazi regime, in hopes of using them for their own benefits in the future. These men were Kang Degaton and Johann Thawne.
Upon the two time-traveling Nazis meeting each other, they realized they could help each other out. Kang was millennia ahead of Thawne, so if they worked together to help the buffoon with the tiny mustache take over the world, they could create a stable enough empire that could last until Thawne's time for him to rule, and then in turn keep the same regime around long enough for Kang to then rule. In their minds, it seemed like a perfect plan.
Their plan included creating a shadow society operating behind the scenes of the Axis Powers. Kang wielded the Spear of Destiny, the weapon which pierced the body of Jesus Christ, and His blood giving it godlike abilities. Thawne, meanwhile, was a genius engineer and physicist who could create things leagues beyond what the people of the time could fathom. The two men from the future used their technological knowledge to advance Nazi science to unfounded new heights. Plans were put in place so that no matter what happened, their operations could continue to sustain themselves. Cut off one head, two more grow back in its place. They provided Hitler with a cabal of sinister heads, and together, they formed the Hydra of Injustice.
But where there is evil, good will rise to overcome it. That is the simple truth of this world. A mysterious man by the name of Ted Timely had popped up in America. He was a Renaissance man of sorts, stumbling into various scientific projects and adventurous expeditions, and leaving just as quick. Many of his appearances would lead to the birth of the impossible.
An engineer named Sam Horton designs a biomechanical cell which would become the building blocks of artificial life, leading to the creation of the photokinetic android, the Human Lantern. Logan and Ororo Hall would stumble upon an Egyptian temple, find artifacts made of Adth Metal, including one that would imbue them with memories of past lives, becoming Wolfhawk and Stormbird. Rex Nasland would create a miracle pill that could make him a human juggernaut for one hour a day, making him become the Spirit-o'-60-Minutes. And after a visit to Professor Hugh Erskine's laboratory, exposure to what was thought to be "hard water vapor" would give Esteban Garrick superhuman strength, stamina, and most importantly, speed.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt would recruit these people and many others to create a team to not only dispel Axis espionage in the United States, but eventually go overseas to fight off the Nazis and Hydra's increasingly powerful weapons and army. He would dub them the MSA, the Marvelous Society of America.
As agents of the free world, the Society fought valiantly to end the Nazi regime. There'd be periods where individual members would be stationed with normal platoons. Sergeant Speed was stationed in Austria with Captain Leonard "Bucky" Barnes and the Easy Commandos. But when Hydra reared their ugly heads, the entire Society would storm them as a united front. Battle after battle proved that the MSA were one of the fiercest, most capable team of people the world had ever seen. Their impact not only strengthened the Allied Powers physically, but the common citizen knowing they had heroes standing up for their freedom kept their spirits high.
But the heads of Hydra fought just as hard. Kang and Thawne's technology provided the Axis Powers with guns which could vaporize a man, tanks capable of flattening anything the Allies could throw at them, they even performed biological experiments on their own soldiers to create pseudo-supermen to rival the might of the MSA. War had evolved to a point where the battles fought by the average soldier were naught but set-dressing to a much grander clash of titans. Despite all their power, the Society couldn't provide an easy end to the war, but they made sure the playing field remained level.
Enter one of the final battles of the war on the European front. It was July, 1945. The world could breathe easier knowing that Adolf Hitler was gone. His death was at the hands of Alan Hammond, vaporized by a concentrated blast of green light. The story spread to the public was that he killed himself in shame of defeat and fear of surrender. But this was a falsehood spread to prevent any potential successors from mythologizing him. The Japanese threat was nearing their end as well with the production of the Atom Bomb. This one last technological contribution by the mysterious Ted Timely, who was secretly a member of the MSA under the moniker the Star Centurion. The only forces which remained a threat were the supernatural.
The Society were flown in by plane to the extremely well guarded castle in Bavaria which housed the heads of the Hydras of Injustice. Intelligence told them they would be launching their final assault from there; they were intercontinental ballistic missiles targeted towards the capitals of Allied territories. Their mission was to neutralize and detain, if possible, all remaining members of Hydra and stop the bombs from reaching home soil. This was the final showdown between those that stood for justice, and those that clutched for tyranny.
On the flight to the site, the air was tense. Their plane was shrouded by the clouds, courtesy of Stormbird's weather control. Their pilot was one Colonel Trevor. The Star Centurion was flying right beside the plane to serve as air defense in-case of an assault. For now, the Society was as safe as they could be.
The Sergeant sat in quiet contemplation about the oncoming battle. Wolfhawk was their chairman because he was willing to do things the others wouldn't. But on the field, Sarge was the true leader. His super speed extended even to his mind. He could process information a hundred times faster than anyone else on the team. One thing he always had was time; time to think, time to plan in the moment. It made him the perfect strategist.
But he couldn't do everything at once. A slight miscalculation, one wrong variable in the heat of a battle could lead to disastrous consequences. One slight push to get someone out of range of gunfire, at just the wrong angle, and a soldier flies out a train, off a bridge, and into a ravine. The guilt of those he couldn't save was always on his mind.
As of now, Sarge was planning for the final showdown. They weren't attacking at full strength. Previous battles left Catfish, Blonde Canary, Midnight Angel, Atomic Jack, and the Man in the Moon unable to fight. Their strongest fighter, the Spectral Rider, the Spirit of Vengeance, had departed early because of all the souls in Hell he now needed to punish. It always felt like there was one more empty seat than there should be, but empty seats are one of the things war makes best. But regardless, those who remained were ready to end this once and for all.
Sergeant Speed was darting around the plane. To everyone else, he looked like a hyperactive kid, but in reality, he was pacing around in deep thought, preparing strategy for the oncoming battle. The plane they flew around in was a repurposed cargo vessel. It wasn't traditionally meant for passengers, let alone this many. His costume during this period was a tad simpler and more tactical. His boots and cowl were brown instead of red and blue. Red suspenders were slung over a deep maroon leather jacket adorned with the symbol of a white star with a single lightning bolt trailing off of it like a comet.
He may have looked a little drab compared to the brighter colors he'd wear in the future, but the garish winged helmet was a timeless accessory to the Sergeant. The helmet itself was once the one his father wore in the first world war, but the wings were fashioned and affixed to his helmet by his dear sister in arms, Wonder Crystal.
Wonder Crystal was in a more mascotish outfit during the war. She wore a bright yellow bodice adorned with golden armor shaped like an eagle on the chest, what could be described as dark blue underwear covered in white stars, and red sandals. The U.S. wanted to paint her as the ideal American Woman. Diana found the costume comfortable and easy to fight in, so she went along with it for the time.
Diana was brought to Man's World by a pilot who, at first, crashed on her home island of Themyscrattilan, Colonel Trevor. She left at the behest of her family because she wanted to spread the peaceful ideals of her people to a world that seemed in desperate need of them. They let her go, believing she'd eventually be back after realizing how terrible the rest of the world was.
She was quite naive at first, even blunt in her delivery. The U.S. was ready to treat her as an enemy with how outspoken she was as a woman in the 40's. But her friendship with Colonel Trevor, her time living in America, and even the admittedly embarrassing period of her posing as the MSA's secretary, helped her build a connection to humanity that made her into the hero she was.
But with all her power, her immortality, there was always a level of detachment from the world around her. The years she spent in this world felt like a few days. Nothing felt that real to her as she knew it would all be gone in a blip. Despite that, she cared deeply for all life, anyway. She was sympathetic to what she saw as the plight of living for such a short period, that everything she did was to preserve the life they had to spare.
Diana was able to anticipate the Sergeant's pacing pattern and positioned herself to stand in his way and catch him. She stopped him in his tracks and placed a hand on his shoulder. She could always tell when Esteban was feeling uneasy. "Keep that up, and you'll burn a hole in the floor," she joked. "Are you alright, Hermes?" Diana had given nicknames to all the members of the Society after the Greek Pantheon. She saw all of them as her brothers and sisters in arms. But of all them, Sergeant Garrick was always her closest friend.
Sergeant Speed maintained a stiff upper lip, "I'm fine. I'm just planning our attack. We're down a heavyweight without Namor. No McNider means our wounded could die. Not to mention, we've lost our guardian angel. Corrigan was our ace in the hole, and without him, victory's not guaranteed. I don't want to make any unnecessary sacrifices today."
"I feel the same," Diana agreed as she took his hand. "The cost of war has taken a toll on all of us. All we can do is minimize how many have to suffer. But if we win today, we can finally enjoy the peace we've fought so hard to ensure for others. That's the dream, right?" Real war was an awakening for the Inhuman if their lives were hard for her to comprehend, she hadn't seen that much death before. But that didn't quell her unerring hope and optimism. She made sure to always remember what she was fighting for: a better world where people knew they were loved. While men could die, ideas were immortal.
"Yeah, maybe I just don't know what to do with myself. I have so many directions I can go," Sarge said optimistically. "Maybe I go back into chemistry, maybe I go into private investigation, or maybe I could just slow down, relax, and draw some landscapes. That'd be nice, assuming we all make it through." His brief excitement started to fall as a wave of dread started to seep through again.
"Don't think about it like that, Esteban. We're going to win this war, and then we're going to go home," Diana assured, flashing a smile to ease his nerves. Of course, she had her doubts, but she truly believed things would turn out okay. If the Sergeant could see her at ease, she hoped he would loosen up too. The Society needed a confident leader to drive them into battle.
"Not everybody gets to go home. Good men laid down their lives so that we could finish what they started. It's my responsibility to at least make sure everyone on this plane makes it back alive." The weight of that leadership pressed hard on the Sergeant's shoulders, especially the guilt of his failures.
Diana sighed, knowing who he was referring to specifically. "Captain Barnes was a good man. All you can do is make sure his sacrifice means something. Honor him as he lived, and he'd be proud to see everything we've done in his and all those other soldiers' memories."
Esteban cracked a smile, reinvigorated with more reason to keep fighting, "Gracias, mi hermana. You're right. We'll do this, and we'll do it for them!"
"There's my Hermes," Diana said with pride, "Keep up that confidence, and we'll get this done in a flash."
Sarge had a self-assured grin on his face, "Ha, I can do this all day."
"Don't forget you still owe Peggy a dance." Diana added with a playful punch to the arm, although there was a hint of regret on her face. Things didn't work out the way she hoped with Colonel Trevor. A relationship with that mortal would never have worked out. But she was just happy that her friend found someone. Peggy was a British agent who'd been a part of recruiting the then recently empowered Esteban Garrick to join the army. She saw the man behind the mask for what he was. Over the course of his service, the Sergeant built a relationship with her.
About a minute of strategy talk later, Rex Naslund emerged from the door to the cockpit. The Spirit of 60 Minutes wore a white shirt patterned like the face of a clock, black gloves with red straps, and a black eye mask, all draped in a yellow cloak and hood. Lastly, he wore an hourglass on a string around his neck. "I've been talking to Centurion over the radio. He says we're only a few minutes out," he relayed. "The pilot says we're gonna have to drop in from above."
"Given that most of us can fly, that should not be an issue," Alan Hammond, the Human Lantern chimed in matter-of-factly. The android looked very plain, just appearing as a blonde man with a red shirt and domino mask. The only distinguishing feature of his was a large green lantern bulb sticking out from his chest.
Diana pat Sarge on the back, "I'll carry you down, if you wish."
"Works for me," Sarge replied with a smirk and a shrug.
"Would like for me to provide you passage to the ground, Rex?" Alan offered as he raised his arm to create a construct made of hard light in the shape of a simple circular platform. Unbeknownst to the Society, the lantern which powered the android was an ancient prototype lantern battery to those used by the Green Mystics Coven.
Rex shook his head, a little uncomfortable at the proposition. "I'll be fine, Teapot. I don't like being carried, especially by you."
"Oh. Alright then," Alan responded with little emotion. His expression didn't change at all, so nobody could tell what his internal reaction was.
Diana and Sarge shot Rex a look of disdain.
"Not because he's a robot, God!" Rex quickly defended himself. "I'm just saying, when he flies, he glows green and is kind of hot. He might be radioactive, we don't know!"
"While I can assure you I am not radioactive, I can understand your apprehension. Consider no ill will, Spirit," the Lantern replied in the exact same tone as before. Hammond was the ultimate stoic; no one could ever quite tell what he was thinking.
"So, Sarge, what's the plan?" asked Ororo Hall, Stormbird. She was a black woman with cloud white hair, a white jumpsuit, a long, flowing silver cape, and a silver birdlike helmet with black, wing-shaped crests covering the eyes. All of which were covered in Adth-Metal accents. "As fun as it would be, I don't think a guns blazing attack would be wise."
"According to the intel we got from Swift, there's a weapons bay where the missiles are going to be launched from. It's at the center of the castle, surrounded by Hydra goons at all entrances. Degaton's spear also has some kind of force field to keep us from bombing the launching bays from the air," the Sergeant described.
"So, how do we get in," Rex asked.
"Star Centurion says he can disable the shield with his Tachyon Rod, so once we get past, we'll have to mow through the remaining goons Hydra has on their payroll. That's where the guns start blazing. Me, Rex, the Hawks, and Diana will storm the front. Alan and Fate will join the Centurion and bust through to the bay from above. We'll fan out and corner the remaining heads of Hydra into one-on-one fights, incapacitate them, disarm the bombs, and let the ground troops clean up the rest."
Ororo seemed pleased with this plan, "So, we're just cracking some heads today. I can work with that."
"Now Ororo, it almost makes it seem like you enjoy the violence," teased Diana. The Halls were the first people beyond her home island who were of similar age to her. At first, she was excited to know people who properly understood her. Her and Ororo had some friendly banter, but she never got along with her husband.
"I take pride knowing our actions help children sleep better at night. Our duty is to make the world a more just place. Ridding it of those who commit injustice upon others is the best way to do it. Wouldn't you agree, love?" Stormbird asked towards the man whose arm was wrapped around her: her husband Wolfhawk.
"I'm with her on this one," He answered gruffly. Logan Hall was dressed complimentary to Ororo, except all the silver and white were replaced with gold and black. His helmet looked closer to a combination of canid and avian features rather than just the latter, and he had a large pair of Adth-Metal wings protruding from his back instead of a cape. And on his hands were gauntlets with retractable claws. "Don't tell me you're having second thoughts about fighting these guys, Princess. This ain't the pace for your Themyscrattilanian Peace and Love shtick."
"I'm just saying that I don't relish the violence. There's always a chance for anyone to be better. Even the darkest hearts can have light within them," Diana asserted.
"That's real cute, Princess," Logan responded with a chuckle. "In my past lives, most wars I've fought have had more complex arguments for each side. We'd have to grapple with the moral dilemmas of what side you should fight for. That is not the case here. The Nazis are so blatantly evil, that I have no qualms slicing them up, and Hydra is just that but without the ambiguity of supporting their country. These guys are just evil for the sake of it. And the only good one's a dead one." The hawk man concluded with a quick pop of his claws.
Ororo caressed the side of Logan's face. He was quite short compared to her. "I love your righteous fury," she said before kissing him on the cheek. "I for one can't wait for you to turn them into Fasc-shish kebabs."
"We're far enough into the war where anyone who really cared about where the souls ended up got outta dodge a while ago. Anyone who's left knows what they did, and deserves what's coming," Logan said seriously. He and Ororo were the reincarnations of Ancient Egyptian warriors, and they had little to no reservations against killing in an environment such as this.
"Agreed," a quick, hushed, but echoed voice said from the seat beside the Hall couple. It was Erik, the fun-sized Fatal Compass. He was barely a teenager at this point, but the Helm of Nabu made him their greatest asset at this point. He seldom spoke to the rest of them, so Logan was slightly startled when he did.
The Society was conflicted about recruiting the child to fight in the war. He had just suffered through the worst nightmare anyone could ever experience. But with the powers he had, without anyone there to guide him, focus his rage and grief into something healthy, Erik could easily be the next biggest supervillain. Both Diana and Esteban voted against this, but they were outnumbered. Regardless, both of them did everything they could to be positive influences on the boy while he was in their care.
Diana walked over to Erik's seat and got down to his level, "Hi, buddy. Is everything okay, can I get you anything? I think Sarge has some MREs in his pack," she said very softly. She tried hard to be a sort of maternal figure to him, thinking he'd need it after the loss of his own parents.
The Fatal Compass remained still. The helm didn't allow much for expression, so the etchings on the helm just blankly stared at Diana. "I am sustained, we will be breaching the castle soon. The Lords of Order are prepared to enact their will on those who have disrupted the natural flow of things," he said, sounding rather detached.
Logan grabbed the Helm of Nabu and gently removed it from Erik's head. He knew that if the boy spent too long under the helm's influence, he'd start to lose himself. "Take a breath, Erik. Just let yourself be you for a 're gonna need to go into this fight with a clear head, just a few minutes without Nabu whispering in your ear," he explained with genuine concern for the kid. "I knew Nabu in my first life, he was an arrogant asshole."
"Language, Logan! He's a kid," Sarge proclaimed in annoyance. He then reached into a pouch on his belt and tossed Erik a field ration bar. "But he's right, get your head in the right spot, and build some strength."
"Thank you, Sarge." Erik unwrapped the ration and started biting into it. It tasted pretty bland, but that was expected. He really just appreciated someone caring about him. Erik was seldom alone with his thoughts. They were mainly full of rage. He was angry at the world for wronging his people, but he was angrier at himself for not being able to save the people he loved sooner.
He was given godlike powers by cosmic entities who wanted to weaponize his grief and rage for the sake of their mission. Even now, Erik knew that the being inside the helm wanted to use him. But the Society treated him with respect and kindness. They all worked together to try and take care of Erik, making sure his humanity was not lost to the magic's influence. Erik Nelson was a good kid, and the MSA helped him stay that way.
"You're dropping in thirty seconds, chaps! Get ready," a voice called out from the cockpit. It was their pilot, Colonel Trevor.
"Let's give the pilot a quick goodbye, just in case we don't see them again," Diana suggested to Sarge.
Sarge nodded and dashed to the cockpit. Diana was quick to follow behind. Once they both entered, the pilot put the plane on autopilot and stood from their chair to greet them. Up from her chair stood Colonel Margaret "Peggy" Trevor. The pilot who brought Diana to Man's world and the agent who'd brought the Sergeant to the war effort were one in the same. She was a taller woman with curly dirty blonde hair, dressed in a standard pilot's uniform.
"Break kneecaps out there, 'Steban, though preferably not yours. And don't forget our dance," the pilot requested of the Sergeant.
Sarge took her hand and pulled her into an embrace, "Stork Club, next Saturday. I'll never forget a date like that with my best girl. Although, I might be a little late," he joked, unintentionally jinxing his fate. Peggy would giggle before the two would then share a passionate kiss. Diana would stand aside awkwardly in quiet envy until an alarm went off in the cockpit's console.
"Oh, right, time to drop! Good luck," Peggy called out after pulling away. She slammed a button on the panel to open the cargo door in the back of the plane. While she still could, she jumped back into her seat and strapped in.
One by one, all of the other Society members leapt from the safety of the plane into the unknown below. Logan's and Ororo's wings unfurled. They shared a quick kiss, and they dove down towards the castles. Bolts of lightning followed Stormbird as she soared.
The Human Lantern's entire body glowed a radiant light green as he rocketed out the open door to join the Halls.
The Star Centurion's bright red and green costume could then be seen following down alongside the others.
Erik had re-equipped the Helm of Nabu in the nick of time, transforming back into the Fatal Compass, and elegantly floating down with a beautiful purple and gold cloak.
Rex was the last to exit amongst those in the cargo bay. He reached into his belt and grabbed a small golden pill from a compartment. "Sixty minutes, make'em count," he muttered before downing the pill and inverting the hourglass to measure how much longer his miracle pill would last. His whole body shimmered with a golden aura for a moment, and he leapt out of the plane, plummeting to the ground like a rock.
"I'll see you soon, Peg," Esteban said, tipping his hat to her, and dashing out the plane like a madman. He knew Diana would catch him; she always did. If not, there were still five other people out there who could.
Diana was stunned for a moment. She was going to say something to the Colonel, something to reconcile whatever baggage they held before, but she was stopped by Peggy.
"Hey, Angel, it's alright," Peggy said with a knowing smile, "Just make sure you and Sarge come home with your shields, and not on them." It was an old Greek saying a wife would tell their husband before they went off to war.
Diana could take that however she wanted sighed. With a nod, she ran towards the cargo hold and did a swan dive out of the plane. She jumped quite a while after everyone else, so she had some catching up to do.
It was about twenty seconds before she finally caught up to Sarge plummeting. He was spinning his arms rapidly to form an updraft beneath him to slow his descent, but he was falling too fast for that to be effective. Diana reached out her arm and Sarge took it. With her other hand, she channeled a powerful air current beneath them. Now better controlling her descent, she soared down to the rest of the team with the Sergeant hanging beneath her.
The Society shot down from the plane to the castle like bombs. Unsurprisingly, the castle's anti-aircraft artillery treated them as such. Mounted onto the castle were two hi-tech laser cannons firing upon them from the east tower. The entire base was outfitted with Thawne's future tech. Those things could vaporize a man if they made contact.
The fliers swerved out of the way as they charged towards the ground. Sarge remembered the force fields and knew any brute counterattacks wouldn't work. But in his slowed perception of time, he realized that if the guns could fire through the shield to get to them, there was a small window for which their attacks could slip through. "Lantern, give us cover! Stormbird, Centurion, fire on my signal!" Sarge called out through the weather.
Alan raised his hand and summoned a massive brick wall made of green light to shield them from the second cannon's blast. Sarge had impeccable timing, as soon as he could see the laser even begin to pass through the barrier, he began to call out his order "Stormbird, now!" He even factored in for Ororo and the Centurion's reaction time to get them to fire at just the right moment.
Ororo channeled electricity through her fingertips, her eyes crackled with light blue sparks, and she called forth a powerful bolt of lightning from the heavens above and sent it crashing into the first cannon.
Sarge waited for the timing again for the first cannon to fire again, and the Star Centurion's timing was nearly just as perfect as his was. Right as he saw another opening, "Star, let'er rip!" He knew his team's strengths and sent his signal at the perfect moment.
Lastly, the Star Centurion raised a glowing blue staff, the Tachyon Rod and fired another beam of energy through the Human Lantern's barrier, knocking out one of the bricks in the wall. It then ripped right into the other cannon and knocked part of the tower free from the rest of the castle. Stone and brick collapsed to the side into the valley moat below. On top of destroying the defenses, the shield itself popped like a bubble from the blast.
The Star Centurion stood out from the rest of the team. Most distinctly, his face was shrouded in a blue, form-fitting mask beneath a red helmet akin to a Roman Centurion, metal mohawk and all. The rest of his armor didn't fit the theming whatsoever. It was covered in futuristic paneling, lines, and weird orbs covering his pants. The only recognizable iconography was a yellow star in the middle of his chest, and a green waist cape flowing behind him. He looked absolutely uncanny.
"I find it quite fortunate you are on our side, Star Centurion." Alan commented with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Somebody had to be." His voice was eerily deep and coarse. The Centurion took himself very seriously, the fate of the future resting on his shoulders and all. "Let me handle Degaton, and everything else should go smoothly."
Alan powered down his wall construct and continued his descent. His efforts at friendliness often went in vain, though perhaps trying for that in a war zone wasn't the brightest idea. Being the first humanoid artificial intelligence provided certain kinks in how the mind functioned.
The rest of them then all landed at the drawbridge. It was mobbed with Hydra henchmen with futuristic weaponry guarding the main gate. These weren't the man vaporizing guns the tower had, but they were still fairly effective on normal men. But their fire wasn't focused on normal men.
The Spirit of 60 Minutes was charging through the goons like a bulldozer. Because he couldn't fly, he hit the ground far before everyone else. There was a crater right before the bridge where he landed. But he was unharmed, his miracle pill made him nigh indestructible as he absorbed the brunt of their fire, and knocked them off the bridge like bowling pins. But there were a lot of bowling pins. While unharmed, he was starting to get overwhelmed by sheer numbers swarming him.
"How's it going fellas? I was having a great time before you guys showed up! Come back in 58, I got this!" Rex called out sarcastically to the rest of the team as he was tossing people around like ragdolls.
Diana had since put Sarge down. He got the lay of the land and started barking orders. "Fate, Lantern, go up with Star. Diana, Hawks, you're with me. Society, Strike!" He ordered very blunt and quickly.
Sarge took a runner's position and then blitzed right through the army. In three seconds, thirty men were thrown off the bridge. Wolfhawk began ripping and tearing through the Hydras with no regard for anything else around him. Meanwhile, Diana and Ororo combined their powers of wind and ice together to summon a contained blizzard to throw the remaining soldiers into a deep freeze. But as the bridge was coated in a blanket of snow, Sarge lost his footing and nearly flew off the edge.
Diana quickly summoned her Liquid Lasso of Purity from her canteen to ensnare the Sergeant and bring him back onto the bridge. "Careful, Esteban."
"Watch it with the flurries. I don't do well with ice and cold," he warned as the path was finally fully cleared by Wolfhawk and the Spirit finishing off everyone else.
Logan was covered in blood, Ororo didn't seem very worried as most of it didn't seem to be his. He didn't say a word, just taking deep breaths as he seethed in what could be called a berserker rage.
Rex looked at his hourglass to gauge how much time he had left for his pill to keep working, "Alright, I got 50 minutes left, let's get a move on!"
The society members on the ground charged into the castle. Halls and corridors became a labyrinth to navigate. They just had to find the center of the castle. This could have been a hassle had they not had someone on the team who could control and manipulate earth. "Diana, would you do the honors?" Sarge requested.
Diana gestured her hands and forced apart the stone which made up the walls of the castle like she was opening curtains. The whole challenge of this mission was trivialized because the people doing it knew how to use their powers effectively.
The MSA filed through the breaks in the walls and entered the main chamber of the castle. Sarge remained on high alert as they arrived. He looked around to see six corridors leading from this room. And at its center was a massive machine none of them recognized. To us, it would appear to be a highly advanced supercomputer. Linked to it were the firing systems for all the missiles. The team crowded around it, understanding it to potentially be the instrument of their destruction.
Stormbird's hands began to crackle with electricity, "Looks like something I can fry to destroy. Any arguments against it?"
"Hold off, you might set it off. Keep your head on a swi-" the Sergeant advised before he was slammed straight in the chest by a red and black blur that came out of nowhere. He was pinned against the wall with a hand to his neck, and another hand vibrating at a blistering speed aimed straight for Sarge's chest. The assailant was dressed in a crimson bodysuit. The emblem of a skull with tentacles stretched across the body, and man, nay, the monster's head was but a red skull with piercing black eyes.
"Hallo, Herr Sergeant. I vas hoping you vould arrive in time to see the launch. Every great triumph requires an audience. I cannot vait to see you fall and crumble like all zhat came after you," the skull began to monolog. This was Johann Thawne, leader of the Hydras of Injustice, and the ruby-faced menace known as the Red Blitzkrieg.
"Get away from him!" Diana had unfurled her lasso again to wrap the water around Thawne's hand, yanking it away from Esteban. This gave him just the window he needed to slip free of Johann, remove his helmet and bash him in the stomach with the brim. Sarge then returned to his team.
"This world will never belong to Hydra, Blitz. Not now, not ever," the Sergeant boasted as he put his helmet back on.
Thawne reeled from the strike, only to then laugh at them. "Zhere is so much beyond your understanding, Sergeant. Nozhing you do today vill matter. You run tovards a vorld vhich vill render you obsolete. Zhis vorld vill cast you aside for anyzhing which can provide it somezhing better. It is the nature of progress, und I am zhe final step. You cannot compete vith time." He spoke with deep conviction, as if he'd seen it all before, maybe he even made it happen. Regardless, he seemed to relish every second.
"Alright, he's starting to bore me," Ororo said, having none of the Nazi's nonsense. She fired a blast of lightning from her hand towards Thawne. He was fast enough to dodge it like it was a softball.
Thawne chuckled as he looked upon the other standing beside the Sergeant. "The savages from Egypt, a shame. It vould have been fun to tear your wings from your back, und dip zhem in a savory remoulade."
Wolfhawk popped his claws again, "Take one more step, bub, and you're sauerkraut."
"I vould love to see you try to lay a hand on me, Hundvogel. But you are not vorzh my time. I have ozhers who can deal vizh you." Thawne raised his hand, started vibrating it at high speeds, and snapped it so fast it generated a sonic boom.
The snap echoed through the halls of the castle. From each of the surrounding corridors to the main hall emerged the Heads of Hydra. First was Brock Mahkent, Bonechiller: a Scandinavian with gauntlets capable of generating ice and cold. Then came Bentley W. Zarick, the Wizard: an engineer who mastered Thawne and Degaton's technology to a level of mimicking sorcery. From the corridor they came from entered Baroness Paula Von Strucker, a German spy wielding a mystic gauntlet called the Warmaster's Claw. From the back crept Lawrence and Julia Masters, the Master Sportsman and the Apex Warrior: Nazi sympathizers turned Super Soldiers by Hydra's bioengineer. Said engineer, Arnim King, Bio-Wave came from a balcony above everyone else. He wasn't much of a fighter, he just seemed to be there to observe. Lastly, Kang Degaton seemingly teleported into the room, wielding the Spear of Destiny.
The current society members were surrounded around the computer, outnumbered five to eight, but nobody looked afraid. Sarge kept his eyes trained on Thawne, who looked mighty pleased with himself. "Everyone, guard the machine. Make sure nobody can get it to launch. I'll keep Red Blitzkrieg busy, hopefully until the others arrive. Understood?"
Rex checked his hourglass, "I got 40 minutes to spare."
Wolfhawk and Stormbird gave each other eager looks, "We've faced worse odds before, Speedy. Just happy to have a challenge," Logan answered.
Diana cracked her knuckles and slammed her fists together. Her entire skin hardened and sharpened into her Terrigen Crystal form, "You'll have me until the end, Hermes."
Sarge took his runner's pose again, grabbing the brim of his helmet, "Alright then. Society Strike!" he called out as he bolted straight for Thawne, the Hydras charged towards the MSA, and all hell broke loose.