Justice

by Black' Victor Cachat

Dealing with villains is all part of being a superhero, the Justice League knows this. So how do they handle the new supervillain gang that can't decide whether they're good or evil? And said gang, the Straw Hat Pirates, are just desperate to get home to fulfil their dreams, whatever it takes. And they have no problems with fighting more believers in 'Justice' along the way

28. Maid of Honour, Part 2

I do not own either One Piece or Justice League Unlimited.

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Beta read by the wonderful rose7anne101 and MasterQwertster. Make sure to check out their own stories! Also thanks to other readers who have given incredible help, like Kolomte'49, lincoln time, mellra, scl04, King of Fans, Anycents, Crossovernaru, TheWhiteTitan, coalface, Creation Teller, Bellduke, Bkaa19, and VixenRose1996. I know several of you will see your contributions here, even if they will be a surprise ;-)

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Guest Review answers :-D

Evil Reviewer

Oof, yeah, doing the whole two-parter within a single chapter would have been a nightmare. It is surprisingly really how much writing content a single episode translates to. It can be really murder!

Hopefully you are most rested for this latest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Wynnt'r

It was about time Batman and Luffy met ;-)

Yeah, the chapter is long even for me, but there was no good place to really break it up further unfortunately.

As much as the Straw Hats like to say they are not heroes, they really do have a lot of heroic qualities. Part of this of course is from their perspective back home where Marines are hailed as 'heroes.' Maureen's outsider view, and with the sort of definition we tend to have on heroes, sees the truth about them more. And yeah, there were a lot more examples she could have given on what they have done to help people. That said, while the Straw Hats have heroic qualities, they have others as well . . .

Some talking to come between the Justice League and pirates, and soon, but there really is a lot of cultural assumptions, biases, and tension they all have to work through if they want a really productive meeting. Now let us see if they pull that off . . .

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Unga

Glad to know it is going so well with Luffy! He is a surprisingly complex character to write . . .

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Onetimejester

Well we ended the last chapter with Luffy getting ambushed, so you very well may get more fights ;-) Part of the issue really is though his sheer level of power compared to everyone else at this stage.

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Door to Nowhere

Awesome to hear that! :-D

Yes, that sums up things with Audrey here in contrast to past princesses.

The DCAU Wonder Woman is indeed much more aggressive than her typical comic depictions.

Huh, I had not made that comparison between Joker and Blackbeard, but yeah that is pretty much it!

Ah gotcha! And LOL indeed for Luffy and his eggs X-P

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

.

PawsParlor3

I did consider Paige Munroe as a member, but ultimately decided against it. While she would indeed find acceptance if she became a member of the Deckhands, I was stuck on how she would become one. I do not feel she would have enough to offer on a practical level to make her stand out as a valuable recruit in the eyes of Nami and Co., nor would she be 'interesting' enough for Luffy, barring a situation where circumstances dictated she gave him food, which felt too forced.

If you have any counter-arguments however, I am all ears. For now though, here is the latest chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

.

womp wompx

I can at least freely say that Gear 5 will not be shown in the near future. Luffy never unlocked it, as he never fought Kaidou. Moreover, it would be too over-powered for the heroes at their current level. Current.

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Disgruntled Seer

Alas, your prophetic sigh is faulty! X'-D

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Haha

A valid concern for Lois, but within the DCAU itself she was noted as one of Superman's biggest critics to help keep him honest. That was one of her major scenes within the Justice League episodes.

Keep up the good humour! Here is the latest chapter, and looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Justice

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Chapter 28: Maid of Honour, Part 2

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Previously:

A trip to Paris by the Straw Hats leaves them entangled with yet another princess: Audrey of Kaznia. A bond forms between her and Ace and Maureen, and the princess offers the Straw Hats the opportunity to reopen their medical company within Kaznia itself. In the process though, the pirates run astray of Wonder Woman and Batman, and the mysterious fiancé of Audrey: Vandal Savage. While for the heroes, Savage eerily resembles a Savage who both replaced Hitler in the Second World War, and in a dark future killed Luffy and sent the Straw Hats on a blood-soaked rampage. Concerned for his plans, Savage moves up his timetable and poisons the king, only for the Straw Hats and two members of the Justice League to travel to Kaznia. Throwing subtly out the window, Savage detonates a bomb, and deploys an army, to which the pirates respond with one of their own . . .

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This chapter is an AU of a DCAU episode by the same name.

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Kaznia

An entire army of Harley Quinn's bedecked as proper pirate ladies threw themselves out of the troop transports. Cackling they twirled and spun in freefall kilometres above the ground.

"Pull your parachutes!" barked the Poison Ivy's, acting as squad leaders.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""YES MA'AM!""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Their roar echoed across the sky, drawing the attention of the many of the Kaznian soldiers below as they halted their march upon the palace to secure it and rescue their queen. Still too far up to see it for themselves, the Dread Pirate Bonnie Harleys could only imagine their growing shock and confusion as word spread throughout their ranks.

Grinning widely in anticipation, they pulled their parachutes to unfurl, snapping back at the recoil of their sudden descent, the Ivy's right behind them.

Under the shining sun with the sky as a backdrop, the large white canvases proved to be picture perfect targets.

"Shame we couldn't paint them," said Harley #23 wistfully, sporting a series of 'tattoos' drawn in markers.

"Eh, repacking them wouldn't have been worth it," dismissed Harley #47, straining to keep their pirate hat from flying away.

Meanwhile, Harley Quinn #5 watched with bemusement as tracer fire scattered up at them, and could feel the wind of infantry bullets passing by. Unsurprisingly, the next thing she heard was the ripping sound of her parachute tearing open at, eh, maybe 2,500 feet? She was unsure. Only that they were supposed to open them at 3,000.

Regardless, freefall again! Laughing, Harley spun and twirled in the air, the hard ground rising up before her.

Seconds before impact her grin sharpened into a smirk, as she righted herself and prepared to land, pressing her legs and feet together.

Squichth!

Hitting hard on the balls of her feet, she tucked her head in and rolled forward with the impact in a classic trained fall, only to stumble embarrassingly as she felt her legs pulling themselves back together from being turned into practically mulch. Fully healed, she caught herself, and looked up right into the eyes of shell-shocked soldiers. There she was, a small, slim blonde who had just walked off death, with battle in her eyes.

"Oh hunnies," she purred, stroking her very tasteful, bushy yellow (fake) beard, "you've no idea what you're in for." Sweeping up her hand in a quick-draw, she held what was more akin to a flare-gun with the oversized gun barrel, and drew the trigger. An alternating mixture of incendiary or explosive shells tore into them, or at random dropped them with sleeping gas, a non-lethal variant of her rotten ex's gas, flashbangs and more. Screams of pain and rage rose up, yet these people were not pot-bellied cops.

Even as she started firing her unorthodox ammunition, they returned the favour as bullets hammered into her as she ran forward shooting. Well, when she says "ran," she did not mean like Boring People, as she cartwheeled, leapt, and spun around before throwing herself up in the air, holstered her gun, and drew her new hammer from her back. Sleek and thin with constrained menace, she drew it back, swung it down low, and just as she was about to hit, triggered the rocket function. A jet burned out of the back, wrenching her hands forward with her arms stretching to match as it spun around in a circle to send all those burly boys flying.

"Yo ho ho, and a bottle of pain~!" she crowed, charging forward to slam the hammer down to shatter someone's leg, and then backhanded away his buddy.

All around her, more and more of her sisters were joining the fray, mowing down platoon after platoon in their path.

One Harley deliberately jumped from the transport planes last, landing gracefully with her parachute, and held up a highly customised boom box. Grinning widely she flipped the switch, and across the battlefield blared:

~Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games~

~We got everything you want, honey, we know the names~

~We are the people that can find whatever you may need~

~If you got the money, honey, we got your disease~

Laughing, the Harleys charged into the fray; and despite everything, there was far less mania than there would have been during a Halloween night which felt like a lifetime ago. Hammers swung, and the thrust of the micro-rockets threw them into wildly unpredictable flips and twirls as they smashed straight through all opposition. Wherever there was a break of space, they would quick-draw their oversized revolvers once more, also created by Franky, so as to sow an ever growing chaos. Especially as more and more of them were shooting seeds for ammunition, which sprouted into tangles of vines to entrap entire squads at a time.

~In the jungle, welcome to the jungle~

~Watch it bring you to your shun-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n, knees, knees~

~Mwah, ah, I wanna watch you bleed~

Along with them came the Poison Ivy's. Wrist launchers firing darts to drop troops in their tracks, or they threw gas bombs around. There were only a fraction of them compared to the Harleys, yet they made their presence felt nevertheless; cold, calculating eyes surveying the battlefield even as they indulged in their own sense of violence. It was men like these who saw nature as nothing more than a resource to be consumed.

So it was past time each of them learnt that nature came with thorns.

~Welcome to the jungle, we take it day by day~

~If you want it you're going to bleed, but it's the price you pay~

~And you're a very sexy girl, who's very hard to please~

~You can taste the bright lights, but you won't get them for free~

Nevertheless, these were soldiers of Kaznia, and it showed here today despite the sheer unpredictability of the situation. They shoved aside their fear in defiance of what had been thrown against them, they. Did. Not. Break.

For all the chaos of war, screams, and smoke, there remained a sense of order to how they pushed back. Discipline held firm as thousands of men, all veterans of dozens of engagements against insurgents, terrorists, and the Regent's armies rallied and adapted against the invaders. Machine guns and riot shotguns the equal of anything American-made continued to blaze to slow down these freaks of nature. Tactical reports flew back and forth with their superiors as they planned how to fight these monsters. Armoured vehicles were called in. Flamethrowers were rushed to the front. Grenades flew through the air by the dozens, and rocket launchers belched smoke and destruction without restraint, splattering more and more Harleys and even Ivys into green goop as they learnt to destroy the entire torsos at once.

Not nearly enough however, and the death of one of their own would make the nearby survivors shine with murderous rage.

~In the jungle, welcome to the jungle~

~Feel my, my, my, my serpentine~

~Oh, ah, I wanna hear you scream~

"Rest of the Deckhands inbound," said an Ivy over their radios.

!JUSTICE!

Kaznian Field Command Post

"Where are those troop carriers from!?" screamed the general at his men, trying to ignore the lewd moaning suddenly echoing from that infernal boombox. The freak carrying it skipped around dodging bullets.

While Vandal Savage had warned him that they might need to secure the castle, never in his wildest dreams had he imagined ever having to fight off an actual army! They were worse than the insurgents! Than terrorists!

"They're an American model!" offered one with a sharp salute. Unspoken was how where the insignia was supposed to be on the planes, was instead a ridiculous skull and crossbones with a yellow hat. Despite his attempt at blank professionalism, it was still apparent though that the junior officer believed they had more immediate concerns on their hands.

Which showed why the man was only a lieutenant, because what the general was seeing here was equipment, logistics, and funding that the Straw Hats were not supposed to have! A clone army of all things, and he had read the reports to know that the lunatic Harley Quinn was a superb fighter, and here she was obviously now a meta or on steroids of some kind. If you believed the reports coming in, they were as tough as Superman. All of them! The cost of that must be insane!

As for those planes, ones identical to them had been given to their neighbours after the Regent's death. Was this some sort of international plot!? Working for the Serbs or whomever to conquer his homeland!?

"We'll deal with it later," snarled the general. "Where's our air support!?"

!JUSTICE!

Content to let the Harleys go first, the rest of the Deckhands came in after the wave of bright-white parachutes had passed, and everyone was very much distracted with what was happening on the ground.

Grundy's impact caused a small earthquake.

Not to be outdone, Volcana also made a spectacle of her arrival. She dropped the last metre as she detached from her jetpack, letting it overshoot her towards a bunch of trucks, with her igniting it in an explosion with a quick snap of fire.

Clayface had a helicopter blade rising out of his body, as he flew in, the spinning menace making even the bravest of soldiers retreat at the sight of the flying death headed their way. Bullets passed harmlessly through his body, while tentacular-limbs with mauls for tips sent hapless, broken men flying.

~Welcome to the jungle, it gets worse here everyday~

~You learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play~

~If you got a hunger for what you see, you'll take it eventually~

~You can have anything you want, but you better not take it from me~

Briefly Clayface's head shifted to that of a helmeted officer from one of his favourite military roles, and barked out, "Divide and conquer!" before shifting back.

"Sir, yes sir," snarked Volcana, acknowledging the plan they had already agreed upon. She raised her arms straight overhead, and unleashed a line of fire from herself. It pounced across the ground just slow enough that the soldiers could see it coming and move out of the way, only to look on in horror at the burning barrier now splitting their brigades in two. Snapping her hands to the side, the fire grew lines like a T to intensify their dilemma, boxing them further into separate groups.

Then the Harleys and Ivys started stepping right through the fire, their skin burning off to reveal green beneath which was quickly healed over to reveal unblemished flesh. They never even showed signs of pain.

~In the jungle, welcome to the jungle~

~Watch it bring you to your shun-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n, knees, knees~

~Mwah, I'm gonna watch you bleed~

"TANKS!" called out one Harley, as a line of the armoured weapons surged forward, escorted by armed and dangerous jeeps coming up as well, machine guns and automatic cannons firing. Recklessly they broke through the fire, the riders crouching down safely to avoid being burned, and it was too sudden to ignite the fuel.

A direct hit of a tank shell splattered a Harley into green-goop which earned a pause of shock and dismay from them which swiftly twisted into screaming fury as they charged the line of vehicles.

~When you're high, you never~

~Ever want to come down~

~So down, so down, so down, yeah~

Beating them to it was Grundy coming down like a meteor as he slammed two fists into the ground, "Cemetery Evacuation!" The blow split the earth and overturned several tanks and jeeps, with the rest turning their fire upon him. Explosives staggered him, yet the best they could accomplish was keeping him there.

Like wolves the Harleys threw themselves upon the still-firing tanks, tearing off pieces of metal with their bare hands, bending the gun barrels, and barring their teeth like fangs.

"Now, now," said Ivy, hurrying up to one tank merely knocked over and largely intact. "Don't damage them too much."

""""Oh, sorry, Ives!""""

Obligingly, they stopped wrecking the tank, and flipped it. "Gentle now!" called Ivy, and a few more Harleys caught it in time so it was upright and undamaged. "Good." She clambered up on top of the tank, and two Harleys quickly ripped the hatch off. The driver came out pistol cracking, and Ivy's head snapped back a little at the impact. "How rude," she crooned, and the whiff of her pheromones hit him, the gun dropping from limp fingers. "Now why'd you do that? Hmmm?"

~You know where you are?~

~You're in the jungle, baby~

~You're gonna die~

"I—I—I," he panted miserably.

Leaning over, she let her scent carry down to the rest of the crew, and they were all putty in her hands. "Now then," she said, "how about you be a gentleman and help me stop those mean folks who're shooting at me and my friends?"

"Yes, ma'am!" saluted the officer, immediately barking orders to turn their tank around to engage the real enemy.

Smirking broadly, the Poison Ivy turned to regard the dozens of other dazed soldiers under the thrall of her pheromones charging forward to fight their former comrades. A lovely benefit of generations of civil conflict was that these people were more ready to accept firing upon former allies than she would find elsewhere. She rather doubted other armies would be so easy to suborn.

Probably.

Might be a hypothesis worth testing down the line. She was a scientist after all.

To say nothing of how the fools here, and so often everywhere else, have assembled an army entirely made up of men, she thought scornfully. This is what you get for that.

Across the field more and more of her pheromone gas was spreading.

~In the jungle, welcome to the jungle~

~Watch it bring you to your shun-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n, knees, knees~

~In the jungle, welcome to the jungle~

~Feel my, oh my, my, my serpentine~

~Jungle, welcome to the jungle~

~Watch it bring you to your shun-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n, knees, knees~

"Incoming!"

The Ivy's head snapped up just in time for an instant of comprehension before the missile blew her up.

Unsatisfied with assault choppers or run-of-the-mill aircraft, Vandal Savage had outfitted Kaznia with modern assault jets, based off of 'theoretical designs his grandfather had left behind.' Streaking inbound with snaps of the sound barrier, they cut their velocity to make strafing runs with high-calibre machine guns, and fired missiles into clumps of the blond invaders.

Even the Harley with the boombox was sent flying, scrambling to pick it back up, and smacking it to get it playing again.

A jet disintegrated as its hull suddenly peeled itself off.

Going evasive, they swooped around to get a bead on what was responsible, and the pilots startled at the sight coming towards them.

Riding upon large, rectangle hoverboards were the Royal Flush Squad. The four teens came in hard and fast.

For all their initial surprise, combat reflexes took over, and the pilots swerved through the air and concentrated fire upon them. In answer, Ten deftly swerved right into the path of the bullets, not even feeling them splatter off of his broad chest like raindrops. One bright and savvy captain fired a missile, only for Ten to snag it out of the air in a blur, and hurl it aside. "That all you got!?" he yelled, grinning broadly.

"They've no idea what they're messing with! Who they're messing with!" jeered King. Safely behind his teammate's cover, he unleashed energy blast after energy blast, the lessons he had received from the American military helping him lead his shots so they hit the jets; even a grazing shot enough to send one spiralling away.

"So let's show 'em," smirked Queen.

At the immense speed both parties were still moving at, they flew right past each other in the blink of an eye, except that fraction of a second was more than enough for Queen to tear the metal right off the crafts as they entered her range.

An entire fighter squad was wiped out in less than thirty seconds.

In the centre of them all, Jack kept his head on a swivel as he stretched his neck around to keep looking in all directions for possible threats. His arms were stretched out and expanded beneath them as shields, bullets from below harmlessly recoiled into them without damaging their rides.

For all their potential, the secret government program which had 'recruited' them had always worked to keep the four competing against one another and at each other's throats. Their 'superiors' dividing and conquering their little super-soldiers. Now having spent time with the Straw Hats, they understood what their abusers had feared, and how they should have been acting from the start. Here and now, they were functioning as a single unit with no sense of personal glory. Just a seamless instrument of destruction.

Together.

It felt pretty good actually.

"They dead?" asked Queen.

"Who cares?" sneered Ten.

"Hey, c'mon man," protested King. He did not press the matter given the circumstances though.

"Nah, a bunch of 'em got their parachutes going," said Jack, eyes still peeled. "They'll be working for Ivy soon enough."

~Down in the jungle, welcome to the jungle~

~Watch it bring you to your, it's going to bring you down, huh~

War had come to Kaznia, but it was not against the pirates and villains as Savage had considered. Instead it was against those he had overlooked and underestimated.

!JUSTICE!

Unnoticed by the suddenly very distracted Kaznian military, internationally renowned reporter Sroya Bashir, edged away from the soldiers who had just been ordered to "do something" about her.

"Are we still broadcasting?" she whispered out of the corner of her mouth to her cameraman.

"Yes, ma'am," he managed, and she did not begrudge him for the naked terror she heard.

No matter what, the entire world had to know what was happening here today.

!JUSTICE!

Watchtower

Within their orbiting space station, the available members of the Justice League were assembled in the monitor room. Like a growing number of Earth's population, they were staring in stunned disbelief at the sight unfolding before them on-screen.

Before the smoking castle of Kaznia's kingdom, a battle was being fought on such a scale as the Earth had not seen for decades. Except here it was the entire might of a modern military against a 'small' crew of pirates.

All of which was being broadcast live across the globe.

"How is this even possible!?" stammered out Flash. "There's got to be hundreds of that clown chick!"

"Pirate now," said Hawkgirl with narrowed eyes. "And I'd make it a hundred even Harleys, and a fraction of that of Poison Ivy."

"Sounds about right," agreed Green Lantern, his military experience helping assess the situation as well.

"Indeed," said Big Barda, smacking her Mega-Rod repeatedly against one palm. Her towering, brawny build quivering with the need for action. "We must take the fight to them immediately."

"Against which side?" cut in Martian Manhunter calmly yet decisively, the weight of his presence checking the emotions of the rest. "We've had our suspicions about Savage, and the Straw Hats appeared to favour the Queen."

"It doesn't matter which side!" snapped Flash. "Either way, people're dying!"

"No, he's right," said Green Lantern with self-disgust at the choice he knew they had to accept. "If we just rush in blind, we'll probably make matters worse. So far they've all been a step ahead of us. We've got to stop and think smart here to do this right."

"Especially as Superman and Shining Knight are still off in space, and Batman and Wonder Woman's circumstances are unknown, all while we may be facing the entirety of the Straw Hats, who've been heavily reinforced," said Martian Manhunter, voicing the unpleasant truth.

The moment that they had learnt the Straw Hats had indeed turned up in Kaznia, he had tried calling those two again, only to confirm they were still out of range. For an unforeseeable future.

That had been fifteen minutes ago, and already things had escalated beyond all expectations.

"Could it be deliberate?" wondered Green Lantern uneasily. "The timing's pretty suspicious, and they were clearly ready for this."

"Probably not," said Hawkgirl with a shake of her head. "This is too chaotic. Sure, they clearly had something planned, but whatever's going on is too much of a mess when they've been keeping a low profile until now."

"What do we really know about this queen?" said Big Barda darkly. "She invited known criminals into her kingdom too easily, just after taking power for herself. Who is to say she is not responsible for her father's sudden lapse in health? What if she's complicit in this, and this war is really her removing her opposition? Darkseid enjoyed such ploys while conquering worlds."

"All of this remains speculation," asserted Martian Manhunter firmly. "We've no idea what's really going on here. Instead, we should wait for Batman and Wonder Woman to contact us instead of rushing in."

Gritting his teeth, Flash unclenched his fists with some effort as he admitted they had a point. As much as it went against what being a hero was supposed to be about, too many times had the heroes rushed into situations with Luffy's crew, only for it to end in disaster. Starting right off the bat for that matter. Whatever else, they had to handle this smart, and look ahead. Speaking of which . . . "You're right," he conceded, and the edge to his tone drew the others' attention. "It might also ruin our chance to properly talk things out with them." Seeing their stunned looks, he waved his hands wildly. "C'mon! They were there peacefully before the castle blew up! And if we can't barge in and cause an international incident, then if they want the Queenie's protection, then they can't cause one either!"

"You're right," acknowledged Martian Manhunter.

"So then we go after Savage!" declared Big Barda. "Is he the type to scurry away when threatened?"

"No," said Green Lantern, stroking his chin. "If he's anything like the Savage we fought before, he'll want to be at the centre of everything. With some sort of big, flashy display of advanced technology—"

Hawkgirl stiffened beside him, and he trailed off at the wide-eyed look on her face. For a woman who preferred to settle her problems flying head-on into danger with a battle-cry on her lips, that was never a good sign. "The space station!" she cried out. "It's a weapon!"

"No, even he wouldn't—!" gasped Green Lantern as he instantly made the connection as well. Kaznia had been heavily involved with the international space station. And he was now vividly remembering old nightmares of an inhabited moon being knocked out of orbit. "No, yes," he bit out, no doubt in his mind now that somehow or other they were indeed dealing with Fuhrer Savage. "He would. And it's aimed at the Earth. We've got to take it out!"

"Instead of standing around waiting, we take action right away?" said Big Barda with fierce eagerness. "Now we're talking!"

"Definitely the same language," said Hawkgirl, palming her mace.

"What do you know," grinned Flash, eager to do something. Also, yeah, that sounded like a problem that needed to be dealt with yesterday. "I'm bilingual."

"Pardon me," interjected Mister Miracle, only partially paying attention as he looked around with his own concern. "But has anyone seen Orion? Shouldn't he have gotten the alert to come here?"

"Ah," sighed Big Barda as she realised what her fellow, hot-tempered warrior must have done.

!JUSTICE!

Kaznia

Royal Palace

Moving at a brisk pace, Vandal Savage hurried to the control room. If he was to succeed in claiming his destiny over the world by claiming his rulership of it, then his follow-up strike would need to be equally vicious and unexpected. If his enemies received even a moment's opportunity to recover—

Passing by an open window, his legs locked up into a dead halt that nearly threw him down onto his face.

The resounding impact of the guards, who had been running right behind him, into his back was another story.

Shaking off the pain of his face planting into the stone floor, he heard the incompetents lying on his back whimper in fear. Snarling back a curse, Vandal shoved them off and pulled himself to his feet to gape out the window in shock and dismay at the battle stretched out before the palace. His palace, which was no longer so secure.

Snapping his jaw shut, he released a long breath and broke away from the window to resume his course at a brisk pace. As he did so, he settled his thoughts on this latest upset.

Alright. His original plans were frankly in tatters by this point, yet he had not come this far to slink away to plot again decades from now. Especially since if the Justice League and these pirates continued to entrench themselves, hiding himself from them would be much more difficult. More importantly, despite these setbacks, the final outcome here was far from determined; improvisation remained an option here, and he still had a few cards to play.

Two cards in particular.

Even from what little he could see from this distance, it was clear that even if his army won against this unexpected one, including freeing what appeared to be others of his soldiers under mind control —He had read Ivy's file; how had she been so feeble-minded to never appreciate what she could accomplish with such power? She alone would be spared to be harvested for her potential— they would most likely be too weakened to secure his palace. So instead he would take what satisfaction he could in them countering the pirates' little surprise.

In fact, he could leverage this to his advantage. If his penultimate plan failed, his newest contingency would be to rally the international community against the Straw Hats, arming and supporting the surviving Justice League in taking them down, forcing them to swallow their suspicions of him in favour of a greater foe. The heroes themselves were of no consequence to Savage, and whether or not they properly played their role in taking care of the Straw Hats, he already had plans to eliminate them. It was all they deserved for ruining his previous plans as Fuhrer, but it would be even better if he could manipulate both parties into wiping each other out by using the mindless sheep of the United Nations.

Of course, being a mere councillor or ex-fiancé, especially one who appeared to have fled, would hardly carry the proper weight with the masses or small-minded politicians, no matter how many big lies, bribes, and sly promises he threw around. Thus Audrey —assuming she had survived the explosions— had regained some of her value. If his gentle touch and soothing words were insufficient to sway her to his truth, then he knew just the proper regime of torture and drugs to properly break her into compliance.

In fact, if she was not properly grateful for him saving her from the get-go, then he was definitely doing that so as to vent his frustration over the ruination she had brought upon his plans!

In. And out. In. And out.

Victory, or at least a proper withdrawal with solid plans to return, first. Retribution later.

As for his second trump card, his rail gun was fully operational, providing him with the ultimate high ground, and making him the dominant military power on the Earth.

In theory.

In practice, the solely operable control room remained within this besieged palace.

I focused too much upon the pirates and not their minions, he knew, as he ripped his phone out of his pocket. They even gave me a warning with how casually those children handled those terrorists, and I completely misinterpreted it. Who knows what other surprises they have? Time to level the playing field.

Starting with where those children are, as only the ice one arrived in Kaznia, and thus is perfect as a hostage.

His call connected, and he immediately snapped out, "Where's the location of their transmissions?"

"Sir, we've detected no transmissions!" was the prompt reply, a hint of deep concern breaking through military professionalism.

Highly justified concern. ". . . Repeat that."

"Sir as per your orders we've been monitoring for all communications by the Straw Hats, but we haven't picked up anything despite the coordination we're seeing here," rushed out the man in one breath, clearly seeking to avoid punishment.

It took every ounce of his considerable will to resist the urge to crush the phone within his grasp. How was that possible!? As the fool said, it was obvious someone must have called in those reinforcements for a counter-assault.

Unless they had been planning to attack from the start, while claiming to cure the king as a diversion?

Despite breaking into a run now, his tone was unbroken as he said, "Patch in the space station as well."

!JUSTICE!

International Space Station, Platform One

The loyal officers of Kaznia stared in horror at the army invading their noble homeland.

As well as in humiliation of the knowledge this was being shared across the globe.

No matter! They would show them all who the true architects of the future would be! They were a warrior people, hardened by blood and steel without any of the decadence or weakness of the rest of the world!

Feverishly the Kaznian astronauts hurried about the international space station for final preparations. As they worked, only a token guard was left to watch over the hostages who had been the original astronauts aboard. They had all drilled for this however, and knew their responsibilities.

"Incoming transmission," reported Lieutenant Branko, their comms specialist.

"Pull it up!" ordered Colonel Maksim.

Two screens lit up, one Colonel Raivis in the control room for the maser cannon, and while the other was blank, the voice from the speakers was their leader.

"Prepare the mass driver," commanded Vandal Savage with absolute authority. "Fire as soon as you are ready unless you hear otherwise."

"Yes sir!" Having anticipated this, only a few switches needed to be thrown.

The international space station was a wonder of technology, with Kaznia providing substantial contributions to its design. However, the true wonder to it was how much had been concealed within its construction. Internal structures of the station were altered as hidden mechanisms were activated, coupled with the final pieces of circuitry they had brought with them. Walls shifted and changed, the roof and 'floor' of part of the station lifted away, and out of them emerged a line of rings with their holes lined up, held together by a series of poles; the side facing the Earth consisted of substantially more rings. These rings glowed yellow as they powered up, releasing a subtle, adjustable magnetic field. Colonel Maksim could not help but eye the nearby iron rich asteroids with eager anticipation. Once fully activated, well, then those multi-ton lumps of stone and metal would become the ultimate bullets.

Modified targeting software and advanced hardware stolen from S.T.A.R. Labs began calculating firing algorithms.

The mass driver was an orbital weapon aimed straight at the world, and all of the sick, greedy, and mindlessly violent people below. This would be the hard lesson which would teach them to grow up under the firm hand of a true visionary. Leading Humanity towards its true destiny!

And if they failed to comply?

Then whatever they hit would go out the way of the dinosaurs.

"The target?" requested Colonel Raivis.

"Gotham. Gotham City, USA."

!JUSTICE!

Kaznian Royal Palace

Smirking, Vandal pocketed his phone. It was far from ideal, yet he could hardly use the maser cannon as a tactical weapon here, as any impact close enough to destroy that army would also risk the control room.

Note for future self, fire a series of shots so as to properly calibrate the shockwaves and destruction so it can be used as a tactical weapon.

More to the point, it had always been intended as a strategic weapon, so that was how he would use it.

With no clue as to where the Straw Hat's base was, he would have to work off of a series of assumptions. Thankfully, the news that the Straw Hats were avoiding Gotham City made it obvious it was actually of importance to them. Especially given how many supervillains they had recruited from there. If nothing else, the likes of Ivy and the others would have some attachment to it, and he still had Batman running through his halls.

As he had learnt long ago, the only way to show people you meant business was by copious amounts of blood.

If he had to butcher ten million souls to make them see reason, then so be it.

Even one hundred million was a small price to pay for—

The castle shook, making him stumble some more before catching himself.

What?

Clearly the fighting against the intruders inside had hit some hurdles as well.

Scowling, he pulled his phone out to call the control room again. "I'm still making my way to you. Find out what's going on. Particularly regarding the Straw Hats. If they aren't dead, I need a reliable estimate of their locations. If we can't contain this situation in the next few minutes, we'll need to evacuate. Prepare the control room for destruction, and we'll retreat to the back-up site." The woefully incomplete site, went unsaid. "Spread the word through diplomatic channels that the Straw Hats launched an unprovoked assault upon us, and that our valiant army is laying down their lives to buy time for our government to retreat." If he pulled this off, they would just claim a 'miraculous victory.' "Use the falsified overlays of the brat to make it appear she's the one saying all this, and that they already killed the king."

He just needed to control the narrative just until it no longer mattered if people spotted flaws in it.

Obviously this would be harder to sell if he destroyed Gotham, but he could always frame the pirates until the new control centre was properly established.

"Yes, sir! Our ambassadors have already started laying the groundwork."

"Good. And find the Queen! If she's survived, bring her to me!"

!JUSTICE!

Outside of the palace, a lightly smoking ball of fur bigger than a pick-up truck rolled to a stop.

"Wh—what!?" whimpered a young woman's voice from within.

Smooth, delicate hands which concealed their vicious strength, emerged from the brown mound, as Nico Robin pulled herself free first. Albeit with a tinge of regret; she had never realised how fluffy it was in there. "Thank you, Chopper," she smiled proudly.

Instead of his usual bashfulness at the compliment, the little head sticking out of his Defense Point was glaring. "Thanks for grabbing my patient." Oh dear, their dear little doctor was quite justifiably angry at whomever had tried to murder someone under his care.

Humming, she nodded, while copies of her hands pulled out Gustav, the medically indisposed king of Kaznia, from within the depths of hair.

Firmly yet gently, Nami followed, guiding Queen Audrey, the recently crowned monarch, out after her. Usopp followed up behind them, feeding water to his slingshot to make it grow, even as his head swivelled around.

"Yeesh!" said Usopp with a tremor of fear, looking back at the palace with flames and smoke pouring out of where they had just been. An entire wing of the whole structure was outright gone. "Close one! That could've killed us!"

Instead, none of them had so much as a bruise or torn sleeve.

"And how many did die?" said Brook darkly, boney fingers tightening upon his cane.

Queen Audrey startled at his voice, visibly shocked by his sudden arrival, and trying to figure out how long he had been there. Politely the Straw Hats made no comment on it, well aware he had left with Franky earlier after Batman and Wonder Woman had gone off after Luffy.

"Brook, are you alright?" asked Robin.

"I'm fine. Franky took the brunt of the explosion for me. We agreed I should come help you."

"Is he alright?" asked Queen Audrey automatically.

"Oh, you're too kind," said Brook, angling his skull in that way of his to somehow convey a brief smile before turning grim again. "Franky's fine. He just wanted to ensure nothing more of the palace was compromised from collapsing in on itself."

"But who could be responsible for that!?" demanded Audrey. "And you said daddy was poisoned!"

"It was Vandal Savage who pressed for the army to be here, wasn't it," said Nami, looking away from the palace.

"I, what does that matter!? Why're you bringing that up again!?"

"Your fiancé, who would become royal consort with your father out of the way."

"That's complete and utter nonsense!" she protested, putting together what Nami was getting at. "And that doesn't even make sense! The army's here protecting us! And why aren't you . . ." she trailed off as she finally turned to see what held Nami's attention.

Stretched out before them, at the footsteps of the palace, a massive battle was waging. Explosions were visible, streaks of light, strange inhuman shapes twisting around, jets flying about, tanks and military jeeps charging forward, and now that their ears were no longer ringing they could hear the screams of pain, and wild laughter riding upon the wind.

Groaning, Nami ground the heel of her palm into her forehead. "Every. Time. Every time there's a princess! Why? Just. Why!?"

"Well," said Chopper optimistically, coming up in his large Human Point, carrying the king delicately in his hands, "at least we know now to expect it, right?"

"Thank Hollywood," muttered Usopp. If it had not been for all those films with the 'saving the princess' themes, they might never have caught on to how that was their life.

"Large-scale battle," said Brook, holding up one digit.

"Horrifying dark secrets to the land already hinted at," said Robin, raising two fingers.

"And Luffy's likely causing a mess," said Nami, glancing back at the palace. "They'll be fine back there. So I guess we'll help settle things out here?"

"They're bringing out artillery," said Usopp, peering down while shading his eyes. "Doesn't look like they've noticed us yet. Too distracted."

Having finally clicked her jaw shut, a pale-faced Audrey whispered, "My people. Who're they even fighting?"

Despite her usual boldness, Nami had to wince as it just dawned upon her how this must look. "Ah. That's Harley and Ivy. And Volcana and Queen. Along with the rest."

The young Queen stared at them in incomprehension for a few seconds, before a blinding fury settled over her as she raged at them. "What do you think you are doing!? Stop this at once!"

Unmoved by the eruption, Nami felt a touch of pity at this. "No."

"How dare you!? What do you mean 'no'!?" she glared in outrage. "I command you!"

"Audrey," said Usopp softly, trying to get through to her. "We looked into Savage, and everything was coming up shady. Harley and the others would've only come in because of that explosion; an assassination attempt. Savage's trying to kill you now."

"You're delusional!" she cried, stiff as a board as whatever fear she felt further fueled her temper. "He's served my family loyally for years! I've known him for years, and he's only ever been my friend! While you've betrayed my trust! Were Maureen and Ace in on it for the beginning?"

She paused as she looked around, expecting Maureen to pop up as well. The younger girl having stepped out with Cheetah right after Franky and Brook.

"No, they were not," said Robin, and there was a hint of frostiness to her tone now which seemed to make the royal realise she may have crossed a line. "We didn't bring Ace with us here however, because we were worried about what might happen."

Truthfully, Ace had wanted to come as well, despite the sense it was all one big trap. The senior pirates however had convinced Luffy that it was best not to risk both girls on their first trap, as neither of the girls were quite at that level of strength to stroll in casually. So Maureen had won the coin toss to go. Because one of them still had come to Kaznia, otherwise it would have tipped off Savage that they were expecting trouble. Next time however . . .

For now though, Nami worked to placate their host. "Honestly, we were hoping to figure out what it was all about without things coming to this," she said, pushing in as much genuine sincerity as possible. "We really do want to bring our medical company here. Except we can't do it if you're dead. And that's what's going to happen if we don't keep you safe."

"Do you really think I'd fall again for your lies?" sneered the Queen.

"Because we've never lied to you before," said Nami pointedly, knowing tact would only drag this out longer. "And because I don't believe you actually can stop your army. That they'll listen to you."

Scoffing, Queen Audrey flicked her head to settle some of her messed up hair. "I can do whatever I please. Surely you've noticed by now." She glanced at the former king, limp in Chopper's arms, and her mental armour cracked before she reapplied it; a cold knowledge she could not help the father she loved, and their subjects needed her more. Royal mask firmly back in place, she spun around to march towards where they could see a bunch of army officers setting up what looked like cannons to the navigator. Or something fancier and deadlier given this world's weapons technology.

The pirates exchanged looks, with her, Usopp, and Chopper releasing sighs. Robin and Brook merely looked both resigned yet resolved. Further words unnecessary, they assumed long, assured strides after the Queen. While all the ladies present had heels on, Nami and Robin actually had experience wearing them even while running without breaking an ankle, so it took little effort to close the gap.

Hearing them, and still failing to realise how much she was in over her head, Audrey called back, "Don't follow me!" Ignoring her, they overtook her. "Impertinence! I made you my subjects!"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, the lives being lost tonight, they could not help the amused sounds which escaped them.

"This—this—you're trying to conquer my country!"

"Why would we?" asked Nami, befuddled by the absurdity of the accusation.

"Why else would you do this!?"

"To keep you alive," said Robin bluntly, eyes locked upon the battlefield. Despite how that outpost of guards were within her range though, she had not attacked, and so Nami and Usopp followed suit. "To keep this nation from falling to a worse tyrant. To help us get home. And to send a message."

"A message!? My people are dying!" Audrey screeched, her voice quavering at the last word.

"It is indeed horrible," said Brook with flinty sorrow. "Inexcusable. Except we knew Savage was going to do something. And if we're to keep people from attacking you or your country, especially with our company here, they have to know the consequences."

Each and every one of the Straw Hats had different opinions about killing, except even for the likes of Robin or Zoro, this was a bit much. Unfortunately, they also painfully all knew that people died in war. They had known this since Alabasta. Had known it when they had made an alliance to take down Kaidou and liberate Wano; and they refused to let it stop them from doing what needed to be done.

Not that this knowledge would do Audrey any good, as she witnessed the land she loved be stained crimson by the people she loved. True, Nami would bet the party girl had barely ever interacted with the real men or women who actually made up her nation. Only be that as it may, Audrey still retained, no matter how abstract or distant it was, a genuine care and affection, coupled with a rigid sense of duty to them as well.

All of which twisted this situation up into a sick parody of Vivi screaming at her countrymen to stop fighting. With this time it being the Straw Hats on one side of the conflict.

Nonetheless, while the Straw Hats had not started this war, they were going to end it.

Moreover, as fun as Audrey could be, no matter what the girl might think, she was not really 'theirs.' Not someone whose Dream they would cherish and fight on behalf of. While it had been fun with her, it had also been clear that she did not view them as 'friends,' and treated them more as a fun adventure, and then business partners even when 'protecting' them from the Justice League. So the pirates had reciprocated, without the now-queen understanding what that truly meant.

Luffy . . . Luffy had taken one look at Queen Audrey, and bounded right on by, and the matter had been settled.

Ace would be upset, but she had also been warned before they had flown to Kaznia. Queen Audrey was still someone their youngest crewmate cared for though, and that still covered a lot, so they would get the Queen out of this mess alive and as well as they could manage. Besides, it would be nice if they could still all be friends. For reasons beyond the potential gains to be had at that, even if they were still going to get their medical company back up and running one way or another.

So the Straw Hats would settle matters in this bloody, war-torn land their way, the pirate way. And with that settled, they would be one step closer to going home.

Nami's fists clenched briefly at the prospect, and then pulled out her Clima-Tact, spinning it in preparation.

As if on cue, several of the soldiers finally noticed them, and started running over.

"It's the pirates!"

"The Princess!"

"The Queen!"

"Yes, I'm here!" yelled Audrey from behind the pirates, and from the shift in the air pressure, Nami's extra-sensitive senses could tell she was waving her hands. "I'm over—"

"Grab her!"

"Report to command we found her!"

"What!?" blurted out one of the soldiers in shock.

"Take her into custody!"

Forks of lightning arched down despite no clouds in the sky, and dropped the twitching, scorched soldiers who had been yelling about grabbing their monarch.

Almost giddy, Usopp held up his wrists and fired gooey-webbing to entangle more soldiers in place. He absolutely loved his new wrist guns, even if he had yet to create a formula strong enough to hold more than regular people.

The pale-faced remainder froze in a charming display of self-preservation and rational thought.

Obligingly, the Straw Hats parted ways for Queen Audrey to step forward. The soldier who had spoken up against going after her stumbled forward as if someone —Robin— had shoved him. A quick glance at the blonde queen gaping in shock and fear and utter confusion, made Nami repress a sigh, so she pointed her weapon at the scared yet disciplined man. "Why were your comrades calling to capture the Queen?"

"I, I don't know! The captain," he gestured at one of his unconscious fellows, "got some orders a minute ago, but he only shared it with some of us." His eyes darted back and forth over Nami and her nakama, weighing them up. "It, it doesn't, uhm, Your High—Grace, did you . . . I mean . . . did you give orders a few minutes ago to attack the pirates? And that they killed your father the king?"

"I, no?" she managed to blurt out, face bloodless, visibly working to keep herself calm and not being overwhelmed. "I mean, no I did not! I barely survived an assassination attempt on my person! A bomb placed in my father's bedroom. He's right there even!" she added while wildly waving an arm towards Chopper, who did indeed have said king lying senseless but alive in his arms. "I—why!?"

"General Savage said the pirates had assaulted you, and that we had to save you," he answered, a little more confidently. "Except we then received further orders, in your voice, supporting this."

"What!? I gave no such orders!"

"Shapeshifting demons?" mused Robin, scratching her chin.

"Clones?" offered Brook.

"Android replica," nodded Usopp sagely.

"All of those things!?" gasped Chopper, unsure if he should be delighted or horrified.

Unexpectedly, Queen Audrey looked so surprised it actually snapped her out of all her other roiling emotions. ". . . Or they just faked my voice. Or cut it from recordings of me."

"Oh?" said Nami, feeling embarrassed, with the others making similar sounds and gestures.

"Yes, public figures have been worried about that for ages." Sucking in a deep breath, Audrey rallied herself. "Very well then, I . . . have to accept the . . . possibility your warning about Vandal might have some validity." Her cool, blue eyes turned piercing. "If I can get through to my soldiers to stand down, will yours do so as well?"

"Yes," said Brook immediately and full of conviction. "There's already been too much death tonight."

"Very well then."

She turned her focus upon the de-facto head of the squad, only for him to make a smart (and probably late) salute, and said, "Your Grace! We'll need to get to someone higher in authority. For those same reasons, they won't believe it if your real commands come from our unit; they'll assume they're faked."

"And so we can find out if those officers are loyal or not," she concluded with a bitter twist to her lips. "Lead me to them."

"Yes, Your Grace!"

As they moved at a brisk pace, Queen Audrey looked to the Straw Hats and asked, "Will your captain be okay with this?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," deflected Nami.

!JUSTICE!

Kaznian Royal Palace

Speeding down the hallways in his Astro-Harness, Orion paused at a four-way intersection, hovering in the air as he looked around for some hint of where to go next.

He had come here to get a good fight, but more importantly to sink his teeth into settling a problem the others were overcomplicating when there was a simple solution! It had been too much like this back home on New Genesis, with him forced to stay his hand against Apokolips.

Except he could not find these pirates!

Scowling further under his helmet, he pulled out his Mother Box. "Scan for non-Earth based lifeforms besides myself." The living machine pulsed an answer at him. "No such signs? How is—"

"Hey!"

He spun around while securing Mother Box back into place. Coming around a corner were three of the pirates making their way over towards him. The yellow and green haired ones, while slouched forward behind them was the larger, blue one.

Why couldn't Mother Box detect the big one? Surely he would register as an alien to this world?

"You the one raising such a ruckus?" said the green-haired one, his smile hungry and eager, hands resting upon sheathed swords.

"Couldn't you have done it later?" demanded the blonde, who Orion now belatedly remembered was known as Sanji Kuroashi. "I was busy exchanging recipes and seasonings in the kitchen."

Disliking being accused of something he was not responsible for, Orion said, "I did not. Since it wasn't you, it was probably Savage."

The swordsman, no, Roronoa Zoro, that was it, crossed his arms while looking offended. "We didn't do nothing. I was looking around for whatever booze this place had to offer."

"You mean you got lost wandering about someone else's house," mocked Kuroashi with a smug look.

Shooting his comrade a truly venomous look, Zoro snarled, "It's only because I'd be a poor guest that I'm not splattering your blood all over the place. That and I've got more important things than you to worry about. Like the fact the League snuck somebody in, and he's not responsible for the explosions."

That little reminder sobered up the blonde. "Yeah, figures," grunted Kuroashi. "Well, glad I called in the Harleys." For some reason, he was hefting a strange animal with a shell and eyeballs on stalks.

"You just wanted an excuse to surround yourself with women," scoffed Zoro.

"What'd you say!?" demanded Kuroashi, shoving his face into that of Zoro's. The sheer absurdity at suddenly being ignored made Orion hesitate upon the trigger of his Astro-Harness' weaponry. "It was a perfectly valid move, and you know it!"

"This was all my idea in the first place!"

"Okay, I'll admit, you've had one half-decent idea in your life!"

"You're just jealous! Now butt out and let me—"

"Oh no! You got to fight Amazo! Now it's my turn!"

"Your idiocy's what cost me my sparring partner!"

!JUSTICE!

Farm Brown's Humble Farm

"Well," drawled Farmer Brown, comfortably holding onto his lapels as he strolled into the living room. "That's the last o' it. How's the show going?"

"Pretty good, daddy," said Emmylou, shoving another handful of popcorn into her entire wall of their living room was basically a plasma-screen TV, because as committed as Farmer Brown was to his aesthetic, he drew the line at compromising on a good viewing of his football games. And his soaps.

But there was a different type of 'sport' and 'drama' playing, as they watched the Deckhands take on a national military and not die within five minutes.

"It's fascinating to watch," said Amazo, wearing suspenders and a plaid sweater, fiddling his thumbs within his lap. He had been tempted to go along with them, except a last minute minor-crisis had sprouted up on the farm, and obviously the food supply took priority. Especially as he knew his friends could handle it.

Besides, even with her super-strength, Emmylou would have been hard pressed handling those weeds once they had discovered they were mobile. In contrast, Amazo had been too tough for their fangs.

"Is . . ." he hesitated. "Is all that death necessary?"

Releasing a sigh, Farmer Brown scratched his head. "Sorry, son, I'm not one to answer that. Once I would've given you a firm 'no,' and later a firm 'yes.' But I don't reckon any of us have seen a better choice."

"It's not like when we're slaughtering cattle, but in some ways it is," said Emmylou with a mixed expression. "Sorry though, 'Mazo. Only you can really answer that."

"I see. Thank you for your honesty."

"No problem." They fell quiet for a moment, before she threw him a prompt, "Any other thoughts you want to unload on us?"

"Well . . ." began Amazo before trailing off. Even for an artificial intelligence, the possible permutations of where this could lead were too much to properly calculate. So instead he chose a simple comment. "Whatever happens there today, the world will never be the same."

Despite his earlier comments on death, Farmer Brown released a snort, as a lazy, self-satisfied grin crawled across his gaunt features. "Here's hoping. Here's. Hoping."

!JUSTICE!

Kaznian Palace

Growling a bit at the insult, Orion nonetheless was fully willing to take advantage of it. While Kuroashi's true strength was unknown, the swordsman was an explicit threat.

"Enough of this," declared a voice, carrying with it all the sense of foreboding as the tide rapidly receding from shore.

Twitching, Orion adjusted his aim upon the massive, blue figure who went around Kuroashi and Zoro who were still bickering like children, and stomped forward. With both his savage features and more primitive attire, it would be easy to underestimate him as a simple brute, except those eyes are all too sharp for Orion's peace of mind. "Big target, aren't you?" he observed as he opened fire.

Heedless of how they were in a corridor, the pirate sidestepped the blasts of Positive and Negative Astro-Force. The wall behind the pirates exploded into rubble, leaving more gaping holes in the side of the palace. That sheer agility, the unintended destruction, made Orion hesitate a critical fraction of a second as the giant was upon him with all the deceptive speed and destructive power of a tsunami.

"5,000 Brick Fist!" boomed his opponent, smashing a punch into Orion which actually staggered him. Instinctively he knew that this blow was beyond simply physical strength; somehow transferring through the very moisture of his body. A chillingly unique and versatile ability.

Biting back the pain, he swung a haymaker in return, only for it to be blocked by a forearm turned black. Some sort of projected will manifesting as armour? Not to mention that speed! Even for his New God physiology, it was a struggle to keep up. In fact, it was like he was actually fighting someone from New Genesis or Apokolips!

Flying back a few metres for some space, Orion released a huff and acknowledged, "You're not bad." His blood rose in anticipation of a fight which might actually be a challenge for him.

As a bonus, he saw no sign of the other two following after them. Leaving it to their comrade alone? Well, he would pursue them later.

"My thanks. Now, 5,000 Brick Chop!" said Jinbe, the swing of his flattened hand striking Orion despite the distance still between them.

Through even the moisture in the air, realised Orion as he moved aside. But that won't be— A webbed, blue hand clamped around and engulfed his shoulder. Uh oh.

The other one grabbed the Astro-Harness, and Orion was ripped right out of it and hauled up into the air. Undeterred, he snapped a kick onto the pirate's collarbone, feeling it fracture beneath his foot. Only even that was not enough, as he was spun around so fast the world actually blurred before he was rammed headfirst down through the stone floor as it crumbled beneath him. "Low Tide Shoulder Throw!" echoing in his ears.

!JUSTICE!

As much as she hated to admit it, it felt good for Wonder Woman to punch someone in the face.

Giving her the title of 'ambassador' did little to hide how she was a warrior at heart. One who had been forced to suffer through politics, machinations, shadowy motives, and the press heralding her as a paragon one day, and seeking to tear her down the next.

So when a man in servant's garb tried to stab her in the back with a glowing, vibrating blade, she almost thanked him for the release.

In a matter of seconds the opulent wealth of the dining room was stained by debris as the entire place became a frantic battleground.

Through the hole blown through a wall, marched a tall man in a Kaznian military uniform, with a strange apparatus around his neck. Around him poured soldiers in gear almost alien in how futuristic they seemed; they screamed advanced technology and menace. From the crowd of servants, at least half of them revealed concealed weaponry which provided a similar sensation.

Arms split open to reveal concealed gun barrels, fingers sprouted talons, more glowing knives came from pockets, gloves came off to reveal cybernetic hands, and with military precision they waded towards the three foreigners.

All the other servants screamed in terror at the sudden inhumanity of their colleagues, trying to get away from the grim-faced soldiers in their midst. They dropped to the ground, or tried to flee, stirring up the sudden chaos.

Batman and her tore into the covert agents.

Her bracelets blurred as she blocked shots, and his batarangs passed by civilians with eerie precision to destroy weapons. A smoke grenade briefly cut off the view of the soldiers from the hole. Each strike from either of the two heroes was like a hammer to put their target down.

And alongside them fought the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates: Monkey D. Luffy.

"Eh!" he pouted, casually walking through laser fire. "You're all too crowded together for me to use haki. Guess I'll do it the hard way."

He leapt right at the cyborgs around the servants, and his fists and feet lashed out. It was all the distraction the heroes needed to finish closing in themselves, and they danced through their prey. "Well this is boring," bemoaned Monkey to her frustration. A prickle on the back of Wonder Woman's neck made her whirl around and bat aside a grenade thrown at her by the first man she had hit. He rubbed his jaw before charging right at her again, and this time his hand popped off to reveal a laser barrel. She blocked it with her bracelet, but the continuous beam deflected off to tear apart the ceiling, raining down chunks of debris upon them all.

Without blinking, Batman tossed an explosive batarang to blow the rubble to dust. Surprised, the shooter was an easy mark for Wonder Woman's right hook.

Satisfied, Batman turned his attention back to the pirate.

Or tried to.

The pirate captain was a blur of movement, only briefly appearing in place for him to keep track of. In defiance of Straw Hat's small, light frame and build, every blow carried deceptive weight, as whomever he struck went down with broken bones and did not get back up. Which was quite telling, as the fight with Parasite proved he could turn them —regardless of their cybernetic enhancements— to paste if he wanted to.

As if to emphasise this, as the rest of the regular soldiers burst through the smoke, Monkey spun in the air, stretching out his leg to an inhuman length. "Gum-Gum—"

One instance those soldiers were about to open fire, and Batman was moving to dodge while instinctively calculating where they would be aiming, and the next the squad was gone, and a different wall spat out bricks from a hole which had not been there before.

"Whip!" snickered Monkey, his leg receding back at speeds Batman could actually track, landing casually on his feet with his sandals making a plopping noise.

The dust settled, and they were standing within a room of downed assassins, and terrorised castle staff.

Looking towards the heroes, Monkey said, "Guess this means Nami and the others were right that this Savo guy's up to no good."

"Possibly," hedged Batman.

"Savage. Vandal Savage," corrected Wonder Woman, before switching to concern. "So that explosion wasn't yours then?"

"Nah, shouldn't be," he said, scratching his head absently.

"That came from where the Queen was," said Batman, having kept track of their route.

"What!?" said Wonder Woman.

"She'll be fine," assured Monkey. "My nakama were with her."

"How can you be so sure?" she pressed.

Instead of answering, he turned away from them, and strolled towards the servants who were only now seeming to fully process what had just happened.

The graceful power Monkey had just demonstrated almost seemed to fade away in the blink of an eye, leaving behind solely a goofy, concerned teenager. Except he still moved with a sense of coiled energy and personal presence which hinted at who he was. A glance down confirmed he walked in his loose sandals without the centred, balanced grace of a trained fighter, or even an experienced one, having too much slack to his limbs for it; although that could be because of his stretching body. In spite of everything however, it did nothing to change that he treated the ruined dining hall of kings and queens as if it was his own to do with as he pleased.

If not for that sheer confidence, he'd remind me of Superman switching to Clark Kent, mused Batman. They're like entirely different persons, while still remaining the same individual.

Or was even all this really an act, and more like when Batman put on his own mask of being Bruce Wayne?

"Hey," said Monkey, crouching down before one lady in particular, "you okay?" She was clearly very much not okay given her pale face with tears streaming down. "You don't gotta be a crybaby. They're gone now."

Bristling, the heroes stepped forward while the civilian hiccupped in bewilderment. "I don't—I just—I've seen—you attacked Colonel Vox!"
"Who?"

"Who?"

"The man in the uniform," deduced Batman.

"The man who tried to kill you," noted Monkey, suddenly deadly serious.

"I—what!?"

"That explosion was going to kill you," he repeated, with absolute surety. "And they were shooting without caring if they hit you."

"I—" she trailed off and swallowed, visibly running through the last few minutes in her head.

"But don't you worry," continued Monkey, plopping down cross-legged beside her, smiling reassuringly now. "You're alive and that's what matters." He paused to scowl at the nearest unconscious man. "Even if your friends were all jerks about it."

"New hires," she muttered, before stiffening. "Wait, you were accusing Vandal Savage of this! He'd never! He's as loyal as they come! And the announcement said, he said, you abducted the Queen!"

"I was right here eating the food you fed me," he said blankly. "Why would I want to go after the queen? Even if she hasn't given me that banquet she promised me yet. Oh!" He smacked his fist into his palm, and she flinched which made a hurt expression fly over Monkey's face. "What's wrong?"

"I," she paused and sucked in a deep breath. "Why're you being so nice to me?"

She braced herself, knuckles white as she clenched her fists in her lap, while everyone stared on.

Straw Hat blinked. "Because you fed me. And you haven't given me your name yet."

". . . Arina."

"Hi, Arina, I'm Monkey D. Luffy!"

"Yes, I know, Mr. Luffy—"

"Huh?" he butted in. "Oh, no, you guys do your names weird here. It's just Luffy. It'd be Mr. Monkey, and that's my Gramps. Uhm, or Vice-Admiral Monkey? Eh, he's weird."

"Luffy is your given name then," said Batman, readjusting how to refer to him. He would dig into all the other stuff so casually dropped there later. Probably much later.

"Huh?" he repeated, tilting his head quizzically. "No, it's just my name."

The servant Arina released a snort, and all of a sudden the tension seemed to drain out of her as her shoulders relaxed. "Thank you. Luffy."

"No problem," he grinned, standing up. "Now, you'd better get out of here."

". . . Pardon?"

He jerked his thumb towards the hole Colonel Vox had been sent through. "They're getting back up."

"Why didn't you say so sooner!?" snapped Wonder Woman, her temper reigniting after the surreal scene they had just witnessed.

"This was more important," he said blandly, scratching his head. "Hmm, I guess I can use haki—" He yanked Arina backwards with one hand, while shoving with a stretching arm to push another servant out of the way of a laser blast which took out a hunk of another wall. "Nope," said the pirate darkly, striding towards the smoking exit where figures could be seen advancing.

Glancing at their surroundings, Batman pitched his whisper so only the servants heard, "The ceiling's going to come down soon. Move."

A scream tore through the room, carrying with it an actual physical force which shoved Wonder Woman back with a grimace of pain. In turn, Luffy shoved his fingers into his ears while he braced himself.

The smoke blew back as a scuffed up Colonel Vox stalked back into the room in a fury, his jaw distorted as he unleashed another sonic attack that made Batman wince even when not in direct line of it, and through his own ear protection. The air before the enemy commander distorted itself, much like recordings he had of Black Canary.

Behind them the castle staff cried out in pain and fear, and so in answer Batman threw a batarang at ceiling, angling it just so—

It deflected off a support beam and landed right behind Vox's feet, and he spun around to see the rapidly blinking red light and leapt aside right before it blew up. Within inhuman speed the colonel dove aside in a roll, sweeping up a dropped weapon from his first assault. Coming up with a snarl, Vox swung his arm to sweep the entire room with a laser gun the size of a cannon.

Moving so fast that even Wonder Woman struggled to follow, Luffy's kick smacked the Kaznian's arm aside—

Even as he leapt in front of that attack, shielding the people behind him with his body. A cry of pain and the smell of something burning hit Wonder Woman's senses as Monkey D. Luffy hit the ground—

The memory of a video, a dark future seared its way through her mind—

"Ow!" grunted Straw Hat, hopping from the ground up onto his feet, absently rubbing his shoulder which had a patch of fabric lightly singed. "Huh. That actually hurt. First time someone's managed that here." His smile stretched, barring more of his teeth at Vox who was awkwardly holding his arm. "You're not so weak after all."

Her mind was frozen at the sight. As for Batman, he could only deduce that the alternate future Savage's killing of this man's own alternate was a testament more to luck, and whatever technological advances he had managed with sixty years and a fascist technocracy. Maybe even that weapon used had been some sort of prototype.

Moreover, even as he kept moving, Batman mentally replayed the entire fight so far. The vast majority of heavy hitters in his experience, regardless of their other powers, fought by enduring whatever blows hit them before overwhelming their opposition; while in contrast this Monkey had dodged with an inhuman fluidity. Like the greatest of martial artists, and in contrast to his apparent lack of formal training, he simply chose to not be standing wherever a blow was aiming for. The implications about his talent as a combatant aside, the only time he had taken a hit was when someone was right behind him . . .

Of more immediate importance however, Batman now had to factor in how the leader of the Straw Hats had brushed off what would have been a lethal hit for anybody else. The laser used to raid the S.T.A.R. Labs in Paris and gone through steel like a hot knife through butter.

There was no time for further reflection as the rest of Vox's men came boiling out of the hole.

Thinking quickly, before they could fire, Wonder Woman's lasso snapped out to snag a table and flung it at them. Another laser blast shattered it, yet not the two chairs which she followed up with which made them jump and roll aside without getting off further shots.

Unfortunately they were utterly unphased; clearly professional soldiers as they adapted with aplomb. Their streamlined body armour was likely why they had handled being kicked through a wall so well, and their intimidating looking rifles were clearly also all more of those powerful energy weapons. Several threw grenades while the rest snapped out beams of fiery death without restraint.

Already hanging from the ceiling, Batman threw explosive batarangs into their midst, calculating that impressive-looking gear would mean they would only be injured. Half the soldiers were promptly sent screaming and flying.

Blocking several shots in quick succession, Wonder Woman saw her opening and ducked under more, and then flew just inches above the ground to cut soldiers' legs out from underneath them.

Colonel Vox however rushed straight for the pirate once more with his enhanced speed—even if Batman could still follow him. From his mouth, Vox unleashed another sonic attack to overwhelm the smaller man.

Straw Hat disappeared and reappeared at the man's side, who abruptly folded over clutching his gut, the wind cut out of him. A follow-up blow to the head smashed Colonel Vox into a hole in the stone floor. As he stood above their broken leader, Wonder Woman punched unconscious the last of the soldiers.

Silence settled, although Batman was eying the thin trails of falling dust from the ceiling warily. First things first. Tapping his comm, he said, "Batman to Watchtower, come in." Nothing. "Batman to Watchtower." The same. Concerning, yet nothing he could do about it.

Looking back to the pirate, he indicated the downed colonel. "You could've killed him," he observed.

"Nah," said Luffy dismissively. "I wanted him alive."

Something about how he said that . . .

"But not them?" Batman gestured towards the rest of the soldiers lying about. They all appear to be breathing, except . . .

"Don't care," and there is something dark and cold in Straw Hat Captain's eyes there. "He's the one who led them in betraying those they're supposed to protect. The Queen can handle him."

"Because he's the one that matters?" demanded Wonder Woman incredulously, trying to wrap her head around this impossible man, all while a part of herself warns that it does not matter.

Instead of answering, Luffy glanced back to see the civilians had gotten away, and picked up a plate of food which had miraculously kept its food intact.

"Wait," said Batman, dashing forward to put a hand on the man's wrist. Risky, yet necessary.

"Hmm?" said Luffy, cocking his head while not seeming to take offence. Interesting given his seeming fixation upon food all this time.

However, the bulk of Batman's attention was upon the food itself. Giving it a quick sniff, he said with certainty, "This is poisoned." Toxins in all their forms were something he was all too familiar with, and had put even greater effort into his toxicology studies after Mercy Graves had admitted to visits to her office by Poison Ivy and a Harley Quinn who was in full pirate gear. What he was not immune to, he carried antidotes for, and could improvise new ones if necessary, which was likely the case here. "We don't know how many other dishes were poisoned."

"Hera," gasped Wonder Woman. Even without the risk of how this man's crew would react, she hardly wanted him dead. Especially not to a coward's tool.

"Ah, don't worry," said Luffy dismissively, reaching for the food anyways with his free hand. Only to hesitate half-way as he stroked his chin. "Although there was that fish which still got me sick."

"Can't you take this seriously!?" exploded Wonder Woman. "It's your life at stake here! Do you really care so little for it?"

Instantly his expression lost all its warmth as he targeted a piercing gaze onto her. While she met it head-on, the effect still seemed to chill the room. "I'm going to become the King of the Pirates. Some wimpy poison ain't gonna stop me." His attention shifted towards Vox, who was now against all odds pushing himself slowly upright. "Arina and the rest didn't know, so you did it, didn't you."

It was not a question.

"Yes," said Colonel Vox, his speaker visibly dented, and the electronic voice further distorted than it had been in the embassy garden. While his mouth never shifted, his eyes blazed at them with both hate and a fear he was trying to deny. "Only it didn't seem to have even weakened you. How unfortunate."

"It's over," said Wonder Woman, striding forward to stand over him. "What's Vandal Savage planning?"

"Ha. Ha. Ha," managed Colonel Vox, his mouth never shifting. "Fools. You understand nothing. Nothing about Savage. Nothing of what he's seeking for our people. No longer will Kaznia suffer in the dirt. No longer will its people be divided. Your decadent nations will treat us with the respect we deserve. Our glory is nigh."

A crackle came from a loudspeaker in a ceiling corner which had somehow survived, and then Vandal Savage's voice carried through the room. By the way it echoed, it was being broadcasted throughout the entire castle, yet Batman was more interested in the slight hitch to the words which implied the man was running.

"Attention all invaders," declared the Nazi. "You will release the Queen from your clutches, and surrender yourselves to our authority immediately. Fail to do so, and you'll force our hand. Kaznia's contributions to the International Space Station were somewhat larger than you'd been led to believe. This device is called a mass driver, but I prefer its more colloquial appellation: a rail gun. It's all very complicated, yet at its simplest its magnetic coils will fire an iron-rich asteroid towards anywhere I say.

"Currently, that target is Gotham City."

Despite himself, Batman froze, and Wonder Woman gasped. Dimly he felt mild surprise as Straw Hat frowned and said, "Wait, asteroid? So it's like the blind guy?"

"Surrender," repeated Savage, and cut the connection.

Grinding his teeth together, Batman forced himself to think rationally. "He'll do it anyways. To prove he can as a demonstration." He tried his radio again, only to get the same response.

Catching this, Wonder Woman put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "We'll have to trust in the rest of the League," she said, and while he could see how her brow was pinched in righteous anger, she was not worried. Her faith in the others was absolute in this, and as he resettled his heart beat he knew she was right. "Luffy," she said, turning to him, "we have to stop him!"

"Yeah," agreed the pirate, readjusting his hat with a casualness which spoke more of a habit than a nervous tic. "Gotham'll never be free if it's living under a threat like that."

Before Batman could say something about that, someone they had forgotten about spoke up.

"How very touching." They turned to Colonel Vox finishing standing up, and an injector fell from his hand. "However, when King Vandal Savage was forced to abandon his position as Fuhrer to an incompetent failure, he still retained many of his contacts. Although," now he seemed despondent as he looked down at the syringe, "I'm as much a failure if I was forced to use our sole remaining sample for this."

"What did you do?" said Wonder Woman in alarm and concern for this man. She put aside the confirmation it had indeed been the same Savage the entire time for later.

Meeting their gazes unflinchingly, Colonel Vox declared, "Made a leap of faith."

Anything further was cut off as he hunched over in agony before reeling back, his clothes splitting open as his body swelled and expanded with muscles, his skin became purple, his hair fell out, blunt tusks stabbed out of his lower jaw. Finally, the sclera of his eyes turned pitch black while the iris became an equally unnatural yellow encircling further black pupils darker than they had been before.

"Move!" roared Batman, leaping for Wonder Woman, who grabbed him and flew out of the room. Stretching out his arms to propel himself, Luffy followed.

Breaking through his self-control, a scream erupted from the mouth of what had once been Colonel Vox, bringing down the ceiling and several further floors upon himself. An avalanche of stone and wood thundered down as a further chunk of the castle collapsed upon itself. Except when the two heroes and single pirate looked back, they could already see it starting to shift as a certain someone started to force his way through.

!JUSTICE!

A rumbling noise made Queen Audrey turn around and see more of her castle cave in on itself. "What in the world is going on!?" she gasped.

"Don't worry about that just now," warned Usopp, his oversized slingshot firing weird tentacle plants at another squad of traitors. "We've got other things to worry about."

She flinched at that, before reminding herself he was right, and sucked in a deep breath to yell once more for her soldiers, her loyal soldiers, to stop fighting. They had to stop this madness before she could turn to all her other problems.

!JUSTICE!

Kaznian Royal Palace

Maser Canon Control Room

"All space station systems operational," reported Major Lev from his console.

"Calculations complete," 1st Degree Technician Andrei declared. The delay had largely been due to the fact the station was currently positioned so it was more optimal to rain death upon Eurasia than the Americas. Adjustments to the station via manoeuvring jets to properly curve the shot were therefore necessary. If they found themselves needing to fire upon Asia for whatever reason, they would have to outright move the whole station. "Sending firing solution for maser cannon."

"Excellent," said Colonel Raivis, his blood icily calm. "Fire as soon as it's in position. Message the King's guards to let him know."

The castle shook, yet he managed to keep his balance. The fate of his kingdom was on the line, and he would look back on this day with all his pride and dignity. No criminals or American thugs would ruin this for them!

"Begin calculations for Metropolis, Washington DC, and Paris as well," he ordered.

"Sir?"

"While I won't presume to anticipate His Majesty's intentions, when he arrives I'm sure he'll appreciate having more targets pre-prepared."

Unspoken was the knowledge that America would lose most of its eastern seaboard.

!JUSTICE!

Kaznian Palace

Elsewhere

Vandal Savage scowled at the caved-in hallway, and turned around to find another route to the control room.

By the light shaking under his feet, it seemed the pirate and heroes had not taken the bait. Or maybe they knew he was going to destroy Gotham City regardless of what they did.

Or maybe it was just sheer desperation.

No matter. Soon they and the rest of the world would know he was serious.

He had already been planning to trim down the rampant overpopulation looming over the horizon, but now he would just be more overt than planned. In time the world would come to thank him for the harsh if necessary burdens he had to bear for their sakes as their ruler.

Like a loving parent being forced to discipline unruly children.

Although given how reports of sightings of his brat of a 'fiancé' were being cut off by them screaming, his people were apparently running into obstacles capturing her. Just another unwanted complication ruining his plans!

But soon they would understand what would happen if they continued to defy him. People so soft-hearted as to create a medical company of all things would never be able to stomach the blood of millions of lives staining their hands, and Vandal would take great pleasure in making sure they understood it was all their faults.

!JUSTICE!

Gotham City

Batcave

"Oh man, this isn't good," said Tim Drake, with a touch of definite anxiety.

"Indeed, young master," murmured Alfred beside him.

Before them was playing the imagery of three of Master Bruce's most perilous foes fighting with far more violence and effectiveness than they had ever witnessed before. Gotham was only barely recovering from the recent gang war; it would never survive the new and improved Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Clayface returning with a vengeance.

"I suppose we should almost hope they'll remain with the Straw Hats for the near future, as they seem to avoid our fair city," offered the butler.

Behind them, Barbara Gordon was on the phone with her bestie, Kara Kent, who was totally not Supergirl. "—stand why you called. . . . No, we don't really know what's going on in Kaznia either, but Bruce's over there with Diana, and—huh? Yeah, didn't Clark tell you? She's been hanging out in Gotham. . . . No, she hasn't been to the Cave yet, but she told us to call her that. Oh, it's definitely amazing. I'm surprised your cousin hasn't brought her by already. . . . Ah, right, age restriction. Too bad I'm in Gotham where minors are free to run around punching people in the face. . . . I've got to have my fun where I can have it."

Despite the teenage girl's lighthearted banter, there was deep concern in her eyes as she also viewed the footage. Alfred knew that as young as these children were, even Miss Kent, they all were familiar enough with their world to know the unspoken truth that whatever happened tonight, this sort of escalation would have Consequences. Ones which would reach even into Gotham.

No, Gotham would unquestionably be affected, and not for the better. All the lunatics, crime lords, and all the rest of the scum of the streets, the real threats amongst their rogue gallery, would see this display, and throw themselves into matching it out of sheer ego. No, more than that, they would seek to surpass their rivals in this. Which meant their newfound motivation was going to be a nightmare to contain.

Especially the Joker, once he crawled out of whatever hole he was currently squirrelled up in.

"I'll call you back later," promised Barbara, "but I've got to get going. We've got a lot to analyse." She paused and made an amused hum. "Yes, that's what we Bats are all about. Give my best to Ma and Pa Kent."

With that settled, she hung up the phone and went to the Batcomputer to start sifting through whatever she could from this mess.

"I hope Bruce is okay," said Tim softly, settling down to support her. "And it doesn't get much worse there."

"You can be sure that whatever else, Master Bruce is doing all he can to resolve this situation," reassured Alfred, and his sheer faith eased the hearts of his two young friends and charges.

!JUSTICE!

Kaznian Royal Palace

"Gum-Gum Giant Stamp!" bellowed Luffy, his enlarged foot kicking the monstrously mutated Vox through several walls.

Rolling up, the Kaznian sucked in a breath to scream, only for Wonder Woman's lasso to drop around his neck as she yanked harshly, cutting off his breath. Disoriented, she readily swung him off the ground into a normal-sized punch by Luffy, which still rattled the room as it sent the colonel flying once again. "Gum-Gum Pistol!"

"You can't throw him around so recklessly," she chastised, if without her earlier heat as she had let herself settle into the pace of the fight. If anything, the flow of combat made it easier for her to settle her thoughts.

Fighting alongside Batman had always felt nice; by this point they knew each other so well they could anticipate what the other would do. She could trust the League's 'mere mortal' to keep up right beside her, and help direct the battle in their favour.

Meanwhile, Luffy had settled into their teamwork with surprising smoothness. He read their own movements and the situation, and slipped his own in as if he had been a member of the League himself since the start. Or nearly perfectly at any rate.

"You could hit somebody," she elaborated"

"No I wouldn't," he said mulishly. "I can sense where their voices are and aren't."

"Voices?" she repeated, a trickle of new unease settling within her. Instead of focusing on that, she released a huff and admitted what had been vexing her the most since finding him here. "For a pirate, you sure do a lot of heroic things."

"Hey!" he said hotly, seeming more offended than when he had been actually shot. "I never shared my food with anybody!"

"Uh huh," she said dryly. "And everything else?"

"If you've time to banter," rasped Vox, the air trembling before him with every breath, "then—"

A blue beam struck him in the face, sprouting ice over it and the hands which desperately tried to tear it off before they became frozen over too.

Stalking through the trail of holes, Batman glanced at the freeze ray in his hand to see how it was functioning. Generally he would have disdained using such a thing, especially a weapon originally belonging to an enemy. However, when he had originally gone to Paris, it had been with the possibility it was the Straw Hats raiding S.T.A.R. Labs' facilities. So he had packed his new heavy artillery 'just in case.'

Obviously he was going to have to further rethink said 'heavy artillery' given the demonstration here.

"Can I call you Luffy?" he asked.

"Sure," said the pirate brightly.

"Was your group stealing from S.T.A.R. Labs recently?"

"Huh? No. Nami and Franky said it wasn't worth it."

"I see. What were you doing in Paris?"

"Huh? I wasn't in Paris? The others went because it was Mauri's birthday."

He resisted a reaction to how nonchalantly that tidbit of information was handed out. It was becoming clear that this older teen neither cared about sharing sensitive details, nor understood the significance. "The girl with the ice?"

"Yep!"

As if on cue, their resident frozen water shattered into fragments as a winded Colonel Vox finally broke through, the bellow he unleashed as he gasped for breath made Wonder Woman grab Batman so he would not be swept away. Or shredded into hunks of meat. However, the Dark Knight's attention remained focused upon their temporary ally.

Luffy grinned, and it was a vicious, ruthless expression, delighting in the chance to fight.

Without missing a beat, as soon as the air stopped rattling, Batman said, "And Ace and Queen? Why are they with you?"

Pausing, Luffy glanced back in confusion. "Huh? Ace is part of my crew. And Queen's one of those who hang around and do stuff for us 'cause we're friends and we protect them. And Nami pays them. She's okay; just not as cool as Ace. Her and her other friends call themselves—"

Dumbfounded at being ignored, Colonel Vox had hesitated before screaming and kicking off the ground to launch himself at Luffy. That, Batman could —barely— track. What he missed was the pirate somehow disappearing to reappear over Colonel Vox's head, punching him into the ground, eager smile never faltering.

"What are you doing?" whispered Wonder Woman as softly as possible into Batman's ear.

"People struggle to lie in extreme situations," he said back, lips never moving. "We need to know how much this is the real him." Flicking his wrists, he threw several pellets at the monstrous figure, who inhaled the gas they released. Previous attempts had proven that sedatives were ineffective, so perhaps . . .

"AHHH!" screamed Vox in terror, his voice disintegrating the floor beneath him, making it collapse down.

"Fear Toxin?" said Wonder Woman in surprise.

"No telling how long it will last." They both approached the hole to see Colonel Vox rolling around whimpering as he grasped his head. "Why is Ace allowed to be part of your crew, while you took offence to Mauri joining?" asked Batman, referencing that conversation with Superman in the mall.

It was a definite gamble to not press the advantage against a wounded enemy. If anyone else pulled such a stunt, Batman would verbally vivisect them before confiscating their uniform until they proved they had learnt better. Nevertheless, in spite of appearances, he was indeed living up to his own principles, as he was fully aware who the bigger threat here was.

"Ace is strong enough to be safe," said Luffy frankly. "And she wants to go too. She asked to join. Mauri doesn't really know yet what she wants her Dream to be. She's better now," he shrugged loosely, "but still probably not."

"You don't want her to die."

Something dangerous flashed through the young man's eyes, and that subtle shift took over him again, transforming him from just another teenager too full of an adolescent's sense of invincibility and lack of common sense, to someone you could imagine as a leader. No. A conqueror. A man who would lead armies head-on into battle while they screamed his name.

"I don't want any of my nakama to die," said Luffy flatly, and in that void of emotion there was a nightmare lurking.

Softly, and not unkindly, Wonder Woman said in understanding, "If they died, you'd burn down the world."

Scoffing, Luffy looked down at Colonel Vox. "What's the point in that?"

Because there would be no point in living, concluded Batman.

Changing the subject, he said, "Lex Luthor thinks you're some sort of strategic mastermind."

Without missing a beat, feelings colouring his words once more, Luffy said, "He's an idiot."

A snort escaping her, Wonder Woman said, "Why are you fighting here anyways? Just because . . . they gave you food?"

"Yep."

"And your comment about food at the concert . . . of sharing meat. A hero should be generous and share what matters to everyone, while a pirate keeps it all for themselves. Even if it means risking their lives on behalf of those who gave them that meat?"

"Exactly!" cheered Luffy. "You understand!"

". . . But why did you come to Kaznia in the first place?" she repeated.

"Oh! So we can make money selling medicine again! And 'cause Zoro was right we need to send a message to people."

"What sort of message?" asked Batman neutrally.

"Not to attack where we plant our flag."

"Wait," said Wonder Woman, eyes narrowing in thought. "What about Queen Audrey?"

"She hasn't given me food."

"But her servants—" Wonder Woman cut herself off as her thoughts caught up. "You're helping Arina, not Audrey."

"Yep," said Luffy as calmly as if discussing the weather.

Colonel Vox had stopped rolling about, and was slowly picking himself up. Knowing they were short on time, Batman asked, "Did you really spread the word that you weren't coming to Gotham because of bad meat? Was that everything?"

"Bleugh!" gagged Luffy, sticking out his tongue. "Yes it was!" His gaze snapped to Batman, sharpening to something resembling his own intense, intimidating look. "I didn't think that would mean people would mess up your city. That wasn't supposed to happen."

"That's not an apology," said Wonder Woman frostily, and Batman fought the urge to clench his own fists.

"They made their own choices," was the blunt retort.

". . . You are painfully straightforward and simple," said Batman, deciding to be equally to the point.

"Shi shi shi," chuckled Luffy. "Nami calls me worse. Shame though, 'cause otherwise Gotham does seem like a cool place. Plus you're another pervert like Superman and that helmet guy!"

Before Batman could get into that, Colonel Vox made his move. His scream tore out the floor from underneath the trio, yet Luffy had already moved and snatched the heroes back, inhumanely long limbs wrapped around them.

Startled, Batman and Wonder Woman stumbled slightly as they were let go, with Luffy already moving to start punching their foe repeatedly in the face. Without another beat however, the members of the Justice League split up into a pincer as they charged forward.

Firing his freeze gun, Batman made Colonel Vox flail as the ground beneath him became slippery. In tandem, Wonder Woman pulled a Superman as she flew like a bullet over the ground, ramming both fists into his right knee, and twisting her body to follow up in tripping him over. A pellet tossed into his gaping mouth by Batman burst into condensed foam which gagged him. Wheezing, Colonel Vox slammed his fingers down hard enough to crack the ice beneath for purchase, but a sweeping "Gum-Gum Whip!" knocked them out, making the behemoth pin his hands under his own bulk.

Muscular arms swept around Colonel Vox's oversized head as Wonder Woman put him into as close as she could manage for a sleeper hold. More gas pellets burst in front of the monstrous face, further cutting off his air. Meanwhile, in a concerning defiance of physics, Luffy had plopped himself down on his overgrown rear, and grabbed Vox by the ankles to bend both legs backs, sinews straining against the skin as the mutant's massive limbs futilely fought to throw aside someone who could not weigh more than a hundred-forty-five pounds.

Despite having just eaten most of a banquet.

The moment stretched out for long seconds until at last Vandal Savage's enforcer collapsed into unconsciousness. A quick check of the vitals confirmed he would be alright. Or at least as well as could be expected given the circumstances.

"Woo!" cheered Luffy, surprising the heroes. Hopping off, he pumped his fists overhead. "That was fun!"

That joy at combat grated on the heroes, even if they could appreciate the satisfaction of neutralising a threat. Not even Hawkgirl was that bad.

Moreover, Batman felt confident he now did indeed have a better understanding of the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, and why his crew followed him. Definitely simple-minded, yet proportionately charismatic. Moreover, it would seem he was fanatically kind and considerate of those he considered 'his.' Also powerful. Definitely powerful. Unquestionably stronger than Zoro and the rest of the crew; and if there was anyone stronger, then the League would have to escalate to a concerning degree.

Which left the question: what now? What would this goofy, immature wildcard do now that this fight was won?

Unconsciously he felt himself slipping into a casual, defensive stance; nothing overt, but something to help him move if it became necessary to support Wonder Woman as she took the lead. Because he knew he was out-matched, and without the equivalent of kryptonite. Taking his actions as a cue, his teammate mirrored him.

Something which did not go unnoticed by Straw Hat. "What's wrong with you guys? You expecting me to attack you?"

"You're not?" asked Batman levelly.

"'Course not. We just fought together, so that means we're friends now!"

"Excuse me!?" gaped Wonder Woman in pure shock.

. . . Batman's confidence in understanding this man went down a notch. Or two.

!JUSTICE!

Groaning, Orion heaved himself out of the pile of debris, nursing his ribs.

"7,000 Bricks Drop Kick!"

Snapping his arms up, Orion absorbed most of the blow from the pirate who had jumped in after him, but he was still sent flying. Tucking himself into a ball, he rolled with it, feeling several walls breaking under him as he passed through them. Even for his powerfully built body however, this was taking a toll upon the Dog of War.

Coming to a stop, his vision was tinged with red until he swallowed down his temper, his Mother Box beeping as she helped him contain it. Blind fury will do me no good here. I went in arrogant, and this is the price I paid. But I can—

Instincts screaming he rolled aside despite the stabbing pain, and a dart of what appeared to be water soared right by, punching a hole straight through the wall, no, walls behind where he had just been.

"I'll say this," gritted out Orion, "you're as tough as anyone from the pits of Apokolips." Only his 'dear father' had ever pressured him like this.

"You are a strong one," acknowledged the blue one. It was said with such easy confidence, Orion knew it was beneath this being to exaggerate or mock about it. "I am Jinbe, Helmsman of the Straw Hat Pirates."

". . . What's a helmsman?"

"I steer the ship."

"Like a pilot?" and Orion was genuinely confused.

Raising an eyebrow, never lowering his stance, Jinbe said, "You're new to this world, aren't you? Regardless, where we come from, we travel upon the water. It's my job to ensure we reach our destination safely."

Now belatedly Orion remembered something from the stacks of information he had been given which he had glossed over as ridiculous. "Wait, you actually travel on the water in a vessel made of wood!?"

The slightest tightening around Jinbe's eyes was all the warning Orion received before his opponent was looming over him to unleash a devastating series of palm strikes. Keeping one hand pressed to his injured ribs, Orion desperately fought to fend off the onslaught one-armed.

Only to finally reach the wall he had let Jinbe pressure him towards, so Orion could make his counter-attack. Taking his hand off of himself, he backhanded his fist against the wall with perfect precision so that instead of crushing it he instead used it to push off and spin through the air to safety. As his feet touched the ground, he snagged an oversized, decorative cloth hanging from the wall, and tore it off even as he leapt back into the fray in the same instant. The fabric he tossed over Jinbe's head, even as he went for a crippling blow to the knees with teeth bared.

Brusquely the pirate batted aside the cloth, and kicked at Orion, who twisted away so instead his shoulder rammed into his larger opponent's gut. It was pure muscle there, yet his blow was still strong enough to shove Jinbe through the crumbling walls.

Keep him in confined spaces so his size works against him, thought the Dog of War.

A stab of pain through his sides cut through him, making him falter, and double-fists to the back drove him into the floor. Once more it gave out beneath him, and this time he pulled himself through to get some distance.

The sound of those strange, wooden shoes striking stone heralded Jinbe coming in after him. Somersaulting in the air, Orion used both feet to kick them apart. He landed with far less grace than he was used to, panting for breath, and in a large hall at that. Meanwhile, the pirate landed casually, clearly ready to press his obvious advantage.

Got to stay mobile—

His body moved on pure reflex, throwing himself towards the clump of locals huddled up against a wall. Cracks he had distantly noticed in the ceiling as he had fallen had connected —slow, too slow— in his mind, and he reached the people just as those cracks snapped out into jagged gashes through the stonework as the overburdened structure started to collapse. Tons and tons of debris came crashing down upon him and the mortals underneath. Throwing his body out, Orion shielded them as best as he could from rocks, wooden beams, and even steel reinforcement.

After an eternity it was over, eyes clenched tight in pain as he stared down at the terrified, alive Humans below him.

Slowly, stiffly, he straightened up, letting it fall off of him. "Get out of here," managed to grit out, and taking him at his word they hurried away, murmuring thanks and prayers. Knowing they had left the room, he at last turned to face Jinbe, who was standing beside him, having also stood as a shield against death for the mortals there. Although at a glance it was apparent luck had been in his favour, with only smaller pieces having landed upon him.

Almost leisurely Orion adjusted his stance, feet pushing away blocks of heavy trash until he was facing the pirate, and raised his fists anew.

Staring at him steadily, and yet with a glimmer of respect, the pirate brought up his palms.

Giving a smile full of teeth as the thrill of battle beat like drums throughout him, Orion threw himself once more at his enemy.

!JUSTICE!

Elsewhere

"We're not friends," gritted out Wondy again like a silly goose.

Cackling as he leapt across a hole in the floor, Luffy said, "I refuse your refusal!" He loved saying that.

They had all heard the explosions happening outside, only to be on the wrong side of the castle, and were hurrying to get a proper look. The place was shaky enough that not even Luffy was dumb enough to try and break through walls.

As they moved, they passed by a lot of terrified servants trying to get to safety. None of them were those who had fed him, yet they could be nakama of those who had. Thankfully, he did not have to think about it, as he had heroes with him, and helping people was their job. So since after a quick, judging assessment, Wondy and Baty moved on, Luffy figured they would all be fine.

"Do you fight your friends?" asked Baty. "Would Superman count for giving you food, and Flash for sharing a meal with you?"

"Of course they do. And—oooh! Shi shi shi shi!" laughed Luffy in a strange way. "You're a crafty one. And sure I fight my friends at times! Like Smokey! Or Koby. Wonder how he's doing. I fought alongside Crocy too, but he's a jerk, so he's not a friend."

"I see."

"Why so many questions?"

"Because I want to know more about you," said Baty, making his voice weird like—hey!

"Ewwwww! You sound like Nami when she's trying to sweet talk someone into giving her their treasure! But that won't work on me, 'cause I'm not that dumb. I'm not giving you my meat! Especially not to a hero who's supposed to be giving me their meat!"

"I—I wasn't trying to flirt with you," and Baty sounds pained in his denial. "And . . . I was just trying to sound more approachable."

"You wear your underwear on the outside like Superman and the helmet guy," said Luffy matter-of-factly. "Just like Franky does."

"Franky?"

"Oh, you missed him? He's a big cyborg with blue hair, nipple lights, and goes around in just his speedo."

"We . . . met him," said Wondy, now sounding even more frustrated.

"What's wrong? Is it the girl thing where you don't find a cyborg cool?"

She groaned, and then said, "We were trying not to think about, or acknowledge that he wasn't going around in pants."

"That's stupid. Why deny what's right in your face?"

Anger flashed across her features. "I—"

Whatever else she was about to say was cut off as they reached a window which showed a massive battle stretched out before them.

"WOW!" he gasped in surprise and pride as he understood exactly how well his friends must be doing to be causing all those explosions.

"This isn't some sort of game!" exploded Wondy. "Who's fighting!?"

Baty had pulled out a pair of binoculars. "You've got everything in that belt," said an impressed Luffy.

"The Deckhands are fighting the Kaznian military, and they've got an army of Harley Quinn clones and Poison Ivy." Side-eying him, Luffy could tell the man was very, very angry, which was fair, as Luffy was hardly entirely happy either. Just because his nakama could handle things, it was already clear even to him that not everybody here knew what was really going on. They did not know they were obeying stupid orders, and thought they were helping. Except Baty was also very concerned, like Luffy's smarter crew were whenever they were weighing the odds of something. Coupled with a growing dread as Baty visibly put things together. "Many of the Kaznian soldiers are fighting alongside them."

"What?" exclaimed Wondy. "So the Queen's with them giving orders?

"It seems—" and oooh, when someone had that tone of voice, Luffy knew extra sure to keep an eye on them, "—that Ivy combined her work cloning Dr. Steven Carlyle to create human-plant hybrids, with her plant infiltrators when she had them posing as people for rich bachelors and bachelorettes to marry, with assistance of pheromones."

At that, Wondy whirled upon Luffy with a boiling rage and clenched fists he just knew she was fighting the urge to hit him with.

He chose to ignore this, for if she was not going to say anything, there was no point in reacting. Especially as he might make it worse. Of course, even he had a pretty good idea what she was upset about, and he agreed it sounded bad. But he also knew how much blame was his, and a pretty good idea after the mess in the dining hall of what would have happened if they had not done anything to stop Savo. Again though, he was still not stupid enough to say all that aloud.

"The case with Carlyle was also the first time Ivy demonstrated the ability to clone herself." At this the dark hero turned to stare at Luffy. "So she cloned Harley, while enhancing them in the process."

"Those are her own children?" gasped Wondy in horror.

"Nah!" cut off Luffy, wanting to get ahead of that. "Sure, they were made from two people, but they're not actual people. They don't have a real Voice. Maybe more than those Kuma copies, but not enough that they can ever actually be free." His voice became less cheerful, "I don't like that part, 'cept they were made different, so I guess it's fine." Scratching his head, he admitted, "Ivy's kinda weird about it. She doesn't like Usopp throwing plants away to fight, while calling hers her babies, only to then do the same basically. Maybe because he's shooting them away expecting them to die?"

"I see," said Baty, which was cool, because honestly Luffy did not. He opened his mouth to ask the man to explain so he himself could understand, when the taller man said, "Where did you get the planes from?"

"Dunno," said Luffy, even if his interest was slightly piqued up by that. "Guess they stole 'em from somewhere? Other countries have 'em, right? Wonder what else they stole."

Baty and Wondy seemed very confused right now, only Luffy had no clue what part they were struggling with.

"The weaponry they're using is also a lot more advanced," said Baty. "Ivy and Harley must've gone to a lot of effort and expense to create this army."

"Make up your mind what you want to talk about," complained Luffy.

"Someone like Ivy could've used this for any of her own schemes," said Baty. "Could've accomplished far more than she ever had before."

Luffy gazed at him silently, waiting for him to get to the point.

"You gave her the resources to create this army."

"Nah, that was more just her and Usopp," corrected Luffy. "They've been working together in the basement for a while."

"Mixing them with alien plant genetic material," said Baty like it was an accusation.

'Genetic material' did sound like something Chopper or another doctor would say. Giving a shrug to convey his confusion about this whole conversation, he said, "Maybe?"

That at least surprised Baty, even if his body never seemed to twitch. "You don't know? If not for you, then why would she have created this army?"

Blinking, Luffy just cocked his head in confusion. "Why're you asking me? Why'd I know?"

". . . Because you're the captain?"

"Yeah? And?" Tilting his head the other way, Luffy asked, "What's so confusing about this?"

"Are you so confident in your power, that you're not afraid of someone like Ivy ever betraying you?" said Wondy.

Offended on his friend's behalf, Luffy huffed, "Of course not! It's just none of my business."

The heroes just looked at him for a long minute, before sharing a silent conversation by looking into each other's eyes. Clearly they were a pair of solid nakama.

Instead of pressing further, Baty pulled out his binoculars once more, "Volcana, Clayface, and Grundy are all doing better as well."

"We already knew she was stronger, but them too?" asked Wondy. "And who's flying around?"

"Oh, that's King, Queen, Jack, and Ten," said Luffy, easily tracking their voices.

"Kingsley, Frost, Jackson, and Tennyson," said Baty.

"I just told you what their names are," said Luffy, feeling annoyed by this conversation. "And didn't you call her Queen earlier?"

"You brought them here to fight a war!?" snapped Wondy.

She said it out of concern though, so Luffy simply coolly said, "They made their own choice to come. They agreed with the plan."

"What is the plan?" said Baty. "You running off to be ambushed wasn't part of it. And you're not rushing down there to help either. None of this, including planting your flag in Kaznia, is in character with your previous actions; nor what you said to Superman at the mall."

"Hmm, nah," allowed Luffy. "It was Zoro's idea that we should send a warning to people so we can safely build Chopper's company here. Show how strong we are by showing how strong our 'henchmen'," he made clear his displeasure with that word, "are. They aren't part of my crew, but if they wanna come, who'm I to tell 'em no? Especially if it means people'll know not to mess with 'em even after we leave if they choose to stay."

Clearly the heroes were still struggling to fully understand, and they were furious, and yet it was also clear the members of the Justice League were carefully digesting what he was saying. Huh.

"And how many people are being killed for that!?" Wondy finally exploded, jabbing a finger down towards the battle below. "You've done so much to save lives within the castle, say you regret the deaths in Gotham, and then you allow that to happen!? Order it!?"

"They would've died anyways if we weren't here to stop Savo," said Luffy flatly. "Whatever he's planning, it's something big and nasty enough to involve that big loud mouth and trying to murder two of the world's heroes."

It was all too similar to the scenarios with all the other islands they had visited with someone trying to kill or steal the freedom of everyone else living there.

Like Wano.

Starting a war with Kaidou was going to guarantee people were going to die. Except in less than a day, even Luffy had known that if the Emperor stayed in charge, more people would be killed.

It was obvious by now that Savo was the sort of person who would also love to strangle people's freedoms if given half the chance. So he had to go.

That made the Leaguers pause, if only briefly, in surprise. "And if we could've stopped it without anyone dying?" said Baty calmly, only he was clearly on edge.

"Then they would have lived. And that would've been better," said Luffy frankly. "It's good that you're concerned about that, 'cause you're heroes, but I'm a pirate. Besides, this'll make things easier, right?"

"No, it won't," and now Baty was actually letting that fury start to show. "Stopping Savage and recreating your medical company is certainly good, but after tonight, every supervillain in the world will feel emboldened to match you, or surpass you. You've just shown how much damage well-trained and prepared metas are capable of doing, and the whole world's going to be thrown into a panic!"

"Huh?"

"You just made our job a whole lot harder, and put many, many more lives at risk!" gritted out Wondy.

"If you're really heroes, then you'll manage," said Luffy. Now fed up with this conversation, he ended it by opening the window and hopped out of it, aiming for the roof of a lower floor below, his "Shi shi shi shi!" filling the air.

!JUSTICE!

Batman and Wonder Woman stared off after Straw Hat Luffy for a long moment before he fired his grappling line to pursue, with her flying right beside him. Without turning to her, he said, "Well?"

Brow creased, she released some of her temper. They could not afford a repeat of the mess at the embassy. Even if in the short time she had known him, he might be the most frustrating man she had ever met. And she was including Batman on that list.

Which raised a little puzzle for her. "You never directly asked why he was here in Kaznia."

"No, because I'm not sure he fully understands the reasons why himself."

Surprise made her raise her eyebrows high. "You think it's someone else making the big decisions."

He just stared at her, and she recalled his earlier, monosyllable question. Crossing her arms, fighting the need like pins and needles to charge after Luffy, she said, "He's as simple as he is complicated. Either the best liar I've ever met, or horribly honest."

The sheer conviction in his words had been practically palpable; to the degree that it would be dangerous to label him, dismiss him, as naïve.

"Incredibly powerful." Not enough for her to hesitate to take him down, however even with all the problems Luffy promised to cause in the future, Savage remained the greater threat. Especially as in contrast to the Nazi, the pirate had been non-aggressive and so forthcoming neither hero had felt like starting a fight. Now he might actually be their best hope of ending the ongoing conflict without further violence. "Incredibly magnetic even when he isn't trying anything."

Pointedly, she added, "I'm not so sure about him being the pawn of others either. Even if they do it for what they consider his own good."

Then her expression softened into regret. "And he would've been an amazing hero. Maybe he still can be."

"Not today at least," huffed Batman, swinging to another perch. "Come on. If we're going to solve this without any more bloodshed, one way or another we've got to catch up with him."

!JUSTICE!

Near the Kaznian military vs. Deckhands battlefield

Audrey was fighting the urge to scream her heart out, and biting back the urge to cry through red hot rage like she had never experienced before.

Her feet hurt, her mouth was dry through either exertion or fear, she could not remember ever being this filthy baring vague memories of hiding in caves as a child, and that should matter, except she was only distantly acknowledging all of it. Instead her greater focus was on trying to retake her country!

More and more soldiers had rushed towards her, and over half of them were now lying on the ground charred black by lightning, covered in cuts, sporting broken bones, or tangled up in plants. The rest of her loyalists . . . well, she could see the indecisiveness in their eyes as they kept sneaking fearful glances towards her . . . escorts, and the battlefield still unfolding.

"This is ridiculous!" she seethed with all the rage clawing its way out of her soul. The rage of her people towards this injustice brought upon them. Her hands flexed as she fought against the urge to physically strangle the next traitor herself; reminding herself that she was not a fighter, and that she had more important people to kill. "Where can I find a senior officer not under Vandal's control!?"

That . . . had been a bitter thing to discover, and very reluctantly accepted after the twentieth captain or major more obedient to her ex-fiancé's orders than her own.

The Deckhands had pummelled or seduced their nation's proud army down to a quarter of its size. Although through the seething turmoil of her emotions whenever she stared at this, she honestly could not say how she felt about how the remainder appeared to be successfully standing their ground.

Meanwhile, the Straw Hats remained as quiet shadows at her side, offering no judgement even as they dispensed with whomever impeded her path.

"Your Majesty!" cried out one of her few stalwart captains hurrying over. "Reinforcements are coming in hot!"

"Reinforcements for who!?" she snapped.

!JUSTICE!

Battlefield

A Harley Quinn clone only cackled as more bullets bounced off of her. If anything, the ricochets made them more of a threat to the remaining soldiers than her.

One brighter soul tossed a grenade at her, only for Harley #43 to stretch out her arm, hints of green showing under the artificial skin, to bat it away. Oh, sure, it still blew up and took her hand with it, but she regrew a new one a few seconds later.

It was insanity all around, as the two armies charged each other head-on without restraint, except one side was made of near-invulnerable super-soldiers and brainwashed cannon fodder.

Harley #43 blew up.

Grizzled, muscular soldiers with deep lines from being in the sun too long, pushed to the front of the line bearing advanced guns which screamed of danger.

Taking sight, one fired at another Harley, the red beam hitting her torso dead-on and she blew apart in a burst of fire and burnt plants.

Another sprayed with a blue beam, which froze the feet of pheromone-addled soldiers in place, and left Clayface stuck within a block of ice, dual mauls held before him in a futile effort to brace against the attack.

Explosions and shrapnel erupted behind the front lines of the Deckhands.

"What is this!?" demanded a Poison Ivy to the nearest officer.

"Artillery and mortar fire, mistress," he promptly answered with glazed eyes.

Volcana spat out a curse, and manipulated her fires so instead of dividing the remainders of the Kaznian military she had created a barrier between both armies to buy them some breathing room.

"Stop here!" she barked to the Harleys. Thankfully they listened. She honestly had not fully gotten Ivy's explanation, but the gist of it was the clones had enough independence to take the initiative, mixed in with loyalty to their creator. As they had been told to obey the Deckhands, they would, but they would also only do so if it seemed like a good idea ultimately to Ivy's benefit. "We'll have to—"

Pain flared across her torso and she found herself lying on the ground. Oh, she thought distantly, I got shot.

Then she pulled herself back up, flattened bullets rolling off of her while she pressed one forearm against her side. Definitely bruised, and maybe some internal damage. Thank goodness for Sanji's weird outfit, she thought.

Wherever he had gotten that transforming suit was clearly one of those touchy subjects, and not even Franky had been able to fully reproduce it. The cyborg had however managed to make bodysuits which were nearly bulletproof. Case in point, the one she wore in her familiar red which covered all her body except for her head. Which was a statement she refused to relinquish.

What was important however, was that the fire was still up, the enemy could not see them, and the Harleys were still eager and ready to bring down the hammer and raise some mayhem. Oh, and all the tanks were either destroyed or enslaved to Ivy's will, and the air was clear of jets now. Overall, despite this setback, both quality and quantity were on their side.

It had been highly unsettling for Volcana when she and the rest of the Deckhands had learnt what Ivy had been growing with Usopp's help. Even today, the orange haired woman honestly could not tell if it was for better or worse that the cloned army of jester pirates had been born with the knowledge and open acceptance they were expendable in the name of their creator's ambitions. All she did know for sure, was the sheer thrill as they were winning against an entire country, and that Poison Ivy was a lot more powerful than anybody had ever given her credit for.

How this lady had gone from small-scale ecoterrorism to robbing rich bachelors, willfully keeping herself penned up within Gotham to butt heads with Batman, was beyond Volcana.

In fact, Ivy had previously only ever envisioned a single set of disposable clones of Harley and herself, with a few special add-ons to the former. Not even a specific heist either, just a general sense of being 'for something dangerous'! All the while completely oblivious to the fact of how if she had wanted to, Ivy could have been taking over entire governments.

Lips pulling back into a wolfish grin, Volcana released her grip to hold up both palms, a spark a blue flame starting to grow now.

Which we might end up doing anyways before we're done!

Yelling, she unleashed her fury as a flamethrower which passed unabated through her own elemental barrier, aiming lower so as to at least allow the possibility for her victims to survive.

"Death From Above!" roared Solomon Grundy as he leapt overhead, clad in bulkier, now dented armour Franky had supplied. Searing light rapidly fired from the Kaznians tore apart the steel, yet his path was unabated as he came down in a cloud of dust and shaking ground.

Pulling himself out of the crater, he cried out in agony as bursts of plasma struck him with both extreme heat and actual physical force, knocking him back.

"Burn him to a crisp!" snapped one officer.

"Grundy!" shouted a Harley, all of them unable to see what was happening through Volcana's flames.

Explosions lit up the air, and the Royal Flush Squad came dropping down, their rides destroyed. Ten braced his knees against the impact, while Jack stretched out his body to absorb it while holding King and Queen close.

"Big G's in trouble!" yelled a Harley.

"We've got our own trouble!" snapped a Harley, re-growing three limbs after another explosive shell sent her flying.

"Volcana! Get ready to lower the wall," ordered a Poison Ivy, directing their controlled soldiers forward, while adjusting her wrist dart launchers.

"Mistress, there's no cover," warned a suborned officer.

"We'll make do," she breezily assured him. The actual Human members of the Deckhands grimaced, even if ultimately they accepted the necessity.

On the other side of the fire, Clayface remained frozen solid. Out of sight at his feet however, a small, misshapen mass quietly burrowed up from the ground, and extended a tendril which formed into a drill which quickly punctured through the ice without shattering the whole mess. A few seconds later, the entirety of Clayface was sucked through the hole and reformed.

"Brrr!" he shuddered, giving himself a shake before seeing Grundy's condition. "Hey!"

Bullets passed harmlessly through him, yet he desperately elongated and stretched himself to dodge energy blasts. Flailing out with one long limb, he knocked over the guys hammering into Grundy, buying the zombie some respite.

Suddenly the entirety of the battlefield stopped dead in their tracks. Even the distant barrage halted as everyone's spines shivered, and neck hairs did the can-can. Something primal within their brains screaming for attention. Heads swivelled as they tried to identify what had caught their instincts, and then they heard it . . .

A high-pitched drone rising over the horizon, and becoming much, much louder.

Dots in the sky quickly swelled up to reveal horrendous, oversized insects which appeared as nothing less than nightmarish hybrids of locusts and praying mantises.

Screaming soldiers instantly opened fire, including the ones on the Deckhand's side until they were ordered not to. Artillery redoubled itself, now targeting the enemy air support.

"Go for the loud things attacking you," ordered a Poison Ivy to the little snail she carried. The 'den den mushi' carried her orders directly to Farmer Brown's advanced creations.

With suicidal aplomb, the bugs did just that, flying down headless of their dying members, to tear apart the armoured cannons and mortars.

"That's our cue," said Volcana to the nearest Harley, dispersing her fire wall as she did so. "Let's take them.

Smiling wickedly even as her eyes danced with fury, the Harley just nodded in eagerness before charging in herself, holding two hammers high.

Sneering, Queen waved her hand to make Kaznian weapons melt out of their hands, while Ten flanked her as support, and King fired plasma blasts to send people flying in smouldering gear. For his part, Jack stretched himself out and hefted up a piece of a ruined jeep to throw it.

"KEEP PRESSING FORWARD!" roared Volcana. "FOR THE STRAW HATS! FOR KAZNIA! FOR QUEEN AUDREY!"

"FOR QUEEN AUDREY!" echoed all of Ivy's servants, the words resonating with the slumbering men underneath.

The sheer offensive gall of that stoked a matching fury within the Kaznian army. How dare those who betrayed their Queen claim to act in her name!? Screaming they threw themselves anew against the company of supervillains.

Elsewhere, a Harley nearly naked from her clothes being burned off, did some percussive maintenance to an equally battered boom box until it released a squeal. Grinning, she made an adjustment, and held it overhead to belt out:

~Now we got problems~

~And I don't think we can solve 'em~ ~

~You made a really deep cut~

~And baby, now we got bad blood (hey!)~

!JUSTICE!

Kaznian Royal Palace

Maser Cannon Control Room

Colonel Raivis clenched his fists behind his back as he fought against his urge to scream for results. An update. Anything. No, his job right now was to appear the picture of composure to reassure his men.

"We're almost ready," said 1st Degree Technician Andrei as confidently as he could. The attempt was further ruined by his muttered "I hope" carrying further than he intended.

"The fighting's stopped at least," said Major Lev, forehead matted with dust sticking to it by sweat. "All reports saying the pirate and heroes were victorious though."

Jaws clenched so tight he distantly wondered if he would crack a molar, Colonel Raivis could only bring himself to nod. The titanic fighting between those three and who they suspected might be Colonel Vox, had been devastating to the palace. The solid structure had been reinforced according to Savage's own designs, except even that had proven overly-optimistic as their access to the power generators had been horribly disrupted while the floor shook beneath them. Losing their connection to the primary one had crashed the entire computer systems, and then something had been knocked loose with the back-up, bringing it all down again.

Hopefully their latest rerouting would suffice.

"Powering up," said Major Lev. "Target acquired. We're—"

A circular patch of the ceiling above suddenly shot free to land squarely upon the major's head, crowning and dropping him like a stone.

Right behind out of the new hole came the final member of the Deckhands, a bristling Cheetah as she landed lightly on her feet for a hair's breadth before pouncing upon the personnel around her.

Guards fired their automatic weapons, only for her to weave amongst them, claws flashing to bring them down in sprays of blood.

Two supposedly lowly privates however smirked as her claws skittered over armour hidden beneath false skin, which tore away as out of their bodies popped laser guns and blades.

Snarling in surprise, she ducked and rolled behind a computer console out of sight.

Ignoring this, the colonel ran to an innocuous laptop and rapidly typed away. While not as sophisticated as he might prefer, in an emergency such as this it would suffice.

A grenade went off behind him, and clenched his muscles to resist the urge to hit the floor.

One more second . . .

A sharp blow to the back of his head and the ground rushed up to meet him.

Releasing a huff, Cheetah dropped the chair she had hit him with, and flicked her claws to remove the blood. The only clothing she wore was a belt to hold a small pouch which contained, of all things, a snail. Holding it up, she waited until it opened its eyes, and smugly said, "Nami, I took what appears to be their main control room."

Lovely little things, these den-den mushi. Even better, their communications were absolutely undetectable by any Earth-bound technology, which was why all her friends and companions had been able to so freely coordinate.

"Roger that," came back Nami's reply. "What were they pulling anyways?"

"Well," she glanced at whatever the senior officer had been working on, and her fur stood on end as she saw the words displayed upon the screen. While she did not speak Kaznian, she was fairly sure the red words accompanied by the numeric countdown were the equivalent of 'Launch Confirmed.' Also 'Gotham.'

Hissing, her fingers danced upon the keyboard to abort it, only the geneticist had no idea what to do and there was nothing like an abort button and she was going to be too late—

!JUSTICE!

International Space Station, Platform One

"Platform One, why haven't you launched yet!?" snapped the voice of Vandal Savage through the receiver.

"This is Major Tom to Ground Control," answered a smirking Flash. "Do you read us, over?"

There was a thunderous silence, and then with a click, Savage disconnected.

"Spoilsport," cheered Flash.

"Seriously?" groused Green Lantern, yet despite his best efforts he could not hide the humour and satisfaction dancing in his eyes.

"Hey, you're the one who passed up on the chance," pointed out Flash. It would have been fitting too, given the last time the two had met back during WWII.

"I'll live somehow," he said. Around them, the astronauts who had previously been held hostage, were checking over systems.

"—for your convenience!" bristled Big Barda as she stormed into the room, Martian Manhunter right at her side.

"My wife's correct," said Mister Miracle more diplomatically, coming up right behind her. "We did not come to Earth to be your —what's the word?— ah, chauffeurs. However, given the stakes at play, we're happy to have done so this time."

The large, muscular woman angrily crossed her arms in agreement, her technologically advanced mace pointedly in one hand.

"For which we are deeply appreciative," said Martian Manhunter with a solemn bow of his head. "With your aid, many lives were kept safe today."

Oh yeah, no question there for Flash and the others. Savage had clearly failed to properly account for just what a Mother Box could do. Or what exactly a Boom Tube was at least. The League had just popped out to the side of the space station facing away from the Watchtower, within GL's little green bubble, flying right past all those gun turrets which he was pretty sure were not NASA approved. From there it had been a hop and a skip aboard and retaking the place before the Kaznians even really realised they had been boarded.

Well, in all modesty, it had been mostly himself.

Once upon a time Flash might have . . . not tried his hardest. A little encounter with a rubbery menace however had fixed that up, and he had taken out most of the crooks with a punch to the jaw before they could even blink. Before most of the rest of the Justice League got to take someone out themselves. Hawkgirl had teased him about saving some for the rest, but she could not hide her pride from him.

"Alright, let's get going," said Green Lantern.

"We're blowing up this station, right?" said Hawkgirl.

"Yes," confirmed the former marine. Although . . .

She tilted her head in amusement, "You were hoping to blow it up as we left and surprise everybody, weren't you?"

"I plead the fifth," he said with good humour.

Huh . . . thought Flash as he looked back and forth between the two of them.

!JUSTICE!

Kaznian Royal Palace

With absolute calm and composure, Vandal pocketed his communicator.

Both of his escorts still shuffled away from him while trying to not look like they were.

Around him lay the ruins of what was once a rich hall of the palace—his palace. Station One was lost, and the control room now superfluous.

There was still his army outside, only he had an idea of what their odds were with their depleted forces facing the addition of Straw Hat and Wonder Woman. There were the other military bases throughout the country, except without the brat in his grasp, and controlling what people heard from her, he could not count upon the loyalty of the majority of the troops.

Time to leave, he concluded. The Straw Hats had revealed themselves now, and he could plan again with a refreshed and more informed perspective.

There are those plans for that gravity based superweapon for instance, he reminded himself.

Satisfied, he turned around to command his remaining two troops available, only for millennia of control to break as he flinched in surprise.

!JUSTICE!

Kaznian Royal Palace

Crushing a brick in his hand, Orion threw it at Jinbe's eyes with his one remaining functional arm, even as he went for a snap-kick.

It was blocked casually with a palm, while the other one hammered Orion's ribs to send him rolling on the ground. Hacking up a spot of blood, he wearily heaved himself upright once more. The pirate did not press his advantage, only politely waiting while keeping his stance up, something the Dog of War accepted as a gesture of respect more than the hated implication he was not a threat.

Still, he literally could not keep it up at this rate.

Pausing for a few long, slow breaths, Orion said, "I've got to admit, when Wonder Woman said there were strong opponents here, I wasn't expecting this strong."

"My thanks," rumbled the fearsome being, who nonetheless showed more honour than most of Apokolips. "You are formidable yourself. You merely showed poor initial judgement, and then had poor luck."

"Heh, yeah," acknowledged Orion.

Something flickered in Jinbe's gaze. "So why do you keep fighting? Did you really think even blinding me would work there?"

"Nope," conceded Orion with a smirk.

A bright blue beam scythed through the ceiling overhead. Startled, Jinbe leapt away yet still took a bad burn to the arm. Out of the hole, the Astro-Harness whirled through the air to Orion, and he grabbed it and slipped on. His vessel's speed and his good leg provided just enough momentum to avoid a distortion through the air he knew to be one of those unusual punches.

"Arabesque Brick Fist!"

Snarling with blood stained teeth, Orion triggered the guns—

"RADICAL BEAM LASER!"

A hot lance skewered him, and the floor rose up before Orion, and he found himself unable to move.

Dimly he heard heavy, metal footsteps approaching. "Sorry for butting in, boss."

"No worries, Franky," said Jinbe's voice. "Those might've hurt me."

"Yeah, what I was worried about too."
"Really? I thought it was because you heard what he said about the Sunny."

"Wait! What'd he say about the Sunny!? Oi! Stand back up so I can hit you seriously this time!"

!JUSTICE!

Kaznian Field Command Post

"Tell them to stand down!" screamed Audrey, nails digging into the cheek of the traitor in a general's uniform, two loyal soldiers pinning his arms. "What is even the point of all this fighting!? You said it was to free me but I'm right here!"

Face as hard as stone despite the blood running down it, he flatly said, "It is the will of Vandal Savage."

"His delusions of grandeur aside, I rule Kaznia!" she hissed. "Not some—"

A battered Vandal Savage slid across the ground to right beside her heels.

Reflexively she released a yelp and kicked him, and then had to briefly flail a little to keep her balance.

"Ugh," groaned the man as he pushed himself upright, face marred with cuts and pebbles all over his face from the impromptu road rash.

Two different shoes shoved him right down as she beheld the sight of Zoro and Sanji standing over him.

She . . . had not really paid them much thought before when they arrived. Even the blonde man's swooning had barely registered, as frankly that was the sort of behaviour she was used to. Expected really.

Now though, she found herself appraising them in an entirely different light.

Despite everything that had happened tonight, they both remained immaculately dressed in their black suits which did nothing to hide their muscular physiques. Sanji was the very picture of dapper as he adjusted his tie, a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth in a manner of such casual coolness it made you forget he was chewing on a cancer-stick. He reminded her of all those movie stars she had met who played out being secret agents, or supervillains, only none of them ever carried such presence of elegant danger as she saw tonight. Nor the sense of safety he brought with him.

While as for Zoro, a shiver went down her spine, and she honestly could not say what it was from. Arms crossed, three katana sheathed at his side, he held himself with a predatory grace, sporting a rakish grin which along with his dyed-green hair and earrings screamed of being one of those 'bad boys' she had always carefully avoided. Now though she had a sudden sense of the appeal.

"Got a little something for you," said Zoro, sneering down at her ex-fiancé.

"A special delivery for our fair queen," said Sanji with a little bow. However he also kept his visible eye, smouldering with heated disgust, fixed on their prisoner.

"I—" she began, only to be cut off with a loud, "Audrey!" The queen stumbled slightly as a brunette teen came around them to wrap her up in a hug. "I was so worried about you!"

"Maureen! Where'd you disappear to?"

"Once the heroes showed up, Cheetah took me to Zoro and Sanji to be safe," she said. The ice-user gave an extra tight squeeze, and then stepped back. "I was fine though. Well, there was one moment where they had me keep out of sight, but Jinbe handled it.

"Sorry, I'll let you get back to being the queen."

Before Queen Audrey could reassure her, a scornful scoff robbed her attention. Her icy gaze snapped back down to Vandal, only to widen in shock as she saw his unmarked face. He sneered at her, and spat, "You," with such venom she stiffened in place, a chill of fear going through her despite their circumstances, "meddlesome brat!" Then a glint came to his eyes, "Of course, you always were meant to be a pawn. I just failed to ensure I was the one still playing you."

"Shut your mouth! You traitorous fool! You—you poisoned my daddy!"

"Why of course I did," he drawled. "What better way to secure my throne? But we both know it wasn't you who figured it out."

A screech of indignation escaped her before she regained herself and the red withdrew from her vision. She was going to kill him. He was going to die. But he was just trying to rile her up like some of the more odious or embittered celebrities. Moreover, she had to know why. What had driven one of Kaznia's greatest heroes to such evil!?

"What was even the point of all this!?" As the words left her mouth, the sickened betrayal in her gut roiled even faster, mixing with her fury for all the lives ruined tonight. Her people had not deserved any of the pain and suffering he had brought down upon them, and by all accounts he had meant to inflict even more. "You're ranting like your grandfather in an old news reel."

He chuckled lowly. "Sweet, foolish child. Wonder Woman was right all along."

"Ridiculous!" she scoffed. "You'd have to be over a hundred years old!"

In the face of her logic though, his smirk only grew. "I'm far older than that." Vandal paused to stare off into the distance for a moment, and then began a fantastic tale. "Over twenty-five thousand years ago, a meteor landed upon the Earth. While my fellows cowered with fear, I dared to approach the strangely glowing rock. It was warm, and the night was very cold. I slept curled up next to it, not realising what its rays were doing to me. But over the millennia that followed, I watched those around me grow old and die, while I remained unchanged. I assumed many identities over that time." Twisting his head around to look up at the pirates with a cocked eyebrow, he said, "Even that of Edward Thatch, Blackbeard himself."

"Is that supposed to impress us?" deadpanned Zoro without skipping a beat.

"Tch," scoffed Sanji, "all that time, and the best you can amount to is lying to girls far younger than you?"

"Downright creepy if you ask me," said Nami.

"It's curious that nobody's killed you so far solely for being so offensive," mused Robin, stroking her chin with her index finger.

"Hah! They've tried, whore!" sneered Vandal. "I'm immortal! It's not just age, nothing can kill me."

A loaded silence passed while the tension suddenly rose so much that it threatened to choke the air. The smell of ozone wafted off of Nami, the sound of sliding metal came from Zoro as he slowly drew a blade, and Sanji's foot caught fire.

Amused, Robin only giggled. "Oh my," she said, her rich voice dripping with humour, "so you're saying it's impossible to kill you, no matter how hard we try?"

Sensing the trap he had just stumbled to, Vandal managed, "I—"

"This way, Your Majesty," said Brook, suddenly at her side and gently coaxing her away. Despite his greater height, it did not feel like he was looming over her. "We might have better luck with some of the other officers. Reporting that Vandal's been captured should pull the wind out of their sails at least."

"Well I—"

The sounds of violence behind her made her flinch.

!JUSTICE!

Author Notes:

Comparing the Harley clones to Superman by the way is pure hyperbole by the general by the way; in reaction to some rather dismal and increasingly concerned reports over the radio. Ivy did not create an army of Harley-plant-Kyrptonians.

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Yep, due to the altered timeline, and threat of the Straw Hats, Vandal Savage made sure to grab a sample of the Captain Nazi formula. As the formula was made after he had been deposed as Fuhrer however, it was all he could manage. He never really got around to properly studying or reproducing it though, preferring to focus more on his own technological advances. Still, he recognised the potential, and gave it to Vox as a 'do-or-die' final contingency.

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For the record, Luffy weighs 141.1lbs, and yeah Batman can assess someone's weight pretty accurately.

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