Chapter 2: Escape from the Thanagarians
The two Marvels and the six members of the Justice League were moving quickly and silently through the darkly lit street, crossing it just before two Thanagarian patrols passed. Since they had escaped into the city, the eight knew that any activity less stealthy than what they were doing now would lead to them being caught. And for obvious reasons, they couldn't afford it.
The group reached the end of the alley and Green Lantern and Captain Marvel took the lead, leaning carefully in the next street. Seeing the Thanagarian guards facing the opposite direction, the blonde woman whispered to the others:
"All clear here."
The eight rushed into the parallel aisle and, seeing no Hawksoldiers on the road, were ready to continue running in the next aisle. As the group waited to advance into another alley, a large tank descended the street, flanked by two other Thanagarian officers. Superior Kragger stood at the top of the chariot and, thinking he had noticed movement, lit a light in the alley. Fortunately, the group managed to hide behind two garbage cans just in time. As Kragger and his men continued on the street, the hidden heroes fled and left the scene.
The group came out of hiding and considered retaking their steps, but as they turned around, two shadows appeared in the small light at the end and became larger.
"We've got to move, guys." says Ms. Marvel in a low voice.
Turning, the eight heroes ran into the now abandoned street and into the next alley, feeling as if they were running through a maze. Finally, they found refuge in a clothing shop.
As soon as they took their breath, Green Lantern turned to Superman.
"That X-Ray vision working yet?"
"Just enough to see Hawksoldiers still patrolling the skies." replied the Kryptonian looking at the ceiling of the store.
"Awesome!" said Ms. Marvel in amazement. (when everyone beheld her with confusion, she hastened to clarify.) "Uh… The x-ray vision thing, not the Hawksoldiers patrolling the skies."
Captain Marvel scratched her throat by making her sign not to be too ecstatic.
"Are you a kid?" exclaimed Green Lantern watching Ms. Marvel. "We were saved by a woman and a girl?!"
The latter stared at him with hostile eyes.
"I'm sixteen years old! And I'm not a kid! I'm a superhero!"
"Right..." said the green Guardian a little puzzled. "Thank you for getting us out of there."
"You're welcome." replied Captain Marvel, staring at him coldly. "What do we do now?"
"They'll have the whole city covered by now." J'onn explained in his Martian form looking at the streets.
"Who knows? Maybe they'll get tired and go home." assumed Flash with a cheerful tone.
All the others stared at him, some rolling their eyes.
"Is he serious?" muttered Ms. Marvel, bewildered and looking at him with pity.
"Yeah, I know." said the red speedster. "But a little optimism at a time like this couldn't hurt."
Before anyone could say anything, a voice was heard, amplified by one of the Thanagarian tanks outside in the street.
"THIS IS THE VOICE OF THE THANAGARIAN OCCUPATIONAL AUTHORITY. YOUR SO-CALLED JUSTICE LEAGUE ARE ESCAPED AND VIOLATORS OF OUR MARTIAL LAW. THEY ARE TO BE CONSIDERED AN ENEMY AND DEALT WITH ON SIGHT. ANY PERSON FOUND AIDING OR HARBORING THEM… WILL BE SUMMARILY PUNISHED."
Captain Marvel gave a sarcastic glance at the Flash.
"Optimism, huh?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry." replied the more awkward speedster.
"For the time being, we're gonna have to go underground." declared Batman with a voice full of authority.
"How exactly do we hide when the entire planet is looking for us?" she remarked Wonder Woman.
"With your outfits, you will be spotted too easily." said Captain Marvel looking at them all.
"She's right. They're looking for the Justice League." J'onn clarified by touching the sleeve of a cloak near him.
And to the surprise of the two visitors to the stars, the Martian transformed into a man wearing a brown trenchcoat.
"Without our costumes, we are merely ordinary citizens."
"Shape-shifter." says Captain Marvel with admiration. "Not a Skrull. "
Embarrassed, Flash raised his arms with apprehension.
"Whoa, wait a second! What about the whole secret identity thing? I mean… I trust you guys, but what about this two girls?"
The two Marvels stared at him, both offended.
"Girls? I look like a girl to you?" exclaimed Carol outraged.
"The two girls who just saved your ass from a ship full of Hawksoldiers." replied Ms. Marvel with furious eyes. "It would be foolish to trust us after that!"
Seeing the other members of the Justice League stare at them with curiosity, Captain Marvel calmed down and spoke in a serene tone.
"Honestly, we didn't ask to be here. We're looking for our missing friend. And we accidentally ended up on your earth. Right now, we're stuck here and we have no way of contacting our allies."
"On our Earth?" asked Superman confused. "Are you telling us that you are aliens like J'onn and me?"
"No, no, no, no, we are not aliens." rectified Ms. Marvel. "We come from the Earth. But of a Earth that is different from yours. An Earth where there is no Justice League. No Batman, no Superman, no Gotham City or Metropolis. None of this exists in our world. Back home, we have our own superheroes who call themselves the Avengers."
Captain Marvel added:
"Since we don't know if our friend is on this Earth, we decided to help you with your invaders. I have already protected multiple planets in the past. I'm Captain Marvel."
"And I am Ms. Marvel." said her sidekick with a smile.
The Justice League watched them with curiosity when they discovered that both visitors shared the same name.
"Are you related?" asked Flash.
"No, we are just twinsies!" declared Ms. Marvel ecstatic. "We are the Marvels."
"Twinsies?" wondered Green Lantern stunned.
Captain Marvel scratched her throat and spoke to the other heroes with a clumsy smile.
"The Marvels...is her idea! Not mine! We haven't worked together for long..."
"But we are a team?" asked Ms. Marvel.
"We were forced to team up when Dar-Ben threatened to destroy the universe... And..." (sighing annoyingly, Captain Marvel replied, despite her.) "Okay, fine, we're a team!"
"Captain Marvel and I are superheroes." the young heroine from Jersey City proudly declared. "One day I saved my city, and when I met Captain Marvel, she and I saved the universe together with the help of our missing friend. We are looking for her."
"Then, we are lucky that you both arrived at the right time." Superman replied to the two heroines with gratitude.
The heroes of the Justice League seemed to approve of the Marvels. Only Batman remained skeptical. He was more focused on the blonde woman than her young sidekick. Captain Marvel was able to fly and possessed superhuman strength. If she was not an alien, she was a human who had received super-powers. He needed to determine if she was a threat to others. But his concerns would have to wait. The first step was to deal with the threat of the Thanagarians.
"J'onn, do you think we can trust them?" he asked at the Martian.
J'onn watched them carefully, then spoke gently.
"I don't feel any hostile intentions from our visitors. They are trapped here and cannot leave our world. But I have to see more."
He turned to her.
"Captain and Ms. Marvel. My name is J'onn J'onzz, from the planet Mars.
"So there is life on Mars?" said Ms. Marvel in ecstasy.
"There was life in it." he sadly clarified.
The ecstatic smile of Ms. Marvel faded as she was suddenly silent.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to be insensitive or rude..."
"It's okay, I know it was not intentional." J'onn reassured her with sympathy. "As a Martian, I am polymorphic and have the ability to read minds. With your permission, I would like to enter your minds, so as to be sure that you are not a threat to us."
"Are you consider us dangerous?" exclaimed Ms. Marvel a little frustrated.
But Captain Marvel nodded.
"Go ahead! There are no problems!" (Turning to his sidekick) "They were betrayed by one of their own. Their mistrust is understandable. If it can help them, you might as well not contest." (Addressing the Martian.) "Do it."
J'onn nodded and his eyes became red as he scanned the minds of Carol and Kamala.
He could see the difficult start of Carol Danvers in the army. Her male comrades belittle and humiliate her. Then her friendship with Maria Rambeau. "Higher, further, faster, baby." The crash of her plane and the death of Mar-Vel. Then, Carol's powers turning her into Captain Marvel. All her fights against the Kree after she discovered that she had been duped by them. Her hard battles with the Avengers. Then the whole life of Kamala appeared to him. First a great admirer of Captain Marvel, then become a superhero known as Ms. Marvel.
J'onn discovered their recent fight against Dar-Ben and then suffered the loss of Monica Rambeau.
Everyone looked at them while their friend waited to see their minds. Moments later, J'onn's eyes returned to those of his human disguise. He looked shocked after seeing all the fights and achievements of both Marvels, but after a while he smiled before turning to his teammates:
"We can trust them both. They have saved their universe time and again. Neither of them chose to be there, but they decided to come to our help."
"Great!" replied Flash rejoiced. "We are in the same team! Awesome!"
Captain Marvel turned to Batman, noticing that he didn't trust her.
"So… Everything all right?"
The Dark Knight nodded. Then he turned to his teammates.
"Wally West." he said, pointing to Flash. "Clark Kent." he added, pointing to Superman.
Then he took off his black and pointed mask revealing the face of a brown man whose eyes were piercing. A look that Carol recognized in her eyes. The look of a man who suffered and struggled with his demons.
"Bruce Wayne. And you met John Stewart aka Green Lantern. And you know Diana."
"Well… secret's out. Then… Here we go." declared Ms. Marvel by removing her domino mask.
She showed her true face to the Justice League.
"I'm Kamala Khan. Nice to meet you guys! And it's a pleasure to meet other superheroes, even if it is during an alien invasion! It's so cool! It's awesome and..."
"Kamala, that will do." says Captain Marvel raising her hand to make her shut up.
Smiling, the latter reached out to the Dark Knight of Gotham.
"Carol Danvers. Nice to meet you, Bruce Wayne, despite the circumstances."
Somewhat hesitant, Bruce ends up shaking the woman's hand and staring at her as if he wanted to scan her.
Stunned, Flash stared at his friends before deciding to take off his red mask.
"Show-off."
By removing his red cap, he revealed to all a red hair in battle. Diana turned to him with amusement.
"Red hair." she said, ruffling her hair. "It suits you."
"Yeah, it's hip." added Kamala amused in turn.
"You think, girls?" said Wally.
Then, Bruce froze his pants over his face.
"Change. Now."
Minutes later, all the members of the Justice League were dressed as ordinary civilians, with Superman alias Clark Kent wearing a blue suit and glasses, Diana wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt and jeans while tying her hair in a long ponytail, Green Lantern with a brown hoodie and brown pants, Batman wearing a leather jacket with grey trousers and a turtleneck, and Flash wearing dark jeans and brown jacket. Carol and Kamala each wore white t-shirts with dark green coats. They had their hair tied in ponytails and wore caps to camouflage their faces.
When the group of heroes left the clothing shop by an alley, they noticed that the situation had become more complicated than it seemed before. The sky was strewn with Thanagarian soldiers on patrol. Hovertanks raided the streets while Hawkmen watchmen monitored any suspicious activity on every street corner.
"They are determined to find us." commented Kamala with astonishment.
Bruce turned his head outside to determine if the way was clear.
"They'll be looking for eight of us. We need to split up." said John.
"If we're going to blend in, have we a rendezvous point?" Carol asked, looking in all directions to see the Thanagarians searching everywhere.
"And who takes these two?" said John, pointing to the two female visitors.
"We're about 30 miles from Gotham City." explained Bruce. "We can regroup at my house there. But try and keep a low profile."
Then he looked at Carol and her sidekick.
"Kamala will accompany me and Diana. Carol will just follow Clark and J'onn."
"Agree." Carol said as she looked at Kamala. "We'll have a better chance of going unnoticed by splitting up. Be discreet, Kamala. Use your powers only in an emergency."
"No problem." assured hem Kamala following Bruce and Diana.
"30 miles through hawk-infested territory. No problem." commented Wally as the group split.
Wally followed John. While Bruce, Diana and Kamala left on one side and the other Carol went to join Clark and the Martian disguised as human.
Aboard the Thanagarian mothership, Shayera Hall, formerly a member of the Justice League and known as Hawkgirl, was stunned by what she saw on the video screen shown to her.
When Hro Talak, commander of the Thanagarian forces and her future husband, discovered that the League had freed itself from their prison ship and crashed it into Metropolis, he was furious. Angry, he had demanded that the recovery teams check the security videos of the ship to find out how they managed to escape. It was a few hours before, and Talak had calmed down enough to think about the situation. Although a formidable team, the Justice League could not hope to defeat the combined power of the Thanagarian invasion forces. They were unarmed and the Thanagarians knew all their weaknesses, thanks to Shayera's information.
Obviously, that was before Talak received the images that were now displayed on his screen. Images of a strange blonde woman with a superhuman strength similar to that of Superman and able to shoot energy beams from her fists, accompanied by a brunette teenager girl who was able to stretch her arms and hands. The two intruders had managed to get the Justice League out of their confinement and fought off an entire legion of Thanagarian soldiers and destroyed a whole prison ship.
Shayera had no idea who these two were. Nor if they were from this world. Which she kept repeating to Lieutenant Kragger, Talak's adviser who kept questioning her about the escape from the League.
"You sure you don't know these two women who wiped out a whole legion of our own with their bare hands?"
Annoyed, Shayera shouted to him with anger:
"For the last time, I don't know anything about these two! I never seen them before! I have no idea who they are! UNDERSTAND?!"
Talak had managed to calm her down and then ordered his lieutenant to search for them on Earth.
Later, Talak spoke on a video screen with Paran Dul, a Thanagarian woman who was in charge of building the shield generator, which was needed to protect Earth from the Gordanian invasion.
"The construction proceeds as scheduled." she announced. "We have added humans to the workforce."
"Are they of any use?" asked Talak.
"They have no technical expertise to speak of, but they can lift and carry as well as any animal. We should complete the project by the target date."
"Be aware that the Justice League has escaped with the help of two very powerful women from whom we know nothing at all. Stand ready for an attack." said Talak.
"Let them come. It would only be suicide." boasted Dul, completely indifferent to a possible attack against the Thanagarian forces.
"Keep me informed of your progress. And, Paran, let nothing delay you." ordered the commander Thanagarian.
"By your command."
Then the communication faded. Shayera was concerned about a subject mentioned earlier in the conversation between Rho and Paran. She had noticed with disgust the way she addressed humans of the earth as mere animals and not people. When did her people start to see other races as more, rather than less, as they usually do?
But something else worried her. Had her congeners enlisted humans as slaves? And they treated them like animals? This was not what was originally planned.
She shared her concerns with her fiancé.
"Humans working as slaves?"
"Unfortunate but necessary." replied Talak without any remorse or empathy for the human race.
He went to a nearby console to check some details.
"We are on an unforgiving schedule, And if we're going to finish the hyperspace bypass in time..."
Shayera's eyes widened in shock. A hyperspace bypass? This was not what he had announced to the humans.
"Bypass? I thought we were building a force shield." she said with surprise, approaching him and looking straight into his eyes.
It was the first time she heard about it. No one told her that her fellow Thanagarians were building a hyperspace bypass.
"That was merely the cover story." replied Talak as if it were obvious, looking at Shayera as if she should have known from the beginning.
Confused and frustrated, she stared at her commander angrily.
"So when were you going to tell me your real plans? Or didn't you think you could trust me?"
A long silence followed, as the two Thanagarian warriors looked into each other's eyes, neither of them ready to back up. In all the time they had spent together, Shayera never felt so much anger towards Talak, nor so much betrayal. What wrong with him?
"Come." he said gently taking Shayera out of his thoughts.
Chief Thanagarian walked away, and Shayera obeyed, wanting answers.
After about five minutes of walking and a lift ride later, the two were brought into the ship's war room, where Talak had taken her to a large screen used for strategy and combat tactics.
"For decades, the Gordanian homeworld has been protected behind an impregnable defensive line." Talak explained, drawing a picture of the Gordanians' home system, their planet being depicted as surrounded by legions of ships and space stations that made a frontal assault a futile endeavor.
"But this chain of hyperspace bypasses will allow our armadas to jump behind their defenses and make a direct assault on the heart of their empire."
Shayera had understood that he means, and she had to admit it: strategically, it was brilliant. But it wasn't that simple. There was something else. Something else very bad.
"Earth is the last link in that chain. Once the chain is completed, we can attack and wipe out the Gordanian threat forever."
The old Hawkgirl was beginning to perceive a hint of victory in Talak's voice. But that was not what worried her the most.
"But if we open a hole in hyperspace, it will destroy this entire planet." she protests.
"Sadly, yes." He gently admitted Talak, his voice becoming heavy, revealing how much time and effort he had spent in this war, and what it would cost him.
The rest of the Thanagarians thought it was worth it, but Talak still felt he would face possible retribution for his actions.
"For Thanagar to live, Earth must die."
As Bruce, Diana and Kamala walked the streets of Metropolis and headed to the station, they tried their best to look like a "family". Kamala stood close to Diana and Bruce as they passed the Thanagarian patrols, or avoided them as much as possible.
They passed a television shop. The face of a Thanagarian appeared and addressed the population:
"We are here to serve the people of Earth. We serve the people by making certain that you do what is in your best interest. What is in your best interest is to do as we say. Only by obeying us can we serve you."
Kamala rolled her eyes, sullen to listen to this false message.
They were almost at the station when a certain agitation caught their attention. Two Thanagarian soldiers were harassing a couple about their ID when one of the soldiers grabbed the woman's purse and pulled it from her arm, triggering a cry from the frightened woman. Feeling a justified anger, her boyfriend immediately stepped forward and grabbed the Thanagarian's arm urging him to leave her alone. This resulted in a punch to the face, which sent him back and head on the sidewalk. When the man did not get up, his girlfriend immediately fell to her knees, rocking her head on his lap as she looked at the Thanagarians with dread and anxiety.
Kamala's hands clenched in fists and as she was about to move, she saw Diana come forward first, anger on her face. But before she could do anything, Bruce grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"Diana, no! Kamala, don't do anything crazy!" he suddenly said, casting a dark look at the hawk soldiers.
"You would stand here and do nothing?" rebelled Diana frustrated.
"We can't risk a confrontation here." said Bruce.
Although she hated to admit it, Kamala agreed with him. The invaders were everywhere in the air and on land. The slightest confrontation with them could be dangerous for them.
Suddenly, all three looked up to hear the cries of some teenagers on the roof. Kamala looked up as a blonde-haired teenager and his slightly chubby friend yelled from the roof:
"Hey, birdheads, go back to where you came from! Get off our planet!"
To aggravate the situation, they threw a brick at the Thanagarians.
"Oh, not good!" said Kamala, anxious, knowing that this gesture would have serious reprisals.
The Thanagarian pulled out a laser rifle and fired one shot at the roof. The roof opened and several pieces of concrete fell towards the couple who was harassed by the hawks.
Instinctively, Kamala reached out her hands, creating a shield made of crystal-clear construction of violet color that protected the couple from falling concrete. As the heavy stones bounced off the purple shield, the Thanagarians stared at Kamala in shock for a few moments before Bruce suddenly unleashed himself and stomped his foot on one of the soldiers, Pushing him against his partner and throwing them both to the ground.
Across the street, other Thanagarian soldiers turned to them and pointed:
"Over there! It's the Justice League!"
Bruce ran away, followed by Kamala and Diana, as two winged soldiers fired laser rifles at them.
"So much for blending in." commented Bruce as he fled the hostile invaders.
"Sorry, I'd no choice!" added Kamala who ran next to him.
As they fled, the Amazons' warrior suddenly stopped, pushing Kamala onto the sidewalk before turning around and grabbing a nearby streetlight. Wonder Woman barely sweated when she pulled it out of her hinges, which earned her a gasp of shock from Captain Marvel's acolyte, as the Amazon made him twirl like a baseball bat, crushing the Thanagarian patrol that followed them with cries of pain. Bruce grabbed her by the hand preventing her from being shot at close range and urged Kamala to follow them.
They were running away, not wanting to start a battle surrounded by so many innocent civilians.
"We're too exposed here! We have to hide somewhere!" exclaimed the girl running with Bruce and Diana.
As they continued to run down the street, a man in a red turban came out of his shop, waved his hand at them and pointed to the inside of his restaurant:
"In here!"
As they all hesitated for a moment, he urged them to enter the restaurant:
"Please. Hurry."
The man quickly closed the door and pushed the three further into the restaurant, attracting both frightened and hopeful glances from other customers. Bruce spoke and glanced at the owner:
"We can't stay here. If they find you helping us..."
The man simply grabbed Bruce and Diana by the arm and put them at a couple's table in the back while an Indian waitress came out and grabbed Kamala, took off her cap, made her put on a waiter apron with a scarf in her hair, and passed her a tray full of glasses. Then another waitress pulled out a blue scarf and quickly wrapped it around Diana's hair, hoping that it would be enough to fool the Thanagarian patrol.
Three Hawksoldiers slammed the doors and entered the restaurant with a scowl. Diana immediately wrapped her arms around Bruce's neck, her eyes widening for a split second as the young woman's firm but surprisingly soft lips pressed against hers.
Kamala, dressed as a waitress, lowered her head, hoping not to be recognized, and came to serve the drinks to customers who had their eyes fixed on the invaders who had just entered the restaurant.
The soldiers looked around as the owner approached them, the lead soldier giving the man a fierce look:
"We're looking for a dark-haired man and woman and a girl with them."
"I'm sorry, but there are only couples here." The owner simply replied, holding out his right hand to indicate the restaurant full of dark-haired couples, all looking at the soldiers with suspicious and worried expressions.
The lead soldier glanced around before focusing on Bruce and Diana in the back, who were feverishly kissing each other before turning to the owner:
"Has anyone entered here recently?"
The owner quickly said no to the hawksoldier in a neutral tone before the soldier pointed at Bruce and Diana in the back as they kissed with ferocity:
"What about those two?"
The owner, with a surprising dose of deception, managed to smile:
"Ah, the lovebirds. Been here for hours."
He even manages to appear nonchalant by waving his hand towards the soldier.
The Thanagarian looked at the restaurant for a few moments without noticing Kamala posing as a waitress, before turning around and telling his fellow soldiers:
"Let's move on."
Diana and Bruce glanced at the Thanagarians who were moving away, their lips still entwined in a kiss before abruptly separating. Then Diana withdrew and looked at Bruce a little timidly through her eyelashes.
"Sorry." she said with embarrassment.
In return, Bruce unconsciously raised his left eyebrow and smiled at her:
"Don't be!"
Unlike Diana, he had not been bothered by the kiss. He was rather amused. The lips of the Amazon had not bothered him in the least.
Shortly after the winged soldiers left, Kamala sighed with relief as she rested on the plateau. And the waitress gave her back her hat. She thanked her and came to ask the owner if the restaurant had a back exit.
The owner took Bruce, Diana and Kamala out through a door at the back of the restaurant kitchen.
Before leaving the place, Bruce turned and nodded slightly to the owner. He had raised the street and the name of the restaurant, so that once the Thanagarian threat was contained, he could thank the owner by making a donation from an anonymous donor.
Wally and John walked side by side, careful not to draw attention to themselves. He was following a group of civilians in a queue to get on a train.
"I can't believe Bats is really Bruce Wayne." commented Wally as he walked behind people. "You'd think a billionaire playboy could crack a smile every once in a while."
"I can't believe how easily they've taken over." John commented, seeing Thanagarians harassing passers-by to control their identities.
Wally bowed his head sadly and spoke with sympathy to his friend:
"Look, G.l. Hawkgirl fooled us all. You can't blame yourself for what's happened."
"I don't." John replied with a piercing look. "I blame her for what's happened to Earth. I only blame myself for ever caring about her."
"Be prepared to show identification or be detained." a Thanagarian was rumbling at the other end of the line to get on the train.
The two heroes of the League were frozen, not knowing what to do.
"I think we wanted the non-Hawkpeople line." suggested Wally in a low voice to his friend.
"If we run, they'll see us." John pointed out.
"Well, staying here is no good, either." he reminded Wally with a piercing look. "If you've got any ideas, I'm open."
The two heroes were only three people away from being controlled when Carol, Clark and J'onn arrived by chance and noticed the difficult situation they were in.
"Uh-oh. Trouble." said Clark with a squint.
"There's nothing I can do. If I use my powers, I will hurting the civilians around us." added Carol worried about the two men.
"Carol's right. Too many civilians." J'onn nodded. "If we try to help them, someone could get hurt."
"What can we do?" asked Carol anxiously.
"Keep moving. Have your identification ready." ordered the soldier while there was only one couple in front of John and Wally.
"What are we gonna do?" murmured Wally anxiously.
John slipped a wrench he had taken from the shop, along his wrist and in his hand. When it was their turn to be checked, John walked forward with the wrench hidden discreetly along his arm.
"Excuse me!" said a reporter stand in the crowd behind them, drawing the soldiers' attention as he approached them with a natural look and a notepad and pen in his hand.
"Clark Kent of the Daily Planet. We understand the Thanagarians are doing construction at a restricted location in the Gobi desert. Can you confirm this?"
Wally and John looked at each other for a brief moment, bewildered by the perfect timing of their apparent friend and ally, the journalist. Carol then decided to take out a camera and start taking pictures of the soldiers, posing as Clark's photographer. She hid her face behind the camera and blinded them with the flash.
"Say cheese!" she said taking pictures of the Thanagarians.
"Get that contraption away!" ordered the Thanagarian severely, not noticing that Wally and John had gotten on the train.
Clark continued as if nothing had happened.
"And just exactly how long do you plan on enforcing martial law?"
But the Thanagarian was more than annoyed by this journalist.
"No more questions. Go away immediately!"
"Can I quote you?" asked the journalist softly.
Then Clark, Carol and J'onn left the station with a sneer look on their faces, happy to have been able to help their friends by fooling the Hawksoldier's vigilance.
On a viewing deck, Shayera looked down at the city; the night sky was absolutely beautiful, glittering stars falling in cascade on her line of sight, at that moment Talak came out of the bridge behind her and stopped.
"What are you looking at?" he asked.
"Nothing." replied Shayera coldly.
"I have never seen anyone stare at nothing so intently." he said as he stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulder armor, trying to bring her some comfort after the revelation she had had.
"I know this must be difficult for you." he added with sympathy.
"Do you?" said Shayera sarcastically without looking at him.
"What is obligation can sometimes feel like betrayal, but our only true obligation is to Thanagar." said Talak.
Shayera was tired of her fiancé's behavior. For years she had infiltrated the Earth, spied on and betrayed her friends out of duty to her people. All this so that his people destroy the Earth in order to save themselves? And without being informed? Was it really worth it? Was sacrificing an entire planet full of innocents to save her people really the right thing to do?
Coldly, she turned and faced him with a look of despair.
"There must be another way. Can't you reroute the bypass? Through some uninhabited planet or moon?"
"Any alteration would set us back more than five years." Talak retorted by placing his hands on her shoulders. "And every moment we delay is equaled in the blood of our people."
"That still doesn't give us the right!" objected Shayera. "There are billions of lives down there! Innocent families. Innocent children. All these people live like us. They have ways to build. So many loves. And you plan to kill them all without the least remorse? The people of the Earth have as much right to live as we do! It is not up to us to decide which civilization should live or die!"
"We are at war!" yelled Talak still without any empathy for the Earth's people. "Have you forgotten why we fight? Or what horrors the Gordanians are capable of? Have you forgotten my long years rotting in their stinking prison camps?"
The Thanagarian took off his helmet, revealing a huge scar that started on the side of his chin and broke on the side of his face and right eye. His gaze was expressed by rage and memories of suffering.
"I haven't!"
Shayera kept her cool and resumed in a more calm tone:
"I have forgotten nothing. But this war is no excuse to..."
"I am your commander!" Talak replied with severity, taking her by the arms and squeezing too hard. "You will not question me!"
Feeling his strong hold on her, Shayera stared at her superior with a haughty look.
"I don't even know you anymore."
Talak was about to respond angrily when his subordinate approached him.
"What is it?" he asked, putting on his helmet.
"We've lost track of the Justice League and the two powerful women who freed them." explained Kragger in a monotonous tone. "They've blended with the populace. It will be difficult to find them." (He gave a sneer look at Shayera.) "Unless, of course, you know where they are."
Moving faster than the speed of sound, the former Hawkgirl grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against the side computer console.
"You're a long way from home. If you ever want to see it again, then I suggest you tread lightly." she spat at her with a hostile look.
Kragger struggled to breathe, then Shayera dropped him on the ground and moved away from the man she thought she knew.
Kragger rubbed his neck and looked up at his superior with the same sneer look.
"She never really answered the question, did she?"
Bruce, Diana, Clark, J'onn, Carol and Kamala were the first to arrive in Gotham City. As he reached the city, Bruce relaxed slightly while walking through the streets of his hometown. With Hawksoldiers on every street corner, even the criminals who usually raged around Gotham seemed to be hiding or being hidden. Walking through the outskirts of Gotham, they eventually reached Wayne Manor.
Kamala was amazed at the sight of this great Manor.
"Gosh! So your super-power is to be rich?" she asked at Bruce completely dazed.
The billionaire ignored her when he reached the front door. They were greeted by an older, bald man. Bruce introduced him as Alfred Pennyworth, his faithful butler. The latter offered them refreshments which Carol and Kamala accepted gladly. Then, Kamala, who had never been in a Manor, was tempted to visit the place with ecstasy. But Carol had to remind her why they were really there.
Bruce then led them to a grandfather clock that opened onto an underground tunnel. If seeing the Manor made Kamala's eyes pop, they were practically out of their orbits, and her jaw was almost dropped when she entered the secret door behind the grandfather clock and went down the stairs to an impressive secret cave under the great house.
Carol was equally impressed looking around at the dark cave, and noticed the bats flying around the rock above their heads.
"A rich man who have pet-bats." she commented as she looked at the impressive cave that contained all the technological equipment she had never seen before.
Bruce had a sneer smile as he noticed the astonished expressions of the two female visitors who were tempted to admire everything that was part of his cave.
"Carol! Kamala! Welcome to the Batcave!"
"The Batcave? Oh My God!" Kamala marveled.
"If Fury was there to see all this..." said Carol, noticing the giant computer part of the dark cave.
She turned to Bruce.
"If I didn't know you were human, I would have taken you for a vampire."
Bruce raised an eyebrow without answering her and took a seat in front of his computer.
Kamala walked through the cave and saw many mementos that Batman had collected during his years of fighting crime, such as a twenty-foot penny, a mechanical T-Rex and other smaller objects.
She looked at a strange dark vehicle that seemed to be the Batmobile. She was even more ecstatic.
"I bet a car like that must have lots of gadgets! So great!"
"Kamala!" Bruce growled at his computer without looking. "Don't touch anything."
Carol admired the strange objects that Batman collected. Her attention turned to a strange ice gun.
Then Kamala returned to her.
"Do you think all rich people have this kind of stuff in their undergrounds?" she asked.
Carol rolled her eyes without answering, then motioned not to be too ecstatic. They had to stay focused on the threat of the Thanagarians, as impressive as the Batcave could be.
Carol also noticed how clean and spotless the place was. She came to Alfred who was busy serving the teas for the guests.
"You clean the whole Manor and also this cave? I hope Bruce Wayne pays you a lot of overtime, Alfred."
Without answering her, the old butler smiled politely and hands her a cup of tea before going upstairs.
After waiting impatiently, the last two members of the League, Flash and Green Lantern, arrived at the Manor and were led to the Batcave by Alfred.
"Your guests have arrived, sir." announced the butler when Wally and John arrived.
The two heroes went down the stairs and joined the heroes gathered in front of the computer.
"You're late." said Bruce, welcoming them coldly.
"Nice to see you, too." John replied sarcastically with a piercing look.
With ecstasy, Wally noticed the mechanical T-Rex.
"Hey! That's a giant dinosaur!"
"I know! It's so great!" added Kamala ecstatic too.
Alfred approached Wally and Kamala from behind, his face completely serious as he spoke, although the sarcasm was not unnoticed:
"And I thought Batman was the detective."
Carol watched the butler walk away, chuckling with amused laughter. She was starting to like him.
When the group of heroes was assembled, it was J'onn who spoke first:
"We were just speculating why the Thanagarians are really here."
"Obviously not to protect us." replied Clark.
"Sure." said Carol. "If they really wanted to protect the earth, they wouldn't have captured you and locked you in cells. And they would not impose martial law on the people of Earth. There are much more peaceful ways to protect an entire planet."
"But if the Gordanians aren't actually anywhere near Earth, why do they need to build that force field?" Diana remarked.
"If it is a force field." added Bruce with a sceptical look.
"We have to find out what they are actually building." replied Kamala. "Whatever it is, it's certainly not a good thing for us."
"Then what is it?" asked John.
"Perhaps a weapon of destruction." Carol assumed shrugging.
"I can tell you." declared a female voice from the darkness of the cave.
Everyone immediately stood up, turning to the voice with big eyes. Shayera emerged from the shadows in her complete Thanagarian equipment, but without mass or weapon.
Clark took a step forward, the anger visible on his face, and removed his glasses.
"You've got a lot of nerve, showing up here."
"We should thank you. It saves us having to hunt you down." added Diana with a hostile look.
"Should we throw her out or lock her up?" asked Carol to Bruce.
"I didn't come to fight." Shayera said in a calm voice and without moving from her position. "I came to help."
It was Wally who replied, with the same hostile tone as his teammates:
"Hawkpeople all over the planet, martial law, us getting chased like dogs. I don't think we can take much more of your help."
Kamala was lost in thought, then spoke again:
"Hold on! Wait a minute, guys!"
She came to stand between Shayera and the Justice League.
"I think we should listen to what she has to say."
Shocked, everyone started to look at her as if she was mad.
"Kamala!" said Carol stunned.
"Do you know who she is?" asked Clark outraged.
"And what she did to us?" added Diana with furious eyes.
Kamala raised her hand to be heard.
"I know! She betrayed you! I'm not defending her and I'm not asking you to forgive her! I'm asking you to listen her! If she had wanted to attack us, she would certainly not have come alone! And after what she did to you, guys, why would she risk coming back to us if it's not to alert us? We should hear what she has to say. It could help us save this world."
Carol suddenly seemed thoughtful. What her teammate had just said made sense. Kamala was still a young and sometimes too ecstatic teenager who had the gift of annoying, but she also knew how to be mature in certain situations. She stared at her with pride.
"She's right." she says to the other heroes.
Even the Justice League had stopped at his statements.
"She has a good point." admitted J'onn with a calm voice.
Bruce kept his hostile tone, while the others didn't know what to say in protest against the girl's words.
Hearing no other argument, Kamala turned to the old Hawkgirl without a friendly look.
"Speak, now! We listen to you!"
Without looking at her, Shayera slowly advanced towards her former teammates.
"The situation is worse than you think. They are building a hyperspace bypass. When it's activated, it'll destroy the planet and everything on it."
She approached Bruce and handed him what looked like a purple video tape.
"Here. This has all the information on the project." she explained giving him the object.
Bruce continued to shoot her with his eyes without saying a word.
"And you decided to come and talk about it like this? Because you suddenly have remorse or a crisis of conscience?" exclaimed Carol, looking at her suspiciously.
Shayera continued, looking at the billionaire:
"Believe me. I didn't know the magnitude of Talak's plans."
Kamala approached her friend and whispered:
"What is a hyperspace bypass?"
"A wormhole generator." Carol replied. "It's used to create a hyper-spatial road. And it can destroy an entire planet."
Without taking his eyes off her, Bruce took the tape from her.
"We'll check it out. There's the door."
He turned away from her, went to his supercomputer and sat down.
Without even looking at him, the other members of the League turned their backs and headed for the computer. Carol turned to join the others and Kamala was about to join her too when she heard Shayera say:
"Aren't you going to turn your back on me, too?"
John approached her and looked at her with piercing eyes, arms crossed.
"Last time I let my guard down, you sucker-punched me."
"It wasn't personal."
"Keep telling yourself that."
"I did what I thought was right then, and that's what I'm doing now." the old Hawkgirl replied as she approached him.
Kamala saw her hand him a green ring. Puzzled, she beheld them both. Judging by their looks, she concluded that the two were close. How close?
Then, Shayera spread her wings and flew out of the Batcave.
Shayera returned on the Thanagarian ship floating above the city. In the hangar, she was greeted by Lieutenant Kragger who wore a strange grin.
"Welcome back, Lieutenant Hol."
"You're in my way." she said coldly.
"Likewise, I'm sure." Kragger continued gloating. "Come with me."
"I don't take orders from..."
She interrupted herself when she noticed two Thanagarians standing behind her with spears. In a short time, she was handcuffed. And her helmet off.
Talak was talking to Paran Dul on a video screen. Talak's subordinate told him:
"Construction is nearly complete. The bypass generator will be operational within the hour."
"Evacuate our troops." ordered Talak. "I want the bypass activated as soon as it's ready."
Dul nodded and the screen went black.
As Talak was about to leave the control room, his guards brought him, much to his surprise, Shayera arrested and thrown like a bundle at his feet. Stunned, he hastened to raise her and stared at his guards with anger.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Kragger came to him, pretending to be disappointed.
"I'm sorry, sir. She's guilty of high treason, Espionage, and consorting with the enemy."
Kragger came to the computer and inserted a disk into the machine, displaying a holographic image of Hawkgirl with her old friends and the two Marvels.
The image revealed the whole recording. Stunned, Talak saw a girl between Shayera and the other heroes.
...If she had wanted to attack us, she would certainly not have come alone! And after what she did to you, guys, why would she risk coming back to us if it's not to alert us? We should hear what she has to say. It could help us save this world.
...They are building a hyperspace bypass. When it's activated, it'll destroy the planet and everything on it.
Talak turned to Kragger, the cold look. He could not believe that his bride could turn away from the people of Thanagar.
"Where did you get this?"
Kragger tore the shield from Shayera and showed it to his superior.
"From the holocam I planted on her." (He continued with a gloating look.) "Wait, it gets better."
The image shows Shayera handing the green ring to John Stewart.
I did what I thought was right then. And that's what I'm doing now.
Disgusted and furious, Talak stared at Shayera, who was helpless.
"Hro."
Shooting her with his eyes, he ordered his guards.
"Get her out of my sight!"
Immediately, Shayera was taken by the Thanagarian guards. Rejoicing, Kragger beheld her being arrested and then gave a grim smile to his superior, without addressing him with the slightest empathy.
"Commander, I hated to be the one to tell you."
While he was satisfied to have arrested Shayera, Talak answered with a punch in the face that propelled him to the ground. He ordered him severely:
"Assemble your strike force and deal with the leak. This time, don't bother taking prisoners."
He left the control room leaving his subordinate on the ground without looking at him.
Thank you for reading me.
I put Carol as a photographer with Clark Kent, in reference to the film Kong: Skull Island (2017), where she played a photographer.