Dawn of an Age, Part 3

Note, the parenthesis indicates languages other than Japanese, in this case, English.

Nowhere and Nowhen

"Stranger," Asuka asked, while they walked in an empty whiteness, "I know there were some objectors, but I don't know much about German history in general, less about this time. It's shameful, you know? I guess it's more or less the same in Japan." Her eyes darted to Shinji for an instant, "Everybody knows about it, but it's rarely spoken aloud. Not proper. So, could you show me; us, somebody who didn't… who rebelled?"

The Stranger nodded, thinking for a moment. After a few seconds, he waved a hand, and the three stood on the air.

"This is the War to End All Wars, Miss Soryu. A sadly mistaken phrase. World War One. We are now on the sky over France. Under us, hundreds of men huddle in trenches, plagued by war, disease, hunger and death, the Four Horsemen ride all around is. But here, in the sky, the war takes a different form."

They heard the noise of motors around them.

"That plane," he pointed at an approaching biplane, painted red and white, followed by other four planes, "belongs to a loyal German soldier, a man of duty and honor. Hans von Hammer, known to his opponents as the Hammer from Hell, or the Enemy Ace (1). Today, he faces one of his enemies, Lt. Steve Savage, known as the Balloon Buster (2)." He pointed towards another plane, this one painted white, also part of a group.

The squadrons separated, and a brief dogfight followed. The planes pursued each other, trying to shoot down their adversary. "Today, von Hammer wins over Lt. Savage."

The Enemy Ace managed to destroy the tail end of the Balloon Buster's plane, and the flying machine entered a barely controlled spin towards the ground. Von Hammer looked on, his face set in stone, until he saw the plane crash.

Both EVA pilots gasped as von Hammer descended almost to ground level, half expecting to see the machine gun shooting the downed pilot.

But the Enemy Ace simply passed over his adversary, seeing the man crawl out the ruined plane, using his hat to get rid of the dust. Von Hammer nodded to himself, and his plane rose again to rejoin his fellow pilots. Another plane had been shot down in the meanwhile, falling down in a shroud of fire and smoke.

The fight lasted barely a few minutes, with the German pilots earning a victory.

Shinji gulped, "I thought he would shoot."

The Phantom Stranger waved a hand, and the three now stood again in the white void. "No. The Enemy Ace held himself to a very strict code of honour. He could be merciless in a fight but would never shoot an unarmed or wounded man. To do so would be a dishonour. If he had seen Savage wounded gravely, he himself would notify the enemy forces of the crash."

"Years later, von Hammer was recalled into active service, now to serve in the Russian Front, despite his personal dislike of the Reich. He never allowed a Swastika to be painted on his planes, keeping the same insignia he had in the previous war. In the last days of the war, he was shot down near the Dachau Concentration Camp. The horrors he saw there convinced him he was fighting for a criminal regime and convinced his fellow pilots to surrender to the Allies."

A wave of his hand, and they witnessed the surrender, the haughty aristocrat laying down his weapons to a dishevelled platoon of American Soldiers. "Before surrendering to Sgt, Frank Rock and Easy Company, von Hammer and his men destroyed their planes, now inoperative due to lack of parts and maintenance. This was his last act of defiance against the regime he despised. (3)"

"In the end, the Enemy Ace was a man torn between duty and personal honour. He made more enemies on his side than with the one he fought against."

Asuka whispered her thanks, "I guess he was in an impossible dilemma. What about Japan?"

The Stranger looked at Shinji, who nodded his acceptance. The mysterious man waved his hand and a slender girl appeared, she wore a tight-fitting uniform with a green top and and green and white pants. Plastic goggles covered her eyes, but didn't really hide her features. She rods a wave as she fought against a group of teenagers clad in similar styles to the Justice Society members. "Miya Shimada, of Japanese descent, born and raised in America. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, anti-Japanese sentiment rose quickly, and she had to endure bigotry for a few months, until she decided to go to Japan as a student. When her power was discovered, she joined the Japanese Imperial cause, and received the code-name Tsunami (4)."

"Under Prince Daka's orders, Tsunami, along with two other superpowered member of the Imperial Army, Sumo the Samurai, and Kung," the image changed, showing the four members of the strike force, "tried to obtain the weapon of a member of the Justice Society: Starman's gravity rod. To this end, they kidnapped Liberty Belle, to exchange her for the rod. Daka dishonoured himself by trying to kill the hostage, prompting his allies to turn against him. (5)"

"Eventually, the Axis tried to recruit a reluctant Tsunami into a special force, Axis Amerika, but the intervention of Neptune Perkins convinced her to stay with the Allies, as a provisional member of the Young All-Stars (6). She spent the rest of the war firmly in the Allies side, though she still had to endure mistrust and bigotry."

"What happened to them?" Shinji scratched his chin.

"Von Hammer retired, and years later, after a cathartic talk with a reporter, also a veteran of war, laid his ghosts to rest, and died peacefully (7). Tsunami married Perkins, had a daughter and divorced (8). She is still active to this day, affiliated to Atlantis and working on recovery efforts in the dead zone at the former Antarctic."

Asuka scoffed, "I bet that skimpy uniform doesn't look so good now."

The Stranger shook his head, "A curious fact in the life of many meta humans, is that time doesn't run as fast for them as it does for most mortals. Tsunami was still a teenager when she joined the Young All-Stars, and currently, she looks no older than 30 years old."

Shinji added, "The members of the JSA were very spry when Second Impact hit. They looked like very fit people in their fifties, instead of their actual age. I mean, they were in their mid to late twenties when WW2 started, so in 2000 they were pushing eighty at least."

The Stranger nodded, "Young Ikari is right. Sometimes, their own powers enhance their bodies, as was the case with Flash; or are immune to aging, like the Spectre, or even myself. Though in other cases, it was due to external influences. As was the case with the Justice League."

Shinji's eyes sparkled. "Can we see how they formed the League? I read it was to repel an alien invasion, but the few details I have are very strange."

"Well…" Asuka added, "Shapeshifting invaders that force other life-forms to change too? I did read your book, Wonder Boy, and that was just one of the weird things Lois Lane reported. (9)"

The Phantom Stranger extended a hand, and around the trio, an alien city appeared, its inhabitants were tall, white skinned, and held themselves with absolute pride, "This is Appellax, the centre of a conquering empire in another dimension. Its inhabitants have perfected the art of bio-transference, moving their essence into different shapes. They even discarded their original bodies, existing only as disembodied minds, changing bodies with the same ease you change clothes. For millennia, the Appellaxians engaged in conquest to stave boredom. Ruled by a Kalar, their equivalent to an Emperor. Being immortals, the only way to reach the rank of Kalar was to kill the current Kalar, rendering all their forms uninhabitable, thus erasing the mind forever. Normally, there would be only one aspirant, and it would be clear who had defeated the Kalar. But the last time a Kalar was killed, there were seven aspirants to the throne, all claiming the rank. A trail by combat would have razed the whole planet, so they chose an inconsequential planet in another dimension to stage said trial by combat." (10)

Asuka rolled her eyes, "Let me guess… Earth."

A slight smile appeared in the corners of the Stranger's mouth, "Indeed, Miss Soryu. Mostly because the living creatures of the planet could be easily converted into Appellaxian pawns. Seven travel pods carried different battle forms, selected randomly. These pods landed on Earth, and began to convert any life forms in range into copies of the battle form of the Appelaxian they carried."

At a wave of his hand, five images appeared before them, at the Stranger's prompting, the images grew in turn, showing the battles one by one.

"Middleton, Colorado; for a long time, adoptive home of the last son of Mars, J'Onn J'Onzz, the Martian Manhunter, accidentally brought to Earth by a scientis working on teleportation. J'Onzz adopted the identity of a murdered detective to hide among the humans. (11) He paused for a moment, "The Appelaxian battle form of a Stone God turned people and animals into statues. The Martian Manhunter revealed himself to the world here, as he was weakened by the battle, and couldn't maintain his invisibility."

With a thundering crash, the green-skinned hero destroyed the stone giant, and the statues changed back into people. The image stopped as the Martian Manhunter took flitght.

"Gulf of Mexico, near the Everglades. Aquaman (12) patrols the sea. He is the son of an exiled Atlantean princess and a lighthouse operator. Today, he wandered into the Appelaxian's range, and was transformed into a living blob of mercury. With a supreme effort of will, he used his telepathy to guide a school of fishes towards a whirlpool. the Appelaxian, anxious to convert them to, was ripped to pieces by the whirlpool, and the changes creatures reverted back to their natural forms."

"Star City, California. Several heroes have operated in this city, one of the best known was Black Canary (13), a member of the JSA during WW2. At this point of time, her daughter and heir is about to make her debut. Both are accomplished martial artists, but the younger Canary also possess a superpower of her own, which she will have to use in battle. A crystaline battle form has begun the transformation of the life forms of Star City into glass statues."

Black Canary dodged the attacks of the Appellaxian several times, but it was only a matter of time until she was caught. Her left foot transformed painfully into crystal. Before the invader could finish the job, a malicious smile appeared on her lips. And with careful aim, she opened her mouth. A shrill sound blasted from the throat, forcing Asuka and Shinji to cover their ears, while the appellaxian began to vibrate, the expression of the barely sketched face turned from smug to surprise to horror, just an instant before the crystalline invader shattered into fragments

"Zambia, Africa. Green Lantern (14), a test pilot who was chosen to replace a dying alien hero, he received a scientific superweapon, a power ring and a green power battery. Unlike his predecessor, this Green Lantern's power is based on science, not magic, and his part of a galaxy-spanning organization, the Green Lantern Corps, charged with protecting the galaxy from any threat. Today, as he returns from his first meeting with the Guardians of the Universe, creators of the Green Lantern Corps, he followed a meteorite from space, to find it hatched like an egg, releasing a gigantic Golden Roc. The invader transformed the animals around it into yellow, winged versions of themselves. The Power Ring was unable to affect anything yellow, so Green Lantern was affected too."

A partially transformed Green Lantern flew into a waterfall, closely followed by the giant bird. However, the hero used his ring to freeze the water, encasing the giant bird into a block of ice, breaking its control over the animals.

"Croydon, England. The second Flash (15), a police scientist was hit by a lightning bolt, obtaining superspeed. During a diplomatic visit to London, Flash was asked to investigate a burning figure. The town was full of burning figures, but one was at least double in height compared to the others, so Flash decided to investigate that one first. as he got closer to it, his own fingers began to burn too."

Shinji rubbed his chin, "This is in his biography! He used his speed to make a tornado to carry water to the creature, then sand, but it didn't work, the creature turned the water into steam and the sand to glass."

Asura raised an eyebrow, "That was the science guy, wasn't he?" Shinji nodded enthusiastically, and was about to speak when Asuka stopped him with a gesture. "Well, I'm a science gal, let me think."

The image stopped, and Asuka studied the scene. "I guess burying the creature was out, and there is no way to freeze it... Let's see... the fire triangle... a fire needs three things to burn, fuel, heat and oxygen. Take away any of those things, and the fire is over. Flash can't get the fuel away; he can't carry the people away. He tried to lower the temperature, but it seems to be too hot for simple water. He tried to block the oxygen flow with sand, same thing." She snapped her fingers, "A vortex! Just as he pulled the water from the pond, he could pull the air away from the creature!"

Shinji laughed, and raised his right index finger "Flash Fact!" Asuka's brow furrowed. Shinji continued, "He used to say that whenever he used some scientific fact to solve a problem or thwart a villain's plan."

The image moved again, things proceeded as Asuka had thought, and she elbowed Shinji's ribs with a smug "Huntress' Fact!"

"What's next?" she asked, "Five heroes, five invaders, what about the other two?"

The Stranger gestured at the images, "Each hero asked around, or was directly informed. There were two other reports of meteorites falling to Earth, on in the Antarctic, far from the resting place of Adam, I must say, and the other in the Everglades of Florida. After defeating their respective adversaries, the heroes travelled there, only to fall into a trap. The Appellaxian had decided to delay their hatching, waiting for the other battleforms to tire themselves fighting each other. However, they had already been defeated. The first to arrive was Aquaman, and the last was the Flash. The Appellaxian didn't even needed to hatch to capture them, turning each one into a wooden copy of their form."

The five images fused into one, and both pilots gasped at seeing the grotesque statues standing around the meteorite, their hands turned into branches and their feet made of roots. Even as they turned into wood, they bantered among themselves, fighting their fear.

"Each one was trapped into their own body, able only to move at the orders of the invader."

"How did they get out of this?" Asuka wondered, "I got nothing."

"Teamwork and ingenuity. Watch." The Stranger pointed at Aquaman, whose eyes narrowed in deep thought. His face twisted in effort until he stumbled. "He used his telepathy to block the invader's orders for a moment, the stumble was no accident."

As Aquaman fell down, his body pushed the Martian Manhunter against Green Lantern. One of his branches scrapped against Green Lantern's fingers, uncovering his ring.

Gathering all his will power, a green beam hit Black Canary, turning her back to human from the shoulders up. She looked around, saw Flash, and a calculating look crossed her eyes for a moment, she inhaled, and screamed.

Flash was exactly in the centre of the cone of sound, Canary's voice rose in pitch, until the wood around Flash began to shake. The appelaxian turned around, only to see the bark explode!

A red blur burst from the expanding cloud of wood fragments. The red figure stopped in front of the invader, his arms blurring as the Flash punched the invader at supersonic speeds, hundreds of times in a single second. The battleform couldn't endure such punishment, and crumbled into tinder.

Flash stopped, looked at his hands, and complained. "(Ow! I'll be pulling splinters out of my hands for weeks!)"

Both pilots winced in sympathy. Both were very familiar with pain.

"Right!" Asuka exclaimed. "Only one to go! How did they finish the one on the South Pole?"

"They didn't." Shinji shook his head. "By the time they arrived, Superman had finished it."

"What was it? What did Superman do?"

A new image appeared, a beach in the frozen continent, full of crystalline statues of seals and penguins. Superman had been partially transformed into diamond, but flew out of the range of the creature. He picked up a rock from the ground, and threw it against the creature, as fast and strong as he could, almost enough to break the sound barrier. The impact formed a web of cracks in the body.

The Appellaxian looked down at the damage, and stepped back. The animals on the beach turned back to flesh and blood. Superman took this as his cue, and flew right into the damaged body, shattering it into small pieces. (16)

By the time the other heroes arrived, Superman was already flying away.

"This battle showed the heroes that they were so much better as a team than alone. Black Canary, as a direct heir of a hero, was the one to propose they form a permanent team, just like the old Justice Society of America."

The group stood on a hill near a city, discussing the idea. The Martian Manhunter was especially reticent. "(With the attention this team would get, I would have to go completely public!)"

Flash pointed out, "(It would be a great first impression. Lantern, Aquaman and I are already known heroes, and Canary here is new, but she proved herself as a fighter. Just think of all the good we could do together!)"

Aquaman shook his head, "(You read too many comic books!)"

"(Sure I do! Why do you think I took the name Flash? I collect the comics based on the JSA adventures! The JSA's Flash is my hero.)" (17)

Canary cleared her throat, "(My mom will be thrilled. Ahem, speaking as a newcomer, I'd prefer to work with more experienced people, just like the Justice Society of America.)"

Green Lantern approved, "(We could call ourselves the Justice Society II.)"

"(Nah,)" Flash smiled, "(we are new guys, we need a new name.)"

In the end, Flash suggested to have a similar name, and the group settled on Justice League of America.

Author Notes

1. Enemy Ace debuted in Our Army at War issue 151 (Feb, 1965).

2. Balloon Buster debuted in All-American Men of War issue 112 (Dec, 1965).

3. Enemy Ace: War in Heaven miniseries, issues 1 and 2 (May and Jun 2001).

4. Tsunami debuted in All-Star Squadron issue 33 (May 1984).

5. All-Star Squadron issues 42 and 43 (Feb and Mar 1985).

6. Young All-Stars issue 1 (Jun 1987).

7. Enemy Ace: War Idyll one shot (Nov 1990).

8. Deborah Perkins, who has used the names Deep Blue and Indigo, due to her skin colour. Deep Blue debuted in Aquaman issue 23 (Aug 1996). Both she and her mother have come to Aquaman's aid several times.

9. Not a canon book, but one of the first bits of information Shinji found. Mentioned back in Chapter 2.

10. As told in Secret Origins issue 32 (Nov 1988).

11. The Martian Manhunter debuted in Detective Comics issue 225 (Nov 1955), though in that story he only assumed a new identity, and used his powers to insert himself into the system as a new police detective. In John Ostrander´s run with the character (Martian Manhunter issues 0 to 36; Oct 1998–Nov 2001. The series has the curious distinction of starting with a 0 issue, followed by a 1,000,000 issue, before issue 1!). Ostrander added the bit about replacing people who died before their time, assuming multiple secret identities all around the world. The first person he replaces is Lt. John Jones, a police detective murdered by corrupt cops. This particular bit started in Martian Manhunter issue 0 (Oct 1998) and would be later expanded during the series. I am incorporating several of those identities into this story, and they will be important when the time is right.

12. The original version of Aquaman debuted in More Fun Comics issue 73 (Nov 1941). Though the version I'm using here is considered to have debuted in Adventure Comics issue 260 (May 1959).

13. The original Black Canary debuted in Flash Comics issue 86 (Aug 1947). This version of the character was a member of the JSA, but changed teams to the JLA in Justice League of America issue 74 (Sept 1969). After Crisis in Infinite Earths, it was retconned with the second Black Canary, daughter of the first one, joining the League. This is the version we have seen in this chapter, and her debut is considered to have been in Justice League of America issue 75 (Nov 1969). A bit confusing, I know.

14. The second Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, debuted in Showcase issue 22 (Oct 1959).

15. The second Flash, Barry Allen, debuted in Showcase issue 4 (Oct 1956).

16. This is the only invader that wasn't dispatched in frame in the retelling in Secret Origins. So, I had to improvise a bit. The original version was defeated by Superman and Batman in Justice League of America 9 (Feb 1962).

17. Totally true. Back in Showcase issue 4 (Oct 1956), Barry Allen is shown reading old Flash Comics (though the cover didn´t correspond to any of the actual issues, at least in the DC Wiki cover gallery). More than once, it was shown that Barry indeed liked to collect old comic books. However, back then it was just a gimmick, though some time later, in The Flash issue 123 (Sept 1961), it was established that the original heroes lived in their own separate world, Earth Two, while the modern heroes lived in Earth One. this eventually sprawled into a whole multiverse. This arrangement worked fine for a while, but in time, there were so many alternate stories and dimensions, that DC decided to streamline everything into a single dimension/timeline, causing its own set of problems.