CHANGE OF COMMAND, PART 2.
"Because the Supreme Commander's full name is Sam Lane. And he is the father of Lois Lane." J'onn said.
If this were a cartoon, Kal's eyes would have popped out like balloons. He could not believe that his girlfriend was the daughter of the supreme commander. Flash was running from one place to another in an effort to vent or to process very surprising and difficult to assimilate information. Shayera, John and Diana were also surprised by this, but since they had seen it coming, it was a little easier to take in.
"Why didn't you ever tell me, J'onn?" Kal asked annoyed, almost wanting to do something to J'onn.
"I only did what the commander ordered me to do, but he did not tell me his reasons. Although, I suppose that was the reason why he always told you to stay away from her, but now we better stop talking. Otherwise, the supreme commander will find out about her," J'onn said.
This was true. They couldn't talk much about this, or the supreme commander would do something terrible to Kal once he learned that he was the boyfriend of his daughter. However, Kal was not satisfied with this, so he decided it was better to go talk to Lois herself so he could clear things up. This was somewhat similar to what had happened with Diana and the incident at Themyscira, but this was worse for him, as she was the one who had been lying to him for quite some time. It was somewhat similar with Diana in the sense that he still had affection for them, but now he had to clear up this whole matter.
"I think I'd better see her to clarify this matter for me," Kal said.
"Kal, you cannot leave right now. The supreme commander may be watching you if you go out or ask you to go on a mission," J'onn warned.
"J'onn, you just revealed something to me that I need to clarify. So, therefore, I ask you to help me in this, and please cover me until I return," Kal asked to be able to leave and resolve this conflict.
The Rangers saw the burden that this caused Kal. He was somewhat hurt and surprised and wanted to solve this to avoid a similar problem as the one that had happened with Diana.
"Very good, Kal. Run and come back ASAP," John said. Everyone else nodded, including J'onn.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," Kal said before running to the hangar for his bike.
Just as Kal left for the Gotham City Journal, Supreme Commander Lane called the Rangers into the conference room. The remaining four Rangers, along with J'onn, went to meet him.
"Rangers, there have been reports of a shooting near a building in Coventry. Your mission is to go investigate if KG Beast is there," he said all this while his back was turned. He wasn't going to respect them, not until they proved they were competent Rangers. And the best way to do this was to send only two of them. "Therefore, Red and Green will go investigate. What..." He said this when he turned around and saw that Kal was not there. "Where is the Red Ranger?" He asked him.
Diana knew it was time to make an excuse for hhim not to notice.
"Kal sometimes leaves off the base to relax or clear his mind. The abrupt change of commander has left him somewhat stunned," she said, hoping this would work. Fortunately, it did work for him, but it would also make the supreme commander insult him.
"Oh, how come Wayne chose someone so weak to be the Red Ranger? He can't stand even a little change. Well with that, the Green and Pink will go instead. Now, move," he ordered after his complaint, making Shayera and John want to say something to defend Kal, but they knew they couldn't.
"Commander, I think it would be better if Green and Yellow go. They work better and there are no conflicts between them," J'onn said, adapting a bit to the Supreme Commander's way of speaking. What he said was true, John still did not adapt to Shayera's confident and somewhat rude demeanor, while she still found him unbearable on several occasions, but at least with Barry this no longer happened.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but you are Rangers, and you have to get along no matter what happens. Now, get out," said the supreme commander, pointing to the exit with his finger.
"Yes sir" John and Shayera said at the same time. Diana wanted to defend J'onn's position, but compared to Commander Wayne, he didn't show that he was open to anything, and that it could bring them more trouble.
XXX
Kal arrived at the Gotham City Journal offices a few minutes after Supreme Commander Lane dispatched John and Shayera to investigate Coventry. The most surprising thing about this was that when he got to the office, he couldn't find her anywhere. He asked the others, and they told him that it was her day off. Therefore, Kal left the office and got back on his motorcycle and headed to Lois's apartment building.
Upon reaching the building, he ran to the floor where the apartment was. When he knocked on the door, he broke it, because he was so focused on getting there fast that he did not control the force of it. A woman's cry was heard, and it was none other than Lois herself.
"Easy, it's me" Kal said raising his hands. She relaxed a bit, but she could see that he was very anxious, something not very common when they were together.
"Just ring the bell or use a finger, Kal. Now, it's good to see you, but somewhat unexpected," Lois said, regaining her composure.
"Yes, it is unexpected when you know that your girlfriend never told you that she is the daughter of the Supreme Commander of the Justice League," Kal said still impatient.
Lois's eyes widened in surprise, but not like Kal's. She thought of denying everything, but she knew he knew it was true.
"He went to the base, right?" she asked with a bit of a stutter.
"Yeah, and Wayne has been fired and now he's the commander here," Kal said in a slightly high voice.
"Why did he fire him? He's been the commander for a long time, but my father never found a good reason to fire him," Lois said.
"Yes, but he fired him because he disobeyed an order to protect us," Kal said before realizing that she had said something very curious. "Wait, why do you say that? More importantly, why didn't you ever tell me anything?"
"We better sit down and I'll tell you everything," Lois said.
Kal relaxed a bit and did as she asked. Once seated, she went for two glasses of wáter. This was going to be just as long. "My father and I have been fighting for a long time. Since I was a child, he always wanted me to be part of the league. However, I never wanted to be in the league. It wasn't until my mother died of a terrible illness that he became even more persistent with it," Lois began. This was somewhat similar to Wayne and Diana recounting their difficult lives.
"I never cared about being part of the league. When I turned twenty-one, I told him that I was not going to follow in his footsteps and that I hated him for always telling me what he wanted me to do. Therefore, I have not spoken to him again. I never wanted to be like my father. I wanted me to be me, but I became very interested in journalism and writing."
That is why I wanted to be a journalist starting from scratch eliminating everything that has to do with my father, and what better than in Zone C. It's the area that he almost never visits, but now that is difficult because he fired Bruce," Lois said.
This surprised Kal, she was calling her former commander by his first name, not his last name. He wanted to find out more about that. "Did you meet Wayne before?" He asked, almost wanting to jump out of his seat.
"My father tried many times to convince me to be part of the league by taking me to various bases, and he led me to this one. I met Bruce when he was the Red Ranger, but I didn't find out what had happened to the previous squad until later. Then, I moved to Zone C. He called me and told me. The only thing I could do was offer him some moral support," Lois said looking into his eyes.
"And why did he trust you when you only met him once?" Kal asked even more confused.
To her surprise, Lois had looked away for a few minutes followed by an awkward silence. Finally, she met his eyes again before saying the most important thing.
"Because I went out with him."
If this was a cartoon, his head would have exploded from such surprise. Lois had withheld information from him, but he hadn't expected this. Wayne was melancholy, stiff, serious, intimidating, hatred, and sheer interest in the mission, so him dating his girlfriend was nothing he considered likely. Kal immediately jumped out of his chair and started pacing the apartment before stopping and yelling.
"How the hell did you date him? Wayne is just a depressed man with a tragic life who only cares about us because the mission is the most important thing. He only cares about Zone C before anyone else. Why did you do that?" He asked. "But worst of all, you kept it from me and you didn't say anything to me when I was chasing you to be your boyfriend. Why then did you agree to go with me to the base if you already knew Wayne and the base? Why?" He said this almost wanting to cry because he felt even more cheated than with what he went through with Diana.
"Because he made me promise not to say anything to you or any of you. He came to me after he almost died protecting Diana and made me promise him. I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to break that promise," she replied, trying to be as delicate as possible. "When I met you, I was interested in all of you, but because I wanted to write a good article and it served in case the basis had changed. But when you started visiting me at work, I didn't want to have anything to do with you because you're from the League and that can make my father think something wrong. However, I never thought of falling in love with you for being so kind, intelligent and courteous." She said this as she slowly approached him, taking her hands in his.
"And I dated him because he has a kind of charm, but it was just a few dates. He is someone dear to me, but there is nothing more than that, Kal. I didn't expect to be a Ranger's girlfriend, but I'm happy it's you," she said. Although he did not notice it, she felt happy, but to release what she had not been able to tell him before by keeping the promise she had made to Wayne.
Kal didn't know how to answer, this was so much to process and he needed time. For one thing, she had withheld a lot of information from him, but she made it clear to him that she loved him and that she was happy to be his girlfriend. However, her Morpho rang, so she had to answer it.
"Kal, you better come back. There's something you need from all five," J'onn said. Kal took a few seconds to respond as he looked at Lois.
"I'm on my way," he replied. "Lois, I ..." He said before Lois silenced him with a kiss on the lips.
"I understand you Kal. It's too much to take in right now, and it's your duty," she said.
"I'll be back later" he said before leaving. Before he passed through the entrance, he stopped. "I'll send someone to repair the door," he said before leaving.
"You just go," Lois said.
XXX
While Kal was with Lois uncovering her complicated past, John and Shayera went to Coventry to investigate whether KG Beast was loitering and causing mayhem. They were obeying their new commander, but they couldn't help but feel bad about how he treated them. He practically did not respect them and believed them to be incapable Rangers who could not fulfill very simple missions and circumstances.
"Why are you always so submissive to commanders, but to Kal you are so stubborn?" Shayera asked upon arrival. They were alone, so she thought it would be a good idea to talk to him. She was fed up with his smug and arrogant demeanor, which had been reduced after the parasitic robot rendered him powerless.
"Because they are the highest authority, not Kal. That, and he is not yet qualified to be the leader. You saw how he didn't want to practice because he wanted to use the Dark Sword and he was willing to do nothing about it," John replied without looking at her face, showing her confidence.
"But you also wanted to resign from the League when that robot took away your powers," she replied.
"I do not deny that I was wrong, Shayera, but you also have to stop pretending that you are the best at everything when all I see is someone who always complains about a comment or bad decision from me or the commanders. This is not the way we should work," hhe said, inspecting various details of the place, while Shayera did not take her eyes off him.
"Keep saying that and at some point you may wake up with a bruise," she threatened.
"That's what I mean. You can't accept that I'm right," John said.
"And you don't agree to be wrong either," she replied.
"I've accepted it more times than you," he said.
"But only when the commander told you you were wrong," she replied.
At a certain point, they were both right. John did agree to be wrong, but Shayera was right that those times were because the commander made him see reason. He was quite stressed out with her, so he wished his wife were here and not Shayera, whereas she would have preferred to come with Diana or Barry.
"Putting that aside, I was also surprised to learn about... her," he said with a bit of a stutter. He knew that there were cameras, and since the Supreme Commander did not trust them, it was not at all unreasonable for him to be watching them. "For some reason, women always have secrets that they prefer to tell until the wrong time or never tell them," he said hoping this would soften the conversation, but it had the wrong effect.
"Hey, we may have a lot of secrets, but you guys also tend to keep something to yourself because you're always be afraid of us," she said.
"And why do you say that, Hol?" he asked something offended by her comment, and seeing her directly in the eyes for the first time today.
"Because many men in Thanagar were afraid of me, and Barry and Kal are no exception. And you better not try to deny it," she warned him with a somewhat malicious smile.
"I'm not scared of you Hol, even Mari doesn't scare me. But it is still a terrible thing not wanting to tell us anything," He said trying to divert the conversation. Fortunately, this time it did work.
"Okay, I'll let you win this one. But with her, I'm sure being related to him must have given her a good reason, that and I'm sure Kal will forgive her. Even with this, he is crazy about her, and he always tends to do crazy things for a girl. Remember what happened to that animal," she said, smiling more when she remembered what Kal had done to impress Lois.
"That's true, but don't remind me. Anyway, I hope she gives you a good explanation because this doesn't make any sense to me," he said before a shot rang out and a bullet passed in front of him.
John created a machine gun with a shield with which he protected himself and Shayera. "You see something?" He asked her, while he was attentive to any movement.
"No," she replied.
A full minute passed, but there was no movement, so John ordered Shayera to go inspect the scene of the shooting while he continued with his machine gun and her shield. She saw that the bullet had crashed, but a piece of it looked like some kind of portable memory that can be plugged into any device.
"I think J'onn and the Supreme Commander better see this," Shayera said.
XXX
Returning to base, Kal paused in the hangar and took a deep breath to calm himself and avoid being noticed because he was still processing the conversation he'd had with Lois. After that, he ran into the conference room, but found no one. He went to J'onn's lab where everyone was there.
"Red, how good that you finally came from your walk to vent and calm your delicate temperament," said Supreme Commander Lane, saying it with hidden joy.
"John and Shayera went to investigate an alleged shooting, but they found this device. As you came back, we saw what he had hidden," J'onn said. "Don't worry, we'll play it again."
The message was a video. The message featured KG Beast showing off his muscles, but next to him was a group of teenagers in baseball uniforms.
"Attention Rangers, I think you guys fell for our game. So you better follow him if you don't want this baseball team to die for its recklessness," KG Beast said as he hit one of the hostages. This team showed one of the few good sides of the city, that is until KG Beast with the help of some ninjas from the League of Shadows imprisoned them. "We're at the team's stadium, so come with the man named Bruce Wayne, and we'll set you all free." He concluded before the screen went dark.
"We should go get the comman... I mean Wayne," Barry said. He was the first to react to threats, and he was the most logical choice of all. It was obvious that Wayne would know what to do, at least that's what he wanted to think.
"No!" Shouted Supreme Commander Lane. "Wayne was unable to save the hostages that night against Ra's, so he is the least qualified person to work on this mission." He emphasized the last words.
"But if he doesn't come, that innocent team will be killed," Kal said.
"Yes, but I will never send someone as useless and disobedient as him to work on this mission," the Supreme Commander replied.
"So we're going there to beat KG Beast to save the hostages?" Diana asked. This would be logical for the Supreme Commander to allow that, but he did not allow it either.
"No, you cannot do a mission like this. Not without costing lives. I will go alone. I will show you that I can do better than him and for you to learn not to question me. So, be obedient. If not, I will kick you out of here," he said, leaving the laboratory and on his way to prepare for combat.
"One of you will have to go with Wayne," J'onn said.
"Stop, are you willing to disobey an order?" John asked.
"Yes. Supreme Commander Lane hasn't committed such a crazy deed, not until he almost wanted to unseat Wayne as the Red Ranger, but we need him to go if we don't want the Supreme Commander and the hostages to die," he said with a firm in tone, not as smooth as it usually was.
"But why does he have to be saved?" Diana asked. She disliked Supreme Commander Lane and he didn't trust them, so he didn't see the point.
"They're Rangers, Diana," he said, emphasizing the word Rangers. "They are part of the Justice League, and our job is to save the lives of friends and people we don't like. They are still people and living beings."
"This seems to me to be a plan devised by Ra's Al Ghul. I'm sure he wants to eliminate Wayne to make it clear that we won't be able to beat him," Shayera said.
"That's a very likely thing, Hol," John agreed. Kal, Diana, and Barry nodded to that.
"If that's the case, I think it would be better to leave him out of this. He is no longer the commander, and he may die now that he can no longer transform into the Dark Ranger," Barry said.
"Not if he doesn't go, chances are they're going to try to get even with you or the baseball team," J'onn said.
"If so, then we better tell him that," John said.
"Can't we call him?" Diana asked.
"I know him well enough to know that he won't take calls. One of you has to go to his place in person to tell him," J'onn said.
"Should I go?" John asked. He considered himself the fittest for that by being the most obedient.
"No, John. I'll do it," Kal said in a very harsh tone, to everyone's surprise. "He has to answer more questions that I have about Lois. I have to figure this out." He said this looking into his eyes, showing him that he needed to go there.
"Okay, Kal," John replied. Everyone else also nodded.
"Well, Kal. When you go to these coordinates that I am going to transmit to your motorcycle, tell him to come here first," J'onn ordered.
"Understood," he said before leaving.
"In the meantime, you four will go after Supreme Commander Lane when he goes to the stadium," he ordered.
"Understood," the four said in unison.
XXX
To his surprise, Kal not only had to travel a long way to the coordinates J'onn sent him, but he also had to leave the city, down a road that seemed untraveled for years. The road was made of stone and was full of tree leaves, dry grass and some stone holes in the road, showing that some had been torn from the ground by a car driving nearby…that or were broken by time. He continued down that path until he came to a metal fence with a holographic barrier that would block any living being that dared to touch it.
Kal saw that there was a communicator on one of the posts. He went to that communicator and rang a bell. He waited a few seconds until he heard Wayne's voice.
"What is it, cadet?" He asked. All the times he spoke to him on base, his voice was firm but calm, but this time his voice was annoyed.
"Hey, I need to come by to tell you something, Wayne," Kal said.
"This is not the right time," he said, ready to end the conversation.
"If you doesn't let me pass, people will die and I will come to bother you every day until you let me pass," Kal said, showing very palpable anxiety and fury, since the other times he only explained disagreement.
There was no verbal response, but the holographic shielding snapped off. Kal went through this and kept going. As he continued walking, he saw that in front there was a large mansion with two towers and a connecting block with large Windows. It was brown with yellow and surrounded by yellow grass for the most part, with a few green gaps. This surprised him, because he thought it would be a very simple house. He did not think that Commander Wayne had a rich person's origin, or at least that was what he had thought.
Kal walked over to the center door, and was about to knock on it, but Wayne opened the door before he could do anything.
"What happened now?" Wayne asked wanting to end this conversation immediately. He was wearing a black shirt with short sleeves and gray jeans with black tennis shoes. It was strange for Kal to see him in such casual clothing.
"Won't you let me in?" Kal asked, feeling offended.
"I don't have to do that," Wayne replied, without hesitation.
"I think we should call Lois to change your mind," Kal said, very confidently and with a very angry face.
This surprised Wayne, who backed away a bit, but he quickly regained his composure. This also surprised Kal because he was still quite out of the ordinary for him to get flustered.
"Follow me, but don't ever touch anything," Wayne ordered before starting to walk inside the mansion.
As they walked inside the mansion, Kal admired the beautiful white and gold decoration in the hallway, but at the same time, he was curious that all the furniture was covered with white sheets everywhere, although there was some dust in various parts of the lounges.
Wayne came to the living room, which also had the furniture covered by white sheets, and the funny thing is that there was a fireplace. At the top, where a photo was supposed to be, it was just an empty space.
"You finally figured that out on your own. Ah no wait, you are too blind for that. J'onn and the other Rangers told you, you went with Lois. She told you her story with her father and me and you came here to resolve that matter, along with a problem with Supreme Commander Lane," Wayne said head-on.
Kal was furious and approached him threateningly, as if to hit him. "Stop being funny, Wayne. Yes, they told me that. I went to Lois and she told me everything. I came here because J'onn asked me to come because of a problem with Lane. But now, I have to know why does you never trust me? Did you keep all that information from me because you consider me useless or incompetent ?! I think that's why Lois didn't want to stay with you and her father fired you! " Kal yelled, pointing at him with her finger and almost hitting his chest. To his surprise, Wayne was too calm.
"I didn't know Lois was in Zone C until Cheetah came close to killing Cadet Prince. However, I knew you were interested in her, so I went to her apartment to demand that she not say anything, not to you or to the other cadets. J'onn knew that too, but I also ordered him not to say anything, "Wayne began to explain before Kal cut him off. This was less shocking than what Lois had told him.
"So you told me to stop dating her out of jealousy? You couldn't bear the idea of your ex hanging out with me?" he asked still annoyed.
"Partly," Wayne said in a low voice. He didn't like to say something that he proved someone else was right. "However, if Lane ever found out that you were dating his daughter, whom he has been very protective of, he would annihilate you. He would annihilate me and then I would annihilate you. And he wasn't going to be able to help you with that, no way. It is not that he thinks you are useless, but he would not have chosen you as the Red Ranger. However, you are still too impulsive and lose focus many times. Besides, your romance with Lois is now in greater difficulties, El "He said with the same serious face, but inside he was still desperate to finish the conversation. "Now that everything is clear, tell me what J'onn ordered you to do," he ordered.
Kal took a few seconds to answer, but seeing that he wasn't lying to him, he decided it was better to answer him.
"Lane is going to the ballpark. The criminal named KG Beast kidnapped the entire team, and he hopes we learn from this to become better Rangers since he is going to be the one to fight him. However, KG Beast threatened to kill the team if you don't go. J'onn told me to tell you to go to base first before going to the stadium, "Kal said, being as serious as possible.
"I can't go, cadet. You are now tasked with protecting Zone C, no matter what happens. If I go there, Lane will most likely fire you or do something worse. We made a deal that if I agreed to stay in my mansion for the rest of my life, then he wouldn't fire al lof you. I can't do that," Wayne said turning around, not wanting to appear weak to his former cadet.
"You disobeyed an order to protect us in J'onn's words, so I don't think you want to obey Lane if lives are involved. That's what a Ranger does, isn't it?" Kal asked, hoping this would make Wayne say something or move, but he didn't do anything. "I understand. I think your mission in Zone C was very important," he said before leaving.
When he got to his bike, his Morpho sounded again.
"Go ahead," Kal said.
"Kal, come to the stadium. KG Beast is tougher than we thought and Lane is in trouble," Barry said.
"I'm going there now," Kal said, hanging up.
XXX
As Kal was on his way to the mansion where Wayne was hiding, Supreme Commander Lane had gone to the ballpark to show the Zone C Rangers why he was better than Wayne to finally respect and obey everything. If he ordered them, that or he would have to fire them. Obviously, he was not without weapons, but rather with his own sword, as well as various pistols and grenades just in case.
"Attention KG Beast and criminals!" The Supreme Commander yelled, wanting to attract attention, which, obviously, he succeeded. "I am Supreme Commander Lane and I am here to stop you! I would appreciate it if you would surrender!" he added, hoping this would work.
"I am amazed by your bravery, Supreme Commander, but we want to see Bruce Wayne first before letting the hostages go," KG Beast said, hoping the Supreme Commander would believe his lie.
"That guy with no talent and little intellect is not coming. He's not capable of accomplishing anything that I can," he said this, pulling one of his pistols from him. While he believed that he could do better than Wayne, he was no fool when a criminal tried to lie to him.
"Then, I think I'll have to eliminate you, and the baseball team," KG Beast said, starting to shoot at him, causing the supreme commander to fall to the ground for a second before he started shooting as well.
Before the Supreme Commander could do anything, KG Beast activated mines that exploded around his rival, sending him airborne a few feet before falling. The supreme commander threw a grenade at him, causing the criminal to step back a few steps before he exploded.
Before KG Beast could activate anything else, a shot rang out, not from the Supreme Commander, but from Shayera, who already had her pistol. She was accompanied by John.
"Stay away from our commander, Beast," John said.
"Have you brought Wayne? Because if not, the team dies. I just wanted to see if this guy could put up a good fight," KG Beast said.
"He will not come, but we will defeat you to save those innocent people. Ready, Shayera? " John asked.
"Ready!" She replied.
"Justice League, activate," they both said at the same time.
Shayera again pulled the pistol from her while John created a giant hammer. They ran towards KG Beast. Supreme Commander Lane was partly furious that he had been disobeyed, but at the same time he was surprised that they had come to help him. John threw several punches that were blocked by KG Beast, while Shayera kept her distance from them, but she shot the criminal as she ran around him.
Meanwhile, Diana and Barry, already in their suits, entered the other way in the direction of the changing romos. Fortunately, John and Diana had agreed that he and Shayera would protect the supreme commander, while she and Barry rescued the baseball team. They did this to avoid friction between Diana and the supreme commander, which most likely would occur.
Diana and Barry ran, but on tiptoe so as not to make too much noise. They walked the corridors with white light and gray floors before reaching the locker room. Fortunately, the ninjas of the league of assassins were very careful that none of the hostages moved.
Diana signaled for him to run, so he did. He quickly knocked out half the ninjas, while she started attacking the others. He attacked one of the ninjas and received a very quick cut on his leg. Diana saw it happen. After defeating the remaining ninjas, she drew her sword from her and launched blows that were blocked by the ninja. The ninja took off her clothing and threw it at Diana, who blocked her, but it was revealed that Lady Shiva was the one hidden.
"It seems they still haven't been taught to expect the unexpected," Lady Shiva said, showing her big evil smile.
"And it seems that you do not know when to surrender," Diana said throwing her sword against Lady Shiva.
Again, the two engaged in combat, brandishing their swords and cutting the walls several times. However, as she was so focused on her rival, Diana did not see coming that Lady Shiva would try to hurt the hostages.
"Barry, get them out of here," Diana said.
"Yes, sorry, I was hoping that the cut in the leg would heal," Barry said, getting up and taking out a pistol with which he shot Lady Shiva, who blocked the shots, but left a window open for Diana to kick her in the leg.
"Get out, players," Barry said. The players listened to him and got up to leave.
In the meantime, John and Shayera had held out long enough against KG Beast, but the criminal had managed to distract them with automatic weapons that floated and fired at him in the air. The two Rangers were shot in the back and fell to the ground, but Shayera managed to destroy them with several shots.
However, KG Beast took out a flamethrower to make them move towards a place where there were more mines. Shayera got behind John and the two tried to shoot him but failed to hit him. They ended up backing away after the criminal hit the ground, driving them back, and touching the space of the mines, causing them to fly through the air.
"Oh, I can't believe they didn't realize that. It was obvious that he planted more mines here than it appeared," the supreme commander shouted, concentrating too much on that before he was fired upon.
At that moment, Lady Shiva jumped up and landed on the grass. The battle against Diana had started out pretty close, but she then ran into the seats to carry her out, which had worked. Diana and Barry followed her, also jumping and landing in front of them.
"Good news, the team is safe," Diana said.
Sadly, KG Beast had put more automatic weapons hidden under the pads of the baseball bases, which brought them down.
XXX
As the Rangers and Commander Lane battled against KG Beast and Lady Shiva, J'onn was concerned. Wayne hadn't made it to base yet, and they were in trouble by being ambushed. At that moment, the automatic door opened, and, the now civilian Wayne entered.
Curiously, when he arrived at the base, the other guards let him pass. He was no longer the commander of the base, but his gaze was still so deadly that he scared them.
"I'm more than sure the Rangers are in trouble, but I can't help them anymore, J'onn," Wayne said with the same cold, monotonous tone, though inside he was worried.
"Not just them Wayne, but Lane as well. Even though he thought he would do better than you, he too has been knocked down by several shots, but I think they are fine for now," J'onn said with a tone somewhat anxious about the state of the Rangers and the supreme commander.
"Lane is deluded if he thinks he can do it alone," Wayne said.
"Look who's saying it," J'onn said, referring to how Wayne acted when he was young.
"J'onn, whatever it is, I can't help you. If I did, Lane would kick them out, he'd kick you out and make me pay," Wayne said. For the first time, he wasn't sure he wanted to act this time.
"I know, but I am more than sure that protecting those Rangers, who are the future of Zone C, and the supreme commander is something that you would never stop doing," J'onn said, knowing full well that's what he does.
"But KG Beast has great weaponry. Even if I go, it wouldn't make much of a difference," he said, thinking that his ex-scientist was going to tell his plan, but he was wrong.
"Follow me to the hangar, but fast," he said running, with Wayne behind him. When he got there, J'onn pressed some buttons on his electronic board, and a door in the floor opened and something came out.
"When did you do that, J'onn?" Wayne asked, hiding his surprise with a smiling face.
"Since I made him this Morpho," J'onn replied, handing his black Morpho to Wayne. Before leaving, Wayne asked J'onn.
"How do I handle it?"
"You drive it like any car and call me when you need help."
XXX
The Rangers and Supreme Commander Lane had been blown up a few times before losing their suits. Once that happened, KG Beast and Lady Shiva had taken the opportunity to hit them with their fists and sword, respectively.
"Sad, my master's plan was for Wayne to die here, but I think he will thank me for eliminating them," Shiva said raising her sword.
"I love this," KG Beast said, readying the pistols in his arms.
"KG Beast, Lady Shiva!" Wayne yelled into a speaker. "I am Bruce Wayne, and I am here to stop you. You have tested my patience by attacking my cadets and my supreme commander, so if you do not want to suffer, surrender," he threatened in a more serious voice.
At this time, Supreme Commander Lane was now more furious that Wayne had come to defend them. He wanted to act, but they had been beaten up. He had not yet been able to stand up, just like the other Rangers, who were also surprised that Wayne had come, but not in the way they expected. They wondered what he wanted to do.
"The baseball team may have escaped, but now your Rangers and your boss are at our mercy. You're the one who should give up," KG Beast said.
At that moment, Lady Shiva was preparing to throw her sword once she showed herself.
"I warned you," Wayne said over the speaker. At that moment, a sound of acceleration from a vehicle started to play. The Rangers and the villains themselves were expecting the surprise attack to happen at any moment. They were expecting Wayne to appear on a motorcycle from a jump, but they were wrong.
What jumped to a medium height was not a motorcycle, but a somewhat strange car. It was mostly black in color with white lines and the number 100 on the hood and on the tire caps. Upon landing, the car took out a cannon and fired at the weapons located on the stadium bases, destroying them in seconds.
He took advantage of the last of the onlookers' commotion to shoot Lady Shiva, but with a stun cannon, knocking her down. Unfortunately, KG Beast began firing at the vehicle with his pistols, but then took out a grenade launcher. The vehicle began to evade attacks while attempting to land a stun cannon shot at it. He managed to hit him once, but the criminal got back to his feet.
"Justice League, actívate," Wayne said, jumping out of the vehicle via a button he pressed on the car (per J'onn's instructions) and turning back into the Dark Ranger.
"Dark Sword," he said pulling the trusty sword and starting to face KG Beast.
"Great, now that you've gotten out of your vehicle, I'll be able to destroy you," KG Beast said. Using his device to generate electric shocks, which distracted the Dark Ranger for a few seconds so that the criminal could hit him and shoot him four times.
"Wayne!" The Rangers said.
They were worried that he would die there, but he waved his hand to prevent them from interfering, a very quick one. Then he threw a lunge at KG Beast, and tried to throw another, but the criminal stopped hhimer and threw him into the air.
Once he was now at his mercy, the criminal kicked him hard that knocked him down and took out a bazooka that was about to finish him off.
"Finally, one last prayer, Wayne?" KG Beast asked confidently.
"I have something for that," replied the Dark Ranger, getting up.
"You have nothing," KG Beast said.
"So there it goes" said the Dark Ranger before a bomb shot out of the barrel of the car where the Dark Ranger was coming and created a huge explosion that sent KG Beast flying through the air. "Cadets, use the Super Cannon. We have to finish it as soon as posible."
The Rangers thought to speak, but saw that they couldn't waste time. So, they transformed and called the Super Cannon with their Morphos.
"Super Cannon!" The five Rangers said in unison.
"Ready, Aim, fire!" They screamed and shot the fireball at KG Beast, slamming into him.
"Oh, I already had the money in my bag," KG Beast said only to fall to the ground and explode, but he was still alive.
The Dark Ranger approached KG Beast and pulled the arrest handcuffs from him to quickly put them on.
"This happens when you mess with the Justice League and my Rangers," he said.
Right at that moment, a small cloud of smoke erupted and Lady Shiva disappeared. She had escaped again, but fortunately KG Beast was still there, unconscious.
"We have achieved another victory, cadets," Wayne said, reaching for his sword and lifting it into the air.
"Yes sir!" The other five Rangers said raising their fists.
However, Supreme Commander Lane wasn't doing anything. He was just looking annoyed that he didn't want to be there. It wasn't until the six Rangers looked at him turning their heads from him for him to notice. So, luckily for everyone, he too raised his hand and said victory.
However, Barry ran towards the Dark Ranger. He had a doubt.
Hey, Wayne. How could you shoot that bomb at KG Beast if you were out and about to be beaten?" He asked what everyone was wondering right now after hearing the question.
"J'onn uses remote control cars very well," he replied.
Silently, he was thanking J'onn for doing it.
XXX
18:00
Again, all the personnel from the Zone C base were in the hangar, all formed and in perfect condition. However, Wayne was there too, but with his uniform on along with his badge that had his name on it.
"So now, I leave everything to Commander Wayne. Welcome back," Supreme Commander Lane said with a slight stutter and shaking hands with Wayne.
He hated to admit that he was wrong, but he knew that if it weren't for Wayne's intervention, he and the others would have died. This showed that he was willing to protect them and that he did not want to repeat his previous failure.
"We will do our best to stop Ra's, Supreme Commander," Wayne said with a neutral voice and face. After that, the Supreme Commander whispered with a very serious face.
"But don't think you're out of the Woods yet, Wayne. You better stop him as soon as possible so you don't make the same mistake again," he threatened.
"That's my goal, and I'm always thinking about it," Commander Wayne said.
Supreme Commander Lane nodded and looked around the entire staff. "Good luck. You will need it," he said before getting on his ship.
Honestly, the base personnel had felt quite a bit of pressure with Supreme Commander Lane directing it as since he didn't trust Wayne. It was very likely that he would fire them to the slightest mistake, but now that Wayne had returned, then a huge weight over it was gone.
Kal was happy that he was back, because now his relationship with Lois could continue, that is until he went to her apartment. Diana was happy because she knew that Supreme Commander Lane would fire her once she did something that he considered stupid or very impulsive. That and she did not like how he treated her and her companions.
Meanwhile, John was relieved that Wayne had saved them and his companions. They had the commander who would not kick them out for the slightest disobedience. So did Barry and Shayera, although the latter wished she could have fought more.
Once the Supreme Commander's ship had left along with his escort ships, they all began to applaud Commander Wayne in congratulations, but they didn't expect what he would say next.
"What are you celebrating?" He asked too angry and with a very authoritative tone. "Do you think that because I left for a few hours, you can neglect the base? What can they neglect training and Zone C? They are very wrong! Now, if you don't want to have severe punishment, you'd better do your homework! " He yelled.
Within seconds, all personnel, including the Rangers, were fleeing the hangar to their respective work stations. Commander Wayne walked over to J'onn, who was the only one who hadn't left, and smiled at him. "It's good to be here" he told him before leaving.
"Good to have you back, Commander," J'onn said to himself before following the Commander into the conference room.
XXX
18:45
Lois had gone shopping to eat, and when she returned, she saw that the door to her apartment had already been fixed. She tried to get in, but her key didn't fit. She thought Kal had played a practical joke on her for keeping the truth from her, but the door opened and the same Red Ranger was there.
"Hello," he said.
"For the second time you surprise me today," Lois said before entering. What she could tell when she saw him was that he was very happy, so she supposed something Good had happened. "Any news on the base?" She asked.
"Yes. Fortunately, Lane is gone and Wayne is back in command," he replied.
When she heard "Lane is gone" she thought something bad had happened, but Kal beat her to it. "Wayne saved us and your father with a car that J'onn created and gave him back his job. Now, our relationship can continue if there are no more secrets I need to know," he said, turning from a cheerful tone to a serious one.
Lois knew this and again reached out to him and took her hands.
"Kal, I didn't want you to know that my father was the supreme commander and that we were fighting, because it's something I don't want to talk about, but it was obvious that at some point I would have to tell you. I know it was not good to keep this fronm you, but I repeat, I did not expect to fall in love with you. I am very happy about that, and there is nothing between Bruce and me, just a friendship that came out of that experience," she said without breaking eye contact with him.
Kal just smiled and kissed her on the lips, with Lois responding lovingly. When the kiss was broken, Kal was angry because he had to go.
"Lois, I hate doing this, but Wayne will kill me if I don't come back soon," he said, hoping she understood.
"You don't need permission for that," she said smiling at him. "I hope to have another date with you soon," she said before kissing him once more. Kal broke away and was ready to go, but Lois stopped him again. "Kal, just let me tell you this and that's it. I know you don't like Wayne very much, and it's understandable, but he cares about you. He never shows it. Yes, the mission is important to him, but so are you. He is a very complicated man, but you should give him a chance to understand him. That's it," she concluded.
Kal just made a confused face, but he reacted and said "I'll try" with a smile.
XXX
19:00
Kal had returned to base after his chat with Lois, but after that, he hoped their next date wouldn't take that long to happen. To his surprise, he didn't think Wayne would call him into the conference room. Obviously, he obeyed and went there. As usual, the commander had his back to him, but he turned away a few seconds later.
"I see you're coming from another getaway with Lois," Commander Wayne said.
"Yes, I needed to know that she would not lie to me again, plus I still don't trust you after you withheld that information from me as well," Kal said, hoping this would make the commander flexible.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Lois, but I preferred to chase you away from her before Supreme Commander Lane took something very valuable from you when he found out you were dating his daughter, and then he made me pay for allowing it," he replied, starting this off with a flexible tone, but swapping it out for a serious one at the end.
"Well, fortunately, he won't find out," Kal said confidently, and that trust was broken a few seconds later.
"He'll find out sometime, cadet, so you better get ready," he warned with his very threatening tone.
"I will," Kal said with his serious expression.
"Finally, it may take Lane to find out, but treat her well, because if not, I know where you live," he said with a somewhat malicious smile before turning around, signal that their conversation was over.
"You don't scare me," Kal said again very confident.
"Really?" Commander Wayne asked, turning around and looking at him like a predator. Kal only stared for a few seconds before running off. "And make sure you don't break any more doors," he added.
Outside of the conference room, Kal went to dinner with his fellow Rangers, with whom he talked about what Lois told him. How she and her father were fighting, that she knew Wayne and had dated him a few times, that she wanted to go with him to meet them and find out if there was any change in the base. That made everyone look at him with wide eyes but not like he had them when they revealed this to him.
"Wow, for some reason, the girls we meet always have secrets, and much longer to tell than ours," Barry said with a rather amused tone.
"You're right, Barry," John agreed.
"Hey, you're not going to say that again," Shayera said.
"Yes, you also have secrets," intervened Diana.
"Yes, but we are faster and we say it at a good time. I told you I have a month after we became friends, Shay," Barry said, emphasizing his friend.
"But they can't classify us all the time with the same thing," she replied.
"Hey, you can't deny that every time something was saved, it took more than half an hour to explain it to us," Barry said.
"Stop. This is frustating. You guys are arguing about something unimportant when I know Wayne dated Lois and I can't figure out how" Kal said quite nervous. Even though Lois had told him there was nothing between her and her commander, he couldn't imagine it.
"Now that you mention it, I can't understand how he dated your girlfriend. With that sad workaholic boy attitude, who would want to date him?" Barry asked.
"I can't understand it either, Barry, and that's why it's frustrating," Kal said.
"Oh come on, Kal. Don't be discouraged," Shayera said rubbing his back.
"It's true. If Lois promised you that there is nothing between her and Wayne, then I see no problem. My wife and I always trust each other," John said.
"Don't compare everything to your marriage, John," Diana said.
"Thanks, friends" Kal thanked them. "I think I'll get over this, but it will take a while."
"You can do it," Diana said.
As she said this, for a reason that she could not understand, she became jealous. Jealous that Lois had dated Commander Wayne. This could not be possible. She was interested in him, as well as her other partners because of the stories behind them, but it was the first time in a long time that she felt this.
At the end of dinner, each one went to their bedroom. It had been a really strange day. Kal had discovered that his girlfriend had as a father the supreme commander of the Justice League on earth, Wayne had been fired for a few hours from his position as commander of Zone C, they had faced KG Beast and Lady Shiva. They had saved a poor baseball team, and then they had been saved by the Dark Ranger with a strange car. The good thing about this was that Kal and Lois' relationship had gone through a big bump, but they had overcome it.
The best part was that the whole team was out of danger at least for now.
XXX
Location unknown
"So Wayne came out alive again. Shiva, you have become very useless, so your presence in the next mission will not be necessary. Instead, Wayne will feel suffering again," Ra's said to an embarrassed Lady Shiva as she rose from her chair for the first time in a long time.
A great adversary was yet to come.
NEXT: THE REVENGE, PART 1.