The Campbell Chronicles Part Two
Chapter 11
Nicholas looked at the famous heroes that formed a half-circle around him. Most of them were cautious but not openly hostile. Releasing a breath through his nose, Nicholas eyed each person, taking in their features and energy signatures.
Wonder Woman was 6'2" tall and curvy, with a prominent bust, midnight black hair, and blue eyes. Her high cheekbones accentuated her beauty, and her tanned skin went well with the red corset and star-covered bottoms.
A golden W decorated the center of her corset, a golden tiara with a red star in the center held her dark hair back from her face, and a glowing yellow rope dangled from her hip. Red boots with white accents gave her a few more inches of height. Silver wristbands gleamed in the light coming in at his back.
Nicholas looked into the woman's eyes, "That's an interesting corset."
The dark-haired woman narrowed her eyes, and Nicholas raised a hand, "I know what you're thinking; I don't mean anything sexual; I've just never seen a metal like that."
Nicholas cocked his head to the side, "The enchantments are weaved through every molecule. If we become friends, I would like to know how it's made."
Nicholas turned his attention to Batman.
He was 6'2" tall, broad-shouldered, and packed with thick muscle. Nicholas could see blue eyes behind his mask. The stubble on his face told Nicholas he had dark hair.
He wore a black skintight suit that hugged his muscles and a cowl shaped like a bat. A long Cape flowed down his back and curled on the floor.
As Nicholas stared at him, a hand covered in a dark glove with blades sticking out from the side drifted towards a bronze utility belt.
Nicholas flicked a finger, weaving his will through the man's dark suit and turning his attention to the next individual encircling him.
The man was 6'3" tall, with blue eyes, dark hair, a square-jawed face, and a prominent chin. His short dark hair was swept back, a single curl dangling over his forehead. He wore a blue spandex suit with a red diamond in the center. A golden stylized S sat prominently in the center of the diamond.
What looked like red spandex added more color and was accented by a pair of red boots.
Superman had his head cocked to the side, staring at Nicholas intently, his eyes glowing a faint blue.
Ignoring him, Nicholas turned his attention to the person he was most tense about.
The Green Lantern before him was 6'2" tall, with short brown hair, a strong jaw, and a rounded chin. White eyes glowed behind the Domino mask.
Black spandex covered his body, and an upside-down green triangle starting at his chest and going all the way down his waste adorned his chest. In the center of the triangle was a white circle, and in the center of that circle was a green lantern.
White gloves drew attention to the emerald ring on his finger.
Nicholas shifted his eyes away from the Green Lantern and focused on Wonder Woman, Diana Price, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Hal Jordan." He looked over his shoulder and focused on the Green Martian and John Jones; meeting you all is a pleasure."
Nicholas stretched out his hand. A glass from a bar in the corner of the room floated towards him, along with a bottle of vodka. "My name is Nicholas Campbell," Nicholas filled the glass. I assumed your telepathic friend told you I offered the meta-humans of Earth a place on Cradle, the planet that now orbits the other side of your sun."
The Martian man Hunter stood from his seat and moved around Nicholas to stand with the other members of the Justice League, "Why did you do it? And could you please release Batman from your hold?"
The Justice League tensed, and Hal slowly began to raise his ring.
"Can you promise he won't attack me? He was reaching for his utility belt before I immobilized his suit. I don't want to fight you here," he gestured around the office, "after all, I have a business contract with Mr. Irons, and I would hate to destroy his lovely building."
"He won't attack you," John promised, his red eyes glowing a faint orange.
Nicholas released the Dark Knight, causing him to sag slightly.
"Now, you ask why I offered the metahumans of Earth a place on Cradle. I did it for two reasons. First, I did it because my family and I came from a world where metahumans, or as they were called on our planet, Mutants, were persecuted. I wanted to prevent that from happening here and give them a safe place to reach their full potential."
Superman stepped forward, "That doesn't happen here."
Nicholas stared into the Kryptonian's eyes, "Oh, but it does, Man of Steel."
Nicholas held up a finger, "First, there is the Department of Meta-Human Affairs run by Martin Stein. It's portrayed as an organization meant to help metahumans gain control of the powers, but it was secretly helping Cadmus or, more specifically, Amanda Waller create more meta-humans similar to yourself through experimentation."
He held up another finger, "Then, there's our very own Batman;" he looked at the dark Knight. "Who compiled dossiers on everyone, their strengths, their weaknesses, their psychological profiles, everything that could be deadly if it fell into the wrong hands."
The bat-themed hero stepped forward, his hand drifting to his belt again, "How do you know about that!"
Nicholas lowered his hand, "I could say I picked it up from your mind, but your mental shields are surprisingly strong. I didn't get any information, really, but I did get a sense of your character, and not only does it seem like something you would do, but when my people cleaned up the clutter around the earth, we may have accidentally claimed one of the satellites you put up there."
"My grandfather may have accessed your systems," Nicholas shrugged, "it's how I learned all of your identities."
Wonder Woman placed her hand on Batman's shoulder and pulled him back. "You said there were two reasons you created the Cradle. What is the Second?"
"Before we get to that, Nicholas looked into the eyes of every hero in the room. Make no mistake, the world's governments have files similar to your friend here," Nicholas gestured to Batman. They're just waiting for you to give them an excuse to use them."
He turned back to Wonder Woman, "As for my second reason. My family and I arrived shortly after the ancestors of present-day humanity emerged on the scene. Mere months after our arrival, the dominators appeared on Earth and began experimenting on early humans."
"The progenitor of my bloodline fought against the dominators, but the damage was done. They had forever altered the humans of Earth's destiny." Nicholas looked at Superman. "Humanity was originally supposed to become something similar to the Kryptonians."
Nicholas drained the remaining vodka and cleaned the glass with a flash of light. After refilling the bottle by transforming air molecules into the needed liquid, he returned the cleaned glass and bottle to the bar in the corner.
"My family and I tried to undo the damage to early humanity but were only partially successful, hence today's metahumans. A year passed, and the Malthusians, known today as the guardians of the galaxy, arrived. Collecting and altering early Martians…"
"What?" Martian man Hunter's eyes widened.
"Your race was originally just one species of Martian; there were no green and white Martians. The original Martians were powerful psionics, who wreathed themselves in fire; they were volatile and constantly fighting one another."
"The guardians feared your race is potential, so they altered you, breaking into the white Martians, who were violent, and the green Martians, who were peaceful. Only so many of us could venture into space at the time, so we could not drive them away."
"If a green and white Martian ever came together in a fire, they would create this original Martian. That is why the guardians put a genetic fear of fire in both Martians, to prevent this legacy from ever reappearing."
"More years passed, civilization developed on Mars, and my people, the people of Brigadoon, allied with the green Martians and helped keep the peace between the green and the white. Eventually, the tensions between the two Martian races became so great that we removed the white Martians from Mars."
"How?" Batman growled.
"We put them on a ship and transported them to another planet with enough technology to build their civilization," Nicholas raised an eyebrow, "how else?"
'Granted, we did have to kill a few before they complied, but I'm not telling them that.'
Nicholas stood to his feet, and the group tensed; he began pacing back and forth. "That didn't solve the issue since the gene for the white Martians still existed in the green, but it brought peace for a time."
He focused on Wonder Woman, "You ask why I created Cradle because there are elements in this universe who think it is their right to interfere with others' lives."
"What about the earth?" Green Lantern asked.
Nicholas raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that what the Justice League is for?"
Nicholas clapped his hands together. "Well, it was nice talking to you, but I have things to do." He looked at Henry. "I hope this incident doesn't get in the way of future business."
He turned his attention to Diana. "Some people on Cradle would like to talk to you about creating a planet for the Amazons." He turned to John. "Some Martians left Mars well before the incident that killed your people. They have gone down a different evolutionary path, but you still have a people. If you want to learn more, contact my cousin Jinks. You should be able to feel her mind if you reach out."
With a nod, Nicholas turned into pale blue energy and shot through the open roof.
Batman stepped away from the rest of the Justice League and turned to face them. "So, what are we going to do about this?"
Hal raised a hand. "We'll talk about that in a minute. Right now, you have a contingency plan for each of us," he gestured at the others.
Batman crossed his arms, "With the amount of power and technology the Justice League has, it was necessary."
Hal crossed his arms, "From a military standpoint, I understand that, but we're your friends."
"This has nothing to do with friendship and everything to do with a responsibility to protect the innocent."
Wonder Woman stepped forward, her blue eyes sad, "We understand that, but what happens if someone gets a hold of that information, or you go rogue?"
Bruce bit the inside of his cheek. He wanted to say that no one could get that information, but that man, Nicholas, had proved him wrong. He shook his head, "If I go rogue, the Justice League can stop me."
Hal snorted, "You created a contingency plan for the entire Justice League; how are we supposed to do that?"
Silence settled within the group.
After a beat, John Jones stepped forward, "I believe someone needs to go and see this Cradle firsthand."
Superman stepped forward, "I take it you want to go and meet this Jinks?"
Martian man Hunter nodded, and Superman smiled, "I believe Elaine and I will go. She wants to check out the planet, and maybe they can teach her more about her Psionic abilities."
Wonder Woman folded her arms behind her back, a pensive expression on her face. "I must go to Themyscira and inform my mother of Nicholas's offer. I doubt they will take it, but they still need to know."
Hal Jordan stared at his ring. "Part of me wants to go and investigate the story Campbell told about the guardians, but a part of me thinks it doesn't matter. It was so long ago that it has no bearing on the present."
"I think he was just trying to breed distrust."
Wonder Woman gave a sharp nod, "That is a possibility, but I sense no lies or deceit from him; he believed everything he said was true."
"And you did have those contingency plans," Hal butted in.
"Regardless," Batman's eyes narrowed behind his mask, "he and Cradle need to be watched."
"Agreed," the group said, even John Henry echoed it from behind his desk.
–XX –
Nicholas withdrew his attention away from steelworks with a sigh. He probably made a mistake revealing that they had taken the planet's inactive satellites, but it was better for them to think he couldn't enter their minds.
Glancing up at the sky, Nicholas reached out with his mind, connecting to Wanda.
'How did it go?'
'About as well as expected. I expect Superman and Martian man Hunter to visit Cradle within the next few days. When he does, note that we need to search for devices that include a biological scan. I wouldn't put it past Batman to hide something within him.'
'You told them about the satellites, didn't you?'
'I revealed their secret identities as a show of force. I couldn't tell them I picked it up from their minds, so I told them about the satellites. I doubt they will say anything since Batman has his own backdoors into the government's files. If they expose us, we will expose him.'
'I still don't understand why you met with John Henry once you knew it was a trap.'
'I'm the one who set up the meeting, and we would have to meet the Justice League eventually. We might as well do it now before something weakens our position.'
'What about Amanda Waller?'
'We haven't seen her since she disappeared in that portal months ago, and her main concern seems to be removing superpowered individuals from the earth, but we will deal with her when she reappears.'
'Fine. We'll discuss it with the Council and start making contingency plans. When are you coming back?'
'I need to relax, so I'm going to help a scavenger team in one of Metropolis's landfills. Once they get what is useful, I'm going to convert the leftovers into energy. I'll be back in a few hours.'
'Okay, be careful, and I love you.'
'I will, and I love you too.'
