Flying high up in the clouds was Diana and her sister Cate heading to her apartment at the top of the embassy after they had bid their mother goodbye and had crossed the barrier into mans world.
Hippolyta earlier on made a decision that if her youngest daughter wanted to explore mans world then it would be under the guidance of Diana, who will make sure her sister does not cause or get into trouble.
For Cate this was the opportunity she was waiting for ever since Diana won the tournament and was allowed to represent their homeland to mans world. The stories her sisters working at the embassy told about the world when visiting were so fascinating and intriguing to her since she was the only one who listened to them. The rest of their sisters despised everything about man's world, some wishing to never step foot past their magical border.
Initially Hippolyta was against Diana going to mans world but she had no choice other than to accept as dictated by their custom that whoever won the tournament would get to be an ambassador of their people in mans world.
The scenery from high above was spectacular. The buildings seemed to spread continuously on the ground and considering their enhanced eyesight, people could be seen conducting their daily activities. Cate was shocked on the number of people down below bumping into each other mostly competing to get into the yellow taxi cabs. Before this opportunity arose, she took it upon herself to research about mans world; all their inventions, the different cultures available, norms and their flaws too making sure she would blend in as much as possible. Maybe then will her mother let her go to one of the universities she had read about.
"Where are we going?" They had been flying for close to 30 minutes now heading in one direction. After late lunch with their mother, Diana and Cate had taken off for her apartment. This was made easier with their ability to fly making them go unnoticed.
"My apartment. Then we can order something to eat" Diana replied looking at her sister seeing the sparkle in her eyes looking at all the man made technology they were flying over.
"Wow! So many tall structures and people." Cate marveled at the sky scrapers and the occasional airplane that flew past them. She'd heard stories about mans extensive inventions yet it was more exciting to experience them personally.
"Yes, they are called sky scrapers. Man has really developed over the years..." Diana replied not voicing what she really wanted to say.. "Unfortunately these advancements are child's play to other civilizations" she thought about Ben and his watch being so advanced. At least they were at per with the avengers home world.
"It's amazing...can we land on that one?" Cate asked pointing to one with a flat roof her curiosity getting the better of her.
"No! We need to get to the apartment so I can check in with the justice league. I have been away for far too long already" Diana insisted.
"You're no fun, it's not even been 48hrs since you left… Don't you think if anything were to happen they would have contacted you?" Cate always knew what buttons to push and how to get her stickler for the rules sister to agree with her..
"I suppose you are correct. J'onn would have contacted me." He always reached out telepathically in case of an emergency.
"I can't believe everyone down there has a job to do." Cate commented. There were just too many people in this city making her wonder about the rest of the world.
"Technically yes but it all depends whether your job is legal or illegal" Diana supplied. It was true since career criminals could also claim that engaging in crime can be defined as their mode of employment.
"Where is the watchtower and embassy located?" Cate was also eager to see some of her sisters who had promised to teach her all about the world when her sister was busy with justice league affairs.
"Patience sister, I'll take you for the tour once you settle down for a couple of days or weeks..." Diana answered amused by her excitement and added "It is currently floating in orbit. We have to be teleported up since space travel is hectic and exhausting." She had noticed her sister glancing towards space. The only cause of that would be to try and locate the justice league headquarters
"Why can't we go now or tomorrow?" Cate asked with a hint of disappointment in her voice. Touring the watchtower and meeting all the superheroes especially the young ones was at the top of her list of things to do.
Diana noted the sad tone in her voice and looked over at her gently smiling because all of Cate's attention was on the ground not even concentrating on where they were flying to.
"There's a lot going on right now in the tower after the fight with doomsday." Diana offered an explanation but saw it wasn't enough for her sister. "Okay...what's a couple more days right?.." Cate supplied with a forced smile.
"Tell you what, the battle against doomsday caused a lot of destruction in the city..." Diana began.. "I'll do it" Cate cut her off accepting whatever suggestion Diana was trying to bring up.
"You haven't even heard my preposition"
"I don't have to hear it, I will still accept." The genuine smile she supplied forced a smile upon Diana's face. She was about to respond when four police cars with sirens were seen speeding towards a certain direction. This got her attention, always ready to save another life.
Several police cars had surrounded the small town bank for close to an hour now. A group of armed robbers were barricaded inside the bank holding hostages waiting for their demands to be met; one helicopter, all the police officers withdrawn from the area and an official signed pardon from the president of the United States of America for the crime they were currently committing.
"What do we do if they don't agree with the demands?" One robber asked into his walkie talkie.
"We do what we promised we'd do" the leader answered in a mechanically altered voice. All the robbers wore masks and were completely anonymous to each other. All were mercenaries contacted and instructed by the mysterious voice in the walkie talkie to take the bank. Not often do a mercenary take a job without knowing the contractor but in this case the money involved was too much to pass on. They could be set for the rest of the year without having to work.
The plan was simple, carry out every instruction given by the voice concerning the bank heist which was currently on track"
The minutes ticked down to the agreed upon hour for the demands to be met...
"Fly above the clouds, do not be seen" Diana instructed her sister after learning what was going on in the bank. Cate not wanting to mess up floated up past the visibility range of a normal person's eye site and observed Diana in action.
One spin and Diana was in her Wonder woman costume then floated down to the police command center outside the bank.
"Who is in charge?"
"I Am." came from a man dressed in an expensive suit screaming I am important
"The situation is under control Wonder woman, if we need any assistance you will be notified." the man stated in finality adjusting his dark shades.
Wonder woman smelled bureaucracy a mile away...probably a CIA officer or something, she thought. "I can clearly see the opposite of your statement Mr..." she said hoping to put a name to a face.
The guy narrowed his eyes but before speaking the walkie talkie came alive diverting all their attention to it.. "You have 10 minutes to meet all the demands before we start painting the walls red" a modulated voice spoke up.
"As I said..." stopped talking when he noticed Wonder woman was gone. "Shit"
"Report!" An authoritative voice commanded in one of the surveillance vans.
"The White House has stated they do not negotiate with terrorists and instructed you should handle it." Yvonne relayed the information.
"Shit! This is going to get messy" Waller spoke to no one in particular.
"The justice league have yet to arrive sir!" She told her boss already familiar with her line of thought. This was a robbery her boss wanted the justice league to not get involved in because all the right questions would be asked and Amander Waller never liked right questions unless she was the one asking them.
"Have they accessed the safe yet?" Amanda Waller asked Tech 2 currently going over the banks cctv footages, the ones that weren't shot down.
"Not yet." Flickering of lights suggests they are still cutting through the safe. "Good."
Amander Waller had been in her apartment going over her projects files when she received the call, The Bank was infiltrated. Dropping all files, putting on her coat, going to her bedroom then opening the safe integrated into her bed, she pulled out her personal untraceable revolver and walked out of the apartment with her phone in hand.
"Come on! But You promised!" Tech 2 sternly reminded her.
"I did no such thing," Yvonne defended herself "there is no way I would accept sitting around for hours infront of a screen immediately after getting through that most of the day."
"Really? That was the same reason you gave last time." Tech 2 argued. His partner was going to drive him mad one of these days, there wasn't a deal she couldn't wiggle out of only this time, he was prepared for that. Every time they were off work she always avoided hanging out with him.
Pulling up cctv footage from his phone, a video was played showing two of them talking with the audio clearly picking up Yvonne agreeing to try the game.
"Aha! I agreed to try but did not promise or specify the day to try it" came a smug reply from her.
Tech 2 was about to retort when both their phones received incoming messages. Looking up at her with the same mirror of confusion on her face, they walked to the car and drove towards the bank. Since when did two off the books, clandestine operatives respond to a bank robbery.
"Sir! The vaults integrity is down to 40%" tech 2 informed Waller who was deep in thought. Anyone who is anyone in the industry either illegal or legal knew not to mess with that particular bank. It housed funds from all sorts of people and organizations, cartels, dictators thus was not on many criminals lists of where to rob. Waller used the same bank because it provided the security she was looking for, not being robbed or when it became infiltrated it won't lead back to her. That's why she stored it here and had a suspicious feeling that was the target. If that vault was penetrated it would set her back considerably. Tapping all calls currently being received in the area suggested the parties invested in the bank know of the situation. The bank manager had lots of explaining to do and was the only person Waller ever felt sorry for since she was sure he wouldn't make it passed the week. Failure was not tolerated in these peoples line of business, especially allowing the bank to be taken and getting the police to be involved. She had to deal with this situation before the justice league got wind of the robbery especially batman since she is sure the masked crusader was aware of the banks reputation and activities.
The two robbers guarding the hostages occasionally peeked through the window to survey the situation with One of them swearing every time he looked out the window the number of police officers and journalists increased.
"What's the ETA on the extraction?" He asked his partner via a voice modulator.
"28 minutes." He nodded and returned to his position only noticing his partner collapsing on the floor when there was a loud THUD! of his body hitting the floor. Before Reaching to his earpiece to warn of the breach, darkness enveloped him and he collapsed.
"Activate Suicide squad." Yvonne looked to her boss confirming the order which was further confirmed by her nod. It is the only way, Waller thought with finality.
"That won't be necessary sir" tech 2 got their attention pointing to the monitors. Two robbers were unconscious on the floor with the third falling from Wonderwomans blow. She proceeded to head down the basement to the vault room where she disarmed all the robbers who were close to breaching the vault.
"They weren't able to breech the vault sir," Yvonne confirmed. "Good...call the transport team asap. I'll brief them on the new location." Waller ordered before exiting to the command center behind the van.
Avoiding the army of reporters waiting for her statement, Wonderwoman joined Cate above the clouds and surveyed the area.
"I swear I heard Amanda Waller's voice while talking to the CIA," Diana murmured to herself. She was among the few justice league members to have personally interacted with her so she was positive about her voice.
"Who is that?" Asked Cate "and why is there no sign of the justice league? By the look of things this looks to be a big deal." From the sky she watched all the various police factions hard at work coming up with strategies to liberate the bank. For something not a big deal very many police officers were involved.
"That's what I don't understand. The watchtower is connected to the local police frequencies and should have alerted the leaguers of the robbery." A puzzled Diana explained. "Waller is a consultant for the government."
A smug smile creeping up Cate's face "so it's a good thing you were there to foil it." She was really looking forward to her stay in mans world.
"I suppose so..." Diana agreed still lost in thought. "Come on, let's go."
"Sir, we are picking up two signals heading north at high speeds." Yvonne reported looking at the radar, the two dots quickly heading out of their range.
"Report on the other figure" Waller needed to know the other justice league member with Wonder woman. It couldn't be batman since the two were obviously flying on their own... unless he too got one of those tech suits she saw with one of the unknowns that had arrived.
"They've dropped off the radar Sir, estimations suggests she is with supergirl." That was a guess since based on the radars readings, the only flight powered leaguer with a build like that was supergirl.
"Good, there are already too many eyes on this operation, we don't need more." Waller narrowed her eyes at the screen showing the bank entrance.
The robbers were brought out in cuffs and prepped for transport by a black van which was later intercepted by an unknown group who killed all the police detail before transporting the robbers to a black site.
"You are going to tell me three things." Someone voiced behind them. Clicking of heels on the tiled floor reverberated throughout the large hall. The robbers couldn't turn as they were securely restrained on chairs and in a line.
"Your name, your employer and your target." Gunshot was heard followed by muffled screams of one robber. "Let's start with you..."
"I shouldn't be surprised you live on top of the embassy." Cate chuckled having already settled, changed and was scrolling through the channels available on the plasma tv. "What's wrong with that? It is made available to the Amazon champion once she checks in for duty, mother made sure of that." Diana didn't see anything wrong with that. It was actually convenient, just an elevator between her and the office in case she wanted to get some rest or work late.
"I know, I also read the terms and conditions of this position." Cate dismissed her having found something interesting to watch. The international news.
"I have ordered some pizza for you while I check in with the watchtower." Diana informed her.
"What's a pizza?"
"You'll see...more like taste it... And don't go out!" She ordered. Cate's eyebrow rose up at her sister
"Really?"
"I mean it...pizza will be delivered here. Oh! And don't pay, it's usually put on the embassy's tab" Diana stressed at her. Of the two, Cate was the adventurous one which lead her to problems all the time.
"I won't go out, at least not until you get back and WE go out." Cate answered with a grin.
Going out the balcony window, Diana shot up the sky towards the watchtower.
KANSAS
Dinner with the kents was always an enjoyable evening for Lois Lane, away from the city hustle and work. Despite her needing a break, it wasn't awkward at all between her and Clark as she had expected. Thankfully of all the topics discussed throughout dinner, no one had initiated a conversation about their relationship and they were currently sitting watching a movie. Martha and Jonathan had gone to bed early for they were to be in the market at the crack of dawn.
"So..." Kara started looking towards her cousin and friend who were both focused on the movie.
"What? It's a good thriller" Lois hinted at the movie already knowing what Kara had in mind. Clark too was counting down the minutes till Kara had to open her mouth. He had waited for the topic at dinner and when it wasn't brought up, he relaxed more so when the kents went to sleep.
Rolling her eyes "Not that...how are you two..?" The concern in her voice actually touched Lois Lane. Kara's concern for basic human traditions had evolved since she arrived on earth, adopting some of them for her own too. Argon much like Krypton did not dwell on emotions but facts thus when Kara was exposed to human cultures and behaviors she was confused at first.
"We're in a good place, thank you Kara" Lois was the one to answer her. Clark looked at her for a few seconds then back to the movie clearly deciding not to add on what she said.
"Oookkaaay... if you say so" Kara's attention diverting back to the movie. She had noticed Lois deep in thought with Clark stealing occasional glances at her with a sad smile. According to all the psychology books she read and drama movies she watched, those were definitely signs of a strain in their relationship but she respected them enough to let it go because they would eventually work things out. That she was sure.
"Yes I do," Lois affirmed to the already increasing tension in the room but being a journalist, she knew a couple of ways how to diffuse such situations.
"What happened to Doomsday?" She felt Clark tense beside her with Kara now focusing more on the television than her.
"He's been dealt with."
"Come on, that's what you tell the public" she expected more details.
"Lois..." Clark knew this would be a problem because as a journalist, he knew the drive and angles Lois could spin any details given to him in the name of 'the public needs to know.'
"Forget it! I apologize for asking" knowing Clark would not tell her intricate details about doomsday pissed her off, not to mention Kara had sped off into the kitchen to obviously distance herself from their conversation. Lois understood that as a founding member of the justice league, Clark had lots of responsibilities in dealing with the worlds safety making him being tight lipped about anything confidential but couldn't he just trust that she wouldn't break his confidence... That thought pissed her off.
On the verge of replying to try and convince her why he couldn't tell her, his comm link buzzed up with a message from the flash. Thank God! He thought. It was the report he and batman usually received after every 12 hours from whoever was on monitor duty. The report consisted of every crime committed that needed the justice leagues intervention and the heroes dispatched to contain the situation, this was necessary in case the heroes needed instant back up.
"I have to go..." He stated getting up from the couch. Silence. All of Lois attention was focused on the movie.
"Now!? Where?" Kara asked incredulously. As far as she knew, her cousin had the rest of the night off because Flash was on monitor duty and no major emergency had been reported.
"I am going to the watchtower." Came his simple answer. "We should be going.. I can drop you off at your apartment." Looking at Lois.
"It's alright, Kara will drop me off." And with that Clark walked out to the patio then took off into the night, destination watchtower.
At the watchtower
Clark landed on the watchtowers docking bay. The view of the earth from space was breathtaking, the dominating blue color of the water to the jungle green for the plants, that's why he preferred flying to the watchtower once in a while.
The cafeteria was surprisingly empty as he passed by two heroes sitting conversing about their just concluded mission and headed to the main computer to check if there is anything he could do.
After concluding dinner with his parents, Lois and Kara, Clark took off for the watchtower to possibly engage himself in monitor duty since he wasn't sleepy, tired or had anything to do. Lois earlier turned down his offer of flying her home preferring to spend some more time with her friend who would later on fly her home. It was a lame move but he had to get out of the house before he told Lois everything. He just couldn't take it lying to her.
"You can check out now, I got it from here…." Flash was already out the door shouting "Thanks big man! I owe you one."
Most of the young heroes saw monitor duty as a chore or punishment because it was HELLA boring… especially since batman put up firewalls to block all the interesting websites.
Nothing of significance or emergency was being broadcasted on the feeds so he decided on a news channel to watch.
"I thought it was the flash's turn for monitor duty." Wonder woman inquired getting into the control room standing beside a sitting superman.
"Yes it was but I gave him the night off. Figured I could catch up on some staff here before going to the Planet." slightly turning to look at her.
"I didn't know you were in the watchtower, rough day?" Everyone in the watchtower knew Diana had one way to relieve pent up stress or excess energy, sparring in the training room. When a capable sparring partner couldn't be found, the training bots took one for the team and at the sessions end, the room plus all the equipment either needed to be fixed or replaced. Among the league members only a handful would be able to keep up with her and superman was topping the short list.
"Nothing I can't handle," wonder woman typed in the computer before a video footage was shown. "This happened some hours ago, I stopped the heist but I am still unsure…" hesitation and doubt present in her voice.
"Unsure of what?" he asked. According to the video, it was a standard unsuccessful bank robbery which took way too much time to be foiled. "According to police reports nothing was reported missing or stolen." Enlarging and reading the signed report sent to the police commissioner.
"That's good…its just that I heard Amander Wallers voice in one of the surveillance vans before I took off, I couldn't investigate further because I had prior engagements that needed my attention." No one was to know her sister is in town, at least not yet.
"That is strange...i believe she only gets involved in sensitive off the books cases." Superman stated. Their path have crossed so many times that he has an idea on the type of cases that peak her interest.
For one he was sure Waller was investigating the avengers and Ben even though she hadn't made contact yet. Superman was also sure Amander knew the league had teamed up with the avengers as batman had long suspected she had an informant in the league.
"Were the robbers meta human?" he asked. That's one of the areas that usually interests Waller ever since Darkseids first attack.
"No, they had military training but no abilities"
"Mercenaries" he concluded. In order To avoid accountability in case any mission is compromised, Mercenaries for hire was quickly becoming a norm. They would carry out any type of work or mission as their allegiance was to money, nothing else mattered. Many private security companies offered such services and the government was their main client.
"I'll make sure to share the information with batman, he may know something about it." Wonder woman suggested moving to the door, she was to head home now that there was no emergencies. The fact that superman was volunteering monitor duty justified that fact.
"How are the avengers adapting?" wonder woman paused at the question. From their invitation, they were now residing in the watchtower in a wing secluded from the others to grant them some form of privacy. Ben too was staying in that section.
"Some of the league members are asking questions they aren't willing to answer" was her reply.
"So not going well" a sigh escaping from his lips.
"No." she reiterated walking out the door.
"It's not that bad... since most of them are still talking about doomsday" Wonder woman reasoned "they appreciate the avenger's assistance in taking it down, not to mention black widow saving batman." The avengers, Ben's ability to transform and doomsday were still the hottest topic in the watchtower not to mention the bet involving superman and supreme that got people pouring money into it.
"Darkseid still has his eye on earth." Superman stated, in a tense voice. "He always has an eye on earth, we are the only planet to successfully thwart his campaign. Leaving earth alone will empower other civilizations to take a stand, something I doubt he appreciates." Ever since the first apokolips invasion, the justice league have been anticipating Darkseids retaliation and doomsday just confirmed their fears.
"Doomsday will be decommissioned in OA never to hurt anyone again." Wonder Woman appreciated the green lanterns core because there is always room for alliances that help curb the spread of evil in the world and universe at all.
"Only if their scientists are successful...if not..." The only other option for superman was to throw doomsday into the sun...
"I know, we won't have an option... Doomsday is too dangerous" that much was already proven.
Withdrawing her thoughts from recent activities "I have faith in the lanterns" she stated in conviction otherwise facing both doomsday and Darkseid in the same battlefield will prove to be too much.
"Location, the embassy" Wonder woman instructed superman who obliged and typed in the coordinates. "I have other obligations to get to" she added upon seeing his raised eyebrow at her change in routine. Every hero in the watchtower had a routine especially when the training room is involved and wonderwomans was usually stopping by the cafeteria before retiring to her room unlike today.
Superman was mentally exhausted. The sun's rays rejuvenated kryptonians whenever physical fatigue set in meaning in this case he could not be helped. Turning down to be dropped at home proved his relationship with Lois Lane was still on the line and they needed to sort things out. There was also the issue with doomsday and apokolips.
All the founding members knew darkseid had been the one to send doomsday to earth in preparation for his invasion, luckily he did not take into account the help from ben and the avengers. Thinking of Ben opened up another bag of thoughts. How could a mere watch perform all those functions and why was it entrusted to a teenager who could be easily overwhelmed by the amount of power it grants him. Having witnessed what that watch can do was simply astonishing especially when Ben turned into a kryptonian and an Asgardian. A thought that soon drew his attention to the avengers and the concept of a multiverse out there with different realities and earths. What could be happening?
Legion of doom headquarters
"What the fuck happened out there? You are all completely useless!" Lex voice was heard in the conference room.
"Hey! Don't you dare blame my babies for this Lex" poison ivy defended herself. "I was not the one who under estimated our enemies"
For the past few hours they were going over what happened through the videos Lexs suit captured of the failed infiltration. Grodd particularly was very interested in the two humans who joined the green being in defending their base. According to the footage displayed, the consensus was she had telepathic abilities being she easily dismantled Grodds illusion. The only telepath known to him apart from those in gorilla city was The Martian thus making her very interesting with the possibility of Grodd creating a weapon out of her. They would be unstoppable.
The green being on the other hand was not a telepath but had an immunity to it since from the start of their clash he could not get into its mind.
Bizzaro was quiet, the fight still fresh on his mind. For the first time his muscles were a little sore from the fight. All the top hitters of the league usually balanced their strength when fighting him, especially superman but the green being was not up for that. Every punch they exchanged was thrown with great effort especially when bizzaro realized it could trade blows on the same level as him.
"Bizzaro was the only one who did what was required of him" Lex was still sore from the loss and without Bizzaro they would be dead as it had been a surprise when the frail human turned out to be the green being that knocked out superman.
"Come on Lex, who knew their base would be guarded by that beast!?" Grodd was tired of the complaints. "You should have done more research to avoid that humiliating defeat"
"I knew there would be someone to defend the base but did not expect the green being! He did not battle doomsday for gods sake!" His research showed most of the heroes were in the watchtower.
"No worries, there is always a next time and we wont repeat the same mistakes."
Watchtower
"Jarvis where is everyone?" Tony had been walking around the watchtower for some time now and could not see any of his team members around.
I believe most of the heroes have gone back to earth sir! Black widow whereabouts are unknown as well as hawkeyes. Wanda and Bruce have not left their rooms, Thor is in the cafeteria eating and Captain America is currently in Washington DC.
"What is he doing in DC?"
He has currently integrated himself as a tourist. Jarvis explained bringing up CCTV footage showing Cap walking along the street.
"What about the league members?"
Most of their whereabouts are unknown as we do not know their secret identities. Superman is currently in the control centre monitoring the channels incase of an emergency. Igniting his thrusters, Tony flew to the control room. Jarvis had access to the live cctv footages and mapped out the watchtower. Cyborgs coding was slightly troublesome for Jarvis to constantly hack into without the league noticing thus he was using a backdoor Trixx had installed into the system giving him a constant feed to the cameras.
It still amazed Tony that when he viewed the glass panels facing the earth, is when he remembered they were in space every time. "Why have I never thought of a headquarter in space?" He asked out loud in his amour. Jarvis gave no answer.
"I thought you would be exploring the earth like your friends and well…you're not batman." Superman was genuinely surprised to see Ironman in the watchtower.
"I am pretty sure that I know all the differences between our worlds. Jarvis mapped out everything the moment I knew we were on different earths." Iron man explained. That was one protocol Tony made sure Jarvis made a priority above everything else. Whenever he went to unfamiliar territory Jarvis would retrieve whatever map of the place exists or take a scan of the whole area for security purposes.
"I figured. You remind me of a person I know." Superman wasn't that surprised. Batman was always mindful of his surroundings, one thing he picked up from the dark night.
"I get that a lot" Iron man replied taking it as a compliment. They both watched the monitors for sometime.
"Who does that doomsday remind you of?" Remembering what Natasha told him about Batmans reference.
"Someone I prefer not to think about" superman answered. He knew it was only a matter of time till Darkseid sets his sight on earth again.
"Well, that sucks. Someone that scares you definitely scares me too. Hopefully we might lend a hand next time" He gripped supermans shoulder in a reassuring way to his nod.
The avengers had read about Darkseids invasion from the articles and videos found in various online platforms and likened doomsday to him. They sympathized because they also know the disadvantages of an invasion, especially infrastructure wise. He saw in the news, clean up of doomsdays battle was still in progress and volumes of people were volunteering to help.
Iron man ejected from his suit and joined superman while also gazing into space. This is a view I must have.
OA
"So I guess you should be thanking me... or to be more specific, the Omnitrix." Ben spoke up to Hal who flipped him off. The hologram floated to middle of the room and joined the others while Blaze, Ben's Asgardian form and Hal floated close to them.
"Welcome" one guardian spoke up. "As Hal Jordan mentioned, this place was closed off to everyone else as it is our sanctuary and the main hub of OA. Everything that happens must be noted and gotten approved here" the guardian explained the structural differences from all the other buildings in OA.
Blaze and Hal listened keenly with the lantern barely able to hide the excitement in his eyes. Gaining access to this building was something every lantern dreamed off thus significantly elevating his status among the lantern ranks. Upon initial entry into the building, Hal noticed his ring was charged to 100% from having 40% as he hadn't charged it for a long time showing just how powerful this sanctuary was. He couldn't wait to rub it in John Stewart's and Kilowog's face...
"Good to know." Blaze spoke up still looking around the room. They seemed to be the only ones in the room yet he swore Trixx was getting readings from every direction and his Asgardian senses also noticed the powerful aura in the air and the unusual blankets of darkness surrounding them.
"What are your intentions in this universe?" Another guardian asked then all turned to look at Blaze.
"Not to cause trouble while looking for a way back to mine" the answer was simple. A green light lit up in the room.
"Good.. It's all we wanted to confirm" the guardian continued "How long have you been on earth?"
"Come on, we all know Hal told you so what's up with the 20 questions?" Blaze asked slightly irritated. He never liked being interrogated. A red light glowed for a brief moment then disappeared again.
What's the deal with these lights mentally asking Trixx.
They are measuring and recording several of your physiological indicators to determine the truth in your statements Trixx answered displaying all the indicators being used.
I believe the green light signifies you are not deceiving them in contrast to the red one she explained.
So basically a lie detector test, that's going to be a problem He sure as hell wasn't going to give them any noteworthy information only if they could reciprocate.
I can negate all your indicators to provide inconclusive answers Trixx offered.
No need, just intervene whenever sensitive topics come up.
The guardians looked on expectantly waiting for an answer. As the safety of the universe usually depends on them, they needed to determine whether his intentions were pure as earlier predicted.
Hal's head was shaking in disbelief and disappointment at Bens actions. The guardians of OA were highly respected especially when matters concerning the security of the universe.
"Since I landed in the Amazon Forrest but the number of days I cannot remember." He replied even though Trixx had counted the days and projected for him in his HUD.
Hal looked ready to protest the vague answer but the guardian accepted it. Apparently unable to tell when someone was pulling their leg. The room glowed green in acceptance.
"Are you from an alternate universe?"
"Yes" the room lit green again.
"What is the purpose of the Omnitrix and are you a threat when wielding it?"
"It stores sentient DNA samples and I am not a threat...unless you are a criminal. That's all I will answer today." Blaze concluded having grown tired of being interrogated. This meeting was supposed to be an introduction for the two sides and it was starting to feel one sided.
"It is alright. We got what we needed. You are a friend to the green lantern corps" the guardian concluded. Being linked telepathically they discussed and decided he was not a threat although they were still wary of the fact that such a powerful device is in the hands of a teenager.
"My turn" blaze grinned. "Do you know of a way I can return to my own earth?"
The guardians paused whatever they were inputting in the computer and looked at Ben.
Is there a way you can tell if they are saying the truth? Ben asked Trixx telepathically. There is a way but in doing so I will have to hack their system came her reply. After some seconds of debating, blaze decided to trust the guardians word.
"There is one way, but I am afraid we will not disclose it to you as we made a promise to never speak of the subject again knowing what happened the last time that gateway was sort after by the man hunters."
At the mention of their name, Trixx dug up and displayed in blazes HUD everything she could find on the man hunters from the little info he collected while temporarily hacking the guardians and whatever information was in the justice league database. They had become power crazy and wanted to travel to multiple universes to provide law and order even though it was against the guardians policy. An all out war emerged between the green lanterns and the man hunters resulting in the decommissioning of the man hunters and them being locked away somewhere in OA.
"I understand, wanting to bring the multiverse under one rule was insane." Blaze added in support. The guardians and Hal looked to blaze wondering where he got the information from.
Noticing all eyes on him, he supplied "Trixx's research on them" the guardians seem to understand and continued interfacing with their computers.
Hal looked at blazes wrist and marveled at the watch, before knowing the existence of the Omnitrix, he assumed the green lantern ring was the ultimate device as it can bring to life any imagination the user wills. Seeing the Omnitrix and what it can do made him to start doubting that assumption. Come on! A device that can turn you into any alien you want...such power... He shuddered just thinking about it.
External intrusion detected! Flashed in blazes HUD.
At the same time the guardians dismissed both Hal and blaze as they got the answers they were looking for and they also did not want the Omnitrix to be on OA for extended period of time. The Omnitrix maximum scanning range was not known and they did not want him to scan all the sentient life on OA (all the different alien species serving in the lantern corps), at least not yet. This also paved way for them to enact a fail safe in case the Omnitrix was to get its way into evil hands.
"What's happening?" Blaze asked Trixx a little alarmed.
Who was trying to hack the Omnitrix while he was in OA, the most secure planet, where he was sure the guardians were monitoring every signal coming in and out. Surely they would have noticed a foreign network intruding apart from Trixx of course.
Trojan horse has been detected. One firewall has been breached. Should I initiate counter measures? Trixx calmly explained and inquired.
"What!?" Blaze exclaimed and stopped flying to hover in the air before they reached space while Hal looked at him expecting an explanation for the sudden outburst. They should be on their way to earth.
"Someone is hacking me." Blaze supplied then concentrated again on his HUD.
"Who is it?" Blaze asked Trixx. "Trace the hack" he commanded and Trixx obeyed.
Blaze saw millions lines of code emerge from the External intrusion message indicating Trixx was initiating the trace then a bar appeared with 79% indicated while steadily increasing to 100%.
"The hack is originating from OA" Trixx informed. Displaying the data supporting it and specifically traced it to the main hub he and Hal just exited from. That could only mean the guardians.
"Just when I thought we were on the same side" blaze thought confused and angry. It was too good to be true...another thought lingering in his mind as the real reason they invited him over and doomsday was just a scapegoat.
"Have they succeeded? Do you know what they are after?" He asked Trixx.
"I detect a large portion of the planets processing power being diverted to infiltrating my firewalls and the Trojan horse is specific to a tracer program. The guardians intend to monitor the Omnitrix operations. They have successfully infiltrated two firewalls with the target to be able to plant the Trojan horse being five." Trixx explained while displaying everything for blaze.
The first two firewalls has always been a trap in that Trixx attached programs that attach themselves to the hackers network or device in the duration of the hack thus making it easy for Trixx to in turn infiltrate their system. This is only because anyone or any device capable of bypassing just one of Trixx firewall is a serious player technologically wise.
Hal being bored and tired of being ignored had flown ahead and was currently talking to one lantern probably bragging about his time in the guardians main hub.
"Trixx, can you plant another backdoor system while looking for any information on multiverse travel in their database." Blaze ordered knowing they are not to be blamed in case the guardians find out they are being hacked. Two can play that game.
In an Undisclosed location.
Bane was knocked out and locked in a cage after all the steroids and all his gadgets had been dismantled. They were lying on top of a table together with some vials of blood and syringes under a lightbulb some meters away. The sedative black widow had shot him with worked a little too well.
Inside an adjacent cell was Nightwing tied to a structure resembling an x with his hands and feet secured to each end of the structure. He had been awake for close to 30 minutes now mentally trying to figure out who could have captured him and their intentions. If it was because of ransom or to get leverage on batman then he felt sorry for the kidnappers. Focusing on his binds, he noticed they were surprisingly sturdy and secure and could have complemented them on it if it wasn't him tied up. This would take him sometime to get out off.
"I know you are awake" a deep voice spoke.
"Guess the jig is up" Nightwing murmured lifting his head to survey the place he would soon break out off. Looking up, he couldn't see anyone or anything except for three things, his and banes cage and the table holding on to their personal effects and weapons. In what looked like a huge warehouse only the three things had been illuminated by the lightbulbs directly on top of them.
Looking at the table he could see his earpiece, banes equipment's, vials of blood (assuming it's his and banes), syringes and his weapons. The first thing he did when he woke up was to check to see if he had his utility belt, the most important weapon of all and because of that batman made extensive security upgrades to make sure it cannot be removed by an unauthorized person.
"The justice league fought a team at the dock. What do you know of them" The voice patiently interrogated. He had enough time to extract the needed information.
Nightwing mentally scanned the voice but could not recognize it meaning this was a new player sourcing for information or he's being paid to retrieve the said information from him bringing his chances of survival to minimal if he does not find a way out.
"Oh, and don't think that rescue is on its way, Batman has been quite busy this past few days" With this statement Nightwing tried looking into the darkness searching for the owner of the voice.
"What have you done!" He gritted his teeth.
"When I return I expect answers." The voice ignored him and started walking away.
"I swear if you've done anything to Batman I will kill you!" Nightwing shouted feeling a pit in his stomach.
His attention was directed to a projection of the fight between doomsday and the justice league. All he could do was stare, not believing he missed so much. "How long have I been here?"
Black site
Amender Waller was sitting in her office watching the surveillance video from the attempted bank heist. Since then, the building was closed down and under renovations citing infrastructural damage that needed time to be repaired. At least that is what the public and media was told. In reality the bank had been disbanded with all the funds disappearing within hours of the unsuccessful heist.
The surveillance showed them entering the building, taking out all the security guards and every surveillance video in the premises, including the discreet need to know cameras that only a handful of people usually know of their existence. This were to be used in case of a situation like this thus their positions were on a need to know basis.
"They had inside help" she concluded. There was no way they would know that information. Whoever planned and funded this heist knew what they were doing and was obviously very connected to get such information.
In her case, she had to pull rank with the bank so that she be included in the list of people who were updated about the banks security. No sooner had she explained to them who she was and what she would do in case she's turned down than they contacted the relevant partners and added her. The captured targets were useless, none of them knowing any information outside their individual assignments, this she was sure as Slade Wilson was the one who conducted the interrogation.
ALMERAC
Explosions could be heard coming from everywhere in the the city the queen called home as almeracians ran around seeking shelter from the falling debris while their forces combatted the invading threat.
"Queen Maxima!" The general called out entering her bed chambers.
Upon learning of the invasion or attack, he hadn't confirmed what was going on yet, the generals main objective was to ensure the queen was safe and in her bunker waiting it out.
Looking around the room, the queen was no where to be seen.
"Queen Maxima!" He shouted against the bathroom door, still no answer.
Taking a few steps back, he rushed forward and kicked in the door to find the Queen indulging in one of her favorite past times, Sex, with one of her mates from her harem.
Everyone in Almerac knew the queen was not interested in marriage or settling down in the near future judging by the group she had specifically selected to be sharing her bed with her. These group of guys were in their peak physical form and in the army with special privileges in that they got whatever they needed.
Maxima was the oldest and only daughter of the royal family thus became the queen when her mother stepped down and had since passed away. Almeracians physiology made it possible for them to develop at a fast rate thus extending their lifespan considerably. By the time Maxima was 6 earth years she already had an adult body and was being taught anything and everything there was to know about Almerac and the crown and how to fight.
She was also the most beautiful woman in Almerac and in combination very many planets. This was made possible by her mother choosing the most compatible and fit mate to breed with but immediately killing him. This was the way of her people.
As soon as the door gave out and broke away, Maxima reached out to her sword near the bathtub and took a stance ready to battle whatever threat walked in while the guy remained oblivious, clearly still in the after throws of his enjoyment.
Pathetic she thought looking down at him then back up.
"What is the meaning of this!" She demanded when the general came through.
"I am sorry to intrude, we have a situation and you were not responding" staring straight in her eyes with the occasional glance towards her body.
Almeracians were not ashamed of nudity as they were blessed with one of the best gene pools in the universe. Compared to earth, almost everyone in Almerac qualified to be a model.
"Can it not wait? I was busy" she said looking at her companion who had since regained his senses and was standing beside her exhausted.
"Unfortunately it can not wait your majesty." The queen quirked her eyebrow waiting for him to continue.
"We are under attack"
"What! Who dares!?" She was so pissed off and angry. Who dared attack Almerac, a technologically advanced warrior society that was enthralled with the cycle of constant military activity. In all her years of living, no one dared attack her home planet because they had a fully functional and efficient planet defense system which when destroyed then the thousands of qualified warriors to be ready to defend it. Considering their physiology, the army was one of the strongest military forces in the universe. The generals were also pretty smart and repelled each and every attack or sabotage their enemies would launch at them.
"The invading ship is unmarked and not familiar to us. There is no record of it in any of our database and any attempt at communication comes up blank. There is no information on the people attacking too as the specie is not in any of our databases." This was information relayed to him by the third general in command who was currently coordinating their attack against the foe.
"The city is the only place under attack. We suspect the invaders want to capture you first for the rest of the planet to surrender." The general mentioned his theory. So far the palace guards and all the warriors in the city have been able to suppress the attack while reinforcements converge to assist. "I suggest you..."
Already dressed in her warrior armor and wielding her sword, Queen Maxima took off heading out of her palace with the two men following closely behind. The general didn't get to finish his statement already knowing her answer since she was by far the best in combat in their planet. Maxima always preferred to be involved in the fight just like her loyal warriors, leading them to victory.
Outside, her warriors were fighting the creatures with all they got. The more creatures that fell, the more creatures were released from the main vessel. The vessel in question was very huge, and triangular in shape, capable of withstanding most of their missiles with minimal damage to its exterior. Maxima fumed at this. No one dared to attack her planet and lived to tell the tale. "Kill them all" was all Maxima said before flying off towards the vessel killing any creature she encountered flying.
"Protect the queen at all costs." The general spoke into his earpiece before putting on a jet pack and followed his queen into battle.
2 hours ago. Almerac airspace
The 2 vessels used by the black order hovered monitoring the planet and its defenses. Gamora was studying the defenses on the screens put up for her by the command center operators. Data showed existence of a type of canon that theoretically could detect any spacecraft entering their atmosphere and potentially destroy it using a giant laser depending on the information relayed to it by the planets generals.
"What do we have?" Nebula walked into the command center.
"They have doomsday lasers. Could be a problem upon entry." Gamora explained to her pointing at the three places each laser was located at. They were strategically placed to cover the entire planet depending on the position of the invaders, no one could escape their radar.
Standing close to her watching the screen, Nebula had a thoughtful look on her face. "Let's use the invisibility cloak"
"An advanced civilization like this one would easily detect our cloak" Gamora refuted.
The scientists had earlier turned down the idea on that same basis when she had also suggested to them. Nebulas left eye sparked and glowed showing calculations were in progress in her head.
"According to my calculations our cloak is more advanced than their radar systems." Nebula stated.
Grabbing a tab from one of the scientists, Gamora proceeded to do her own calculations.
"Let's go" she ordered the pilots of both vessels.
"Aaaaaargh!" was heard followed by a thud of a body hitting the floor. Gamora had just murdered the scientist who clearly assumed and did not bother to check with the calculations. A clean stab wound through his chest.
"I hate disappointment."
As expected they bypassed the laser defense system and one vessel plummeted to the ground while the other hovered above the clouds. No sooner had the loud explosion of the vessel landing was heard, than sirens and alarm warnings blazed up, warriors surrounding the huge vessel with weapons activated and charging up.
"Release the chitauri" Gamora spoke up and Nebula smirked at the screen watching the hatch open up as this was her best part during invasions. The chitauri were a specie so vast that a single vessel carried hundreds of thousands of them since they are basically mindless and follow their orders to a T. Their huge number usually takes every civilization by surprise and having no time to gather themselves. A well equipped planet like this needed to be taken by surprise.
Hundreds of chitauri scrambled to get out of the vessel attacking every one in sight. The Almerac warriors recovered from their brief surprise and engaged the invaders. This specie was unknown to them thus did not know any of their weaknesses leading to them aiming for their heads, a sure way of killing anything. The chitauri overwhelmed the first line of defense and killed most of the soldiers while others made tactical retreat waiting for back up. Soon the city was at war with some civilians joining the fight in protecting their home.
"It seems this will not be as easy as we thought" Nebula commented. For the past few minutes of monitoring the invasion, she noted even the civilians joining the fight were able to tear a chitauri in two with their bare hands thus displaying some kind of enhanced strength. This was a new universe to them, meaning every planet they conquer will present challenges they never faced in their universe. This was unfortunate for their father's plans to bear fruit as soon as possible.
Gamora just watched the screen showing the chitauri pouring out of the vessel non stop with drones armed containing multiple canons in the air laying waste to as many of them as possible with great precision. This must be a very advanced nation in this universe Gamora thought.
The second vessel will have to be put into play especially since the other one had been breached. The vessels internal surveillance system displayed a woman dismantling every guard and security feature while moving through the vessel possibly looking for its control room. Close behind the woman was a man in military uniform equally laying waste to any chitauri he found along the way.
"She must be an enhanced" Nebula motioned to her flying while the man used a jetpack. They had read about enhanced individuals that were found in their universes earth and were still in the process of building prison cells that would contain all of them by suppressing their abilities.
"Both definitely underwent extensive training" Gamora added watching them move swiftly each with their own weapon. The lady used some kind of sword capable of cutting through their trap doors like hot knife cutting butter. The man used an assortment of canons and grenades whenever necessary other wise he preferred killing using hand to hand combat.
The woman found the control room, killed everyone but two operators and started dismantling everything. The man soon joined her, restrained the two captives and proceeded to carry them out while the woman started typing in one of the computers.
"She's trying to access our database." Nebula told Gamora when she glanced at her and to reassure Gamora she added "she won't be able to access it before the vessel self destructs."
"It only does that when the vessels integrity has dropped below 80%" Gamora pointed out.
"No matter, she won't have the time to do it." Nebula declared watching the screen with renewed interest.
Proxima midnight and cull obsidian had teleported into the control room and we're currently engaged in a fierce battle with the woman and man.
"She will make a good addition to fathers loyal followers" Nebula declared watching how effortlessly both women handles their sword while the men had stumbled out of view clearly fighting as the control room would occasionally shake.
"Let's finish this" Gamora ordered with the second vessel dropping at an alarming rate to replenish the chitauri numbers on the battle field while the woman was currently battling both Proxima midnight and cull obsidian plus the occasional chitauri that would find itself in the middle of the battle. She really knew how to handle her self. Proxima midnight and cull obsidian were clearly struggling fighting with her. in the next room the general was passed out after obsidian knocked him out.
We cannot disappoint father It was time the children of Thanos join the fight.
Apokolips
Steppenwolf, Kalibak, Ganny goodness and the furies eyes were all glued to the various screens projected in Darkseids throne room displaying the invasion taking place in Almerac.
Darkseid sitting on his throne, silently. Watching everything. Interesting.
OA
Four guardians were interfacing with their computers while the rest typed furiously into the holograms displaying various information and code.
"It has began" one meditating guardian spoke up. All the green lines of code and the green glow of the room turned red with various lines of code overlapping each other, both green and red fighting for dominance.
"How much longer!?" One guardian asked as his alien hands practically gestured at every hologram interfacing with them.
"It won't be long now" the other meditating guardian replied.
For the past few minutes they have been hacking the Omnitrix to install a tracer program to always know its whereabouts and activities. While it was a good idea to track a device as powerful as the Omnitrix, this came with a price by giving its wielder an opportunity or window to return the favor so they needed to work fast.
The Omnitrix was already hacking through their firewall disabling them quite efficiently.
"Redirect him to what he is looking for." one guardian spoke up referring to them searching for any type of information about multiverse and time travel. They redirected Trixx attack on their firewall to a specific database containing time travel information. This was the only way to make sure she did not gain access to any other information by hacking through all of their firewalls, something they suspected was possible with the omnitrix. They were taking too long to plant a tracer program in the Omnitrix system.
"Done" one guardian announced. They had successfully planted their Trojan in the Omnitrix making sure that Ben would not discover and get rid of it.
"He is still accessing our files" Trixx had found the intended information but was still digging deeper into their system.
"Cut him off"
Blaze was currently floating towards Hal after retrieving the data he was looking for. Trixx had used brute force and managed to hack into their system without the use of the backdoor earlier installed by her.
The guardians have rebooted their system cutting me out Trixx informed Blaze telepathically.
"Were you able to retrieve any information?" Blaze asked her studying the data she displayed in his HUD eyes.
I have extracted and currently sorting out some amount of data relating to time travel found in parts of their database I managed to infiltrate. The guardians have also attached a Trojan horse to one of my firewalls which intends to monitor any transformation occurring.
"Good. Can you disable it?"
Yes I can but in doing so they will be notified.
"Who cares!? Get rid of it. And why did you allow them to place a tracker in your system?" From Blazes knowledge of Trixx, she was extremely advanced and could have easily thwarted their attempts at hacking her... or so he thought.
The guardians placing that Trojan makes it possible for me to study and adapt their code more efficiently since this is by far the most sophisticated code I have come across in this universe. I can detect fail safes added to it.
Trixx had isolated the guardians code and was currently developing an algorithm based on it that could she could reverse engineer so that they wouldn't have to constantly hack OA to get information. According to the ETA given by her, it was still unknown when the algorithm would be complete and functioning.
"Okay. Thank you Trixx" Blaze came to float beside Hal who was busy gloating at a few gathered lanterns on how he got to go into the main Hall. Word had spread that Hal, an unknown person and apokolip's weapon of destruction were in OA meeting with the guardians in their main hub and most of the lanterns became certainly curious.
They knew Hal couldn't have taken down the weapon by himself since it had previously killed some lanterns when they responded to distress calls in the planets it invaded.
All the attention diverted from Hal to Blaze as soon as he joined them.
"You going to introduce me?" He had head Hal loved and craved attention from the whispers in the watchtower. Other lanterns were now staring at the watch on his wrist, no doubt none having seen a watch with that design and source of power emanating from it in the universe.
"Oh, yeah. Guys this is Ben" Hal shrugged waving off Blaze.
"Blaze" he spoke up correcting Hal. "My name as per now" he added upon seeing the confused looks on their faces.
"Yeah yeah...we got to go." Hal said hurriedly flying away knowing Blaze was following him. Killowog was just about to join their small gathering and Hal couldn't have him asking questions right now.
"So, what were you doing back there?"
"Trixx was sorting out some issues with the watch, we're good now" Blaze informed him just as they broke the sound barrier flying towards earth. "Okay"
Blaze was really beginning to appreciate space travel without being enclosed in a space craft but just flying. All the planets, meteors and asteroids they flew past made up for a very beautiful scenery. As he was thinking about these, videos of a nation at war popped up in his HUD showing soldiers and some form of creatures at war.
What's happening? Which planet is that? Blaze asked Trixx coming to a stop and floating. Hal noticing this, slowed down and flew back to where Blaze had halted.
"What's wrong?" He asked. They had quite a distance to fly in order to reach earth and constant stops would just delay their arrival time. He had to go and tell Barry, his best friend, about his latest achievement. Only two lanterns had ever had the opportunity to be invited into the guardians main hall.
"Some planet is under attack." Blaze answered gesturing to the hologram Trixx was able to project from the watch showing the invasion. "Trixx picked up an emergency frequency broadcasting the invasion. It showed one vessel was already damaged and up in smoke while the other had just touched down releasing a new wave of those creatures in the thousands.
"That's Almerac!" Hal gasped. "But who are those?" He had never seen that type of creature before and he has been to almost all planets. Blaze looked up at him expectantly. Trixx was already compiling every information she had on Almerac and displaying it to Blazes HUD.
"The creatures are invading Almerac meaning they are either well prepared or just plain stupid" Hal stated. Almeracs army was well trained, advanced and had superhuman strength and qualities depending on the individual almeracian gene pool.
"Let's go and help them" blaze started flying off in their direction.
"Wait! Their queen does not tolerate off-world interference!" Hal shouted at Blaze but following him nonetheless.
"Then it's a good thing I am not from this or any other world in this universe and I cannot sit by while civilians are being harmed" Blaze increased his speed. Destination...Almerac.
"Shit!" Hal groaned already regretting this decision to get involved in Queen Maximas affairs. Their last encounter did not end well so to say.