"Incredible, isn't it?" Clint Burton, dressed in civilian clothes and a baseball cap, stood to his side, marveling at the room created and themed in Superman's official colors.
He grew tired of staying in his room reading about this planet and decided to take a more concrete approach by visiting some of its well-known attractions.
"Reminds me of home," Steve said, smiling.
They were currently in a museum dedicated completely to Superman and his victories, similar to their world's Captain America museum. It was filled with tourists marveling at Superman's stories, weaponry, and sculptures, with some purchasing souvenirs to take home.
Children and teenagers wearing costumes depicting various justice league members ran up and down interacting in their little tour groups with their guides equally in costumes explaining every detail of the displays.
This was by far the most visited museum in the world, a fact backed up by the revenue it brought in to the Wayne foundation.
Superman had granted The Foundation exclusive image rights, with the proceeds going to benefit the public, especially at a time when the city was being rebuilt. These money were utilized to feed all of the volunteers who helped with the cleanup and construction, as well as to reconstruct all of the city's parks and playgrounds. Parents assisting to clean up the destruction left by the great doomsday struggle, which raged for 14 hours, used these parks as a place to rest.
"I guess it fits. Americas symbol and all." Clint commented. It made sense. Back home captain America was also the nation's symbol so this museum fits as every world and everyone needed a symbol of hope and peace in their lives.
"Yeah" "What do you think is going on?"
Everything that happened has been plaguing Steve's mind for the past couple of days.
This whole multiverse theory plus encountering a being such as Superman who was practically a god power wise and to his suspicions probably stronger than the god of thunder since Ben revealed that Thor has not yet unlocked his true potential a fact backed up by the watches Asgardian form of flying yet he cannot do that without the might of Miljonir.
"I wish I knew man. I don't like to be used as a pawn in someone's game." Clint had also been brainstorming on everything especially on the type of person who held the kind of power needed to make multiverse travel possible for such a large number of people. Most likely a god or a higher form of power was responsible. At least that is what he thought.
They exited the museum after some minutes and were now walking along the street planning to go to the justice leagues ground headquarters located in the middle of the city in order to be teleported up to the watchtower, the notion of living in space still amazing to most of the avengers.
Space travel was difficult to achieve on their earth apart from the bifrost only available to Asgardians, the only outside contact the avengers ever made.
"What I know is villains like Abomination pale in comparison to doomsday. Thor couldn't manage to defeat it in his usual thirty minutes or less the average time it takes him to subdue a villain." Clint noted.
That was true, this earths villains were stronger giving him context as to why the league had many heroes registered whereas the avengers only had a handful.
"If I didn't know better I would think you are implying the bad guys outdo the heroes in this place." Steve looked at Clint with an eyebrow raised still walking in stride with him.
"They have powerful hitters too; superman, Wonder woman, that Shazam guy..." Steve mentioned pointing back to the direction of the museum to put more emphasis. "Remember superman can go toe to toe with the hulk and that doomsday too."
Clint agreed, "That was impressive." He'd saved both bouts to his hard drive as evidence of how big and disparate the universes are. "It appears Thor needs to evaluate himself and stop holding back," he added as the only explanation for his inability to fly.
"Maybe not." Steve began. "I've been thinking." He went on. "Ben's form is a prime form of an Asgardian. That is, Thor has not yet hit his prime." He reasoned that by emphasizing prime, Clint would understand.
For a few seconds, He was lost in thought. "You might be right." He concurred. "But isn't the dude like over 1000 years old?" His brow furrowed in thought.
"Keep in mind he is a god" Steve reminded "according to him his father has been alive ever since the nine realms were formed a couple hundred thousand years ago." He pointed out.
"You're right. He'll probably outlive the earth" Clint agreed with them heading towards the leagues ground base both deep in thought.
"Grey shirt two blocks down" Clint spoke up after a while.
"Yeah, she's been following us for some time" Steve acknowledged clints observation which was apparently the same as his.
The lady in question had been following them since they departed the museum. He wanted to be sure before alerting Clint but it seems he was way ahead of him.
They continued on the same path knowing any deviation will give away their advantage. It will be tricky approaching or subduing their tail in public much less in the streets where there were crowds of people.
"How are we going to play this?" Clint asked knowing any suspicious movement will tip off their tail. Noticing a hot dog stand up ahead he got an idea.
"I'm hungry, let's eat something." He suggested motioning for the hotdog stand. Steve accepted catching onto what his friend was planning.
They came to a halt and ordered two hotdogs each. If the lady was a tail, she would either find something to amuse herself with while they went to get something to eat, or she would just enter another street and vanish after being detected.
The strange woman continued on her way to them, showing no evidence of deviating from her course. She thought to herself, "Well played," as she noticed their move against her. They know.
They ate while pretending to converse with each other and watching her approach. Stories about Tony getting intoxicated from Thor's magical cup at a party they attended a while back.
"Excuse me." The mysterious woman in question came to a stop beside them looking at Steve expectantly and shooting Clint sideway glances.
Steve and Clint paused their chat and turned to face the woman, who appeared to be a model, at least in their respective eyes. The kind with a grin and the physique to rival Natasha. She was dressed in a grey t-shirt and blue jeans that highlighted her curvaceous hips and snickers. Simple, appealing, and deadly in their line of business.
Clint was reminded of the black widow program, notably their amo, the moment he saw her naive posture, attire, and bravery of actually making contact with her target. The operation recruited attractive young girls and ladies to acquire intelligence and carry out assassinations around the world. Upon first glance at Natasha one would never know he witnessed her kill five people with a pencil. That's how dangerous she is. Black widow suites her in reference to her name, he thought.
"Can I get one hotdog please?" She directed the request to Steve. "I kind of lost my purse and was about to get some lunch before going back to the office and it would be a shame for me to walk all this way just to go back without eating." Came her humble request batting her eyelashes at the two of them.
"Uuhhh...sure" Steve answered slightly confused while handing the vendor some bills.
"Thanks so much" the lady spoke up after retrieving her take away lunch and walked back the direction she came from smiling and with a spring on her step. Guess she was having a good day.
"What was that about?" Clint questioned after some seconds. He was sure he clocked her trailing them but did not expect her to come up to them let alone initiate a conversation. That made him reevaluate some things about this encounter.
"Lunch?" Steve responded unsure. "Maybe she was heading here to get lunch?"
"I don't know..." This whole encounter was still off according to Clint. "Let's trail her" he suggested while walking forward Steve behind him.
"Fucking Tourists!" The vendor sighed. "Never know how to make use of an opportunity." He commented watching them follow the girl probably just finding out she was attracted to one of them.
The Watchtower
In one of the rooms inside the watchtower a group of heroes were assembled discussing a very sensitive and confidential matter whose facts were known only to a few but the general details were known by all who wanted to know.
Since the arrival of the avengers and the addition of non-other than superman himself to their betting website, they had received an influx of subscribers who were initially afraid for when the top two found out about the gambling. They had been going at it for the last one hour still debating the details.
"I think it should be me." Shazam argued. "I know I can take him plus he won't be able to hurt me because I'm probably made of the same thing he is." According to his senses, he suspected Thor of being a god and his control over lightning was proof of it but If given the chance he would beat him senseless. In no way is he planning to endanger his chance at the prize money.
"That's my point. You two are too similar. We need people to feel confident enough to actually put their money in this thing. I was thinking Ben." Cyborg countered.
"To be honest right about now majority will pay big bucks for a fight Ben is involved in meaning we just have to put him up against these big shots but you can also participate." His train of thought to have him face off against Ben too.
"Cyborgs right" flash agreed with him. Hal being off world meant he will have to place the bets for him in case they couldn't communicate on time to ask for his preferences.
League bets was trending in the watchtower and ever since superman placed his bet everyone was now comfortable to place theirs albeit still in secret in fear of batman.
The total win for the superman vs supreme arm wrestling was going to be a whopping 500,000 dollars from 100,000 dollars. It was safe to say this would be the event of the month. Maybe they could charge whoever wanted to watch it go down just like Pay Per View in worldwide wrestling matches he thought.
"When is Hal and Ben supposed to arrive?" Flash asked already thinking of the vacation spot he would take Iris with the prize money making Bens late arrival the only thing standing between them and their riches.
"Some time tomorrow" cyborg answered at the same time receiving an incoming transmission from batman to meet him up at the control room.
"I'll be back in a few." "Shit." He cursed. He probably wants me to take down the betting site was his thought walking out of the room heading up. Ben should come back sooner rather than later he groaned so that they put the bets to rest.
He walked out of the room to the sounds of Shazam trying to sway the flash into agreeing with him about his fight with Thor.
Thinking of Ben, cyborg couldn't help but recall the findings of his previous Omnitrix scan. Most of the specific material featured errors and unknowns in their description of the watch, leading him to wonder if it was far more advanced than the combined might of apokolipian and earth technology, given that he was a hybrid of both, with the difference being that he vastly outperformed earth's technological advances.
No database or encryption was too sophisticated for him to hack into on Earth, yet all that processing power couldn't figure out how Trixx kept hacking the watchtower without his knowledge, despite the fact that he was the one who created the majority of the firewalls and protocols. That demonstrated how powerful that watch was. Thinking of Trixx made him want to come up with a name for his AI too.
His thoughts trailed to the avengers. Who knew the multiverse theory was real he thought while retrieving various documents from the watchtower and around the world referencing and attempting to explain the multiverse theory scanning over them.
Thinking of iron man, He brought up the information gathered from scanning Iron Man's suit. It looked that their world had not grown sufficiently making it possible for him to scan and gather information on his teammates and the suit itself from his suit. At least the broad notion of how it was put together.
The renewable source of energy on his chest, which powers up his suit, could not be determined as to how it was formed owing to the scan displaying unknown and returning empty, and iron man's files did not have any information about it. His conclusion was that he must have a hard copy of it. What he was sure of was that Darkseid was not yet done with earth as noted by the mother box currently housed inside him frequently attempting to give him visions. Very disturbing ones but he was currently sorting them out while blocking out most of them.
"How can I help you?" Cyborg asked Batman entering the control center whose huge monitor showed a detailed map of Gotham and known surveillance areas and devices.
"I need to access footages from every available camera within a 2 mile radius from here on the day doomsday attacked." Batman pointed at a spot on the map.
"Sure" Cyborg nodded with his forehead glowing red indicating he was accessing and processing the footages. He fully trusted batman with whatever information he acquired during his researches and currently did his best to retrieve the ones he was asking for.
"Nightwing was supposed to deliver a package but never checked in." Batman filled him in explaining the frustration showcasing by clenching and unclenching his fist.
"I should have noticed sooner." He stated looking at the map.
Back in the batcave he had started reviewing reports from his sidekicks when he noticed Nightwing's was missing and a quick check on his tracking beacon discovered that it was switched off, something he never did.
Contacting batgirl proved to be futile as she had not worked a case with the vigilante for some time preferring to take care of his bedridden father who found himself in the middle of a shootout between two gangs.
That is how he found himself in the watchtower since he didn't have the time to collect and compile all security feeds needed. Had he noticed sooner he would have done it himself?
"Done" cyborg announced displaying the footage he had compiled from a few security cameras and an atm machines. The footage showed what batman already knew transpired between him, bane and Blackwidow.
What he wanted to see was whatever happened after he left. There was static in the feeds as soon as he took off with Blackwidow in the bat jet then the footage ended.
"I tried scouring the nearby traffic lights security camera footages but it's still the same result, static" cyborg informed him.
"EMP" batman growled. Whoever triggered it must have waited till the batjet was out of range. How had he or Blackwidow not have noticed someone surveilling them?
"Looks like it and a bit of hacking." Cyborg agreed then added when Batman turned his head to look at him.
"The traffic control center was hacked beforehand." He explained displaying random lines of code added to the original one. "Smart enough not to leave any detail that would lead back to the perpetrators."
"I figured." Batman was deep in thought.
He knew that after the doomsday fight everything was so riled and juggled up but it was no excuse to not notice his sidekicks disappearance earlier.
"Thank you. I'll take it from here." He turned walking out the control room cyborg sitting down wanting to check up on the various emergency channels being broadcasted in the watchtower just in case.
"Everything's weird about that guy." Cyborg murmured. For a superhero without powers he was the most feared of all the justice league members, something one would come to understand the longer he or she interacts with the dark night. The other thing was he rarely asked for help.
Themyscira
"How do you think she is doing your Majesty?" General Phyllipus placing the fork down asked her queen as they were having lunch outside her room on her balcony under the shade provided by the huge mango tree beside the palace.
This is where Hypolyta preferred to eat when there was no major ceremony taking place or when her daughters were not home and it was just her and her second in command. A place where she could be deep in thought and not get interrupted by anything or anyone as well as General Phylipus being comfortable in the silence that usually ensued whenever they ate.
"I haven't heard from them yet but I was told she is behaving herself." Hypolyta answered thinking about the message she received from her contact in the embassy.
"I am hoping you know what will happen when they found out about your spy..." The general began but was cut off.
"How will that happen?" The queen looked at her friend with an eyebrow raised.
The generals silence brought about a satisfactory smile on queen hypolytas face who then resumed eating together with her general.
The queen had assigned one of her Amazon sisters at the embassy to be her spy and report everything her daughters were up to or at least everything she managed to know about their activities and not be discovered while doing so. She knew and was ready for the consequences when that particular truth came out.
"What do you think about the visitors from the other world?" This was something the queen thought about almost as much as she thought about her two daughters. Especially given the fact that Ares the god of war was also interested in them.
"This may be a sign from the gods." The general too thought about it. "Could it be related to that doomsday monstrosity? Because if it weren't for the justice league teaming up with the visitors, I am afraid man's world would have come to an end as we know it..." She gave her opinion not voicing out that they too may have had trouble dealing with it when the time came.
Doomsday was a weapon capable of killing gods by the sheer force of its brutality and capability of adapting to any form of injury inflicted on it.
"I know. Even the one called Thor struggled when fighting against it and according to my daughter he is the famed god of Thunder from our tales."
The general perked up when she heard this. "I always thought he was familiar somehow" especially that hammer of his that only he could carry.
"Whatever is happening seems to have gotten the attention of Olympus." Hypolyta informed her. They were sure to receive many visits from the gods concerning this matter since the only link they have is through her daughter Diana, Champion of Themyscira.
Phylipus nodded deep in thought. "I have ordered increased patrols on our border and the streets" she supplied to her knowing sooner or later she would take notice.
"That would be wise." The queen agreed.
"When you say the god of thunder, does that mean that..." Phylipus had been pondering for a while and wanted to know but it seems she wasn't the only one because she was interrupted before completing her question.
"Yes. He is aware but has not taken offense of it yet. Besides, the god of thunder is still young to get his full attention for the moment. He can't fly without the help of Miljonir" the queen pointed it out.
"Hopefully they will find a way back home sooner rather than later." The general suggested because with them gone everything will be back to normal.
"I doubt it will be that easy" the queen dreaded what could be in play to have the gods worried.
Both of them oblivious to the invisible figure standing beside them listening in on their conversation.
Back in metropolis
Steve Rodgers and Clint had been trailing the lady for close to twenty minutes. Both of cautious of the encounter as she had all the signs of being a spy / assassin and was trailing them when they had first assumed she was on her lunch break.
"What do you think?" Steve asked into his earpiece while he blended into the crowd keeping a close eye on the lady making her 10th turn in a junction.
The renovations following up doomsdays battle was still ongoing in various buildings thus the streets were crowded making it possible for anyone to be a threat and go unnoticed so they had to keep their guard up.
"She clocked us fourteen minutes ago." Clint answered into his earpiece looking down at the direction the lady was heading. He was currently on top of a building having decided to take the high ground while Steve preferred tailing her from the ground.
"I know. She's leading us somewhere. What do you think? Call for back up?" Steve asked.
This was a new world for them, and the underworld was full with villains the avengers had never met. Following the introductions and settling into the watchtower, he took his time going through the material provided by Batman in detail, describing the world's governments, each criminal organization, their members, the justice league members, and everything else vital enough for them to know.
So it was in their best interests to consider calling it in since whomever was organizing this was plainly sure he or she could take them on in order to lead them to a trap they were well aware of.
"Yeah, I'll call it in." Clint said sending a quick text and activating his locator.
Their target was very simple in the way she interacted with practically everyone on the street while buying and eating goodies sold by vendors. Unless one was thoroughly trained and experienced, it was impossible to discern that the lady giggling and walking casually was a lethal assassin. Clint was reminded of the Black Widow program, in which young girls were trained to be effective assassins. He wondered what Natasha was up to. He hadn't spoken to her in more than 12 hours.
"Heads up." Steve's voice brought him out of his thoughts to see her entering what looked to be a tall building with mostly tinted windows. They too were already on the move.
"It's done" the lady spoke into her concealed earpiece before running up the stairs.
Sitting at the reception was an old woman who welcomed Steve into the building with a bright smile on her face
"Welcome dear. Your appointment is on the 18th floor" then went back to typing somethings on her desktop computer.
"Uh...thank you..?" Steve answered with a cautious expression. Someone was expecting them and they probably knew that Clint had infiltrated the building through the roof.
As if reading his thoughts the receptionist added, "I hope you've been eating healthy young man, the elevator is out of order." That made him to be on high alert, his instincts telling him of the impending danger.
"Do you work here?" He asked her.
"Only for the last 45years son, now move along, I have things to do before happy hour" she turned her screen to Steve showing him the process of her organizing a tea party.
Maybe she isn't in on it he thought finding it difficult for anyone to use such a sweet old lady for their diabolical schemes. Looking back at her their eyes met and he felt inclined to tell her his name.
"Bucky" he gestured to himself watching the lady smile.
"For a minute there I thought your generation was beyond saving on manners and etiquette." She chided politely the continued "My colleagues call me Granny" before Steve started walking up the stairs.
The building had no sort of security feature, be it guards or security cameras. Thinking of it he had not seen any sign of life except for the old woman but he could clearly hear footsteps on the upper floors.
"I have a bad feeling about this." He tapped into his earpiece while climbing the stairs. The elevators were out of order.
"Top floor clear." Clint reported then added "Be careful"
"I have been expecting you." Clint aimed his bow and arrow at the direction of the voice to see a hooded figure standing next to what seems to be a large window looking down at the commotion of people living their everyday life with his back to him.
"Please excuse my associate for her lack of discretion in setting up this meeting." The lady appears behind Clint just a few feet away with a smile on her face.
"You've gotten our attention. Talk" Clints composed voice ordered while calculating escape roots and angles of attack incase things take a turn and Steve hadn't arrived yet. Maybe he could warn him to keep clear.
"I knew you would be a reasonable man to negotiate with. Straight to the point. I like it!" The figure declared with his back still facing him. Clint did not let up on his aim which would embed an arrow in the figures head should he try anything.
"I want you to join me." He finally declared turning around facing Clint.
In his many years of heroism and being an assassin, Clint had seen and experienced almost everything the profession had to offer from interacting with gods, being kidnapped, fighting aliens and now having to travel to another universe. He always figured nothing could surprise him anymore but that was an understatement. Apart from the suit the hooded figure wore, Clint could not make out his face even though they were now facing each other. The man's face was completely black in contrast to his neck and hands which were white. On his face it was only the pupils of his eyes that were white in color and looked like two dots floating about. Upon closer inspection when the man moved forward, he was a little bit muscular and his black suit clung to his body perfectly. Probably hand tailored.
"What's in it for me?" All this while his weapon was aimed straight at the guy's head. If indeed he is a human.
"Answers...power...your life... Specificity I will leave it up to you." The guy answered obviously studying Clint.
"From what I've seen, you're a great marksman and human." I could use someone with your skills as my second in command." Being a crime leader for almost a century has given him valuable knowledge and talents, particularly when it comes to negotiating legal or criminal agreements. Every man's loyalty has a cost, as he discovered when he got blood brothers to turn on each other for the appropriate price. This archer in front of him will be no exception. He only had to convince him before his partner discovered them.
Clint thought for a second contemplating his options. The first being taking this guy in for questioning even though he knew there was no way he had answers. That would have to be decided after his interrogation. The second option was agreeing with his deal and going undercover to retrieve more of the said answers he was talking about which with this being a new world to him was not the best idea.
"I have a counter proposal" Clint offered. This got the lady's attention too.
"Come in with me and we'll discuss those answers in detail. That goes for your friend too. These past couple of days have been pretty crappy but I know those answers will be the highlight of my week"
"I'm sorry to hear that." The guy gave a signal.
Clint fired a shot at his chest intended to incapacitate by electrocution, the same design as black widows stingers and ducked aside as the lady was inches away from knocking his head off with a kick. The arrow was snatched out of the air by the guy who proceeded to examine it in his hands impressed by its design.
I will have to incorporate the same design as this for my people he thought. The arrow vibrated for some seconds before he was brought down to his knees by the electric current emitted by the arrow. It was mildly excruciating as he was familiar with pain having trained to endure such.
Clint was fighting the lady intending to incapacitate her before the guy recovered. She was surprisingly well trained in martial arts but he was better. Watching the guy get up, he attached something on the lady's back before she was brought down by an electric current much like her boss. He had no time for her right now.
"Stand down" the lady was instructed as she was already getting up slightly fidgeting when minute shocks still assaulted her body.
"I have the answers you seek and if you indeed want to go back to your earth and probably to your family you will at least take time to consider my deal." He reveled in the reaction he expected. The archer was more alert when family was mentioned making his guesswork about a man his age probably has family pout there somewhere correct.
Now just to reel him in.
"How do I know you aren't just lying to get what you need?" Clint asked still processing with his mind partially thinking of his family.
"I'm not. But I will need information from you too about a bank robbery that happened."
"What if I can't find any information about it?" This was too much of a coincidence for Clint to believe. I bet he wants the watchtowers version of the report he thought.
"The league has it or better yet the batman has it. Just retrieve the file and you will get the answers you and your friends seek." He was sure this archer was stealthy enough to accomplish that mundane task.
"When you have it, go tour the museum and I will contact you from there" he added knowing his time was over. The archers' partner was already on the 17th floor moving faster than he anticipated he would do.
Clint knew cap was almost to his position but it seems the black face dude knew that too that's why he wasn't surprised when two percussion grenades were thrown into the room probably to stall time for their escape.
No sooner had Steve turned the corner than they exploded numbing their senses while the two figures jumped out the window onto some kind of hovercraft before speeding off.
Clint sent a text calling off their back up after regaining their senses.
"Who was that?" Steve looked to Clint who was standing up.
"No idea, but we have to get out of here. I'm sure a hovercraft sighting is something the police will investigate." Clint gave a short hand answer though it was actually reasonable.
"Okay." They both went to the roof and jumped to the next building. Cap knew Clint would brief him later most likely in the watchtower.
Throne Room
A large projection showing the ongoing invasion filled half of his throne room's screens.
Thanos sat in his throne watching the black order take on the planets defenses that were proving to be quite the challenge for their invading force.
It seems this universe was way different from theirs in terms of technological advancements and specie evolution. Almost all citizens of the planet contained some form of enhanced power or ability.
The queen proved to be a handful as Proxima and cull obsidian were struggling to put her down even though they got support from some of the chitauri still alive in the ship.
She will make a good addition to my children once I have restored balance to their world Thanos thought watching her fight. Her fighting stance and techniques were far superior to his two children and in addition to her power of flight, she would soon either kill or restrain them.
His plan of capturing a green lantern was still viable. It was the only way he could learn everything about this universe and more so where to obtain the anti-life equation that he'd use to balance this and every universe in existence.
His attention was suddenly drawn to two figures rapidly approaching the city from out of space, one being a green lantern.
It was only a matter of time before he got what he wanted.
Almerac
Queen Maxima was seething with rage fighting the invaders.
"I shall have all your heads for this!" She had already knocked out Proxima midnight and was currently fighting cull obsidian whose huge and bulky body had an advantage over her constant onslaught of punches.
Her general had regained consciousness moments before and was currently engaging the chitauri leaving room for his queen to handle the other brute.
Dismembered chitauri body parts filled the control room up to the hallways with the occasional shaking of the structure given an idea of how brutal the fight was between Maxima and cull obsidian.
Chitauri battle cries could be heard followed by the sickening sound of flesh ripping in two. The general was a man on a mission and could not fail his queen twice in a day after being knocked out by the brute.
"Status report" he spoke into his earpiece grunting after being hit by a hand canon. He reached into his pocket and got a hold of two combat knives before proceeding to launch them at the alien with extreme precision ending up embedded into its head killing it instantly. He had used the last weapon he possessed.
"A second vessel has breached the city and is engaging the reinforcements. The palace is still under attack and there is a possibility of a breach." His second trusted lieutenant informed.
The second vessel was dishing out serious damage to the city. Its energy weapons obliterated most building it was set upon while the chitauri poured out in large numbers attacking everyone in sight and replenishing the first wave of chitauri.
They had already figured out that these were mindless creatures whose only purpose in this invasion was to overwhelm the soldiers by their sheer number as 90% of them were attacking without any form of combat experience or formation, just knocking, shooting and biting their opponents to death.
"Secure the palace and the control room. Don't let anybody get through. That's an order!"
"Sir!" The lieutenant acknowledged and logged off.
Queen maxima was getting tired of the brutes mechanical hand extension. She did not have her sword with her and any other weapon she picked up literally crumbled on impact with it. She needed to finish this and go help her people. She stood a few feet from him watching and concentrating on her opponent.
Cull obsidian on the other hand was struggling to keep up with her speed and surprising strength but his mechanical extension made up for that.
The moment he saw Proxima being taken out he signaled for all available chitauri to converge on his location so as to secure his partner. This has always been their strategy, whenever one of them gets knocked out, the chitauri retrieves their body to minimize the risk of being captured by their enemy.
From the many planets they conquered Cull had seen that kind of concentration before and it did not bow well each and every time. She is a psychic he thought almost immediately he started to feel a probe in his mind.
Maxima stretched out her hand. "Stop breathing" came her command.
Cull obsidian felt the sudden urge to stop all movement and just stare at her not breathing in the process. He was panicking in his mind as he had never met a psychic as powerful as her in his time in the black order that is apart from The Maw.
His eyes were moist, and his hands clawed at his throat, attempting to entice it to breathe again but failing.
"You have attacked my home," Maxima said angrily to the entire universe as she walked methodically to cull obsidian.
"When I'm done with you, there will be nothing left of you but your empty shell of a body," she said, punching him so hard that a crack could be heard before cull blacked out from the pain of his skull shattering and the lack of breath.
He collapsed unconscious on the floor.
Picking him up by his mechanical extension, she dragged his body out of the control room before flying out of the vessel followed closely by the general who carried Proxima midnight on his shoulder.
"We should return to the palace and interrogate the prisoners of their intentions." The general suggested to his queen. One of them was bound to talk.
Queen maxima punched her way out of the vessel to a view that had her gritting and clenching her fist in anger.
Unlike this vessel that she has just decommissioned, there was another completely intact laying waste to her city and deploying countless chitauri nonstop. Her soldiers held their line, most of them being torn apart by the chitauri.
Both vessels still pouring out countless chitauri since the hatch of the decommissioned vessel was still opened.
"Find out their intentions. I shall make these insects pay with their lives" she dropped cull obsidian and took off flying towards the second vessel.
"Get the interrogation room ready and provide support to our queen" the general spoke into his earpiece and signaled one soldier with a jet pack who assisted him in carrying cull obsidian down to the palace.
"Incoming." Nebula motioned the screen to where the woman who had just defeated Proxima and Cull obsidian was seen flying heading to their vessel.
"Ground her." Gamora ordered.
On the screen the woman was blasted out of the air and went tumbling down creating a large crater where she fell and lay still.
"That's the most powerful weapon here but it won't take her down." Nebula pointed out the obvious. This woman was powerful and not to be underestimated. Following her thought they saw her stirring and pulling herself up from the crater. Focusing on her, they could see a smile crop up her face while looking up in their direction.
"Why is she smiling?" One of the pilots of the vessel asked his partner dumbfounded.
"She won't be smiling after this" the other replied already lining up a shot from their weapon to hit her again.
Nebula and Gamora heard what the two subordinates were discussing and didn't reprimand them for acting without orders because they wanted to know how much firepower this woman could take. Plus they wanted to wipe that smile from her face.
It was now down to two decisions, they either conquer this planet or lure and trap a green lantern.
Alarms started going off inside their vessel while the crew scrambled to find out what was happening before they were all executed for doing a shoddy job by their commanders.
"This is going to be harder than we thought." Nebula pointed out, motioning for Gamora the screen linked to their main ship in orbit which was under attack.
In orbit
Hal and Blaze could see a huge circular spaceship twice the size of the watchtower floating in orbit just above Almerac firing down at intervals. Probably taking out the planets defenses while their ground troops deals with the armies being their thought.
"I think we should listen to the two sides and find out what this war is about before engaging in it" Blaze suggested. They were fast approaching the planet and needed to decide on a course of action to aid the situation.
"Let's try to contact their leader and find out." Hal pointed to an opening in the large spaceship where from his calculations would house the control room viewing panel overlooking Almerac.
Hal had never seen a spaceship of this type and design in his time as a Green Lantern core member, yet he had traveled to practically every sector of the cosmos. The only spaceships that came near to its size were Thanagarian warships, which were extremely rare to sight. According to rumor, if your planet was picked up on their radar, you were about to be invaded and added to their already massive colony.
The two floated in front of the observation panel with green lantern scanning the ship.
"Well...now what?" Blaze cast a glance at Hal, who was analyzing the ship with his ring.
"We'll ask what all this is about. My ring does not have any information regarding this spaceship or which planet it may be from."
"I'm guessing that we should be worried about that" blaze spoke up unconsciously getting into a fighting stance. The only thing he had ever encountered from apokolips whose technology the lanterns couldn't get a read on was Doomsday and that was something he did not want a repeat of.
"Yes we should. I am sensing life forms in the control room but they don't seem too bothered to try and communicate." Hal had tried contacting the ship via his ring but there was no response. Something was not right he thought.
His ring lit up signaling a success at making contact.
Ebony Maw was in the command center studying the two humans one coincidentally being a green lantern hovering in front of their observation panel deep in discussion.
The lantern had scanned their ship with his ring and from his facial expression the results did not sit right with him.
"The lantern is trying to make contact with us." One pilot informed him when the icon came up. "What's your order?"
"Patch him through" if the lantern is an advocate of piece then under comply to surrender so that the world below be spared from their wrath.
"My name is Hal, protector of sector 3410. Identify yourselves and the purpose of this invasion" came Hal's voice from the audio system.
"Who we are and the purpose of this invasion does not matter." The Maw spoke then continued. "What you should prepared to do to end it is what should matter."
"And what's that?" Came Hal's voice. "I know I'm not going to like it"
"You and your friends surrender" he declared the other human could provide crucial Intel on this universes earth the maw thought.
The lantern cut off communication before a loud rumble was felt then alarm sounded from everywhere in the ship.
"Status report" The Maw demanded watching a trail heading down to the planet.
"One engine down. We have been boarded." Came his confirmation.
It seems this universes humans were more intelligent than their counterparts but how did the human know where engine room 1 was. All 10 engines necessary for the smooth running of this space ship were perfectly hidden and camouflaged and well secured for him to find let alone destroy one this quickly.
He wasn't worried in the least bit, the intruder would be found and destroyed long before he did any serious damage to the ship which needed 4 engines to function while the rest were for emergency and in case they used their secret weapon which requires tremendous power.
"Activate the defenses." He instructed floating and following his senses to where the intruder was attacking.
Hal had cut off communication when they heard the demands and had split into two groups. Blaze was to engage the main ship while Hal dealt with the ground troops.
This was the best course of action since Queen Maxima was already familiar with Hal unlike Blaze who was from another universe altogether.
"I need to ground this space ship." Blaze thought aloud. "Any ideas?" Trixx was the only one who could have a clue on how to accomplish that. The ship was so huge it would take quite a lot of time to circumnavigate and find out its weak points.
I could get the required information from the onboard network Trixx suggested a course of action that would involve hacking.
"Work on it." Blaze agreed while hovering down the tunnels and corridors.
Trixx usually requires authorization from Ben or Azmuth before she hacks into any known or unknown network because according to her protocols, that is usually under the illegal side of handling things.
Blaze was viewing her progress through his HUD and noted it was taking a bit longer than usual.
The fastest way to ground this ship is to destroy 7 out of the 10 available engines each located in a different part of the ship. Files retrieved indicates 6 vessels each loaded with uncountable number of chitauri soldiers waiting to be deployed. Trixx informed Blaze while showing him the strategic locations they are all located.
"What's a chitauri soldier?" Blaze had never heard of that term and according to what he was viewing, the watchtower database did not have any information regarding it too.
Chitauri soldiers are a sentient specie of cybernetically enhanced beings operating under a hive mind intelligence that usually consists of over 100,000 aliens with a queen in charge of them. Images displayed to him showed the clear differences between a normal chitauri and a queen in terms of their physical size and capability. This specie is a variation of the ninez specie in our universe Trixx concluded showing the differences to him.
"Okay this discussion to be continued later, first lets ground this thing." Blaze used his super speed to navigate the ship using the map provided which was very efficient because in no time he had destroyed one engine and heading to the next.
The next two engine rooms housed a legion of their chitauri forcing blaze to engage preferring to set them on fire instead of actual fighting to save on time. He had to finish and proceed to help Hal on the ground.
"You will be a great addition to my father's children" Blaze looked up to see a figure, who Trixx named The Maw hover close to the ceiling probably waiting and already knowing his plan. I have a strong dislike for telepaths he groaned.
The intruder was moving, locating and destroying the engines akin to a person who knew the internal structure of the whole ship and that worried The Maw because no doubt the control room would be next after all the engines were shut down and he could have that.
Giving instructions to his subordinates to summon back Gamora and the others, he headed for the next likely target of the intruder.
This invasion was not going according to plan and by the reports he was receiving from Nebula, the planet was putting up quite a resistance due to the natives being meta humans much like the avengers.
They needed to strategize now that a green lantern and an unknown human had joined the opposing force.
The internal cameras showed the human moving at an inhuman speed and had a physic similar to that of the superman they read about of the justice league and that could be a problem. In no circumstance were they to be stranded in this planet and taken captive or better yet lose to this insignificant creatures.
"Joining up with a bunch of space assassins and warlords was not in my New Year's resolution thank you very much" Blaze replied charging up the flames on his palm and directing it to the engine already bored of this guy.
"A pity." "Your powers are inconsequential to mine. I will dissect each and every part of you to learn what makes you tick." The maw waved a hand towards the engine and deflected the flames thrown by blaze to nearby chitauri soldiers who were already charging to engage the intruder.
Back in Almerac green lantern had joined the fight and blasted through the second vessel using his body as a weapon dismantling their weapons systems.
"Your Majesty," Hal said and bowed as he drew to a halt near Queen Maxima in a crater clearly made by her.
She was a force to be reckoned with, capable of standing up to Superman and the interplanetary bounty hunter Lobo, and these attackers were plainly in over their heads, thinking they could invade Almerac with just a handful of spaceships.
"Hal Jordan, nice of you to come and help your lover," her eyes unabashedly ran over his body undressing him, remembering their last encounter where she clearly got to see why he was the best green lantern in many areas. He possessed an unbreakable will.
Hal fidgeted on his spot, observing the ravenous look in her eyes and remembering the one week he spent in Almerac as part of the delegation to broker a truce between Almerac and some nation whose name he couldn't recall just now.
That was his best week in space. Maybe I can get Blaze to spend a few days here to help with the rebuilding, he reasoned as his pants became quite tight.
We both know the answer to that: his mind chastised him for having too many things on his plate to indulge in sex right now, finally leaving him with a defeated expression.
Maxima studied Hal's expressions and then lowered her gaze.
Well someone definitely won't mind another round she thought since she knew her usual harem of males will be helping with rebuilding the city after she kills every last one of these things.
"Why is your planet being invaded, and who are these invading forces? Did you kidnap their prince?" It wouldn't be the first time Almerac was attacked or went to war because their queen couldn't take rejection and resorted to kidnapping.
"I haven't done anything like that. Our database does not recognize these aliens, but that will be irrelevant once I am done with them." She hovered, rising in the air before gazing down and saying, "Be sure to stay and help me rebuild my palace," before heading for the second vessel, which was quickly losing all of its functions due to Hal's precious attack.
"Won't mind if I do," Hal said, already thinking about how they would probably inflict more damage to the palace in their battle to force the other to submit, even though Hal usually submits when his ring runs out of power. The queen was the sexiest, roughest woman Hal had ever bedded in the entire cosmos, and he had bedded numerous women. Something made possible by the infinite credit card of the Green Lanterns. He thought, "I love my job."
"The Maw has sent a distress call." Nebula informed her sister while she was observing the panel connected to their main ship in orbit. "An intruder is taking out the engines surprisingly fast." She added not mentioning that they may be stuck in this planet if they do not make a tactical retreat. Everybody knew that detail.
"This universe is much more advanced." Gamora agreed. The same invading force used during this invasion could conquer more than two planets in their universe without them having to replenish their ranks or soldiers yet they were struggling taking this one planet. "Father will not be happy."
"I know. They already have Proxima and Cull obsidian and the first vessel is too damaged to recover anything. The queen will distract them long enough for us to regroup and contact father." Nebula agreed then pointed in one screen.
"Green lantern" Gamora turned and saw the woman from earlier flying towards their vessel at incredible speed killing any chitauri in her way with a human green lantern on her tail.
"Teleport us back." She ordered one pilot. They did not have enough manpower to deal with those two, let alone the one attacking their main ship.
Focusing on the vessel ahead, Hal watched Maxima destroy some of the aliens on what looked like hover bikes before picking up speed. The vessel vibrated for a short while then was teleported back up into space but the queen was having none of that and shot upwards in pursuit.
The damaged second vessel was parked in the main ship and the sisters plus the pilots alighted and headed to the main control room noticing the occasional shaking of the infrastructure with Nebula accessing the internal cameras to locate the intruder.
"It seems the Maw has found our intruder." No sooner had she spoken up than the hangers wall collapsed on itself from the impact of something slamming hard against it and a hoard of chitauri punching on something came through landing on the floor with them maintaining their onslaught.
"Get to the control room and get us out of here" Gamora ordered their pilots who took off running through a door before being reinforced behind him.
"What about the intruder?" Nebula asked because since they did not see the Maw meant he was subdued no doubt by the one the chitauri were trying to rip apart.
"We will subdue him on our way back."
The chitauri crowding the intruder suddenly combusted with the others firing energy canon weapons to avenge their fallen.
"I think he heard you" Nebula observed watching the human fight with renewed vigor scorching everything he came in contact with or simply killed by punching and throwing against the vessels in the hanger. "He's strong." The energy weapons did not slow down his onslaught and destruction. "We won't be enough to subdue him without great casualties."
The children of Thanos knew they weren't strong enough to subdue this human who could apparently fly without releasing the entirety of their chitauri forces on him which in doing so would lead to the destruction of their ship and them getting stranded.
Apart from their father and the rest of the commissioners back in their hideout, they had no physical capability to fight a human with super strength and if given by the reports they read about the justice league, this one may be at par with that superman guy back on earth.
"The woman and lantern are approaching sister, if we retreat without fighting father will punish all of us." Nebula announced clearly recalling her father's punishment the first time they were defeated by the Kree Empire back in their universe.
"This is my decision to make. Have the chitauri drive him out of the airlock before jumping to hyperspace." Gamora had made the decision based on the facts available.
Capturing the green lantern will prove to be difficult when supported by both of these people with superhuman strength and speed.
Her father will either understand this decision or punish her for it but they had already lost a considerable amount of their forces to continue on this onslaught.
"Allow me" they turned to see The Maw coming to hover beside them concentrating on the human now swatting away troups of chitauri attacking him.
Their gaze lingered on him because half his body was burned and it was taking a whole lot of self-control from his side not to collapse due to the sheer pain of it after all without telepathy he was the weakest of them all.
Blaze on the other hand was really getting tired of these creatures. He needed to get to the last of the generators to permanently ground this ship after his super hearing caught on to this invaders plans of retreating with him as a hostage.
The telepath proved to be a thorn in his back but he had managed to destroy that particular engine using great effort fighting these creatures plus him. He was by far the strongest telepath he ever encountered though he could not hold a candle next to Gwen (his cousin)s grandmother.
This creatures kept on coming, no matter how many he fried and killed, others swarmed him immediately while others fired their canons not caring about the chitauri caught in the crossfire.
I suggest using necrophigian to freeze this whole ship. My sensors are picking up hyperspace travel being activated Trixx informed him through all the chaos.
I wonder how Hal is doing came his thought fighting off the chitauri currently swarming him before changing.
All the chitauri around him suddenly froze from an unseen force before all bombarded blaze with him in the center of what looked like a huge ball formed from the bodies of the chitauri then being slammed into the second vessel earlier used by Gamora and Nebula before it being dislodged into space.
The chitauri forming the huge circle ball around him fell into the darkness having succumbed to the extreme force that slammed them into the vessel leaving Blaze hovering midair wondering where he was and thoughts of switching aliens forgotten.
He formed a ball of fire on his palm before extinguishing it immediately.
Shit he cursed before everything went to shit again.
Maxima pushed herself deeper into orbit, aiming for what appeared to be the main ship of these invaders, whose thrusters were gradually increasing in intensity, indicating their departure, most likely through hyperspace, which she couldn't pursue. This called for a discussion with some of her scientists she thought with anger at how the lasers had not obliterated these ships upon entry into their orbit.
A few miles from it, a vessel was detached into orbit forcing her to stop and hover while the main ship vanished into hyperspace.
Upon closer inspection she noted it was the same ship the green lantern had disabled but the hull of it kept bulging as if there something wanted to forcefully get out.
"Why would they abandon this one? Clearly it can be salvaged." She spoke up cautious at the invaders intention when she noticed Hal hovering besides her looking at the same ship. As far as they could tell the thrusters were working and most of the ship was still intact except for the hole earlier made by him.
A flash of bright green light was seen followed by Hal reading the results.
"It seems they could not manage to get rid of Be... Blaze judging by the hive of activity taking place inside" Standing anywhere near Maxima was a distraction with all the sexual energy oozing off of her to the point where Hal had temporarily forgotten Blaze was supposed to engage the main ship here in Orbit but judging from what he was looking it was a job well done.
The scan revealed hundreds of thousands of aliens inside the ship, as well as significant energy spikes originating from within.
"I believe they were getting rid of their baggage." Pointing at a section of the ship where the hull was about to give way to whatever was applying pressure.
Maxima tilted her head and watched the fight taking place while Hal flew forwards to assist.
Blaze was a little disoriented from the impact but noticed a difference in the effort needed to push against the artificial gravity in the ship and where he wound up, apparently in orbit again.
Dr Animo should come to this universe to get some tips on villainy and genetic manipulation because that one creature, larger than the others hit hard especially when he hadn't seen it coming he thought.
According to the information on his HUD displayed by Trixx, it was the queen of this hive he was thrown into. Good thing it can't survive in space he thought as it was struggling to breathe and turned to float back into the ship but was blocked by a green construct and punched away.
"You okay kid?" That was the ugliest thing Hal had ever seen in his life as a green lantern, and he had interacted with a lot of aliens. Fortunately, its bodily movement was lessening, indicating its eventual demise.
"Been better," he responded, extending his tired muscles and reflecting on the effort he needed just to survive in the center of those chitauri. "How'd it go?" he asked, pointing down to Almerac.
"The invading forces have no chance" Hal had scanned the planet to determine its status, which revealed that the soldiers were defending their planet. They had destroyed the first vessel and were currently butchering the chitauri who had decided to flee due to the lack of reinforcements. The ship's queens was also fighting a handful of Almeracs soldiers and would perish in a matter of minutes.
He observed Blaze's skin was an intense red tone, indicating how much harm the alien swarms were inflicting to him inside the spacecraft, seemingly emerging from where they were being held. His wall construction was still filling the hole.
"Good, so what do we do about this?" Blaze asked a dazed Hal pointing to the ship before being interrupted by the familiar message flashing in his HUD.
UNCATALOGUED ALIEN DNA DETECTED...preparing to scan...
"The timing on this thing" he groaned slapping his right palm on his forehead. How in the hell is he ever going to find that alien in this huge ship...
"I'll have to take it back to OA. The guardians database does not have any information regarding them." Hal explained assuming Blaze was complaining about turning back and heading to OA "it might be tied to you guys coming into this universe" so far the only things he scanned and didn't get an answer was either apokoliptic or not of their universe.
"These things can't survive in space and they have nowhere to go. And we can't destroy it either since it could be a vital piece in whatever's coming. Plus I'm sure the guardians will want to study and know where they are from." He said looking at the ship which was too big to be dragged along across space. That would attract unwanted attention especially from bounty hunters who would want to take the ships technology for their own uses.
Elsewhere Maxima hovered in orbit pushing against space and watched as Hal plugged the hole the other human came from and slightly recoiled at the sight of the ugliest alien she had ever seen the only relief being that it was currently suffocating to death. Behind the green construct she heard screeches of the same aliens she was fighting with some of them banging themselves against the construct
She drew closer as the two humans were immersed in conversation, periodically pointing at the massive vessel. Her notions that Superman was the best sample of the male gender humanity had to offer were gone, with the green lantern only barely tolerable because of his inventiveness in using that ring when it came to getting down and dirty, but he still couldn't keep up with her.
However, this other human was in the same league as Superman, both physically and power wise, as seen by his ability to combat all those aliens behind the construct with his angry red skin that was quickly returning to normal.
Her gaze turned hungry when her eyes did a once over on him from his godly handsomeness, powerful physic with muscles rivaling superman with any movement he made showing how well defined his muscles were plus his outfits design fit him and his rugged look. She noted he was able to survive in space unlike Hal who depended on the lantern ring and licked her lips. Good genes...yes please
"Lantern!" Hal turned and saw Maxima hovering close to them with hungry eyes solely focused on Blaze. Shit! He cursed inwardly already knowing how this was going to play out. The last time it happened he was with superman.
"Oh, right. Blaze, this is her majesty Queen Maxima, ruler of Almerac." He spoke gesturing to Maxima then pointing to Almerac.
Blaze turned to see a remarkably attractive and seductive lady radiating sexual energy staring at him the way Kevin 11 gazed at his cousin when he thought no one was looking. Her eyes giving him a once-over every now and again, visibly undressing him.
He was used to seeing that look in his female fans as a famous super hero, but this Queen's gaze was different in that she was waiting for him to fling himself at her. He didn't mind, but Trixx's message was still flashing with something about detecting pheromones.
With that thought in mind, the Omnitrix turned orange, its faceplate rotated and slid up and a beam shot from the watch scanning Maxima top to bottom twice in rapid succession before retreating and the watch turning to its usual green color.
SAMPLE ACQUIRED...processing...flashed on his HUD before vanishing from sight.
"What have you done?" Maxima moved to strike Blaze but banged against the green wall now separating them. She looked at Hal with anger on her expression expecting an answer otherwise it would be the best opportunity to know whether this human can beat her in combat, one of the many requirements of Almeracians before mating.
"He's with me. He just scanned to make sure you were okay." Hal answered swiftly being an experienced liar hoping Blaze will play along.
So that's how it works was his train of thought on how he could now turn into an Almeracian definitely more powerful than my ring.
"Is this true human!?" She asked demanding an answer. It'd be a shame if I kill him before having a little fun she thought, anger mixed in with arousal and her eyes giving him another once over completely ignoring Hal.
"Yes it's true." Blaze confirmed, "You would not want to go in there..." gesturing to the hole inside the ship "trust me."
Explaining what happened would only warrant an entire lesson of the Omnitrix from him if she were to find out.
"I am not afraid of battle." She boasted moving closer to Blaze as if to emphasize her point.
"I can tell," Blaze replied subconsciously moving back.
"Your highness" he bowed finally noticing her golden crown. This could give the tetramands princess' (four arms specie and one of the richest in their universe) crown a run for its money.
When he conducted an once-over on her, his eyes were drawn to her beauty, which she certainly sensed by the way she whirled around, displaying all that was her. According to him, the only women who could compete with her beauty were Princess Diana of Themyscira and Kara, who came in a close second; one was beauty bestowed by the goddess, while the other was the result of decades of genetic perfection by the Kryptonians.
"And who might you be?" the queen asked still advancing.
"Blaze." he moved and was now hovering on the spot beside Hal. "Happy to help and we should probably be on our way...the vast distance and all.
"I know a couple of ways to thank you to your satisfaction..." Maxima's smooth enticing voice suggested "it'll be my pleasure" purring at the last words.
"No worries...really" Blaze smiled really not knowing how long he could keep away but Luckily was saved by Hals ring emitting a pinging sound before he spoke.
"Queen Maxima. We have to head out now. I believe your people will be okay.
We will send a couple of lanterns to help you in rebuilding." He bowed causing Blaze to follow suite.
The lantern, Blaze and the huge ship were gone teleported out in a bright flash of green before maxima could utter another word leaving her to hover and stare at the space previously occupied by them.
Sector 13121
All screens in his throne room were showing the invasion his children were conducting. Two of them had already been captured by the woman and her partner and one vessel had been decommissioned while the other had been struck by a green lantern.
He had already sent word out for them to retreat but it seems communication was cut off when the main ships engines started taking fire. Something he should fix before it costs him during battle
From the failed invasion, Thanos realized this universe was more evolved than theirs. The natives of this world were in the same level of strength as Asgardians excluding the Royal family of course with the only difference being this was a planet while Arsgard was a city in the cosmos for gods to reside in akin to Mount Olympus in this universe.
One of his ships being taken was another problem but was sure Nebula wiped their systems before abandoning them and the chittering not being intelligent enough to be interrogated. They must have taken it to OA.
In their universe very few managed to damage his vessel the way these one were.
He was deep in thought when an underling announced the return of his children.
Walking out of the throne room, another plan was quickly forming in his mind.
The watchtower
Superman flew in through the hanger after getting off work. He had spent the better part of the day getting his work at the daily planet in order since no emergency came up as from the other night.
The halls were devoid of people as he floated along while his ears picked up and tuned in to Kara and Diana's voice talking in the cafeteria.
There was also a familiar voice he never thought he would hear for a very long time chatting them up. His enhanced hearing and perfect memory made it possible for him to distinguish and store every member's unique voice in case of emergencies during missions. This voice was supposed to be miles away under a veil of heavy god magic.
She's finally succeeded in convincing her mother he thought after looking through the walls with his X-Ray vision and watching them.
"Superman!" Kara called out suddenly only hearing his heartbeat when he came round the corner because of the nonstop stories being shared between them.
Earlier in the day after her usual hours in the library, she went to volunteer in rebuilding Metropolis City after doomsday attack. She appeared in civilian clothing and was helping clearing the various destroyed stores when she bumped into Diana in her civilian disguise with her sister doing the same. She had only recognized her in the crowd because of her unique heartbeat.
Wow! Guess they were both blessed by their goddess was her first thought when she saw Cate.
They ended up partnering then sneak off and teleport back to the watchtower, something about getting some food and Diana promising her sister.
"How could you not tell me Diana had a sister!" she accused knowing Superman is the only member to have actually seen Themyscira when the queen had invited him sometime back.
"It's not his fault, I asked him not to tell anyone because she wasn't ready" Diana tried to defend him as she smiled at his sudden arrival.
Since their first encounter fighting Darkseid together and him coming into his powers, she's still amazed at how for all the power and abilities he possessed he was always so humble and polite. A trait shown by him donating 90% of his superhero earnings to charities.
Clark was glad for Diana's intervention otherwise Kara would have kept on accusing him without a doubt going further to tell on him to the Kents which meant trouble for him.
"It wasn't my secret to tell Kara," he reiterated standing next to the group focusing on the new girl whose mouth formed an O while looking wide eyed at him.
Definitely Diana's sister he thought. The resemblance was uncanny to both her and their mother, Queen Hippolyta.
"Diana" he nodded and smiled at her.
"Kal" she smiled back.
"You've been busy" he gestured to their not so clean civilian clothes and shoes immediately guessing which activities they had indulged in.
"We met volunteering down in metropolis. It's going to take a few weeks before everything settles down." Kara voiced with sadness.
A lot of lives had been lost she thought wondering how metropolis will turn out before looking sideways and gesturing to Superman.
"Cate, this is my cousin Clark or Superman, whichever you want to call him." Then gestured to Cate "Clark this is Cate, her sister (pointing to Diana who was busy eating) and my new best friend.
"I've already met her Kara" though he acknowledged her with a nod of his head like the others.
Kara rolled her eyes at that.
"I believe they met when my mother invited him to Themyscira after the first Darkseid invasion." Diana recalled how much he adored her home because it had the cleanest and freshest air to breathe, which someone with his heightened sense of smell could enjoy. Because of the lack of modernism (noise from automobiles, equipment, etc.), it was also tranquil and pleasant to his sensitive ears. She and Kal sat in a cave on top of the island's tallest hill, overlooking the shoreline, discussing their life tales well into heroism while feeling the ocean breeze and taking in the scenery.
Clark smiled thinking of the same memories.
"Why didn't you tell me about Kara?" cate turned to her sister "She could have been coming to the island to hang out" If her mother allowed Superman on the island then she wouldn't have minded Kara to visit once in a while which would be made easier by her ability to fly.
"It's complicated Cate" she looked at Kara then Clark who knew the reason. Kara only arrived on earth late last year and it took quite some time for her to adjust. Cate accepted the answer for now with the intention of grilling her sister for answers later which by the sigh escaping Diana's lips meant she knew her plan.
"Let me take this time to welcome you to the league, I've heard so much about your skills." Clark smiled gesturing around the watchtower.
"She's not here to join us Kal, I promised her a tour of the watchtower and a chance to meet some heroes. Kara was kind enough to come with us." Diana informed him knowing Cate was still shy and getting used to conversing with men, something Kara noticed too.
"Yeah Supes, she's here for two months and I will be her designated tour guide" Kara beamed at the thought of someone other than her cousin that she could fly with.
"Speaking of tours, we should start before it gets crowded in here" she suggested. This was the perfect time before every hero active on that day reported back and the halls be filled.
"I believe we should. Kal, I'll walk with you" Diana stood up and joined Clark walking to the control room's direction.
"I thought his name was Clark" Cate whispered to Kara who waved her hand dismissively towards the two of them.
"Kal El is his birth name but Diana is the only one who ever calls him that aside from Superman." She explained having come to the conclusion of them being best friends for some time in order to do that. When not in the presence of other heroes they used their real names instead of their hero ones.
"Okaay..." explanation made sense to her but all else was pushed to the side when they entered the control room. She stared at the hero Kara had called Victor in his seat in front of the huge computer when she was introduced to him by Diana. Clark was typing away into the machine.
"Flash has been looking for you" Victor informed Clark who was rushing through the news channels in case there was an emergency.
"Is this about the bet?" Diana asked interested in the outcome of the result between Ben and Clark.
"What bet?" came from Kara and Cate. It was the first time his cousin was hearing of it.
"It's nothing Kara" Clark dismissed but Victor explained.
"It's about Superman here (gestured to the busy Clark) arm wrestling Ben."
Kara had a thoughtful look on her face, "incase one wants to place a bet, what is to be done?"
"I've sent you the link. Just tap into it." Victor instructed while Diana and Clark were currently looking at a report on the screen.
"Almerac was under attack?" Kara was surprised after quickly reading over the report.
"What's Almerac? Should we be worried?" Cate asked noticing the grim expressions on their faces. Victor's face was neutral having already gone over the report.
"Oh, it's a planet with a very annoying queen" Kara answered her. She had come to learn of Queen Maxima's infatuation with her cousin from her female colleagues though had never met the royal. Probably kidnapped some innocent Prince from his home she thought.
"Yes. Hal sent in a report stating their arrival will be delayed as they have returned to OA." Victor spoke up. "The guardians want to investigate the invaders as they had no information on them prior to the invasion"
"Wasn't Ben with Hal? Did he help in stopping it?" Kara enquired hoping they were okay.
"Yes he did. They are expected back in the next 24 hours." Hal had informed Victor that.
"It seems the flash will have to wait" Clark chuckled knowing how impatient the speedster was.
"Why don't you show Cate around while i speak to Diana?" Clark suggested to his cousin "it will give you time to fill her in on the happenings"
"Who's Ben? I would like to place a wager as well" He heard Cate ask and comment before tuning out of their conversation.
"Hal has a theory the invaders are from another universe" Victor finally revealed to the two founding members "Batman is on his way"
"Inform the avengers to meet us in the boardroom. They may know something about them since they are also from another universe." Diana instructed "Don't mention the invasion to the rest of the league. We don't need them worrying about invasions right after the whole doomsday situation."
The increased chatter in the tower indicated the heroes had started teleporting in to give their reports.
"I am headed to my room to change for the meeting" she informed Clark who had joined Victor at the monitor waiting for the avengers and the founding members to assemble. They had to get to the bottom of whatever was going on.
Undisclosed warehouse
Nightwing was covered in cuts and bruises from being tortured for hours on end. This was the time batman's training on perseverance and torture methods came in handy as he knew what to expect before the torture began.
After watching the footage of doomsdays attack and defeat at the hands of the league, his kidnapper came back and tortured him for information regarding the avengers not knowing he was as clueless as they were when it came to that subject. Batman had not yet introduced nor explained their sudden arrival to him.
Loud shouts and groans of pain reverted his attention back to the present. Bane was being tortured for information on his new supplier. Aside from his jacked up steroids, he was actually a decent soldier who had not yet spoken a word.
Talk about code of silence in criminals he thought. Soon it would be his turn again in the chair.
At least the Bat's alive, he consoled himself after having found that out from his kidnapper who taunted him on his severe injuries. How he knew that was a mystery.
A shot rang out in the warehouse and from the sudden silence he knew Bane was no longer a matter of interest.
"Such a waste of potential" the kidnappers voice was heard walking towards nightwing. "If only he had what I needed."
"Yeah...well...we can't get what we want all the time" came his retort before groaning in pain at the stab wound inflicted upon him signaling another round of torture.
Breathing heavily with two stab wounds, Nightwing drifted in and out of consciousness due to the sheer pain he was feeling.
"Where are those heroes shacking up with the justice league from!?" the kidnapper asked pointing a gun to his head. This had gone on long enough and if this batman's sidekick did not have any answers for him then he would clean up and start again but with another subject from the very many options of human heroes he could pick from.
"Do what you must" Nightwing spat back coughing. And spitting out blood on the floor.
"Figured as much" followed by a gun shot.