Breathless
Written by Unoaranya30
Chapter 7:
JLA Universe
Dinah started after Batman down the hill. She stopped sure she had heard a noise behind her. Just as she turned back she was struck on the side of the head.
She was struggling to get up, to hide, to run, to fight, but her body refused to obey her.
Batman was talking to her. She couldn't answer him, couldn't even completely understand him. She knew she was surrounded but couldn't explain how she knew. She wondered if she would die here in the snow, at the age of twenty, playing superhero. She wondered if her mother would recover from losing her after having already lost her father.
She was in Batman's arms. She could feel the wind on her face and legs as he ran with her over his shoulder. He was fighting silently. She was freezing.
The cold was gone. She was wrapped tightly in the cowl Batman had given her and she was tucked under his body. She could feel his warmth and energy. He was talking quietly. His words sounded like commands but she couldn't understand what he was saying.
She didn't know why, but she felt anger. Why wouldn't he speak clearly too her?! What was he telling her to do? Did he have to be so bossy?
His face was very close to hers. She could feel his lips on her ear. Her anger suddenly disappeared and she was filled with dread all over again. She knew that she would never see him again. She knew that no one would ever see him again. She yelled out a "No!" but he did not seem to hear her.
She knew she wasn't going to die. Batman wouldn't let her.
She would see her mom again, her uncles, but never Batman.
His lips were pressed to her ear. She could feel the warmth of his breath. She wanted to turn her face and look him in the eye, but her muscles wouldn't respond.
"You're going to be okay."
Dinah's eyes opened. She stared, uncomprehending up into the bright light above her face. Slowly, her mind cleared and her senses started cataloguing her strange environment.
She lay on her back on a bed. Turning her head she noted that her bed was narrow, like a hospital bed. She was not strapped down so she could move her limbs freely. She tried to sit up but was rewarded with a slight pain in her head. She lay back down.
Closing her eyes, Dinah took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. With her eyes still closed, she focused on detailing what she had seen of the room in her mind. There were three clean, white walls and one of glass. Beyond the glass wall everything looked dark. The cowl that the Batman had given her was draped over a chair next to her bed. There was what looked like a surgical table over against the wall opposite to the glass wall, at least it looked like the surgical tables she had seen her uncle, Dr. Midnight, use in the JSA trauma room and at his clinic.
She was not tied or strapped or in any way constrained. She was covered with a white sheet and white blanket. She moved her hands under the covers, touching her body. Her clothing had not been removed. The room was comfortably warm. Apparently, wherever she was, she was not a prisoner or if she was, she was not considered a big enough threat to be constrained.
This final thought troubled her.
Dinah sat up slowly. There was a slight ache on the right side of her head, but nothing excruciating. She touched her head. Her wig was gone and there was a bandage wrapped around her head. Her lovely black hair fell down around her shoulders. She looked back at the chair with the cowl. Her wig and mask were there as well. There were no tubes connected to her. She slowly moved her legs over the side of the bed. The floor looked immaculate. Her boots were there. She put them on and then stood up. There was a quiet mechanical hiss. A glass door slide open and a very distinguished gentleman of perhaps fifty entered the room carrying a tray with food on it.
The man was tall and slim. The little hair that he had was dark. His face was kind. "Good evening Miss Canary. My name is Alfred. You have a received a rather nasty bump on your head but nothing life threatening. You are free to go at any time but I would encourage you to rest awhile longer. Here are some refreshments for you. You looked famished."
Dinah just stared at him for a moment longer. She stood up suddenly with determination. "Batman! He needs help! I have to help him!" She found that she was shouting, and suddenly, her legs felt weak.
Alfred was at her side helping back to the bed. "Yes Miss. I believe he does need help, but you are in no condition to do so."
Dinah was back in the bed. She felt dizzy again. "Superman! Super can help him. You have to call Superma...", She was drifting in and out.
"How do I call Superman Miss?" Alfred asked, leaning with his ear close to her mouth.
"My ear," Dinah answered as she was once again swallowed in darkness.
Syndicate Universe
Syndicate Satellite
Power Ring, Ocean Master, Nuclear Man, Major Atom, Lightening and Iron continued debating their attack on the enemy ships that were two days out. They assumed they would not be able to count on Ultraman to lead the fight. Nor could they count on or trust Protex. No one present had seen Superwoman for a while and although he could not fight in space Owlman's strategic input was sorely missed. Of the six present only Power Ring, Nuclear Man, Major Atom and Iron would be able to take the fight to the enemy in space. Ocean Master and Lightening would stay behind to fight from the satellite if the enemy managed to get close enough.
Guy was talking. He loved being in charge in Ultraman's absence. He wasn't a natural leader by any means but he thought very highly of himself and loved to hear his own voice. In fact, Major Atom was a much better leader and had some serious military training but he was a bit suicidal in his approach to any attack, since he, for all practical purposes, couldn't be killed. Most everyone present wanted to win and survive at the same time.
"Okay, we will wait until Johnny gets back here with Molecule Man before we make our final decision. But if Molecule Man can't come up with some way to take out those ships then we are on our ow…"
The teleporter fired up and Ultraman stood with them. Although not all present were friends, and many resented Ultraman's power, there was an audible sigh of relief from everyone including Guy.
Power Ring began again to explain their plan of attack but Ultraman cut him off with a question. "Where are Molecule Man and Protex?" He looked at each one present in the eye. None held his gaze for long.
Power Ring finally answered him. "Johnny went to get Molecule Man. We don't know where Protex is and to be honest we don't want him in on this."
"If he cannot be found, that is fine. We do not need him to win. It is now just Sunday. We will attack tomorrow. We will meet them a full day away from our planet and we will cut them to ribbons." Ultraman just took over. No one questioned him.
Ultraman continued, "I will take Power Ring, Nuclear Man and Major Atom with me, Protex also if we find him before we leave. Iron, you will stay behind. One leak in your outfit and you are dead. You, Ocean Master, Lightening, Johnny and Molecule Man will fight from here. If Owlman and or Superwoman show up, be sure to let me know. If I find out that any one here has touched Superwoman, death will be the least of your worries."
"We do not know what this armada is after and frankly, I don't care, but we know that they are prepared for war. We will not ask them any questions nor give them any quarter. We will simply destroy their ships. There will be no prisoners. Is that understood?" Ultraman looked at each of the syndicate members.
Each nodded their agreement.
Ultraman smiled. He had hoped that one of them would have opposed him. He wanted to break something very badly right now but knew that he must focus. "When Johnny returns with Molecule Man make sure that he has access to anything he needs."
Iron, Lightening and Ocean Master nodded quickly. Their fear of Ultraman was mixed with respect. They knew that with him they were sure to win.
Ultraman nodded his head. "I have some business to attend too, I will return before morning and we will attack and destroy the invaders," with that he teleported out of the satellite.
JLA Universe
Midwest
J'onn J'onnz arrived above the Midwestern farmhouse moments after he departed from Middleton. He had sensed the shock and fear of the family that had been attacked. He focused on the father's mind. He feared for a child. He had hidden his family and returned for his missing son. J'onn lost contact with the father's mind but had felt a sense of relief wash over the man just before he lost contact.
He stopped in midair, letting his powerful mind scan the area again, trying to pinpoint and understand the enemy he was about to confront. Suddenly he sensed him or it. The mind was weak as if under outside control. It was bent on destruction. He knew that the enemy was not human. He was too powerful. More so than the creature he had fought in Middleton.
There it was. He could see flames. He was watching something burn. A distraction tore him from the destruction he had caused. J'onn tried to see what it was that this creature of destruction had noticed.
He could not pinpoint anything. He had the sense of a shadow moving in the darkness. Creatures not unlike the one he had defeated attacked the shadow and were systematically taken down.
The man-like creature of destruction moved to destroy the shadow. J'onn suddenly saw the shadow clearly in his mind. The shadow was a man. He sensed a grim determination. He fought to protect the very family J'onn sought to aid. He was just a man, and yet he had single handedly defeated six powerful alien beings and was now fighting a losing battle against a monster in the body of a man.
J'onn dropped from the sky like missile. The monster was about to kill the shadow that was a man. J'onn increased his mass as he hit the creature with tremendous force, knocking it off of its feet.
They crashed into the side of the hill. The force of the impact sent snow and dirt several meters into the air. The man lashed out, but J'onn was no longer there.
The creature stood to his feet, spinning around searching for his new foe. J'onn came up out of the ground. He grabbed the man by the back of the neck and by a leg, soaring high into the sky. He then flung him with all of his might to the ground. The impact created a small crater.
J'onn dropped to the crater ready to finish the monster. It stood up shakily. There was a mocking grin on its disgustingly human face. It struck out with tremendous speed and power.
J'onn struck simultaneously.
Both connected.
The blows sounded like a thunderclap.
Both fell.
J'onn recovered first. The creature's strength was quite amazing. He had not fought a foe that could match him in strength in several centuries. This one was close to him but not quite his match. He knew he had already won.
As he renewed his attack, the creature unleashed a blast of heat vision. The twin beams slammed into J'onn's chest just as he struck the man back to the ground.
J'onn dropped to his knees in agony, his mind in turmoil. Slowly he began to regain focus and control of his mind and body. He saw that the man stood over him eyes glowing. J'onn unleashed his own Martian vision at the man just as he tried to finish J'onn off with his.
The beams collided. Weakened as he was, J'onn was having a hard time focusing. He was slowly being driven back. He was recovering but not quickly enough. Changing tactics, already on his knees, he dropped to his hands. Not having the energy or presence of mind to go intangible he simply launched himself at the man. Hitting him midsection, he slammed him to the ground.
J'onn grabbed the man by the throat, slamming its head into the ground again and again. He had to keep the eyes from focusing on him. He was slowly recovering from the heat beams. He realized too late that in his present state he was too weak to hold the monster down.
The man struck him in the side of the head, knocking him away. He struck him again and then he was standing over him once more, eyes glowing, a wicked smile on its face and a mocking laugh on its lips.
Barry and Wally arrived at the burning farm. They stood at the top of a hill overlooking the destruction, their bodies crackling with the energy of the Speed Force.
Barry stared at the farm, hoping that they weren't too late to save lives. Wally looked at the farm then looked around the surrounding land. It was dark but the snow and the blazing farm lit up much of the area, casting eerie shadows everywhere. As his eyes scanned over the yard and hill on the opposite side of the farm to the one they stood on, something caught his attention. A form took shape. It was a man with glowing eyes. He was at the bottom of hill standing over something.
"Uncle Barry! LOOK!" Wally exclaimed.
Barry looked up at where Wally was pointing. He was unable to focus immediately from staring at the flames. There was the sound of a loud impact. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he saw a dark form lifting the body of a man and flying up into the air with him.
The man's body struck the earth with such force that it left a small crater. They stood frozen for a moment watching the battle. The blows sounded like sonic booms. Then they went into action.
Wally blurred over to the fallen figure he had first seen. Barry was right behind him. He was watching the fight intently. Both figures seemed to rival Superman in abilities. Perhaps in power as well but he wasn't sure how powerful Superman was.
"Uncle Barry. I think this is the Batman! Batman is real! The dark one is the Good Guy!"
The one that looked like a man had gotten the upper hand. Wally's exclamation and the man's mocking laugh decided their hand for them.
Barry struck the man full in the chest transferring some of his energy. The man let out a scream as he was thrown back several meters. Wally stood over the dark figure.
Wally realized that the dark figure was actually a large green man. The green man look up at him and smiled. It was a gentle smile, but somewhat disconcerting at the same time. The eyes were as dark as the darkness that surrounded them and there was a deep sadness and loneliness to them. They were the eyes of one who had seen and experienced unspeakable tragedy and yet, at the same time, full of compassion.
"Thank you for coming to my aid. It possesses heat vision and I am vulnerable to fire. We must stop it. It seeks only to destroy." J'onn spoke into Wally and Barry's minds simultaneously.
Both looked at him bewildered for a moment.
"I apologize. I am a telepath. It has been years since I have forgotten myself and conversed with another telepathically. It must be the battle and the creature's heat vision that has weakened me." J'onn continued, this time in his deep, grave and gentle voice.
Wally recovered first and eloquently. "You're green! That is so creepy and so cool! And your voice is awesome!"
Barry looked at Wally. "Get the Batman to safety and see if you can find the family. We'll take care of this guy."
Wally looked disappointed but did not argue. Stooping, he scooped up the much larger man with amazing ease, his body crackling with the energy of the Speed Force, and disappeared over the hill.
J'onn and Barry blurred to the fallen man. He came up, heat vision blasting.
Barry tried creating a vortex with his arms to push back the heat vision but the force of the heat knocked him back. He recovered instantly but his green alley and the man were fighting furiously in the air. He could feel the shock waves of their blows. Their green friend definitely had the upper hand. He was not giving his opponent the chance to use his heat vision on him. A final blow knocked the man from the sky. The impact created another small crater.
Barry was impressed with their green friend's power.
J'onn gave a mental sigh of relief. The Flashes' appearance had turned the tables in their favor. He floated down towards his new friend. Too late, he realized that there was another attacker.
A giant green anvil came smashing down on J'onn, slamming him into the ground.
"Wow! You okay Flash? I didn't think anyone was stronger than Superman! Live and learn I guess. You know what they say. There's always somebody tougher. I'm the Green Lantern by the way. I'm sure you've heard of me."
Hal floated down, with a triumphant and confident smile, to where the Flash stood staring at him in obvious open-mouthed shock and relief. He was used to that sort of response. He got it all the time, mostly from the ladies though.
He had to admit, he did strike quite an impressive figure. His outfit did nothing but enhance his already impressive physique.
The Flash was trying to say something. He thought he heard words that sounded like "Moron and Idiot" but he knew that couldn't be right. The Flash must still be in shock to be referring to himself in that manner.
Hal continued unphased. "Don't be too hard on yourself. I don't think you're an idiot at all. Anybody can make a mistake. You were just trying to help a family in trouble and I gotta say that it is really cool that you know Superman. How were you supposed to know that this freaky green guy would be able to take him?
Well, don't worry, between the two of us we should be able to take him down a notch, but we're going to have to work as a team. There is no telling how strong he is. But with your speed and my power ring we should be able to make him think twice before he messes with a Green Lantern or a Flash in the future. Yeah, and once Superman gets back up out of the snow, if we haven't already sent him packing, I'm sure the three of us will make the Mean Greenie wish he had never set foot on earth."
He noticed that the green bad guy he had just spanked was getting back to its feet. He was about to reengage. He heard the Flash shout "No!" and then saw the green one fall in agony as he was hit by twin beams of heat. The Flash went to attack but Superman was no longer on the ground.
Superman blew the Flash off of his feet. He continued to blow on him, encasing him completely in ice.
Hal stared, for a moment bewildered. As the man turned to attack him, he realized two things. One that the man was not Superman, and two, that he had made a very big mistake.
Syndicate Universe
Ivy Town, Ray Palmer's Lab
Owlman was in a foul mood. He had been looking forward to killing Protex for quite some time. He had had the perfect chance, and he had blown it. He had let the monster escape again.
He knew he couldn't have gotten too far. Now he had to make a choice. He could stay in the lab and try to teleport after Superwoman, or he could find Ray, make him show him how to teleport either himself or teleport Superwoman back, or he could go after Protex and finish him off.
Of the three options, finding and eliminating Protex seemed the most intelligent. The monster was somewhere in the building and in no shape to fight. He was about to begin the hunt when suddenly Johnny Quick was standing next to him.
"Hey Owlman! What's up man? Where you been? You been getting some action with 'you know who', haven't you?" Johnny raised his eyebrows several times and almost elbowed Owlman in a good-natured locker room fashion but quickly thought better of it. With his powers he didn't fear an all out fight with Owlman, but he knew how smart and dangerous Owlman was and unlike many of the other Syndicate members, when he was asleep he was just as human as the next guy.
Johnny changed the subject. "You know where Ray is?"
Owlman scowled, "Yes I do. He is on his way home. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a monster to dispatch."
"What monster?" Johnny asked. "If you want to kill Protex then get in line, but Ultraman wants him to help fight against the invaders."
Owlman's head snapped up to look at Johnny, "What invaders?"
Johnny was a little stunned. It wasn't often that Owlman was surprised. "Oh, I don't know. Just the huge alien armada headed our way. It should arrive by Tuesday. Ultraman and Guy are going to take Nuclear Man and Captain Force, and Protex if they can find him, to meet the Armada out in space tomorrow. The plan is to turn the armada into space debris."
Johnny continued, "We need Ray. He can probably make some gadget that will take them all out without us having to lift a finger."
"Fine. I just told you where Ray is. We'll just have to fight the invaders without Protex's help. I'll turn over the body after I kill it," Owlman replied.
Owlman disappeared out the lab door.
Quick decided not to press the issue. Ultraman could deal with Owlman if he wanted to. He preferred to go after Ray. Mind made up Johnny blurred to Ray's house.
JLA Universe
Arctic
Superman arrived high above the battle in the blink of an eye. He took in the ship, the crater in the ice, the dead creature, the nine dead winged men and the battle. He heard the desperation and saw the skill of the armored men with wings fighting against one man with no wings. He saw that the man with no wings had powers disturbingly similar to his own. He saw a small red haired woman enter the fray. He watched, who he presumed to be, the leader of the winged men make a desperate move to end the battle and save the others. He heard and saw the viciousness and mockery of the man with no wings, and he knew.
Superman dropped from the sky, snatched the man away from the hawk man, and drove him deep into the ice. The man kicked at him knocking him back. He was not surprised when he actually felt the man's kick. It was the second time today and in his life he had felt such power from another. However this one wasn't nearly as powerful as the white monster he had defeated earlier.
Shayera and the four wingmen caught the falling Kator. By the time they reached the ground he was already able stand on his own again. They all watched the battle between Kator's colorful rescuer and their enemy with rapt attention ready to reenter the fight at any moment.
The man came out of the ice slowly. He spied Superman hovering a few feet above him and let go with his heat vision. Superman didn't try to evade the blast. He simply unleashed his own heat vision. The beams collided in midair. Superman's heat beams quickly overcame the man's, pushing his beams back into his eyes and striking him simultaneously.
The man fell back with a scream. Superman grabbed him up by his throat and lifted him up off of his feet. His eyes were burned shut and the sword of the leader of the hawk men was still embedded deep in his shoulder.
He could hear some of the hawk men in the air just behind him and the small woman's voice a little further away. Her voice sounded pleasant and fierce at the same time. He could make out the four heartbeats of the four behind him the softer heartbeat of the fierce woman, the strong heartbeat of the brave leader and a fainter weaker heartbeat. The last one stopped almost as soon as he had picked it up.
"Who Are You?" Superman shouted, bringing the man's face close to his own.
The man just groaned in response at first. Superman tried a few more languages that he knew. He picked them up quickly. There was no response. The man just stared unseeing with his useless eyes, back into his face.
Superman tried a few alien languages he had learned from Jor-El's training. A wicked smile slowly formed on the defeated man's mouth. He spoke. Superman was shocked to hear the man speaking in Kryptonian.
"You are strong, but you will soon be either a slave or a corpse."
Superman stared at the man in utter bewilderment. He had not heard his native tongue other than from the recordings of his mother and father. It was a little different than what he was used to but instantly recognizable. "Who are you?" he asked again, this time in Kryptonian.
"I am just the beginning; an experiment. It is you they desire and seek. They have raped world's looking for one such as you." The man's voice was becoming weaker.
"Who are they? Why are they looking for me?" Superman asked, more confused and angry now.
"They seek slaves and death and power. They will rip away all that you love and they will steal your soul." The man was sagging in Superman's grip now. He dropped the man to the snow.
He heard the leader of the hawk men talking to him in an alien language he had not yet learned. The man looked like he was going to stand up and continue to fight. Superman struck him down with a powerful blow to the head. The man lay still, unconscious in the snow.
Superman turned to face the leader hawk man. He had taken his hawk helmet off. He stood almost as tall as himself. He thought he might be just about the same height as the Batman. He had a very serious face and penetrating steel grey eyes. There was a friendly smile on the serious face. It was obvious that this was not a habit or a light gesture. The strong face was framed by a shock of dark black curly hair. There was a nasty bruise on the man's neck. The hawk wings were folded neatly behind him. The small hawk girl and the four hawk men stood just behind him but fanned out so that they had a clear view, and judging from their sophisticated looking weapons, a clear shot at him should he prove to be yet another enemy.
The hawk man leader was speaking again to him. His gestures indicated that he was thanking him for his rescue. He offered Superman his hand. Superman took it and gave him a friendly smile back. He was still troubled by what the man with his powers had said.
The hawk girl shouted something. It sounded desperate. Everyone looked up. Superman had forgotten about the ship during the fight. There was a canon targeting them. The hawk man leader shouted something and all of the hawk men and the girl scattered into the air with amazing speed. It seemed that the cannon was trying to target the leader specifically.
Without further thought Superman shot up towards the ship. As he left the ground the canon fired, having locked on the leader. Superman blurred to intercept the powerful pulse ray before it struck the hawk leader.
The pulse ray struck Superman. He had never in all his life felt such intense pain outside of the few times he had been exposed to kryptonite. Even those exposures had been small. This felt like his body was being shaken apart. He gave an involuntary scream as he fell limply to the ice. His whole body wracked with pain.
Kator saw his powerful new friend take the blast meant for him and dropped to where the man who had killed so many of his men lay. He yanked his sword from his body and checked him for signs of life. He noted with satisfaction that the sword wound did not heal and that there was no pulse. He yanked him up and shot back up into the air speeding directly towards his ship.
He shouted a couple of commands into his com-link as he sped upwards. Shayera and his men quickly complied. Three of the men and Shayera begin firing their pulse rifles at maximum power at the ship's view screen. The canon was beginning to track their fire. The fourth wingman swooped down grabbed Superman and sped him out of the pulse canon's range.
Kator reached the pulse canon. Keeping out of view he strapped the nearly invulnerable body of his dead enemy over the mouth of the canon. Then he flew to the back hatch shouting one more command into his com-link.
The pulse canon fired. The nearly invulnerable body of their enemy trembled and shook. But contained the pulse blast. The canon trembled then suddenly exploded. The whole ship shook. Shayera and the three wingmen lay in the snow unmoving. The fourth wingman was at Kator's side. They each took a position on either side of the hatch. It slowly opened. Two, enemy Khund's dropped out. The fourth wingman stabbed the closest Khund through the throat and shot a tranquilizer dart into the back of the second Khund with blinding speed, while Kator sped into the ship as the hatch begin to close. The remaining Khund was unaware of his presence until it was too late, not that it would have done him any good.
The Khund leader saw a blade protruding from his chest and heard a voice whisper, "This is for murdering my friends, Coward."
The Khund was staring blankly at the monitor screen. He saw the three wingmen and the beautiful girl he had thought dead flying towards the ship, then he dropped lifeless to the floor.
Kator opened the hatch letting in Shayera, his four remaining men and their prisoner. "Is our new friend going to be alright, Golin" he asked the wingman who had removed Superman from harms way.
The wingman smiled and pointed to the front of the ship. They all looked and saw the colorful figure that had saved their lives, floating in the air smiling at them.
Kator brought the ship down to the ice and opened the hatch. The main pulse canon had been destroyed. Otherwise the ship was fine.
Superman entered the open hatch. He noted the three dead bodies and one unconscious one. There was no tension in the air. None of the hawk like figures was in a defensive stance. In fact, all six had removed their hawk like helmets and were smiling at him.
The hawk girl was a beautiful red haired girl. She reminded him a little of Lana physically, but her face was not as innocent looking although every bit as lovely. He thought it must have been the eyes that were different. She had the eyes of one who had witnessed and fought against the many atrocities and unspeakable evils that filled the world, or in this case, the universe.
The four soldiers were similar in size to their leader and all had the strong serious face of a warrior, but Superman noted with satisfaction that while all four had very proud features none of the four, or the girl or leader for that matter, had a look of cruelty about them. While the four surviving soldiers were similar to each other in size their hair and their faces were quite distinct.
One other had black hair like the leader, but it was not curly and there was a scar that ran down at an angle from just over his left eye down over his nose across his right cheek and stopped on his neck. His eyes were black like coal. While he did not seem older than any of the others the scar tended to give him a more experienced look. Like one who had stared death in the face perhaps just a few more times than the others and had lived to tell about it. His name, Superman would find out later, was Golin Ghul. It was he who had taken Superman to safety and aided the leader in taking the ship back from the traitors.
Two of the four were obviously brothers, identical twins to be exact. Superman would find out later that they had lost their older brother Jotan Jot, in the battle. They had both known Kator since childhood. Their brother Jotan and Kator had been good childhood friends. If any present mourned Jotan more than Kator it was these two. They were exceptional soldiers. They both had dark brown curly hair dark brown eyes and strong features. He had noted how furiously these two had fought against the strange man they and he had finally defeated. Their names were Jorlan and Morlan Jot.
The fourth of the four remaining soldiers had darkish red skin but very blonde hair. The hair was cut short. It reminded Superman of the haircut of an American soldier. He had light brown eyes. His eyes looked tired yet when he smiled at Superman his tired eyes smiled as well. He had fought many battles with Kator and had lost many friends today. He was grateful to have a new powerful alley. His name was Santor Dhur.
The leader walked up to him. He said a few words. His voice sounded strong. It was the voice of a warrior and leader. It was the voice of one who inspired confidence. Superman wished he could understand his new friends. The beautiful Hawk girl said something to the leader. Superman could instantly tell that they were in love. The way she touched his arm as she spoke to him, the instant warm eye contact they shared as if they were having another silent conversation simultaneously, and the way the steel grey eyes of the leader became instantly tender as they looked at her.
It was something that Clark had witnessed countless times with his parents. No one could see them together and doubt that they were in love. He had seen this display in very few others. When he did he always felt as if he were looking at or seeing something sacred. Something that was to be protected and preserved at all costs. He knew immediately that he liked these fierce people.
The leader looked back at Superman. He had a small metallic gadget in his hand. He held it out to Superman gesturing for him to put it in his ear. He placed a similar device in his own. Superman smiled to himself briefly, thinking of Batman. Almost as quickly his smile faded as he remembered Batman's call for help for the second time.
Superman placed the device in his ear and instantly he could understand what the Hawk leader was saying to him.
"I am Kator Hol. You saved my life not once but twice, as well as the lives of my remaining men and my betrothed. I am eternally in your debt."
Superman nodded kindly but interrupted him. "A friend needs my help. I am sorry that I cannot stay longer. I was on my way to help him when I heard your battle."
Kator nodded in understanding and said, "You are now our friend. That makes your friend our friend. We will go with you but first we must attend to our dead. We will follow the signal from the translator we gave you."
Superman was grateful for the extra help. He moved to the back hatch. "I'm sorry for the men you lost today," he said. He saw that fierce beautiful warrior was fighting tears and the rest were somewhere between tears and rage. Looking at the prisoner Superman asked, "What will happen to him and to the man outside strapped to the cannon?"
"He will tell us all that he knows," Kator answered grimly, indicating the prisoner. The monster that you fought is already dead. That was our mission anyway; seek and destroy each of the vessels that were sent here by our enemy. There are more here on your planet that we must find and eliminate.
Superman nodded, he hated to think what the man would go through but he could think of no alternative to offer his new friends to spare him. He knew instantly that the creature Batman, Black Canary and himself had destroyed was one of the aliens that the Hawkmen had been sent to eliminate. He was a bit surprised that the man he had fought was dead. He wanted to know how he had died but felt it more important to reach Batman as quickly as possible.
Superman's look of confusion did not go unnoticed by Kator.
Kator opened the rear hatch and watched in amazement as their colorful, powerful new friend disappeared before their eyes. They all stared at the hatch for a moment, then, with their prisoner, they exited the ship to attend to their fallen friends.
Syndicate Universe
Ivy Town
Science Building
Protex forced himself to lie perfectly still and make no sound. His body was wracked with pain and he was having trouble focusing his mind. Owlman stopped his attack. It seemed he was satisfied that he was dead.
Protex concentrated on making himself intangible. He could hear Owlman working at Ray's teleport computer. No doubt trying to figure out a way to teleport to Superwoman or teleport her back. He wanted nothing more than to tear the limbs off of the arrogant human. It was the greatest of humiliations to be beaten by a being with no special powers or abilities. He hoped one day to have his chance.
Thankfully, Owlman assumed that he was dead or he would not have been given the opportunity to heal. Protex could heal quickly from injuries, not as quickly as Ultraman or even Quick but faster than Superwoman. After two minutes of lying on the floor Protex was able to force his pain wracked body to become intangible. He was still too weak to fight or fly or even run but he could sink through the floor.
As he dropped through the floor he gave out an involuntary wheeze. He sank all the way to the sub basement. He crawled into a corner and forced himself to become invisible just as the door to the room he was in opened.
JLA Universe
Arctic
Fortress of Solitude
Superwoman stood for a moment staring at the entrance through which Superman had disappeared just moments before. Slowly her confusion and frustration gave way to anger. She was not someone who was refused. She had gotten him in the palm of her hand, literally, and somehow he had been able to resist her!
As she thought of what he said to her, the anger was slowly replaced with bemusement and her overwhelming desire to make this young, beautiful and gentle Superman hers. This Superman had never been with a woman. He obviously felt very passionately about her as had been evident by his very impressive arousal. He had left her but had promised to come back. She could wait. As long as she was not suddenly snatched back to her universe she would have him without interruption when he returned.
With that satisfying thought and a knowing smile on her beautiful and treacherous face she began to explore the amazing home of her new lover.
Midwest
Hal put up a giant force field in front of himself just as the being he had confused with Superman struck him. The blow shattered his construct and knocked him from the sky.
Okay. So he had made a mistake, but he wasn't about to lose a fight that easy. He didn't care how tough this alien was.
Hal regained control before he hit the ground and soared back up spiraling and spinning trying to confuse and track his enemy at the same time. "Ring. How do I defeat this guy?"
The ring responded with, "ring searching."
Hal didn't like that answer. He fired a volley of green lasers at his adversary. He noticed with a mix of apprehension and satisfaction that the man avoided his lasers easily; apprehension, because he could avoid his lasers so easily; satisfaction because it seemed he felt the need to avoid the lasers. Perhaps he could bring the hurt to his enemy after all.
The man fired his heat vision at him. Hal barely had time to create a shield. Even so he could feel the power and the heat.
"Ring. Move me as fast as the bad guy is moving," Hal yelled desperately.
He let out an involuntary yell of surprise as the ring moved him up with a speed that made his stomach turn and his body tingle as if he had just been given a dose of anesthetic at the dentist's office. He was moving so fast that he could see nothing.
"Ring! Help me focus! I can't see anything," Hal hollered.
His speed did not diminish but suddenly he could see everything clearly, the burning house, the forest, the fields, the hills. He saw the green man he had thought was the enemy struggling to get to his feet. He saw Kid Flash on the other side of the hill kneeling next to a darkly cloaked figure. He saw the remains of aliens like the one he took down in Coast City. He saw the Flash vibrate out of the ice he was encased in and he saw the Superman wannabe flying at him, heat vision blazing.
"Lead, Magic or Green Kryptonite." It was the ring.
It took a moment for Hal to process what he had just heard. He was diving away from the scary bad guy. He had an energy shield up for protection and he was firing off green lasers at his adversary with machine gun speed.
Hal realized what the ring was saying just as he fired off a giant green missile at his attacker.
"That doesn't help me any!" He shouted at his ring. "Where can I find any of those? "What is the closest?"
"Batman," the ring responded.
"What! He's real?! That's him?" Hal realized.
The attacker was on him. His ring shield was shattered with one blow. He struck out unleashing a torrent of energy and power from his ring into his enemy's face just as his attacker struck his head.
The energy from the ring that surrounded Hal saved his life. As it was, he dropped from the sky like a stone. He could feel himself being encased in ice like the Flash had been but he was too dazed to recover and save himself.
"I have you friend." He heard the voice in his head a moment before he felt strong arms catch him and set him down.
"Batman," he muttered drunkenly. As the green man shot back into the sky.
J'onn heard the Green Lantern's words but focused his whole attention on bringing the monster down for good. Going invisible he shot up just above the creatures position then grasping the monster by the back of the neck with both of his large powerful hands, keeping him faced forward, he drove him straight into the ground, face first.
J'onn struck him over and over in the back of the head. At first the alien tried to fight him off and turn but he could not match J'onn for shear power. Soon he began to weaken and finally he went limp.
J'onn scanned his mind and was satisfied to find that he was unconscious.
The Flash quickly melted the ice off of Green Lantern and continued warming him until he came to.
Hal opened his eyes sputtering and coughing. "I have never been hit so hard in my life," he complained.
The Flash smiled, "Well, I can't say it isn't the first time I've been frozen but I certainly wasn't expecting it this time. I take it you have the good guys and the bad guys figured out now?"
"Yeah. Sorry about that. I should look more closely before I leap I guess. Hey! Where is the Batman? Is he here with you? My ring told me that he can take this guy down. Where is the bad guy anyway?" Hal was talking a mile a minute.
"I'm right here."
Barry and Hal turned to see Kid Flash standing next to the Batman. He was a couple of inches taller than either of them and powerfully built.
Barry held out his hand and smiled. "It is a honor to meet you Batman. I wasn't sure you were real. Nice job saving the family. Everyone is alive. How you took these things on by yourself is simply amazing."
"I had help at first." Batman man shook the Flash's hand briefly. It seemed to be becoming a bad habit. So this was the Flash. He seemed an intelligent, kind and brave man. Despite himself, he found that he liked him. The younger Flash seemed very impetuous, but with a good heart as well.
Batman looked over at the Green Lantern. He was leaning slightly on the Flash and looking at him. He seemed amazed and desperate to speak. "What is it?" Batman asked.
Hal looked at the large, dark and powerfully built man in front of him. He was not surprised that the ring said he could defeat the alien with superpowers. Hal answered and noticed his voice was getting stronger. "My power ring said that you could defeat this guy."
"Looks like he's already down, GL," Wally blurted out.
J'onn joined them. He dropped the alien on the ground next to them. He towered over them. "He is unconscious. I do not know for how long he will be thus."
The Flash's and Green Lantern looked at J'onn with a great deal of respect and amazement at his size and color and voice.
Batman just looked at J'onn. "You saved my life. Thank you," Batman offered.
"Yeah. Me too. Sorry for being an idiot earlier," Hal offered. "Before I forget again. When I was getting my butt handed to me, I asked my ring how to take this guy down. It told me, magic, kryptonite (whatever that is) or lead. Then it told me that you (Hal looked at Batman) could take him down."
Batman's eyes narrowed in thought. He pulled an object from his belt and knelt beside the unconscious form of his would be murderer. The rest gathered around him looking to see what he was about to do.
He was extending his hand towards the man's face when his eyes suddenly shot open. He stared past them with a brief look of excruciating pain, a tortured gasp escaped his lips, his head seemed to expand and then his eyes went dead and his body limp.
"Is he dead?" Wally asked.
"His mind is gone," J'onn answered after a quick scan.
"Yep. He's dead," Hal said after he scanned him with his ring.
"It was an explosive device in his brain," Batman stated. "It must have been made out of lead or kryptonite."
"Or magic!" Wally offered.
"It was lead."
They all looked up to see Superman floating down towards them.
Syndicate Universe
Ray Palmers Home
Ray walked into his kitchen from the garage. It was past midnight now. He knew Jean must be asleep or awake and indifferent. She was used to him rarely being home. When he was he generally had his head buried in a book or had himself locked away in his private lab working on his latest inventions.
Ray set his keys down on the counter and flicked on the light. He almost screamed when he saw Johnny Quick standing in front of him.
Johnny grinned wickedly. "Took ya long enough. I think if the wife had been home we would have had time to party three or four times, you know what I mea…oh sorry. I forgot that you have no idea what that means. The only time you ever reach an orgasm is when you complete another invention. Well, today is your lucky day my friend. You need to invent something that will get rid of a hostile space fleet of warships bent on our annihilation. If that doesn't do anything for you…well, let's just hope it does something for you. Ready? Great! Let's go!
Johnny grabbed the scared and flustered Ray and teleported back to the Satellite.
JLA Universe
Arctic
Several miles north of the Fortress of Solitude
Kator, Shayera and the four remaining wingmen, set fire to the bodies of their fallen teammates and friends. There was not a dry eye in the group, but they cried silently. The deaths of their brothers and friends had only served to strengthen their resolve.
As they returned to the ship they remembered the body of their killer. Golin and Kator took the body down. Kator was studying the face. He turned to Golin.
"I do not believe that we or our friend killed this man," he informed him.
Golin and the others studied the face as well. "You are right Captain. There is much more going on here than we thought."
"I agree. Lets go find our friend," Kator answered.
The six soldiers boarded the ship and sped off behind Superman.
Fortress of Solitude
Superwoman marveled at the size of Superman's home. Ultraman's Floating Fortress wasn't nearly as large, nor did it have half of the amazing gadgets and inventions that Superman's did.
There were two rooms with a number of advanced scientific inventions and devices, one with very impressive weapons, a huge holographic library and a large room with two large statues of what must have been Superman's parents or ancestors.
Di-ana planned on exploring these rooms more later, especially the weapons room.
She continued wandering until she came to what was definitely Superman's bedroom. She knew this instinctively and from the large bed in the center of the room. Di-ana walked over to it with a knowing smile on her face. When Superman returned she was going to teach him a few things about his body and hers as well. She slipped out of her clothes and slid under the sheets of his bed. She found it to be amazingly comfortable. She sighed in anticipation. Superman would find her as she had found him. He would not be able to resist her this time, of that she was confident.
JLA Universe
Bermuda Triangle
Captain Brute Tom piloted his cruise ship, "One Dark Night," artistically through the waters of the Caribbean. It was not often that a pleasure ship was seen on the open waters at night, but Captain Tom was not an ordinary man. He loved to push himself and his crew to the limit. Some would argue that he pushed too many to the limit and some just too far. He had lost most of the dependable and skilled of his crew because of his outrageous tactics and callous disregard for the feelings of others.
Now he was left with a crew of much lower caliber when it came to maritime skills and discipline. The last of his skilled crew he had had arrested at their last port. The man had seemingly gone beserk with rage, even green, but the green may have been due to seasickness. The man had been sedated and then taken from the ship. As he was carried off he yelled out a final warning.
"If you continue to go out in the dark night you will end up dead! You and your new crew and all who are on your ship!" The man shouted at the Captain just as they pushed his head into the back of the police cruiser.
Captain Tom had shaken his head. It was too bad that there were so many shortsighted people in the world. Yes, he had lost his best, but the crew he had now were viciously loyal if not extremely bright and they would defend him tooth and nail.
Darkness did not scare him. The night did not scare him. For him there was no greater thrill than to embrace the darkness and conquer it.
The Captain smiled defiantly into the dark. "I will become a legend. I will be the Captain that..." His shouts of defiance were suddenly cut short as something large struck his vessel. The ship almost capsized.
There was another loud and sickening crash and then he began to hear the screams of the passengers and crew.
The creature could hear and smell the meat inside of the metal vessel floating in the water from twenty fathoms below and two kilometers away. It sped up reaching the ship just moments later. The monster struck it hard. The vessel with meat almost turned over. He struck it again. This time he tore a jagged hole from one end of the vessel to the other with his bladed tail.
The creature shot to the surface. He could hear and smell the fear of his food. He launched himself onto the vessel swiping and snatching at the small creatures that were running back and forth. When all of the visible ones had been devoured or killed the creature began to tear the walls off of the rooms on the ship.
The creature noticed one of his prey ran at him firing something at him and yelling. The sound was very annoying. He flick his tail up out of the water and sliced the small creature in half, instantly snatching up the top half in his jaws and devouring it.
Aquaman couldn't believe his eyes. The monster was now a good forty feet long and the cruise ship was lost. He would be lucky if he could save anyone. The monster was now half in and half out of the water. Aquaman dove down then arced, coming up under the creature holding his magical Atlantean blade in front of him. He drove the blade into the monsters stomach and yanked up as hard as he could, opening a giant bleeding gash.
The creature thrashed and struck at him but he was already out of the way moving at speeds nothing in the ocean could match. As he turned to reengage his shark friends appeared and attacked. One was bitten in half before he could attack. The creature had another one in one of his claws.
Aquaman sliced the creatures hand off cleanly. It snapped its jaws inches from his face. A hard water construct suddenly struck the creature in the head then a blast from his energy trident followed as Mera joined the fight. The monster gave out another howl then slipped into the darkness of the ocean waters leaving a trail of blood.
The Sea King took off in pursuit but was stopped by the cries for help coming from the water and the sinking ship. Calling to more of his ocean friends and subjects, Aquaman and Mera began the search for survivors. It was not hard. Both could see well in the dark and in any event morning was fast approaching. The sky was turning grey.
"You need to take your trident," Mera was insisting. "The creature is too large for you to use only your strength, speed and your sword."
"I will take it, my love, but I do not believe I will be needing it. The creature is wounded, gutted and without one of its hands. I will drive my blade into its gruesome head and this will all be over," Aquaman answered.
They continued gathering survivors into the intact lifeboats. When all was said and done, an hour had gone by and there were only seventy survivors out of four hundred and fifty. The captain and most of the crew had perished and the "One Dark Night" was no more.
Syndicate Universe
Ivy Town
Sub Basement of Science Building
Security guard Barnes did not enjoy checking the sub basement. It always gave him the creeps. It was dark and musty and full of cobwebs. It was rumored that a couple of female students bodies had been found down here, but that was all he had heard. He opened the door slowly and let his light sweep across the small room full of pipes and must and the smell of death.
As he looked around he found he did not feel afraid anymore. He even decided to step into the room to do his job properly. He felt almost compelled to crawl towards the corner and check for any bodies.
He reached the corner and saw nothing. As he turned to leave a large clawed hand reached out and slit his throat. He collapsed to the wet cement floor and lay bleeding until he again saw nothing.
Owlman raced down the stairs to the main floor. He had no way of locating or tracking Protex but he was not worried about being attacked. He was prepared for that. He wanted to make sure he caught up to him before he had enough time to heal or kill. If he killed and ate someone then he would have the strength to escape.
On a whim, Owlman dropped his mental barriers for a moment. He felt the sudden urge to stay away from the sub basement. Focusing, he put his mental barriers back up and sped down to the sub basement. The door was ajar. He could already smell death. He had smelled it and inflicted it enough times to be familiar with it.
Kicking the door in, he tossed five incendiary grenades into the room and then opened up with his flamethrower. He swept the room carefully not forgetting the walls and ceiling. The only thing left was a half eaten corpse of a security guard and his torn uniform.
JLA Universe
Themyscira
Royal Palace
The sun was shining into the bedroom of Princess Diana and Princess Donna. Its rays warmed the bodies of the two lovely girls and their beautiful mother. Hippolyta awakened first. She pushed her raven black hair back from her face and looked down at her beautiful daughters lovingly. There was much she had to do today but first she would have breakfast with her girls then attend to the tournament.
She would make sure that her daughters could attend if they so desired. She was sure that Diana would not want to since she had forbidden her from participating.
She didn't know why but she kept seeing the faces of two beautiful boys when she closed her eyes. When she saw them they were staring at her with great concern. She shook her head to clear it and went to the door. Opening it she ordered the guard to have breakfast for three brought to the bedchamber.
As the Queen closed the door and turned back around she saw Diana stir and awaken. She loved how cheerful Diana was when she awoke from her slumber just as it amused her that Donna always seemed to wake up grumpy.
Diana stretched her lithe body, yawned, looked at her mother and smiled but there was a concerned look in her eyes. The Queen wondered what dreams if any, the gods and or goddesses had given her daughters last night. She knew they had given her dreams but she could not quite remember. She wondered if the two beautiful boys had to do with her dreams.
Diana arose and floated into the adjoining chamber to wash up and dress for the day. Her bodyguard had already set the heated and scented water for her bath as well as the oils that she enjoyed bathing with. Dropping her sleeping attire, Diana stepped gracefully down into the hot soothing bath. She immersed herself completely in the hot scented waters and came up slowly. Giving a contented sigh she leaned her head back on a smooth edge made just for her to do such a thing and closed her eyes as she allowed her legs to float up in the water.
"Remember child, today you become our champion."
Diana's eyes flew open and her feet hit the bottom of her bath. She looked around the chamber warily. So her dream had been real. The goddesses had visited her, and they wanted her to disobey her mother. "Please talk to my mother," she said to the air, hoping that she would be heard and answered.
Diana finished bathing quickly and stepped out of the bath. She patted herself lightly dry then lathered some of her favorite oils on. She dressed in a light blue tunic and brushed her hair. As she brushed her thick, raven black hair looking in her magic mirror, she saw herself wearing the armor of the champion again. She blinked and it was gone.
When she walked out of the bathroom, breakfast was arriving and Donna was sitting up in bed with a scowl on her lovely face. Diana kissed her good morning and went and sat across from her mother at the breakfast table. Both grinned and giggled quietly as Donna stomped off to the bathroom grumbling about the bright sunlight and the extremely offensive odor of food in the room.
Knowing that Donna would be awhile Diana and Hippolyta started with some wild fruits and nuts and yogurt made from goats. The two ate slowly. Both were quiet. Diana wanted to ask her mother some advice but didn't know how to begin. The Queen wanted to ask what was troubling her daughter so but wanted to let her volunteer. Diana was the first to give in.
She started nervously, "Mother?"
"Yes?" the Queen answered expectantly.
"What would happen if we were to disobey the gods?" Diana asked.
Hippolyta was taken aback by the question. She thought carefully before she answered. "It would depend on the god or goddess. If it is a patron then we should obey. Unfortunately some of the gods do not care for us and only wish us harm. Those I refuse to worship and pray to the ones who have taken care of us for protection against those who wish us ill."
"So if one or some of the goddesses that protect us commands us to do something that we are not supposed to do then we should obey them, no matter what?" Diana queried.
Hippolyta was relieved that this was what had been bothering Diana. "If one of the goddesses that gave you life and then gave you to me is commanding you to do something. Then you need not be afraid. They will never wish you harm. You do whatever they have told you to do."
"Very well Mother," Diana answered. She felt as if a great burden had been taken off of her shoulders.
Hippolyta was relieved to see that Diana now looked a little more relaxed. They continued eating. Just as Donna came shuffling out of the bathroom and plopped down in her chair, Diana asked her another question. One that made Donna forget that she was supposed to be feeling grumpy.
"Mother? Have you ever had a dream about a man or maybe two men?