[IC] DC Universe: Age of Heroes (Dead)

[Gowi]

Justice League Origins

When Kent Nelson woke up on this day he had not expected for his day to end with an invasion scheme that reeked of the pages of pulp fiction. But this was real life, not some tale spun out by Zeigfreid, Hubbard, or Rocklynne. Though it certainly would’ve been a lot more fun, because there could be that melodramatic announcer voice narrating the whole thing—this week our hero faces peril as he comes to wit’s end with the perilous machines from planet killcron eight! How will he prevail this week? – But all of the dated jokes couldn’t really make the problem this presented go away which Kent Nelson very much knew from his experiences from running away from psychopaths, dodging gunfire, and solving deadly puzzles in somehow undiscovered ruins. But in all honesty—he hadn’t heard from Nabu in months, which was supposed to be the voice in his head to warn him of the world being in danger. Perhaps the forces of fate that existed didn’t see these seven foot tall robots from hell were a reasonable thing to announce? Honestly, he was starting to wonder if they were on vacation or Nabu had taken on a sick day.

A sigh left him as he backed around another corner. Since the affairs in Khandaq he had learned a lot about magic so he didn’t have to entirely rely on Nabu’s wisdom to survive—but it wasn’t enough, especially in a scenario like this. He was almost to his car and his ride out of the darkest dredges of New Jersey, so that was a plus. It had been a really bad time to come to Gotham and deal with an eccentric art dealer who could’ve had clues to the Cloak of Destiny. Without skipping a beat Kent thought to himself glibly—don’t go to Gotham when it is being invaded by robots; also, write off this from the list of ‘probably impossible’ things. A lot of things had left that list for him since he became acquainted with Nabu and the powers of Fate, though generally these things were in exotic ruins in mountains or deserts—not urban jungles like Gotham.

“Going to have to cross that one off of the list.” Kent remarked as he continued on, hoping not be spotted. He definitely did not want to be probed.

A sigh of relief escaped Kent as he finally spotted his car in sight—for all of four seconds before one of those robots came about and pointlessly crushed it like it was one of those trucks at a monster truck rally—without the fanfare. Kent’s insurance definitely did not cover ‘in the event that your vehicle is destroyed by a giant robot’ in the slightest… so continuing to not be a good day at all.

“Oh come on!”

Before he could fluster his annoyance any further a voice boomed in his head—Nabu’s. It seemed that this invasion matter was indeed world-threatening and of the utmost importance after all. Though, Nabu could’ve showed up before his car was obliterated, so a little bit frustrating.

“We must do something to secure the world from descent into chaos.”

Kent would’ve liked a little warning before Nabu decided he was going to announce himself to him, commanding him like some omnipotent being. Truth was that Nabu was an omnipotent being so he couldn’t quite hold him up to the standard like he wasn’t. Still, a little warning would’ve been nice.

“A hello would’ve been wonderful, Nabu. Ring a doorbell or something next time, okay?”

“You need to prepare yourself to merge with my being for a short time.”

This hadn’t happened since Kaznia. But with the way things were going Kent didn’t disagree, but he hated losing control of his own body—it was weird and all “I’m a puppet on a string!” which made him feel really uncomfortable and iffy. But the precedent was there.

“…oh.”

The form of Doctor Fate had not been seen often, and in a city like Gotham it clashed with the dull colors that the architects of old had designed. The form of Fate was bold with colors of gold and blue—a royal contrast to the environment that stuck out like a giraffe in a pack of zebras. But when Kent Nelson “signed” up for the affair of being Nabu’s guide and host in the physical realm he didn’t exactly get to pick the color scheme or anything really. Levitating plainly in the air the form of Doctor Fate bolted with great speed in the direction of the nearest assortment of robots—who happened to be combating a black armored tank which they were about to overwhelm.

“You are not wanted. Perish!”

FWOOM!

The difference between Nabu and Kent Nelson was that Nabu was theatric in a sort of “not on purpose” way which gave Doctor Fate this feel of zeal and regality that was immense but real as well; though Kent Nelson always thought it was cheesy and dumb as well as the fact that he hadn’t quite liked merging with Nabu in the past as it was like watching his body do actions he wasn’t even thinking about as the forces of Fate used his bones as a vessel— but sometimes his thought process snuck into Nabu’s actions, perhaps due to their partial synthesis. Doctor Fate rose his hand and raw arcane energy blasted at the assortment of robots, drawing their attention and definitely doing damage in the process.

“You will not be allowed, this is not this world’s fate.”

[KriticalKrab]

Justice League Origins, featuring The Green Lantern

Californian Desert:

Four months ago, Hal Jordan had been testing out Ferris Aircraft's newest jet, the F-22 Raven, which had been shot down by technical difficulties. Over the course of those four months Hal had been desperately attempting to save his job, disappearing for days at a time was making things tough. But right now his job was to shoot down an unmanned drone in a simulated dogfight, and so far the hype for the targeting software was on the mark. Hal had managed to keep a lock on his target for a while now, in a few more hits the simulation would end with the drone being shot down. However, his flight would be cut short as multiple figures began to show up on his radar as 'pings'. "Uh, Highball to base, I've got some incoming bogies. Are these a part of the simulation as well?"

"Negative Highball, get back here, those are not part of the simulation. Remember you're out there by yourself, get back he-"

"Come in base? Carrol, what's going on?" Hal said as he adjusted a few switches present in the cockpit, but to no avail. The pinging continued until he could clearly see his would be attackers; they were closing in fast, faster than the jet could go. Changing his fighter's targeting system onto the incoming robots he began to unleash a heavy barrage of lead, unfortunately, these seemed to be extremely ineffective as the bullets seemed to bounce off harmlessly."Neutralize specimen: Green Lantern of sector 2814. Process region: Metropolis. Process region: Gotham. Process region: Coast City." "Uh, oh." Hal muttered as one of the incoming robots sent a red beam straight into his craft's engine compartment, Hal desperately tried to regain control, but he couldn't and his plane plummeted into the ground sending up an explosion of fire.

Streams of energy quickly exited the tip of his ring, surrounding Hal in a familiar green glow, leaving behind his corps uniform, and a protective force-field around his body. "Oh guys, you're in for it now!" Hal shouted angrily as he shot up into the air, leaving a faint green trail behind himself. Deciding to reintroduce himself, Hal formed several fighters at his side, and unleashed a barrage of neon green missiles. Hal gave off a slight whistle as the explosions sounded off, however, a couple red beams crashed into him, forcing him into a mid-air tumble.

"Neutralize specimen: Green Lantern of sector 2814. Process region: Metropolis." The robots repeated as they continued to unleash their beams at Hal, the beams continued to pound into him, forcing him down onto a rock formation. As he crashed into the rock it shattered into a dozen pieces, along with scattering sand into the air, all flying away from the crater Hal was lying in. Looks like I took out most of them, time to wrap this up! Sending himself back into the air, his time Hal didn't bother with a construct and simply aimed his fist, unleashing his ring's powerful beams into the remaining robots destroying them. With the robots dispatched Hal lowered himself down near the remains of his fighter jet. If Carol sends out a rescue crew and I'm not here..well... Raising his ring up to mouth level Jordan began to speak.

"Ring, tap into labeled frequency 'Ferris Aircraft's'."

"Radio communication established."

"Carol, are you alright?"

"Yeah, we just lost communications with you. What happened?"

Good, Carol's safe. But these can't have been the only invaders, the rest might already be at Metropolis and Gotham. Hal then began to answer Carol. "Lost control of the jet, but I managed to eject in time. I'm going to hitch hick with some guy here, I'll call you when I can." Hal then motioned for his ring to discontinue the call.

"Hal? Stay there! Don't wond-"

Sorry Carol, duty calls. "Ring, show me a map of the Earth."

A green globe suddenly appeared in front of him, Hal slowly zoomed in on his map by pinching it. Looks like Gotham is the closest, that'll be my first stop. Hal thought as he launched into the air, and shot towards Gotham City.

As he approached the vastly different city, Hal could see various explosions on the other side of the city. That's my cue. Hal thought as he zoomed towards the disturbance, as he flew closer he could see many things, such as a black tank, another flying man, and the robotic attackers from before. Hal decided to make himself known by unleashing a bright green stream onto the robotic attackers.

[Blue Demon]

It was quiet in the car with Steve despite the radio keeping up a constant stream of updates. A few times Steve swore, words Diana hadn't heard before, as he drove the car like mad. Of course none of that negated the fact that it was awkward in the small space. Diana shifted her sword to make sure it wouldn't get caught in anything. Steve occasionally looked her away as if to goggle her armor like he had never seen it before. Every time Diana spoke he'd just ignore her.

And here Diana thought she was finally understanding people from this world. The Amazonian tried to focus on the broadcast over the radio. Those Robots were confirmed not just in Metropolis but in other major cities across the United States. Diana briefly wondered if her family was having the same problems on the Island. However she shoved the thought away. She couldn't afford distractions right now.

"Steve." Diana tried again. "When we get there you need to leave."

There was a small sound from Steve that sounded like he was choking.

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Steve?"

Steve stopped the car suddenly. "Diana, going there is suicide." He smacked the steering wheel, still not looking at her. "I'm not going to stop you since I can't but I'm not going to let you wander off."

Diana opened her mouth for a sharp retort but cut off as the car once again sped off. If there were more people, anyone, still on the road to Metropolis they probably would have gotten yelled at. But they were alone. No one else was stupid enough to be heading their way.

Soon the skyline of their destination came into view. Smoke was more obvious even this far out. Diana pressed her lips together into a tight line. She hadn't expected the destruction to be so bad. Shouldn't the people have taken action against the threat? Even Steve looked a little shocked at the apparent destruction. The poor city was crawling with the robots.

Diana drew her sword an place it in her lap. Steve eyed it but said nothing. She could tell he didn't believe that she was Wonder Woman. But she wouldn't let it bother her. She knew who she was. And she was going to help whomever she could.

Diana spotted the first robot before Steve.

"Stop. Pull over." She told him calmly. He didn't argue and stopped the car. Diana opened the door and got out before it stopped moving.

"Stay here." She told him. Though she didn't expect him to obey. Already she was reaching for something. Diana eyed the robot, the first she had ever seen up close. She tested her sword before she dashed at it. Faintly she could hear a scream, but she had to focus on one target at a time. She closed the distance between her and the robot quickly.

The metal monolith turned and lashed out with one of its arms, but too slowly. She jumped and struck with her sword. The sword slid off the metal hide drawing a jagged line. Diana fell lightly to the ground and rolled as another arm came at her. Abandoning the near mangled sword she leapt at the vulnerable part and ripped away the casing and pulled at the parts inside. The robot wavered then fell.

Diana jumped off the downed robot and watched Steve jog to catch up. His blue eyes were wide in shock. Yet he still had a gun at the ready.

"That's not going to do you any good." Diana pointed out. She should make him leave, the stubborn fool. She opened his mouth to convince him when they both heard more screams. Steve's face said plainly: Argue or help. Diana turned away from him and ran off, more slowly for Steve, in the direction of the screams.

[An Outsider]

Justice League Origins

Doesn't matter how powerful the engine, or how capable the driving, throw enough shots in a cars direction and eventually it's going to get hit. Batman was enough of a pragmatist to be aware of this probability, hell he even expected it. The Car wouldn't have as much armour plating as it did if he hadn't. Still, he couldn't help but experience a shock as first of the red energy beams cannoned into the Car, shaking the entire chassis with violent force.

<Hull integrity at eighty-five percent> chimed the voice of the Car's VI, a voice manipulated to sound like Marilyn Monroe for no other reason than Bruce's own personal quirks. He was thankful for that choice now, as Miss Monroe's dulcet tones went someway to blunting the direness of the situation. If one shot could eat into fifteen percent of his armour then this could end a lot messier than he had hoped. Tires squealed as he spun the wheel, car drifting in a tight arc around the extraterrestrials as he fire HEIAP rounds, the high payloads tearing through the bot's like they were made of construction paper. For every one that he took down there was always more to take their place though, their sheer numbers meaning that eventually some of their massed fire was getting lucky.

<Hull integrity at seventy percent. Hull integrity at fifty-four percent. Hull inte... >

"VI Voice off!" Bruce didn't need a running commentary of how badly things were going. He was quickly running out of HEIAP 's, and after they were gone he'd be down to no more than the surface-to-air missiles and his anti-personnel non-lethal rounds, which he didn't think were going to cut it here.

Some use all those billions of dollars are going to do me now, sitting pretty in all those bank accounts while I get blown up for want of a grenade.

Even with his fantastic mind, Batman was struggling to create a plan for this. How could he? He'd trained to fight criminals and gangsters, he'd never expected to match himself against seven foot tall death machines.

THUD!

Another energy beam thundered into the vehicle, this time striking the hood. Sparks exploded from the point of impact, smoke billowing in a noxious cloud, a touch of red at it's base. The engine gave a last pained growl before dying completely, wheels slowly grinding to a withering halt.

Damn it!

A tapping of keys and several switch flicks told him that this wasn't a problem that could be fixed from the drivers seat. He needed to assess the damage, perhaps even get the vehicle back to the cave and replace the engine, two things he just didn't have time for right now. He began to fire the last of the HEIAP rounds, knowing that the car's armour wouldn't last long under a prolonged assault. He readied himself to evacuate the vehicle quickly, resolving to finish this fight on his own two feet.

“You are not wanted. Perish!”

FWOOM!

Golden energy arced between the massed automatrons, some falling to their knees whilst others exploded entirely.

What now?

Floating in mid air was a figure dressed entirely in blue and gold, a faceless helmet upon his head and a heavy cape draped around his shoulders. He would have appeared faintly ridiculous, if not for power inherent in his stance and the gold fire burning in his hands... or the way his voice echoed and boomed.

“You will not be allowed, this is not this world’s fate.”

The robots turned to face the newcomer, some charging him head on while others aimed their arm cannons on his position. Batman took his moment, exiting the Car and swiftly assaulting the robot's rear. Palming two batarangs in a reverse grip he attacked the first robot's knee joints, figuring that if they were shaped like a man then they would have a man's weaknesses. His assumption paid off, the thing buckling under it's own weight as it's supports gave way. With a growl he drove his weapons into the robot's metallic forehead, hoping that whatever passed for it's nervous system would be located there. Again he was lucky, bipedal life seeming to share some constants no matter the species. The light in the automatron's eyes died, and Batman moved onto the next opponent, a wraith on the field.

Whatever was going on in this newcomer’s head remained to be seen as the helmet-bearing mystic came down harshly and swiftly against the synthetics that maintained their attention on him. It probably came to no surprise to the caped crusader that they were felled much easier by the strands of gold energy than his arsenal on hand. Whoever this individual was… it was good that he was on his side, but for how long? Where did he come from?

Eventually he became aware of a fourth party on the field, though he at least had an idea of who this one was. Reports had been coming in about 'Green Lantern' for some time now, mostly centered around the Coast City area. Though his background and reasons for acting how he did were still a mystery, there was no denying the power of his ring. Between Lantern and this man in gold there were entirely to many masked men in Gotham for Batman's liking. He would need to discover their identities and agendas as soon as possible.

He didn't get as much time to mull over these issues as he would have liked, the automatrons finally beginning to realize that the golden newcomer wasn't the only danger. Two broke off from the pack and began to stomp towards Batman's position whilst a few others focused on the arrival of this Green Lantern, their fixed-metallic faces displaying not a shred of emotion as they bore down upon them. The Caped Crusader remained nearly perfectly still, a narrowing of his eyes being the only hint that he was aware of his impending doom.

The lead robot threw a fist forward, almost to fast for the human eye to follow. Almost. The Dark Knight swayed under the strike, spinning off to the left, a batarang licking out to cut at the bot's armour. The second robot was on him in an instant, big hands clasped together and coming down like a hammer blow. Batman threw himself backwards, only narrowly avoiding the blow. He hit the ground and without pausing began to roll to his side, just missing the foot that came stomping down from the first foe.

Beep, beep, beep, beep. The robot lifted and inspected it's foot curiously, no doubt wondering what that beeping was. A small, grey, rectangular section of putty was stuck to the sole, a tiny black bat in the center of the putt, a red light blinking in time with the beeps that had steadily been picking up pace.

BOOM!

The explosion too the robots leg off, the metal monstrosity getting blown across the block. Gotham's Guardian didn't get a chance witness the spectacle though, as the second robot had finished with trying to beat him to death, and had instead changed tactics to fire red energy waves. So far Batman had managed to duck and weave out of the beams paths, but the robot only had to get lucky once and then it would be all over. However he couldn't get in close to land a conclusive blow, not with all the fire the bot was laying down.

Think, dammit. You've got the tools, just have to figure out how to use them!

Batman rolled out of the way from another stray shot, at the same time drawing his grapple-gun. Taking a quick aim he fired at the robot's chest, the claw exploding forwards with a sharp *POP*. The claw sunk into the automatron's armour, the metal head glancing down to gaze at it with a clinical detachedness, giving Batman just the opportunity he needed to retract the reel, the high-powered gas gun yanking the Dark Knight towards his opponent. He used his momentum to drop kick his foe, two hundred pounds of muscle crashing into the automatron at high speeds. The metallic monstrosity toppled from it's feet like, the Caped Crusader using a batarang to tear the thing's head from its shoulder's, snarling as he sawed through the tensile cables that made up it's tendons.

Suddenly he was yanked into the air, a powerful grip around his own neck. He kicked out, his boots hitting unyielding metal. Stupid Bruce. . . Not paying attention.. He was turned around to face the glowing red eyes of one of those mysterious robots, a third that had entered the fray when he was distracted by his own victory. The grip tightened while he struggled futilely to escape.

Come on Bruce. Not like this. . . Never like this.

However, the Dark Knight’s luck had not ran out quite yet.

THWOOM!

A flare of the golden energy from before crashed into the synthetic, however instead of exploding it went limp as if an electromagnetic pulse had been blasted through its mechanical nervous system—effectively disabling it and turning its function off, and the grip around Batman’s neck loosening.

The Dark Knight fell to the ground, wheezing and coughing, trying to suck in great lungs full of air. It took him a moment to regain his composure, stashing the tiny laser he had been readying to cut through the robot's wrist back in his belt. Note to self: reinforce armour around the neck. A quick scan of the field revealed most of the bot's were down for the count, the golden intruder hovering some feet away.

"Who are you and what are you doing in Gotham?" The Batman cracked, sounding more like a demand than a question.

“Matters occurred during visitation.” The figure paused and his eyes looked up to Green Lantern who was still attending to the last few cybernetics. “The world is in peril.”

Batman followed the figure's gaze to see Green Lantern mopping up the last of the robots. A potent reminder of just how outclassed he was, power wise. This is a dangerous playing field you're on now Bruce. Remember to tread carefully.

"Gotham's mine. In the future stay out." It was dangerous ground, making a threat to such a dangerous and powerful individual as this, even as mild a threat as that. Boundaries had to be set though, and set early. Gotham WAS Batman's, and he wouldn't suffer any interlopers invading his territory, regardless of their intentions.

“I care not for your city, dark knight, nor your crusade. My only interest is that of great precedence and this is one that goes beyond any one domain.” The tone remained constant and untampered by the demands of the city’s protector.

“This is only the beginning.”

A small growl of annoyance escaped Batman. He wasn't used to being so casually dismissed, and couldn't say he was enjoying the experience. He exercised his iron control though, turning on his heel to leave the figure standing in the street.

"In that case get out. I hear Metropolis could use some help. Perhaps that would interest you."

“If Metropolis falls, so will Gotham.”

There was a flash of light that followed the words from the being and this speaker of fate vanished.

[Enarr]

Justice League Origins

The Castle Foyer
The Lost City of Atlantis

The glossy orange scale mail Orin was wearing immediately registered in his mind as the poorest choice for a stealth mission. But fortunately, this was not the time for stealth, he'd already taken back his fortress, now was the time for action, to repel whatever invaders had come to his home. Hopefully, the colorful garb of an Atlantean military general in chief would inspire his troops rather than paint a target on his back.

"King Orin, the surface dwellers are outside the castle walls, the royal guard is holding them back as best they can, but they've quickly become overwhelmed and have had several casualties."

The King thought for a tense moment before opting to preserve the lives of his men. "Tell them all they have permission to retreat without penalty," he said, balancing his trident in hand before peeking through the peephole of his giant door.

The courtyard was a mess of clustered comrades landing endlessly fruitless strokes against the titanic machines. They were developed for the subaquatic conditions. Rather than having legs to stand on, they resembled mechanical 'mermen' with tails covered by sturdy yet flexible overlapping plates that trailed their slender, powerful torsos with tentacles and bulbous heads on their shoulders.

"Garth, execute the beached whale maneuver as many times as it will work," he confidently commanded his younger associate as he cracked the door, slipping through it and into his courtyard.

"Yes, my lord," he uttered as he closely matched the path of his king.

The two of them swam right up to the most exhausted looking lone guardsman, Arthur laid a heavy hand on his shoulder, relieving him of the battle. The behemoths' tentacles swished around Arthur, preparing to wrap him like an a boa would to a rabbit. But the efforts were countered by Orin thrusting his trident and snagging the tentacles in the spaces between it's points. To limit it's use of them, he spun his trident's handle, with the appendages reduced to spaghetti on a fork when the king forced the weapon into the soil beneath his feet. Taking advantage of the opening, Garth began to summon a skyward column of light that touched down on the grounded machine before spreading out into a bubble, trapping it in a pocket of air that proved debilitating to the aquatic war machine.

As it squirmed on the coral that took place of the grass found outside surface castles, the fight was made easier when by the fact that it was being crushed by its own weight. Focusing the power his whole soul into his fists, with every bit of resolve he could scrounge up, Arthur broke the hull of the machine, plunging his fist into its core and ripping out everything that felt important. Naturally, the jagged edges left scratches on his gloves, but they were designed for extreme protection. In a matter of seconds, a black stream of oil began to leak, so Orin stopped. One of the very reasons that Atlanteans despised surface dwellers, with complete rationality when you're unbiased about the subject, was the plague of black blood that had left a trail of death wherever the current would take it. He couldn't have that. So with the utmost haste, he snatched a nearby sponge from the seafloor and packed it into the breech.

As the sponge blackened, it still bled out like it was a bottle tipped upside down. A few of the royal guardsmen had their battle mages perform the same feat to the best of their ability. But they all were horrified by the liquid death that spouted from the metal corpses. Even though the tide had turned in their favor, Arthur was unwilling to be responsible for any amount of his subjects dying from toxic ingestion.

"Garth, you are now the leader of Atlantis. Forget my palace, find Vulko, and protect my people. I have to go," to protect the denizens of the deep, he was willing to risk his throne, even his life. "With Atlantis under attack, I have no choice but to get help. Metropolis' Superman would even be appreciated," he said, not realizing how much of the world was being razed by the invaders. But, at that, Orin pressed off, bursting through the water like a giant bullet. Within hours, he'd be on the coast of America.

Watching the king swim away, Garth was confused and shocked. He'd never set foot on dry land and hadn't a clue what Metropolis or a Superman was.

[Gowi]

“You do realize you basically just told Batman to happily screw off, right? Why did you do that?!”

Kent Nelson was not in control of his own body, well mostly not in control of his own body— he still felt it if a robot punched the extravagantly dressed torso of his, he still sort of had a sense of environment, but he was still very very much not the person talking or expunging killer robots with giant golden beams of magical death. But as much as he felt like some sort of super-puppet-avatar thing he knew Nabu’s zeal was not pointless, though he didn’t quite exactly agree that visiting Gotham and spewing feces all over its protector was a good idea; sure, Nabu didn’t literally lift his trousers and do the deed but he may as well had. The Caped Crusader had grumbled and glared, not appreciate their encroachment before they left so conveniently in a golden flash.

It still… well, it made him nervous. Batman definitely did not look like the kind of person you wanted to aggravate and he could feel that Nabu’s words would bite him personally in the ass in due time. There was no need to burn bridges by talking down to other similar super-powered beings.

“No such action was done.”

Nabu’s mental reply held a sense of certainty, but then again this was a “greater” being from another plane of existence, so it was a bit hard to argue with that. Though the counter-point of him not being human remotely ever came to mind – and he dreaded what Gotham’s protector could be thinking right now at this moment as the gold light that caused them to vanish faded thus finishing Nabu's teleportation spell.

“Maybe not. But we need to talk about your etiquette if you are going to be using my body to do stuff.”

Nabu didn’t reply, perhaps as indication that he did not disagree. Moving on, Kent Nelson found himself partially relieved he didn’t continue to have a long debate with someone who basically was controlling his body. Looking through his eyes Kent observed where they had been transported to and the glimmering shine of white skyscrapers and idyllic architecture suggested only one other place that he was familiar of in modern society: Metropolis. It certainly made sense given the exchange between Gotham’s protector and the omnipotent being that currently controlled his body that they would make way to Metropolis— heck, even without the suggestion by Batman it was pretty obvious even to Kent that the bulk of the damage and the epicenter of trouble was in Metropolis itself; which was why they were here to stop said trouble at the center of it by aiding the famed Man of Steel.

“So what’s the plan, Nabu?”

There was a silence as Nabu looked about the surroundings once more, as if processing information that Kent couldn’t see himself.

“We aid the hero of this domain and formulate a plan to stop this invasion thus securing this world’s fate.”

“Right.”

Holding out his arm, the form of Doctor Fate decided the best action of advancing would to be cast a spell to get a grasp on the location of the fallen hero of Metropolis— this sort of foresight was pretty vibrant to the mind of the host, but Nabu had picked Kent Nelson as his host and avatar for a reason; despite his utterly foolish demeanor and attitude he had quite an enduring will and strength alongside of having the right sort of moral disposition. Still… it left a heck of an exhausting sensation that Kent wasn’t a fan of and with Nabu in control of his body he couldn’t quite pop a few Sidonis meds and call it a day.

As expected, the spell sent a shock through Kent Nelson’s brain as Nabu completely ignored whatever impact it had as he moved the hand down and began to levitate in the air—speaking mentally to the pretty much helpless archaeologist he was inhabiting.

“I have located Superman.”

If Kent was in control of his body he would’ve probably cocked a smirk with his sarcastic remark.

“Well, that’s dandy.”

As the form of the synthesis of Nabu and Kent Nelson moved forward it seemed that their presence was detected by the local synthetic population—thus putting a halt on their advanced to continue their plan of “help Superman and save the day”.

“Neutralize specimen: Homo Magi.”

“Homo whatsit?”

Kent’s thoughts jumped as the form of Doctor Fate waved his hand aggressively before him—sending a giant arc of golden energy into the mob of synthetics. These synthetics were either more prepared than the ones in Gotham, had adapted to the magic Fate wielded, or Nabu hadn’t put the entirety of his zeal into his spell— either way, Nabu didn’t feel the physical consequences of fighting things like this… Kent Nelson did; and he was not eager to have his body attacked by physical force from metallic skeletons even with the sort of superhuman endurance Nabu granted him during their Doctor Fate synthesis.

FWOOM!

“Perish!”

Nabu sent out another more direct blast—focusing energy into one direct destruction school spell such as the one he used individually against the synthetics in Gotham; apparently the arc spell was more to give them some spacing between their enemies… good. As this spell hit one of the six synthetic drones it did as it did before— putting it out of commission so to speak. However, there was still five drones in front of them— and without a Batman or Green Lantern to distract them they all began to swarm the singular mystical superhero; one of them going so far to tackle Doctor Fate in mid-air.

Kent Nelson knew this was the part that was going to suck and hurt.

However… little did the synthetics or Fate realize that the supposedly “fallen” Man of Steel in the rubble nearby was stirring; and likely very unhappy.

[grayghost]

Secret of the Scarab

Kord Tower – Midway City

The building was quiet. Everyone had gone home for the day. Except Ted Kord; working late on his newest invention. He got more work done at night, despite the loneliness. He got distracted easily, especially by people. In this silent environment, Ted would've jumped at something as mundane as his phone ringing. Most people probably would. So he can probably be forgiven for falling out of his seat and cowering under his desk when the majority of the floor shook in reaction to a massive explosion. Within seconds, the silence was replaced with the deafening clamor of glass, metal, and heat ripping its way through the 42nd floor of the massive building.

While the event lasted only a few seconds, it felt to Ted as though it has been hours. He peeked out from under his desk, cutting his finger on some glass that had fell onto his table as a result of the explosion. As he looked around at his lab he assessed the wreckage, still a bit shocked at the situation. The entire wall of his office, which doubled as a private lab, was blown open, glass, metal, pieces of the wall strewn everywhere. The room had some additional protection from minor lab accidents, so most of the lab equipment was intact. He slipped out of his lab coat, throwing it aside as he deftly hopped around the debris littered through the area. When he made it out into the hallway, he audibly gasped.

“My god …”

The whole rest of the floor was exposed like a wound. He could see the city below him, lit up, likely looking back up at him. This was the most prominent building in the city, and it had just exploded. He heard a low groan, and another crash. Pieces of the building were falling all around him. He moved slowly towards the groan, revealing a metallic blue figure slumped on the ground. Its hand was outstretched, holding a small metal object. He grabbed the object and moved closer to the figure, only to find that the figure was none other than the Blue Beetle! He was motionless, and Ted was sure he had died. The armor began to shift, slowly collapsing within itself, revealing the human form beneath.

“No …”

The form was Daniel Garett, Ted’s mentor. He hadn’t seen his mentor in months, he was supposedly been working on a secret project. Ted slumped to the ground, devastated. Before he could begin grieving, a smaller explosion shook through the building.

Ted ran to the source, hoping to find who was responsible. He sped through the hallway, ignoring the hundreds of papers strewn about. He entered another room, and had to catch himself to keep from falling from the building. This entire room had been blown out, carved from the side of the building. As he regained his balance, he realized he heard a dull roar coming just a few feet away from him. As the smoke from the explosion cleared, he could make out a large black shape out in the distance. As he focused, he could also make out a large human shaped figure fading into the shape. Then, in an instant, there was a loud boom, and the shape sped off.

Ted had no idea what had just happened. He had to call his dad. He kept calling and calling, but got no answer. Eventually, the police arrived, and questioned him on what had happened. He had no answers, only the metal object that he had taken from Dan. Upon further inspection, it appeared to be some kind of scarab.

“I need to get to the lab and figure out how this is connected to Dan’s death” he thought.

Ted's Lab – Midway City

Ted sped down the barren freeway at 3 in the morning. The police had held him for a while, but he couldn't give them anything. And despite his intellect and resources, it (at least so far) didn't make sense to them that Ted had anything to do with the explosions. They informed him that Thomas had been reported missing several hours ago by the butler. Ted was too busy working to check in on him or even his phone. He needed to get to his lab and try to get to the bottom of this.

Dan and Jarvis had secret labs, so it only made sense that Ted build one. It was a fledgling operation at this point, but he had come up with some interesting inventions of his own. He had recently taken an interest in urban parkour, and was working on wrist pointed grappling cables. They'd be able to retract and cling to all sorts of objects, like the roofs of buildings. The whole idea was crazy and dangerous, which was why it was so interesting. He'd never work on it for the company though, he tried to keep those inventions in the same vein as what his uncle had developed. Or used to develop.

Thomas, Ted's father, was the business sense behind Kord Industries. At a very young age, he had already climbed the corporate ladder at prominent companies like LexCorp and Wayne Industries. At the same time, his brother, Jarvis Kord, began developing advanced technologies, particularly those that could be used in the medial field. The two formed Kord industries, and for a while, the company flourished. Thomas' wife left when Ted was young, and the two brothers worked to raise Ted together. As the company continued to succeed however, the two began to disagree on the direction of the company, prompting Jarvis to distance himself from the Thomas and Ted. He embarked on many research expeditions, which all came up with nothing, until about a year ago, he came back with mysterious artifacts. No one, not even Ted knew what they were, and Jarvis all but withdrew himself from public contact to study them. Soon after, Jarvis was fired, and no one had seen him since. The artifacts where then given to Daniel Garrett to study.

Ted placed the scarab-like object on the table and spent hours studying it. Hours. He tried everything he could think of. Nothing seemed to activate it or have any effect.

“What do I have to do, be 'worthy' like Thor or something?” he said out loud. Part of him thought that might work.

He started to look around his lab at all the inventions scattered about. He needed to be out there. He had hoped that he could get the scarab to work, to get that suit on and avenge whoever had done this to Dan. Dan was his mentor, he had learned everything from him. It still hadn't quite hit him that he was gone. He had to find what had caused this. That shape had to be some sort of vehicle, some advanced hovercraft or something. It had to have left a trace.

“Can't believe he was a superhero, the Blue Beetle, behind my back” he said, again to no one.

He had admired the Blue Beetle from afar, seeing his exploits on the news. He seemed to be doing good, despite what the police had said, that he was some sort of menace. They said that about all the heroes it seemed. Ted, like anyone, wanted to be him, even though it wasn't possible. He couldn't believe it had been Dan the whole time.

He had learned a lot from Dan. While working with him, he learned that just being smart wasn't enough. You have to have drive, and you have to live. For Dan, that meant spontaneous adventures; spelunking was a big hobby of his. That's how the parkour started, because of Dan. He also had one cardinal rule for Ted, that Ted tried to live by. That he had been blessed with a great gift, and that, combined with that life, would allow him to do anything. He could be anything. He openly talked of quitting the company and becoming a fisherman, or a chef.

“I don't need this thing” he thought, tossing the scarab aside onto a table.

Rapidly he began scrounging together all sorts of gadgets and tech. The element resistant flight suit he had designed. The multi-vision goggles. The "defensive" gun. He worked into the early morning, gathering everything together, until he finally finished his suit.

“Heh, I can be the Blue Beetle too, just like you Dan”

Then he sat down, admiring his work. And then, after being awake for about 24 hours, quickly fell asleep slumped over his desk.

[Vandy]

All Clark could feel when he began to wake up were metal tentacles wrapping around his shoulders. On either side of him was one of the invaders lifting him off the ground; without thinking Clark activated his heat vision and turned his head to the left, melting the armor of his synthetic enemy. He didn't bother to turn his head to the right to kill the other machine, instead opting to sling it over the opposite shoulder and throwing it head first into the ground.

”Bastards...”

When Clark's eyes refocused, he realized that he was floating 20 feet above the ground. The street was littered with destroyed vehicles and the occasional dead body. Most of the civilians were either hiding inside the various buildings or presumably taken by the invaders. The large tank that had knocked Superman out earlier had moved further down the street, using its tentacles to bust holes in skyscrapers and destroy police cars.

Superman dove into the left side of the large robot with his right fist in front of him. He punched through its armor like a spear and used the momentum to carry it through a tight alley way causing chunks of building to follow them. By the time Clark had exited through the other side of the tank, he was on the next street holding a mesh of silver colored alien circuits.

There were more of the smaller machines on this street, however they seemed to be focused on a man in a very loud blue and gold outfit. He was dispatching his enemies with golden energy beams but seemed to be surrounded.

”Guess he's on my side.”

”Neutralize Specimen: Homo Magi”

The invaders got closer to the blue man with each push.

Clark turned to the dying tank. He grabbed it by one of its flailing tentacles and with all his might he slung it over his shoulder and threw it in the direction of the mage, crushing a multitude of robots. This drew some of the attention off of the other hero as the invaders began to turn on Clark. He rushed forward and destroyed the closet one's head with a single punch. He grabbed the circuits on the inside of its neck and used it as a makeshift melee weapon. With three swings, Clark's weapon was gone. On the bright side however, he was now face to face with the mystery man.

”You must be the Homo Magi.” Clark said with a slight chuckle.

“And you must be the protector of this realm.” The ‘homo magi’ responded back as he looked around the two for any other synthetics, which on the appearance of the two heroes seemed to be coming out of the woodwork.

“It appears we have more company, they seem to be adamant about our destruction.”

The helmeted figure pressed his index and middle fingers of both of his hands together as a golden aura began to take shape around him— energy focusing into some type of spell? Clark supposed it made sense considering what the robot invaders had called this ally he had stumbled upon.

As the robotic enemies began to approach closer, the figure’s voice boomed in an ancient tongue—was it Latin? It was hard to tell.

“Cadant in Obscurum!”

THWOOM!

A golden wave of energy blasted from the center of the magical superhero, passing through a degree of this incoming wave— utterly disabling about six of the incoming ten. But as an effect it would be easy to notice that the helmeted being had twitched due to his own spell and was knocked back from it, perhaps from fatigue. The host of the body that the helmeted figure inhabited would be feeling the effects of the spell for some time after this battle for sure.

“I seem to be fatigued from the spell. Can you deal with the remaining enemies?”

”On it.” Superman rushed forward to the last four enemies. Two of them hit him in the chest with their red energy beams however Clark kept going. As he approached the nearest one, he ripped the cannon from its arm thus causing an explosion of sparks. He used his own biological lasers to cut down two more and chucked the cannon at the last like a baseball. The sheer force behind the throw took the last robot's head clean of with a pop.

Clark hurried back to the side of his exhausted ally ready for another attack. The attack never came however, the remaining machines simply flew into the air from wherever they were in the city. They created a ring around Metropolis far above the tallest skyscrapers. They were up to something.

“So, I'm assuming you don't actually call yourself 'Homo Magi'?” Clark turned to the man in blue. “People around here like to call me Superman. You wouldn't happen to have any more backup, would you?”

“You may refer to this form as Doctor Fate.”

Keeping his eyes set on the robots above he responded to Superman’s question, “Unless the one from Gotham has followed, I have no knowledge of more support on this endeavor. As for our enemies; we should assault their source before we are overwhelmed, but it may be too late for such suggestions.”

Well Doc, good luck finding that source.” At that moment, a massive skull appeared from the clouds. Its robotic tentacles surrounded it on all sides and it had two massive red eyes.

“Protect Unit: Brainiac Prime!” The robots circling the city spoke in unison. Their metallic voices shook Metropolis.

“Well, that was easy.” Clark said in a semi sarcastic tone. “Hope your friends in Gotham got the memo.”

[Blue Demon]

Wonder Woman easily jumped over rubble. Behind her she could hear Steve panting to keep up, even though she was going slower for him. Then again, he had to scramble over what she cleared easily. She almost wished he wasn't so determined to keep up with her. At first she thought it was cute that he thought she was a weak woman of his world. Right now it was not helping.

Diana skidded to a stop in front of a robot. The robot hesitated for a brief moment, calculating this new thing that had come between it and it's victim. Diana didn't give it any time. She leapt and climbed onto his head. An energy beam fried the bottom of one of her boots. Diana cried out in rage as she found purchase under a panel and tore. She heard in the background Steve helping the victim to safety.

At least he wasn't going to get in the way. Diana reached in a grabbed whatever she could fine and pulled. The robot suffered the same fate as it's kin. Despite another arriving upon it's death. A metal arm gripped Diana around her waist and lifted. The Amazon grunted. Sh heard the robot power up to shot a laser but a series of sharp pops ended it.

"Thank me later." Steve groused as the now dead robot dropped Diana, with a little muscle.

"Very well." Diana said as she cast a critical eye over the street. It was far easier to battle these with a sword. But her own sword was useless, and no one in this world used swords anymore. And guns were all but useless to her.

Diana turned as another two robots dropped to the ground, reached out and ripped a street sign out of the ground with a mighty battle cry. Both robots moved forwards as one. Her makeshift weapon struck one on the side, causing the pole to crumple. But not before it impacted the other robot. One on the ground Diana easily put them both down.

"And you may apologize to me later." Diana said as she stood up amongst the robotic carnage.

There was a second of silence then Steve asked, "What for?"

"For believing me incapable just because I'm a woman." Diana was pleased to see a shocked look cross his face.

“Protect Unit: Brainiac Prime!” The robots circling above cried. A new larger and quite possible more powerful robot shaped like a skull appeared high above. So this was what controlled all the others. That meant it needed to die.

"Come. We have more people to save and a monster to kill." Diana said before he could say anything more. Behind her Steve cursed something about it being suicide to fight a giant robotic head thing. Diana allowed herself a smile but didn't deviate from her course. Though she did think that Steve should have mentioned the tentacles. That was... unique.

The robotic "Brainiac Prime" was moving faster than Steve. Diana paused a second to let him catch up. Steve looked quite unhappy when he stopped next to her.

"We're not catching up." He pointed out.

"No." Diana agreed slowly. Steve caught on quickly. Even if he didn't like it.

"D." Steve caught her arm as she turned to run off. "About earlier. What you said. Well," Steve hesitated. "I thought about it, and you're right. I did think you were incapable."

Diana smiled. "If this is later, than thank you for saving me." She grabbed his head and pulled in him for a kiss. Steve tensed until he realized just what she was doing. Then she released him.

"Don't die before I get back." Diana told him. She pointed out a couple who where staggering away from a smoking car. "Go be a hero." She told him, then she was gone. Without having to move slowly for Steve she covered ground far more quickly. She dodged and leapt rubble and cars in her path. It felt great to be able to use her full abilities and not hide.

Diana planted to her feet and came to a complete stop when she saw two men standing in more rubble. Mainly destroyed robot parts. Though there was a partially crumbled building. She recognized one from the newspaper article she had read. Had it just been that morning?

"Superman is it?" Diana asked as she walked up to them. "Are you with or against those Brainiac robots?"

[Vandy]

As Hal dealt with the robotic enemies in the sky, the black tank rolling around the street exploded. A dark figure leapt out of the wreckage just in time and began fighting the metal killers on foot. Hal however had his own problems to worry about. Four robots charged him at once firing heir arm cannons as they did so. He created a massive, green shield that caught the beams just in time and blocked the energy like an umbrella. The sheer force however, sent Hal flying backwards through a building and onto the street.

The impact from his collision with the ground caused his construct to break with a shattering sound. His attackers charged through the hole in the building that he had created in a single file line. Hal shot a single green energy beam towards his enemies, destroying all four at once.

He flew back into the sky to take care of the rest of the robots. To his left, the dark figure was still fighting the machines on the ground, only now he was being assisted by a man in a blue and gold costume. “Wish someone would help me out”

Hal used his ring to create a mini-gun construct and fired into the swarm of enemies heading his way. Some broke off and headed towards the two heroes on the ground, however Hal was to busy concentrating on his own fight. The others would have to deal with the enemy on their own.

Something hit Hal in the back like a freight train. He was thrown 30 feet higher in the sky and his concentration broke causing his force field to shatter. His eyesight was hazy, but he could barely make out a silhouette of a bus falling to the street. "So that's what hit me." He quickly created an enormous net, catching the bus before setting it down gently on the road. He didn't have time to check if it was filled with people as his fight with the machines restarted.

It seemed that all the robots on the ground were dealt with. The man in blue had disappeared after saying something about Metropolis. The sky also seemed to be less busy, the few remaining enemies weren't even attacking him. They floated above the skyscrapers staring at him with their mechanical eyes. Hal would rather them attack, this was giving him the creeps.

"Protect unit: Brainiac Prime!" The machines all said in unison before flying off at an incredible speed.

Hal flew down to where the dark figure was standing, or rather running. It seemed like he didn't get along with the Gotham PD who were now crawling over the wreckage of both the invaders and the figure's black tank. Up close, Hal could tell that the other hero was a man in a costume that resembled a bat.

"Woah, you're Batman!" Hal exclaimed after remembering a news report he had watched a few months ago. Something about a Roman gang? "I thought you only came out at night?" All Hal got out of Batman was a grunt before the two turned the corner and into an alley way. Now Hal could tell how bright he was compared to the dark streets of Gotham, even in the middle of the day. The city sure had a way of looking depressing.

The cops rounded the corner into the alley way opposite of where Hal and Batman were running and began to fire their side arms. Hal created a bubble of energy that surrounded the two outlaws that illuminated the entirety of the alley.

"Three guesses as to where this 'Brainiac Prime' is." Hal said with a smirk. Before Batman could retort, Hal covered his mouth with a piece of green energy like a cloth. Anything the caped crusader was trying to say was muffled. Hal lifted the two into the air and flew in the direction of Metropolis, breaking the sound barrier.

Within minutes, they had arrived in the mag city. It was far worse off than either Gotham or Coast City, smoking rubble could be seen for miles. The most frighting thing however, was the massive skull in the sky surrounded by the invaders. "Looks like we found the 'figure head.'" After flying at a slower pace for about a minute, Hal caught sight of the man in blue and gold from before. With him was a woman dressed in some kind of old armor and another man who Hal recognized from another news report. Superman.

"Superman is it?" She asked as she walked up to them. "Are you with or against those Brainiac robots?"

"Uh." Superman said as he looked around at the dead machines that covered the street that Hal assumed had been the work of him and the man in blue. "Looks like we're on your side."

"Us too." Hal said as he landed next to the others. "I'm a Green Lantern, and this is Batman." Hal said as the bubble they had traveled in dissipated. "Bats here didn't really want to come." He said before letting the energy cloth off of his mouth.

"Superman, this is Doctor Fate apparently." Superman said while gesturing at the other man.

Hal felt a gust of wind fly past him and then come back as if it changed its mind. "And I'm the Flash." Hal was relieved to see that the 'gust of wind' was a man. Even though it freaked him out to find ayet another person with super powers.

"Well, looks like we got that backup I wanted Doc." Superman said before turning back to the woman who he spoke to before. "I didn't catch your name."

"Yeah, I was wondering that too." Hal said as he stepped closer to the woman. "Ever been in space?" The rest of the group shook their heads.

[Enarr]

A monumental wave burst over the beach of America's East Coast, spitting a blonde haired ruler onto the dry space he'd originally called home. Resolutely, he marched across the shore, trident in hand. His orange upper garment reflected it's tangerine glimmer onto everything he passed.

He'd actually come to Metropolis a great many times throughout his life. In this state of emergency, the king of the seas found it much more imperative that he arrive in a timely manner, and so he did. By foot, by cab, and by unguarded motorcycle he made his way through the danger zone.

He followed the trail of destruction until he was face to face with the mightiest individuals he could've come upon.

Gotham's Dark Knight, Metropolis's Man of Tomorrow and a stunning brunette with metals as polished as his own were but a sample of his contemporaries.

"Hello. I see you are all in the middle of something, but I beg that any of you assist me in my endeavor to protect my people, the residents of Atlantis."

[Vandy]

Justice League Origins

"Hello. I see you are all in the middle of something, but I beg that any of you assist me in my endeavor to protect my people, the residents of Atlantis."

Clark turned around to see yet another super powered being step into the group. That made seven. The group stood in a circle on top of the rubble, dozens of the machines scattered the road. Before anyone could respond, a massive bubble materialized out of the Brainiac skull. within seconds it covered the entire city in the air and began curving to the ground.

"That can't be good." Green Lantern was the first to speak up. He powered up his ring creating an emerald aura around him. As the bubble slowly moved to the ground, the invaders began to chant in their alien language. The only audible word to Clark being 'Kryptonian.'

"Sorry fish man, but it looks like if we don't take care of that skull you won't be able to reach 'Atlantis'." Clark said in a worried tone. Please let Lois be okay. He jumped as high as he could trying to reach the skull, leaving the group behind. Before he reached it, dozens of the flying machines broke off from the circle. He activated his sporadic heat vision before retreating back to the ground.

"Not a solo job then."

"No, we need a plan." Clark took a second to think, the machines had returned to the circle in the sky. Pursuit was apparently not important anymore. The bubble was getting closer to the ground every second now. "Okay, we need a distraction. About three of us should stay behind and get the guards to chase you."

"Distraction's my middle name." Lantern winked at the woman after he said so.

"Okay, we need two more volunteers to help him out. Everyone else get up to the skull."

"How do you expect us to do that, I can't fly." Flash spoke up, it was a good point.

"I can do that too," Lantern said. He created a massive slingshot out of green energy that covered most of the street."If Supes here can make a good hole in that thing's side, I'll send you all through."

Superman nodded and flew into the sky headed straight for the skull. Lantern's distraction kicked in just in time, massive green anti-air shells began exploding in the faces of the robots. Chunks of dead metal began falling to the ground. It seemed that the Lantern was conceived as a serious threat because a large amount of robots nose dived for the ground.

Clark dodged through the last of the guards taking out some every now and then. Finally he reached the skull, its massive tentacles attacked of their own accord. He flew up and down avoiding the attack. The adrenaline in his veins must have been keeping him in the sky. Any flying backup that he had was dealing with the same. He used heat vision to sever one tentacle but another hit him in the back. He turned and caught it under his right arm. With all of his strength, he tore it off sending sparks and explosions up through the machine.

The massive skull turned its head and stared at Clark with its menacing red eyes, one of which was large enough to fit his squad into. "Kryptonian, you are becoming an annoyance." The massive red eyes instantly became brighter. The sound of it charging its energy beams were audible even on the ground. It fired, Clark couldn't dodge the beams. They would have taken out two city block if they hit the ground.

A massive green shield blocked the skull's attack from hitting Clark. Lantern's shield didn't last long, it did give Clark just enough time to fly under the attack and fly straight towards the eyes. Once the emerald shield broke, the attack was interrupted. The shattering sound of both forms of energy braking was defining.

With both fists, Clark flew into the skull's left eye. The resulting explosion destroyed the entire 'eye socket' and left a big enough entrance for the rest of his squad. The problem however was that now the invaders that had attacked the distraction team were now heading back to protect the ship. From inside, small drones began to attack. Their energy beams were much smaller and served to be no more than small annoyances.

Clark punched out a wall on the far side of the 'socket.' On the other side is what must have been the ship's true interior. The sight shocked Clark, so much so that he barely noticed his squad make their "graceful" landing coming off of Lantern's slingshot. The inside of the ship was dark, only illuminated by the occasional green or purple light illuminating bottles with what looked like model cities inside.

Pools of liquid surrounded the ship, and power lines connected to the walls in bizarre areas that were impossible geometrically. He jumped down from his vantage point inside the eye and onto the floor. The light blue goo splashed onto his legs and gave off a putrid odor.

"Nice mothership you have here Brainiac."

[Blue Demon]

"Superman is it?" Diana asked as she walked up to them. "Are you with or against those Brainiac robots?"

Diana's hands were held loosely at her side. However she was coiled and ready to defend at a moment's notice. This Superman gaped at her for a moment. Perhaps he had never seen a woman warrior. A lot of men in this world had the same reaction. It wasn't gratifying. It was annoying. She was tired of being treated like something new. She missed her sister's comradeship in arms.

"Uh. Looks like we're on your side." The Superman said. Though he didn't seem very sure. Maybe all the muscles went to his head. Still, Diana wasn't about to reject potential allies, even if they weren't very smart.

"Us too."

Diana opened her mouth to respond when a man in green descended from the heavens. A green bubble was next to him. In which she could see a black clad form. She tensed, ready, but he didn't move towards her.

"I'm a Green Lantern, and this is Batman. Bats here didn't really want to come."

The Green Lantern released his prisoner from the green bubble. Kidnapping wasn't something tolerated on the Island. Diana knew it also wasn't tolerated in Man's world. Was this Green lantern exempt? No one else seemed to care. But then again, there was a more pressing issue of giant robots. Not that everyone else seemed too concerned as introductions continued.

"Superman, this is Doctor Fate apparently."
"And I'm the Flash."

By the time the man in red showed, Diana was looking around the area for a better weapon. She cased one of the robots. Perhaps she could use the metal from it to make a makeshift sword. She crouched down next to the robot and looked over it.

"I didn't catch your name."
"Yeah, I was wondering that too. Ever been in space?"

Diana looked up from her examination after she realized she was being spoken to. She stood up and held her head high, ignoring Hal's advances. They weren't anything she didn't have to contend with back in Baltimore. Diana had found ignoring them was the best way to make them go away. Apart from injuring them, but that was a last resort. "I am Princess Diana of Themyscira." A smile tugged at her mouth. "But people here call me Wonder Woman."

"Hello. I see you are all in the middle of something, but I beg that any of you assist me in my endeavor to protect my people, the residents of Atlantis."

Like a herald of bad tidings, motion from above caught her attention. She watched as the main robot emitted light that covered the city like a tent.

"That can't be good."
"Sorry fish man, but it looks like if we don't take care of that skull you won't be able to reach 'Atlantis'."

The sounds of Diana's new compatriots was nearly drowned out by the chanting of Brainiac's robots. Diana didn't waste time crouching back down and pulling out the most manageable metal piece she had found. She bent one part with her foot, tore a leather strap from her skirt and wrapped it around an end. Around her she could hear the others discussing the problem. Distraction and Attack. Divide and Conquer. Diana Approved of the Blue Man's planning.

"Okay, we need two more volunteers to help him out. Everyone else get up to the skull."

"I will aid the Green Man." Diana said. She could distract and without a suitable weapon, she was hard pressed to take down the lesser robots. A good general knew their own weaknesses.

As the Superman flew off, a mass of robots headed right towards them. Diana smiled as the first robot hit. She waded into the fray, using the numbers of the enemy against itself. She lost her makeshift weapon again and went back to hand to hand fighting. The most annoying thing about the robots were the tentacles. She'd go to punch one robot only to find her arm caught. She'd have to rip off the tentacle and once she was finished, there'd be one on her leg. And so it would go until she got so annoyed, with a war cry, she'd grab a metal arm and toss it into a few of its' fellows.

Diana did make sure to say near the Green Lantern. Not because she liked him. But because he was their ticket up to the Prime Robot. If he fell, it would be the Superman's job. Having only one person in battle who can get close to Brainiac Prime was not a good thing. Which Brainiac obviously knew, for it was concentrating on the two biggest threats to it's existence.