A Few Minutes Earlier:
Soft humming filled the kitchen as I moved about, swaying to the singing in the background while whipping up a storm.
"You show the lights that stop me, turn to stonnnne! You shine it when I'm alone!"
"That's the type of music you like?" I paused in my singing as I heard Match's voice, turning to see both him and Dubbilex standing in the doorway with amused smirks.
"Brothers! Come in and sing!"
"No thank you. I would like to spare you the noise of my vocal cords."
"And I don't want to. Seriously, though. This is the music you like?"
"Hey, nothing is wrong with white girl music," I replied, spinning around and pouring the fluffy whipping cream I just finished with atop the triple-layered chocolate cake I baked.
"Sure. So, what's with the feast?" he asked, pointing to the raw yet seasoned steaks, and the live lobster that was currently still alive and swimming in the sink.
"Oh, date with M'gann. I wanted to just go and eat out with her, but it's our first one so I wanted it to be special."
"You've been on too many first dates."
"Well, yes, but this is like our first 'official' first date, you know?" I replied, picking up the palette knife and bench scraper. With both in hand, I began to move the cake on the revolving turntable it stood on, slowly making sure that the cream was spread perfectly.
"I really don't understand you and your obsession with everything that needs to be perfect for something first. Let there be some form of failure because if the first is perfect, everything afterwards is just gonna be bad."
"Firstly, you're just saying that because you don't want Kori to see how much I'm doing for M'gann."
"We're not in a relationship! How many times do we have to say that?" his words fell on deaf ears as Dubbilex and I shared a flat look before turning to him.
"Secondly before you so rudely interrupted me, M'gann knows that I like going all-out on everything that's a first. If anything, I think I went a little overboard."
"Eh, you can just save some for me, then," Match replied, making Chris roll his eyes before he turned to the oldest in the room.
"What about you, Dubbi? You got any ladies we should hope to meet?"
"Ms. M'ree and I are currently in the talks of planning a 'date' as you like to say, but we would like to focus on our respective jobs first before committing to such a thing," he replied, both Match and I slowly turning our heads to see the amused smile on his face.
"You being serious right now?"
"As serious as I can be."
"...You know anything about this?"
"You'd think I'd keep quiet about something as big as this?" Match asked and I paused before shaking my head.
"Nope. Well! Congratulations to you, Dubbi, whether it works out or not, though I'm hoping for the former."
"Of course, you are. Also, Koriand'r is approaching."
"She is?" Match's excited yet nervous tone just made Dubbi and I share an amused smile, watching as he spun in his chair just as Raven and Kori walking into the kitchen.
"Oh, my! Is this our supper for the night?" Kori asked as she looked at the food with a smile of delight, Rae on the other hand looking to me with a raised eyebrow when I shook my head.
"Nope, this is for my date with M'gann."
"Ah, that makes much more sense. Does she know?"
"Well, I would hope so considering that it's a date. Otherwise, I'm just going to look foolish with this much food," I replied and she giggled before Raven spoke up.
"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news."
"That's a lie," we all cut her off and she paused before narrowing her eyes at us.
"As I was saying, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but where exactly are you going to hold this date? After all, most of the ship is filled with Martians, isn't it?"
"It is, which is why I managed to make my own little area on the outskirts of the Unity Sphere."
"Want to say where it is?" Match asked, grumbling as I just smirked.
"I think I'll keep it to myself, bro-" I paused in my words as the circlet around my head began to let out a low drone. That only happened when there was either an emergency on the Sphere or when it catches an emergency signal sent out through space.
My mind immediately connected to the vast security network, letting my sensors pick up the Emergency signal.
"Grave Threat at Batman's location. Zeta Tubes are active. All League members, respond with post-haste."
"Chris?" Match spoke up, drawing me from the network to see the focused looks on everyone's faces.
"Batman's emergency signal just went off."
"Those are only activated when something bad happens, right?" Match asked and I nodded before turning to everyone else.
"Dub, Rae, Kori, I need you three to go find M'gann. You four are to hold the fort up here until I get back just in case someone tries to attack."
"Will do, brother," Dub nodded as he stood up, Kori following closely behind. Rae on the other hand took a glance at me with a frown before she spoke.
"Make sure nothing like Klarion happens again."
"Is that concern I hear, Ms. Rae-Rae?" I asked, snickering as she flicked a chair at me that I caught with ease."
"Just do it, idiot," she replied and left, leaving Match and I alone as I looked to the food.
"Well, there goes the date."
"Eh, not necessarily. We could still beat the crap out of whatever threat this is and come back in time for your date," Match replied and I chuckled even as I began putting everything away in safe places where they would stay fresh until I got back.
"I like the way you think, brother. Let's go."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
NOW!!:
The first to reach him was Ultraman, whose punch Batman barely managed to swerve under. If that punch was meant to kill him, then he knew that he would not have been able to dodge it.
'That means they're trying to capture me instead,' he thought, leaping back when Superwoman came down with a stomp.
He rolled to his feet and lunged forward at Owl-Man, who ducked away from his blow while lashing out with a kick. Blocking it with his forearm, Batman pushed him back and moved back to avoid Deadeye's bullet barely clipping his shoulder.
Stumbling back as Deadeye kept up his rate of fire, his eyes widened as a figure appeared at his side, only seeing a flash of red before he impacted a wall with enough force to crack it.
'That cracked two ribs,' he thought to himself as he landed, fighting through the pain and diving to the side as the White Martian came down with a heavy slam.
However, he gasped as water erupted from the pipes around them, wrapping around his limbs right as Ultraman delivered a vicious punch to his chest.
Even though it just cracked his lower half of ribs, it felt like the fist had torn through his body, leaving Batman unable to breathe as he was dropped to the ground.
"This? This is the supposed new leader of our counterparts?" Superwoman asked with a disappointed tone and the other members of the Injustice looked just as disappointed.
Owl-Man on the other hand smirked as he crouched beside Batman, lifting his head and staring eye to eye with his original.
"I can see how, though," he spoke, drawing their attention. "Even as we fought, I was analysing you all and working out contingencies on the off-chance that you betray the Light."
"You believe you have counter-measures for us?" Ultraman asked, a mocking smile on his face as Owl-Man dropped Batman and shrugged.
"Like I said, they are just simple countermeasures, but the more we work together, the better they'll become and I don't have much experience other than theoretical memories gathered from him. He on the other hand has had years to perfect his craft and has probably figured out perfect countermeasures for one or two of us."
"If that is the case, then capture should be our least concern," Ma'alefa'ak spoke with a sneer, the others nodding in agreement before Ultraman cleared his throat.
"That will be up for Vandal to decide. What we should do is get him to him. Reverse?"
"Sure thing," Reverse-Flash spoke up and vanished, but a moment later, a golden streak of electricity impacted his side.
The blow sent him spinning towards the next roof before his head snapped up, staring at the frowning Flash perched atop the rooftop across from him.
The Injustice League themselves were surprised to see Flash before they heard a loud whistle, Ultraman spinning around just in time to block the heavy punch thrown to his head.
He was surprised by the burst of pain he felt from the shockwave travelling through his arm, locking arm with the glaring visage of Paragon who stared back.
"You dare to sully his memory with your actions?"
"Oh, I wouldn't talk if I were you, killer," Ultraman replied and spun, grabbing the back of Paragon's neck before tossing him high up into the air.
His head then snapped to the rest of the Injustice League only to see them stuck dealing with their Justice League counterpart.
Superwoman was clashing with Wonder Woman, Deadeye's bullets deflected by Green Arrow's rapid flurry of arrows. Scavenger's bident was locked in a clash with Aquaman's trident, the two clashing next to Martian Manhunter and Ma'alefa'ak were locked in a mental war.
Owl-Man himself was stuck in between Hawkman and Black Canary, and Ultraman growled as he saw Red Tornado carrying Batman away.
Raising an arm as he heard the sound of the air whistling, the windows of the city block around them shattered as Paragon's leg cracked against his arm.
However, he was surprised to feel a second impact against his back, one that was strong enough to knock the wind from his lungs.
Paragon grabbed onto his cloak as he was sent flying and he wheezed as he was pulled back, directly into a rising knee that sent him spiralling into the air.
He recovered with ease, though, and flipped around to glare at both Paragon and Project Match rocketing towards him.
Both his and Match's eyes lit up like beacons as Paragon dove down, just in time as two pairs of optic solar beams dyed the night sky above Gotham red.
Ultraman snarled as he flexed his neck, pushing Match's beams back just as a fist crashed into his jaw.
His head snapped back as he felt the tactile telekinesis rattling through his brain and the last thing he saw was Paragon's glowing fist back before everything went white.
Paragon narrowed his eyes as he watched Ultraman's body blast through the sky, turning to Match who nodded.
With no words said, the two shot forward, slicing through the air like two rockets as they watched Ultraman flip over to his feet.
He raised his hands and caught their fists in his grasp, immediately leaning back when both swung their free hand. Letting go of them, he kicked up and at them, sending them in opposite directions.
With his targets divided, he flew towards Paragon, who immediately weaved around the punch thrown at his head.
His first blow having missed, Ultraman growled as he swung in rapid succession, but Paragon avoided his blows with ease as Match charged in from behind.
When Ultraman turned and blocked his punch, Paragon launched a quick jab to his jaw. It made him stumble and opened him to a headbutt from Match, driving him into a rising knee from Paragon to an elbow to the temple from Match.
What happened next was a slaughter as the two brothers demolished their foe, each of Match's blow thrown with full force while each of Paragon's punches were infused with his TTK.
Ultraman himself roared as he tried to break free, but a kick took his leg out from under him, Paragon following with a heel drop into his chest that sent a shockwave through his heart.
He gave a silent gasp as he felt it stop for a moment, long enough for Match to fire an optic laser right into his own eyes.
"Argh! ENOUGH!" he bellowed as he swiped his arms out wide, Paragon blocking it with a raised arm while the blow clipped Match's jaw.
Ultraman staggered as he blinked, unable to keep up with Paragon's counter of rapid punches. Each one was light yet aided by his tactile telekinesis, feeling as though they were piercing deep into his organs.
With a snarl, he caught a punch and swung his arm down, but Paragon spun under the blow with a twist. Snapping his own arm at the elbow, Ultraman felt his entire consciousness rattle from the haymaker that cracked against his jaw.
With ease, Paragon snapped his own arm back into place, lunging forward and delivering a stomp that smashed against Ultraman's chest.
However, as he went to commit to his assault, he stopped in his tracks as a powerful red beam barely missed impacting him.
"Shit. Thought I had you with that," Paragon turned his head as he heard the sound of an engine rumbling, finding himself face to face with a grinning, muscular man with pale skin and a wild mane of hair.
Sat atop a futuristic black hoverbike with a bull motif on its front, the man just gave a grin as he leaned back in his seat and took a deep pull of the cigar between his lips.
'Lobo? Shit!' Paragon cursed, recalling the horror stories he heard from his friends, and from what little he saw of the man in the various DC movies and shows he's watched.
Sure, this was most likely a Lobo that wasn't as powerful as his main counterpart, but Lobo was still Lobo, a monster that was both as strong as any Kryptonian with the gadgets to even the odds in his favour.
"May I ask who you are?" he asked, taking a glance at Ultraman who was beginning to recover and glared at him.
"The name's Lobo, Krypto-human, and yer my target for the day," Lobo replied, the large plasma cannon in his hands shifting into a simple rifle with a clawed hook protruding from its barrel. "So, I'm gonna ask you to either give up or I'm beating the shit out of you and then leaving."
"No, he dies right here," Ultraman growled, but neither Lobo nor Paragon cared for him as the two stared at each other. "I am talking to y-!"
He was cut off by Match slamming into his side with a shoulder-charge, the two brothers sharing only a single nod before Paragon turned just as Lobo fired his hook gun at him.
Immediately avoiding the weapon instead of trying to catch it, it was right idea as the hooks of it shot outwards and unveiled green kryptonite spikes embedded in the chains themselves.
At the same time, Lobo pulled a plasma pistol from his left hip, aiming and firing it as Paragon lunged forward. He barely avoided the blast as it sailed past, but his eyes widened when he felt a sense of weakness flushing through his body.
Immediately taking off into the air, he barrel-rolled as a flurry of blasts flew past, a sense of urgency filling his body when he felt the areas close to the blast becoming utterly weak.
'A fucking Red Sun blaster?! Are you fucking kidding me?!' Paragon shouted in his mind as he paused and dove down, avoiding another hook blast from Lobo.
He immediately curved as another red sun bullet barely missed him, curing and flying across the ground with Lobo close behind.
'Okay, Red sun blaster in one hand and a green kryptonite-laced chain launcher in the other,' Paragon thought to himself, wondering why he had to deal with this level of bullshit.
Still, it was better that he was dealing with this instead of Match. As strong as Match was, he didn't have the meta-knowledge Paragon had to avoid the blasts.
Diving into the ground with a corkscrew spin, he dug deep while keeping the ground behind him so as to seal the earth back up.
"Oh, that's just bullshit!" he heard Lobo shout, but ignored his words, instead turning to face the ground.
With a deep breath, he pulled his fist back and swung, adding a large burst of tactile telekinesis to his blow.
The moment it fully connected with the dirt around him, he felt his energy connecting to it all and with a thought, heaven and earth switched places.
A city-sized chunk of dirt exploded upwards, Paragon's sharp eyes immediately catching Lobo doing his best to fly through it.
Yet, he was not done as he took a deep breath before blowing out a chilling gale, turning the chunks of dirts into a sea of interconnected ice boulders.
Lobo turned his hoverbike and dove under them, right into the path of Paragon who landed on the bike. As the ice came crashing down, his hands were gripped onto the weapons in Lobo's hands, whose eyes widened as he was flash-frozen in the blink of an eye.
That moment gave him the opportunity he needed as they ripped from his grasp and slammed down onto his opponent's skull. The ice shattered as Lobo and his bike were sent spiralling towards the ground, Paragon unleashing a burst of TTK into the weapons and shattering them with ease.
His eyes then focused on Lobo below, who had recovered and stood with a wide grin beside his hoverbike.
"Oh, you fucked up, little man."
"You sure about that?" Paragon asked, clenching his fists as Lobo cackled and hopped onto his bike.
With a loud howl, the bounty hunter blasted upwards and Paragon met his charge, a wide grin on Lobo's face as he leapt from his bike and slammed arms first into each other.
"Come on then, little man! Show me how you're gonna stop me!" Lobo exclaimed as he swung a fist and Paragon caught it, a single thought flashing through his mind as he spun and launched the hunter towards the ground.
'Well, I guess date night is still cancelled for now.'
A/N: And we end it on a cliffhanger!! Projects Injustice and Insight are finally in full swing and next chapter, we get to the end of the projects.
Next chapter: Who Are you?
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!!