Happy Harbor
October 2, 11:42
"Recognized- Badass in a trenchcoat."
Ever the dutiful servant, the Justice League computer announced my arrival using the designation I just fed it.
Hand buried in the pockets of said trenchcoat, I strolled out of the tube into the open space and it looked… exactly the same. There were a few more lights brightening up the place but other than that, nothing had changed.
"Show off."
Rob, fully settled in the Nightwing persona and role of team leader, met me halfway. Our hands met and clasped each other before we transitioned into a full blown hug.
"I've missed you man."
"You're telling me," he said as we let go of each other.
"My friend. It is good to see you."
Kaldur and I hugged next with me bumping my clenched fist against his water bearers.
"It is good to see you too. How are the king and queen and little Artur?"
"They're doing very well. Everyday, the effects of your blessing on the prince become more apparent."
"That's good. That's great."
The next person in line simply rushed into my arms, squealing.
"Hello M'gann," I hugged her and stared at Ron, shaking his head with a smile. Beside him stood John, John Kent, formerly known as Match. The issue with his genes had been fixed and he joined the team years ago. Practically the same year we found and liberated him.
"Hey guys," I nodded at them.
Ron simply nodded and wrapped his arm around M'gann's waist when she returned to his side.
John on the other hand, walked forward with one arm held wide. "What's up man?" He slapped his hand into mine and we performed a secret handshake. Behind him, I noticed Ron roll his eyes and I laughed.
When we finished I looked around, noting the missing people. The others noticed and tried to offer explanations.
"Grace…" M'gann tried to explain her friend's tardiness and lack of respect for punctuality.
"Oh it's not her I'm looking for. She'll be here. It's—"
"Recognized- Kid Flash: B03. Artemis: B06."
"Wait," said Superboy incredulously. "You actually convinced them to come? I thought they were retired."
I shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a smooth talker."
"Yeah right," said Wally, having overhead this little nugget.
"Ignore him," Artemis elbowed her grumpy boyfriend. "He's just mad you made him miss Real Housewives."
That earned a few blinks and renewed looks at the red haired speedster.
He took them like a champ. "Judge me all you want. I'm living life."
We greeted each other when the distance between us shortened finally. "Good to see you, Wallman."
"You too man. Even though your message sounded skeevy as hell."
Behind me, I heard someone whisper and snicker, "Smooth talker," but I ignored it.
"You know you just told on yourself right?" I said. "You saw a skeevy message and decided to do what it said. I wonder what that makes you."
Before things could escalate any further, a voice with quite a bit of joy in it cut through the atmosphere.
"Hey guys!"
We all turned to the source and found Grace, her tall, grumpy, musclebound frame being led by a smaller and chipper Frances Kane, their fingers interlocked.
"Elliot!" she screamed and let go of Grace, running all the way to me. The team parted ways for her and she stopped right in front of me, giddy but clearly waiting for permission.
There was no way I was saying no, so I simply spread my arms and she dived right in.
In the end, Frances chose to keep her powers. Though only after I summoned the spirits of her father and brother for her to speak to them. Both of them being reasonable people, reassured the young girl that their deaths ultimately weren't her fault.
It was basically a repeat of what I went through by putting on the helmet after Kent died. And it helped her like it did me, though in her case it was much more needed and much more effective.
Manhunter confirmed right after the conversation that the split occurring in her mind had ground to a halt. Not gone. Just stopped in its tracks. We recorded its movements again when Frances underwent power testing.
Like almost every user of magnetic powers, hers had a negative effect on her brain. Every use of them essentially poked and prodded her genetic predisposition to Dissociative Identity Disorder, shooting up certain sections of her brain with highly potent liquid speed.
Needless to say, I worked with SHIELD's science team and solved this problem, even going further to reinforce her mind against hostile mental effects.
So when you put all this into perspective, her reaction to my presence didn't seem so crazy. It also helped that I introduced her to the team and her current girlfriend and had basically provided for her since her mother declared her excommunicated.
We stopped hugging and I patted her shoulder. "How are you? I hope that gorilla is not giving you too much trouble?"
"Fuck you too," Grace shouted from the back while flipping me the finger.
"Stop it. Both of you."
"Come on, you have to agree with me. Gorillas can't use phones, that's why I texted you."
Grace huffed at this jab instead of responding and I looked between her and the blonde haired master of magnetism, getting an inkling as to who wore the pants in the relationship.
A wry smile took over my features. All of a sudden, I wanted to have a different kind of conversation. However, there were more important things than teasing your friends. Sadly.
"Alright. That gang's all here so let's get to it."
Frances returned to Grace's side and joined the others in giving me their undivided attention.
"Apokolips," I waved two fingers pressed together and summoned a hologram of a reddish brown planet with flames shooting out of it. "I'm going to attack it, and I need you guys' help in getting the innocents off the planet. Before you ask, these people are not natives."
From there, I explained to them the concept of the lowlies, how they came to be, why they were kept, and the kind of lives they lived, showing them videos of everything.
"I know it sounds crazy, but Apokolips isn't just some planet. Darkseid is connected to it in some way. The details aren't clear, but even if I managed to kill him and leave the planet as is, he might return. And in the very much desirable case he doesn't, just leaving it there creates a perfect opportunity for someone to take the power he leaves behind and assume his seat."
"SP… this.."
"I know—"
"Blowing up a planet," Wally held the bridge of his nose. "We retired and you think this is what will bring us back?"
"Nope. I actually need something totally different from you guys. Besides, it's like when I say it, some invisible filter masks my words. You guys' job, if you agree to come, is to get the people off the planet. The fighting and killing will be handled by my agents."
"Your agents. Don't you have like thousands of them? Can't they handle everything?" John asked.
"Yes, Shield can. But I thought you guys would be interested in making sure there is no one suffering unjustly when you could've saved them."
"Hah," Grace crossed her arms. "You ain't slick."
I simply pocketed and shrugged.
"This is ambitious, even for you my friend."
"I know. But I'm about to have a kid, and I'd rather he be born in a world where Darkseid doesn't exist."
There were a couple of gasps and I gave their people responsible confused stares.
"It's a boy?" Frances asked, mirroring M'gann's unsaid question.
"Damn it," I shut my eyes and deflated. "Felicity is gonna kill me."
Right on cue, Artemis fiddled with her watch. "I'm calling her now. Whatever you need me for, I'm in."
Wally looked ready to argue but Artemis placed a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."
The speedster just sighed and took his hand in her own. "And what kind of boyfriend would I be?"
At this point, I gave up trying to get Artemis to stop and focused on dealing with the questions from the rest of the team.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm down," John said.
"So am I," added his fellow clone. "Someone's gotta watch your back."
"SP… do you need all of us? The junior members… they're good, but they aren't ready for this."
"Oh no, they're sitting this one out. This is a strictly adult mission. No kids."
"Oh," he exhaled, sounding relieved. "That's awesome. Count me in."
"Same here. Though I am worried I may be of little use on a fire planet."
"Don't worry. I got you covered," I patted Kaldur's shoulder and looked around at the rest. "All of you. Got some new gear in the works."
M'gann and Frances were practically waiting to jump me for information about the baby. However Grace spoke before they could.
"I'll join you…"
I sensed something wrong with how she said it.
"...if?"
"If you tell me the name you and missus have picked."
Chuckling, I took both hands out the coat pockets and gave her double middle fingers.
"Fuck you. Expeditiously."
.
.
.
.
Providence
October 2, 18:09
I'd have to go home eventually and face the music. Felicity wanted the baby's gender to be a secret till the birth. Me, not so much. It didn't seem like a big deal to me, and no matter how she tried to explain it, I just didn't get it.
Nevertheless, I went along with it since, again, it wasn't a big deal. However, I guess my suppressed excitement at the whole thing had steadily built up and finally tipped over when I entered the midst of the people I wanted to tell the most.
A quiet notification interrupted my thoughts. My thoughts turned into tangible energy and latched onto the device freshly put together by the lab's fabricator. It flew into my waiting hand and I turned the circular construction over.
This bracelet was packed full of failsafes to ensure no one I brought with me to Apokolips would die or stay dead if the mountain of protections in the life bands were somehow overcome.
On the outside I projected a calm and assured demeanor when I talked about the assault on the fiery planet, but God knows things were a far different story inside. Okay, I wasn't scared shitless, but it was pretty close.
This was Darkseid we were talking about. The Big Bad of the DC universe. Multiverse even, if you were one of those "True Darkseid" nutcases. There were many multiverse ending threats, but giant stone asshole was the most memorable one for me.
He was also the scariest.
Most of the others wanted to destroy everything, but Darkseid… he wanted to corrupt everything remotely close to good and rule over the mess as lord. He wasn't just a conqueror, he was a despoiler. And his hunt for the Anti-Life equation proved this.
The fact that he hadn't gotten it already was a saving grace. For a god of his means and reach, it was not a matter of if but when he would get it. And the thought of that happening or the world shown in Justice League Apokolips War becoming reality gave me the needed fuel and courage to put one foot in front of the other.
That fact that just thinking of going against him made me so scared fed the fire too. It was the situation with Blockbuster all over again. Rather than make assumptions or let fear take the lead, I went into this with full certainty that Earth would be victorious.
All Might said it best; "I have never once fought thinking there was even a chance I could lose."
A resurgence of confidence went through me and I set the bracelet down, shifting my focus to the table sized screen before me. Now that I had a working version of the bracelet, it was time to update the kits of my agents.
For that, I didn't even need to present. A few simple commands from the comfort of my lab and seat would reconfigure their armor and equipment with the death cheating and anti Omega Effect upgrades.
While I did that, Lyla sent me a message and I opened it. The final touches on the upgrades were done and I sent them through, focusing on the updates sent by my second in command.
The Roulette sting had been successful, and dozens of metahumans had been freed. They were all being tended to, but there were those that needed urgent and serious care. Superpowers or not, gladiatorial life rarely left you intact.
Leveraging my connection to the World Wide Web, I tapped into the various feeds showing the arrests and the cleanup of the pocket dimension. A flourish of my fingers filled the air before me with a dozen screens and I relaxed in my seat.
The feds had wound a perfect noose and wanted no time in springing it when they got the red light. They swooped in and took all of Roulette's coconspirators and many of her "clients" into custody, the ICERs making things light work.
As for the pocket dimension, a team of Shield scientists were on scene examining the device and working on disabling it. A cordon had been set around the entry point in the outside world and no one was allowed in.
Overall, it was a successful operation. Waylon and the two level 7s managed to subdue the boss woman and her guards with no casualties. The entire operation had been dismantled, and soon, all the information in Roulette's head would no longer stay there.
As for the metas, there were some definite Shield agents among them. I could tell that much by simply watching how some of them interacted with my men and the kind of questions they asked.
What a good way to end the day.
Wait, no. I still had to go home. Damn.
The mess of screens disappeared and my coat flew into my arms. I bent space a little bit and the lab around me vanished, leaving me right before my beach house.
"Time to face the music," I muttered and went up the wooden steps.