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To the attention of the readers who enjoy reading an intelligent main character like Miles will definitely like my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.
—
The Watchtower
"Team fight exercises? Why?" Flash asked, stretching.
"Because we are a team. Your performance in the battle against Icthultu displayed a glaring weakness in your ability to work as one," Miles said, his form visible in the control room through the glass.
He crossed his arms. "We did win, didn't we?"
"Against a horde of mindless monsters and one giant eldritch calamari, yes. Any enemy who studied you, your strengths, weaknesses, and fighting styles would have you on the ropes," he replied. Their loss against Grodd and his Secret Society was proof of that, even though it hadn't happened yet.
Batman nodded, turning to the androids. "He is right."
"That is why I uploaded the androids with your combat data and modified them with abilities to counter yours. You will have to work as a team to win. Good luck."
—
John rolled his shoulders.
The androids were identical. He had no idea which one was tailored to fight him. What he knew was his weakness. The color yellow was the single known weakness of all green lanterns. The android that would target him would no doubt use yellow-colored attacks.
He glanced at his left.
Everyone was done with their stretches. Wonder Woman was waiting with her arms raised, legs slightly apart. The lower half of Batman's face was the only visible part, his cape wrapped around him, blocking all vision of what he had prepared. Superman was floating a couple inches off the ground, face set in stone.
On his right, Manhunter, Hawkgirl, and Flash were gathered together, whispering.
"Hey guys," Flash turned around, "should we make a plan rather than wait posing because it's cool?"
"That's probably for the best," Diana said, walking over.
"Too bad your enemies won't give you the time to prepare." Miles' voice rang from the speakers, and the androids were turned on.
Seven on seven combat began without a beat.
A green shell enveloped him, and he rose to the air. His designated enemy, with four written on its forehead, fired a yellow beam from its right fist. He dodged to the right, creating a sword out of his hand. He brought it down in an arc, targeting the android's shoulder, but it broke as the android turned yellow, head to toe.
He clicked his tongue and pulled back, assessing the situation. There was nothing he could throw at the android. A straight fight would be heavily against him. He needed a plan.
—
He hated fighting anyone who had anything to do with ice. Friction was necessary for him to run. When it was affected so severely by ice, it always promised to be an annoying battle.
This one was no different.
Unlike the villains he fought, the android could not be rage-baited into making mistakes. Smart quips, insulting their intelligence, and, in rare cases, their manhood, made the villains crash out. The cold, unfeeling machine before him did not share any of those weaknesses.
Teamwork definitely sounded good right now as he ran around the android in a circle.
—
"Manhunter, connect us telepathically," Batman ordered, entrenched in a fierce hand-to-hand combat with his opponent, Seven.
"Understood," Manhunter replied inside everyone's mind.
"Flash, watch out," Wonder Woman shouted. The fastest man alive turned around, narrowly dodging the android that was thrown at him, only to get in the way of Superman. They tumbled away, stopping right in front of the cryokinetic android.
Both were promptly covered in a layer of ice.
Shayera's mace missed the speeding android again. She cursed, diving down to catch it. Just as she thought she had the slippery machine, it pivoted right. Her eyes followed the machine, leaving her vulnerable. Superman's android, number three, nailed her with a hammer punch. She bounced on the ground, coughing.
"Come on, people. Teamwork is the key," Miles announced from the speaker.
The Dark Knight grunted, exchanging a series of acrobatic attacks with the android. "He is right. Lantern, switch with Hawkgirl. Superman, keep two and five occupied. Flash, Manhunter, deal with number three and then help Wonder Woman with number one," he ordered, thanking the mental connection.
The androids would definitely make excellent use of their plans otherwise.
—
They understood the plan, but executing it was difficult. The androids were relentless. The pyrokinetic was keeping J'onn in check with a constant stream of flames. Number three, with his red sunlight generators, was neutralizing Superman's abilities with each strike.
"Hawkgirl, get ready," he called out, still dodging yellow beams.
"Ready for what?" Shayera growled, only to be jerked by her feet. A lasso of green pulled her away. She was about to erupt in indignation before deciding to roll with it. She beat her wings, increasing her speed and striking number four. Its yellow coating and energy beams did nothing to stop her.
She struck so hard at the android's head, its lights flickered as it flew to the other side of the training area.
John was forced to let her go when the speedster android slammed into his back. He bit the side of his cheek, grunting. The android was already gone, zipping around the room.
Rather than try to catch it, he began to create walls around it, herding it towards Hawkgirl. She leaped to her feet just in time, shaking her head. Her lips stretched, teeth exposed in a predatory grin. With nowhere left to run as the maze got narrower with each construct, it was easy prey.
She swung her mace upwards, nailing it on the chin, breaking through Green Lantern's construct as she did.
—
Two and five were the opposites, but they knew how to work together. Whenever he targeted one, the other would flank him. Even with his Kryptonian physiology, they were causing him discomfort. Whatever fueled their abilities certainly stung.
The androids, while lesser than Amazo in all aspects, still possessed the intelligence to know he would dismantle them in a heartbeat. That is, if he could catch them. Good thing Batman had said to keep them occupied.
"Superman, keep their attention on you," Green Lantern's voice echoed in his mind. He acknowledged it by moving away from both. The androids didn't miss the beat, firing lances of opposite powers. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, blocking both attacks. Green Lantern snuck behind the cryokinetic, creating a blowtorch to rain green fire on it.
Hawkgirl did what she does best, bashing the android with her mace.
He accelerated forward as soon as the flames died out, clotheslining the android to the ground. It still wasn't enough, prompting Hawkgirl to dive like a bird of prey, smashing the silver android's head to shrapnel.
—
Beyond its strength and flight, number three did not possess any other abilities that would be useful to anyone except a Kryptonian. He could take it by himself but didn't have to.
He phased through the right hook, catching the android by the arm. He pulled it down, forcing it to phase through the floor. Only its head remained in sight. Flash, running as fast as he could without endangering his teammates and damaging the training room, struck without mercy.
Each hit had the android's head bobbing back and forth like a speedball in boxing training. Tears began to appear on its neck, the advanced technology failing before the fastest man alive.
A rather vicious kick sent it flying, separated from the body. Strands of electricity sparked from the separated parts, dying quickly as the eyes went dark.
—
Diana grinned.
Beyond the teamwork aspect, she was enjoying the battle. Her enemy, an android that had grown in size as well as sprouting another set of arms. Miles had done his homework well, creating an excellent opponent to counter her. The grappler android was indeed a troublesome enemy.
She ducked beneath its arms, spun on her heel, and landed a punch on its chest, right between its arms. Another punch struck the middle of its chest, pushing it slightly back, and an uppercut sealed the combo. The android went up, flipping back to land on its feet.
They launched at one another, ready to meet in the middle.
Diana bent her knees at the last possible moment, kicking the android's knee to the left while sliding between its legs. She leaped up, spinning to bring down her foot on the back of the android's head.
Before it could slam face-first to the ground, the machine used its arms to stabilize itself, wrapping its legs around hers. It reversed the tables on her, swinging her down. She bounced off the ground once, flipping around to stabilize herself.
She would definitely request this one as a permanent sparring partner.
Unfortunately for the android, cavalry had arrived. Flash ran around the android in a circle, distorting its sensors, most importantly the thermal one, to mask their attacks. Manhunter, having shape-shifted into a massive serpentine creature, swung his tail. The blur of red with yellow streaks disappeared just as the speedster felt the tail graze his costume.
By the time the android's intelligence realized Flash was gone, the tail had smacked him aside like a bug, right into Wonder Woman's lasso. She wrapped it around the leg, pulling forward to slam the android on the ground. She pulled it once more, launching the machine to the wall, bending panels inward.
—
The android was dangerous.
Predictive algorithms, sensors to bypass his means of disappearing into the shadows, and extreme knowledge in all forms of martial arts. He bent backwards under the kick, flipping back with his leg stretched. He barely clipped the android on its chin, dashing forward as soon as his feet touched the ground. He swung his cape forward, using it to block the android's vision in preparation for a spinning reverse kick.
The android matched the move.
He bent his left knee.
The android's kick went slightly over his, allowing the Dark Knight to land the kick on its chest. He slammed his right foot on the ground, launching several punches that the machine weaved through. It knew his every move, prompting him to come up with brand new ones on the spot.
It has been a while since he was challenged like this.
A flick of his wrist and he had an explosive batarang in his hand. The android launched a spinning kick at his wrist to disarm him. At the cost of taking the hit, he flicked the explosive right in front of its white, empty eyes, throwing himself to the ground.
The android followed with the kick, bending backward at an angle only Plastic Man could, sending it upward.
He spun, targeting the android's sole leg on the ground. It bent even more backward, launching itself back with its palms on the ground. They met in close quarters again, both exploding into movement with a flurry of punches targeting weak spots. Both blocked each hit, but his flesh would fail him before the nanomachines would fail the android.
He could win with drastic measures, but would it, in an ordinary fight, be worth it?
His question went unanswered as the rest of his team fell on the android. Superman caught it with his fists, refusing to let go. He headbutted it, causing its sensors to go haywire for a moment from the impact. Flash caught it by the arm, spinning in a whirlwind, sending it straight to Wonder Woman.
She backhanded it with her bracelet into Hawkgirl's path. The strike of the metal mace changed its trajectory ninety degrees into the jackhammer the Green Lantern created. The repeated slams put an end to the android in seconds.
Batman looked down at his open fist, clenching it.
"You know, I thought we were in dire straits for a second. But this whole fighting as a unit rather than together? I think it's a great idea," Flash said, flashing twin thumbs up to the team.
Manhunter crossed his arms, a rare, small smile on his lips. "Indeed. Each enemy was specifically modified to fight us. Any number of repetitions where we didn't work together would end in failure." There was nothing he could have done against the pyrokinetic when it had set itself aflame.
The door slid upwards as Miles walked in. "The difference between several people fighting in the same area and actually working as a team is quite noticeable, isn't it?"
"It is. The question is, "Superman turned to fully face him, "Why the sudden interest? Is it just because of our combat proficiency or something else?" Sure, there were mistakes done against Icthultu, but did it really require a full-on training session?
Miles took his phone out, opening an image of a gorilla with a red-haired woman. "Gorilla Grodd is on the move. He is extremely cautious, but I believe he is gathering a team of his own against the Justice League."
"You think that team could defeat us?" Green Lantern asked, the upper left corner of his lip twitching. Grodd was nothing compared to some of the entities they had fought.
"Ever since the League's inception, you never had a reason to improve your cooperation. We exchange intel; you fight against overwhelming numbers but not together. Against a trained team who studied you, such as Grodd, you would have embarrassed yourselves," he said. It was a thought-provoking episode where the League members were defeated by an inferior foe because they could not work together.
It wasn't all about power.
"That's a bit pessimistic, don't you think?" Hawkgirl asked, taking her helmet off.
"It's not," Batman said, drawing all eyes to himself. "We all tried to fight our enemies by ourselves because that is how we have done so far. If I hadn't suggested a plan, we would have continued to fight until we lost."
No matter how much it bruised his pride to admit, Miles' words still echoed in his mind, louder than the telepathic communications they just had during the battle.
Superman smiled, laying a hand on Batman's shoulder. "Never thought you of all people would say that." He was always a loner, preferring to act on his own. Hearing him admit it wasn't a good idea actually made him proud.
"I…" He looked away. "I've been reconsidering my decisions. I am still not sure about many things, but I realized, for all the power, wealth, and skills we have, none of us can do everything by ourselves."
"Can't argue with that," Flash said, rolling his shoulders.
"I'll keep an eye on Grodd and try to locate him," he said. Unlike the show, Grodd was hiding well, perhaps something he had learned from his previous altercation with the League.
"Thank you. As always, I am glad to have you on our corner," Superman said.
He simply nodded at the calls of agreement by the rest of the League.
"Miles, about that android. Do you think I can get a couple more for training? They are truly useful, and I can stand to improve my grappling. I'll pay for them, of course," Diana offered. Perhaps some with different combat modes too.
"Don't mention it really. I have a lot of these androids for emergencies. I'll send several your way," he said. They only cost a couple million dollars and were easy to fix with nanotechnology.
"Thank you."
Batman coughed, walking up to Wonder Woman. "Can we talk in private?"
There were glances between the League members. The tension between the two was palpable the last few days. Could they finally be ready to solve it?
She squinted her eyes, trying to peer through the white lenses, but shrugged. "Sure."
—
In the next chapter:
Michael knelt down to Angelica's eye level. "Alright kiddo, are you ready?"
She rubbed her arm, eyes downcast, but pulled her sleeve up after mere seconds. Michael sterilized the location first before pushing the needle in. Her lips tightened and she gritted her teeth. The coldness that came with the metal was gone, leaving the stinging pain behind.
"I want to keep her here for observation just in case. It's just for today. You guys can stay if you like," Michael said. He only needed to neutralize certain sections of her DNA to stop the evolution.
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